Chapter Summaries

After the Sons of Angels reclaimed Baal’s outer perimeter, Dante and the Chapter Masters learned that the larger Tyranid was a Brood Lord whose death could throw many Tyranids into confusion. They approved a decapitation strike, and Dante resolved to lead it himself despite his wounds.

• Mephiston described the unusual Tyrant seen near the crashed ship, and Heat Death recognized it as a Brood Lord like those it had killed in the Stygian System.
• The Data-Smith explained that killing a Brood Lord could leave very many Tyranids confused, while Mephiston grew suspicious of the Iron Man’s identity and unusual speech.
• Mephiston proposed a decapitation strike, and Dante and the Chapter Masters unanimously approved the plan.
• Dante thanked Mephiston for suppressing his nature to help maintain ties between the Blood Angels and their successor Chapters, then asked whether the Red Thirst could be cured.
• Mephiston said those who fell to the Red Thirst could not be saved, and Dante decided to fight personally in the Brood Lord operation despite Mephiston’s concern about his wounds.

Carron and Fros led two companies to retrieve Blood Angels afflicted by the Red Thirst and Black Rage, while discussing the Lamenters’ rarity of those conditions. Fros agreed to let the Blood Priest research a Lamenters brother under supervision, and the group then spotted Burner flying into the fortress’s core.

• Carron obeyed Dante’s order to retrieve afflicted Blood Angels and persuaded Fros to accompany him with a company of Terminators.
• Carron and Fros entered a tower, where they and the Lamenters found chained Blood Angels in a blood pool and helped load them into iron-caged transports.
• Carron told Fros that he had nearly fallen into the Black Rage during an earlier battle, and Fros had stopped him by beating him unconscious.
• Carron revealed that the Blood Priest wanted to research why the Lamenters rarely suffered the Red Thirst or Black Rage, and Fros agreed on the condition that he and his Apothecary be present.
• After the group left the tower, Fros saw Burner fly into the fortress’s core, though neither he nor Carron knew why.

Burner told Khorbro that he could not solve the Sons of Angels’ Warp-related gene-seed flaws, though he left Khorbro with a little hope. As the Tyranid assault intensified, Dante led a teleporting strike team into a wrecked warship, where a hidden Tyranid burst through the deck and swallowed half the force.

• Khorbro asked Burner for help with the Red Thirst and Black Rage, but Burner said Warp involvement meant the flaws might come at a price and he could not help.
• Burner suggested that other genetically modified warriors had approached perfection, giving Khorbro a sliver of hope before leaving.
• As the Tyranid assault grew fiercer, Dante assembled the strike force and used the Lamenters’ teleportation technology to send them into the wrecked warship.
• Mephiston used Belona’s apprentice to observe the warship and help conceal the strike force from the Brood Lord while the Tech-Sergeant tracked their target.
• The Tech-Sergeant’s detector showed a Tyranid among the group, and after they continued onward, a hidden creature erupted through the deck and swallowed half the combat force.

Dante led the Blood Angels through a Tyranid-infested warship to hunt the Brood Lord, but was killed after a fierce duel. He experienced a vision of Sanguinius before returning to life in the chamber, where the Blood Angels continued fighting.

• Dante gathered the Blood Angels who had survived being swallowed and led them through the creature's tunnels toward an exit.
• Dante's warriors formed a firing line and held back the Tyranid swarm with meltas, assault cannons, and flamethrowers.
• The Brood Lord charged the Blood Angels, and Dante fought it alone while the swarm cut off anyone trying to help.
• Dante wounded the Brood Lord but was impaled in the abdomen and swallowed by the swarm.
• Dante awoke in a vision with Sanguinius, confessed his exhaustion, and was told his battle and mission were not over.
• Dante returned from death in the chamber, healed of his wound as the Blood Angels fought nearby.

Dante and the survivors completed the decapitation operation, breaking the Tyranid swarm’s control and securing Baal’s surface. The survivors returned to the fortress, where Burner explained why it had not joined the battle inside the ship.

• The Blood Angels cleared the out-of-control Tyranids, and Dante led them through the wrecked Heaven's Gate Fleet ship to find survivors.
• Dante found Fros wounded after a teleportation mishap and reassured him that he had done what he could to save his men.
• Dante and the others located the Data-Smith and Heat Death, who recovered the core devices of fallen mechanical warriors.
• Burner announced that the operation had worked and the swarm had lost control, leaving Baal’s surface secure.
• Burner teleported everyone back to the fortress and told Dante that its presence inside the ship might have driven the Tyranids to flee.

Dante and Mephiston planned to activate surviving anti-orbital defenses against the Tyranid bio-ships as the swarm outside the Angel Fortress fell into confusion. Mephiston learned that a fleet was coming to Baal, where Admiral Quarren and Adam joined forces and set out to meet the Tyranids.

• Dante and Mephiston discussed driving the disordered Tyranids away and using surviving anti-orbital installations to destroy the bio-ships.
• Mephiston received a report that the swarm had gone mad and the Blood Knights had been annihilated.
• Mephiston told Dante that a fleet was heading for Baal.
• Admiral Quarren's Imperial fleet rendezvoused with Adam's Tyran Fleet one light-year from Baal.
• Adam gave Quarren command of the combined battle, and both fleets headed for Baal.

Adam and Quarren’s fleets rendezvoused near Baal and scanned the Tyranid force, discovering 21,000 biological warships. With Baal unlikely to survive until reinforcements could return, Adam and Quarren considered how to strike the hive ships, which controlled the fleet.

• Adam arrived in the Baal system with the Lord of Tyran and met Quarren’s fleet, which had emerged from Warp travel one solar hour early.
• Adam scanned the Tyranid fleet and found 21,000 biological warships surrounding Baal, fewer than intelligence had predicted.
• Quarren reviewed the scan report, which classified the Tyranid ships as Apex Frigates, Krakens, Roamers, Razor Demons, Devourers, hive ships, and specialized vessels.
• Adam advised leaving the system to treat the mission as reconnaissance, but he and Quarren recognized Baal might not hold out until they returned.
• Adam and Quarren concluded that destroying the hive ships could disable the Tyranid fleet, and Adam said the Celestial Engine had not come while the Orbital Dock accompanied the Tyran Fleet.

Adam proposed deploying Orbital Defense Platforms as the fleet advanced toward the Hive Fleet, while Quarren organized the human ships into a coordinated formation. As the fleets exchanged fire, the Orbital Dock’s arc array destroyed nearly a thousand Tyranid warships in a single attack.

• Adam suggested printing and deploying Orbital Defense Platforms to protect the fleet as it pushed toward the Hive Fleet’s mothership, and Quarren accepted the tactic.
• Quarren arranged the Imperium and Tyran Fleet into a unified formation with perimeter ships and a reserve force, and the fleet advanced.
• The Hive Fleet turned to confront the humans, while Tyran ships fired long-range Particle Lances that failed to penetrate the biological warships’ thick armor.
• The Hive Fleet attacked with biological projectiles and small flying bugs, while the human fleet used shields and point-defense weapons to repel them.
• Tyran ships unleashed Arc Weapons against the approaching Hive Fleet, destroying its vanguard Apex Frigates but not its cruiser-class ships.
• Adam ordered the Orbital Dock’s arc array to fire, and its arcs paralyzed nearly a thousand biological warships before the array began recharging.

Karan watched the human fleet fight the Tyranid hive fleet and saw how Energy Shields helped ships survive close assaults. The battle continued as living torpedoes targeted the fleet’s center, but frigates intercepted them.

• A Tyranid Stalker Frigate caught Heavy Cannon in its tentacles, damaged its hull, and disabled its Void Shield before a Corroder Frigate attacked.
• A Talon cruiser rammed the Stalker Frigate to free Heavy Cannon, then escaped a Devourer with help from Karan’s Heavy Cruiser.
• Karan ordered damaged ships to the Orbital Dock, and Adam replaced Heavy Cannon’s Void Shield with an Energy Shield.
• Heavy Cannon returned to battle and used its Energy Shield to withstand a Stalker’s tentacles, but a Devourer eventually bit through the shield and destroyed it.
• Karan deduced that the Tyranids were trying to split the fleet’s formation, then saw living torpedoes attack its middle from both sides.
• Five Storm-class Frigates and seven Talon Frigates intercepted and destroyed the incoming torpedoes with close-defense weapons.

The Tyran Fleet used torpedoes and defense platforms to damage the Hive Fleet and regroup, but the enemy mothership remained out of reach. As the human fleet struggled to advance, a flaming humanoid creature burst from Baal and headed toward it.

• The Tyran Fleet launched torpedoes, including ten dimensional torpedoes that opened a rift and swallowed thousands of biological warships.
• Quarun realized the biological fleet was about to split the human fleet apart, so Adam ordered the defense platforms activated.
• The defense platforms and Orbital Dock protected the fleet while it regrouped, but the Hive Fleet used Krakens to intercept the platforms’ teleportation toward its mothership.
• Adam told Quarun the fleet needed to approach within seven hundred kilometers of the mothership to teleport over, but dense biological warships blocked their advance.
• A mass of flame burst from Baal, tore through the biological warships, and revealed itself to Adam as a humanoid creature engulfed in flames.

Burner confronted Adam’s fleet while searching for the source of its dimensional technology, then agreed to help fight the Tyranids. He destroyed the hive fleet’s mothership and Norn Brood Queen, turning the battle in humanity’s favor, while Adam ordered his crew to prepare for a possible fight against Burner.

• Burner arrived before the human fleet, destroyed the Tyranid ships that tried to devour him, and asked Quaren where the fleet’s torpedoes came from.
• Burner saw a Talon Frigate use dimensional space, reached the Lord of Tyran, and demanded that Adam explain the origin of the fleet’s technology.
• After Adam stayed silent, Burner offered to help kill the Tyranids and asked Adam which ship to destroy.
• Adam directed Burner toward the Tyranid mothership, and Burner fashioned a spear from an Imperium Frigate’s weapons and hurled it through the mothership.
• The mothership and Norn Brood Queen were destroyed, leaving the Tyranid fleet’s biological ships out of control.
• Adam ordered the crew to report Burner’s existence and prepare for battle.

Qin Mo abandoned the idea of relocating humanity into dimensional space after workers at the communications station began going mad, and planned to strengthen the Talon Sector’s defenses instead. When a Star God fragment called Burner appeared at Baal, Qin Mo decided to meet him after the Celestial Engine was completed.

• Qin Mo learned that humans stationed in dimensional space were going mad, so he abandoned his contingency plan to move the population there.
• Qin Mo studied the star map and planned a defensive perimeter around the Talon Sector to protect it from raids and other threats.
• Qin Mo suspected Dark Eldar were behind an Aeldari pirate raid and discovered that the sector had no Blackstone deposits for his planned defensive arrays.
• Qin Mo began customizing Mimic’s appearance before Anreda reported that a flaming Star God fragment named Burner wanted to meet him at Baal.
• Mimic warned Qin Mo not to go, but Qin Mo said he would wait until the Celestial Engine was complete and planned to capture Burner for it.

After the Tyran Fleet and the Celestial Engine helped secure Baal, they departed with Burner and traveled to Stygian III. There, Burner asked Qin Mo to help it reunite its fractured self, but Qin Mo had yet to answer.

• The Celestial Engine arrived at Baal and helped clear the remaining Tyranid biovessels after the Blood Angels' forces secured the planet.
• Dante invited Qin Mo to visit the Angel Fortress, but Qin Mo's forces left Baal after taking Burner aboard, surprising Mephiston and Carron.
• The Celestial Engine and Tyran Fleet traveled to the Stygian System, where Burner was teleported to Stygian III and confronted by Qin Mo and Mimic.
• Burner recognized that Qin Mo was not the Forger, then showed him two imprisoned fragments of itself and asked for help becoming whole.

Burner asked Qin Mo to reunite its imprisoned fragments and explained its view that the War in Heaven was still ongoing. Qin Mo agreed to consider making Burner whole, and Burner offered him a portion of its essence, whose destruction would erase heat from the universe.

• Burner asked Qin Mo to help it become whole, while Mimic warned that Burner would devour him once restored.
• Burner challenged Mimic’s account of their past, claiming it had repeatedly helped Mimic escape Azagoth and Magradros.
• Qin Mo set aside their dispute over old events and said the C'tan no longer needed to run from one another.
• Burner described the ongoing War in Heaven as a struggle to exterminate Psychic species and sever the Warp’s influence from the Real Universe.
• Qin Mo said he could not guarantee that a whole Burner would spare planets, and Burner offered a fragment of its essence for him to examine.

Burner gave Qin Mo part of its essence in exchange for help becoming more complete, and Qin Mo agreed to help it fuse the fragments. Dante met Qin Mo aboard the Celestial Engine to request replacement warships for the Blood Angels and their successor Chapters, leaving them indebted to Qin Mo after he agreed without asking for compensation.

• Burner offered part of its essence to Qin Mo, who promised to find it a suitable home and research how to fuse its fragments.
• Qin Mo agreed to receive Dante and his entourage aboard the Celestial Engine after Grey relayed the Blood Angels commander’s request for a meeting.
• Dante and the Blood Angels marveled at the Celestial Engine as their warship approached and they were transported inside.
• Dante asked Qin Mo to help rebuild the fleet, explaining that the Heaven's Gate Fleet and many Chapter warships had been destroyed.
• Qin Mo agreed to provide the warships without requesting compensation, and Dante signed the parchment listing the ships they needed.

Qin Mo ordered Yao En to kill Inquisitor Belona after Mephiston asked about her dangerous plan on Baal. The Master Control Intelligence assigned Heat Death to assist Yao En, and the eager Iron Man prepared to leave for the mission.

• Qin Mo gave Dante the signed parchment, and Dante thanked him before leaving with Mephiston and the Blood Angels honor guard.
• Mephiston asked Qin Mo what Belona had attempted during the Battle of Cadia and what might happen if her plan succeeded, but Qin Mo remained silent.
• Qin Mo privately ordered Yao En to kill Belona and decided to provide him with an Iron Man assistant.
• Heat Death completed another Tyranid combat simulation and complained that its creator had not acknowledged its service.
• The Master Control Intelligence ordered Heat Death to cooperate with Yao En in assassinating Belona, and Heat Death eagerly requested a shuttle.

Belona brought Aine and Belante to Sait Trading Station to meet the Rogue Trader Klein and pursue her plan to repeat a dangerous Psychic experiment near the Tyran Sector. The chapter ended as Belona greeted Klein, hoping to secure a way into the heavily controlled region.

• Belona arrived at Sait Trading Station with her apprentice Aine and her Untouchable subordinate, Belante.
• Aine learned that the station belonged to the Balante Family and waited with Belona and Belante for two solar hours.
• Belona told Aine that she intended to repeat their Psychic plan near the Tyran Sector, where reality was unusually stable.
• Aine questioned how they could infiltrate the Tyran Sector, and Belona promised to help him become a full Inquisitor after the plan was over.
• Klein arrived with a young girl and two Ogryns, and Belona went to greet him as the wise investor.

Belona completed a Blackstone deal with Klein, but Aine suspected the merchant had deceived them. Heat Death and Yao En ambushed the Inquisition party, and Belante killed Belona before Aine could escape.

• Belona gave Klein’s daughter a Bolter pistol and traded the transport’s cargo access key for a route into a Tyran system in exchange for one ton of Blackstone.
• Aine questioned Klein’s reputation, then warned Belona that the intelligence about him might be unreliable, but she refused to abandon their investment.
• Heat Death attacked Belona in the tunnel and severed her right arm, while Aine used Psychic Power to knock it back and carry her away.
• Yao En blocked Aine and Belona’s escape, and Belante shot Belona in the head before firing twice more.
• Heat Death blocked Aine’s retreat and complained to Yao En that the Inquisitors’ Psychic Power was too weak to justify the ambush.

Belante, Yao En, and Heat Death fought Aine after Belona’s psychological control and a drug drove him into a psychic rampage. After Aine died, Belante revealed his role in the plot against Belona, and Yao En pieced together how the Inquisition and Klein had arranged the trap.

• Belante tried to persuade Aine to leave, but Aine swallowed Saint Praise and erupted with Psychic Power.
• Aine restrained Yao En and froze Belante’s bullet, but Heat Death severed Aine’s arms and Yao En stabbed his spine.
• Aine’s psychic gate teleported him out of the trading station, where his frozen corpse was later seen floating in space.
• Belante explained that he was an undercover agent for a Puritan faction Inquisitor tasked with killing Belona.
• Yao En admitted that he had lured Belona to the trading station, and Belante revealed that he had connected her to Klein.
• Yao En realized the Inquisition had used Klein and a fabricated report to draw Belona into a trap and secure her death.

Yao En offered Belante a place among the Soulless Ones on Talon, and Belante agreed to leave his life as a gang boss behind. Aboard the Custodian ship Soul Black Hole, Heat Death asked to be dropped off, but Yao En said the Lord of Tyran had ordered him to bring it to Talon.

• Heat Death questioned Belante about Belona's trust in Klein, and Belante explained that the person who sent him had worked with Belona for over 270 years.
• Yao En offered Belante a chance to live in a town for Soulless Ones on Talon, and Belante accepted.
• Yao En, Heat Death, and Belante teleported aboard Soul Black Hole, where the crew welcomed Belante as one of their own.
• Yao En ordered the ship to use its backup travel engine, and it raced through Baal and a star at twice the speed of light.
• Heat Death asked Yao En to stop at star system number 83123 so it could return to its mothership, but Yao En said the Lord of Tyran had ordered him to take Heat Death to Talon.