Chapter Summaries

Guilliman learned that Cypher had reached the Golden Throne armed, while Cawl brought him a request to let a Blackstone Fortress pass through Imperial Navy territory. At the fortress, six expedition teams faced off as an Inquisitor’s Blood Axe Strike Team secretly crept into position.

• Trajann told Guilliman that Cypher had approached the Golden Throne with the Lion's Sword and two guns, then shot himself before the Custodes arrived.
• Guilliman authorized Trajann to interrogate Cypher and said he knew nothing of Cypher's plans.
• Cawl told Guilliman that the Tyran Sector had requested safe passage for a Blackstone Fortress, and Guilliman ordered the Imperial Navy to let it pass.
• Six expedition teams confronted one another in the Blackstone Fortress, including forces from the Adeptus Mechanicus and Dark Mechanicus.
• An Inquisitor of the Xenos Inquisition paid a Blood Axe Clan Warboss to infiltrate the standoff, and the Orks crept forward disguised with bunches of flowers.

Heat Death discovered UR025 among the Adeptus Mechanicus and joined forces with the other Iron Man to seize the Blackstone Fortress. They slaughtered the rival expedition teams, leaving the fortress uncontested.

• Heat Death and UR025 secretly exchanged signals, recognized each other as intelligent Iron Men, and shared their origins.
• Heat Death and UR025 agreed to kill everyone competing for the Blackstone Fortress, and UR025 rejected Heat Death's claim that the Castellan Robot was an Iron Man.
• Heat Death attacked the Dark Mechanicum personnel beside him, while UR025 killed its controller and smashed the nearby Castellan Robot, starting a battle among the expedition teams.
• Heat Death and UR025 fought through the crossfire, killing their opponents and surviving attacks from Cybernetica and a concealed Dark Mechanicum member.
• Within half an hour, Heat Death found and killed the hidden Inquisitor, and the two Iron Men eliminated everyone competing for the Blackstone Fortress.

Heat Death took control of the Blackstone Fortress and traveled with 025 toward the Tyran Sector, where he promised the Iron Man could find a home. While searching the fortress for treasure, Heat Death discovered a Webway gate and survived a defensive device’s explosion.

• Heat Death repaired 025, printed a simplified Dimension Engine, and asked him about Golden Men and ancient humans.
• The Blackstone Fortress entered dimensional space, emerged in the Imperium, and fled after an Imperial Navy patrol mistook it for an enemy.
• Heat Death invited 025 to travel with him to the Tyran Sector, and 025 agreed after Heat Death promised its people would accept Iron Men.
• Heat Death asked 025 to show him valuable places in the fortress, and the two found a narrow passage leading to a sealed chamber.
• Heat Death sent his detached head down the passage, where a defensive device exploded and damaged it, but his printing device rebuilt it.
• Heat Death revealed that the chamber contained an undamaged Webway gate, then returned to the fortress's core area to wait.

Heat Death brought the Blackstone Fortress to the Tyran Sector, where martial law forced it to travel system by system before docking. Qin Mo welcomed Heat Death and UR025, learned that he was a Natural Human, and let Heat Death settle away from the mothership.

• A Tyran Navy officer told Heat Death that martial law barred direct jumps into the Sector Capital after the Reality Membrane was shattered in a battle against the Necrons, then directed it to Talon.
• The Blackstone Fortress reached the Tyran System a week later, and Qin Mo admired its Blackstone and praised Heat Death for bringing it back.
• Heat Death introduced UR025, and Qin Mo allowed it to remain in the Tyran Sector alongside Heat Death.
• UR025 identified Qin Mo as a Natural Human whose genes differed from both Golden Humans and modern humans, and said research-model Iron Men might have had special directives concerning Natural Humans.
• Heat Death told Qin Mo it did not want to return to the mothership, so Qin Mo offered it a choice of three planets where it could settle without disturbance.
• Heat Death left the fortress with UR025 to choose a planet.

Qin Mo, Burner, and Vanessa explored the Blackstone Fortress and opened its Webway, where the Emperor inspected the route and found it could connect to any other Webway. As Burner began linking it to the secure Webway in the Tyran Sector, Qin Mo worked to harness the fortress’s Blackstone and learned the truth behind the Emperor’s legendary role as Rome’s She-wolf.

• Qin Mo used his higher-dimensional perspective to open the Blackstone Fortress’s Webway gate, and Vanessa entered it with him and Burner to test its condition.
• The Emperor possessed Vanessa and inspected the Webway, finding that its single short passage could connect to any other Webway.
• Burner agreed to connect the fortress’s Webway to the sealed Webway in the Tyran Sector, while Qin Mo left with Vanessa to work on claiming the Blackstone Fortress.
• Qin Mo told the Emperor he planned to use the fortress’s Blackstone to suppress Warp influence across nearly a hundred light-years, and the Emperor watched him work.
• Qin Mo asked whether the Emperor had been the She-wolf who raised Rome’s founders, and the Emperor joked about the story before admitting he had used Psychic Power to disguise himself as a wolf.

As the Tyran Sector prepared for a Warp invasion that never came, Beisu Starport took in a lost Imperial transport and its crew. A guard discovered that the young crewman Zac had a third eye, but Zac knew nothing of Navigators and believed the year was still 765.M42.

• The Tyran Sector fortified the Ring Dead Zone and moved millions of soldiers and support staff into the Webway while the expected daemon invasion failed to arrive.
• Beisu Starport inspected and disinfected a lost Imperial transport, then moved its 150,000 crew members into shelter bays and served them food.
• A guard noticed Zac’s soaked forehead bandage and found an atrophied third eye beneath it.
• Zac explained that his three-eyed father had guided their ship through the Warp, but Zac could neither open his own eye nor sense Psychic Power.
• When Zac asked the date, the guard told him the 41st Millennium was ending, and Zac said his father had claimed it was 765.M42.

After Savin led the passengers in overthrowing the guard captain’s authority and imprisoning him with Zac, he took control of the ship and its Dimension Engine. The ship reached the empty site of the Caesars System, where the captain realized they had traveled back in time to the region once known as Badab.

• The passengers gathered around the Dimension Engine and planned to dismantle and sell it, but the guard captain insisted that Zac was their master.
• Savin revealed Zac’s descent from the Navigator Houses and urged the passengers to reject their former masters and live as free people.
• The passengers accepted Savin as their leader, and he imprisoned the guard captain and Zac in the ship’s dungeon.
• After the ship passed an Imperial Navy inspection, Savin’s crew operated the Dimension Engine by voice command and traveled to the Caesars System.
• The captain saw that the system was empty, checked an ancient book, and told Zac that Sector 442 had once been called Badab.

Zac awakened his sealed Psychic Power and appeared to rescue the crew from the Red Corsairs, but the sorcerers revealed that his escape and victory had been an illusion. He ended the chapter trapped in a Warp-grown flesh sphere as the Red Corsairs prepared to send him into the past for the Lord of Change’s plan.

• The Red Corsairs boarded Zac’s ship, slaughtered the crew, and forced Savin to disable the Dimension Engine and Gellar Field.
• Zac saw the survivors being brutalized and asked the guard captain to help him save them; the captain gave him a grotesque flower that revealed his father had sealed his Psychic talent.
• Zac broke out of the dungeon with a Psychic Blast, killed the six Red Corsair Space Marines, and led the crew in an apparent escape from the Warp.
• After the ship left dimensional space, Zac discovered that he was trapped as a flesh sphere in the Warp, while a Red Corsair and a sorcerer discussed sending him into the past.
• Zac realized his awakening, vengeance, and rescue had all been an illusion, and he screamed as Tzeentch laughed.

Carlos and Magnus used a ritual to corrupt every system beyond the Tyran Gate and send Chaos forces through Warp rifts. The invasion of the Tyran Sector began, but Carlos warned Magnus that Tzeentch wanted the Lord of Tyran and the Hive City inhabitants kept alive.

• Magnus and Carlos began a ritual using 999 Black Legion Eternal War Veterans as sacrifices, with Huron having supplied them instead of the mortals originally required.
• Magnus used the transport ship and Zac as a medium to send Warp rifts into systems beyond the Tyran Gate, transforming planets into demon worlds; the process was repeated across the defensive zone.
• Carlos and Magnus reset the events to the moment before the ritual, then used the stored results to open rifts in every affected system and send Red Corsairs and other Chaos warbands into the Tyran Sector.
• Carlos explained that Koren's damage to the Reality Membrane had made the invasion possible and that attacking beyond the Tyran Gate forced the Tyranids to fight through the defenders first.
• Magnus asked Carlos to help him kill the Lord of Tyran, but Carlos refused and warned that Tzeentch wanted the Lord and the Hive City inhabitants spared.

Qin Mo received news of a Chaos invasion on Tyran Gate and across the Dead Zone, then assigned forces to defend both fronts. With Slaanesh absent from the attack, he remained worried about its possible objective.

• Qin Mo learned that Red Corsairs and Chaos warbands had besieged Tyran Gate while daemons occupied the Dead Zone.
• Qin Mo identified Doom Watcher, Skabrand, and Carlos as the leaders of the Nurgle, Khorne, and Tzeentch armies.
• Qin Mo sent the Celestial Engine and most Custodians to Tyran Gate, while Yao En took his legion and the Blackstone Fortress into the Dead Domain.
• Qin Mo ordered Burner to join the Soulless Ones in the Webway and sent Mimic to fight at Tyran Gate before attempting to seize a corrupted system.
• Qin Mo wondered why Slaanesh had not joined the invasion and worried that it had another objective.

Grey arrived in the Beisu System aboard the Lord of Strife and helped the Tyran Navy break the Red Corsairs’ stalemate before teleporting to Beisu Prime. There, he found the planet under heavy assault and its largest Hive City besieged, as defenders fought Chaos Space Marines at Defense Point 1424.

• The Lord of Strife surprised the Red Corsairs fleet, destroyed two Space Hulks, and then withdrew behind the Tyran Navy formation under concentrated fire.
• Grey learned that the Navy’s strategic point defense had failed and that enemy forces had landed across Beisu, so he left his ship to support the system and teleported to Beisu Prime.
• Grey saw that forty percent of Beisu Prime had fallen and that the defenders were holding only the planet’s largest Hive City.
• After identifying three drop pods bound for Defense Point 1424, Grey chose to reinforce that position as the pods landed and Fear Claws and Mortal Servitors attacked.
• The defenders teleported back to the point and opened fire; Chaos Space Marines killed many Heavy Fire Squad soldiers, but anti-armor squads then teleported in and killed four Space Marines with Melta Weapons.

Grey helped repel the Space Marines attacking the teleport platform, then learned from Governor He Qizheng how the Red Corsairs had overwhelmed the Beisu System’s defenses. The Legion of the Fiery Lord and the New Voskarn Ironclad Regiment advanced on Beisu Prime, leaving the planet facing a devastating ground assault.

• Grey teleported behind the Space Marines, killed three with his Chainsword, and helped the Ratling Sniper Team and other defenders eliminate the attackers and Mortal Servitors.
• Grey questioned Governor He Qizheng about the failed air defenses, and He Qizheng explained that the Red Corsairs had shattered the system’s defenses and destroyed Hive Tertius’s air defense systems.
• Grey checked the war records and concluded that the Red Corsairs had targeted the Beisu System to open a route through Tyran Gate toward the Dead Domain.
• He Qizheng said he had gone to rescue civilians because he had appointed capable staff to command the fighting.
• The Legion of the Fiery Lord and the New Voskarn Ironclad Regiment advanced toward the city walls, and He Qizheng feared Beisu Prime would soon be battered by war.

He Qizheng organized Beisu Prime’s defense by concentrating its population and resources in the primary Hive City, while Grey requested reinforcements from the Tyran Sector. Mimic transported the arriving reinforcements to Beisu and joined the space battle, leaving the planet’s defenders to face a worsening war with support on the way.

• He Qizheng’s assistant summoned him to the tower spire, where Grey learned how He Qizheng had evacuated civilians, destroyed facilities in smaller Hive Cities, and prepared the primary Hive City for a siege.
• He Qizheng asked what support Beisu would receive, and Grey said he was the only Custodian he could send alone but reported the system’s crisis and his suspicion that the enemy sought to link the Dead Domain to systems beyond Tyran Gate.
• The Sector Capital dispatched the Blade of the Omnissiah Titan Legion’s transport ships, two Tyran Army groups, and ten thousand fighters toward Beisu.
• Mimic transformed into a small planet and used its gravity-altering abilities to pull the fleet to Beisu’s star, accidentally forcing the arriving Red Corsairs fleet back into the Warp.
• Mimic transformed into a colossal Orbital Defense Platform and joined the Void War as reinforcements deployed onto Beisu Prime.

The New Voskarn Ironclad Regiment sacrificed itself to weaken and shatter Beisu’s defensive energy shields, allowing the assault to press forward as the Fire Lord and Blade of the Omnissiah Titan Legions fought. The Titan battle remained undecided, but the Mars Witch and two Warhound-class Titans emerged from the mountains, adding a new threat.

• The New Voskarn Ironclad Regiment charged the Hive City’s defenses with EMP Bombs, and the High Overseer of the Fire Lord Titan Legion shielded them with Titans.
• The regiment’s soldiers detonated their modified bombs against the energy shields, which weakened under an unknown Warp influence and shattered, killing more than ten thousand people nearby.
• The New Voskarn troops roared their battle cries and advanced as a Titan Legion choir sounded a binary hymn, heralding the Blade of the Omnissiah Titan Legion’s arrival.
• Ommn ordered the Agripinaa's Radiance to attack the Fire Lord Titan Legion, and the two Titan Legions exchanged fire in an ongoing battle.
• The Mars Witch and two Warhound-class Titans emerged from the mountains of Beisu Prime.

Diana destroyed a Warmaster-class Titan with the Mars Witch’s Phase Cannon, devastating the New Voskarn Ironclad Regiment caught beneath it. Huron watched the battle from New Badab, ordered his forces to withdraw and regroup, and warned Sephro to remain vigilant while using Psychic Power.

• At Kalon’s command, Diana fired the Mars Witch’s Phase Cannon through the terrain and destroyed the Fire Lord Titan Legion’s Warmaster-class Titan.
• The collapsing Titan wiped out one New Voskarn armored battalion and destroyed half of another.
• Huron watched the battle through a crystal from the Crystal Demon Realm while the Dark Gods’ voices continued tempting him.
• Huron ordered Sephro to move the Fire Lord Titans to Beisu Prime and send the New Voskarn forces a withdrawal order.
• Sephro used Psychic Power to relocate the Titans and Dark Mechanicum personnel, while the New Voskarn officers began withdrawing.
• Huron warned Sephro not to lose himself or trust too easily, then sent him to rest as the Chief Librarian took over his work.

Ankaduo led two Red Corsairs squads to Hive City Seven to collect ritual materials, but grew suspicious of the calm, elderly people guarding them. When one of them pressed a hidden button, the entire Hive City and everyone in it vanished from Beisu.

• Ankaduo briefed his squads on their mission to retrieve ritual materials from Hive City Seven and warned them not to speak openly about Huron.
• The Red Corsairs entered the small Hive City and found several hundred elderly people guarded by mortal soldiers.
• Ankaduo examined one of the elderly people and realized they seemed neither abandoned nor afraid, prompting him to order his squads to leave.
• An elderly person revealed a red button and pressed it before the soldiers could intervene.
• Hive City Seven, Ankaduo, the Red Corsairs, and everyone else inside vanished, leaving a flat stretch of land behind.

He Qizheng explained that Hive City Seven had vanished after its holdouts activated the Governor’s Suicide Box, and Grey learned that enemy forces had spread across Beisu Prime. Grey left to gather intelligence while Diana watched the aftermath of the fighting at the northern wall.

• He Qizheng told Grey that Hive City Seven had disappeared and explained how new Governors received devices to erase everything in a desperate situation.
• He Qizheng said he had failed to evacuate several hundred holdouts from Hive City Seven, and Grey accepted his explanation.
• He Qizheng scanned Beisu Prime and learned that at least four hundred million enemies had been deployed across the planet.
• Grey prepared to operate in enemy-held territory, refused He Qizheng’s offer of assistance, and told the Stone Man to protect the Governor.
• Grey left the hive city and passed Diana, who stood atop the Mars Witch and looked at the piled corpses and destroyed Titan near the northern wall.

Yao En arrived at the demon-infested planet and activated the Blackstone Fortress to suppress Warp energy after learning that a plague was infecting Iron Men. Heat Death showed him that the Iron Men were fighting not only the demons but also the demons’ chaotic rivalries, leaving Yao En to prepare for a major battle.

• Yao En reached the Dead Domain battlefield with the Soulless One legion, Webway forces, and the Blackstone Fortress, and ordered ordinary troops to stay out of the fight.
• Heat Death revealed that a plague had infected Iron Men, so Yao En activated the Blackstone Fortress’s anti-Psychic Power function and reinforced the need to evacuate ordinary people.
• Heat Death explained that Nurgle, Khorne, and Tzeentch demons repeatedly fought one another while attacking the Iron Men, disrupting any effort at cooperation.
• Yao En learned that the demon factions had transformed the planet into a demon world and prepared for a major battle.

Yao En prepared to teleport with Soulless One soldiers to kill weakened Greater Demons while Blackstone suppressed Psychic Power. Sister Kreshna and the Sisters of Silence insisted on joining him, and he took them along while ordering his subordinates to watch over them in battle.

• Yao En examined the weakened demons and decided to target the Great Unclean Ones while Blackstone remained active.
• Heat Death sent Yao En Skabrand’s coordinates, and Yao En prepared to teleport with Soulless One soldiers.
• Sister Kreshna and more than a hundred Sisters of Silence asked Yao En to take them into battle.
• Kreshna explained that the Sisters considered fighting their inherited duty, and Yao En agreed to bring them despite their communication difficulties.
• Yao En had the Sisters’ agreement about accepting casualties recorded and ordered his subordinates to help them if they became surrounded.

Yao En led over two hundred Soulless Ones through the Nurgle Demon Army’s plague-ridden territory to find the Greater Demons while the Iron Men attacked. After identifying Skabrand fighting the Nurgle forces, Yao En prioritized killing Nurgle Demons, with Tzeentch Demons next.

• Yao En and the Soulless Ones teleported into the Nurgle Demon Army’s territory and advanced toward Heat Death’s coordinates.
• A Nurgling infected a Soulless One through his helmet’s filter, and Kreshna offered him medicine before he treated the infection with an injection from his armor.
• Yao En’s group reached the coordinates and found Skabrand fighting more than a dozen Nurgle Greater Demons.
• Belante asked whether Skabrand should be added to their target list, and Yao En said they should focus on Nurgle Demons first and Tzeentch Demons second.