Chapter Summaries

Qin Mo discussed gathering Star God fragments with Mimic and Burner, learning why C'tan rarely trusted one another. Mimic entrusted Qin Mo with his essence, and Qin Mo promised to recover Mimic's fragments first, though Mimic knew they lay in dangerous places.

• Qin Mo told Burner that the Old Ones' Rubik's Cube supplied souls, and Burner explained that such artifacts had been insignificant during the War in Heaven.
• Qin Mo asked Mimic to search the galaxy for Star God fragments so he could gather more C'tan and strengthen reality.
• Mimic explained that he wanted to reunite the Seven Gods of Seclusion, while Burner argued that C'tan outside their old group could not be trusted without surrendering essence.
• Burner described the emptiness and disorientation that fragments suffered, and Qin Mo said he would trust fragments that gave him their essence and obeyed him.
• Mimic gave Qin Mo a portion of his essence, and Qin Mo promised to find Mimic's fragments before searching for other C'tan.
• Mimic agreed, though he knew his fragments were in dangerous places and did not want to burden Qin Mo after the Defense of Tyran.

Guilliman struggled to process decades of neglected Imperial paperwork while a pontiff and the High Lords worked themselves toward collapse. After the Grey Knights offered Talon a book of guidance on Warp corruption, Guilliman returned to his duties and hoped his brother Russ would come help him.

• Guilliman read reports revealing that delayed aid had left entire worlds to famine, disease, and death.
• Guilliman learned that an Ecclesiarchy pontiff had died after working continuously, while the High Lords watched and relied on stimulants to keep working.
• Vardos told Guilliman that daemons had appeared during the War of Tyran and that the Grey Knights had chosen to send Talon a book of their experience instead of intervening directly.
• Guilliman accepted the Grey Knights' book and ordered an attendant to send it to an Ultramarines Strike cruiser.
• After working until exhaustion, Guilliman thought of Sanguinius, wished another brother could help, and agreed with his adoptive mother's imagined question that even Russ would be welcome.

Lion awoke in a forest with no clear memory of his identity, learned from a wounded old man that he had a special mission, and discovered his name while rescuing two hunters. The chapter ended with Sutik showing Lion a star map and identifying Karis as being at Tyran Gate, Defense Zone One.

• Lion woke in a forest, found a wounded old man fishing, and asked why he had been awakened.
• The old man told Lion that everything had changed, that he had a special mission, and that he needed to leave.
• Lion charged at a gigantic beast attacking Sutik and Halin, hurled it into the forest, and killed it by smashing its head with his own.
• Sutik and Halin thanked Lion, and Lion recovered his name from fragmented memories and introduced himself as Lion.
• Sutik showed Lion a star map and explained that their home was Karis, at Tyran Gate, Defense Zone One.

After Lion was brought to Karis, he mistook Zabriel for the traitor who had attacked him on Caliban and fought him before they sat down to compare their accounts of the past. Zabriel explained how he and other outcasts had earned the right to remain on Karis, leaving Lion among the planet’s unusual community.

• Sutik and Halin brought Lion to the fortress city on Karis, where a transport rescued them from the beasts surrounding them.
• Zabriel approached the landing pad, and Lion attacked and pinned him after memories of Caliban returned.
• Lion and Zabriel accused each other of betraying Caliban and the Legion, then stopped fighting and agreed to talk.
• Zabriel told Lion that Karis was a defended world near the Tyran Gate where Eldar, Greenskins, Sisters of Silence, Space Marines, and Fallen Angels lived under surveillance.
• Zabriel explained that the outcasts had helped defeat the Red Corsairs and were permitted to stay on Karis, where he helped the defense force handle dangerous outsiders.

Lion questioned Zabriel about the Blood Axe Clan and learned that the First Legion had been divided into Chapters and that the Imperium had abandoned the Imperial Truth. He was left confronting the scale of the changes while feeling relieved that Guilliman had awakened.

• Zabriel explained that the Blood Axe Clan traded with the Imperium and fought with unusual discipline, then suspected the Greenskins nearby had been hired by the Inquisition.
• Lion erupted when Zabriel revealed that he had killed an Inquisitor, but the two agreed to set aside their dispute while Lion's memories were incomplete.
• Zabriel told Lion that Guilliman had divided the First Legion into Chapters after Lion disappeared, prompting Lion to rage at the decision.
• Zabriel described the rise of the Ecclesiarchy and the Imperium's abandonment of the Imperial Truth, leaving Lion despondent as he considered how to respond.
• Zabriel revealed that Guilliman had awakened, and Lion expressed deep relief that his brother was alive.

Zabriel led Lion to meet several unusual Space Marine groups and recruited a Blood Axe Clan Strike Team for a secret mission. The Greenskins infiltrated an underground facility expecting Chaos cultists, but found an Inquisition-branded couple bound in chains.

• Zabriel told Lion about the present while withholding information about the Tyran Sector, then introduced him to the Black Dragon, Burning Falcon, and Sons of Antaeus Strike Teams.
• Zabriel ordered a Blood Axe Clan Strike Team to follow him, threatening to eliminate all Greenskins on Karis if they refused.
• After Zabriel left, the tavern owner told Lion that the group was likely going to kill Inquisitors and pointed out a location on a map.
• Zabriel sent the Greenskins into an underground facility to kill people they were told were Chaos worshippers.
• The Greenskins found a branded, chained man and woman instead of Chaos cultists, recognized the Inquisition symbols, and hesitated before attacking.

Zabriel revealed how he had trapped and killed two Inquisition agents working with Orks on Karis, prompting Lion El'Jonson to condemn his actions and his flight from the First Legion. Zabriel defended his choices by saying he cared about the safety of his fellow Fallen Angels.

• Zabriel and his allies ambushed the Orks and freed the couple, then killed the Orks after the Stormboyz called for Plan B.
• Lion El'Jonson charged through the defenders to kill a still-living Ork and shield Zabriel from its grenade, then demanded to know what was happening.
• Zabriel shot and killed the couple, and Lion El'Jonson confronted him about killing people and Orks.
• Zabriel explained that the Inquisition agents had been secretly investigating the Tyran Sector and paying the Blood Axe Clan Strike Team to help them.
• Lion El'Jonson called Zabriel a dog for fleeing the First Legion, while Zabriel defended himself by saying he wanted to protect his battle-brothers from persecution and the Dark Gods.

Lion learned that Zabriel and other persecuted Space Marines served the Tyran Sector to help displaced warriors find refuge and keep fighting for humanity. After Lion and Zabriel swore they had not betrayed one another, Zabriel agreed to take him to meet his other sons.

• A Burning Falcon warrior reported that the sector had learned of their actions and would come to Karis with rewards.
• A sector official arrived through a rift and distributed registration cards to the persecuted Space Marines and exiled Aeldari.
• Zabriel explained that the cards let outcast warriors find a home in the Tyran Sector and continue serving humanity, prompting Lion to reconsider his view of him.
• Zabriel prepared to leave and bring his brothers to join the Karis Planetary Defense Force, while Lion followed and asked to see them.
• Lion and Zabriel swore that neither had betrayed the Imperium or the other, and Zabriel agreed to take Lion to his brothers.

Lion met with Zabriel and the other Fallen Angels on Karis, and they discussed the misunderstanding that had led them to fight each other ten thousand years earlier. Lion decided to leave for Terra but reassured his sons that he trusted them and would not treat the Tyran Sector as a threat.

• The Fallen Angels initially aimed their weapons at Lion, but Zabriel persuaded them to sit down and talk.
• Lion and Zabriel’s group explained why each side had attacked during the destruction of Caliban and cleared up their misunderstanding.
• Lion and the Fallen Angels could not determine the true cause of Caliban’s destruction from their incomplete information.
• Lion said he would return to Terra to see the Emperor and would not go to the Rock to clear the Fallen Angels’ names for now.
• Lion reassured Zabriel and the others that he trusted those fighting for humanity in the Tyran Sector, then departed.

Qin Mo told Guilliman that Lion had awakened and would soon join him on Terra, bringing engineering ships to build Star Gates. As Qin Mo’s fleet searched for Lion, Scholar sensed him moving between places and realities before he stabilized with the Emperor’s Shield.

• Qin Mo informed Guilliman that Lion had awakened in the Tyran Sector, and Guilliman worried about his brother’s temperament and the Codex Astartes.
• Qin Mo promised to send Lion to Terra with five engineering ships to construct Star Gates, and Guilliman welcomed the prospect of an alternative to Warp travel.
• Qin Mo asked Scholar whether the First Fleet had found Lion, and Scholar said Lion was no longer on Karis and was moving unpredictably.
• Scholar sensed Lion stabilize with the Emperor’s Shield, and Qin Mo ordered the fleet to navigate to the world where Lion had last stabilized.

Lion awakened beyond the Tyran Gate with the Emperor’s Shield and found himself in a ruined cathedral on a world ruled by lethal restrictions. After challenging the Governor’s rules by making a priest speak, Lion watched the priest and two others die by an unexplained force.

• Lion awoke in unfamiliar green armor with the Emperor’s Shield and found a crowd of worshippers gathered around him in a dilapidated cathedral.
• Lion questioned the people and learned that the Governor forbade speaking, cooking, and reproduction, claiming that breaking the rules would bring death.
• Lion rejected the priest’s claim that the Governor protected the people and challenged the priest to speak outside the cathedral while he stood guard.
• The priest and two civilians who cried out about demons suddenly died, though Lion sensed no psychic power or other cause.

Lion investigated the priest’s death and confronted the Governor, whose persuasive words led him to envision the Tyran Sector as a sinister utopia ruled by three alien gods. The Emperor’s light broke the deception, and Lion recognized the Governor as the Deceiver.

• Lion buried the priest and used a medical device to reveal that he had died of fear, though Lion suspected a Psyker had caused it.
• The Governor appeared, blamed Lion for the priest’s death, and stirred the civilians’ emotions until golden light from the Emperor’s statue dispersed the effect.
• The Governor persuaded Lion that he cared for the planet’s people, and Lion agreed to hear his plan to lead them to the Tyran Sector.
• The Governor described the Tyran Sector’s immense navy, forbidden technology, and apparent utopia, then showed Lion a vision of three gods tormenting human souls.
• Lion’s eyes turned gold as the deception broke, and he saw the Governor as a horned god identified as the Deceiver.

Lion learned that the Deceiver had trapped the planet’s people through lies, then returned to the cathedral to free them and rally them against the C’tan. Protected by the Emperor’s power, he began building an army while reinforcements were promised.

• The Emperor warned Lion that the Deceiver’s lies could become reality and shielded Lion from its influence.
• Lion pretended to believe the Deceiver, then left to return to the cathedral without revealing that he had seen through its deception.
• Lion declared that the people were free to speak, and believers tested his claim by praising the Emperor without being harmed.
• Lion exposed the Deceiver as a false Governor, and a fanatic described how it had killed the real Governor before claiming the title.
• The Emperor’s Psychic Power protected and concealed the cathedral’s people as Lion vowed to train them to destroy the Deceiver.
• The Emperor promised to guide more civilians to Lion through dreams and said reinforcements were already on their way.

Lion trained the people of the City of Words and sought answers from the Emperor’s statue about the Deceiver and the Tyran Sector. After the Emperor urged him to fulfill his duty, Lion rallied the crowd and launched a plan to liberate the planet.

• Psychic Power protected the growing City of Words, where Lion trained an army and discovered that Emperor statues shielded people from the Deceiver’s lies.
• Lion prayed before the Emperor’s statue, which said the Deceiver’s claims about the Tyran Sector were half true and denied being a god.
• Lion decided to focus on survival rather than the fallen Imperial Truth, then told the gathered people that the Emperor had blessed their liberation.
• Lion ordered the army to attack the planetary capital while spreading word of his location to draw the Deceiver into a duel, and he set off in the opposite direction.

Lion waited in the jungle for The Deceiver, then fought the C'tan until Qin Mo arrived with reinforcements. Qin Mo struck The Deceiver and captured it in the Hypercube Maze.

• Lion waited for The Deceiver while his forces and the Planetary Defense Force advanced through the war.
• The Deceiver transformed the jungle into a lava wasteland and attacked Lion with lightning, but Lion struck it with Emperor's Shield and fought back.
• The Deceiver bound Lion in a cage of twisted matter, then the Hyper-dimensional Sky Dome rose and Qin Mo arrived through a Warp Rift.
• Qin Mo intercepted The Deceiver as it fled, shattered its head with his scepter, and threw the Hypercube Maze at it.
• The Hypercube Maze sucked in The Deceiver and displayed “Capture Successful!”

Qin Mo captured The Deceiver and answered Lion’s questions about his humanity, the Tyran Sector, and its use of artificial intelligence and Iron Men. Lion remained concerned that these machines’ actions depended entirely on Qin Mo’s will.

• Qin Mo captured The Deceiver in the Hypercube Maze and restored Lion’s armor.
• Lion questioned whether Qin Mo was human or a god, and Qin Mo insisted he was a human wielding C’tan power.
• Qin Mo explained that he ruled the Tyran Sector, that its other C’tan were guests, and that he did not consume human souls.
• Qin Mo told Lion that his artificial intelligences and Iron Men could not rebel because they had no natural existence in the Real Universe.
• Lion pointed out that the machines would obey Qin Mo whether he ordered them to fight humanity’s enemies or slaughter humanity.

Lion questioned whether Qin Mo’s Iron Men could threaten humanity, then arranged to travel to Terra with a new Lion Guard and an Ecclesiarchy ship serving as his flagship. He left the planet under a Council of Thirteen and prepared to face the Inquisition if it challenged his return.

• Lion asked Qin Mo whether Talon’s Iron Men would fight for humanity or seek to free it from the Imperium, and Qin Mo declined to debate, telling him to go to Terra.
• Lion refused Qin Mo’s ship and said he would find his own way to Terra, then thanked Qin Mo for helping Zabriel and the others.
• After Qin Mo and his fleet departed, Lion considered Talon a potential threat but recognized that its people had helped the Imperium and were not evil.
• Lion ordered the planet’s factions to form a Council of Thirteen so it could continue operating after the Governor’s death.
• Lion chose the planet’s finest soldiers to become his Lion Guard and ordered an Ecclesiarchy ship to carry the First Legion’s banner as his flagship.
• Lion declared that he would take the heads of any Inquisitors who tried to stop him and bring them to Terra.

Lion departed for Terra aboard a dilapidated pilgrim ship with his newly appointed Lion Guard and chose a nearby trading station as their first stop. As the flagship traveled through dimension space, sightings of it began spreading a legend among the stars.

• The planet’s strongest elite regiment became the Lion Guard, and Lion boarded a pilgrim ship made the First Legion’s flagship.
• Lion ordered a pre-launch inspection, and the captain and crew discovered that most of the ship’s systems needed repairs.
• The wooden crate Lion sat on broke, but he got up unharmed and urged the crew to continue their work.
• After the repairs, Lion chose a trading station two hundred light-years away and ordered the flagship to set sail.
• The ship entered a Warp Rift, and Lion experienced dimension travel while the captain described how the Tyran Navy had once taken pilgrims through the Webway.
• As the flagship traveled between destinations, Imperium worlds and starports spotted it, and stories about the wrecked ship began to spread.

Lion El'Jonson's flagship reached Baal and was challenged by a Blood Angels patrol while waiting to dock. Captain Carron recognized Lion but remained cautious, and the chapter ended as he offered another way to verify Lion's identity.

• Lion El'Jonson learned that the blood-red system was Baal, Sanguinius's homeworld, and decided not to disturb his descendants.
• A Blood Angels strike cruiser commanded by Captain Carron approached Lion's unusual flagship, accused its crew of possible fraud, and ordered them to submit to inspection.
• Carron boarded with Terminators and Blood Thralls, recorded the ship's details, and rebuked the mortals for disguising their vessel as a Primarch's flagship.
• Lion revealed himself and asked Carron to leave his flagship, but Carron questioned whether he was truly a Primarch.
• Lion offered to prove his identity by pressing Carron's head and raising his fist, while the Blood Angels aimed their weapons at him.
• Carron calmed his brothers and told Lion that they had another means of verification.

Lion reunited with Sanguinius, who had returned in a Living Metal body, and learned how Horus killed him. Lion explained the Lord of Tyran’s power and his own mistrust of the Tyran Sector, while Sanguinius urged him to treat it as an ally; the chapter ended with Sanguinius embracing his brother.

• Mephiston brought a coffin to the flagship, and the Sons of Angels awakened Sanguinius in a Living Metal body.
• Lion embraced Sanguinius, then sent their crews and guards away so they could speak privately.
• Sanguinius recounted how Horus had executed him aboard the Soul of Vengeance.
• Lion described his awakening on Karis, his battle with The Deceiver, and the Lord of Tyran’s strength and forces.
• Sanguinius urged Lion not to provoke or distrust the Lord of Tyran, and Lion admitted his suspicions while promising not to act against the sector.
• Sanguinius embraced Lion to comfort him.