Chapter Summaries

Custodes Prefect Koken practiced a simulated battle against Guilliman and Lion aboard a transport bound for Macragge, then witnessed an unknown warship emerge from Macragge’s star. At the landing pad, Guilliman welcomed Qin Mo and his companions, while Koken recognized that the arriving Custodians and the blonde Vanessa were tied to events he did not yet understand.

• Koken used Lion to help defeat a simulated Guilliman, and the Servitor announced that the one hundred and twentieth battle had ended.
• Koken saw a Tyran-styled warship emerge from Macragge’s star and wondered whether it used new FTL technology.
• Koken and ten Custodians disembarked on Macragge and saw Guilliman arrive with Caldor and Ultramarines successor Chapters.
• Qin Mo emerged from a rift with Vanessa, Grey, and Anreda, then greeted Guilliman and introduced his companions.
• Guilliman joked with Vanessa, greeted Grey and Anreda, and walked with Qin Mo to Koken, who interrupted his apology and gave him an Aquila salute.

Qin Mo arrived with Tyran’s forces and met the Custodes reinforcements Koken had brought to support Guilliman. Before a conference on Mortarion’s plague machine on Espandor, Qin Mo pledged his fleet and personal backing for Guilliman’s planned military operation.

• Guilliman received Qin Mo before Koken and the Custodes, and Koken greeted the Lord of Tyran as someone he had indirectly helped appoint Sector Governor.
• Koken brought ten Adeptus Custodes Shield-Captains and twenty Sisters of Silence, whom Guilliman invited to join his war conference.
• On the way to the conference, Guilliman and the Emperor joked about the Emperor’s earlier teasing, while Vanessa admitted she had hidden the light in her eyes to fool him.
• Guilliman told Qin Mo that Mortarion had built a machine to spread plague and rebellion across astronomical distances, and that he planned to destroy it on Espandor.
• Qin Mo pledged his fleet and support for Guilliman, including backing him if he personally led the operation against Espandor.

Guilliman confronted the nobles and diplomats of the Five Hundred Worlds over who held authority, then explained that Warp machines were causing the plagues and rebellions. After Qin Mo agreed to join him in destroying the Espandor machine, Guilliman left to prepare for war.

• Guilliman announced that eight Primaris Chapters would be established in the Five Hundred Worlds, prompting complaints about his military power and rule.
• A female diplomat questioned Guilliman about the Unnumbered Sons, and Guilliman argued that the mortals' authority came from the Terran Council rather than directly from the Emperor.
• Anreda explained to Vanessa that the meeting's disputes over the Four Heroes and the Codex were ultimately arguments about who held power.
• Guilliman showed a recording of a Warp sorcery machine on Espandor and said similar machines were driving plagues and rebellions across the Five Hundred Worlds.
• Guilliman asked the assembly to supply war materiel while he led forces to Espandor, and Qin Mo stood up and offered to go with him.
• Qin Mo left the hall with the Custodian and Vanessa, and Guilliman departed to prepare for war.

The Spear of Espandor began as Guilliman led the Ultramarines and Talon forces in an assault on a traitor fortress. The 44th Infantry Regiment and Space Marines breached the fortress walls and advanced toward the enemy anti-air positions, with the Sons of Antaeus pushing through concentrated fire.

• Yax's hospitals, recovery services, and food helped soldiers recover from physical and mental injuries, weakening the plague's influence around the world.
• Guilliman directed the Spear of Espandor and assigned the 44th Infantry Regiment and Talon's Space Marines to attack the fortress alongside the Ultramarines' First and Second Companies.
• A Ratling teleported to eliminate two heavy weapons operators but lost an arm to a Bolter shell, and Zabriel pulled him to safety.
• The Sons of Antaeus advanced under heavy fire, using their Energy Shields and weapons to batter the fortress walls while other Space Marines and the 44th Infantry Regiment supported them.
• The Burning Falcons killed the traitors manning the walls, and the Black Dragons teleported over them to attack the Plague Warriors.
• Saran rallied the Sons of Antaeus to push forward as the Space Marines destroyed the rotting-tentacle tanks and Zabriel led the Fallen Angels against the Plague Warriors.

Angie's vision revealed that Mortarion's machine was hidden inside the fortress, and Qin Mo and Guilliman destroyed it before defeating the Greater Demon Kalamar. With Yax still standing and Espandor's war nearly won, Qin Mo considered whether Mortarion would withdraw.

• Angie foresaw sorcerers installing Mortarion's machine in the fortress, and Zabriel and the Ultramarines reported his vision to their leaders.
• Qin Mo and Guilliman arrived at the fortress and ordered the other forces to stay behind while they went to the machine.
• Qin Mo pulled the building containing the machine to them, and Guilliman destroyed the machine with the Emperor's Sword.
• Kalamar emerged from the wreckage, and Qin Mo and Guilliman used lightning and fire to immobilize the Greater Demon before Guilliman killed it with the Blade of Flame.
• Guilliman said Espandor's war was nearly half won, while Qin Mo wondered whether Mortarion would withdraw before his mind was ruined by plague.

Mortarion lamented the Death Guard’s defeats, and Vashtorr offered to help him wage total war against his brother. Vashtorr revealed that he wanted Mortarion’s help finding the source of the alloy skeletons that had attacked his Warp territory.

• Mortarion listed the Death Guard’s losses, including Kugath’s banishment, the failure to take Yax, and the destruction of Espandor.
• Vashtorr urged Mortarion to persist and said a surprise attack on Talon had almost no chance of success.
• Mortarion demanded to know Vashtorr’s purpose, and Vashtorr offered to manufacture weapons for a head-on war against Mortarion’s brother.
• Vashtorr showed Mortarion images of his damaged Warp territory and the alloy skeletons that had attacked it.
• Vashtorr asked Mortarion to help locate the alloy skeletons’ source, explaining that he had a competitor.

The Talon reinforcements arrived on Parmenio and helped the defenders of Hekaton break the Plague assault. After the Sons of Antaeus cleared a path through the zombies, Grot ordered them to destroy the infested towers while his people searched for survivors.

• The 44th Infantry Regiment and Talon Space Marine Composite Regiment reached Parmenio after three days of travel and joined the defense of Hekaton.
• A Sister in crimson armor prayed after toxic fluid badly corroded her, and the God-Emperor restored her armor, flesh, and energy.
• More than two hundred armored Ogryns charged through the Plague Zombies, while Talon infantry and heavy weapons attacked from the ruins.
• The Sons of Antaeus formed a line and fired more than two thousand missiles, clearing the corpses in front of the auxiliary troops.
• Grot told Chapter Master Saran to bomb the infested tall buildings while his people searched the city for surviving civilians, and Saran accepted the task.

During Hekaton City's cleanup, Chaos Spawn and Plague Warriors ambushed the defenders, and Grot fought one of the monsters before a strange Iron Skeleton appeared. The Iron Skeleton wounded the red-armored Sister and vanished, leaving Grot to give her an injector.

• Five Chaos Spawn and hundreds of Plague Warriors burst from the rubble and attacked the defenders.
• Grot and the auxilia colonel charged a Chaos Spawn, and Grot struck its mouth with his gravity hammer before being flung into a house.
• Grot rose with a broken arm, injected himself with adrenaline, and charged the Chaos Spawn again.
• A living missile struck and exploded inside the Chaos Spawn, revealing an alloy Iron Skeleton in the distance.
• The red-armored Sister fired at the Iron Skeleton, which threw a transforming spear that pierced her abdomen before it vanished.
• Grot injected the wounded Sister in the neck after the other forces eliminated the Chaos Spawn and Plague Warriors.

Grot helped the Sisters and the auxiliary army secure Hekaton and learned that survivors across Parmenio were battling a planetwide plague of walking corpses. After a boy asked him to find his missing sister, Grot promised to search the southern part of the city.

• Grot introduced himself to Aeolans and Devorlas, then asked Zabriel to organize Hekaton's defenses.
• Grot learned that Hekaton held survivors and could become a refuge for people across Parmenio.
• Devorlas asked Grot for communications equipment, weapons, ammunition, and energy for the Sisters' armor, and Grot agreed to provide support.
• A soldier brought in a boy who had stolen a laspistol to search for his sister in the south of the city.
• Grot took the boy's pistol and promised to search every building in the southern city for his sister.

Zabriel organized Hekaton City's defenses while Lando delivered orders and clashed with Aeolans over his loyalty. Lando revealed how an Inquisitor had arranged the Burning Falcons' destruction, and the chapter ended with news that a young girl had slain more than a dozen Plague Warriors.

• Zabriel ordered Brainboy's Ogryn squad to the northern wall and sent Lando to arrange relief for the Tyran Army troops.
• Aeolans accused Lando and the Dark Angels of abandoning the Imperium, and Lando confronted her in anger.
• Lando explained that an Inquisitor had betrayed the Burning Falcons after their flames led to suspicion, leaving him one of three surviving recruits.
• Lando released Aeolans and walked away after a white-armored Sister arrived and stopped another Sister from firing on him.
• The white-armored Sister told Aeolans that Regimental Commander Grot had found a young girl who killed more than a dozen Plague Warriors outside Hekaton's southern wall.

Grot found two uncorrupted girls in a Nurgle-corrupted town and discovered that the older girl was a Living Saint. As he escaped with her and a book of daemon true names, she destroyed the attacking Plague Warriors and fell unconscious; the younger girl reunited with her brother on Hekaton's southern wall.

• Grot found two girls in an intact house outside the city and confirmed that neither showed signs of Chaos corruption.
• The older girl purified water from a contaminated well, and Grot recognized her as a Living Saint.
• The girl led Grot to a book of daemon true names while hostile lifeforms approached the town.
• A Plague Warrior attacked, and Grot carried the girl and the book toward teleportation as Plague Warriors surrounded them.
• The girl unleashed holy power, causing every Plague Warrior to fall apart, and Grot teleported with her to Hekaton's southern wall.
• The younger girl reunited with her brother, while Grot called for a medic to treat the unconscious Living Saint.

After a girl with golden eyes was rescued, Grot suspected she might be a Living Saint like Vanessa, while Sister Aeolans refused to confirm the claim. Aeolans revealed that the girl would face a Witch Test, leaving Grot alarmed about the danger she faced.

• Grot recounted the rescue, and Aeolans took the unconscious girl into the Sisters’ care while Grot noticed she had not called the girl a Living Saint.
• Aeolans told Grot that she did not believe the girl was a Living Saint until the claim was confirmed.
• Grot explained that Vanessa was also a woman with golden eyes who could be possessed by the Emperor, and Aeolans threatened him for suggesting the Emperor had a fetish.
• Grot told Aeolans that Lando respected the Sisters and worried he might cause trouble, prompting Aeolans to admit she had been wrong to insult his battle-brothers.
• Aeolans told Grot that the girl would have to undergo a cruel Witch Test before the Sisters could recognize her as a Living Saint, and Grot became unsettled.

Aeolans defended the need to test the girl, warning Grot that Chaos could imitate miracles, while Grot recalled how Khorne had nearly made him one of his chosen after the battle for Talon Terra. Aeolans left the dormitory, still suspicious of Grot and his unusual survival.

• Aeolans told Grot that a corrupted Living Saint had once used false miracles to turn loyal Space Marines against the Imperium, so the girl needed a Witch Test.
• Grot argued that the girl’s soul was pure, but Aeolans questioned whether his test was recognized and accused him of being blessed by an unknown power.
• Grot remembered that, after the battle for Talon Terra, Khorne had tried to elevate him into a powerful servant, but Grot rejected the offer and resisted the transformation.
• Grot told Aeolans that he had survived Korax’s attack because his Power Armor protected him when he detonated a bomb, not because he had been blessed.
• Aeolans said no one would investigate Grot because he was a Tyranid, then walked out of the dormitory.

Guilliman took a break from the war to play a battle game with Qin Mo, then discussed the Ecclesiarchy and a girl on Parmenio believed to be a Living Saint. He remained convinced she was a dangerous Psyker and ordered her kept under strict watch as he prepared to establish a spaceport on Parmenio.

• Guilliman diverted forces toward Parmenio as the Death Guard's stalled offensive gave him time to play a battle game with Qin Mo.
• Guilliman learned that Fros was locked because he had not participated in the Weeping Legion's warship fundraiser, and he complained that the game had no Primarchs.
• Qin Mo explained that the Ecclesiarchy threatened the game company with lawsuits, prompting Guilliman to discuss his opposition to the institution and Mathieu's recent departure from Macragge's Honour.
• Guilliman insisted that the girl discovered on Parmenio was a Psychic witch rather than a Living Saint, while Qin Mo privately knew the reports about her were true.
• Guilliman said he would establish a spaceport on Parmenio and ordered the girl kept under strict watch, with a Primaris Space Marine overseeing her alongside local forces.

Guilliman and Qin Mo coordinated the reclaiming of the Five Hundred Worlds while the Lamenters rescued civilians from enemy-held worlds. Fros asked to lead the fleets as their vanguard, and Qin Mo agreed after arranging for the Lamenters to replenish their supplies.

• On Hekaton, a Primaris Space Marine announced Guilliman's order that Devorlas's mortal auxiliaries supervise the Psyker girl instead of the Sisters of Battle.
• Grot gave Devorlas a teleport beacon, medicine, and rapid-repair biomass before departing for the next war zone, and Devorlas assigned the medicine to the gravely wounded.
• Macragge's Honour and Glorious Humanity led their fleets in reclaiming worlds across the Ultramar sector and encountered the Lamenters, who had rescued hundreds of millions of civilians.
• Fros told Guilliman and Qin Mo that the Lamenters would serve as the fleet's vanguard and asked permission to lead the advance.
• Guilliman agreed to Fros's request, and Qin Mo approved it and offered to replenish the Lamenters' supplies before they departed.

Fros led the Lamenters fleet into the Five Hundred Worlds to retake occupied planets while avoiding harm to civilians. As the Lamenters began reclaiming Onila, Taifon brought his Plague Fleet into the system on the way to attack Galatan Star Fortress.

• A Weeping Legion Tech-Sergeant reported that the Daughter of Storm and the Lamenters had received supplies from Tyran, and Fros ordered Captain Tessa to take the fleet toward the enemy-occupied zone.
• Fros brought the Lamenters fleet to Onila, where he planned to retake worlds before the larger allied fleets arrived and risked civilian casualties.
• Seven hundred Lamenters teleported onto Onila and attacked the Death Guard, beginning the reclamation of the system.
• Taifon, commanding a Plague Fleet of over a thousand warships, headed toward Galatan Star Fortress despite Mortarion's objections.
• Taifon ordered his fleet to stop in the Onila System and raid the locals for zombie fodder.

The Weeping Legion fleet faced Taifon’s Plague Fleet above Onila Prime while protecting the civilians below. Fros refused to retreat and prepared to lead the Sons of Pride in stopping Taifon until the main fleet arrived.

• Tessa detected Taifon’s Plague Fleet emerging from the Warp and ordered the Weeping Legion ships to battle stations.
• The fleets exchanged fire, and the Weeping Legion’s shields and defenses came under heavy attack.
• Tessa urged Fros to withdraw, but he refused because the civilians on Onila Prime still needed protection.
• Fros ordered a locator torpedo swarm launched and donned his Terminator Armor despite Tessa’s objections.
• The twenty veteran Terminators known as the Sons of Pride assembled, and Fros told them to keep Taifon from escaping before the main fleet arrived.

Fros and the Sons of Pride boarded the End of Days and fought their way toward Taifon, intending to delay him until the grand fleet arrived. Their clash revealed that Taifon had not known about the approaching fleet, and he realized Mortarion had kept him uninformed.

• The fleet fired more than a thousand targeting torpedoes at the End of Days, and one breached its hull and opened a teleportation rift in the engine chamber.
• Fros and the Sons of Pride emerged, killed the plague crew, and destroyed the End of Days' biological engine before advancing toward the bridge.
• Fros's Terminator-armored guards fought through the ship's defenses, while a Librarian Brother used Psychic Power to guide and protect them.
• Taifon confronted Fros and his guards, and Fros's spear pierced Taifon's shoulder as they began fighting.
• Fros told Taifon that the grand fleet was on its way, and Taifon realized Mortarion had withheld that information and roared in anger.

Ultramar's Five Hundred Worlds and the Tyran Navy brought their combined fleets through a rift and attacked the Plague Fleet. The Dreadnought Squadron crippled the End of Days, leaving Taifon alive but grieving as Fros stood behind him with a lance at his neck.

• The fleets of Ultramar and the Tyran Navy emerged from a rift and opened fire on the Plague Fleet, with Macragge's Honour targeting the End of Days.
• The Dreadnought Squadron launched from Glorious Humanity and bombed the Plague Fleet, destroying hundreds of warships and sending ten fighters to crash their torpedoes into the End of Days.
• The End of Days broke apart after the torpedo strikes, and Macragge's Honour's shell drove its severed stern into its bow, killing most of its crew.
• Taifon watched the End of Days' wreckage fall toward the planet, overcome with grief, while Fros threatened to kill him again.

Mortarion launched a massive Death Guard fleet into the Onira System, backed by Vashtorr’s supplies and 120 powerful demon fortresses. As the fortresses struck Macragge’s Honour, Guilliman took the ground forces to Onila Prime, leaving Qin Mo in command of the fleet.

• Mortarion watched Taifon escape after Fros pierced him, then agreed with Vashtorr to lead the Death Guard into a great war.
• Vashtorr supplied the Death Guard with equipment and war machines as Mortarion prepared to bring his brothers to battle.
• Mortarion’s fleet emerged behind the Ultramar and Talon fleets, followed by 120 heavily armed demon fortresses.
• Tigurius warned Guilliman and Qin Mo that he had foreseen the destruction of Macragge’s Honour and reported enemy troops heading to Onila Prime.
• The demon fortresses overloaded Macragge’s Honour’s Void Shield and damaged the flagship, so Qin Mo took responsibility for the Void War while Guilliman led ground forces to Onila Prime.
• Guilliman transferred fleet command to Qin Mo.