Chapter Summaries

During the fleet’s Immaterium journey, Qin Xa guided the White Knight with the realm’s currents and trained the Librarians to channel his stable Psychic energy and combine their minds. The chapter ended with Varius and Tethys successfully forming a Communion Giant using a fusion technique Qin Xa had taught them.

• Qin Xa guided the White Knight through the Immaterium by directing Psychic energy into a current that also accelerated the fleet.
• Qin Xa gathered thirty Librarians and taught them to use his Psychic energy instead of drawing power directly from the Immaterium.
• Qin Xa joined the Librarians’ Communion, creating a giant warrior that vanished when he ended the demonstration.
• Kamas could not sense Qin Xa’s Psychic energy, and Qin Xa learned that Kamas blamed himself for accidentally killing two Librarian brothers during a battle.
• Qin Xa reassured Kamas and told him to rest, then gave Varius and Tethys illustrated instructions for combining their power.
• Varius and Tethys followed the instructions and formed a Communion Giant while the other Librarians watched and learned.

Qin Xa foresaw an Eldar ambush and steered the White Knight into the attackers, while Angron mobilized the fleet. The White Knight returned to realspace and fought two Thuantar Craftworld ships, but their powerful Psyker interfered with Qin Xa’s attack.

• Qin Xa interrupted his lesson for the Librarians after a prophecy showed Eldar ships attacking the White Knight, and he pushed the ship toward their predicted position.
• Angron recognized the White Knight’s sudden course change, halted the fleet, and ordered it to prepare for battle and leave the Immaterium.
• The White Knight rammed the lead Eldar ship, splitting it in two, and Angron recognized the blood-drop symbol on the Eldar armor as the mark of those who had hunted him as a child.
• Qin Xa told the Captain to keep the White Knight away from the main fleet in case an enemy fleet followed, then identified the attackers as Eldar from the Thuantar Craftworld.
• In realspace, the White Knight exchanged fire with two Eldar ships, and Qin Xa redirected its torpedoes through a Rift, damaging one ship before an enemy Psyker disrupted his attack.

Qin Xa and the Librarians fought through the White Knight to repel Eldar and Dark Eldar boarders while the damaged ship defeated its attackers in space. Qin Xa cornered a Farseer and demanded to know whether reinforcements were coming, then fought off an ambush as the chapter ended.

• A child warned the port-side gunners to evacuate, and Qin Xa sent Varius to guide the starboard gunners while he led the Librarians toward the communications equipment.
• The White Knight rammed a crippled Eldar vessel, using its wreckage to block the other ship’s fire, then destroyed that ship with a close-range barrage.
• Qin Xa and the Librarians killed Dark Eldar Warriors near the communications room and learned that the enemy had occupied it while the Captain organized a counterattack.
• Qin Xa opened an escape route for trapped sailors and led the Librarians through a sealed bulkhead, where they encountered Dark Eldar and Craftworld Eldar fighting together.
• Qin Xa pursued a Farseer, seized him by the throat, and asked whether an Eldar follow-up fleet was coming.
• Three Eldar Warriors and several female Eldar Warriors ambushed Qin Xa, but he blasted the attackers in the corridor and burned those charging from the other side.

Qin Xa uncovered the Farseer’s plan and watched the Eldar fleet close in on Angron’s forces. As Qin Xa prepared to board the enemy flagship, Angron’s overwhelming connection to his fleet transformed its coordination and responsiveness.

• Qin Xa defeated the Farseer, read his memories, and learned the Eldar had come to prevent a prophecy about Angron from destroying Thuantar Craftworld.
• Qin Xa left the Farseer nailed before a porthole and returned to the Resolute Determination, where Angron was directing the fleet’s response to the approaching Eldar ships.
• The Eldar fleet encircled the human fleet and attacked, while delays in transmitting orders left Angron’s ships struggling to respond.
• Qin Xa volunteered to board the Eldar flagship with the Librarians and a Dreadnought force led by Lork.
• Angron felt the deaths and emotions of people throughout his fleet until he sensed them all as intimately connected to him.
• The fleet suddenly fell silent and moved with greatly improved coordination, as each ship and crew seemed to act as part of one person.

Qin Xa led Lork, Tethys, Kamas, and Quadrant through an Eldar capital ship, where Quadrant repeatedly insisted he could not fight but proved capable of defending himself. After Quadrant shared his past and asked Qin Xa to keep him alive, Qin Xa continued to insist that every member of his special squad had to learn to fight.

• The Resolute Determination destroyed several Eldar ships while its interception AI countered torpedoes and fighters; the World Eaters boarding party teleported aboard an Eldar capital ship.
• Qin Xa brought Lork, Tethys, Kamas, and Mechanicus priest Quadrant through the ship, telling Quadrant to record what they encountered for legion training.
• Lork and the Librarians fought Eldar Warriors and Wraithguard as the group advanced, while Quadrant used hidden weapon appendages to kill attackers despite claiming he could not fight.
• Quadrant explained that he had once aspired to become a Biologis and had preserved his humanity after his mentor modified most of his body; Qin Xa connected his former friend to Belisarius Cawl and predicted Cawl would become fully mechanical.
• Quadrant asked Qin Xa to ensure he survived, then used his weapons to kill Eldar attacking from behind as Qin Xa reminded him that squad members had to learn to fight.

The World Eaters defeated the Eldar fleet and boarded its flagship, where Angron reunited with the enhanced Gladiators who had become his guard. As the combined force overwhelmed the Eldar defenders, Angron confronted the Farseer behind the attempt on his life and learned it had been ordered because of a prophecy.

• The World Eaters destroyed the Eldar fleet’s ships, disabled its flagship, and halted their own fleet when Angron’s influence over them ended.
• Angron discovered that Yochula and the other Gladiators had awakened from their enhancement pods and joined Kleist and mortal soldiers aboard the ship.
• Angron led nearly a hundred Terminators onto the Eldar flagship and reunited Yochula with Qin Xa during the battle inside its temple.
• The Gladiators advanced in coordinated formation, while Qin Xa used his psychic power to kill the Eldar sorcerers and help Angron’s forces break through the defenders.
• Angron attacked the Farseer, who revealed that the Thuantar Craftworld had ordered his assassination because a prophecy foretold that Angron would destroy it.

Angron killed the Thuantar Farseer after learning that the Eldar had attacked him because of a prophecy, and the Imperial fleet destroyed the Thuantar capital ship. Qin Xa then warned the Librarians against studying dangerous knowledge without his oversight and prepared the ships to resume their journey through the Immaterium.

• Angron questioned the captured Farseer about the prophecy, then crushed his skull after the Farseer insisted that fate had compelled the Eldar to attack him.
• The Resolute Determination destroyed the Thuantar capital ship, while the surviving Farseer aboard the White Knight watched the fleet's destruction and died.
• Qin Xa told the Librarians that he alone would study any recovered Eldar knowledge and would share only harmless parts.
• Qin Xa praised the Librarians for taking advice, quizzed them on the meaning of a white knight, and entered the Command Deck with them.
• Qin Xa praised the Captain's command, promised to take him aboard an Eldar ship if they found one, and ordered a hull inspection before the fleet resumed its Immaterium journey.

Angron and Qin Xa discussed Angron’s expanding ability to unite the minds of the fleet and the mystery of his essence. At a feast with the Gladiators and Legion members, Angron promised they would return to Nuceria to see Oeno and Chromachi, while the gathering affirmed the bonds that kept the Gladiators fighting together.

• Angron told Qin Xa that during the battle he had felt the fleet’s emotions and connected with its crew, controlling the ships as if they were his own limbs.
• Qin Xa suggested Angron’s gift involved a deeper connection of minds, and Angron considered that emotional perception might only be an extension of his unknown essence.
• Qin Xa measured Angron and found that he had grown five centimeters since the previous day, while Angron wondered whether his changing size was related to his essence.
• Angron and Qin Xa joined the Gladiators and others for a feast, where the guests drank, traded stories, and remembered absent friends.
• Angron promised the group they would return to Nuceria to visit Oeno and Chromachi, and Apothecary Galan Surak reported that the Blood Drinker Guard were healthy despite transforming into Astartes quickly.

Qin Xa patiently helped Kamas learn to sense psychic power, then gave him a book that recorded his Psychic Spells. Three months later, Angron and Qin Xa reached a system near Kiavahr and decided to contact Corax without taking over his uprising; Corax’s rebellion had already captured Lycaeus and spread to Kiavahr.

• Qin Xa trained Kamas to sense psychic power, and Kamas succeeded after recalling his father and family.
• Qin Xa gave Kamas a book that recorded the Psychic Spells he used and urged him to guide other Librarians with patience.
• Three months later, Angron’s fleet arrived near the Kiavahr System, and Angron chose to contact Corax without claiming the uprising’s victory.
• Qin Xa showed Angron that Corax’s Rebel Army had taken control of Lycaeus and begun seizing void facilities.
• People on Kiavahr rose against their rulers to support Corax, and one city was already engulfed in smoke and flames.

Angron and Qin Xa traveled to Lycaeus to meet Corax and discovered that the Primarch had already built a capable rebel movement. Angron and Corax recognized each other as brothers and discussed their shared psychic abilities before Qin Xa suggested they sit and talk.

• Angron concluded that Corax did not need military help and traveled with Qin Xa and the Gladiators to Lycaeus.
• The Rebels cautiously received Angron’s party, and Angron asked where his brother Corax was.
• Angron and Corax met face to face and recognized each other as Primarchs, introducing their companions and Ephrenia.
• Angron identified the Rebels’ former professions and explained that he possessed a miraculous ability.
• Corax and Angron discussed psychic power, and Qin Xa asked whether the Rebels were about to attack Kiavahr or could talk with them first.

Angron and Corax discussed the challenges of overthrowing the Guilds on Kiavahr, and Corax agreed to accept Angron’s military aid to spare lives. The 12th Legion seized the system’s defenses and launched a controlled assault on the Guild-held cities, while Corax watched to learn how Angron kept civilian casualties low.

• Angron compared the Guilds’ entrenched organization with Nuceria’s High-Riders, while an old miner argued that the Guilds’ rivalries could make them vulnerable to betrayal.
• Ephrenia asked Angron to help the Rebels, and Corax invited him to join their cause so fewer people would die.
• Angron asked Qin Xa to summon the fleet, and the 12th Legion emerged near the Mandeville Point and seized the Guilds’ ships and Kiavahr’s orbital defenses.
• Angron told Corax that the 12th Legion’s rule capped innocent casualties at thirty-one and said the Space Marines could avoid harming civilians themselves.
• Corax watched the Legion begin its assault on a major city without orbital bombardment and wondered how its heavily armored troops would conduct street fighting while limiting casualties.

Kharn led the Eighth Assault Company’s elite warriors through Kiavahr, clearing a Guild command post and heading toward Guild Building 13. Above the city, Angron showed Corax a vision of Deliverance’s future under the Emperor, and Corax vowed to change it as Qin Xa arrived by transport.

• Kharn led ten elite warriors through the city, urging them to prove the Eighth Assault Company had earned its ribbon without relying on the Eighteenth Company.
• Kharn’s group stormed a residential tower, killed the Guilds’ defenders, and discovered documents directing them to Guild Building 13.
• Kharn ordered the other company Soldiers to leave Guild Building 13 to him, then led his ten warriors toward it.
• Corax told Angron that The Emperor had appeared in his dreams and guided him, and Angron showed him a vision of the Guilds continuing their oppression under Corax’s statues.
• Corax vowed to prevent the future Angron had shown him, while Angron noticed a transport from the White Knight approaching and suspected Qin Xa was aboard.

Qin Xa led a squad into Guild Building 13 to rescue Ellie, a young Psyker held in an anti-psyker device, and found the Copus Trade Guild’s advanced research into AI. The group left with Ellie and the Guild’s technical information, while Qin Xa resolved to tell Corax about the AI research and seek out a ship carrying an AI untouched by malicious forces.

• Kharn’s squad entered Guild Building 13, but Qin Xa’s group arrived in a White Knight transport and used Olena and Olya’s ability to make the guards kill themselves.
• Qin Xa led Brown, Olena, Olya, and Quadrant upstairs, where Quadrant’s artifact destroyed the security guards waiting outside the elevator.
• The group found Ellie, a seventeen-year-old level-two Psyker, in an anti-psyker device, and Quadrant used Silver Vine to carry her out.
• Brown read the Copus Trade Guild’s research files and discovered its advanced Drone, security-machine, and AI technology.
• Qin Xa decided not to delete the research and said he would tell Corax about it, then reflected on finding and studying a ship with an AI immune to malicious forces.

Olena questioned Qin Xa about his pursuit of dangerous knowledge, and he explained that he believed his immunity to the Warp made him uniquely able to safeguard humanity while admitting his own selfish curiosity. Qin Xa then reassured Quadrant that he trusted him, and Quadrant revealed the cruel past behind his remaining biological tissue and named his mentor, Kelbo Hal.

• Olena asked Qin Xa why he sought out and monopolized dangerous knowledge, and he said he pursued it for humanity and for his own love of learning.
• Olena and Olya warned Qin Xa that taboo knowledge could bring destruction, and he promised to place responsibility on himself rather than the whole 12th Legion.
• Quadrant admitted that he had chosen to join Qin Xa’s squad and had concealed that his true body was a remnant of brain tissue in a nutrient tank.
• Qin Xa told Quadrant that he trusted him, while Brown explained how it had realized Quadrant was controlling a remote body.
• Quadrant revealed that his mentor had removed his heart and most of his brain tissue for refusing to inherit his mentor’s legacy, then named the mentor Kelbo Hal.

Qin Xa learned that Quadrant’s mentor was Kelbo Hal, then left the Guilds building with his companions as the Legion’s assault on Kiavahr continued. On the transport, he recognized Ellie as a future resistance leader and reflected that Angron and Corax’s meeting would change the destinies of Kiavahr and the Lukaius Satellite.

• Quadrant said he hated Kelbo Hal but could not consider him an enemy because Kelbo had recognized his talent and given him a chance.
• Brown urged Quadrant to oppose Kelbo Hal and condemned the forced mechanization of natural humans.
• Qin Xa left the Guilds building with the others, greeted Kharn, and tossed him a book titled “Lord of Nuceria.”
• Quadrant released the sleeping Ellie from Silver Vine, and Qin Xa recognized her as the future Resistance Leader from Corax’s biography.
• Qin Xa examined Ellie’s faint psychic soul and concluded that her psychic talent was nearly nonexistent.
• Qin Xa watched the fighting below from low orbit and reflected that Angron and Corax’s meeting would alter the destinies of the two celestial bodies and their people.

After Corax accepted the Guild leaders’ surrender, Angron revealed that most were secretly plotting against the Rebels. Corax began a campaign of surveillance and punishment, and Serrado was killed before he could authorize a nuclear attack.

• Kiel reprimanded the World Eaters for taking seven hours to conquer Kiavahr, while Hal argued that they served both Angron and The Emperor.
• Corax accepted the Guild leaders’ surrender on the condition that they lose their property and power and remain under Rebel surveillance.
• Angron told Corax that most of the 221 Guild leaders planned sabotage, assassination, or nuclear retaliation, including Serrado.
• Corax decided to put the Guild leaders on trial and target Serrado, while Angron warned that such schemers would require constant surveillance.
• Serrado escaped prison and prepared to authorize a nuclear attack, but a disguised agent of the Lord of the Raven shot him and discarded his body.
• Agents across Kiavahr eliminated people attempting to contact imprisoned masters, hidden armed forces, and Drone technicians.

Qin Xa and Ephrenia confronted a Corpus Trade Guild manager holding thousands of Contract Slaves hostage, and Qin Xa freed them while recovering an STC Template. After seeing the Template produce a Brain-Machine Interface manufacturing device, Qin Xa assured Ephrenia that the 12th Legion would leave Kiavahr’s technological assets with its people.

• Ephrenia explained that the Guilds enslaved indebted workers and that the Corpus Trade Guild controlled its Contract Slaves through implanted devices.
• Qin Xa and Ephrenia entered the factory, where a manager demanded a transport and an Amnesty Permit while holding thousands of workers under implant control.
• Qin Xa used a compressed piece of bread to destroy the manager’s spinal implant, and Ephrenia killed the manager as the workers regained control of their bodies.
• Qin Xa recovered the manager’s STC Template, which produced a device that manufactured Brain-Machine Interfaces.
• Ephrenia asked whether Nuceria would trade with Kiavahr, and Qin Xa promised that the 12th Legion would leave the STC Templates and related knowledge with the people of Kiavahr.

Corax and the Rebels received the knowledge and STC Templates collected on Kiavahr, and Corax gave Angron a construction template as a token of friendship between their Legions. Angron confronted the Mechanicus priest over testing Nuceria Prime’s new Dreadnought interface, while Corax resolved to govern Kiavahr and Lycaeus himself.

• Theseus handed Corax the Association’s records and collected artifacts, and the Rebels began taking inventory of them.
• Corax gave Angron a factory-and-housing construction STC Template to symbolize their Legions’ mutual aid, and Angron accepted it.
• The Nuceria Prime research representative presented a Silver Vine-inspired brain-machine interface, and Angron ordered it applied to the Dreadnoughts.
• The Mechanicus priest refused to install the unverified device, so Angron placed Qin Xa in charge of a new Dreadnought maintenance team and sent the priest away.
• Angron warned Corax against letting the Mechanicus rule his worlds, and Corax decided to govern Kiavahr and Lycaeus personally.

Angron dreamed of confronting the Emperor over his treatment of the primarchs and refused his commands. He awoke in his office just as an invisible impact hurled him through several rooms.

• Angron reviewed documents about the Kiavahr war and checked on Qin Xa's research into crystals from the bugs.
• Angron dreamed that the Emperor challenged him over what he had told Corax, then ordered him to retrieve his sons and aid his brothers.
• Angron refused the Emperor's orders and criticized him for treating the primarchs like slaves instead of sons.
• The Emperor admitted that Angron had inherited his feared weakness for emotion and said he had given Angron a strong body.
• Angron woke on his desk, then an invisible impact blasted him through his office, the storeroom, and into his bedroom.

The Emperor and Malcador examined Angron’s memories to assess Qin Xa’s influence and mysterious nature after The Emperor’s confrontation with Angron. They decided Qin Xa was not yet an enemy and would be observed while the fleet prepared to depart.

• The Emperor regretted losing his temper when Angron exposed his emotions, and Malcador warned him to avoid revealing his heart to Twelfth.
• The Emperor and Malcador reviewed memories showing Qin Xa encouraging Angron to act ruthlessly against enemies and helping him learn to distinguish friends from foes.
• Malcador analyzed Qin Xa’s approach to relationships and his ability to recognize Chaos-tainted books, while The Emperor agreed with parts of his assessment.
• The Emperor and Malcador considered why Qin Xa had no Soul Projection and speculated that he might be an advanced Immaterium existence or Lesser God.
• The Emperor concluded that Qin Xa knew the future and had objections to him but was not currently an enemy, and he expected Qin Xa to follow the orders given to Angron.