Chapter Summaries

Leon and Ada investigated the contaminated sewage system beneath District 04 and found signs of deliberate sabotage, a spreading infection, and possible involvement by local officials. They discovered thousands of people gathered in the main drainage channel, fighting to drink the polluted water they called their master's Nectar.

• Leon and Ada followed the sewage tunnel to a treatment plant where the water was contaminated, the machinery had been sabotaged, and the surveillance camera was damaged.
• Leon hacked the plant's locked doors and alerted the Krieg 087th Regiment and the company that District 04's systems might have been deliberately disrupted.
• Leon and Ada found diseased, rotting creatures in the plant and suspected District 04's officials were involved in concealing the contamination.
• Leon and Ada killed two guards, one of whom showed symptoms like the infected worker, and Leon suspected the outbreak was a contagious disease of the mind connected to the Warp.
• Leon learned from White Queen that reinforcements would arrive in ten hours, then he and Ada found at least a thousand people below, all struggling to drink the polluted water they called their master's Nectar.

Leon and Ada discovered that Fells Toloni was leading sewage-drinking believers in a plan to summon their lord, then escaped their pursuit as Arcadia descended into chaos. Cut off from the company and without immediate support, they returned to a city engulfed in violence and fire.

• Leon reported the corrupted believers to the company and Krieg 087th Regiment, which dispatched reinforcements to District 04.
• Leon and Ada watched Fells Toloni address the believers and learned that he planned to bring his lord into reality.
• Ada and Leon attacked Fells with a high-energy beam and plasma grenades, then fled as the believers pursued them.
• Leon learned that artillery had damaged the relay station and that Arcadia’s forces were fighting one another, delaying the Krieg combat battalion.
• Leon and Ada emerged onto District 04’s streets and found civilians fleeing, public security officers forcing people to drink Thick Soup, and the city ablaze.

Andre and a group of retired UNSC veterans defeated the Chaos-corrupted Public Security Bureau officers who had infiltrated their apartment building, then joined Krieg's advance into District 04. By the time Krieg reached the Blue Resort Hotel and reunited with Leon and Ada, Andre's force had grown to nearly a thousand, and he discovered that Leon was with Umbrella.

• Chaos-corrupted Public Security Bureau officers entered the apartment building, subdued its residents, and tried to force them to drink Rotten Soup.
• A sniper and other veterans attacked the officers, while the baseball-cap guard treated the wounded guard captain.
• Andre led the retired veterans out to protect the neighborhood and ordered residents to return home as the building was sealed.
• Andre and the veterans joined Krieg's convoy on 3rd Avenue, killing corrupted believers and helping civilians escape.
• Uncorrupted officers, retired veterans, and deserters from the 203rd Division joined Andre's group as it followed Krieg into District 04.
• Krieg reached the Blue Resort Hotel and reunited with Leon and Ada, and Andre laughed when he learned Leon was with Umbrella.

Leon and the Krieg 087th Regiment advanced toward District 01 to stop Fells Toloni and a cultist summoning ritual, while Andre and Ada organized resistance elsewhere. The Kriegs reached the ritual plaza but were repelled by Fells’s Psionic Power barrier, and the commander led a desperate melee charge as Leon lay trapped inside the overturned Mammoth.

• Leon identified District 01 as the cultists’ likely target and asked Andre to rally resistance forces while Ada helped distinguish civilians from cultists.
• Leon and the Krieg commander led most of the Krieg force toward District 01, where they encountered a deserted city and an eerie pillar of green light.
• The Kriegs fought through corrupted rebels and reached a plaza where nearly a thousand robed cultists surrounded blood-painted ritual symbols.
• Leon called for artillery to strike the cultists, but Fells Toloni used overwhelming Psionic Power to overturn the Mammoth and shield the plaza from the bombardment.
• Fells’s rebels destroyed the Kriegs’ remaining armored vehicles, so the commander and surviving Kriegs charged into battle with melee weapons.

The 87th Combat Battalion fought through the rebel position and overcame Fells’ Psionic Power, with the battalion commander killing Fells after a fierce clash. As the summoning pillar faded, Sui Bian learned that Fells had been possessed by the Warp demon Samael and was offered the chance to use Psionic Plunder.

• The Kriegers charged the rebels, and the battalion commander and his soldiers slaughtered many enemies despite suffering heavy casualties.
• Fells crushed a Krieger with Psionic Power and forced the surviving Kriegers to their knees, but the battalion commander recovered and led them back into the fight.
• The battalion commander resisted Fells’ Psionic Lightning, struck him with his Chainsword, and killed him after Fells tried to persuade him to join.
• The Kriegers swept the plaza with a barrage against the cultists, while the summoning pillar dimmed and then faded.
• Sui Bian received a system notice that Fells Toloni had been possessed by Samael, a Mid-tier Demon, and was asked whether to spend 15,000 points on Psionic Plunder.

Sui Bian used his Psionic Power to help the 087th Combat Battalion defeat Fells Toloni and plundered the power of the demon Samael. He prepared to protect humanity from the growing Warp threat as Artemis and the Grey Knights set out to purge Arcadia’s Heretics.

• Sui Bian plundered Samael’s Psionic Power and claimed the Venomous Scimitar, purging the demon parasitizing it.
• Sui Bian explained that he had heard the prayers of the 087th Combat Battalion and spent his Psionic Power protecting the Krieg soldiers as they killed Fells Toloni.
• Sui Bian ordered White Queen to accelerate quantum communications research, send an Engineering Ship to Rockfort Island, and prepare the Plague Doctor to go to Arcadia.
• Sui Bian told Corax and Lion that the Warp threat was growing and planned regular patrols to protect the colonies, while waiting for the right moment to reveal the Primarchs publicly.
• Four hours later, Artemis led the Grey Knights and Divine Servant Soldiers aboard the Selene toward Arcadia, ordering them to purge its Heretics.

Artemis and the Grey Knights arrived in drop pods over Arcadia, where the Krieg 087th Regiment had survived heavy losses and demons still ravaged the city. Artemis killed a serpent demon, while a Grey Knight prepared to execute the wounded Horned Demon.

• Artemis and five Grey Knights boarded a drop pod aboard the Selene, and the ship launched pods toward Arcadia's urban district.
• The Krieg 087th Regiment gathered its dead and survivors after repelling the rebels and cultists, while gunfire continued in the city.
• A Horned Demon killed two retired veterans, then fought a serpent demon that poisoned and weakened it near a warehouse sheltering civilians.
• The serpent demon spotted the descending drop pods and dodged as one landed in the street.
• Artemis stepped out with five Grey Knights and killed the serpent demon with two Bolter shots.
• A Grey Knight pinned the wounded Horned Demon and aimed his gun at its head.

Artemis and the Grey Knights purged demons and cultists across Arcadia, with Artemis revealing her divine strength as she defeated a Minotaur Demon. As the UNSC 3rd Fleet arrived in orbit, Sui Bian prepared to join the operation in his Black-Gold Armor.

• Artemis and five Grey Knights used Moonlight Bolter Rounds to clear demons from District 11 and rescued besieged UNSC soldiers from cultists and a Minotaur Demon.
• Artemis shattered the Minotaur Demon's Bone Hammer, knocked it down with a punch, and purified it with a canister of Full Moon Water.
• The lieutenant rallied the surviving soldiers to protect civilians and clear District 11 as Artemis and the Grey Knights continued their sweep.
• The UNSC 3rd Fleet emerged from the Warp Rift above Arcadia and dispersed toward the city's districts and major cities.
• Sui Bian learned that the Third and Sixth Legions were ready and that the Plague Doctor would arrive in three hours, then put on his Black-Gold Armor.

Sui Bian arrived in Arcadia wearing his Black-Gold Armor and unleashed a vast wave of psychic power to cleanse the city and sever its connection to the Warp. The cleansing destroyed the remaining corruption, but left him exhausted after he confirmed that Arcadia was free of it.

• Sui Bian flew to District 01 with Lion, Corax, and the Honor Guard, where Red Queen reported an estimated twelve million dead.
• The 087th Battalion Commander presented Fells Toloni's recovered scimitar and cases of the rebels' Thick Soup, and Sui Bian praised the defenders for saving Arcadia.
• Sui Bian released a golden psychic shockwave that comforted the survivors as it spread through the city and across Arcadia.
• The shockwave burned away Samael's taint, Thick Soup, and the corrupted traitors hiding beneath District 04.
• After cleansing all of Arcadia, Sui Bian stopped the psychic wave and assured the worried Lion and Corax that he was all right.

Sui Bian gave Artemis the purified Venomous Scimitar and tasked her with helping establish the Department of Warp and Demon Regulation, nicknamed the Demon Hunters. The chapter ended with Umbrella intelligence agent Sherry Birkin aboard a vessel approaching Luna Base.

• Sui Bian reviewed the Arcadia incident’s aftermath, including the public cover story, memory alterations, and the assignments given to Leon, Ada, Andre, and the Krieg 087th Regiment.
• Sui Bian ordered the Red Queen and White Queen to monitor new religions exploiting the Arcadia incident and considered what role he would have once the Primarchs and Astartes entered public life.
• Sui Bian gave Artemis the purified Venomous Scimitar to replace her lost Hunting Bow and asked her to serve as a consultant for the new demon-focused department.
• Sui Bian directed Artemis to recruit intelligence-agent graduates and veterans, then train them on Titan to become Demon Hunters.
• Sherry Birkin sat aboard a passenger vessel approaching Luna Base, gazing out at space.

Sherry Birkin traveled to Luna Base to join Gabriel Angelos and thirty Astartes recruits aboard the frigate Punishment, which was bound for her new intelligence post in the remote Epsilon VIII System. As the group prepared to depart, Roger remained on Luna, where he considered arranging a defense exercise to see his brother Magnus.

• Sherry arrived at Luna Base after returning from a vacation with her parents and collected her luggage before taking a train to the Astartes Recruit Training Camp.
• Sherry reunited with Rebecca Chambers and Alexia Reshik, then joined them in meeting Roger and the recruits at the Central Plaza.
• Roger introduced Sherry, the incoming head of Epsilon VIII's Intelligence Department, to Gabriel Angelos, leader of the recruits, and told them to board the Punishment.
• Rebecca and Alexia reminisced about Sherry and the children who had grown into Primarchs, while Roger said Sui Bian and Lion were patrolling the Hydra Constellation System.
• Roger wondered when Magnus would finish his research and considered holding a Solar System defense exercise to draw him out.
• Sherry and the recruits boarded the Paris-class frigate Punishment, the sole warship assigned to defend Epsilon VIII, with a Thunderhawk III aboard.

Sherry traveled aboard the Punishment to Epsilon d, known as Harvest, where she was assigned to lead Intelligence. After learning about alien ruins, humanity’s expansion, and the possibility of a future war, she arrived at the colony and prepared to begin her new posting.

• Sherry boarded the Punishment with Gabriel and the other recruits, then settled into her cabin as the ship entered the Warp Rift.
• Sherry read company reports about quantum communications and nonhuman ruins on Messrine, deciding to investigate discreetly when she reached Epsilon d.
• Sherry reviewed humanity’s growing territory and population, and worried that revealing the Yautja as allies could trigger an interstellar war.
• Thirty-eight hours later, the Punishment emerged in the Epsilon VIII system and approached Harvest, a fertile, largely rural colony.
• The Punishment docked at Harvest’s orbital transportation hub, allowing Sherry and the other passengers to disembark.

Sherry arrived on Harvest, organized an intelligence team, and later discovered metal ruins embedded in a lakeside cliff. When Harvest entered a state of emergency, civilians evacuated and the Punishment moved to confront three unidentified ships emerging from the Warp Rift.

• Sherry descended to Aldega, met local intelligence agents, and told them to investigate whether Harvest contained ancient ruins.
• Two months later, Sherry's team found a metal structure embedded in a rocky lakeside cliff and arranged for Lara Croft and engineers to assist with the excavation.
• After learning Harvest was in a state of emergency, Sherry suspended the investigation and ordered civilians evacuated.
• Air-raid sirens sounded as civilians fled to shelters and ships evacuated from Hub Station, while the Punishment remained to defend Harvest.
• Miranda Matcha reported that three unidentified ships had emerged from the Warp Rift and showed Gabriel and the other officers images of the approaching vessels.

Miranda ordered the Punishment to attack an alien fleet and create an opening for Gabriel and the Thutmose to board its flagship. After the Punishment broke the flagship’s shield, Gabriel’s Thunderhawk III reached the hull to begin the boarding assault.

• Miranda reported that the alien fleet ignored contact attempts and that reinforcements would take four hours to arrive, while an enemy pulse attack cut off communications.
• The alien commander sent a hostile message, and Miranda ordered the Punishment to engage while Gabriel led the Thutmose in a decapitation strike.
• Miranda ordered the ship and its aircraft to battle stations, and the Punishment’s fighters and Gabriel’s Thunderhawk launched toward the enemy fleet.
• The Punishment fired on the flagship, whose shield blocked the first main-cannon shot, and enemy aircraft swarmed out to attack.
• Miranda ordered the secondary cannons and air defenses to keep firing as the Punishment maneuvered; a second main-cannon shot collapsed the flagship’s shield.
• The Punishment’s Close-in Weapon Systems cleared a path, and the escort squadrons protected Gabriel’s Thunderhawk III as it approached the flagship with its Melta Cannon active.

Thutmose's Thunderhawk III crashed into the enemy flagship, where Gabriel and his Astartes slaughtered the Alliance troops in the warehouse and began a search for the enemy commander. After clearing a corridor, Gabriel's squad encountered a group of invisible enemies as they prepared to advance.

• Miranda ordered the Punishment and its fighter squadrons to leave the enemy flagship and attack the remaining Cockroaches.
• Thunderhawk III breached the flagship, causing a loss of pressure that sucked many Unggoy and Gnolls into space before the ship sealed off the damaged area.
• Gabriel's thirty Astartes emerged from Thunderhawk III and killed the Alliance soldiers in the warehouse, including Unggoy, Gnolls, Jiralhanae, and Elites.
• Gabriel split his forces into two groups and ordered them to find and kill or capture the enemy commander while purging the flagship of its troops.
• Gabriel led fourteen Astartes through a corridor, killing the Alliance soldiers they encountered until automatic doors opened and invisible enemies rushed in.

Gabriel and the Thutmose fought through veteran Silver-armored Elites while Miranda led the damaged Punishment into a direct attack on the remaining enemy ship. The Punishment shattered its shields and launched assault pods into its hangar, beginning a boarding action as the ship itself lost speed and most of its guns.

• Gabriel and his brothers killed six Silver-armored Elites, took their Energy Swords, and continued toward the bridge and the golden-armored commander.
• The Punishment destroyed one Cockroach-shaped enemy ship, but the surviving ship damaged its starboard side and launched fighters and troop transports.
• Miranda ordered the Punishment to fire its Cataclysm nuclear warhead and missiles, breaking the surviving enemy ship’s shields.
• Miranda ordered an attack and sent thirty drop pods toward the enemy hangar, followed by a transport formation and escorting fighters.
• A lieutenant and three paratroopers launched in the first drop pod as the boarding force breached the enemy ship, while the Punishment was left unable to withstand another barrage.

Gabriel and his forces captured the enemy ship’s hangar and fought through the flagship, where he defeated its Gold-armored Elite commander. The Unggoy realized the flagship had changed hands and broke under the assault.

• The lieutenant’s Helljumpers stormed the hangar, killed the defenders, and joined the captain’s Marines to secure it.
• Gabriel and his brothers swept through the flagship, killing thousands and discussing how to exploit divisions within the Alliance.
• Orange-armored Elites and Unggoy entered the Garden with their Gold-armored commander, and Gabriel charged the commander while ordering his brothers to capture the group.
• Gabriel dodged the commander’s attacks and struck it down with a kick after surviving its defense for three moves.
• The Unggoy broke when they saw their Elite allies defeated and understood that the flagship had changed hands.

The Punishment defeated the Covenant forces at Harvest, captured enemy ships, and secured the flagship’s bridge, while Miranda ordered the crew to maintain readiness and exploit their victory. Sui Bian identified the invaders as the Covenant and learned of divisions among its species as the Anthem of Courage headed to reinforce Harvest.

• Miranda’s crew celebrated the Punishment’s victory, and she ordered them to remain at battle stations while they secured the captured ships and preserved combat data.
• Gabriel and his Astartes subdued the flagship’s crew, found a seemingly harmless jellyfish-like alien, and assigned several brothers to guard the prisoners.
• Red Queen reported that John’s Second Legion and the UNSC’s 045th Fleet had arrived at Harvest and that the Punishment had destroyed one enemy ship, captured two, and taken a suspected commander prisoner.
• Sui Bian reviewed the battle recordings, recognized the invaders as the Covenant, and considered how the Prophets had fostered hostility between the Elite and the Jiralhanae.
• Sui Bian learned that the Covenant worshipped the Forerunners, an advanced civilization from Realspace, as their gods.

Sui Bian confirmed the Forerunners had existed but questioned how their history fit this universe, then prepared to publicly reveal humanity’s forces after the Covenant declared war. The chapter ended with students at Umbrella University watching footage of Gabriel and the reserves boarding an enemy ship and realizing the aliens were real.

• Sui Bian learned that the Covenant commander, Murlinmir, had declared war and threatened to burn Harvest in the name of its religion.
• Lion urged Sui Bian to launch a Great Crusade, but Sui Bian called for a conventional war of retaliation and an official reveal of his sons and their forces.
• Sui Bian ordered the White Queen to coordinate with the UEG and UNSC, publicize Harvest’s victory, and post edited footage of the First Legion and Gabriel Angelos’s boarding action.
• A cruise ship brought tourists to Raccoon City during the final day of the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
• Students at Umbrella University gathered around a crystal computer to watch the boarding-action video and shouted that the aliens were real.

Umbrella’s public release of Astartes combat footage sparked debate, while Sui Bian prepared to introduce Lion and the Primarchs to humanity in person. Sui Bian’s party arrived at Harvest, where Sherry and Lara Croft awaited them at the newly uncovered ruins.

• Three roommates watched Umbrella’s boarding-action video and explored its official forum posts as people across humanity reacted to the footage and fleet images.
• Umbrella’s First Legion fleet emerged from slipspace near Harvest and began approaching the planet.
• White Queen reported that most people accepted the Astartes and Primarchs, and Sui Bian asked her to boost a forum reply defending humanity’s need to fight back.
• Lion asked how the company would introduce the Primarchs, and Sui Bian explained that he wanted to present his children to humanity himself.
• Sui Bian, Lion, and their party boarded a transport craft and headed for Harvest’s surface.
• At the lake camp, Sherry and Lara Croft discussed the size of the ruins as a transport craft arrived with Sui Bian.