Chapter Summaries

Gamma World mobilized an eighty-thousand-strong Expeditionary Force to support the Empire at Cadia and seize three Blackstone Fortresses. As Sigismund prepared to depart with technical troops and specialized equipment, Gamma World launched the force toward the Tau Empire’s frontier, drawing concern from nearby powers.

• Cisrain’s allies objected to sending eighty thousand troops because it would leave only fifty thousand recruits to defend Gamma World, while Malcador considered their fears excessive.
• Gamma World issued the Defense of Cadia mission, ordering its forces to obtain three Blackstone Fortresses, and Idamas and Cyrus joined the mobilization.
• Gamma World gathered its soldiers and directed them toward a neutron-star Gravity Slingshot site in the Tau Empire’s Far East Frontier.
• Brown gave Sigismund soulstones, protective equipment, and technical troops tasked with accessing the fortresses’ data centers and transmitting their findings to Gamma World.
• Sigismund accepted the support, and Gamma World launched the expedition as troop movements began to unsettle neighboring powers.

Gamma World withdrew its forces and corporations from its occupied territories, prompting the Anti-Gamma Alliance to move in while Gamma assembled an expeditionary fleet to attack the Blackstone Fortress near Cadia. As the fleet prepared to deploy, Malcador watched a blue light erupt from the core of the Gravity Slingshot.

• The Anti-Gamma Alliance discovered that Gamma World’s fleets and corporations were leaving the territories they had occupied, and decided to seize the undefended worlds.
• Gamma World’s leaders ignored the advancing forces and ordered their fleets to assemble in the Eastern Fringe for the campaign against the Blackstone Fortress.
• Gamma World prepared its Expeditionary Force, supplies, and Lunar-class Cruisers for sequential deployment through the Gravity Slingshot, with Malcador scheduled to follow later.
• Malcador arrived near the Gravity Slingshot and reflected on Cadia’s proximity to Terra as a blue light suddenly burst from its core.

Gamma World's fleet used the Gravity Slingshot to reach Cadia, where Malcador and Sigismund prepared to seize the Blackstone Fortress before Cadia's defenses collapsed. As Abaddon's forces overwhelmed the defenders, a single Gamma World ship emerged from the gravitational waves.

• Gamma World's fleet completed its acceleration through the Gravity Slingshot and raced toward Cadia, while Malcador studied the star chart and boarded a support ship with Sigismund.
• Abaddon's Marauder Legion destroyed Cadia's foundations and matrix field shields as the Battle Sisters fought to protect the Chaos nodes at Saint Moriken Temple.
• Iron Warriors and traitorous Titans drove the Iron Wolf Great Company, the Dark Angels, and Cadia's defenders into retreat.
• Abaddon watched the Imperium's forces collapse and believed Cadia was destined to fall, even if The Emperor's Living Saint appeared.
• Gamma World's fleet emerged from the gravitational waves as a single ship.

An unknown fleet led by Gamma World appeared behind Chaos forces at Cadia and launched a massive boarding assault on a Blackstone Fortress. As the Imperium’s defenses neared collapse, Gamma World’s warriors began clearing the fortress and targeting its control room.

• Kars’s forces failed to break through Chaos’s defenses, while scouts reported that an unknown Lunar-class battleship had entered Chaos’s rear and deployed Drop Pods across the battlefield.
• The Black Templars continued defending Martyrs’ Wall as Creed’s forces retreated toward Kraf Fortress and the Vulcan Legion’s Titans advanced against them.
• Imperial fleets struggled against the Blackstone Fortresses, while Gamma World’s Drop Pods attached themselves to the fortresses’ unshielded surfaces.
• Tens of thousands of Astartes and close-combat gunners emerged from the Drop Pods and overwhelmed Chaos scouts on a Blackstone Fortress.
• Gamma World’s warriors set out to seize the fortress’s control room and purge its Chaos forces, using psychic detectors to locate hidden threats.

The Gamma World Expeditionary Force stormed the Blackstone Fortress, seized its data center, and began decrypting its controls to disable the fortress’s weapons. As the fortress turned against Chaos, Abaddon learned that tens of thousands of enemy soldiers had boarded it.

• Gamma World soldiers overwhelmed Chaos forces in the fortress and advanced through its corridors in huge numbers.
• Gamma World security teams escorted scientists to the hidden data center, where they disconnected corrupted Tech-priests from the system and started decrypting it with a master key.
• The fortress awakened as the decryption began, while Gamma World soldiers shut down or weakened its fire-control systems.
• Plague Throat discovered that the fortress’s passages had opened to the enemy and that Death Guard were hunting Chaos warriors alongside them.
• Abaddon received word that tens of thousands of soldiers, not a few dozen Space Marines, had boarded the other Blackstone Fortress.

Abaddon rushed his forces to capture Cadia after learning that tens of thousands of Space Marines had appeared, while Creed used the prospect of reinforcements to rally his exhausted defenders. In space, Gamma World captured a Blackstone Fortress and prepared to seize another as Malcador and the command echelon arrived.

• Abaddon ordered his forces to take Cadia at any cost, and the Vulcan Legion’s god-machines pressed toward Kraf Fortress.
• Creed inferred that reinforcements had arrived, told his soldiers they were coming, and rallied them to keep fighting.
• The Death Company crippled a Warhound Titan, but Ukantos destroyed Cadia’s final force-field shield emplacement and advanced toward Kraf Fortress.
• Gamma World took control of a Blackstone Fortress and transmitted its data before two enemy Blackstone Fortresses attacked it.
• Gamma World’s second fleet arrived with Malcador and the command echelon.

Malcador returned to the real universe and recovered enough psychic strength to intervene in the battle for Cadia. As Abaddon prepared to draw on the Chaos gods, Grand Master Dean revealed Malcador's return to the Imperium, while Malcador promised Sigismund he could borrow power to defend Cadia.

• Malcador felt his psychic power returning as he approached Sigismund, and Abaddon sensed a familiar presence that unsettled him.
• Abaddon considered accepting the four gods' power to gain strength comparable to Horus and ensure his plan to tear open the galaxy succeeded.
• Grand Master Dean saw Malcador's staff glowing and concluded that Malcador had returned, then ordered a shapeshifter to spread the news and call for reform.
• Malcador arrived over Cadia as the Imperial fleet reached the battle, and he told Sigismund he could borrow power to help defend the planet.

Cisrain used Malcador’s renewed psychic strength to draw attention away from Gamma World while secretly preparing the world to resist the Imperium, Necrons, and other powers. Gamma World gained Blackstone Fortress data and a Webway route map, but still needed Necron phase-engine technology to complete its defenses.

• Malcador’s psychic power fed back into Cisrain, who redirected it into the Blackstone Fortress rather than accept a Warp-bound power.
• Cisrain anticipated that Malcador’s return would attract the Imperium and potentially provoke the Aeldari or Necrons, so he continued preparing Gamma World’s escape and defenses.
• Gamma World obtained Blackstone Fortress core data and a Webway route map while secretly exploring a Necron tomb and avoiding waking its occupants.
• Cisrain used Malcador as a frontline distraction while Gamma World kept expanding, gathering technology, and trading with The Emperor.
• Gamma World completed its analysis of the Blackstone Fortress data, gaining access to safe Webway routes and greater concealment behind the Blackstone Pylons.
• Cisrain’s expeditionary force carried out a secret operation as Gamma World’s final safeguard, while the Neutron Sweep weapon was intended to help acquire Necron technology.

Cisrain opened a Webway route to move Gamma World’s forces while Malcador drew Chaos attention at Cadia. As Cadia’s defenses faltered, Malcador manifested and unleashed his psychic power, leaving the Imperium’s defenders wondering whether the Emperor might return too.

• Cisrain reached Gamma World’s Webway space, ordered it opened, and led his forces through it while preparing to use Malcador to divert attention from Gamma World.
• At Cadia, the Gamma Fleet continued fighting Chaos as Malcador’s power supported the defenders, while the Dark Angels Chapter began evacuating and Cadian forces struggled to hold Kraf Fortress.
• A Cadian veteran stood alone against the advancing enemies, shouting that Cadians never retreated as the fortress’s defenses collapsed around him.
• Malcador appeared in a vast psychic storm that crushed or suppressed Chaos forces and strengthened the Imperium’s soldiers.
• Creed and loyal Sisters of Battle recognized Malcador as the Imperium’s Regent from ten thousand years ago, prompting others to wonder whether the Emperor would return.

Imperial reinforcements turned the tide of the battle for Cadia as Phalanx, Saint Celestine, and resurrected Sisters joined the defense. With Chaos’s advance faltering, Abaddon decided to go to Cadia himself and destroy the planet.

• Malcador’s return restored the Imperium’s fighting spirit, and reinforcements rallied to defend Kraf Fortress and Cadia.
• Phalanx arrived in Cadian space and fought the Black Legion while Imperial Fists prepared to sacrifice it to protect Cadia.
• Trazyn the Infinite seized control of Chaos machinery and turned its weapons against Chaos forces.
• Saint Celestine and five companies of martyred Sisters appeared on the battlefield, while Grey Knights struck covertly at key enemy positions.
• The boarding Expeditionary Force weakened the remaining Blackstone Fortresses, leaving them at a disadvantage against Phalanx.
• Abaddon, enraged by Cadia’s resistance, decided to go to the planet himself and destroy it.

Malcador and Sigismund secured three Blackstone Fortresses and arranged for most of the Expeditionary Force to escort them to Gamma World while others stayed to defend Cadia. Cadia’s defenders pressed their temporary advantage against Chaos as unfamiliar reinforcements arrived, while Dorn’s sons questioned whether Malcador had truly returned.

• Malcador ordered Sigismund to leave troops behind to help defend Cadia and send the rest with the captured Blackstone Fortresses to Gamma World.
• Malcador contacted Dorn’s sons, identified himself, and began withdrawing the Blackstone Fortresses from Cadia’s skies.
• Dorn’s sons considered the implications of Malcador’s return and decided that meeting him was important to the Imperium’s future.
• Saint Celestine destroyed Daemon Prince Ukantos’s body and banished his soul to the Warp as Creed directed Cadia’s forces to advance.
• Unidentified Space Marines arrived in Drop Pods and attacked Chaos alongside nearly a hundred Dreadnoughts, while Cawl appeared on the battlefield.

Gamma's forces seized three Blackstone Fortresses and used them to enter the Webway, while Cawl arrived on Cadia and reunited with the resurrected Malcador. Malcador's return, accompanied by Sigismund, stunned the Cadians and the Black Templars.

• Gamma's forces took three Blackstone Fortresses and used them to open a gate into the Webway near Cadia, while the Black Legion watched and reported the loss to the Warmaster.
• Cawl arrived at Kraf Fortress and pressed Creed for information about Chaos's interest in Cadia and the planet's black stones.
• Malcador appeared and greeted Cawl, whose memories revealed Malcador's past guidance and the mission he had prepared Cawl to fulfill.
• The gathered soldiers recognized Malcador as the returned Regent, and Creed and the others reacted in shock.
• Sigismund and Idamas disembarked behind Malcador, and the Black Templars recognized Sigismund as their first High Marshal.

Malcador and the Black Templars prepared to secure Cadia while Gamma World's researchers uncovered how the Blackstone Fortress could manipulate reality and potentially repair Warp rifts. With approval from the Chief and World Lord Cisrain, they planned to test the technology on Is III and accelerate their research using temporal fields.

• Malcador urged the Black Templars to use Cadia's Blackstone constructs quickly, warning that Abaddon could return and that Malcador needed to return to the Imperium.
• Gamma World's researchers expanded their computing capacity and analyzed Blackstone Fortress data while developing a direct stellar energy extraction device.
• Researchers discovered that the Blackstone Fortress had been forged by Aeldari gods to fight the C'tan by using Warp power to alter the material universe.
• The scientists concluded that the imprisonment of the C'tan had left Chaos's Warp rifts unrepaired and considered using C'tan fragments to mend the breach on Is III.
• The Chief and World Lord Cisrain approved the research, and the team planned to slow time tenfold while the Blackstone Fortress traveled to Gamma World over three days.
• An Ozrax researcher warned that rival laboratories might also obtain the data, prompting laboratories across Gamma World to hoard technology and report discoveries upward.

Gamma World's fleet located a sleeping Necron Dynasty and prepared to seize its technology, while Oukekaosi led them toward his rival Nicaros. Nicaros awoke to find Gamma World's forces approaching, and a Necron noble's attack on a detector revealed the colossal weapon waiting in orbit.

• Gamma World's forces scanned the planet, found signs of Necron Phase Engine activity, and identified a dormant dynasty.
• Oukekaosi revealed the Nicaros Dynasty's location to Gamma World and entered its tomb to witness its destruction.
• Oukekaosi awakened Nicaros, who recalled how his dynasty had wiped out civilizations that disturbed its sleep.
• Nicaros's soldiers began to awaken as Oukekaosi told him that Gamma World's forces had arrived.
• A Nicaros noble fired at a teardrop-shaped detector, and Nicaros saw the enormous weapon hovering in orbit.

Oukekaosi revealed that he had infiltrated the Nicaros Dynasty and planted a virus to sabotage its defenses while Gamma World attacked. Gamma World’s Neutron Sweep erased the planet’s life, and the assault continued as the program began its ten-minute firing cycle.

• Oukekaosi told Nicaros that he had planted a virus to awaken Necron soldiers and exploit the dynasty’s resources, blaming Nicaros’s allies for abandoning him.
• Oukekaosi reflected that Gamma World’s technology might exceed the Necrontyr’s limits and hoped to take advantage of the conflict to rebuild his own dynasty.
• A noble fired a bullet that struck and destroyed a droplet-shaped detector as the Neutron Sweep appeared above the planet.
• Gamma World activated the Neutron Sweep and fired a neutron plume that shattered living beings at the atomic level and tore apart Necrons emerging from stasis.
• The first sweep exterminated all surface life, and the Neutron Sweep continued for ten minutes, widening openings and destroying everything its streams reached.

Oukekaosi handed Gamma World the Necron technology he had seized, and Gamma's forces began securing Energy Planet 2 while preparing to wipe out nearby threats. As the cleaning operation began, Lion El'Jonson arrived at a vast fortress world.

• Oukekaosi gave Gamma World the captured Necron data and directed its forces toward neighboring enemies.
• Gamma expeditionaries entered the Necron tombs, disabled Resurrection Protocols, and hunted the surviving Crypteks for their technology.
• Skaiqi Sidler ordered Neutron Sweep weapons redeployed to clear nearby worlds of potential threats to Gamma World's excavation.
• Gamma's probes found settlements and hostile forces across the surrounding region, and Sidler ordered every world cleared.
• Gamma's forces authorized the cleaning operation, while Lion El'Jonson arrived from the frontier and surveyed a fortress world larger than the Imperial Fists' Phalanx.

Lion El'Jonson followed the Gamma Fleet to a world its neutron weapon had cleansed of all life and sought a way to reach Gamma World. He introduced himself to the fleet, whose crew identified him as a Primarch and noted that Gamma World could manufacture Primarchs, though the ones made from traitors’ souls would be incomplete.

• Lion El'Jonson led the Fallen Angels through the Warp, defeated the Anti-Gamma World Alliance, and forced a pirate lord to guide them to his lair.
• Lion saw the Gamma Fleet’s enormous weapon release a neutron torrent, then waited for the fleet to depart before investigating its battlefield.
• Lion and the Fallen Angels found an Expeditionary Force body and discovered that the weapon had erased all life, including Chaos creatures, from the planet.
• Lion ordered the Fallen Angels to catch up with the Gamma Fleet, hoping to use it to reach Gamma World and warn it about Chaos.
• Lion sent the fleet his name and titles, and its crew checked their archives and recognized him as a Primarch.

Skaiqi arranged for Lion El'Jonson to meet Gamma World aboard the Voyager and demonstrate the possibility of cooperation. The meeting began with a tense inspection that exposed a Fallen Angel infected by Tzeentch, whose comrades killed him despite the technical sergeant's attempt to cure him.

• Skaiqi agreed to meet Lion El'Jonson aboard a Voyager and planned to report the proposed cooperation to Gamma World's Chief Council.
• Lion El'Jonson boarded the Voyager with Fallen Angels, expecting a show of force, and found more than a hundred Gamma World Space Marines and over a dozen Dreadnoughts awaiting them.
• Gamma World's technical sergeant scanned Lion's party for Chaos contamination, and Lion allowed the inspection to proceed.
• The technical sergeant detected Tzeentch's influence on a Fallen Angel and activated a purging program, revealing Chaos scripture on the warrior's armor.
• The technical sergeant said the Fallen Angel could be cured, but another Fallen Angel shot him dead, prompting the sergeant to protest that he had only been infected.

The Techmarine revealed that Gamma World could treat Chaos-related mutations and might even resurrect the dead, leaving Lion El'Jonson curious about its capabilities and the Fallen Angels unsettled by their past killings. Sidler brought them aboard Gamma World's vast, well-equipped warship, where its technology and resurrection practices challenged their understanding of the Imperium.

• The Techmarine explained that a Fallen Angel's mutation was physical and treatable, then warned that the others carried abnormal data and might mutate unless they obtained restorative treatment.
• Sidler stopped the Techmarine from revealing more, introduced herself to Lion El'Jonson, and invited him and the Fallen Angels aboard the warship.
• Lion El'Jonson and the Fallen Angels saw Gamma World's enormous expanded interior, active factories, abundant energy, and Dreadnoughts used as laborers.
• A Fallen Angel questioned why Gamma World placed injured veterans in Dreadnoughts, and the crew explained that its dead could receive new bodies and return to battle.
• When asked whether they could do the same, the Fallen Angels reluctantly answered, "More or less."

Lion El'Jonson toured Gamma World's battleship and heard Skaiqi's offer of weapons, resources, and protection from the Warp in exchange for missions. He remained wary of joining Gamma World, but its advanced Necron weapons impressed him and left him considering the power it could offer.

• Lion El'Jonson sent Fallen Angels to inspect the battleship and assess Gamma World's military strength.
• Lion El'Jonson reflected on the Imperium's reliance on religion and prepared himself for its possible collapse.
• Skaiqi offered Lion El'Jonson a contract granting access to Gamma World's resources and protection from Warp-level death in return for missions.
• Lion El'Jonson noticed Malcador's name among the contract's signatories but remained reluctant to trust Gamma World.
• Skaiqi demonstrated Gamma World's Gravity Slingshot, disintegration beams, and weapons that could alter or twist their targets, surprising Lion El'Jonson.