Chapter Summaries

Mina defended Gamma World's isolationist policies and prepared for Cisrain's return, while Cisrain reviewed the growing production network and new threats revealed by the mission system. The chapter left Cisrain sending Talon and two Shield Guards to handle an urgent matter as Death Spores and Rogue Traders threatened Gamma World.

• Mina threatened a councilor who challenged Gamma World's education policies, then revoked his residency and ordered him to warn the Rogue Traders against interfering in the planet's politics.
• Mina and the other chiefs gathered to welcome Cisrain back from his successful campaigns beyond Gamma World.
• Cisrain assessed the production gains from Tangle Planet and Oceanic Planet and saw mission updates warn of Chaos Death Spores, a possible Tau counterattack, and corrupted Rogue Traders arriving on Gamma World.
• Cisrain issued a bulk document and urgently assigned Talon to handle something, sending two Shield Guards along.
• The four great daemons argued over the galaxy's strongest weapon, citing the Emperor's sword, plague viruses, the Necron star map, and the Codex Astartes.

Vulkan returned to Gamma Utopia with Cisrain and witnessed the planet’s adoring crowds welcome their governor. Meanwhile, Rogue Trader Lord Burn resented Cisrain’s treatment of his fleet, and Talon discovered signs of heresy aboard it.

• Vulkan accompanied Cisrain back to Gamma Utopia, where residents gathered to cheer the returning governor.
• Cisrain’s staff brought him council legislation and research-funding matters as he returned to the planet.
• Lord Burn and his companions complained about Cisrain’s refusal to honor them and discussed the harsh suppression of lower-deck uprisings.
• Talon boarded Lord Burn’s fleet with two Salamander Shield Guards after speaking with Cyrus.
• Talon activated the red-cased Prototype, shot an approaching retainer, and exposed mutations beneath the man’s clothes.

Cisrain quarantined and investigated people connected to the Byrne Dynasty’s Rogue Traders while returning to Gamma World in triumph. He announced victory and rallied the population around humanity’s future, as research into the Dark Matter Engine continued.

• Cisrain ordered the Military Administration and Medical departments to quarantine and test everyone who had contacted the Rogue Traders, while soldiers confined Byrne Dynasty retainers and Councilor Lampus’s associates.
• Cisrain returned through the Arch of Triumph as the people of Gamma World cheered, and Vulkan recognized their genuine hope.
• Cisrain announced that the expedition had won and urged Gamma World to reclaim the Golden Age’s legacy and put humanity first.
• Cisrain’s public sentiment template showed “Humanity First,” while Dark Matter Engine research reached 20%.
• A Rogue Trader’s claim that the Luna Wolves Legion had to obey an Imperial appointment was met with questions about who had issued it, ending with the Rogue Trader naming the Warmaster.

Cisrain learned that the Tau had found possible Golden Age AI technology on a forest world near Tangle and decided to pursue it as a potential STC Template. He ordered the Death Cult extremists and Rogue Trader personnel dealt with, while Cyrus’s squad boarded the fleet and prepared to make contact.

• Mina told Cisrain that a Xenos commander had reported Golden Age technology on a Tau-colonized forest world near Tangle, and Cisrain suspected it might be an STC Template.
• Mina reported that Death Cult extremists had broken into Utopia, and Cisrain ordered them and the Rogue Trader dealt with.
• Cisrain assigned useful Rogue Trader personnel to work in Tangle’s mines and factories, then called for a meeting after the mission.
• Cyrus and his squad rode a drop pod toward the Rogue Trader fleet after learning that Talon had killed a Byrne Dynasty retainer; Cyrus ordered the Chaos-infected cleared and asked Maglin to check for corruption.
• The drop pod collided with the Rogue Trader fleet, and its hatch opened to reveal a red figure.

Lord Byrne tried to rally his forces against the Astartes and the planetary governor, but a revolt among the lower decks and the collapse of his allies left his command in disarray. As the rebels reached his hall, one bloodied man crossed the aristocrats’ forbidden carpet without fear.

• Lord Byrne blamed the Astartes for killing Sir Nexius and ordered his Astropaths and forces prepared to respond.
• A slave master reported that lower-deck rebels had been freed, retainers had opened the armories, and the revolt had spread through the Byrne Dynasty’s ship.
• Retainers accused one another of betrayal while Lord Byrne learned that a distress signal from the surface had vanished and the Death Cult’s mission had likely failed.
• Lord Byrne ordered everyone to suppress the rebellion, but none of his retainers moved.
• A lower-deck man entered the hall and offered Lord Byrne a box, while a gaunt, bloodied rebel stepped onto the aristocrats’ carpet without fear.

Cyrus stripped Lord Burn and his dynasty of their titles, then killed Burn despite the likely consequences. He ordered the ship destroyed and its people sent to Governor Cisrain, while revealing that an STC Template from the Golden Age awaited them at the Gamma World.

• Cyrus accused Lord Burn of betraying the Imperium and offered Burn’s retainers a chance to atone after Blue revealed evidence of Chaos corruption.
• Cyrus shot and killed Lord Burn, taking responsibility for the act as Magnus reported that the ship’s Astropath had also been corrupted.
• Cyrus ordered the ship’s usable supplies salvaged and the vessel thrown into a star to eliminate the risk of hidden Chaos corruption.
• Cyrus assigned Yalta and Talon to move the ship’s people to the governor’s domain, where they could provide a needed population.
• Cyrus told Yalta that he was going to the Gamma World for a meeting about an STC Template from the Golden Age, shocking Yalta.

Gamma World's leaders debated how to survive the threats beyond their borders and learned that an STC Template could rapidly manufacture ships and other technology. Sislane faced pressure to pursue the dangerous opportunity as the meeting turned toward the expedition plan.

• Sislane arrived at the conference with Salamanders and Human Federation representatives as Gamma World's leaders gathered to discuss the colony's survival.
• Brown reported that Gamma World's Warp Distortion Detector could identify areas with Warp energy but could not pinpoint its sources.
• Koro argued that Gamma World should prioritize fleets and weapons against Chaos rather than build a large Warp-detection structure.
• Mina revealed that information extracted from Tau commanders had led them to an STC Template near Tangle Planet that could manufacture battleships and a Gravity Slingshot.
• The leaders turned to Sislane as they considered the STC Template, while an unrelated commissar found a cigarette butt at a barracks fuel depot.

Cisrain approved Operation Corolla to seize an STC Template world and ordered Gamma World’s departments to prepare an expedition within three days. As Utopia mobilized nearly ten years of resources for the mission, Mina defended the expense as a chance for people to live like people.

• Cisrain announced Operation Corolla, assigned Mina, Koro, Brown, and other departments their preparations, and received unanimous support.
• Vulkan considered the value and danger of claiming the STC Template world before the Imperium or Tau could reach it.
• News of the Expeditionary Force spread through Utopia, where Cyrus’s squad watched Yalta get mobbed by children.
• Factories and transport crews dismantled equipment, prepared weapons and battlesuits, and moved supplies toward the port.
• Visitors toured Utopia while Gamma World diverted nearly ten years of accumulated resources to the expedition.
• Mina answered concerns about the financial deficit by asking whether the mission could give people the chance to live like people.

As a solar eclipse darkened Gamma World before the Great Crusade, Cisrain ordered scientists to create an auspicious sign and emerged as a second sun in the eyes of his people. With morale restored, Koro received reports that the expeditionary fleets were ready to deploy.

• A solar eclipse darkened Gamma World, alarming citizens, soldiers, Marshal Koro, and Mina as the planet prepared for war.
• Cisrain ordered Utopia’s weather-management team to change the eclipse, and the scientists decided to create a Sun Dog by producing additional apparent suns.
• Cisrain went outside to reassure his subjects, and a newly bright star appeared as he walked toward them.
• The crowd celebrated the new light as a sign that Cisrain was Gamma World’s second sun, while Koro chose not to correct their belief that the sky had changed because of the Governor.
• Koro received reports that the First Fleet’s supplies and personnel were ready and that the Second and Third Auxiliary Fleets had departed or assembled.
• Tau Empire envoys asked to learn how the Empire kept its people happy while exploiting them, and their hosts denied that such a method existed.

Cisrain launched Gamma World’s first all-out Great Crusade to seize a Golden Age Forge World from the Tau Empire. As the expedition mobilized its forces, Tau commander Noah King learned that the humans had uncovered ancient weapon-manufacturing technology.

• Cisrain ordered his forces to seize the Forge World and pushed Gamma World to prepare for the expedition.
• Gamma World committed nearly ten million personnel and its available military, civilian, and commercial resources to the Great Crusade.
• Master Brown’s research team used a universal key to crack Tau battlesuit and Drone data and prepared to overwrite enemy warship control systems.
• Gamma World’s forces gathered ships, weapons, and equipment from Ozrax and Tangle while preparing to depart.
• Tau forces discovered ancient human weapon-manufacturing templates, and Noah King ordered them taken.

Tau diplomats pushed the three-eyed demihumans to leave their territory and settle their conflict with the Kroot, while white-armored warriors defended the demihumans’ last city. The white-armored leader promised to keep holding the line until reinforcements arrived, or until they did.

• Tau diplomats discussed taking Karamat and demanded a definite answer from the three-eyed demihumans.
• The demihumans argued over whether to surrender their homeland to the Tau and Kroot.
• A tough man in white Power Armor entered the demihumans’ headquarters and was asked about his injuries.
• The white-armored man promised that his warriors would defend the city until reinforcements arrived.

Zephram and the White Temple Space Marines chose to defend the demi-humans’ city against the Tau Empire and Kroot, honoring their promise to the Emperor and the people of the world. After the city’s force field collapsed, Zephram, Lofi, Malkuza, and Xisuo prepared to hold the walls until it restarted, facing an overwhelming invasion.

• Zephram told Lofi that the White Temple would keep their promise and defend the humans of the world.
• Tau diplomat Mota'ri offered peace talks, but Zephram fired at him and exposed a cloaked Tau infiltration squad nearby.
• The Tau Empire ordered its forces to destroy the city’s force field, while the demi-humans prepared to fight with outdated weapons.
• The force field failed, and Tau drones and tens of millions of Kroot attacked the city.
• Zephram told Lofi, Malkuza, and Xisuo to hold the walls until the shield restarted, despite the advancing Tau forces and the Eastern Fringe Second Fleet.

The Tau Empire and its Kroot allies overwhelmed the demi-humans’ city while four White Temple Space Marines held the last position. As Tau reinforcements arrived and their ships began falling from the sky, Cisrain examined a Golden Age Forge World template.

• Tarian and the Kroot hunted down survivors as the city’s defenses collapsed and demi-humans were massacred.
• Zephram and three other White Temple Space Marines fought to hold the core until reinforcements arrived.
• Diplomat Mota’ri and Commander Ph’rios expected an easy victory, and Ph’rios allowed Tarian’s damaged warship to dock with the Second Fleet.
• Mota’ri’s ascending barge shook as flaming vessels plunged past, and he noticed that something was wrong.
• Cisrain inspected the Forge World template and saw that it could unlock automatic Golden Age construction systems.

Kroot forces were caught off guard when Tarian's warship launched Drop Pods carrying Tau and Blood Raven forces onto Karamat. As the assault began, Yalta and the others reached a half-finished Golden Age tower with the Blackstone Key.

• Kroot forces poured into the city, and Drop Pods crushed Kroot before opening to release drones, armored soldiers, and a VX104 Battlesuit.
• Commander Phi'rios noticed Tarian's warship launching objects toward Karamat and ordered destroyers to cripple its engines.
• Phi'rios dismissed warnings after speaking with an apparently furious Tarian and arranged for a tugboat to tow the disabled warship.
• The tugboat captain realized the ship was preparing to attack when its engines reignited and it launched Drop Pods toward the Tau flagship.
• The Blood Raven Chapter members emerged from a central Drop Pod, and Yalta carried the Blackstone Key toward a half-finished tower.

Cyrus’s team fought through Karamat’s xenos-infested ruins toward the tower while reinforcements and Zephram’s Space Marines helped clear a route. In space, Marshal Koro abandoned his original plan and ordered a mining-ship sacrifice to deploy three hundred thousand expeditionary troops.

• Salamanders and Tau Empire expeditionary soldiers used shields and battlesuits to clear a path for Cyrus’s team toward the collapsed tower.
• Zephram received a request from the Blood Raven Chapter for help reaching the tower and sent three of his teammates to assist.
• Tarian’s warship took a devastating blow as the Tau Empire fleet responded more aggressively than Marshal Koro had expected.
• Marshal Koro ordered the mining ships sacrificed and directed three hundred thousand expeditionary troops to be deployed toward the enemy base.

Phi'rios recognized that the enemy was targeting Karamat's technological ruins and ordered the Tau forces to destroy their advance, while the expeditionary force fought through the ground defenses. The chapter left Cyrus's squad advancing under cover and Vulkan attacking the Tau mothership.

• Phi'rios identified the ruins as the enemy's target and ordered his forces to press their advantage and repel the invasion.
• Phi'rios took command of the battlefield in a battlesuit and ordered ground reinforcements to stop the enemy advance.
• The expeditionary force's Drop Pods and Gauss Rays devastated the Fire Warriors, while Commander Tai'an was ordered to bomb the designated area despite allied forces being there.
• Cyrus's squad targeted unmanned vessels as Kroot and Salamanders fought to cover them, and the Salamander threw an XV104 Riptide Battlesuit into the enemy ranks.
• Cyrus's squad activated its jetpacks and advanced while the remaining soldiers provided covering fire.
• Vulkan slammed his fist into the Tau Empire's steel fortress aboard the mothership.

Vulkan and the expeditionary force attacked a Tau mothership while Cisrain pressed the Space Marines to finish their mission within ten minutes. Cyrus’s squad joined forces with White Temple brothers, who knew a passage to the target but were unsettled by the expeditionary force’s xenos weapons.

• Vulkan forced his way through the Tau ambush, killed a stealth-suited infiltrator, and led the expeditionary soldiers into the ship to destroy its power source.
• Cisrain considered entering the battlefield, but Koro stopped him and ordered the Space Marine teams to complete the mission within ten minutes or face the Governor’s personal intervention.
• Cyrus’s squad understood the ultimatum and worried that Cisrain’s intervention would disgrace the Blood Raven Chapter.
• Cyrus’s squad met three White Temple brothers, who questioned the Governor’s authority and the use of xenos technology but recognized the power of the Gauss Rifle.
• The White Temple brothers said they knew a passage that led directly to the mission site.

Qibela and the children of Karamat were rescued when Cyrus and the expeditionary force arrived, while Zephram’s forces restored the city barrier and drove the Tau-led attackers back. Ph’rios ordered the two Tau battleships to activate an extermination protocol, and ancient Golden Age technology began to awaken.

• Qibela tried to help the fallen Gru escape the Kroot, then stood alone until a golden-armored man and his Drop Pod troops arrived and destroyed the pursuing monsters.
• Cyrus learned that the enemy battleships had seized the orbital layer and that the fighting had reached a critical point.
• Zephram’s team restored the city barrier, prompting the Wasp-men, Tau Fire Warriors, and other allied forces to retreat.
• Ph’rios analyzed the battle and ordered the two Tau battleships to activate the extermination protocol.
• Golden Age technology awakened as the ground trembled.

Cisrain activated the Blackstone Key as Ph'rios's orbital bombardment set Karamat ablaze, but the planet's shield held while Salamanders infiltrated the Tau fleet. Koro confronted Ph'rios with a taunt, and Guilliman realized Cisrain had somehow discovered his private meeting.

• Cisrain uploaded construction templates to the Blackstone Key as orbital weapons began falling toward Karamat.
• Ph'rios's space torpedoes incinerated the battlefield, but the Omega-class shield protected the ground beneath it.
• Vulkan and the Salamanders infiltrated the Tau mothership, sabotaged it, and accessed its network using stolen stealth technology.
• Koro appeared before Ph'rios and mocked him as reports announced that the entire planet had come alive.
• Guilliman met privately with the Adeptus Mechanicus, then heard banging and wondered how Cisrain had found out.

Cisrain activated Karamat’s buried Forge World, which rose into a planet-spanning industrial war machine and destroyed two Tau bombing ships. Phi'rios conceded defeat and escaped, while the Death Employment Service Center received Aeonid Thiel’s soul.

• Cisrain’s Forge World defenses emerged from beneath Karamat and locked onto the Tau fleet.
• The Forge World awakened, consumed the planet’s resources, and began rebuilding its buried cities and factories.
• The Forge World’s shells pierced two Tau suborbital bombing warships, and its machinery swallowed debris and recycled it into new products.
• Phi'rios admitted defeat to Rita, abandoned the captured mothership, and sent a report back to the Tau home world.
• The Death Employment Service Center completed construction and received fragmented and intact souls, including Aeonid Thiel’s Hero-class (30K) soul.