Chapter Summaries

Lynn and Sage Vetius were put to work on Karamat World after their ship was seized, and Vetius clashed with Gamma World's staff over how his knowledge was treated. Brown took offense at Vetius's insults, while Cisrain planned to have him negotiate for the Adeptus Mechanicus technology.

• A Gamma World merchant ship arrived at Karamat World as factories were moved to other planets to improve production.
• Lynn was assigned to review bills and learn Gamma World's laws, while Sage Vetius was told to tighten screws and earn work points before he could meet the governor.
• Vetius criticized Gamma World's technology and demanded access to its machinery, but staff told him they would report his claims to Chief Brown and kept him on assembly-line work.
• Cisrain decided to make Vetius work before negotiating for the technology he had brought, and the status report showed progress on the Synapse Condenser, STC reverse engineering, and gene-seed integrations.
• Brown broke his pen after hearing Vetius insult his work, then told the governor to speak with the Adeptus Mechanicus sage and obtain his technology.

Karamat and Gamma World strengthened their defenses, activated expeditionary soldiers, and prepared a new campaign against Chaos by building an interstellar highway. A fleet carrying troops and Gravity Slingshot components departed to support the effort, while the chapter left the expeditionary force ready to advance.

• Karamat’s researchers tested Gene-seeds and souls under strict Warp monitoring, then awakened Bont as part of the expeditionary army.
• Gamma World used its growing resources to prepare more expeditionary legions and launch surveys of the systems around Gamma World.
• Gamma World assembled over five thousand Silver-White Armor soldiers and more than five thousand War Mechs as the vanguard of a campaign to build an interstellar highway toward Chaos.
• The expeditionary soldiers vowed to serve Cisrain and Gamma World, confident that they would return even if they died beyond resurrection range.
• A modified Human Empire cruiser and accompanying ships carrying nuclear devices departed Karamat to support the front line and construct a space Gravity Slingshot.

Trajan’s forces abandoned Fanino as Angron led the Chaos assault and the planet was sacrificed to weaken the barrier between realspace and the Warp. On a nearby ship, Oenomaus and his companions began recalling fragments of lives connected to Nuceria and Kharn.

• Trajan concluded that his forces could not hold Fanino and ordered a withdrawal from the world.
• Chaos celebrated the retreat, bombarded Fanino, and began a ritual to weaken the Warp barrier and summon more daemons.
• Oenomaus heard the name Nuceria and recalled that he had once yielded a duel to end someone’s suffering.
• Oenomaus and someone beside him recognized the name Kharn and felt intense anger despite never having met him.

Oenomaus passed a corruption inspection as the expedition set out, while Cisrain chose to prioritize the Dark Eldar over Angron because they possessed Soulstones he wanted. The chapter ended with the Dark Eldar on Izakros preparing to capture the newcomers and sell them to the Haemonculi.

• Oenomaus and his companions were inspected by Ionid Hill, who confirmed they had suffered no Chaos contamination and warned them to trust their battle brothers and keep their reason.
• The expedition launched its ships with a Gravity Slingshot, sending merchant vessels ahead to establish a route before the warships followed.
• Cisrain saw that Angron had appeared and considered using the Emperor’s Sword, which could erase a daemon from the Warp, but decided to deal with the Dark Eldar first.
• Cisrain identified the Dark Eldar attacking Cyrus’s squad as likely clones and recognized that they possessed Soulstones he wanted to study alongside their Webway technology.
• On Izakros, the Dark Eldar considered capturing the newcomers and selling them to the Haemonculi.

Cyrus was captured by the Dark Eldar after Silver-White Armor destroyed a Chaos Beacon, but he and his forces had planned to draw the Archon and his warriors into an ambush. Sidros’s hidden team rescued the remaining Silver-White Armor warriors by killing the Incubus and shooting down the Dark Eldar pursuing them.

• The Archon ordered Cyrus taken to Commorragh after the Dark Eldar captured him during their betrayal at the Chaos Beacon.
• Cyrus recalled how the Dark Eldar attacked the squad after the Chaos ritual was destroyed, and how his forces chose to target the Archon rather than waste strength on cloned warriors.
• A hidden Silver-White Armor warrior found Cyrus, but an Incubus killed two of the three rescuers while the last fled, drawing the Dark Eldar after him.
• The fleeing warrior used a grenade and then a tactical knife to lure the Dark Eldar into surrounding him and challenge their Incubus to a duel.
• Sidros shot the helmetless Incubus in the head, and more than a dozen concealed Silver-White Armor warriors and crimson-painted Blood Ravens emerged to attack the Dark Eldar.

Cyrus’s squad discovered that the Dark Eldar had captured him and were carrying him toward their evacuation point. Cisrain learned the enemy might possess a Webway key and ordered the forces to stop them, while the Dark Eldar prepared to abandon the planet with Cyrus as a captive.

• The Silver-White Armor warriors found two wounded soldiers alive but discovered that Cyrus had been taken, prompting Talon and the others to organize a rescue.
• Yalta combined the engagement records with Sidros’s planetary map to locate the Dark Eldar’s likely evacuation route and planned an ambush with Blue.
• Jain Zar ordered the Incubus swordsmen to withdraw from the planet because the weakened Warp barrier and gathered Eldar souls had drawn dangerous attention.
• The Dark Eldar decided to take Cyrus with them, considering selling him to the Haemonculi or putting him in the arena, and ordered the release of the immature clones.
• Cisrain learned that the Dark Eldar carried soulstones and a suspected Webway key, then ordered his forces to accelerate and prevent their escape.

Yalta charged into the Webway to rescue Cyrus, but the Dark Eldar captured them both despite the Gamma World squad’s assault. Just as Yalta prepared to die fighting, the Governor arrived and attacked the Dark Eldar.

• Cyrus woke amid the battle and begged Yalta and the others to leave him behind rather than risk their lives.
• Gamma World’s forces attacked as the Dark Eldar retreated through a Webway gate with Cyrus and selected Clones.
• Yalta rushed into the Webway and seized Cyrus, but a Dark Eldar Incubus severed Yalta’s arm.
• Yalta threw Cyrus toward safety, but the Dark Eldar intercepted him and captured him again.
• The Governor appeared in the Webway, kicked a Dark Eldar, and drew the Emperor’s Sword.

Cisrain entered the Webway, rescued Yalta and the Blood Ravens, and seized a soulstone and an Ouroboros fragment from the Dark Eldar. The fragment unlocked genetic research, while a warning revealed that he had provoked Val and that Vashtorr was pursuing a mysterious key.

• Cisrain arrived to help Yalta and the Blood Ravens, then confronted the Dark Eldar carrying a soulstone and a Webway Key fragment.
• Cisrain killed a Nightmare swordsman and acquired the soulstone, unlocking research into soul vessels.
• Cisrain pursued Val and forced him to throw over the Webway Key fragment before the Webway closed.
• Cisrain acquired the Ouroboros fragment, unlocking Old One legacy research and genetic evolution for his people.
• Cisrain left the Webway with the soulstone and fragment, and the system reported that he had provoked Half-Immortal Val while Vashtorr pursued a mysterious key.

After acquiring a Webway key fragment, Cisrain assessed the warriors’ combat data and ordered the planet bombarded to eliminate the hidden Dark Eldar. The Gamma World forces withdrew as the Dark Eldar and Slaanesh worshippers mistook their retreat for victory, until a Clone Kabal warrior realized orbital weapons were waiting above.

• Cisrain scanned the Astartes and Dark Eldar Clones, comparing their strength, speed, reactions, and combat scores.
• After being told the planet-destruction weapons were deployed, Cisrain ordered them launched and called for his forces to withdraw.
• Gamma World cruisers armed their macrocannons and lances while Silver-White Armor troops evacuated the battlefield and Techmarines salvaged damaged units.
• Dark Eldar survivors and Slaanesh worshippers emerged, believing the Imperium had fled and preparing to contest control of the planet.
• A Clone Kabal warrior surveyed the ruined battlefield, recognized the Imperium’s retreat was not a defeat, and looked up toward the orbital guns.

Cisrain’s forces launched planet-destroying weapons at the Chaos-held world, wiping out its defenders and leaving a Dark Eldar trueborn fleeing for survival. As the bombardment stripped the planet of air, Cisrain’s forces prepared to destroy the Chaos Beacon and everything around it.

• Dark Eldar fled the battlefield as Cisrain’s ships rose into space, cutting off their remaining escape.
• The warships fired macrocannon shells at the planet, and the explosions swallowed Chaos forces and fleeing Dark Eldar in nuclear storms.
• A trueborn Dark Eldar outran the blast and hid in a crater, then realized the weapon was burning away the planet’s air and exterminating the world.
• Cisrain watched the devastation from the warship as the rescued Blood Ravens regrouped and considered the need to strengthen their forces.
• Cisrain’s forces continued the planet-destroying bombardment, intending to erase the Chaos Beacon and everything surrounding it.

After the battle against the Dark Eldar, Cisrain honored the surviving warriors and mourned the fallen, while the last Lamenter received Gamma World’s first Medal of Friendship. Cyrus then reported that many worlds they had passed had suffered identical Chaos sacrifices, leaving Cisrain with evidence of a wider plot.

• The survivors reflected on their costly victory over the Dark Eldar and Gamma World’s rapid technological growth, including its new cruisers and planet-killing weapons.
• Cisrain led a moment of silence for the fallen and promised that their souls and bodies would one day return to Gamma World.
• Cisrain awarded Sidros the Medal of Wisdom and gave medals to Cyrus and other warriors, enhancing their abilities and armor.
• Cisrain presented the last surviving Lamenter with Gamma World’s first Medal of Friendship, and the bashful warrior accepted despite feeling unworthy.
• Cyrus reported that the worlds along their route all bore signs of nearly identical Chaos rituals and mass sacrifices.

Cyrus recommended that the Blood Ravens investigate Chaos rituals on Gamma World, while Mus chose to leave alone for a final mission. Cisrain revealed Gamma World’s plan to create evolved humans and asked the squad to help by having children.

• Cyrus sent Cisrain evidence of Chaos rituals built from mountains of corpses and recommended further investigation.
• Mus asked to investigate alone, fearing the Lamenters’ Red Thirst and Black Rage could endanger his friends, and received permission to take a small vessel.
• Cisrain asked Cyrus and the Blood Ravens to collect the corpses of the finest Dark Eldar.
• Cisrain explained that Gamma World planned to combine humanity’s traits with powerful gifts from other species to create evolved humans.
• Cisrain told the squad to have children while they were on leave.

Cyrus’s squad cleared the devastated planet and discovered a Genestealer, revealing that Chaos had likely drawn the Tyranid Leviathan Fleet toward the region. Cyrus ordered the spoils and bodies returned to Gamma World so it could prepare for the threat.

• The Blood Ravens recovered technology and corpses from the nearly airless planet, taking precautions against Dark Eldar survivors hiding among the dead.
• Cyrus’s squad detected and captured a strange creature, which they identified as a Genestealer with Dark Eldar and insectoid traits.
• Cyrus concluded that Chaos had likely lured the Tyranid Leviathan Fleet toward the region, putting Gamma World and Ultramar at risk.
• Cyrus ordered his squad to take the Dark Eldar and battlefield spoils back, while Gamma World continued developing weapons and gathering resources to prepare for the Tyranids.
• Cyrus directed the squad to inspect everything for Warp contamination and send the remains and dangerous research materials to Ozrax.

The Blood Ravens recovered little useful Dark Eldar technology, while Trajan faced mounting threats as Chaos activity drew a Leviathan tendril toward the Ultramar region. He ordered Chapter Master Calgar to be warned, though Calgar was already heading toward the Damocles Gulf.

• Cyrus and the Blood Ravens lamented that the Dark Eldar had left few useful spoils, and Talon suggested giving a splinter rifle to Gamma World's children as a toy.
• Trajan learned that Angron and his Chaos World Eaters had vanished and that a Tyranid Hive fleet had changed direction.
• Trajan's officers showed him that Leviathan had split off a tendril heading toward the region where Chaos had recently fought.
• Trajan realized Chaos rituals had created slaughter and biomass to attract the Tyranids to the area.
• Trajan ordered his officers to notify Chapter Master Calgar, who was heading for the Damocles Gulf, and learned that Gamma World had sent no message.

The Imperium’s leaders and local powers argued over whether to launch another expedition against the Tau Empire, while Marius Augustus Calgar arrived seeking forces for more urgent threats. He demanded that the factions who claimed loyalty contribute fleets to fight the Tyranids and Angron’s World Eaters, silencing their protests.

• Planetary governors and Rogue Traders argued that the Imperium should contain the Tau Empire rather than begin another costly war, while the Iron Hands captain accused them of taking Tau benefits.
• The governors and Rogue Traders insisted they remained loyal to the Imperium and were willing to commit their fleets to its cause.
• Marius Augustus Calgar entered the Naval High Council with two Honor Guards, startling the gathered leaders.
• Calgar, already concerned about Angron’s return and the approaching Tyranid Hive fleets, condemned the council’s bickering.
• Calgar told the Rogue Trader dynasty lord that he needed fleets to resist the Tyranids and fight the World Eaters, and the Rogue Traders fell silent.

Calgar pressured Imperial officials to prove their loyalty, then secured Inquisitor Klius’s approval to recall Titus for a mission against Angron. The chapter ended with Klius learning that Angron had manifested and Calgar admitting he did not know where the Daemon Primarch was headed, only that he might be traveling toward the Tau Empire.

• Calgar challenged the planetary governors and Rogue Traders to commit their forces against the Tyranids and World Eaters, but they stayed silent.
• Calgar dismissed the outsiders and asked Inquisitor Klius to release Titus from the Deathwatch.
• Klius resisted because Titus’s file recorded that he had survived exposure to Warp energy without corruption, but Calgar personally vouched for his loyalty.
• Klius realized Calgar’s mission concerned Angron, and Calgar confirmed that the Daemon Primarch had manifested.
• Klius authorized Titus’s recall in exchange for information, and Calgar said Angron might be heading toward the Tau Empire or Damocles Gulf.

Titus finished his Deathwatch service and received a secret mission from Chapter Master Calgar to investigate the World Eaters on Gamma World. Meanwhile, the Tau Empire considered whether the Imperium’s apparent retreat meant it could attack the Gamma World cluster.

• The Raptors and Deathwatch killed Aeldari corsairs on Kinov III, disrupting their raids on Imperial supply ships.
• An Inquisition chaplain told Titus he had been reassigned to the Ultramarines and warned that he would kill him if he detected corruption.
• Titus accepted Calgar’s top-secret order to investigate traces of the World Eaters Legion on Gamma World.
• Tau officials reported that the Imperium seemed to be calling off its planned fleet, and the Ethereal High Council discussed turning its attention to the Gamma World cluster.
• The High Council asked Aun'Va whether the Tau Empire should attack the Gamma World cluster.

Skaiqi Sidler arrived in the Eastern Fringe to command Gamma World's growing conflict with the Tau Empire and oversee the local enterprises. She warned them against aiding the Tau Empire and announced that routes would be sealed temporarily, while Gamma World also tasked her with managing a buried Necron dynasty.

• Gamma World expanded into the Eastern Fringe, driving Tau Empire forces from outer planetary regions and stripping the surrounding worlds of resources.
• The enterprises’ exploitation and the crime enterprises’ atrocities fueled alien hostility, while Tau Empire agents infiltrated the region and resistance groups faced betrayal.
• The Corporate Federation leaders learned that Tau Empire activity was increasing and that Gamma World had sent a commander to oversee the coming war.
• Skaiqi Sidler entered the conference with expeditionary troops and declared herself in charge of the Eastern Fringe operation against the Tau Empire.
• Skaiqi warned named enterprise families against violating Gamma World regulations and announced that the routes would be sealed temporarily for maintenance.
• Skaiqi was assigned to direct the conflict and prevent Gamma World officials from mishandling the Necron dynasty discovered underground.

Skaiqi planned to weaken the Tau Empire through rumors while the Imperium expanded its war against the Tyranids and Chaos. Titus investigated Gamma World and followed a strange signal, while Cisrain and the Emperor prepared to study his resistance to Warp energy; the chapter ended as Titus's ship witnessed a warship vanish near a neutron-star megastructure.

• Skaiqi reviewed the factions' strengths and concluded that spreading rumors would offer the greatest results for the smallest cost.
• The Imperium redirected forces to fight the Tyranids and Chaos, sent covert units into Tau space, and assigned Titus to investigate Gamma World and search for signs of Angron.
• Titus's squad found Gamma World's insignia, Chaos remains, xenos technology, and dead Lamenters on Izakros, but found no trace of Angron.
• A garbled signal calling Titus by name disturbed him, and he ordered his squad to follow it to Imleto Planet.
• Cisrain and the Emperor planned to lure Titus into a laboratory and study his resistance to Warp energy, while Cyrus went to meet his approaching Ultramar World Battle Barge.
• Titus's ship reached a planet being heated by a planetary-scale matter decoder and saw a warship disappear beside a caged neutron star.

Titus and his companions discovered a Blood Raven fleet using a colossal machine to heat a planet and were brought aboard for inspection. They met Governor Cisrain, who revealed himself as the Emperor, leaving Titus stunned.

• Titus saw an enormous ring structure heating the planet and learned it was an unfinished planetary-scale matter decompressor.
• Titus accepted the Blood Ravens’ invitation to board their cruiser, where Cyrus introduced himself and explained that Titus’s ship needed repairs because Warp-tainted ore had been found in its hull.
• Cyrus led Titus and his companions to meet Governor Cisrain while Yalta took their weapons for inspection.
• Titus noticed the cruiser held far more Astartes, Dreadnoughts, and unfamiliar technology than a normal Chapter should possess.
• Cisrain greeted Titus as someone he had met before, then revealed the Emperor’s radiance, leaving Titus and his companions in shock.