Chapter Summaries

The Blood Ravens investigated a planet inhabited by Orks and a Necron dynasty, planning to use the Greenskins against the Necrons rather than fight them directly. Oukekaosi awoke in his tomb and saw a human party enter the world.

• A Greenskin boy frightened two Gretchin with tales of One-Eyed Boss as probes gathered data on the planet's Orks.
• Cyrus ordered the Blood Ravens to avoid a direct confrontation with the Orks and consider drawing them into battle with the Necrons.
• The cloaked escort ship approached the planet as Magnus and Blue sensed powerful psychic suppression from Necron Blackstone devices.
• Oukekaosi awakened and recalled how the dynasty's internal chaos, a C'tan shard, and an incomplete tesseract tomb had left his people in danger.
• Oukekaosi watched a human party enter the world.

Oukekaosi recalled the lost Necron dynasty and reflected on the C'tan imprisoned in its power device as Magnus explained Necron history to the Blood Raven team. The team infiltrated an Ork-infested planet to locate a Necron tomb, while Cyrus tracked the Greenskins and their growing Warboss threat from the command ship.

• Oukekaosi mistook a memory for the Silent King’s visit, then questioned whether time had distorted his recollections and looked toward the device holding the C'tan shard Omisar.
• Magnus explained that many Necron dynasties remained asleep and that the awakened ones would reclaim what they believed was theirs when the time came.
• The team joked about raiding Necron tombs and Terra, prompting Magnus to warn them against saying such things and fear that they were becoming known as the Tomb Raider Chapter.
• The Third Company infiltrated a planet covered in Ork fungal carpets, and Yalta ordered stealth equipment activated so they could reach the Necron tomb without fighting the Greenskins.
• Yalta reported that Magnus’s group had arrived and Talon’s group had reached a ruin world, while Cyrus reviewed maps marking the Orks, fungal carpets, and signs of an emerging Warboss.

Cyrus's forces confirmed that the signal came from hidden Necron territory, while Yalta's squad found no visible entrance and concluded that waking the Necrons would require a major disturbance. Inside the tomb, Oukekaosi discovered that someone had altered his memories and opened a breach, but his Canoptek Spyders could not repair it.

• Cyrus learned that Yalta's squad had lost contact and ordered the discovery reported to the Governor.
• Yalta recognized the oppressive psychic dead zone, used a Blackstone detector to confirm the signal's source, and reported that the Necrons were hidden underground.
• Yalta's squad found no visible entrance and determined that a major disturbance would be needed to awaken the Necrons.
• Oukekaosi noticed the humans searching outside and discovered an open corridor that led beyond the tomb.
• Oukekaosi realized someone had entered and tampered with his memories, then ordered Canoptek Spyders to repair the breach.
• The Canoptek Spyders failed to mend the crack, and Oukekaosi demanded to know who had caused it.

Oukekaosi forcibly awakened the Deathmark Hebinus after discovering the Deathmark program was faulty, while Yalta’s expedition came under attack in the Spirit-Driving Dead Zone. Their distress signal brought Talon’s squad and the mothership into action, and the Governor arranged a lance strike as Greenskins converged on the battlefield.

• Oukekaosi used his authority to awaken Hebinus and sent the Deathmark outside with orders.
• Yalta’s squad began withdrawing after failing to find the tomb entrance, but an expeditionary soldier emerged from stealth and collapsed with his life destroyed by an unknown weapon.
• Yalta ordered his team to scan for enemies and send a distress signal, and a flare revealed a Greenskin silhouette to nearby forces.
• Talon recognized the agreed signal, concluded Yalta’s squad was under attack, and ordered his forces into stealth to reach them and cover their withdrawal.
• Cyrus ordered unmanned vessels to locate the rescue signal and provide covering fire, then relayed that the Governor had arranged a lance strike.
• The mothership warned Talon and Magnus to evacuate before the strike, while signal flares drew Greenskins toward the Spirit-Driving Dead Zone.

Yalta escaped with his team as the Orks' Waaagh! disrupted the Psychic-Null Dead Zone and drew them into a projected battle. Enraged, Oukekaosi awakened vast numbers of Necron civilians and opened fire on the Orks.

• Orks charging into the Psychic-Null Dead Zone suffered weapon failures and confusion, while Yalta's team abandoned their dead and withdrew under stealth.
• A Deathmark focused on the Orks, allowing Yalta's battle projections to appear and fool them into believing a Warboss and Necron army were fighting nearby.
• The Orks charged toward the projection, and their gathered Waaagh! weakened the Psychic-Null Dead Zone and made the projected Warboss seem real.
• Oukekaosi ordered the destruction of every living thing on the planet and activated the resurrection protocol for the Oukekaosi Dynasty's civilian Necrons.
• Oukekaosi opened the gate to the physical world, and the Necrons fired Gauss Rays at the advancing Orks.

Gamma World's fleet arrived to seize the Necrons' C'tan Energy and struck the battlefield with a lance attack from dozens of light-years away. The bombardment devastated both the Orks and Necrons, leaving the conflict poised to shift into a war between Gamma World and the Necrons.

• The Orks attacked the Necrons, but their weapons could not match the Necrons' defenses and regeneration.
• Gamma World's fleet arrived, and a gravitational disturbance tore apart Ork ships approaching its vessels.
• A lance strike from an undetected source dozens of light-years away hit a planetary satellite, scattering debris toward the planet and devastating the battlefield below.
• Cisrain ordered Gamma World's fleet to bombard the Necrons and draw their warships away while his forces tried to reach the control center and C'tan Shard.
• The surviving Orks routed after the bombardment, and a Gretchin stared into the enormous crater left by the strike.

Oukekaosi ordered the Necron Dynasty’s forces awakened and expanded the Spirit-Driving Dead Zone as Gamma World’s expeditionary force bombarded and fought across the planet. The zone severed the Warp connection over dozens of light-years, while the Deathmark continued hunting his targets and Gamma World’s forces recognized the enemy’s intent to kill them.

• Gamma World’s bombardment struck the Necron tombs, and Oukekaosi ordered the Resurrection Protocol activated and vowed to destroy the attacking fleet and its connected worlds.
• Gamma World’s expeditionary force counterattacked the emerging Necron legions while Oukekaosi activated Nether Lords and Nether Constructs.
• The Deathmark pursued Liu Xing and Huo Yu across the battlefield and sensed Oukekaosi activating the Blackstone Constructs.
• The Spirit-Driving Dead Zone expanded, cutting off humans’ connection to the Warp and enabling Necron nobles to teleport across the battlefield.
• Desolator Scorpion Lords entered the fight, and the Deathmark used the expanded zone to hunt his targets.
• In space, a speaker reported that the zone had blocked Warp energy across dozens of light-years, and the Governor’s side concluded the enemy intended to kill them.

The Spirit-Driving Dead Zone spread across Gamma World and nearby star regions, disrupting Warp connections as the Necron Dynasty expanded its forces. Cisrain’s troops broke through a weak point in the Necron defenses, while a Necron infiltrated the warship guarding the Spirit Stone that collected the dead.

• The Spirit-Driving Dead Zone spread across Gamma World and nearby regions, disrupting Orks’ psychic powers and erasing most Warp-related readings on Attila World.
• Sage Vetius found no records explaining the disturbance as the Necrons continued building spectral warships and preparing to expand their forces.
• Cisrain arrived at the battlefield as the Necrons increased in number, and a Deathmark observed that slain people’s souls were being drawn away rather than lost to the Warp.
• The Necron Dynasty’s spectral vessels began appearing, and the expeditionary forces ordered Soul Guardians to protect the Spirit Stone that collected battlefield souls.
• A Necron entered the warship cabin guarding the Spirit Stone, while human troops broke through a weakened point in the Necron defenses and advanced into the dynasty.

Cisrain’s expeditionary force reached a Necron data center and used the Blackstone Key to copy data, override the C’tan energy system, and infect the Resurrection Protocol database. As Cisrain went to hold off the tomb’s defenses, a flood of Canoptek Scarabs and Spyders engulfed his soldiers.

• Cisrain’s force followed the map through the tomb, destroyed the regeneration pools, and reached the data center as cracks spread through the structures.
• The technical sergeant used the Blackstone Key to access the Necron database and began copying important technology while uploading a virus.
• Cisrain ordered his soldiers to defend the data specialists as the Necron forces approached.
• The technical sergeant found the hypercube technology, then altered the protocols of an unoccupied Desolator Scorpion Lord body to protect Gamma World.
• Cisrain led his men toward the gathered Canoptek Scarabs and Spyders, whose enormous swarm swept over the front ranks.

Cisrain and Gamma World's expeditionary force fought through a Necron tomb against swarms of Canoptek Scarabs and two Desolator Scorpion Lords. One Scorpion Lord suddenly killed the other, and the soldiers revealed they had found the Tesseract Labyrinth blueprints and could breach its permissions.

• Cisrain and the soldiers fought through Canoptek Scarabs and Necron troops as they regrouped in the cramped corridors.
• A Desolator Scorpion Lord wounded a soldier with its phase blade, but Cisrain pulled him clear and blocked the attack with the Emperor's Sword.
• Two Desolator Scorpion Lords attacked the expeditionary force from opposite sides while Necrons, Scarabs, and Spyders pressed in behind them.
• One Desolator Scorpion Lord suddenly struck down the other and tore its brain from its body, stunning the Gamma World soldiers.
• The soldiers said they had found the Tesseract Labyrinth blueprints and could breach the permissions to enter it.

Cisrain’s forces opened a dimensional passage to divert Necron defenders while their Techmarines targeted the dynasty’s database. Overlord Oukekaosi discovered that his weapons and protocols had been stripped away, and Gamma World’s troops were left wondering why the Necrons would not launch a stronger counterattack.

• Cisrain ordered the dimensional passage opened to draw Necron forces toward the C’tan energy labyrinth and ease pressure on the Techmarines stealing the database.
• Oukekaosi blamed Hernus for the missing database, altered protocols, and inaccessible elite units, then found that his greatest weapons could no longer be built.
• Oukekaosi watched Gamma World’s forces attack the tombs with fire dragons and kinetic bombs, but his attempted countermeasures were unavailable.
• Cyrus and Gamma World’s troops waited for the Necrons to attack, prepared to sacrifice themselves, but the Necron ships stayed behind their shields.

Gamma World launched a massive assault on the weakened Necrons, whose Deathmarks and remaining heavy weapons still inflicted serious losses. As five of eight battlefields turned against the Oukekaosi Dynasty, Oukekaosi ordered a retreat.

• Gamma World troops entered the battle, and a Deathmark killed at least thirteen soldiers before escaping through its phase engine without reaching the soulstone container.
• Gamma World soldiers charged without fearing death, relying on stored souls and replacement bodies to return to battle.
• A Deathmark killed a combat craft pilot, but another soldier immediately took command and led an even fiercer assault.
• Gamma World forces poured from Drop Pods and Battle Barges while Necron Ghost Arks, Annihilators, and Nether Constructs counterattacked and destroyed many ships.
• Five of the eight battlefields fell into disadvantage for the Necrons as Gamma World continued reinforcing the planet.
• Oukekaosi felt mounting pressure and ordered the Necrons to retreat.

Oukekaosi withdrew with the Crypteks loyal to him, leaving the C'tan energy system and most of his forces behind as Gamma World's expeditionary army pressed the attack. After the fighting subsided, Cisrain learned that Necrons might still be hidden on the planet and considered connecting the C'tan energy to Gamma World.

• Oukekaosi chose to withdraw, taking his loyal Crypteks and leaving the C'tan energy system without a backdoor while sabotaging its upkeep.
• Gamma World's expeditionary army pursued the retreating Necrons, using a three-sided encirclement to limit casualties and drive the main force away.
• Necron Chronomancers and Plasmancers covered the retreat, while the enemy abandoned its Resurrection Protocol and the Scarabs withdrew underground.
• Gamma World forces entered the tomb and learned that the Necrons had taken only their Crypteks, leaving the tesseract construct and possibly hiding most of their forces on the planet.
• Cisrain ordered the secret file kept confidential and asked whether the C'tan energy could be connected to Gamma World, but learned it could not be moved.

Gamma World's forces drove the Necrons from the battlefield, captured their control center, and began salvaging their technology. In a tomb, Cisrain encountered Omisar, a shard of the Deceiver C'tan Mephet'ran, which offered him advanced technology in exchange for a deal.

• The Necron fleet retreated with its remaining warriors and tombs, while Gamma World's army celebrated its victory and mourned a soldier who had died before the soul-container mothership arrived.
• Gamma World's forces shut down the Spirit-Driving Dead Zone, reclaimed communications, and received orders to excavate the remaining tombs and salvage the battlefield.
• Cyrus redirected Third Company from collecting battlefield spoils to assisting scientists with the tomb excavation, prompting Talon and Magnus to joke about the company's grave-robbing habits.
• Cisrain approached the tesseract construct containing a C'tan shard and endured the overwhelming knowledge radiating from it.
• The shard identified itself as Omisar, also known as Mephet'ran, and offered to rapidly elevate Gamma World's technology in exchange for a deal.

Cisrain accepted a challenge to deceive the Deceiver C'tan while Gamma World prepared to study C'tan energy and connect it to its Synapse Condenser. Vetius, overwhelmed by how much Gamma World had changed and furious that it had copied his technology, decided to leave, but changed course when he heard Gamma World had captured a Necron Tomb World and obtained C'tan shards.

• Cisrain accepted the challenge to deceive the Deceiver C'tan and learn the locations of Mephet'ran's shards.
• Brown learned that Gamma World had acquired C'tan energy and planned to connect it to the Megastructure Synapse Condenser.
• Vetius returned to Gamma World and was stunned by its transformed society and its unusually capable children.
• Vetius confronted his apprentices over Gamma World copying his technology and decided to leave for the Imperium.
• Vetius learned that Gamma World had taken a Necron Tomb World and wanted his help studying its C'tan shards.

Vetius agreed to work for Gamma World for three hundred years after learning it had conquered a Necron dynasty and obtained a C'tan shard. Brown recruited him for energy research, then revealed they were already at Energy Planet 1 to inspect the Necron tomb.

• Vetius abandoned his plan to leave Gamma World after hearing about its C'tan shard and the research opportunities it offered.
• Brown invited Vetius to join Gamma World's research team and required him to promise not to betray the world.
• Vetius signed a contract to work for Gamma World for three hundred years, with his research belonging to Gamma World during that period.
• Brown showed Vetius Gamma World's experiments on armor and defenses against Necron Gauss Disintegration Beams.
• Vetius chose energy research over practical weapons development, and Brown told him they were already at Energy Planet 1.

Brown arrived at Energy Planet One to oversee the search for hidden Necron technology and lead research into connecting a C'tan shard to Gamma World's factories. After months of testing, the first project was ready for installation, and the story left off as Brown invited Vetius to watch the factories receive power.

• Brown learned that the First Army had nearly cleared the Orks while the Second Army surveyed the planet, and he offered to help locate Necron traces concealed by spatial folding.
• Cisrain assigned Brown to coordinate with the companies and planned to appoint someone to oversee the star sector's military affairs.
• Brown arranged for a space-based laboratory and began organizing research to reverse-engineer the C'tan shard's energy connections.
• Within three weeks, Brown established five laboratories and planned twenty-three major projects, while Vetius observed his detailed oversight of the work.
• After several months of intensive research, Institute One verified its plan to connect the C'tan shard to Gamma World's factories, and Brown invited Vetius to watch the installation phase.

Brown and Gamma World began using the Deceiver’s energy to solve their power shortage and fuel major projects, while investigating the risks of the new energy cables. Gamma World extended its energy grid toward the northern front, where its fleets occupied a newly remade planet.

• Brown ordered the lights on Energy Planet No. 1 to be powered by Star God energy and considered ways to erase the Deceiver’s intelligence.
• Brown directed researchers to connect the energy source to the Megastructure Synapse Condenser and study the resources needed to neutralize the Star God’s mind.
• Kruse used the Synapse Condenser to analyze the new energy cables and learned that heavy power consumption would reduce damage to their tesseract structure.
• Kruse passed the findings to Brown and turned his attention to a light-lance cannon, while Gamma World resumed plans for matter decompression codes and other energy-intensive projects.
• Gamma World extended its energy grid to a northern vanguard planet after clearing most of its intelligent life, and its fleets arrived there.

Cisrain connected Energy Planet 1’s C’tan energy to Gamma World’s critical technologies and powered them up, enabling weapons and computational systems to operate at full strength. The Megastructure Synapse Condenser began producing rapid calculations while the imprisoned C’tan fragment realized the energy draw was draining it at an alarming rate.

• Sigismund’s forces prepared to defend a vanguard planet against Tyranid fleets while hoping Gamma World’s new C’tan-powered weapons would be effective.
• Cisrain ordered Gamma World’s main power grid activated after C’tan energy had been connected to critical technologies across nearly every world.
• The Gravity Slingshot, Synapse Condenser, Matter Decompression Code, and Karamat’s cannon began operating with greatly increased power.
• Little Ke fed weapon-modification research into the Megastructure Synapse Condenser, which completed its first calculation in seventeen seconds.
• The imprisoned C’tan fragment felt Gamma World’s energy extraction surge and cried out that it was being drained.

Gamma World exploited a Deceiver Star God fragment for limitless energy and prepared to conquer the universe with colossal weapons and ruthless policies. As Gamma World’s forces grew more formidable, the Tau and Chaos factions learned of its superweapon and tried to prevent its completion.

• Gamma World’s scientists overclocked their energy supply by draining a Deceiver Star God fragment, and Cisrain’s star map revealed other fragments across the Milky Way.
• Gamma World’s leaders called for more megastructures and weapons, declaring that uncontrolled territory would be destroyed for ore or its inhabitants slaughtered while Gamma World forged new Utopias.
• Gamma World upgraded its frontier forces with stronger fleets, Gauss disintegration beams, hyperdimensional crushing shells, and blackstone constructs that resisted Chaos incursions.
• As the Tau Empire became more divided, goddess Aun'Va projected her power to persuade its people to stop Gamma World’s superweapon from being completed.
• A Chaos sorcerer warned his followers and warband lords to destroy Gamma World’s weapon, fearing it would annihilate the Tau Empire and secure Gamma World’s control over the region.
• Chaos began to panic as Gamma World’s fortified core worlds and growing arsenal threatened to devastate planets and harvest their matter.