Chapter Summaries

Lin Fan was trapped in the Shadow Vault, where his knowledge of the Warp drew the attention of the Four Gods. Slaanesh failed to corrupt him, leaving Lin Fan relieved and convinced he had resisted the Four Gods.

• Tokman detected a complete individual wandering outside the stasis fields and hurried to alert the other Shadow Vault Custodes before pursuing the intruder.
• Lin Fan recalled being pulled into the dark corridor after opening a Warhammer novel and heard the Four Gods speaking inside his mind.
• Slaanesh sensed Lin Fan's brief temptation and covered him in pink corruption, but the energy dissipated without affecting him.
• Slaanesh was delighted by the unfamiliar experience of having its corruption resisted and fell silent.
• Lin Fan concluded that his strong will had let him withstand the Four Gods' corruption.

Tzeentch sensed fate converging around a new protagonist and traced an unusual summons to a transmigrator on Holy Terra. Recognizing him as a Subjective One from beyond the universe, Tzeentch feared his power but concluded that his extensive knowledge might make him easier to manipulate.

• Tzeentch saw the threads of fate converge around a single protagonist and feared that this would weaken him and decide the Great Game’s outcome.
• Tzeentch followed an unusual summons to Holy Terra and saw a young man watched by all four Chaos Gods.
• Slaanesh attacked the young man, who remained unharmed, and Tzeentch recognized him as a Subjective One beyond the universe.
• Tzeentch recalled how a previous Subjective One had resisted the Necrontyr’s weapons and prisons, then vanished without explanation.
• Tzeentch judged that this Subjective One’s knowledge of the universe might constrain his power and make him easier to deal with.

Lin Fan survived Tokman’s attack without injury, while Tokman discovered that his weapons could not harm him. The two finally met face-to-face, and Lin Fan recognized Tokman as a Shadow Vault Custodian.

• Tokman saw the Warp energy around Lin Fan vanish and attacked him with a power halberd.
• Lin Fan’s head shattered the halberd’s disintegration field, and Tokman’s bolt rounds left him unharmed.
• Lin Fan mistook the darkness and smoke for an ordinary mishap, while Tokman waited and tried to communicate with him.
• Lin Fan felt his way through the corridor and touched Tokman’s armor, but easily pulled his arm free from Tokman’s grip.
• Lin Fan recognized Tokman as a Shadow Vault Custodian and greeted him.

Trajan Valoris summoned Lin Fan to learn who he was and what he intended, while the Shadow Vault Custodes struggled to contain the strangely invulnerable mortal. Lin Fan claimed to come from a distant past and agreed to undergo a purity assessment, though he insisted he knew everything.

• Trajan asked Tokman where Lin Fan was being held, then ordered him to bring Lin Fan in for a meeting.
• The Shadow Vault Custodes reported that Lin Fan had walked out of a stasis prison and moved him to a guarded underground fortress.
• Tokman led Lin Fan up the grand steps to Trajan's hall, where Lin Fan greeted the Captain-General and Trajan refused his offered hand.
• Lin Fan urged Trajan to inspect his unmutated skull and claimed he came from an age before the Imperium to prevent a dark future.
• Trajan agreed to arrange a purity assessment, and Lin Fan declared that he knew everything.

Lin Fan met The Emperor on the Golden Throne and argued that humanity had survived for ten thousand years through the courage and faith of ordinary people. The Emperor ended their conversation, while Trajan revealed that he had received a glorious mission.

• After testing Lin Fan and finding no physical evidence of augmentation, Trajan received a direct command from The Emperor to bring him in.
• Trajan escorted Lin Fan through the imperial palace, and Lin Fan followed him into the Golden Throne sanctuary.
• The Emperor spoke with Lin Fan in the Warp, identified him as a Subjective One, and asked what he planned to do on Terra.
• Lin Fan said he wanted to join the Astra Militarum and argued that ordinary humans, their faith, and their courage had sustained the Imperium.
• The Emperor blocked the voices in Lin Fan's mind and ended the conversation after Lin Fan asked for an amulet.
• Trajan rose beside Lin Fan and told him to leave because The Emperor had given him a glorious mission.

Lin Fan, using the name Soap, joined the 37th Regiment after training with the Adeptus Custodes and receiving a fabricated identity. He was assigned to 3rd Company, where his new squad challenged him, while Commissar Aude secretly watched and suspected his transfer.

• Colonel Mark and Commissar Aude questioned the unexplained Departmento Munitorum order transferring Soap to their regiment.
• Lin Fan recounted how the Adeptus Custodes had trained him in strength control, combat, and marksmanship before arranging his identity.
• Colonel Mark accepted Soap into the regiment, and Lin Fan was assigned to 3rd Company, 1st Platoon, Assault Squad.
• Sergeant Kreik directed Lin Fan to the squad barracks, where several soldiers demanded that he beat one of them to earn their respect.
• Commissar Aude watched Lin Fan from the forest and resolved to investigate his suspicious transfer and remove him if necessary.

Lin Fan proved his strength to Steel-Tooth Jock and earned a place in the assault squad. Meanwhile, Matthew found an indestructible, colorful stone that emitted a ghostly blue light and entered his body while he slept.

• Lin Fan faced Steel-Tooth Jock in a fight, dodged his punch, and overpowered his attack before surviving a throw to the ground.
• Steel-Tooth Jock approved of Lin Fan and accepted him into the assault squad, while the bald veterans joked about how Old Jock had shaved their heads.
• Commissar Aude watched Lin Fan's performance and decided to keep an eye on him.
• Matthew found a polished, colorful stone in the farmland and took it home to make an ornament for his wife.
• After Matthew failed to alter the stone, it glowed blue at night and sent its eerie light into his body as he slept.

Abaddon learned that the Eye of Kaznamak was on Karmaklan World and planned to send three Black Legion infiltrators through a cultist-made rift to retrieve it. On Karmaklan Agri-World, Lin Fan continued training with the Kasare 37th Regiment, unaware of the coming threat.

• Abaddon questioned a Tzeentch sorcerer, who revealed that the Eye of Kaznamak lay on Karmaklan World in the Emperor's Heart.
• The sorcerer explained that a cult on Karmaklan could open a stable rift in one standard month, large enough to transport at most three warriors.
• Abaddon chose to send three Black Legion warriors skilled in infiltration to seek the relic, despite suspecting the sorcerer's story.
• Lin Fan continued training and patrolling with the Kasare 37th Regiment on Karmaklan Agri-World.
• Lin Fan learned about Colonel Mark, Commissar Aude, and Old Jock's war records, and observed that the regiment's best-equipped assault squads had obtained their weapons through the veterans' reputations.

Lin Fan and Damian were assigned to escort apprentice priest Monroe Diliya to Green Basin 447 to repair a giant combine harvester, with Lin Fan leading the squad. During the journey, Lin Fan spoke with Diliya and learned that she was a young, mostly unaugmented Adeptus Mechanicus apprentice.

• Damian wondered whether the red-robed Adeptus Mechanicus priest was human and was intrigued when he heard she was a pretty blonde girl.
• Old Jock ordered the squad to escort the apprentice priest to Karmaklan Green Basin Area 447 and bring her back safely.
• Old Jock appointed Lin Fan as temporary commander, and Lin Fan led ten soldiers aboard an armored transport toward the repair site.
• Lin Fan saw Diliya's face and mechanical arm, then introduced himself as Soap, commander of the Kasare 37th Regiment's assault squad.
• Diliya introduced herself as Monroe Diliya, and Lin Fan watched the surroundings through the transport's firing port.

Lin Fan and the assault squad entered the colossal harvester Old Man Kam to investigate its malfunction, but Lin Fan discovered that administrator Famu was a Chaos cultist. Famu unleashed a Warp howl that incapacitated the group, and Lin Fan began waking his companions as someone cut through the locked control-room door.

• Lin Fan arrived at Old Man Kam with Damian and met Famu, the agricultural district's chief administrator, before following him and Delia inside to repair the harvester.
• At the control room, Lin Fan locked the door after the others left and became suspicious of a carved bird statue Famu tried to reclaim.
• Lin Fan shot Famu's hand and tore open his clothes, revealing an Eight-Pointed Star tattoo between his shoulder blades.
• Famu unleashed a Warp-infused howl that knocked everyone down, then died as the others succumbed to fear.
• Lin Fan slapped Damian and the assault squad awake, gently roused Delia, and heard someone cutting through the locked door.

Lin Fan and the survivors fought off a Chaos mob inside the harvester, then escaped through its heat-dissipation channels toward a suspended loader. They found thousands of people gathered below and prepared to speed up the loader before leaping onto it.

• Lin Fan tried to use Delia’s communicator to warn headquarters, but the signal remained garbled despite his repairs.
• A Chaos mob broke through the heavy door, and Lin Fan and the assault squad shot down the attackers until the survivors fled.
• Delia led Lin Fan and the others through the harvester to a heat-dissipation channel that exited beside a suspended loader.
• Lin Fan spotted thousands of people below and asked Delia to make the loader faster; she reluctantly agreed.
• Lin Fan kicked open the vent door and jumped onto the loader.

Lin Fan and his squad fought through a riot in Delia’s heavily modified transport, only to be pursued and attacked by a Black Legion Chaos Space Marine. Lin Fan killed the warrior in seconds, leaving the squad alive but surrounded by the aftermath of the assault.

• Delia rammed the transport through the rioters’ vehicles while Lin Fan shot out their tires.
• A Black Legion Chaos Space Marine caught up with the transport, killed a soldier, and climbed aboard.
• The Chaos Space Marine attacked Lin Fan and killed several assault squad soldiers, but Lin Fan survived repeated bolt rounds.
• Lin Fan blocked the warrior’s Chainsword with his dagger, and the Chainsword shattered against him.
• Lin Fan stabbed through the Chaos Space Marine’s helmet and repeatedly struck until the warrior died.

Lin Fan and Damian survived the attack on the train, and Lin Fan’s Emperor-blessed touch healed Delia’s Warp-corrupted implants. Meanwhile, Captain Morris Yukagel led the remnants of 1st Company out of Keton after rebels and a black-armored giant destroyed their base, leaving the survivors trapped and demoralized.

• Lin Fan emerged from the carriage carrying the defeated black-armored warrior’s helmet, and Damian joined him in mourning their fallen comrades.
• Lin Fan and Damian found Delia hiding in the foremost carriage, and Lin Fan’s touch calmed her and removed the scrap code damaging her implants.
• Lin Fan rested and reflected on his responsibility to protect the planet from the spreading tragedy.
• Morris Yukagel’s 1st Company opened fire on frenzied Keton residents after the political commissar declared them traitors, then the commissar and an investigating group were killed by Planetary Defense Force troops.
• Rebel forces attacked 1st Company’s base, and a black-armored giant broke through their defenses and killed many soldiers.
• Yukagel led the remaining soldiers into their cellar tunnels, where they took shelter from the giant and faced an uncertain future.

Hugh Ronald, Pidat, and Oktamante emerged from a Warp rift to sabotage the planet and attack Imperial forces, while Pidat pursued Yukagel’s retreating soldiers through the tunnels. Lin Fan and Delia later encountered Yukagel’s battered 1st Company, and Yukagel accepted that Lin Fan was not a traitor.

• Matthew opened a Warp rift in a cellar and transformed into a massive Chaos Spawn as Hugh Ronald, Pidat, and Oktamante arrived.
• Oktamante set out to locate the Eye of Kaznamak, while Ronald and Pidat were tasked with destroying signal systems and provoking attacks on Imperial forces.
• Pidat gathered Chaos civilians and Planetary Defense Force troops, then divided them into attacks on the 1st and 2nd Companies.
• Pidat pursued Yukagel’s group into a tunnel and fired on the fleeing Guardsmen, but explosions blocked the passage and drove him to search for other exits.
• Lin Fan used the vehicle loudspeaker to identify himself to Yukagel’s concealed soldiers, and Yukagel lowered his guard after deciding Lin Fan had not defected.

Lin Fan killed the Black Legion warrior Pidat after enduring his gunfire and fighting him at close range. The survivors believed Lin Fan had died in the blast, but Delia discovered he had only passed out as they carried him toward their next destination.

• Pidat attacked the scattered soldiers, and Lin Fan shot him repeatedly through the weak points in his armor.
• Pidat covered his approach with smoke and charged Lin Fan with his chainsword, but Lin Fan blocked the blow with a dagger.
• Lin Fan shoved an overheated power pack against Pidat's chest, killing him in an explosion that hurled Lin Fan away.
• The surviving soldiers thought Lin Fan was dead until Delia examined him and found that he had only passed out.
• The remnants of the 1st Company and the assault squad boarded the vehicle with Delia and headed for their next destination.

Colonel Mark and the 1st Company crushed a rebel attack, then learned that Chaos Space Marines had struck the regiment and that Sergeant Soap had killed two of them. Soap was unconscious but alive, and Mark prepared to return to Keton for more fighting.

• Colonel Mark led the reserve soldiers in a desperate defense against the rebels until Delia brought Yukagel and the 1st Company in a transport vehicle.
• Mark and the reinforcements charged the rebels from both sides and killed every one of them after a prolonged pursuit.
• Yukagel reported that a black-armored giant had slaughtered the 1st Company at Keton before Soap fought back and saved the survivors.
• Mark examined the dead giant and realized the rebellion was a planned Chaos attack involving traitorous Space Marines.
• Yukagel told Mark that Soap had killed two black-armored giants with a bomb and survived the explosion, though he had fallen unconscious.
• Mark praised Soap and ordered his soldiers to return to Keton for the battles ahead.

Lin Fan woke after nearly half a month unconscious and learned how the rebellion had been crushed at terrible cost. Inquisitor Augunila Weisi arrived to investigate him, saying she would wait until he recovered enough to undergo an examination.

• Lin Fan awoke exhausted and reunited with Old Jock, who told him the 3rd Company’s base had also been attacked and showed his new mechanical arm and eye.
• Old Jock told Lin Fan that Colonel Mark’s forces and Keton’s residents had suppressed the rebellion while Lin Fan was unconscious.
• Colonel Mark and Commissar Aude reported heavy losses among the regiment and the Planetary Defense Force, and suspected the localized uprising had concealed another threat.
• Lin Fan learned that the Adeptus Mechanicus priests and planetary communications instruments had been destroyed, prompting an Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy purity investigation.
• Inquisitor Augunila Weisi visited Lin Fan, praised his service, and said he would undergo an examination once he could leave his bed.

After Lin Fan was discharged, Inquisitor Vissi interrogated him and entered his mind, where she saw a vision of the Emperor declaring Lin Fan humanity’s key to salvation. Vissi ended the interrogation, gave Lin Fan a necklace to conceal the secret of his soul from psykers, and sent him to report to Colonel Mark and the others.

• Three days after Lin Fan recovered, Inquisition stormtroopers took him from the hospital to a temporary headquarters, where Vissi shackled him for questioning.
• Vissi used her psychic powers to enter Lin Fan’s mind and found his soul filled with overwhelming golden radiance.
• Vissi saw a sacred figure she believed was the Emperor, who called Lin Fan His representative and entrusted Vissi with helping him.
• Vissi awoke with her soul cleansed, ended the interrogation, released Lin Fan, and told him to report to Colonel Mark and the others.
• Vissi gave Lin Fan her xenos relic necklace and ordered him to wear it so psykers could not easily probe his soul.

Lin Fan became captain of the reorganized 3rd Company as the battered 37th Regiment left Karmaklan and joined the Kasare Legion’s deployment to Armageddon. As the fleet prepared to face the Ork invasion, Lin Fan watched it enter the Warp.

• Ronald watched Lin Fan from hiding and vowed to kill him, but decided to wait for the right time.
• Colonel Mark reorganized the 37th Regiment, named Lin Fan captain of the 3rd Company, and assigned Old Jock as his NCO.
• Delia chose to become the regiment’s tech-priest, while Damian turned to daily prayer after surviving the battle.
• A transport barge carried the 37th Regiment away from Karmaklan after the Kasare Legion received orders to reinforce Armageddon.
• The Kasare Legion joined a mixed Imperial fleet bound for Armageddon, where a massive Ork invasion threatened the planet.
• Lin Fan followed the fleet’s preparations as it activated its Gellar Fields and entered the Warp.

Lin Fan explored life aboard the Flame, learned how faith in the Emperor protected travelers in the Warp, and strengthened the 3rd Company’s devotion. The chapter ended with an armed maintenance team patrolling a dangerous lower-deck corridor.

• Old Jock complained to Lin Fan about the nausea of Warp travel as Lin Fan explored the ship’s decks and mess hall.
• Lin Fan observed the ship’s harsh living conditions and learned how its prayers and chapels helped protect people from Warp corruption.
• Lin Fan and Damian turned the 3rd Company into devout believers in the Emperor.
• A young naval soldier complained during a patrol through corridor D1347, and the sergeant warned the maintenance team about mutants, mad slaves, and other dangers below deck.