Chapter Summaries

Perturabo fought the Carcharodons Chaplain while Lin Fan urged him to stop playing around. After the Chaplain fell into Blindness, Perturabo injected him with an unknown fluid to deal with the episode.

• Perturabo waited for the Carcharodons Chaplain to attack from the shadows, then charged him when he appeared.
• The Chaplain struck Perturabo's face, but Perturabo slapped him hard enough to send him flying and knock him unconscious.
• Lin Fan removed the Chaplain's helmet and recognized that the warrior was suffering from the Carcharodons' genetic affliction, Blindness.
• Lin Fan tried slapping the Chaplain to wake him, but the Chaplain remained deranged and nearly bit his hand.
• Perturabo told Lin Fan to move aside, transformed his arm into a large drill, and injected an unknown fluid through the Chaplain's armor.

Lin Fan and Perturabo secured the strike cruiser while Yvraine’s Ynnari imprisoned its human survivors. Visarch challenged Yvraine’s trust in Lin Fan, but she reaffirmed her commitment to his ideals and their alliance.

• Perturabo explained that he had injected the priest with a hallucinogen that showed people their greatest wishes, and the priest began laughing at his visions.
• Lin Fan and Perturabo left to inspect the neighboring ship after Lin Fan released Bashar, who remained asleep inside the coffin.
• Yvraine’s Ynnari took control of the strike cruiser, caging the mortal servants with food and water and binding the Carcharodons in Wraithbone.
• Visarch warned Yvraine that she was too tolerant of humans and should prepare to protect the Aeldari rather than rely on Lin Fan.
• Yvraine admitted humanity was dangerous but said she would trust Lin Fan because he trusted her and was working toward an alliance.

Yvraine grew furious when Visarch insulted her relationship with Lin Fan, but her anger gave way to distress over dreams of Roboute Guilliman. In the Warp, Slaanesh manipulated Ynnead into influencing Yvraine’s dreams, and Ynnead could offer her no help.

• Visarch called Yvraine Lin Fan’s servant, and she attacked him with her Cronesword before Many-Faced intervened and warned Visarch.
• Yvraine brooded in a corridor over her unsettling dreams of Roboute Guilliman and her attraction to him, while meditation and prayer offered no relief.
• Ynnead heard Yvraine’s distress but admitted he could not guide her because Slaanesh had taken control of him.
• Slaanesh decided to make Yvraine and Guilliman’s dreams more romantic, while Ynnead reminded her not to betray her beloved.

Cegorach sneaked into Slaanesh’s palace and negotiated for the release of Ynnead’s souls. After Cegorach escaped, Slaanesh’s delight spread through the Warp and into reality until the God-Emperor asked her to quiet down.

• Slaanesh caught Cegorach after he dodged her attacks and merged with the palace to trap him.
• Cegorach asked Slaanesh to release the souls, and she agreed in exchange for him destroying Khorne’s legions.
• Slaanesh pulled a tangled mass of corrupted souls from her body and gave them to Cegorach.
• Cegorach escaped after giving Ynnead a look of sympathy, leaving him with Slaanesh.
• Slaanesh’s laughter spread happiness across the physical universe, making even an Inquisitor and his tortured captive laugh.
• The God-Emperor told Slaanesh to quiet down, and she apologized with a flower that followed him back to his throne.

The Emperor sent Celestine to the Ghoul Stars to help a man whose face he showed her, giving her a strange flower and telling her its blooming would reveal her mission. Before departing, Celestine reunited with her embodiment of hope and accepted a feather crown from her.

• The God-Emperor decided not to destroy Slaanesh's flesh-like flower and placed it in a golden vase.
• Celestine searched through a wasteland of corpses identical to herself, assembled golden armor, and entered a hidden sphere containing a hopeful refuge.
• Celestine embraced the little girl who embodied her hope and accepted the feather crown the girl had made for her.
• The Emperor met Celestine, gave her the vase, and told her to travel to the Ghoul Stars and help the man in the portrait when the flower bloomed and turned to crystal.
• Celestine memorized the man's face, bowed to The Emperor, and walked through the Warp rift.

The Emperor apologized to Celestine for the endless service and rebirths she had endured, then ordered her to prepare a list of dishes before she left. Slaanesh visited the Emperor hoping to become a Living Saint, then invited him to help destroy the place where Khorne forged weapons, prompting the God-Emperor to draw his sword.

• The Emperor stopped Celestine from kneeling, apologized for drawing her into endless service, and reassured her that she had done well.
• Celestine objected to indulging in food, but the Emperor ordered her to prepare a tasting list of at least thirteen dishes and sent her away.
• The Emperor reflected on Celestine's painful deaths and rebirths, while the God-Emperor questioned whether she had safely skipped the usual trial.
• Slaanesh appeared with white wings and asked to become a Living Saint, but the Emperor explained that no body could bear her power.
• The Emperor asked Slaanesh whether the flesh flower had caused his guilt toward Celestine, and Slaanesh accused him of luring an innocent girl into sainthood.
• Slaanesh invited the Emperor to help smash Khorne's weapon-forging site, and the God-Emperor took control and drew his sword.

While Slaanesh and the Emperor's Legion of the Damned fought Khorne, Tzeentch assigned Rokasna to collect an overdue debt. He reshaped Rokasna with power drawn from Emperor-worshippers as Carlos's preparations reached a point of disagreement.

• Slaanesh's daemonic host and the Emperor's Legion of the Damned advanced against Khorne's forge as Tzeentch watched the battle.
• Tzeentch found Rokasna trying to teach an Ogryn to count, then dispersed the Ogryn's soul and gave Rokasna a task.
• Tzeentch handed Rokasna an ancient scroll and ordered him to collect an overdue debt.
• Tzeentch checked Carlos's preparations; Carlos gave conflicting reports about whether everything was ready.
• Tzeentch used power from Emperor-worshippers to pluck Rokasna's feathers and reshape his appearance.

Tzeentch sent Rokasna, disguised with golden feathers and trapped in a mortal body, into a hive city with orders to help its people. Rokasna fought the Emperor-worshipping bandits attacking a crowd, but his weakened powers left him wounded and facing a Hellgun.

• Tzeentch had Carlos replace Rokasna's azure feathers with golden ones, then hurled him through a rift into a human hive city.
• Rokasna found that he had a mortal body and could draw only a trace of psychic strength from the city's rising steam.
• Rokasna discovered a note ordering him to help the mortals, then approached a fleeing crowd with a small fireball.
• More than twenty armed bandits surrounded Rokasna and the crowd, shooting and harpooning people while demanding they offer themselves to The Emperor.
• Rokasna charged the bandits with a steel-rebar spear, killed nine, and sustained wounds from their bombs before a bandit aimed a Hellgun at him.

Rokasna survived a bandit’s Hellgun attack and woke in the care of Celes, a woman with immense holy power who healed him and tested him for corruption. After she introduced herself and left, Rokasna understood that the parchment’s instruction to “Act with her” was his next task.

• A bandit’s repeated Hellgun shots broke Rokasna’s shield, wounded him, and left him unconscious.
• Rokasna awoke in a room with Celes watching over him, then fell asleep again after she urged him to rest.
• A parchment appeared in Rokasna’s dream with the instruction, “Act with her.”
• Rokasna found Celes holding the parchment, and she inspected and healed his wounds with her sacred power.
• Celes tested Rokasna for corruption, told him his injuries were healed, and introduced herself before leaving.
• Rokasna realized that he understood what he needed to do for the Headmaster.

Lin Fan treated the wounded Lamenters after the Drukhari attack while Perturabo repaired their Dreadnought. Seeing how few warriors and how little equipment the Chapter had left, Lin Fan reflected on the vast disparities between Space Marine Chapters.

• Lin Fan felt watched and cold, while Perturabo dismissed his concern and continued repairing a Castaferrum-pattern Dreadnought.
• A poisoned Lamenters warrior cursed Lin Fan and Perturabo, but Lin Fan warned him to stay calm and prepared medicine.
• Lin Fan removed the Lamenters Chapter Master's helmet and gave him the potion, then treated the other severely wounded Lamenters.
• Lin Fan noted that the Lamenters had only 120 warriors remaining and lacked the equipment and resources of more established Chapters.
• Lin Fan considered how Chapters were organized into companies and squads, and how their strength and supplies varied across the Imperium.

Perturabo revived and subdued the Lamenters’ Dreadnought and questioned their Chapter Master, while Lin Fan explained the Lamenters’ cursed history and the disasters that had reduced their numbers. The chapter’s account ended with the Lamenters stationed in the Maelstrom, where the Astral Claws had shown them unexpected kindness.

• Perturabo restarted the damaged Dreadnought, sedated it, and restrained the Lamenters Chapter Master for questioning.
• The Chapter Master refused to answer Perturabo, so Lin Fan explained that the Lamenters came from the Cursed Founding and faced suspicion, persecution, and Chaos corruption among its chapters.
• Lin Fan described how the Blood Snakes were declared traitors and the Fire Hawks were destroyed after an Inquisitor judged their flames to be a sign of Chaos.
• The Lamenters suffered heavy losses defending Corillia after the Excoriators abandoned them, then vanished in a Warp storm after Ultramarines and White Scars reinforcements arrived.
• The High Lords sent the surviving Lamenters to defend the Maelstrom, where the Astral Claws under Lufgt Huron treated them with kindness.

Lin Fan recounted the Badab War and the Lamenters’ mistaken alliance with Huron, ending with their devastating defeat and hundred-year Penitent Crusade. Perturabo grew furious at the High Lords’ treatment of the Astartes and prepared to take his anger to Terra.

• Huron grew tired of Terra’s refusal to reinforce the Badab Sector, cut off Imperial taxes, and restricted trade to build up his forces, triggering the Badab War.
• Phoros and the Lamenters sided with Huron because they believed the conflict was a misunderstanding and defended themselves without harming their fellow Space Marines.
• The Minotaurs ambushed the Lamenters, captured Storm's Daughter, and left only a little over three hundred wounded brothers alive as Phoros disappeared.
• Imperial interrogators found that the Lamenters had not intended to rebel, pardoned them from Excommunicate Traitoris, and sentenced them to a hundred-year Penitent Crusade.
• After hearing Lin Fan’s account, Perturabo raged against the High Lords and began planning an assault on Terra.

Lin Fan tried to bring the Carcharodons and Lamenters under control after the planet’s unrest was quelled, but the Space Marines remained hostile. He asked Yvraine to make The Emperor manifest so he could persuade them, and she proposed projecting The Emperor’s will through a method used by Chaos Gods and Greater Daemons.

• Lin Fan stopped Perturabo from smashing things and turned the group’s attention to restoring order on the planet.
• Aeldari disguised as priests and nuns searched for capable survivors to help take power while Lin Fan focused on the two Space Marine Chapters.
• Lin Fan and Perturabo entered the hall where 190 disarmed Space Marines stood restrained, and Bashar cursed them before Perturabo kicked him away.
• Lin Fan asked the Lamenters’ Chapter Master his name, learned it was Hope, and placed a hand on his forehead to test whether he could see The Emperor.
• Lin Fan asked Yvraine to make The Emperor manifest, and she said the warlocks could project The Emperor’s will using a method based on the bond between a Chaos God and a Greater Daemon.

Lin Fan and Yvraine forced Perturabo into a ritual that let the Emperor possess him, and the Emperor stopped the Space Marines and Aeldari from fighting. He then faced the Carcharodons and Lamenters, as Hope asked why his Chapter had suffered so much.

• Yvraine described the gods worshipped by humanity and other races, angering the Space Marines, then prepared her Warlocks to bind Perturabo.
• Lin Fan pinned Perturabo down and told him the ritual would let the Emperor possess him, but Perturabo fought back and attacked Yvraine.
• The Emperor appeared within Perturabo, drove back the Warlocks, and suppressed the charging Carcharodons and Lamenters.
• The Emperor halted both Chapters and ordered them to stand properly, while Bashar obeyed and Hope knelt in tears.
• The Emperor helped Hope to his feet after Hope asked what the Lamenters had done wrong to suffer so much.

The Emperor demanded that the Lamenters and Carcharodons accept his command to ally with the Aeldari, despite their hatred and grievances toward them. Lin Fan reframed the alliance as a sacred mission to revive one of the Emperor’s sons and strike at Chaos, leaving the Space Marines kneeling in alarm.

• The Emperor showed Hope scenes of war and peace and demanded that he choose between personal loyalty and protecting others.
• The Emperor ordered Hope and Bashar to accept that the Lamenters were not cursed and declared Lin Fan the voice of his will.
• The Emperor forbade the Space Marines from attacking the Aeldari and declared them allies against Chaos.
• Bashar condemned the Aeldari as enemies, while Hope accused them of tormenting the Lamenters and plundering their gene-seed vault.
• The Emperor challenged the Space Marines to defy his command, and Lin Fan intervened with a sermon about the sacred mission entrusted to them.
• The Space Marines fell to their knees, afraid that their resistance had disrupted the Emperor’s plan.

Lin Fan and The Emperor persuaded the Carcharodons and Lamenters to accept the mission, then The Emperor confronted Perturabo’s soul. Perturabo rejected The Emperor and vented his long-held anger over the humiliations and neglect he had suffered.

• Lin Fan pretended to repent, and The Emperor played along by threatening to choose other warriors for the mission.
• Hope and Bashar apologized, and the Lamenters and Carcharodons swore to obey The Emperor and complete the mission without firing on the Aeldari.
• The Emperor restored the warriors’ resolve, removed Lin Fan’s special effects, and asked how he had acted so convincingly.
• Perturabo mocked The Emperor for using warriors with a false sacred mission and refused to serve the Imperium any longer.
• Perturabo recalled Russ’s insults, the work and recognition he had been denied, and the technology he believed The Emperor had withheld from his Legion.

Perturabo confronted the Emperor over feeling unwanted, but the Emperor soothed him with a head pat, leaving Perturabo delighted and eager to recreate the sensation. The Space Marines joined Lin Fan’s mission alongside the Ynnari, and Perturabo boarded the Lamenters’ damaged warship to repair it and conduct experiments.

• Perturabo demanded to know whether the Emperor needed him, and the Emperor said he wanted Perturabo to live for his own meaning rather than for him.
• Perturabo asked whether the Emperor had treated Dorn the same way, and the Emperor said no, making Perturabo happy.
• Slaanesh secretly helped the Emperor reach out and comfort Perturabo, then watched as Perturabo returned to his body and hurried to build a device that could recreate the head pat.
• Lin Fan and the Wraithbone artisan repaired damage while the Space Marines grew less hostile toward Yvraine and agreed to follow Lin Fan’s orders.
• Perturabo and Lin Fan boarded the Lamenters’ warship, the Mother of Tears, where Perturabo used his robots to repair the ship and planned experiments on the Chapter.

Perturabo examined the Lamenters’ empty gene-seed vault and discovered their brutal, ritualized recruitment and implantation practices. He challenged Hope over the Chapter’s disastrously low surgical success rate, then returned to questioning him as they prepared to carry out their plan.

• The Lamenters explained that xenos had looted the gene-seed vault and killed the Apothecaries and tactical squad guarding it.
• Perturabo scanned the surgical records and found that recruits had to survive three days in a spike-lined Coffin of Mercy before receiving gene-seed.
• Hope described his own trial, explaining that he had endured severe blood loss and fading consciousness in the coffin before becoming a Space Marine.
• Perturabo questioned the Lamenters’ two-thousand-to-one surgical success rate and criticized their pre-surgery trial and missing procedure records.
• Hope called Perturabo “Uncle,” and Perturabo told him to stop changing the subject and answer his questions.

Perturabo exploited Hope’s resentment of the Imperium to persuade him to rebuild the Lamenters into a Legion and secretly purge Terra’s rulers. Hope accepted Perturabo’s claim that the Emperor had given them a hidden mission, and Perturabo named their new Imperium the Second Empire.

• Hope told Perturabo that the Lamenters’ Apothecaries had learned surgery from the Tech-Priests, and Lin Fan explained that gene-seed surgical knowledge had been lost across the Imperium.
• Perturabo offered to teach Hope the complete surgical process and help restore the Lamenters, despite the High Lords’ order against replenishing their ranks during the Penitent Crusade.
• Perturabo stirred Hope’s anger by reminding him of the High Lords’ discrimination and the Lamenters’ losses.
• Perturabo convinced Hope that the Emperor had secretly tasked them with purging Terra’s rulers and rebuilding the Imperium.
• Hope asked Perturabo to teach him, and Perturabo declared that they would establish the Second Empire.
• On distant Macragge, Roboute Guilliman twitched a finger while lying motionless.

Perturabo persuaded Hope that the Second Empire would fulfill the Emperor’s true will by protecting mortals and correcting the Imperium’s abuses. Hope swore himself to Perturabo’s cause, and Perturabo said he would train him to turn the Lamenters into an ironclad army.

• Hope questioned Perturabo about the Second Empire’s government, independence from Terra, and plans to build an army, then compared it to the Badab War.
• Perturabo argued that the Emperor tacitly approved of the Second Empire and challenged Hope to consider whether the Imperium showed compassion toward mortals.
• Hope described the cruelty of some Space Marine Chapters and the exploitation of people across the Imperium, while Perturabo listened and encouraged him to speak.
• Perturabo promised that the Second Empire would avoid the First Empire’s failures and described the new worlds and defenses already being built in the Milky Way.
• Perturabo and Hope discussed plans for improving civilian life and government, and Hope knelt to swear an oath to Perturabo.
• Perturabo told Hope he would first study under him so they could turn the Lamenters into an ironclad army.