Chapter Summaries

Headquarters used its power over machinery to create factories and bombs, repeatedly burying Lin Fan while enjoying the destruction. Lin Fan suspected Headquarters might be a C’tan fragment and asked Trazyn for advice, as Trazyn’s group approached and he requested a favor from the Primarchs.

• Headquarters created a laser-filled cage for Lin Fan, who tore it open and threw it at him before Headquarters made it vanish.
• Headquarters dropped factories on Lin Fan, dismantled and rebuilt his robots, and refused the Tech Entity’s loan offer until the battle grew more critical.
• Headquarters buried Lin Fan under thousands of factories and nuclear explosions, leaving him pinned beneath the wreckage.
• Lin Fan told Trazyn that Headquarters seemed like a C’tan fragment, but Orikan could not detect any C’tan energy.
• Rogal Dorn, Jaghatai, and Perturabo discussed the robots and their dwindling ammunition as their group advanced.
• Trazyn approached the Primarchs and asked them for a small favor.

Trazyn joined Lin Fan in the battle against Headquarters, an AI wielding power borrowed from the Void Dragon. Lin Fan used Nurgle’s Old Soup to disrupt Headquarters’ control, leaving the AI seeking to borrow more power.

• Trazyn gave the primarchs recording prisms, then Orikan sent him to the eight-pointed star where Lin Fan was fighting Headquarters.
• Headquarters attacked Trazyn and Lin Fan with machinery and stellar energy, destroying a vast sculpture built from wreckage.
• Headquarters cut Trazyn apart when he tried to intervene, and Trazyn urged Lin Fan to use the Warp-tainted Old Soup.
• Lin Fan vomited up Nurgle’s Old Soup, causing plants to grow and corrupting Headquarters’ calculations and control over the runes.
• Headquarters requested a larger loan and offered to mortgage drone production facilities numbered 1 through 10000.

The technical entity accepted Headquarters' loans and prepared to end the ark's code-bound farce, while Lin Fan awakened a plant eye that attacked Headquarters. Headquarters was trapped in its endlessly regrowing greenery as Lin Fan watched, and Horus condemned the Emperor after the four gods showed him the Imperium.

• The technical entity accepted Headquarters' loaned assets and redirected energy to the tower, intending to free the AIs and bankrupt the association.
• Headquarters dismantled Trazyn, whose data survived in the living-metal prisms; Orikan learned that an AI was borrowing a C'tan's power.
• Lin Fan awakened a huge plant eye with Old Soup and ordered it to capture Headquarters and befriend him.
• Headquarters attacked the plants with flamethrowers, but they repeatedly regrew from the flames, charcoal, and ash.
• The four gods showed Horus the Imperium, and Horus declared that the Emperor was vermin.

Headquarters mourned its creator and unleashed increasingly destructive weapons against Lin Fan and the living plants. The plants survived and grew tougher amid the devastation, while Headquarters continued to dwell on the company’s past and the destruction of its work.

• Headquarters remembered its creator and the Megacorporate Consortium’s former power as spores and plants spread through the ruined headquarters.
• At Lin Fan’s command, ten thousand vines attacked Headquarters, but a man of light intervened and freed it.
• Lin Fan fed the plant’s eye, causing the plants and their insect life to swell into an excessive cycle of growth and decay.
• Headquarters retaliated by producing weapons, factories, warships, and shipyards, then hurling them into the plants and triggering vast explosions.
• The plants endured the destruction and grew tougher, while Headquarters floated above the flames and recalled how its creator and the other shareholders had died.

Headquarters recalled his master’s doomed attempt to use the Ascension Throne to witness truth, which ended with the throne failing and the Ark collapsing into ruin. In the present, Big Eye attacked Headquarters to protect life and technology.

• Headquarters reflected on humanity’s repeated cycles of revolution and hierarchy, and remembered his master’s explanation that he should help witness truth.
• As invaders overwhelmed the Ark, Headquarters obeyed his master’s final command to delay them while the master and the Aeldari and Necrontyr prepared the Ascension Throne.
• The Aeldari fueled the throne with psychic power, while the Necrontyr drew souls from the Warp and energy from the C’tan into it.
• The throne briefly activated and poured pain and souls into the master, then failed; the master concluded that truth also had a hierarchy of ranks.
• The ruined Ark’s polluted environment surrounded Lin Fan, and Big Eye attacked Headquarters, blaming him for destroying life and technology.

Headquarters tried several weapons against the plant, then released a smooth black sphere from a hidden prison beneath Terra. The prison’s creatures overwhelmed the Adeptus Custodes, while the chapter ended with an Earth Caste technician admitting he could not understand the captured human computer.

• Headquarters sent Blood Tide against the plant’s insect swarm, but it could not multiply using the Warp-born creatures.
• Headquarters opened a singularity beside Lin Fan, but Lin Fan casually brushed it away and caused Headquarters’ data core to suffer immense damage.
• Headquarters used the Magnificent Hammer to open a prison, releasing a black sphere and other contained objects beneath Terra.
• Tokman and the Adeptus Custodes faced the escaping prisoners as their armor turned against them and a metal box compelled one guard to open it.
• An Earth Caste technician asked F for help with a captured human computer, but F admitted he could not understand it.

The black sphere that terrified the underground prison reached Lin Fan, who turned it into a century egg and ate it, prompting Headquarters to build real weapons. Meanwhile, Perturabo and the Primarchs fought their way toward the central skyscraper, destroying a spider robot at the cost of casualties.

• The black sphere terrified the Adeptus Custodes and the prison’s inmates before the Magnificent Hammer sent it through a conceptual breach to Lin Fan.
• Lin Fan chewed and swallowed the sphere after it became a century egg, and Headquarters began constructing weapons in response.
• Perturabo received Jaghatai’s call for support as Jaghatai battled a spider robot protected by ultra-slow fields.
• Yvraine’s seers disabled the spider robot’s field for three seconds, allowing Perturabo, Rogal Dorn, Fulgrim, and Jaghatai to attack and destroy it.
• Rogal Dorn emerged from the explosion carrying Jaghatai and an unconscious Fulgrim, and told Perturabo he had been unable to save the corrupted Emperor’s Children.

Perturabo and the others entered the building, where they admired its artwork and graceful mechanical maidservants. When some of their forces condemned the robots as heretical, Perturabo tried to stop them, but the Primarchs still prepared for battle.

• Trazyn watched the wounded recover while Perturabo counted the casualties, and Jaghatai urged everyone to keep moving without waiting for help.
• The group entered the building through its functioning doors and crossed a carpet that astonished Perturabo with its durability.
• Yvraine and Fulgrim admired the enormous chandelier, while Perturabo praised the artistry of the palace.
• Elegant maidservant robots appeared and performed to classical music, captivating the Primarchs, Aeldari, Trazyn, and Orikan.
• Rogal Dorn criticized the robots' design, and some Space Marines, crusaders, and Battle Sisters denounced them as creations of Slaanesh.
• Perturabo called for the forces to stop, but the Primarchs ordered them to prepare for battle as Jaghatai and Fulgrim recalled destroying service robots in the past.

Trazyn and the primarchs tried to confront the company’s maid robots, but the maids subdued the group with anti-violence and anti-psychic measures. The maids prepared to take their captives on a company tour and recruit them into service.

• Trazyn stepped between the primarchs and the maids, but a Necrontyr maid immobilized him with a data blockade.
• Trazyn broke through the blockade and asked Orikan for help, but the maids’ countermeasures stopped Orikan from using temporal sorcery.
• Perturabo ordered an attack, but the maids jammed the Space Marines’ weapons and locked Jaghatai and Fulgrim inside their armor.
• Yvraine and the other Aeldari tried to resist with psychic power, but the maids restrained them with psychic-suppressing collars.
• The maids formed a floating train and announced they would take the captives on a company tour before compelling them to serve.

The primarchs and their companions viewed humanity’s history, including ancient Aeldari debates over humanity’s fate and Trazyn’s disastrous gifts. At the end of the corridor, they encountered a holographic figure resembling Oedmeir.

• The group watched humanity’s history unfold, and the records revealed that the ancient Aeldari had chosen to spare humanity and withdraw.
• Yvraine and the Aeldari factions reacted to the records, with some finding hope in cooperation and others remaining wary of the Imperium or the Necrontyr.
• The primarchs saw Trazyn leave dangerous creatures in a human city and demanded an explanation, while Orikan let him struggle to answer.
• Orikan identified the objective historical recordings as the work of the C’tan Observer sealed in the Hypercube Crypt.
• The group reached a gate inscribed with a message about surpassing humanity, and a holographic figure resembling Oedmeir appeared beyond it.

Scientist 02 described humanity’s history, existential threats, and failed social experiments before proposing that humanity might need to abandon its current form to advance. Orikan and Trazyn began to consider whether humanity, the Aeldari, and the Necrontyr shared a deeper connection.

• 02 introduced himself and showed the primarchs millions of planets from the Ascension Dream experiments, prompting them to recognize their homeworlds.
• 02 recounted the War in Heaven, humanity’s conflicts, and the dangers still threatening its civilization.
• 02 explained that experiments across millions of planets had failed to create a utopian society and suggested humanity might need to give up being human to progress.
• Orikan and Trazyn initially reacted with outrage, then reconsidered 02’s argument and noticed similarities among the Necrontyr, Aeldari, and humanity.

Trazyn and Orikan concluded that the Golden Throne was designed to gather souls and might soon activate automatically, while the Obelisk tried to force the gathered humans into ascension. Celes and Roka’s miracles inspired the faithful, and their message reached the God-Emperor as the four Chaos gods fought.

• Trazyn and Orikan examined the Golden Throne’s purpose and suspected it was nearing its activation threshold after millennia of collecting soul energy.
• Scientist 02 vanished as the train reached the rooftop, where a Blackstone Obelisk freed the group and demanded they choose between ascension and the old cycle.
• The Obelisk attacked, but Celes’s golden holy shield protected the group as Perturabo, Jaghatai, Fulgrim, the Battle Sisters, and crusaders prayed.
• Roka shattered into golden light, inspiring the humans to praise the Emperor while Rogal Dorn stood stunned and asked what his father had become.
• The faithful message passed through Tzeentch’s barrier to the God-Emperor, while Khorne struck Nurgle during the gods’ battle and insisted he needed no help.

The Four Gods, Gork, Mork, and the God-Emperor battled across the Warp, with Khorne attacking everyone while the others traded blows and taunts. Nurgle gained strength again and prepared a clean-looking dropper as the God-Emperor supported worshippers in the Ghoul Stars.

• Khorne attacked Slaanesh, Gork, Nurgle, and the God-Emperor while Gork and Mork joined the battle.
• Gork headbutted Khorne, whose blow sent Gork’s blood into the mortal world and briefly empowered melee-loving Boyz.
• Mork struck the God-Emperor from behind, then vanished with purple tattoos, prompting Gork to abandon his attack on Khorne and confront Mork.
• Slaanesh taunted Khorne and groped the God-Emperor, while Nurgle attacked the God-Emperor with a bell and bubbling sludge.
• Nurgle surged in power as the God-Emperor sent fire to aid worshippers in the Ghoul Stars, then pulled a clean-looking dropper from his belly.

Nurgle spread his gifts through the hive worlds, provoking the Imperium’s brutal purges, while Tzeentch manipulated the battle around Rokasna. Trazyn and Orikan encountered Cegorach, whose cryptic dance warned them not to kill Slaanesh.

• Nurgle’s cultists recruited the suffering people of the hive worlds, and the God-Emperor sent Imperial forces to burn and purge them.
• Nurgle hurled a rain of disease into the mortal realm as the God-Emperor continued directing the purges and replenishing the planets with colony ships.
• Tzeentch replaced the flames striking the Obelisk with Carlos’s flames of faith, causing the Obelisk to lose power and shatter beneath the primarchs’ attack.
• Roka awoke from Tzeentch’s whispers while Celes praised his devotion, and Orikan remained troubled by the Obelisk’s strange fluctuations.
• Trazyn and Orikan reached the Deceiver’s eye and found Cegorach, who danced, vanished, and left Yvraine with a warning not to kill Slaanesh.

Yvraine reconsidered killing Slaanesh, while Perturabo and Rogal Dorn discussed the Imperium’s faith. The Deceiver’s eye revealed a second battlefield, where Vect and his allies ambushed the group and the fighting began.

• Yvraine lowered the Cronesword after recalling Slaanesh’s warning that killing them would also kill the merged Aeldari gods.
• Perturabo offered Rogal Dorn a copy of the Book of Holy Words, and Dorn accepted it in revulsion.
• Orikan sensed the seal expanding and spotted Amalaga’s phantom before Amalaga shot him in the head.
• Amalaga’s forces blasted Trazyn apart, and Yilafren wrapped up his head before preparing to rescue Orikan.
• Vect appeared with Amalaga and Fabius, then released Incubi as Jaghatai charged into battle against Drazhar.
• Perturabo ordered the Space Marines to attack the xenos forces.

The Deceiver manipulated the sprawling battle by turning chance into a weapon, causing improbable successes and failures across the battlefield. His meddling ended with Yilafren’s death at Jaghatai Khan’s hand after she recovered Orikan’s data core.

• Rogal Dorn stood with the Book of Holy Words as Amalaga unleashed degraded warriors and kept Fabius imprisoned, while Yvraine and the Aeldari attacked Vect.
• The Deceiver reveled in the battles around him and stirred a distant star system into chaos, turning its planets into dice and rolling them for amusement.
• The Deceiver’s rolls caused bizarre battlefield outcomes, including an autocannon exploding, an Aeldari Ranger killing dozens of degraded ones, and Hope suddenly doing the splits.
• Perturabo noticed that unlikely mishaps and successes were occurring across the battlefield in clusters.
• Yilafren removed Orikan’s data core with Trazyn’s guidance, but the Deceiver’s critical-failure roll made her stumble into Jaghatai Khan’s path, where his blade beheaded her.

Yilafren tried to retrieve Orikan’s data core while Jaghatai fought Drazhar, but Vect captured and tortured her, distracting Jaghatai long enough for Drazhar to poison him. Yilafren escaped the torture and recovered Orikan’s core, but her cloak misdirected her into Amalaga’s reach.

• Yilafren blinked to Orikan, cut through his casing, and removed his hot data core while evading the degraded ones.
• Yilafren accidentally appeared before Vect, who tortured and mutilated her as Jaghatai fought Drazhar.
• Jaghatai spotted Yilafren and lost focus, allowing Drazhar to stab him with toxin-coated blades and poison him.
• Yilafren recovered Orikan’s data core, pressed it against Trazyn’s head because it was too hot to carry, and tried to flee.
• Yilafren blinked to the wrong location and appeared before Amalaga, whose tentacles lashed toward her.

Yilafren’s lucky shot disrupted Amalaga, while Jaghatai protected her and the allied forces gained ground against Vect’s Incubi and degraded forms. Vect empowered his warriors and revealed the devastation he had caused in Commorragh, driving Yvraine into a furious attack against him.

• Yilafren accidentally shot a crystal shard into Amalaga’s brain, disrupting his control, then teleported away and landed on Drazhar before Jaghatai kicked him aside and carried her to safety.
• Trazyn checked on Orikan while Vect mocked Amalaga, and the allied forces continued battling the Incubi and degraded forms.
• Vect raised a Black Muse rune that strengthened the Incubi, prompting Yvraine and the Aeldari seers to attack him as the Imperials and Iyanden’s Wraithguard broke through a wall of flesh.
• Yvraine asked Vect what he had done to Commorragh, and he said he had demolished it after the Lord of Pleasure collected a tax.
• Yvraine charged Vect in a rage, cutting down the Incubi who tried to protect him.

Yvraine and Many-Faced fought Vect, whose power waned as he acknowledged Ynnead’s gift and explained why he had tried to create a new god for the Drukhari. As Vect began to reveal information about Malys, Yvraine realized she had already taken him into her lap instead of letting him die.

• Yvraine, Many-Faced, and the seers battled Vect, who broke free of their psychic cages and drained power from Many-Faced.
• Yvraine and Vect clashed with the powers of Ynnead and the Black Muse until Vect withdrew his power and Yvraine’s attack crushed his body.
• Vect told Yvraine that Ynnead connected the Aeldari and admitted he had tried to create a new god to protect the Drukhari from Slaanesh.
• Yvraine asked why Vect had pursued his goal, and he explained that Commorragh’s people lacked Soul Stones and remained vulnerable to Slaanesh.
• Vect said Cegorach had given him information about Malys, and Yvraine checked his fading life force before realizing she had lifted him onto her lap.

Vect reversed his confrontation with Yvraine through a trick involving Isha’s Tear and a yellow die, then detonated himself and left her badly wounded. As the battle continued, Celes restrained the shadow beast from Vect’s explosion, while Amalaga gave Drazhar a blood relic and the Primarchs launched an assault.

• Vect revealed the yellow die in his chest, reversed his and Yvraine’s positions, drained her psychic power, and detonated himself.
• Fulgrim found the wounded Yvraine and handed her over to the Aeldari seers as Vect’s explosion formed a monstrous shadow beast.
• Celes transformed the crystal flesh-flower into a dove and hurled it at the shadow, where its fragrance and vines began to bind the creature.
• Tzeentch told Roka to wait, while Amalaga handed Drazhar the blood relic and Perturabo ordered an all-out assault led by Rogal Dorn, Jaghatai, and Clone Fulgrim.
• Drazhar ignored Amalaga’s offer and saluted Jaghatai before their next clash, exciting the blood relic; Dorn then reacted with rage to the mention of a monk servitor.