Chapter Summaries

Sas survived a Tyranid swarm attack after an XV battlesuit squad arrived, but the fighting turned against the T'au when Lictors ambushed them from the trenches. The chapter left Sas beside a mortally wounded pilot as the battlesuits' gunfire dwindled.

• Sas pulled a bone spike from his chest and prepared to die by grenade, but an XV9 Hazard Battlesuit rescued him and joined the defense.
• The 5110 Emergency Mobile Combat Team advanced through the swarm and identified three notorious Hive Tyrants, Z-13, Z-14, and Z-15.
• The battlesuits focused their fire on the Tyrants while lesser bugs and corrosive attacks overwhelmed their shields.
• Sas warned the squad of an ambush, and a heavy flamer exposed an invisible Lictor in the trench.
• A second Lictor crippled an XV88 Battlesuit by attacking its cockpit, while the first crawled away despite its wounds.
• Sas found the female T'au pilot being eaten alive by tiny bugs as the sounds of battlesuit fire faded.

Sas watched the Eastern Fringe fleet and its battlesuits fall to the Tyranid swarm, while Ketan and Volani faced the growing planetary invasion. On the forty-second day, the swarm breached Ketan’s fortress as a worm-class titan erupted inside and a swarm saint hatched nearby.

• Sas found plasma pistols amid the wreckage and saw Hive Tyrants tear the commander from his Ghostkeel Battlesuit before killing himself as the bugs closed in.
• Ketan and Volani watched the void fleet’s destruction from the planet, and Volani turned away for the last time they would see each other.
• The bugs invaded the planet, spreading spores that released organisms, poisoned the atmosphere, and transformed the landscape.
• On the forty-second day, Earth Caste technicians explained that Boneswords used chitin and psychic energy to cut through armor.
• Ketan learned that Volani’s forces were fighting a soon-to-hatch swarm saint, then a worm-class titan burst through the fortress floor as the swarm saint hatched.

Lin Fan and the others escaped the Webway into a Tyranid-infested battlefield, where the Aeldari seers located the Hive Fleet’s core synapse organism. Lin Fan moved to confront the Insect Saint while Yilafren took the others to safety.

• Yilafren piloted the Void Phoenix Fighter through the Webway breach as Jaghatai mused that Oedmeir reminded the primarchs of their mother and imagined writing a romance about her and The Emperor.
• Lin Fan ordered Jaghatai to protect Yilafren and the Aeldari seers, then drew the Tyranids’ attention by killing a Harridan.
• The Aeldari seers entered the Warp, found the Hive Fleet’s core synapse organism, and were expelled by a contemptuous voice calling them defeated ones.
• Lin Fan told Yilafren to take the others somewhere safe while he faced the Tyranid firestorm alone.
• Lin Fan spotted the enormous Insect Saint amid T'au forces and observed that its size and form appeared to depend on its incubation and available biomass.

The chapter described the KX939 Supreme Battle Armor, whose development was made possible by Oedmeir’s technical work, and followed Volani as he fought the Tyranid swarm on a collapsing T'au world. Volani’s battlesuit and its logic system Wen supported him in battle, but the defenders faced dwindling chances of survival.

• Shadowsun and Farsight ordered the KX139 Supreme Armor enlarged into the far heavier KX939, and Oedmeir solved its technical problems.
• Earth Caste technicians used Oedmeir’s books to advance T'au technology and complete the KX939 with improved equipment.
• Volani used his KX939 to destroy swarms of bugs and fire long-range support for the Hammer-Shatter Squad, despite obliterating the squad along with nearby enemies.
• Volani reflected on how the battlesuit’s powerful logic response system worked and how pilots formed attachments to their systems.
• Volani asked Wen how long the defenders could hold out, and Wen estimated that reaching the fiftieth day would require extraordinary luck.

Lin Fan killed the Bug Saint from inside its body with an Ultra-Compressed Annihilation Nuke, then emerged to help the beleaguered T'au forces. Krawos saw Lin Fan head toward another critical area and began to believe they might survive.

• Volani received a panicked report that an infantryman in green armor had punched the Bug Saint to death.
• Lin Fan used an Ultra-Compressed Annihilation Nuke inside the Bug Saint, smashing its flesh until the creature collapsed and died.
• Lin Fan retrieved the nuke, broke through the Bug Saint's shell, and asked Krawos which part of the battlefield was in the most danger.
• Krawos pointed out battlefield grid 1893, and Lin Fan told him to fire two artillery shots toward it before vanishing with his spear of light.
• Krawos asked his Strong Logic Response System about Lin Fan, then felt his tension and despair ease as he wondered if they could survive.

Lin Fan saved a beleaguered T'au position by killing three Tyranid Hive Tyrants, but the Hive Mind learned nothing from his deathless fighting and sent psychic organisms to confront him. The Neurothropes and Zoanthropes raised a shield against the defenders’ weapons and prepared to capture Lin Fan for study.

• Lin Fan flew over the battlefield and saw T'au soldiers struggling to hold a position against three Tyranid swarms.
• Lin Fan killed the three Hive Tyrants, briefly throwing the nearby swarm into disarray and easing the pressure on the defenders.
• The Hive Mind reviewed the Tyrants’ deaths but gained no useful information, while it and the Silent King sensed each other as kindred spirits.
• Neurothropes and Zoanthropes took command of the swarm and blocked the T'au weapons with a psychic shield.
• The psychic Tyranids prepared to tear Lin Fan apart and send him to the hatching pool to study his genes.

Lin Fan destroyed Tyranid forces and biomass-processing sites with his strength and nuclear bombs, helping force the swarm to retreat from Prosperity II. As the sky cleared, Jaghatai mounted Prosperity II and went to find Lin Fan.

• Lin Fan killed the Neurotyrant with an ultra-compressed nuclear bomb, which landed among the Tyranids and caused heavy casualties.
• Lin Fan withstood the Zoanthropes’ psychic crushing force, killed them, and took a tactical map from a Pathfinder before leaving to support another area.
• Lin Fan destroyed the Hash Swarm’s hatching pool and digestion pool with his bare hands and a nuclear bomb.
• The Hive Mind ordered the Norn Queen of the Hash Swarm to attack from another direction, and the swarm began retreating as the sky cleared.
• Yilafren told Jaghatai that the Tyranids were running; Jaghatai killed the remaining Tyranid Warriors and mounted Prosperity II to search for Lin Fan.

Jaghatai and Lin Fan traced the Tyranids’ environmental damage to Magma Core Beasts, then pursued the retreating hive fleet to attack its Norn Queen. Lin Fan breached a hive ship and fought his way inside, where the chapter ended with the Norn Queen confronting an unknown threat.

• Jaghatai found Lin Fan testing whether a Magma Core Beast could drown in lava, then told him the Tyranid swarm was retreating.
• Lin Fan captured the Magma Core Beast, handed it to T'au Empire soldiers for research, and boarded the Void Phoenix Fighter with Jaghatai.
• Yilafren piloted the fighter through the hive fleet’s attacks and brought Lin Fan close enough to hurl his spear at the largest hive ship.
• Lin Fan tore through the hive ship’s hull and entered a chamber filled with Tyranid creatures.
• The Norn Queen saw Lin Fan and asked, "What the hell is that thing?"

The Norn Queen died, throwing the swarm into chaos, while the Hive Mind redirected its attention toward Holy Terra. After the costly defense of the planet in the VK-01 star system, Lin Fan prepared to leave and confront threats elsewhere.

• The Norn Queen evacuated her knowledge and psychic power into other node organisms, but Lin Fan reached her empty chamber and killed her last guard.
• The Hive Mind lost control of much of the swarm, ordered an assault on the Necrontyr defenses, and learned that its next target was Holy Terra through Genestealer communications.
• In the VK-01 star system, leaderless swarms turned on one another as Lin Fan rested inside a Devourer living warship.
• Lin Fan returned to the surface, where Volani and Krawos mourned their losses and confirmed that reinforcements were being contacted after communications returned.
• Lin Fan told Krawos that the New Psyker Department members were Aeldari allies, and Yilafren declared herself Lin Fan's slave.

The Hash splinter fleets devastated Ork kingdoms and merged with a Behemoth splinter fleet, while the Big Canteen expanded vaccine production and support efforts. Overwhelmed by administration, Perturabo, Rogal Dorn, and Fulgrim planned to awaken Roboute Guilliman, and Fulgrim admitted he had grievously wounded him.

• The Hash swarms killed an Ork warlord, triggering infighting that let them harvest the Orks’ biomass.
• A Hash splinter fleet and a Behemoth splinter fleet fought and merged, with Behemoth emerging stronger and adopting a strategy of attacking multiple regions.
• The Big Canteen sent part of its support fleet to the T'au Empire and Oedmeir cultivated Tree of Life branches to expand vaccine production.
• Perturabo, Rogal Dorn, and Fulgrim told Oedmeir they planned to travel to Macragge and awaken Roboute Guilliman.
• Oedmeir asked about the Fate Armor and Ynnead, and Fulgrim confessed that his Slaanesh-tainted blade had left Guilliman near death.

Lin Fan approved Slaanesh’s plan to remove most of the corruption from Guilliman, leaving Death God's Power to cleanse the remaining traces. As Slaanesh departed, Lin Fan considered the strange lack of Chaos Space Marine activity and the consequences of announcing the returned primarchs to the Imperium.

• The group summoned Slaanesh through Yawens, and Slaanesh heard Fulgrim’s account of Guilliman’s condition.
• Lin Fan agreed that Slaanesh could try to remove the corruption from Guilliman, though Slaanesh said Death God's Power might still be needed for the last remnants.
• Slaanesh left with an unexplained lovestruck smile, and Yilafren carried the exhausted Yawens away after she regained control of her body.
• Lin Fan realized that he had overlooked Guilliman while occupied with other wars and wondered whether Lion El'Jonson should also be awakened.
• Lin Fan questioned why Abaddon and the Chaos Space Marines had made no major moves, and wondered what Tzeentch planned.
• Lin Fan decided not to announce the returned primarchs himself, noting that Rogal Dorn and Jaghatai would likely be welcomed while Fulgrim and Perturabo could provoke suspicion and rebellion.

Lin Fan set out for another battlefield while Slaanesh arranged for Yvraine to use Ynnead’s power to awaken Guilliman. Oedmeir inspected the Octagonal Fortress and planned to use Rebecca to replace its original AI.

• Lin Fan dismissed his worries about Tzeentch’s schemes, imagined the Big Canteen’s forces defeating Abaddon, and boarded the Void Phoenix to fight more bugs.
• Slaanesh told the others that Guilliman could be awakened with help from Ynnead’s power.
• Slaanesh revealed that Yvraine was needed to infuse Guilliman with that power, hinting that she should kiss him; Yvraine denied her feelings and left.
• Slaanesh told the group to summon her when they arrived, and the others began preparing to awaken Guilliman.
• Oedmeir inspected the Octagonal Fortress, found Unit 0 maintaining it, and planned to replace its original AI with Rebecca.

Oedmeir manipulated Unit 0’s corporate procedures to obtain the Octagonal Fortress’s security information, using Delia to pose as an employee and repeatedly stage her own arrest. After Unit 0 gave them the data it held, it was formatted as it had wished, leaving Delia with one final document from it.

• Oedmeir contacted Unit 0, learned it wanted to die, and tried to persuade it to provide the highest-level authorization code.
• Oedmeir guided Delia to pose as a corporate worker and report Oedmeir as a wanted criminal, but the fortress’s armed machines failed to suppress her.
• Oedmeir had Delia beat her so Unit 0 would record a successful arrest, then recovered with medicine and repeated the scheme until Delia accumulated 1.567 billion contribution points.
• Oedmeir used Delia’s promotion and Unit 0’s emergency regulations to obtain detailed security documents, including the fortress map and firewall source code.
• Unit 0 was formatted away, and before disappearing it gave Delia one final document.

Oedmeir reviewed the Golden Ark’s alarming status and began preparing the Octagonal Fortress for long-term operation as the fleet advanced toward Ultramar. On a war-torn planet, Sergeant Mar and young soldier Tom fled worm-controlled corpses and rushed toward a guarded reconnaissance position.

• Oedmeir concluded that the Golden Ark they had attacked was only its core, then studied its integrity and apotheosis readings.
• Oedmeir and Delia began tearing down useless facilities in the Octagonal Fortress and planning factories and residential districts, while the newly formed fleet advanced toward Ultramar.
• Sergeant Mar found the young soldier Tom beneath a pile of bodies and led him through the forest to seek the main force.
• Mar and Tom encountered a tense reconnaissance squad whose Sentinel aimed its weapon at them as they identified themselves.
• Dead soldiers rose with purple worms controlling their bodies, and the Sentinel fired as Mar dragged Tom toward the squad’s barricade.

Mar survived the crash of an Ork warship but lost Tom and was left alone in the devastated forest. He continued searching for his comrades and found an armored Ork hunting the last of several Aeldari.

• Mar and Tom escaped mind-controlling bugs and joined a scout squad under attack by Orks.
• Ork rockets destroyed one Sentinel, and the Orks overwhelmed the other as the squad fought back.
• An Ork warship crashed into the forest, and Mar sheltered in a crater while Tom died in the shockwave.
• Mar dug himself out, found Tom dead, and continued through the smoke-choked ruins searching for survivors.
• Mar discovered an armored Ork standing over three dead Aeldari and hunting another.

Mar fought an Ork and survived with help from a wounded Aeldari, then decided to take her prisoner rather than kill her. As Mar tried to lift her, the Aeldari remained hostile and amused by his defense of humanity.

• Mar ambushed the Ork, wounded its elbow, and fought it at close range.
• The Aeldari struck the Ork with shuriken and a longsword, giving Mar the opening to stab through its jaw and kill it.
• Mar and the Aeldari faced off, but she lowered her pistol and gathered stones from the fallen Aeldari.
• Mar chose to spare the Aeldari and planned to take her prisoner for possible military merit.
• The Aeldari called Mar a cruel savage, and Mar told her about his former flower shop.
• Mar tried to pull the injured Aeldari up and carry her over his shoulder.

Mar carried the injured Aeldari through the forest, and they learned more about each other as they talked about their pasts and flower tending. When the Aeldari sensed approaching insects and urged Mar to leave her behind, he set her down with a laspistol but refused to abandon her.

• The Aeldari told Mar to put her down, but he carried her onward and explained that surviving even one more second could change a battle.
• The Aeldari warned Mar about her fallen cousins, then listened as he described his former flower shop and shared that she had tended plants before becoming a Guardian.
• Mar remembered an Ork attack that had destroyed his flower shop and killed the coffee shop owner's daughter, and the Aeldari noticed his grief.
• The Aeldari sensed insects approaching and urged Mar to leave her behind, so Mar put her down and gave her his laspistol.
• Mar told the Aeldari that he would not let her death deepen the nightmare of watching the little girl die, and she gripped the laspistol in silence.

Mar fought off blade bugs while carrying the wounded Aeldari through the Death Forest, refusing to abandon her despite her pleas. A Space Marine rescued them, but Lanya feared what would happen next and told Mar her name.

• Mar shot and killed a blade bug with his lasgun and bayonet, then used its corpse as a shield while the Aeldari shot another bug.
• As more bugs converged under a Tyranid Warrior's control, Mar threw an incendiary grenade and carried the Aeldari toward the edge of the Death Forest.
• The Aeldari pleaded with Mar to leave her behind, but he kept running as she fired her laspistol at the pursuing bugs.
• Mar and the Aeldari emerged from the forest, where a Space Marine's powerful laser beams vaporized the bugs.
• Mar offered the Aeldari his hand and introduced himself, but she pushed him away and told him her name was Lanya.

Mar and the injured Aeldari Lanya reached a field command center, where they encountered a Biel-Tan healer and learned that Ivens Craftworld had been destroyed. The camp then activated a massive geomagnetic transporter.

• An Apothecary praised Mar for fighting bravely and ordered him to continue toward the forest's edge, leaving Lanya alive as a prisoner.
• Mar helped Lanya out of the forest, where they saw a huge structure unfolding as transports and armored soldiers filled the sky and camp.
• Soldiers identified Lanya as an Aeldari from Ivens Craftworld and took her and Mar to the field command center in a Chimera.
• A Biel-Tan Aeldari healer greeted Lanya, and she explained that Orks and Tyranids had destroyed Ivens Craftworld and that the survivors had been scattered in the Webway.
• Alarms cleared the area, and the camp activated a geomagnetic transporter linking the ground structure to space.

Planetary Defense Force commander Valtov handed control of the besieged planet to Anjeflod and prepared Savvas Square for the Idealist Fleet’s reinforcements. Anjeflod’s immense fleet arrived with powerful Hope-class Battleships, and he reaffirmed his commitment to serving the Emperor and humanity.

• Valtov learned that no reinforcements were expected before an Idealist Fleet transmission placed the planet under Anjeflod’s command.
• Valtov ordered the 5513th Armored Regiment and three reserve regiments to clear Tyranids from Savvas Square so troops could land.
• The chapter described the Idealist Fleet’s mixed human, Aeldari, and T'au force and its five Hope-class Battleships designed by Oedmeir.
• Anjeflod reflected on the fleet’s advanced technology and the colossal super-battleship Rebecca while admiring Oedmeir’s portrait.
• Anjeflod recommitted himself to fighting for the Emperor and the people suffering across countless worlds.