Chapter Summaries

Wodhaus used Talina’s aid to banish Aurora through a Warp rift, while Kaiser Whitefang stopped Creed and Tovens from fighting and canceled the planned assault. Kor'sarro Khan arrived, and Talina began explaining why she was with the Vostroyan Rough Riders.

• Talina joined with Wodhaus, and Aurora condemned him for using daemon sorcery before attacking her.
• Wodhaus completed his spell, opened a Warp rift beneath Aurora, and sealed him inside it.
• Kaiser Whitefang found Creed and Tovens still fighting, knocked them unconscious, and treated their injuries.
• Kaiser Whitefang told the waiting warships to cancel the bombardment and planetary assault because the Vostroyan Legion’s situation was more complicated than expected.
• Kor'sarro Khan arrived with his men, and Kaiser Whitefang whispered that Talina was a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh.
• Talina gave an animated explanation, saying their master had sent them to surprise Kaiser Whitefang and occupy the daemons.

Talina recounted her life as a Slaanesh daemon and explained how Slaanesh’s vague order to behave normally led her followers to model their conduct on Terra and turn torture into heresy trials. She said she joined the Vostroyan Rough Riders after passing an exam, though Colvin questioned her reason for being there.

• Talina described her existence in Slaanesh’s realm and her repeated attempts to enter the material universe aboard Chaos warships.
• After Lin Fan prompted Slaanesh’s war against Khorne, Slaanesh ordered her daemons to behave more normally, leaving them confused about what that meant.
• Slaanesh named Terra as the standard, and her daemons replaced their tortures with heresy trials guided by Imperial rules and practices.
• Talina told Kor'sarro Khan that human-leather goods and human-skin books helped her friend’s business, prompting Khan to condemn the Drukhari.
• Colvin asked why Talina had joined the Vostroyan Rough Riders, and Talina replied that she had been assigned there after taking the exam.

Talina explained her daemon assignment, her past, and her loyalty to the Imperium as Wodhaus prepared the group to return to Cadia. Creed and Tovens awoke aboard the ship, learned that Sergeant Aurora had been exposed as the traitor, and began recovering.

• Talina told Kaiser Whitefang and Wodhaus that she had passed a humanities exam and was assigned to find and kill heretics.
• Talina described how she possessed a newborn Vostroyan girl and recounted her experiences in the regiment, including her attraction to Tovens.
• Wodhaus ordered the group to clean up and prepare to return to Cadia, while the Space Marines told the Vostroyan guards their mission was secret.
• Creed and Tovens woke in the ship's medical bay and prepared to fight before Wodhaus stopped them and declared them innocent.
• Wodhaus told Creed that Sergeant Aurora had stolen the beacon and injured the guards, and that Talina had stopped her plan.
• Tovens asked about the repaired ship, and Wodhaus said the machine spirit was pleased before leaving the medical bay.

Fabricator General Rom returned to Agrippina Forge World aboard the Eternal Exploration and saw that its leadership remained divided by factional disputes. As he entered the hive city, he learned that the overseeing great sage was too occupied with the Blackstone stabilizing anchor to intervene in a violent conflict.

• The geomagnetic signal towers rang three times, and the bells' shockwaves drove Agrippina's toxic atmosphere around the planet before winds swept across its surface.
• Fabricator General Rom arrived aboard the Eternal Exploration with Skitarii and technological relics, and Orek's troops received him at the landing zone.
• Rom traveled through Agrippina's trenches and faction-divided factory districts, where he saw the forge world's factions guarding their interests and fighting one another.
• Rom asked Orek why the overseeing great sage had not stopped a conflict between the bionics and restoration schools, and Orek said the sage was researching the Blackstone stabilizing anchor.

Rom presented a mysterious xenos symbol to Agrippina’s Sages, claiming his research could end resource shortages. The meeting split over whether the technology should be studied or destroyed, and a numerical-control Sage defended Rom’s discovery.

• Rom traveled to Agrippina’s Seismic Stabilizer, where the planet’s Sages gathered for a conference.
• Rom shared a mysterious symbol he said came from a revelation of the Machine God and claimed it could solve resource shortages.
• Rom explained that he believed the symbol came from an ancient, extinct xenos species.
• A conservative Sage condemned Rom’s reliance on xenos records, and Rom defended their scientific value.
• A numerical-control Sage interrupted the argument to support Rom’s discovery as something that could shake the Imperium.

Rom presented his research into a Machine God symbol to Per-12 and the other Sages, but Per-12 revealed his treachery and unleashed scrap code fused with daemon whispers into their data space. Rom used a recently recovered data package to interrupt the attack, but Per-12 intensified the assault and left Rom struggling to hold it back.

• Rom explained his research and claimed that reciting a Machine God symbol could make the universe answer, though a different method was needed to avoid its terrible cost.
• Per-12 praised Rom's discovery, then released scrap-code aggregates from a servo-skull and trapped the Sages inside the data space.
• Per-12 dismissed the Sages' faith in the Corpse Emperor and introduced dark code carrying fragmented daemon whispers into the space.
• Rom recognized the attack as Dark Mechanicum corruption while the scrap code infected the data space and overwhelmed the Sages' firewall.
• Rom deployed his recovered data package, interrupting the infection and weakening Per-12's control over the space.
• Per-12 released more scrap code, and Rom struggled to resist with the fragmentary antivirus device.

Rom and the other magi escaped the scrapcode assault on Agrippina Forge World, while Tzeentch’s plans shifted under Khorne’s impatience. The Khorne warbands charged toward Cadia ahead of schedule, forcing Abaddon to join their attack as the Word Bearers continued their ritual.

• Rom and the magi disengaged from the data-space, destroyed Magos Per-12, and prepared to fight their way through the approaching Intelligent Control Legion.
• Carl Bohar learned that his avatar had been destroyed but copied the rune needed to meet the Machine God.
• Tzeentch infected Agrippina Forge World with more Obliterator Virus, expecting the Imperium to send reinforcements from Cadia and leave it vulnerable to Abaddon.
• Khorne lost patience with Tzeentch’s preparations, attacked him, and ordered his warriors to begin the war.
• Abaddon learned that Khorne’s warbands had broken formation and were charging toward Cadia, then ordered the Word Bearers to continue their ritual and prepared to join the attack.

The Intelligent Control Legion devastated Agrippina Forge World while Magos Rom’s forces abandoned manufactorum districts, deepening the despair that opened a Warp rift and spread Chaos across the sector. As Imperial fleets rushed to seal it and Cadia lost defenders, Kaiser Whitefang fought in District Eight and asked Wodhaus when the daemons would appear.

• The Intelligent Control Legion used plasma mortars and Hunter-pattern automata to overwhelm Skitarii forces, forcing Magos Rom to abandon districts the Titans could not defend.
• Abandoned industrial slaves turned to underground cults, whose rituals and the Legion’s slaughter helped open a Warp rift on Agrippina.
• Chaos spread through the Agripinaa Sector, while fleets led by Kaiser Whitefang, Kor'sarro, and Colvin headed for Agrippina to seal the rift.
• The Adeptus Mechanicus, Titan Legion, Knight Houses, and half of the Iron Hands stationed on Cadia withdrew, while Cadia High Command insisted its defenses remained strong.
• In District Eight, Kaiser Whitefang watched plasma mortar fire destroy a Vostkani tank company and asked Wodhaus how soon the daemons would appear.

Wodhaus's forces battled the remaining Automata while the Raven Guard, White Scars, Space Wolves, and Vostroyans moved to destroy the ritual sustaining a Warp rift. Kor'sarro Khan brought Talina to the blood-and-steel summoning ring, where she discovered Khorne shrine warships surging toward the breach.

• Wodhaus deflected a lightning cannon blast into a Vorax Automaton, allowing Vostroyan tank crews to damage it, while Archmagos Iteration explained that the remaining Automata could not simply be buried by collapsing the factory complex.
• Vostroyan Rough Riders drew the Automata's fire as Colvin and the Raven Guard ambushed them with electromagnetic bombs, and the White Scars and Space Wolves joined the attack.
• Kaiser Whitefang leapt from Kor'sarro Khan's bike and cleaved an Automaton in half as the Vostroyans launched their full assault.
• Kor'sarro Khan carried Talina toward the ritual's core, and Talina promised she could close the rift and bring reinforcements.
• Kor'sarro Khan tossed Talina onto the summoning ring, where she noticed Khorne shrine warships charging toward the breach.

Talina failed to seal the portal and the warships' macro cannon shells caused a devastating blast across the industrial zone. After the survivors weathered the storm, Colvin reported that Kor'sarro Khan seemed to be in trouble, while the fate of the portal remained unclear.

• Talina absorbed part of the blood pool, then warned Kor'sarro Khan that she could not seal the portal and urged him to retreat.
• Macro cannon shells squeezed through the portal and exploded, unleashing a catastrophic shockwave and firestorm throughout the industrial zone.
• Wodhaus and Talina raised shields to protect the Vostroyans and nearby White Scars from the blast.
• Kaiser Whitefang found surviving soldiers and the Iterative Grand Sage, who warned them not to use engines or lights while autonomous war machines might still be nearby.
• Colvin arrived with Raven Guard and said Kor'sarro Khan seemed to be in dire straits, while Wodhaus's question about the Blood God's army went unanswered.

Abaddon rejected Carlos's attempt to divert the Black Legion toward Agrippina, choosing to continue the 13th Black Crusade toward Cadia because he distrusted the demons' motives. Carlos reported Abaddon's decision to Tzeentch, who ordered him to keep stirring conflict on Agrippina.

• Abaddon executed the sorcerers who had opened a portal into Agrippina's underground and ordered the fleet away from it.
• Carlos urged Abaddon to attack Agrippina, but Abaddon fired at him and refused to change course for the forge world.
• Abaddon told Telemachon Lyr that he distrusted the demons and feared they would betray the Black Legion, then revealed he still had plans involving the Blood of Shadows Warband.
• Carlos turned crew members into crystal statues as he stalked the Vengeful Spirit, then secretly informed Tzeentch that Abaddon had kept his original battle plan.
• Tzeentch told Carlos to keep causing trouble on Agrippina and let the Black Legion continue toward Cadia.

After waking from a week-long coma, Wodhaus learned that Chaos forces had devastated the underground complex and inflicted heavy losses on the Imperium. He joined Creed and the others at the foremost battle line as they prepared to support the next assault.

• Wodhaus awoke on the front line, where a Techmarine repaired his armor as Chaos forces continued their assault.
• Wodhaus recalled that Khorne warriors protected by anti-witch Blood Relics had nullified his psychic attack and wounded him.
• Creed told Wodhaus that Kor'sarro Khan was covering the Skitarii retreat, while Kaiser Whitefang led tank companies toward the Dome Mining District to recover Titan wreckage.
• Creed explained that a Chaos-restored macro cannon had destroyed a Warlord Titan and caused heavy Imperial casualties, but its recoil also killed many Chaos troops.
• Wodhaus, Creed, and the others advanced to the foremost battle line, where they found blood-soaked ruins and soldiers firing from behind vehicle wrecks.

Wodhaus and his allies fought through a chaotic battle as Imperial forces and Khorne’s armies collided beneath the Mark of Khorne. The chapter left Wodhaus puzzled by a group of pink-armored Battle Sisters fighting beside Kaiser Whitefang at the breached mobile fortress.

• Two Space Wolves joined Wodhaus after escaping a collapsing building and warned him that the battle had become a chaotic struggle for survival.
• Vostkani tanks and Skitarii advanced against the mutants, but Khorne’s warriors and daemons emerged beneath the Mark of Khorne and met the Imperial assault.
• Wodhaus slapped Creed to restore his clarity after the Mark of Khorne drove him to shout, “Blood for the Emperor, skulls for the Golden Throne.”
• Bloodletters and Flesh Hounds attacked Wodhaus’s group, and three Space Wolves formed a defensive line while Kasrkin shot down a charging Flesh Hound.
• Kor’sarro Khan led the White Scars in a motorcycle charge as Wodhaus saw Kaiser Whitefang’s Space Wolves defending a breach in the damaged Adeptus Mechanicus mobile fortress.
• Wodhaus noticed pink-armored Battle Sisters fighting beside Kaiser Whitefang, and a Space Wolf admitted their presence and behavior seemed strange.

Battle Sisters of the Merciful Full-Faith Holy Sisterhood defended the mobile fortress and captured a Khorne daemon for torture while Kaiser Whitefang kept the Space Wolves fighting. The chapter revealed that the Sisters were Slaanesh daemons summoned by Talina, and Kaiser rejected one Sister’s offer of help.

• The Battle Sisters fought off Khorne daemons at the fortress breach, and a Space Wolves missile brought down a minotaur daemon whom the Sisters bound and carried inside.
• Sisters in white gauze nailed the captive daemon to an armor plate and tortured him while praising the Emperor.
• The Iterative Archmagos admired the Sisters’ fighting skill, while Kaiser Whitefang checked on the Space Wolves and helped exhausted brothers endure the fighting.
• A high-ranking Sister offered Kaiser Whitefang help, but he coldly refused and turned away from her attention.
• Kaiser recalled that the Sisters were Slaanesh daemons summoned by Talina, who preached the Emperor’s mercy as the Mother of the Emperor through their sisterhood.

Kaiser Whitefang watched Slaanesh daemons fight Khorne daemons while the God-Emperor and Tzeentch contested the course of fate around Cadia. The God-Emperor chose to ring a great bell as Agripinaa Forge World neared destruction.

• Kaiser Whitefang objected to Slaanesh daemons executing Chaos cultists, so they shifted their targets to Khorne daemons.
• Slaanesh told the God-Emperor about the daemons’ victories and slogans, then left to tease Khorne when he showed little interest.
• The God-Emperor and Tzeentch struggled to direct Yarrick’s fleet and the pursuing Ork fleet while Tzeentch spread turmoil across the Imperium.
• The God-Emperor and Tzeentch debated whether their forces would be sealed within the Warp, and the God-Emperor described the exchange as profitable.
• The God-Emperor watched Slaanesh and Khorne daemons battle at Agripinaa Forge World, then rang a great bell as the planet’s destruction threatened the Webway.

A bell in Trazyn’s museum rang out a message from The Emperor telling him to check on Agrippina, wrecking the gallery and forcing Trazyn to leave his work with Orikan. On Agrippina, Trazyn found a world close to collapse and an exhausted Imperial force fighting near a daemon tower.

• The bell shattered artifacts in Trazyn’s museum and conveyed the message, “Go check on Agrippina.”
• Trazyn ordered the museum cleaned up, then bickered with Orikan as they traveled through a portal to Agrippina.
• Trazyn and Orikan emerged beneath ruins after Warp interference disrupted their teleportation, and Orikan estimated that the planet had one week before becoming a shrine to Khorne or Slaanesh.
• Trazyn summoned a Bloodletter from the blood-soaked soil, and Necrontyr warriors killed it with Gauss Rifles.
• Trazyn and Orikan found an exhausted Imperium force assaulting a skull-and-iron tower as armored war machines emerged from its gates.

Trazyn and Orikan used the Blackstone Array to seal the rift created by Agrippina's destruction, while the God-Emperor protected Cadia’s people from the towers’ soul-draining effects. As the rift closed, a sinister voice appeared beside Orikan, and he risked everything to rewind time.

• Trazyn’s Necrons arrived as reinforcements, helped defeat the daemons, and covered the Imperium’s evacuation from Agrippina.
• Wodhaus explained that the Imperium was holding the planet to delay a greater daemon incursion, while Trazyn revealed that Bacon had sent him a message.
• After the Imperials withdrew, Khorne and Slaanesh’s daemons fought over the planet until it shattered and tore open a rift.
• Trazyn activated the Blackstone Array, and the God-Emperor shielded Cadia’s people as the towers gathered energy to stitch the rift closed.
• A sinister voice taunted Orikan, who used his temporal devices and C’tan shards to cast a rewind spell as the voice acted too.

The Deceiver restored the Void Dragon’s consciousness to sabotage Orikan’s attempt to seal the Eye of Terror. The Void Dragon took control of Orikan’s time-tech rune and made the rift at Agrippina begin opening again, leaving Trazyn to discover Orikan incapacitated.

• Orikan watched Blackstone Array energy draw the Webway inward and reflected on the Necrontyr’s lack of manpower and arrogance.
• The Deceiver showed Orikan the Void Dragon’s sarcophagus and inserted the True Word [Matter] into it.
• The awakened Void Dragon seized Orikan’s time-tech rune, erased his command, and ordered it to “Accelerate.”
• Trazyn watched the rift at Agrippina begin to heal, then saw it reverse and release growing Warp corruption.
• Trazyn called to Orikan and found him motionless, his living metal body glowing red and cracked.

Trazyn and the Silent King responded to Orikan’s distress as the Void Dragon broke free beneath Mars and the God-Emperor struggled to contain its power while fighting the Chaos Gods. Tzeentch unleashed a spell that sent Biel-Tan into Khorne’s heart, then destroyed himself, leaving Rokasna and Carlos to pursue a hope that had never existed.

• Trazyn found Orikan overheated and unresponsive, while the Silent King ordered part of the dynasty fleets to return and investigate.
• The Void Dragon escaped its sarcophagus beneath Mars, forcing the God-Emperor to empower the Dragon Guard and restrain stars erupting from the C’tan.
• Nurgle and the Chaos forces exploited the weakened defenses, spreading disease, attacking Cadia, and fueling rebellions across Imperial worlds.
• Tzeentch told the God-Emperor that he was the Lord of Hope, then opened a Gate of Hope that sent the Biel-Tan Craftworld through Khorne’s heart.
• Tzeentch self-destructed, and Rokasna emerged from the Well of Eternity as Carlos bowed to him and Tzeentch directed them to seek their own hope.

Lin Fan and the Primarchs crashed into Biel-Tan, where a breach in the craftworld’s dome let Khorne’s demons pour inside. As the defenders rallied, Lin Fan charged into the horde to draw Khorne’s attention while the Primarchs and local forces prepared to fight back.

• Lin Fan and the Primarchs emerged from the wreckage of a shattered Wraithbone spire as demons flooded through Biel-Tan’s broken dome.
• Slaanesh revealed that Tzeentch had detonated his Authority of Hope, driving Khorne into a frenzy against Slaanesh.
• Lin Fan flew through the demon horde to draw Khorne’s attention, while Perturabo told the Primarchs to handle their own task.
• Konrad Curze left to retrieve the cartoons and videotapes in his lounge, killing Bloodletters that blocked his way.
• The Primarchs moved to rally Biel-Tan’s forces as ships and ground troops fought back against the demons.
• Expeditionary soldiers led shaken Aeldari to a fortress, where a sergeant ordered artillery to destroy an ominous tombstone-like target.