Chapter Summaries

Claude and the Iron Warriors departed after demonstrating their power against the Black Legion, leaving Amana to decide how the Black Templars should respond to news of their father’s return. Elsewhere on Cadia, Rogal Dorn and Perturabo rescued Benedict’s tank crew and began building a stable teleportation apparatus for the expeditionary fleet.

• Amana stopped the Battle Sisters from firing on the Iron Warriors, and the Sisters withdrew with the wounded bishop.
• The Black Legion sent twenty Predator Tanks and tens of thousands of Degraded Ones against the Iron Warriors, but Claude’s two General Cannons obliterated them.
• Claude told the Black Templars that their father had returned and reconciled with Perturabo, then left with the Iron Warriors.
• Amana ordered Chaplain Uss to send scouts near Blackstone Tower Seven to investigate and pass along a message to their father.
• Rogal Dorn rescued Benedict and his crew from two daemon engines, then joined Perturabo in constructing a larger teleportation apparatus on Cadia.
• Perturabo and Rogal Dorn compacted Cadian Hardstone to prepare the foundation for their construction.

Hope explained how the Lamenters fought alongside Space Marines carrying other Primarchs’ gene-seed, while Olwen and Dimit questioned him about their mixed heritage and missing Primarchs. Perturabo and Dorn prepared a teleportation device, then learned Benedict’s regiment had orders to reinforce Imperial forces near Lumbas Mountain and sent Hope to assess the situation.

• Olwen asked Hope why some Lamenters called Perturabo Father, and Hope explained that the Chapter united brothers carrying different Primarchs’ gene-seed.
• Dimit asked how many Primarchs were represented in Hope’s Chapter, and Hope said Leman Russ and Lion El'Jonson were missing.
• Perturabo and Dorn moved the Cadian Hardstone into place and assembled a larger teleportation device using runes learned from the Aeldari.
• Benedict insisted that his battered regiment had to continue its mission to reinforce Imperial forces trapped near Lumbas Mountain.
• Dorn recognized that the Imperial forces near Lumbas Mountain faced a hopeless situation and sent Hope to assess it.

Creed arrived with expeditionary troops and reunited with Benedict, who told him about Captain Aurora and the missing Viper's Fang. After the Primarchs discovered the tank concealed beneath Blackstone Tower Seven, Rogal Dorn decided to ignore Alpharius and focus on the greater situation.

• A teleportation device brought Creed, 100 Lamenters, and 1,500 expeditionary soldiers to the battlefield, where the troops quickly assembled defenses and began salvaging wreckage.
• Creed hugged Benedict and told him the expeditionary troops were loyal to the Imperium, then questioned him about Captain Aurora.
• Benedict explained that Aurora had commanded the Viper's Fang, which Perturabo's augur satellites later found intact beneath Blackstone Tower Seven with no tracks around it.
• Rogal Dorn identified the tank's concealment as one of Alpharius's tricks and told Creed they should ignore him while addressing the greater situation.
• Perturabo challenged Rogal Dorn's plan by claiming, "I am Alpharius."

Perturabo and Rogal Dorn took command of Cadia while the expeditionary force secured Blackstone Tower Seven and vaccinated rescued captives against Chaos corruption. As Harken Worldclaimer watched the operation, his Chaos warbands launched an attack to test the expeditionary troops.

• Rogal Dorn attacked Perturabo for joking about Alpharius, and Perturabo fled into the air on Iron Wings.
• Hope sent Benedict and the Lamenters toward Lumbas Mountain while Creed stayed to help the Primarchs take over Cadia's command system.
• The expeditionary force arrived on Cadia, captured the mining zones around Blackstone Tower Seven, defeated the Beastmen, and vaccinated the freed captives with the Life Vaccine.
• The chapter described how the Life Vaccine resisted Cadia's Chaos corruption and how mysterious videotapes trained expeditionary soldiers to withstand Chaos's disturbing imagery.
• Harken Worldclaimer allowed his eager Chaos warbands to attack the expeditionary positions, and the Raptors charged toward their enemies.

The expeditionary force fought off a Chaos warband on Cadia with advanced missiles, shields, and Deflagration Rifles, while Harken Worldclaimer watched from afar. The chapter ended with the Chaos Space Marines facing a devastating barrage after their auxiliary troops were reduced to ash.

• A Raptor dodged the expeditionary force’s first missiles, but a salvo of twenty destroyed him despite his armor.
• The expeditionary commander directed the force to target the Raptors and enemy armor, and missiles destroyed the Chaos warband’s Predator Tanks.
• A Chaos Vindicator fired at the expeditionary position, but its shell only struck a portable energy shield, surprising both the Chaos lord and Harken Worldclaimer.
• The Chaos lord drove his auxiliary troops forward with a whip rather than retreating, determined to seize the position despite the losses.
• The expeditionary soldiers fired their Deflagration Rifles in sustained beams, turning the charging auxiliary troops to ash and alarming the Chaos Space Marines.

Harken’s Chaos Space Marines faced an expeditionary force armed with modified volkite weapons and trained psykers, while a Chaos sorcerer tried to break through their psychic defenses. The sorcerer was pinned in place as a thunderstrike missile descended toward his position.

• The expeditionary force’s sustained volkite fire shocked Harken and forced his Chaos Space Marines to seek cover.
• Harken’s sorcerer tried to read the mortals’ minds, but the psychic combat squad raised a shield against him.
• The sorcerer shaped his assault into a drill, and the squad’s counterattack shattered its tip.
• The sorcerer unleashed a blasphemous spell that battered the psychic captain, while the expeditionary commander found his position.
• The expeditionary soldiers launched a thunderstrike missile toward the sorcerer, and the psychic combat squad held his power in place as it descended.

Harken’s Chaos force lost its sorcerer after lightning missiles and Blackstone-assisted psyker tactics overwhelmed his shield. With the Deflagration Rifles silent, Harken prepared an assault, while Commissar Cain rose to lead the expeditionary force.

• Harken abandoned the Chaos sorcerer, who cut off his distant spell and suffered a backlash that mutated his organs.
• Lightning-strike missiles bombarded the sorcerer, and the psyker combat squad used Blackstone to open his shield and let the lightning through, leaving him severely injured.
• Harken found a piece of Blackstone in the soil and resolved to discover the source of the deflagration weapons and the force’s Blackstone research.
• Harken ordered his warriors to kill everyone in the position within eighty seconds after the Deflagration Rifles stopped firing.
• The expeditionary force celebrated taking down the sorcerer without casualties, and Commissar Cain rose as Harken’s forces began their assault.

Commissar Cain joined the expeditionary force on Biel-Tan and prepared for battle despite wishing he had stayed behind. When Warp Talons ambushed his position, he survived their attack through luck and Jurgen’s pungent presence.

• Lin Fan persuaded Cain to join the Biel-Tan expedition, and Cain accepted a middle-ranking role to avoid becoming a target.
• Cain inspected the defensive line alongside Jurgen as battlesuits advanced toward the enemy.
• Warp Talons burst through rifts and killed several soldiers, prompting Cain to draw his fractured Grey Knights sword.
• Cain accidentally killed two Warp Talons while stumbling and swinging his sword, drawing the rest of the squad’s attention.
• As the Warp Talons closed in, Jurgen’s stench cleared Cain’s head, and the attackers began kneeling or cutting into themselves.

Commissar Cain survived the Warp Talons’ attack with Jurgen’s help, though the expeditionary soldiers mistook his actions for heroic bravery. Meanwhile, Harken Worldclaimer continued assaulting the Imperium’s front line and prepared to exploit the Chaos sorcerer’s support to break through.

• Jurgen’s presence weakened the Warp Talons, allowing Commissar Cain to kill them with his broken longsword.
• The expeditionary soldiers praised Cain as a hero, and he organized them to reinforce the front line.
• Harken Worldclaimer’s forces struggled under the battlesuits’ plasma fire, so he relied on the Warp Talons to break through the middle defense.
• Harken adjusted his eighty-second declaration to exclude the time spent charging into the enemy position.
• A recovered Chaos sorcerer protected the Chaos Space Marines with a bloody brand, and they charged toward the Imperium forces before its protection expired.

Harken led the Chaos Space Marines through the expeditionary force’s defenses, but the stubborn soldiers and their battlesuits inflicted mounting resistance. As Commissar Cain arrived with reinforcements, Harken charged him and was caught in a barrage of Graviton Guns.

• Harken and the Raptors broke through the fire net and slaughtered expeditionary soldiers and battlesuit pilots.
• Harken destroyed nearly a hundred battlesuits but grew alarmed by the soldiers’ equipment and resistance.
• Harken saw Commissar Cain’s confident reinforcements arrive from the middle defensive line and realized the Warp Talons had failed to stop them.
• Harken launched himself toward Cain, intending to kill him and break the expeditionary force’s morale.
• Cain’s troops fired their Graviton Guns, slowing Harken as he struggled against the barrage.

Commissar Cain’s Cadia Special Group overwhelmed Harken’s Chaos Space Marines with battlesuits, shields, and advanced weapons. Harken remained pinned and threatened that the Warmaster would send reinforcements to crush them.

• Commissar Cain ordered the expeditionary soldiers to counterattack, and the Cadia Special Group encircled the Chaos Space Marines.
• A heavily mutated Chaos Space Marine fought off several battlesuits, but a Shield Drone saved one pilot from his chainaxe.
• The Chaos Space Marine dodged bolt fire and a deflagration beam before a battlesuit’s plasma rotary cannon mortally wounded him.
• The battlesuit pilot dismissed the Chaos Space Marine’s accusation that the soldiers depended on technology and melted his head with plasma bolts.
• Harken asked Commissar Cain who they were, and Cain identified them as the Cadia Special Group, 1st Regiment.
• Harken mocked the group’s equipment, Cain claimed they had found Lion El'Jonson’s arsenal, and Harken warned that the Warmaster would send more troops.

Commissar Cain and the Big Canteen Expeditionary Force assessed how their defenses and logistics countered Chaos invasions, while Harken invoked Abaddon as a threat. The chapter left Harken’s faith in the Warmaster confronting the expedition’s confidence that Abaddon was no match for its strongest leaders.

• Harken roared that Warmaster Abaddon was the force’s last hope, but Commissar Cain and the soldiers remained calmly amused.
• Commissar Cain recalled how the expedition’s command had analyzed Chaos Space Marine tactics, including their surprise attacks, corruption, and use of daemons.
• The Big Canteen’s officers and soldiers concluded that Chaos warbands were vulnerable before they could gather strength and exploit Warp magic.
• The expedition identified the Life Vaccine, psychic communications, rapid transport, and advanced equipment as major advantages against Chaos.
• The expedition recognized that training costs and a shortage of skilled personnel were its main weaknesses, while its Primarchs gave it formidable strength.
• The chapter compared Abaddon with Khârn, Rogal Dorn, Eldrad, and Fulgrim, concluding that Abaddon fell short of the power expected of a Warmaster.

Commissar Cain’s forces killed Harken, though a Chaos sorcerer escaped, while the expeditionary fleet prepared to confront the Chaos fleet. Yilafren and Yvraine discovered that Magnus’s spell had sealed the void into a maze, and Lin Fan asked Yvraine to strengthen it so Abaddon could not flee.

• Cain’s soldiers crushed Harken with Graviton Guns, and Cain pinned the Hell Spear with his broken longsword, banishing its daemon.
• A Chaos sorcerer killed the Chaos Space Marines guarding him and escaped through a collapsing warp gate before a thunderstrike missile detonated.
• The expeditionary fleet advanced toward the Chaos fleet, led by more than fifty Hope-class Warships and supported by Imperial ships.
• Yilafren sensed that the void had become unnaturally orderly, and Yvraine confirmed that Magnus had cast a spell forcing ships to travel in straight lines.
• Jaghatai welcomed the spell because it would prevent the Chaos fleet from scattering, and Lin Fan asked Yvraine to strengthen it to stop Abaddon escaping.

Lin Fan’s forces destroyed Abaddon’s reconnaissance fleet and reached the main battlefield, where Lin Fan boarded the Vengeful Spirit to capture Abaddon. After breaking through the ship’s defenses, he fought his way through a group of Beastmen.

• Yilafren piloted the Void Phoenix Fighter past Abaddon’s reconnaissance fleet after Lin Fan decided to leave it for Jaghatai and the others.
• The expedition fleet destroyed the Chaos cruiser and its frigates, and Jaghatai Khan ordered the fleet to continue without salvaging the wreckage.
• Lin Fan spotted the Imperial, Chaos, and Ork fleets fighting and ordered Yilafren to take him close to the Vengeful Spirit.
• Yilafren evaded the Vengeful Spirit’s defenses and launched Lin Fan into its Void Shield, which collapsed under the impact.
• Lin Fan punched through the Vengeful Spirit’s outer armor and killed Beastmen who charged him in a narrow passage.

Lin Fan fought his way through the Beastmen and Black Legion warriors aboard Abaddon's ship, then contacted Abaddon and threatened to drag him to prison. Abaddon sought Carlos's advice, and Carlos proposed banishing Lin Fan with a spell that required Iskandar Khayon's younger sister's soul.

• Lin Fan forced the Beastmen to show him the route to the bridge, killed their chieftain, and punched upward through the ship.
• Taremarus confronted Lin Fan with the Black Legion, but Lin Fan shattered his sword, stabbed him, and killed the attacking warriors.
• Lin Fan took Taremarus's communicator, threatened Abaddon, crushed Taremarus's head, and continued upward.
• Abaddon asked Carlos how to deal with Lin Fan, and Carlos recommended a spell requiring Iskandar Khayon's younger sister's soul.

Lin Fan fought his way through the Vengeful Spirit, defeating the Black Legion’s daemonic forces before Abaddon confronted him in a vast arena. Abaddon assembled his champions for the coming fight, while Lin Fan stood alone.

• Abaddon threatened Carlos after rejecting his suggestion, and Carlos gave him a tangled riddle for his sorcerers to decipher.
• Lin Fan advanced through the ship, killing Black Legion warriors and beasts raised by sorcerers.
• A Word Bearers priest summoned a Great Unclean One, but Lin Fan pierced the daemon, dragged out the priest, and tore him apart.
• Lin Fan killed the Possessed warriors, their Master of Possession, and the Warp Talons as the remaining Black Legion warriors retreated.
• Abaddon called Lin Fan into a huge circular arena and faced him with his helmetless champions.

Lin Fan attacked Abaddon and the Black Legion, using a concealed nuclear bomb to break their ranks and cutting down their warriors while their weapons failed to harm him. Abaddon challenged him with Drach'nyen, but Lin Fan got distracted by a strange thought and laughed, leaving the duel unresolved.

• Lin Fan repeatedly raised a spear of light to taunt the Black Legion before throwing it alongside an ultra-compressed nuclear bomb casing, which destroyed Abaddon's bodyguards and scattered the ranks.
• Lin Fan charged through the confusion and killed a Chaos Champion as the Terminators opened fire on him without damaging his armor.
• Abaddon considered Carlos's offer to take one soul, refused, and entered the fight with Drach'nyen after Lin Fan ignored his challenge and killed a Terminator.
• Abaddon pointed Drach'nyen at Lin Fan, whose thoughts wandered to the daemons that might have been born from humanity's first acts.
• Lin Fan chuckled, prompting Abaddon to withdraw, then apologized and said he had thought of something interesting.

Lin Fan used his consciousness to sever Abaddon's arms, then seized Drach'nyen while the Warmaster's warriors opened fire. Abaddon retreated for treatment, but his sorcerer warned that his arm might never be reattached.

• Lin Fan recalled Drach'nyen's history and decided to make Abaddon give up the daemon sword before risking contact with it.
• Lin Fan focused on Abaddon's missing-hand issue from a miniature and caused both of Abaddon's arms to fall off without any visible psychic power.
• Lin Fan snatched Drach'nyen from Abaddon's severed hand while the Warmaster's warriors fired at him.
• Abaddon retreated into a defensive ring, and his sorcerer failed to reattach his arm with sorcery.
• The sorcerer told Abaddon that his arm might never be reattached, but Abaddon remained ready to fight.

Abaddon learned that the Imperium had weaponized Blackstone, threatening the Crimson Path and the 13th Black Crusade. As he feared the Chaos Legions’ defeat and the sealing of the Eye of Terror, a voice offered him one choice in exchange for a soul.

• Abaddon removed the spell concealing his wound and saw that the pallor was spreading across his body.
• A Sorcerer arrived through a teleportation spell that consumed the corpses of Black Legion warriors and reported Harken Worldclaimer’s death.
• The Sorcerer told Abaddon that Imperial forces had killed Harken with unfamiliar weapons and used Blackstone to break his defensive spell.
• Abaddon realized the Imperium had discovered Blackstone’s Warp-dispersing properties, putting his plan to open the Crimson Path in jeopardy.
• As Abaddon feared the collapse of his crusade and the sealing of the Eye of Terror, a voice offered him one choice and said it wanted a soul.

Carlos tried to make Abaddon surrender Khayon’s sister’s soul by exposing his betrayals and showing him Khayon’s tortured condition. Abaddon refused, but the Mountain Array and Jaghatai Khan’s fleet appeared to devastate the Chaos forces, leaving him searching for Carl Bohar and the Dark Mechanicum.

• Carlos reminded Abaddon of his past betrayals, including Drecarth, his champions, and the warriors who witnessed his battle with Sigismund.
• Carlos showed Abaddon Khayon imprisoned and brutally mutilated by the Imperial Inquisitors, then urged him to surrender Khayon’s sister’s soul.
• Abaddon refused to give up the soul, believing the 13th Black Crusade could still succeed.
• Carlos lifted the information blockade, and Abaddon received reports that an unknown fleet of more than fifty enormous warships had broken through the Chaos encirclement.
• Abaddon saw Jaghatai Khan aboard one of the white-armored fleet’s ships as the fleet attacked from beyond the Chaos forces’ range.
• A Chaos fleet was torn apart by intensified gravity, and the Mountain Array emerged from a Warp rift; Abaddon demanded to know where Carl Bohar and the Dark Mechanicum were.