Chapter Summaries

Isha disrupted Roboute Guilliman and Yvraine’s wedding by bringing in Angron, Konrad Curze, Jaghatai Khan, and armed Aeldari, then transformed Macragge into a series of challenges for Guilliman. As the wedding descended into battle, Guilliman ordered the Ultramarines to attack Angron and his Ork boyz.

• Roboute Guilliman saw Angron, Konrad Curze, and Jaghatai Khan arrive, while Cato Sicarius teased Calgar as he mobilized the Ultramarines.
• Trazyn kept the wedding broadcast running, and Sanguinius, Lion El'Jonson, Perturabo, and the Emperor reacted angrily to the newcomers.
• Isha embraced Yvraine, called Lin Fan responsible for the wedding’s changes, and announced that she would make Guilliman overcome obstacles to reach Yvraine.
• Isha covered Macragge in Warp energy, made weapons harmless, and raised the wedding hall into a long path lined with armed Aeldari.
• Lion El'Jonson prepared to fight the Aeldari, while Guilliman ordered the arriving Ultramarines to attack Angron and his Ork boyz.

Isha ended the transformation spell at the wedding, restoring the Emperor and Primarchs while leaving their memories of being women intact. As the venue remained chaotic, the Emperor discovered Isha had supplied the ice cream cream, Perturabo sent the Iron Warriors after Jaghatai, and Sanguinius pursued Konrad Curze.

• Isha’s magic turned the Orks’ bolter shells into petals, and Ongron charged Roboute Guilliman while Guilliman worried that he might be transformed too.
• Isha restored the Emperor and the Primarchs, and the Emperor burned the remaining ice cream after Valdor revealed that Isha had supplied its cream.
• Perturabo realized the Iron Warriors missed his transformed appearance, then ordered them to seize Jaghatai for causing the spell’s chaos.
• Sanguinius flew after Konrad Curze, who mocked his former plumpness and dared him to catch him.

A wedding descended into a sprawling, harmless battle as the Primarchs and their allies split into rival camps. After Guilliman woke from being knocked unconscious, he learned how chaotic the fight had become and ordered it to end.

• Fulgrim teased Ferrus Manus about losing his feminine beauty, while Vulkan failed to stop Magnus and Leman Russ from wrestling.
• The Silent King arrived with Necrontyr nobles, sealed the portal at the sight of the chaos, then watched from behind a shield that Lin Fan casually tore open.
• Kor'sarro Khan slapped Jaghatai out of his despair and escaped with him as Perturabo and Lion El'Jonson pursued them.
• The Wedding War spread across Macragge, where Lion El'Jonson's forces charged the Aeldari defenses and Guilliman wrestled Ongron until a headbutt knocked him unconscious.
• Calgar and Cato Sicarius woke Guilliman by whispering "Second Empire" three times, then Sicarius reported the battle's many factions and reinforcements.
• Guilliman learned that Rogal Dorn was cleaning up after Perturabo and Corax was protecting Konrad Curze, then ordered everyone to end the wedding battle.

Sanguinius and Corax captured Konrad Curze and punished him by tickling his feet with feathers. Meanwhile, Guilliman learned that Yvraine had joined the battle and fought his way toward her.

• Sanguinius surrounded Konrad Curze with the Blood Angels, but Corax arrived and distracted him with shadows.
• Konrad Curze attacked Corax, and Sanguinius helped bind him with shadow chains.
• Sanguinius ordered Dante and the others to tickle Konrad Curze’s bare feet with feathers from his wings.
• Guilliman learned that his warriors had opened a route through the Aeldari defenses, though twenty thousand had fallen asleep amid the flowers.
• Cato Sicarius told Guilliman that Yvraine had led the Aeldari counterattack and driven back Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim’s forces.
• Guilliman resolved to fight toward the palace and rescue Yvraine himself.

Roboute Guilliman called Commissar Yarrick in to hold off Ongron, allowing him to fight through the palace and reach Yvraine. Yvraine challenged him to prove he could match the cheetah’s exercise needs, while the wedding guests watched and teased Guilliman from afar.

• The Necrontyr nobles watched and bet on Roboute Guilliman’s next duel with Ongron as Trazyn managed the screens.
• Roboute Guilliman summoned Commissar Yarrick, who charged Ongron and held him back.
• Roboute Guilliman bypassed Ongron, defeated the remaining palace defenders, and rallied the Ultramarines to attack.
• Roboute Guilliman reached Yvraine, who asked whether he could exercise enough to reproduce like a cheetah.
• The Emperor, the Primarchs, and the Necrontyr nobles watched Yvraine’s challenge as Leman Russ and others teased Roboute Guilliman.

Roboute Guilliman defeated Yvraine in their wedding duel, and Isha married them before the Emperor and God-Emperor stopped her from intruding on their honeymoon. Years later, Magnus and Leman Russ entered the interworld gate to explore a new world, and they emerged with the ground rushing toward them.

• Roboute Guilliman won his duel with Yvraine and carried her away as Isha celebrated their marriage and teleported them off to their honeymoon.
• The Emperor and God-Emperor restrained Isha, while Warp effects restored Macragge and made the wedding seem like a dream to its people.
• Years later, as the Milky Way faced dwindling resources, Lin Fan sent Magnus and Leman Russ through the interworld gate to investigate a new world and seek a way to expand the passage.
• Magnus and Leman Russ traveled through a disorienting white void, held hands, and bickered as they crossed over.
• The white void disappeared, and Magnus and Leman Russ saw the ground rushing up toward them.

Magnus and Leman Russ explored Terra after arriving through a nearly imperceptible gateway, then discovered a mobile city in Kazimierz threatened by a colossal Scourge. The chapter left Leonhardt warning Rhodes Island operators that the city might have only half an hour before destruction.

• Magnus and Leman Russ found that the gateway back to their world was too faint to use and discussed their mission to investigate Terra.
• Magnus admitted he had learned only that the world was called Terra, then shrank himself and Leman Russ and established telepathic communication between them.
• Magnus sensed a massive energy anomaly beyond a mountain range, and he and Leman Russ ran toward it while Leman Russ killed a wild bull for food.
• Magnus and Leman Russ saw a mobile city in Kazimierz beneath a vast, multicolored Scourge that unleashed lightning, lava, and enormous hailstones.
• Leonhardt estimated that the Scourge could destroy the city within half an hour and urged Rhodes Island operators to evacuate the civilians immediately.

Nearl and the Doctor struggled to save civilians as a deadly Scourge closed in on the city. Just as the Doctor prepared to abandon the mission and flee to a bunker, Magnus tore the Scourge clouds apart, leaving the city unharmed; outside it, he realized he could not recover his strength without psionic energy.

• Nearl reassured the civilians that they still had time to escape, though the Doctor pointed out that she had lied.
• The Doctor argued that the group should head for a Scourge-resistant bunker, while Nearl objected to abandoning the civilians.
• Nearl recalled her prophetic dream of an open door unleashing nightmares and endless Scourges across Terra.
• As the Scourge intensified, the Doctor ordered Rosmontis and the other operators to abandon the civilians and flee to the bunker.
• Magnus plunged into the Scourge clouds and tore them apart, leaving the city untouched.
• Outside the city, Magnus told Leman Russ that he could not recover his strength because there was no psionic energy to use.

Magnus and Leman Russ explored a city in Kazimierz, where they found a society of demi-humans and signs of tension between ordinary citizens and their rulers. After discovering a collapsed tower that had buried a man's family, they joined the effort to dig through the ruins.

• Magnus explained that Terra's psychic-like energy was too lifeless to replenish his power easily, and he and Leman Russ joked about Magnus's past mistakes.
• Leman Russ pointed out Leonhardt, then the Primarchs headed toward the city.
• Magnus and Leman Russ observed Kazimierz's old-fashioned advertisements and its demi-human residents, while debating the city's culture and development.
• Magnus approached citizens searching a collapsed tower and learned that a man's family had been buried beneath it.
• Magnus and Leman Russ joined the residents in digging through the ruins and quickly cleared a broad area.

Magnus and Leman Russ searched the collapsed tower for survivors and discovered a corpse shedding strange black crystals. After learning about Oripathy and Originium Arts, Magnus wondered whether Originium drew upon a spiritual realm like the Warp, while Leman Russ marked the rubble as an infection hazard.

• Magnus and Leman Russ cleared rubble carefully until they uncovered a crystal-covered corpse.
• Magnus asked the grieving man to identify the dead person, and the man recognized a woman he knew.
• The man warned Magnus that the corpse could infect him with Oripathy and explained how Originium Arts and Originium crystals worked.
• Magnus compared the disease to Nurgle's plagues and considered whether Originium Arts relied on Warp-like energy.
• Leman Russ reburied the remains and marked the rubble with a warning about the infection source.

Magnus and Leman Russ examined Originium and decided to seek information through a local organization, but Leman Russ rushed off after sensing a wolf pup in danger. Meanwhile, Nearl and the Doctor faced bizarre Originium Slugs that attacked Rhodes Island’s infected operators.

• Magnus tested a fragment of Originium and found its energy weak but more stable than psychic power.
• Magnus and Leman Russ agreed to seek an organization’s archives rather than use psychic power to extract memories from the locals.
• Leman Russ sensed a wolf pup in danger and ran off, with Magnus following him.
• The Doctor studied the abnormal Originium Slugs as they transformed into strange, foul-smelling forms and attacked Nearl and the infected operators.
• Nearl unleashed Originium energy and summoned a massive sword of radiance over the approaching slugs.

The Doctor and Rhodes Island's operators fought Originium Slugs that changed forms to gain different combat abilities, then developed a tactic to defeat them through coordinated attacks. Just as victory seemed near, a strange eight-pointed slug unleashed a black aura that overwhelmed the operators with fear and painful visions, and the arriving Leman Russ called out, "Little wolf pup?"

• Nearl and the operators faced Originium Slugs whose colors granted them attack power, toughness, Arts resistance, or speed, while the creatures repeatedly revived.
• Nearl and Texas coordinated their attacks to bait the slugs into transforming, then smash them before they could counter.
• The slugs stopped moving, and one split apart into an eight-pointed shape that emitted a ring of black light.
• The black light overwhelmed the operators with fear and visions, including Nearl seeing Maria Nearl die and Texas trembling in terror.
• Leman Russ arrived and, seeing the scene, called out, "Little wolf pup?"

Leman Russ and Magnus watched Rhodes Island battle Chaos-corrupted Originium Slugs and discussed whether to join the organization, while Leman Russ judged the operators and admitted he might eat Spot. The battle worsened as the slugs weakened the operators, and Spot's fear nearly got him killed.

• Leman Russ hesitated over helping Rhodes Island, while Magnus teased him about his interest in Texas and identified the Originium Slugs as contaminated by Chaos.
• Leman Russ assessed Texas's combat abilities and judged her weak, then he and Magnus discussed the diverse demi-humans and the organized Rhodes Island group.
• Magnus proposed joining Rhodes Island to learn about its members, while Leman Russ said he might taste Spot if he lacked morality.
• Spot sensed Leman Russ's dangerous thoughts, panicked, and fumbled his defense as a crimson Originium Slug attacked him.
• Liskarm shot the slug before it could kill Spot, while the eight-pointed-star slugs continued weakening the operators and pushing the battle toward defeat.

Nearl fought the Octagram Originium Slug and weakened its interference before collapsing from her injuries. Leman Russ rescued her and destroyed the surrounding Originium Slugs, while Magnus introduced himself to the Doctor as a wandering traveler.

• Nearl charged the Octagram Originium Slug, unleashed Fear No Darkness, and smashed half of its shell with a Radiant Sun Greatsword.
• Nearl collapsed from blood loss as Leman Russ arrived, lifted her onto his shoulder, and shielded her from the Originium Slugs.
• The Doctor sent the operators toward Nearl, but Leman Russ carried her to Texas and told her to take Nearl back.
• Leman Russ charged into the battle and destroyed hundreds of Originium Slugs with his fists and heavy boots.
• Magnus appeared behind the Doctor, and Rosmontis stepped forward to protect him before Magnus explained that he and his brother wandered the land.

Magnus and Leman Russ met the Doctor and Rhodes Island’s Operators after Leman Russ dominated the battlefield. The Doctor offered their help in return, while the Primarchs’ good-cop, bad-cop act led Leman Russ to ask what Rhodes Island did.

• The Doctor guessed at Magnus and Leman Russ’s origins, but Magnus kept their past secret.
• The Doctor assessed Leman Russ’s strength and watched him praise Nearl before joining Magnus.
• The Doctor offered the brothers medicine or intelligence gathering in gratitude for their help.
• Magnus prompted Leman Russ to ask about Rhodes Island, and the Doctor explained that it researched Oripathy and sought a cure.
• Leman Russ called Rhodes Island’s patients people begging for their wounds to be healed, angering Operators with Oripathy.

The Doctor accepted Leman Russ and Magnus into Rhodes Island, though the brothers privately suspected he might be hiding a way to restrain them. On the return trip, Leman Russ learned about Texas and other wolf-like operators, while Magnus teased him about his interest in wolves.

• The Doctor corrected Leman Russ's assumptions about Rhodes Island and its relationship with the Infected, then welcomed Magnus and Leman Russ as recruits.
• Rhodes Island's combat squad returned to headquarters after the Scourges dispersed, while operators watched the two armored newcomers.
• Magnus and Leman Russ privately discussed whether the Doctor was a threat and agreed to respond if he showed hostility.
• Nearl thanked Leman Russ, who asked her about Texas and learned that Rhodes Island had several Lupo operators.
• Magnus teased Leman Russ about the wolf-like operators, and Leman Russ threatened to teach him a lesson.

Magnus and Leman Russ joined Rhodes Island after signing Kal'tsit's tailored contract, then removed their power armor for the required examinations. The chapter ended with Kal'tsit introducing Closure, who had built racks to hold their armor.

• Leman Russ claimed he had accidentally punched Magnus while stretching, and the brothers drove to Rhodes Island headquarters in an armored vehicle.
• Magnus and Leman Russ met Kal'tsit, and Magnus sensed that she possessed an ancient, fractured soul.
• Magnus read the contract, signed his and Leman Russ's names, and promised Kal'tsit they would honor the agreement.
• Kal'tsit asked the brothers to remove their armor for examinations, and they hesitantly took it off with Magnus's psychic assistance.
• Leman Russ doubted the racks could support their armor, and Kal'tsit introduced Closure, head of Rhodes Island's Engineering Department, who had built them.

Magnus and Leman Russ brought their armor and weapons to Rhodes Island before the Doctor took them to the training grounds for operator capability testing. The shooting test began in a holographic urban battlefield, with Leman Russ aiming at an approaching infantryman.

• Magnus's vambrace bent Closure's armor stand under its weight, so the Doctor arranged a fifteen-ton transport vehicle for the two Primarchs' armor and weapons.
• Closure admired Leman Russ's frost axe and Storm Arrow, but the Doctor warned her to store them without tampering.
• Kal'tsit handed the documents to the Doctor, who took Magnus and Leman Russ to the training grounds and explained Rhodes Island's combat assessment process.
• For the shooting test, Leman Russ chose a heavy bow while Magnus examined the pistol and criticized its ammunition and delicate construction.
• The training room transformed into a ruined urban environment, and Leman Russ nocked an arrow and aimed at an approaching infantryman.

Leman Russ and Magnus tested their ranged combat skills in Rhodes Island’s holographic training ground, defeating increasingly difficult waves of enemies before Magnus overloaded and destroyed a hand cannon. The Doctor then began an endurance test with Rosmontis and an unfamiliar Sankta girl as their opponents.

• Leman Russ and Magnus easily defeated ordinary soldiers and a swarm of armed drones during the shooting test.
• The Doctor increased the difficulty, and Leman Russ used arrows to halt shielded infantry while Magnus learned to fire the hand cannon.
• Magnus enhanced the hand cannon with psychic power and blasted through several soldiers and their shields, but the weapon overheated and exploded.
• The Doctor ended the shooting test and moved Leman Russ and Magnus to an endurance trial against Rosmontis and an unfamiliar Sankta girl.
• Leman Russ and Magnus examined the Sankta girl’s dark halo and geometric wings with intense curiosity.

Leman Russ and Magnus took part in Rosmontis’s endurance training, testing their strength against her tactical shields and Mostima’s Arts. They impressed the Rhodes Island operators while keeping their true capabilities hidden, and the Doctor continued chatting with Rosmontis and Mostima afterward.

• Magnus told Leman Russ not to overdo the shield exercise, but Russ struggled to interpret what counted as restraint.
• Rosmontis increased the force against Russ’s shield while Magnus used his psychic sight to discover her unusual Arts and the twisted soul of her brother bound within her.
• Russ eventually pushed Rosmontis’s shield back, even as her strength rose enough to halt Patriot, and Mostima watched in amazement.
• At the Doctor’s signal, Mostima unleashed a powerful field that added crushing pressure and temporal deceleration, but Russ and Magnus endured it before allowing themselves to be pushed back.
• Rosmontis asked the Doctor for a head pat, while she and Mostima chatted with him and he made notes; Magnus and Russ privately joked about the Doctor’s popularity.