Recaps

The Astra Militarum discovered tens of thousands of nobles, merchants, civilians, and slaves hiding in the city after its heretics fled. Commissar Kam ordered a random execution quota and the survivors to be armed as suicide squads, and the soldiers began carrying out the executions.

• The First, Second, and Third Companies took the city without resistance and found tens of thousands of people hiding inside.
• The First Company's captain sent a messenger to Colonel Tim and Commissar Kam to ask how to handle the residents.
• Commissar Kam condemned the nobles for surrendering to the heretics and ordered five of every ten nobles and one of every ten others executed.
• Commissar Kam ordered the survivors to be armed and sent as suicide squads against the heretics' defenses.
• The First Company's captain relayed the execution order, and Astra Militarum soldiers began killing those selected.

Regimental Commander Tim’s Astra Militarum forces forced the survivors to join the assault on the Star Army’s positions, then began their general offensive against the Defense Force. The chapter ended with the regiment advancing behind Chimera transports as its artillery opened fire.

• The First Company Captain ordered the survivors to attack the heretics’ defensive lines, threatening to execute anyone who refused.
• When a noble survivor protested, the First Company Captain shot him, silencing the crowd and forcing the survivors to accept weapons and equipment.
• Regimental Commander Tim and Commissar Kam entered the city after the company captains confirmed it was secure.
• The First Company Captain asked whether the attack should begin, and Tim ordered all units to launch the assault with artillery support.
• The Astra Militarum regiment advanced toward the Defense Force positions as its artillery began a heavy barrage.

Dok ordered the Defense Force to return fire against the Astra Militarum assault, and their Void Shield protected their positions from the enemy’s opening bombardment. The Defense Force destroyed the attackers’ artillery and then devastated their advancing force, leaving the Astra Militarum’s assault in chaos.

• The Defense Force’s Void Shield absorbed the Volcano Cannon shells, and Dok ordered his troops to return fire.
• The Defense Force artillery destroyed the Astra Militarum’s artillery positions, killing the guns and their crews.
• Tim and Kam learned that their artillery had been wiped out, and Kam went to seek fire support from the legion commander.
• As the Astra Militarum advanced toward the Defense Force lines, the defenders opened fire with heavy weapons and rocket launchers.
• The Defense Force destroyed more than a hundred Chimera armored personnel carriers and killed or wounded many Astra Militarum soldiers in the resulting explosions.

The Defense Force's artillery annihilated the Astra Militarum's attacking regiments, leaving Tim and Kam devastated by their losses. Legion Commander Kaberons learned that the 332nd Legion had lost its combat capability and decided to request support from the Emperor's Angels.

• The Defense Force's artillery wiped out Tim's attacking regiment, leaving him stunned by its destruction.
• Kam arrived with news that the Legion Commander had agreed to provide fire support, then saw the devastated battlefield and collapsed in despair.
• Tim and Kam decided to report the truth to Legion Commander Kaberons.
• Kaberons learned that attacks had failed across the front and that the 332nd Legion had lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers and its combat capability.
• Kaberons and Himmler agreed to seek aid from the Emperor's Angels, since the legion could no longer take the Defense Force's positions.

Spike led thirty Blood Angels to reinforce Kaberons on Manda Planet, and they joined the Astra Militarum in a desperate assault on the Defense Force positions. The attackers charged through a devastating artillery barrage, and an Earthshaker shell killed a Blood Angel as the battle continued.

• After receiving the Astra Militarum's distress signal, Spike obtained Gabriel's approval and led thirty Blood Angels to Manda Planet.
• Kaberons regrouped his remaining three hundred thousand soldiers, and Spike joined him for a final assault on the heretics' defenses.
• Spike ordered the Astra Militarum and Blood Angels to charge in a dispersed formation toward the Defense Force positions.
• Commander Dok ordered a creeping barrage, and the Defense Force artillery devastated the advancing troops.
• Spike and Kaberons urged their forces to keep charging despite the bombardment, and an Earthshaker shell killed a Blood Angel.

Dok deployed ten thousand self-destructing mechanical hounds against the charging Astra Militarum and Blood Angels. The hounds’ explosions killed a Blood Angel at close range, and Spike ran out of ammunition as another robot dog charged him.

• Dok ordered the self-destruct hounds to deploy, and ten thousand mechanical dogs charged toward the Astra Militarum and Blood Angels.
• Spike recognized the danger and ordered the Blood Angels to shoot the advancing hounds.
• The Blood Angels hit the leading hounds, which exploded and used the smoke as cover to keep advancing.
• A robotic dog detonated beside a Blood Angel, destroying his armor and killing him in a blast of blood.
• Spike fired his twin-linked Boltgun at the hounds until it ran out of ammunition, while another robotic dog charged straight at him.

Spike and a Blood Angel were killed as a rogue robotic dog triggered a response that led the Defense Force to bombard the area with Earthshaker cannons. The artillery strike left the battlefield blanketed in explosions and eliminated the Blood Angel.

• Spike was killed when an explosion engulfed him and the robotic dog attacking him.
• A grieving Blood Angel rushed toward Spike’s corpse as a robotic dog pounced at him from behind.
• A glowing feather paralyzed the robotic dog and disrupted its logic, causing it to charge toward the Defense Force position.
• A monitoring-room operator detected the rogue machine and ordered five robotic dogs to intercept it; all six exploded.
• The operator reported that the rogue machine might be a psyker or blessed by a Chaos God, and the artillery commander ordered an indiscriminate Earthshaker bombardment.
• The Blood Angel reached Spike’s corpse, but the bombardment shattered his protective white light and killed him.

Mo Tuo's Fifth Fleet fought the Minotaurs and a much larger Imperial Combined Fleet while Astra Militarum forces landed on Olia II. Mo Tuo decided to lead a boarding action against the enemy command ship, and Wood agreed to provide teleport beacons.

• Mo Tuo's Fifth Fleet struggled against the Minotaurs and the Imperial Navy as the enemy fleet outnumbered them five to one.
• Wood reported that Astra Militarum troops had landed on Olia II, but Mo Tuo trusted the Defense Force's planetary defenses and kept his focus on the void battle.
• Mo Tuo proposed a boarding action to disrupt the enemy fleet by destroying its command system, despite Wood's concern that the battle had only just begun.
• Wood agreed to arrange teleport beacons for Mo Tuo and the Space Marines, one of the few ways they could board the enemy flagship.

Wood sent Intelligent Wingmen and teleport beacons toward the Imperial Combined Fleet to create an opening for a boarding action. Azrael ordered the fleet to intercept the fighters, while some beacons survived the defenses and appeared around the fleet, though several landed off target.

• Mo Tuo advised Wood to send more Intelligent Wingmen and launch teleport beacons, and Wood dispatched over a thousand fighters toward the Imperial Combined Fleet.
• Azrael, aboard the Defender of Terra, watched the heretic fleet resist the Imperial attack and resented its advanced weapons and equipment.
• The mortal captain warned Azrael that another thousand Intelligent Wingmen were approaching, and Azrael ordered the fleet to concentrate its fire on them.
• The Intelligent Wingmen evaded the Imperial barrage as Wood activated a large number of teleport beacons aboard the Emperor-class Battleship.
• Imperial attacks destroyed many beacons, but others appeared around the fleet, with several landing slightly off target.

The Star Navy Fleet used five teleportation beacons inside Imperial Combined Fleet ships to teleport Three-Phase Torpedoes and destroy four warships. Azrael ordered patrols to search every vessel for unexplained threats, unaware of how the attacks had happened.

• A staff member told Captain Wood that five teleportation beacons had appeared aboard three destroyers and one frigate in the Imperial Combined Fleet.
• Mo Tuo expressed disappointment that the beacons had not appeared aboard the Minotaurs Chapter flagship, but Wood ordered Three-Phase Torpedoes teleported to their locations.
• The torpedoes detonated inside four Imperial Combined Fleet warships, destroying them and killing their crews.
• Azrael questioned why the warships had exploded despite their Void Shield engines not nearing overload.
• Azrael ordered every warship to increase patrols and inspect for abnormalities, and threatened to execute anyone who concealed a threat.

Wood and Mo Tuo used teleport beacons to place boarding forces inside Imperial warships, and Mo Tuo prepared to lead an assault on a Battle Barge. The Star Navy also planned to capture three cruisers with combat robots, explosive hounds, and Star Space Marines.

• Wood ordered another launch of more than a thousand teleport beacons after the first strike destroyed four enemy warships.
• The monitoring crew reported that eight beacons had appeared inside the enemy fleet, including one aboard a Battle Barge and three inside cruisers.
• Mo Tuo learned that the Battle Barge was not the enemy flagship but decided to target it in hopes of drawing out its commander.
• Wood arranged for combat robots and explosive hounds to board the three cruisers and asked Mo Tuo to leave several hundred Star Space Marines to assist.
• Mo Tuo ordered the crew to activate a beacon and share its coordinates, then put on his helmet and headed for the teleportation platform with his guard squad.

Mo Tuo sent a force of Star Space Marines and Exploding Hounds through a teleportation passage onto an enemy Battle Barge. The hounds slaughtered the lower-deck cannon crews and disabled the ship’s macro-cannons, while Captain Apu learned that intruders were aboard.

• Mo Tuo arrived at the teleportation platform with his guard squad and ordered the Star Space Marines and a thousand Exploding Hounds to move out.
• The Exploding Hounds entered the transport passage first and raced through a dark corridor into a macro-cannon chamber.
• A mortal servant spotted the hounds and shouted an alarm, but the hounds dodged the Combat Servitors’ gunfire and killed everyone in the chamber.
• The Exploding Hounds attacked cannon chambers throughout the Battle Barge, slaughtering their crews and silencing the macro-cannons.
• The Battle Barge’s captain reported the intruders to Captain Apu, who reacted with surprise.

Apu learned that heretics, including Star Space Marines, had infiltrated his warship and were advancing toward the bridge. He ordered the Minotaurs Chapter's First Company to stop them and received Azrael's promise of reinforcements.

• A mortal captain reported that mechanical dogs were slaughtering crew in the lower levels while nearly three-meter-tall heretics advanced toward the middle levels.
• Apu watched surveillance footage and recognized the invading heretics as Star Space Marines.
• Apu ordered the Minotaurs Chapter's First Company to intercept the intruders and hold until reinforcements arrived.
• Apu contacted Azrael and reported that three hundred heretics had somehow boarded his warship.
• Azrael said he would gather the companies and send them to reinforce Apu.

Five Star Space Marines fought through Minotaurs auxiliaries and Combat Servitors before encountering Cawl's Clone, who destroyed their self-destruct hounds and trapped the squad in a time-slowing field. The Space Marines were left moving sluggishly as Cawl's Clone prepared to overcome them.

• The five Star Space Marines and ten self-destruct hounds slaughtered the Minotaurs' auxiliary soldiers and Combat Servitors blocking their advance.
• The squad leader halted the Space Marines when heavy footsteps approached, and the self-destruct hounds charged around a corner toward the source.
• Cawl's Clone crushed all ten hounds with gravity and advanced toward the Star Space Marines.
• The Space Marines fired their weapons at Cawl's Clone, but his energy shield blocked their attacks.
• The squad leader charged Cawl's Clone with a Power Sword, and Cawl's Clone slowed all five Space Marines with a time-slowing field.

Cawl's avatar used a Time-Dilation Field to capture five Star Space Marines and teleport them away. Aishiliya arrived too late, warned the survivors to stay alert, and decided to report the missing warriors to Captain Mo Tuo.

• Cawl's avatar slowed the five Star Space Marines with a Time-Dilation Field, removed their power packs, and sealed them in Stasis Fields.
• Cawl's avatar sent the five captives and their equipment through a Warp teleportation passage, then escaped as the abandoned platform self-destructed.
• Aishiliya and twenty Star Space Marines reached the empty corridor and realized the five warriors were gone.
• Aishiliya warned the remaining Star Space Marines to stay vigilant, and they vowed to avenge their missing comrades.
• Aishiliya said she would report the incident to Captain Mo Tuo and request that the five be listed as fallen.

The Star Space Marines breached the Minotaurs’ defensive line and charged into the training hall, where the battle leader began overpowering the Astartes in close combat. The battle leader forced one Minotaur to his knee beneath his Power Sword as the fight continued.

• The Minotaurs’ assault squad fired on the Star Space Marines and held the corridor under a coordinated barrage.
• A Star Space Marine sent a self-destruct hound toward the hall, and the Minotaurs destroyed it with a bolter round.
• A Star Space Marine fired a Blast Gun at the Minotaurs’ cover, disrupting their weapons and allowing the five attackers to charge.
• The Star Space Marines and Minotaurs met inside the training hall and drew their Power Swords, Power Hammers, and Chainswords.
• The Star Space Marine battle leader knocked one Minotaur away, cut another in two, and forced the first opponent to one knee with a downward sword strike.

A Star Space Marine squad leader killed an Astartes who refused to pledge loyalty to the Lord of the Stars, and Mo Tuo led a hundred Star Space Marines toward the Battle Barge’s bridge. Their advance met a fierce ambush, and an Earth Dreadnought arrived to support them as the battle raged.

• The squad leader killed an Astartes who vowed never to betray the Emperor, then continued clearing the warship with his comrades.
• Mo Tuo led a hundred Star Space Marines through the Battle Barge toward the bridge, protected in the center of their formation.
• Two Ironclad Dreadnoughts, enemy Astartes, and five Leman Russ tanks opened fire on Mo Tuo’s force in a corridor.
• A Star Space Marine deployed a teleport beacon, summoning an Earth Dreadnought that fired on the Ironclad Dreadnoughts and charged toward the hall.

Ten Earth Dreadnoughts burst through the teleportation passage and attacked the Astartes forces in the hall. One Earth Dreadnought killed Lord Ailixir and drove Azrael and the other Space Marines into retreat as the remaining machines charged the Imperial vehicles.

• Ten Earth Dreadnoughts emerged from the teleportation passage and poured fire into the Ironclad Dreadnoughts, Leman Russ tanks, and Astartes in the hall.
• The first Earth Dreadnought charged an Ironclad Dreadnought and pierced its chest with a disintegration-field claw, killing Lord Ailixir and destroying the machine.
• Azrael attacked the Earth Dreadnought in fury, but its pilot hurled the destroyed Ironclad at him and fired a machine gun that killed nearby Astartes.
• The other nine Earth Dreadnoughts entered the hall and targeted the remaining Ironclad Dreadnought and five Leman Russ tanks.

The Earth Dreadnoughts destroyed the Astartes’ heavy units and overwhelmed the Minotaurs forces in the hall. Mo Tuo called for their commander, and Azrael decided to speak with him after realizing fewer than two hundred of his eight hundred battle-brothers remained.

• An Earth Dreadnought destroyed the last Ironclad Dreadnought with Melta Cannon shots.
• Another Earth Dreadnought destroyed a Leman Russ heavy tank by blocking its cannon barrel with its mechanical claw.
• The Earth Dreadnoughts and Star Space Marines demolished the Astartes’ barricades and killed many of the Minotaurs, then stopped firing at Mo Tuo’s signal.
• Mo Tuo asked the Astartes commander to come forward and talk.
• Apu urged Azrael to stay behind cover, but Azrael said the Minotaurs had already lost and that he needed to consider the surviving battle-brothers.

Azrael confronted Mo Tuo, who offered him surrender and loyalty to the Lord of the Stars. Azrael's hope that the battle on Olia II could turn the war around faltered when a company commander reported devastating losses and requested reinforcements.

• Azrael approached Mo Tuo with the surviving Astartes, then demanded that a Chapter Master negotiate with him instead of a company commander.
• Mo Tuo explained that he commanded ten thousand Star Space Marines and offered Azrael the choice to surrender or die.
• Azrael insisted that the fighting on Olia II could still reverse the war, but Mo Tuo said the attackers had lost more than half their forces.
• A company commander attacking Olia II called Azrael over his helmet and reported that the defenses had inflicted devastating losses, leaving his forces unable to assault again.
• Azrael asked the company commander what had happened.

Azrael surrendered to Mo Tuo and asked him to spare the Minotaurs who refused to submit, so they could leave the Olia System. Mo Tuo agreed that Azrael could keep fighting for humanity after pledging loyalty to the great Lord of the Stars.

• Azrael received news that the Minotaurs Chapter had lost its ability to resist and ordered the attack to cease.
• Mo Tuo asked Azrael to choose whether to surrender, and Azrael offered himself in exchange for safe passage for his unwilling battle-brothers.
• Apu and the other Space Marines knelt behind Azrael and pledged to follow him.
• Azrael asked whether those who swore loyalty to the great Lord of the Stars could continue fighting, and Mo Tuo assured him they could keep their status and serve humanity.

Mo Tuo impressed Azrael and the Space Marines with his strength and lavish Adamantium armour, then gave Azrael a Power Sword and a power dagger while promising that the Lord of the Stars would equip every warrior generously. He began showing Azrael the rounds from his Ripper Rifle, leaving Azrael puzzled as the heavy bullets clattered onto the deck.

• Mo Tuo displayed his strength, frightening the Space Marines and drawing Azrael’s attention to his golden Adamantium armour.
• Azrael noticed that nearly half of Mo Tuo’s guards also wore Adamantium armour and carried Power Swords, and he began yearning for better equipment.
• Mo Tuo ordered Azrael and the kneeling Space Marines to rise, then gave Azrael a Power Sword and a power dagger.
• Azrael admired the weapons and joked that Mo Tuo should give him more because he was a country bumpkin.
• Mo Tuo removed the magazine from his Ripper Rifle and let its thick rounds fall onto the deck, prompting Azrael to realize something was amiss.

Mo Tuo demonstrated a spatial-folding magazine to Azrael, then ordered him to make the Imperial Combined Fleet surrender. Azrael pledged himself to the Lord of the Stars, and as Garcia ordered an attack on the Minotaurs Chapter, Azrael offered the fleet a choice between joining him and withdrawing.

• Mo Tuo showed Azrael that the magazine could hold one hundred thousand bullets using spatial-folding technology.
• Mo Tuo ordered Azrael to command the Imperial Combined Fleet to surrender, and Azrael agreed despite knowing he could not return to the Imperium.
• Azrael opened the fleet-wide communications channel and declared his loyalty to the Lord of the Stars, ordering the fleet to lay down its weapons.
• The mortal captain of the Defender of Terra and Garcia denounced Azrael, and Garcia ordered the Imperial Navy to attack the Minotaurs Chapter.
• Azrael told those willing to follow him to take their warships to the Star Navy Fleet and allowed those who refused to withdraw.

Azrael surrendered the Minotaurs Chapter to Mo Tuo, while the Star Navy Fleet fought off the Imperial Navy’s furious assault in the Olia Star System. The battle continued with the Star Navy inflicting heavy losses and withdrawing damaged ships to recover before returning to combat.

• Azrael led the Minotaurs warships willing to surrender toward the Star Navy Fleet, while one Strike Cruiser and its crew refused to join them and withdrew.
• Mo Tuo accepted Azrael’s mission report, arranged for the surrendered Space Marines to rest, and left ten Earth Dreadnoughts aboard the Battle Barge.
• Wood told Mo Tuo that the Star Navy had captured six cruisers and destroyed more than twenty frigates and destroyers, while the Imperial Navy attacked more recklessly after learning the Minotaurs had surrendered.
• Mo Tuo explained that the Minotaurs had been drawn by the weapons and equipment he showed them, then instructed Wood to seize valuable opportunities for boarding operations.
• The Imperial Navy, driven by Commander Garcia, launched desperate charges, but the Star Navy exploited its weaknesses and destroyed Imperial warships.
• Star Navy ships with overloaded Void Shields teleported to safe rear positions to recover, then returned to the battle.

Tulas's Star Navy Fleet ambushed the Imperial Combined Fleet at the Karen Galaxy's Mandeville Point, destroying its vanguard. Tyberos brought the Carcharodons Chapter out of the Warp with Void Shields raised, but Tulas's fleet kept the initiative and destroyed Imperial warships.

• Tulas's fleet destroyed the Imperial Combined Fleet's vanguard warships as they emerged from the Warp at the Mandeville Point.
• Tyberos sent a destroyer to scout, learned of the ambush, and ordered the fleet to deactivate its Gellar Fields and activate its Void Shields before leaving the Warp.
• The Carcharodons Chapter emerged under heavy fire, its Void Shields absorbing the Star Navy Fleet's barrage, and Tyberos ordered a counterattack.
• The Carcharodons Chapter fired lances and macro cannons, but Tulas's faster fleet evaded the attacks and continued firing.
• Tulas ordered the Star Navy Fleet to spread out and attack freely, destroying Imperial Combined Fleet warships while maintaining control of the battle.