Chapter Summaries

Gabriel and the Blood Angels fought to break through the Star Space Marines’ fire, then charged into their ranks after Gabriel rallied them. Gabriel killed several enemies before becoming locked in a duel with Captain Nack, while Nack’s Guard blocked the Blood Angels’ officers from reaching him.

• Five hundred Star Space Marines surrounded the surviving Blood Angels and pinned them down with heavy fire.
• Gabriel urged his battle-brothers to honor Sanguinius, drew his Power Sword, and led a charge against the Star Space Marines.
• Gabriel and the Blood Angels’ officers fought through the enemy ranks, with Gabriel killing more than a dozen Star Space Marines.
• A golden-armoured Star Space Marine engaged Gabriel in a contest of strength, while more than twenty members of Nack’s Guard intercepted the Blood Angels’ captains, Chaplains, and Company Champion.
• The Blood Angels’ officers and Nack’s Guard charged at each other as Gabriel’s duel with Captain Nack continued.

Nack and Gabriel fought a fierce duel while the outnumbered Flesh Tearers were overwhelmed by the Star Space Marines. The chapter ended with Doss slain and the First Company chaplain crying out in grief as Gabriel remained locked in battle with Nack.

• Nack demanded Gabriel's name, and Gabriel identified himself as Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers and asked who Nack's primarch was.
• Nack mocked Sanguinius, enraging Gabriel, then struck Gabriel's Power Sword with his Power Fist and forced him backward.
• Nack pressed his attack, and Gabriel struggled to block his powerful sword blows before charging back with a shout of defiance.
• The Flesh Tearers were overwhelmed by the more numerous and better-equipped Star Space Marines.
• Doss tried to break through and rescue Gabriel, but more than a dozen Star Space Marines surrounded and killed him.
• The First Company chaplain cried out in grief as Gabriel continued fighting Nack.

The Flesh Tearers Chapter First Company Chaplain refused to surrender and was killed by one of Nack’s guards, leaving Gabriel grief-stricken and surrounded by Star Space Marines. Nack challenged Gabriel to a duel, and their first exchange ended with Gabriel severing Nack’s left arm as Nack’s Power Sword swept toward Gabriel’s neck.

• A Star Space Marine offered the First Company Chaplain a chance to surrender, but the Chaplain rejected the offer and charged.
• The Star Space Marine dodged the Chaplain’s attack and killed him with a shot from his Plasma Pistol.
• Gabriel saw the Chaplain and the other Blood Angels dead, while more than four hundred Star Space Marines surrounded him and Nack.
• Nack ordered his troops not to interfere and challenged Gabriel to a duel to the death; Gabriel accepted.
• Gabriel evaded Nack’s Power Fist and severed his left arm, as Nack’s Power Sword swept toward Gabriel’s neck.

Nack killed Gabriel in their duel but lost an arm, then ordered the battlefield cleared and Gabriel given a proper burial before heading for treatment. As Lilith commanded the fleet, the Star Navy Fleet continued to withstand the Imperial Combined Fleet’s desperate attacks and destroy its warships.

• Nack’s power armor stopped the bleeding from his severed arm, and he ordered the Star Space Marines to clear the battlefield and leave no infiltrators alive.
• Nack told his troops to give Gabriel a proper burial, then went with guards to the medical bay.
• Lilith contacted Nack to ask about his injury, and he assured her he was fine before asking about the fleet battle.
• Lilith reported that the Imperial Combined Fleet was attacking desperately, and Nack concluded that its attempt to distract them had failed.
• Nack entered the medical bay to have his arm reattached while Lilith continued commanding the Star Navy Fleet.
• The Star Navy Fleet resisted the Imperial Combined Fleet’s attacks and destroyed its warships.

As the Imperial Combined Fleet entered the Manda Galaxy, Dok ordered the civilians who refused to evacuate to be left behind, while the Defense Force opened fire on six approaching Imperial cruisers. The spaceport’s defenses held the attackers at a distance, and the Flesh Tearers’ Chaplain warned Spike that the standoff was hurting their advance.

• A company commander told Dok that former nobles and merchants refused to enter shelters or evacuate from Manda Planet.
• Dok rejected the company commander’s suggestion to kill them and ordered that anyone refusing evacuation be left to fend for themselves.
• Six Imperial cruisers, including a strike cruiser of the Flesh Tearers Chapter, approached Manda Planet’s spaceport.
• A Defense Force company commander ordered the defenders to attack, and soldiers and combat robots fired the spaceport’s weapons at the cruisers.
• The cruisers’ Void Shields endured the barrage, but the spaceport’s firepower prevented them from advancing.
• The Fifth Company Chaplain told Spike that continuing the exchange of fire would delay breaking the deadlock and relieving pressure on the fleet.

The Chaplain led fifty Blood Angels in five Torpedo Assault Boats toward the spaceport to break the stalemate, while Spike stayed behind to command the fleet. The Defense Force captain ordered the soldiers to evacuate and the combat robots to hold off the assault boats, leaving the Blood Angels without access to the teleportation platforms.

• Spike decided to send a boarding force and, after the Chaplain insisted, let him lead the operation.
• The Chaplain took fifty Blood Angels aboard five Torpedo Assault Boats and headed for the spaceport.
• The Defense Force captain ordered the spaceport’s weapons to target the approaching boats, but their outdated systems failed to hit them.
• The captain ordered the Defense Force soldiers to evacuate and told one hundred thousand combat robots to keep fighting and self-destruct if the Blood Angels reached the Void Shield.
• The Defense Force soldiers escaped to Manda Planet’s underground fortresses and destroyed the teleportation platforms with Meltabombs.

The Blood Angels breached the spaceport walls and charged inside, only to be ambushed by thousands of combat robots wielding deadly Gauss beams. The trapped squad suffered casualties as they fought to survive in the exposed corridor.

• The Blood Angels used their torpedo assault craft’s Melta Cannons to blast a breach in the spaceport wall and crash through it.
• Priest Kazaen ordered the squad to secure positions and seize the spaceport after the craft came to a halt.
• A Blood Angel warned his battle-brothers that Gauss beams could disintegrate their craft’s armor as the squad opened fire on the combat robots.
• Thousands of combat robots trapped the fifty Blood Angels in a narrow corridor, and Brother Ivan was disintegrated by a Gauss beam.
• A Blood Angel shoved a comrade out of a beam’s path, then severed his own struck left arm with a Chainsword to keep the disintegration from spreading.

The Blood Angels fought through the spaceport toward its Void Shield engine, suffering catastrophic losses as they advanced. Just as Chaplain Kazaen prepared to lead the final assault, the heretics detonated the spaceport, killing him and burying the boarding force in the void, while Spike struggled to contain his rage.

• Xia'er and the Blood Angels held off battle robots, and a wounded brother used a Meltabomb to blast through a wall so they could withdraw.
• Chaplain Kazaen led the survivors toward the Void Shield engine, where resistance intensified and the fifty-man boarding force dwindled to fewer than twenty.
• Kazaen encouraged the remaining Blood Angels as they prepared to charge the engine, but the spaceport suddenly exploded.
• Spike watched the spaceport become a fireball and smashed the console in fury over Kazaen and the lost brothers.
• The explosion cost the Fifth Company two-thirds of its elite strength, and Spike fought to keep from falling into the Black Rage.

After the spaceport was destroyed, Spike ordered the Astra Militarum to prepare for deployment to Manda Planet while fighters flew ahead to scout and attack its defenses. At Defensive Position 032, Regiment Commander Dok’s forces opened fire on the approaching Imperial fighters, whose pilots struggled to evade the barrage.

• Spike contacted the other five cruiser captains and announced that the Astra Militarum should be deployed into the planet’s interior.
• The cruiser captains ordered transports to move the soldiers and sent fighter squadrons ahead to scout and destroy heretic defenses.
• Regiment Commander Dok detected the approaching Imperial fighters and ordered the anti-aircraft units to engage them.
• Defense Force autocannons unleashed a dense barrage as the Imperial fighters entered range.
• The Imperial pilots received an enemy-attack warning and began evasive maneuvers under heavy fire.

Astra Militarum forces landed on Manda Planet under heavy fire and rapidly established a defensive position. Colonel Tim and Commissar Kam decided to seize the apparently abandoned city ahead, leaving the regiment poised to attack.

• Autocannon fire destroyed the fighters, forcing the transport ship to descend and land away from the Defense Force positions.
• The transport ship's pilot ordered the Astra Militarum soldiers to disembark, and Colonel Tim directed them to unload their equipment and secure the area.
• After the transport ship fled, the soldiers built defensive positions while Commissar Kam studied the distant city and judged that the heretics' defenses were concealed behind it.
• Commissar Kam recommended capturing the city as a forward base, and Colonel Tim agreed to send three companies to probe the city while three others remained in reserve.
• The company commanders acknowledged Tim's orders and began preparing their forces for the attack.

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.