Chapter Summaries

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.

Tyberos’s fleet suffered severe losses against the Star Navy Fleet, and his attempts to counter its speed and tactics failed. As the Carcharodons argued over who should lead a boarding mission, Nophis offered to go, but the others insisted he was too important to risk.

• After three hours in the Karen System, the Imperial Combined Fleet had lost fifty-five ships without destroying a Star Navy vessel.
• Tyberos’s attempts to attack the system’s planets, deploy Space Marines, and encircle the Star Navy Fleet all failed.
• Tyberos ordered his personal assault craft prepared so he could board an enemy ship and kill its commanders.
• The Carcharodons’ officers urged Tyberos not to go and argued over who should carry a teleport beacon onto an enemy vessel.
• Nophis volunteered for the mission, but the others objected that he was the Chapter’s final safeguard.

Gray praised Tulas for leading the Star Navy Fleet to destroy many Imperium warships without losing a soldier. Their victory was interrupted when a mysterious, extraordinarily fast assault craft approached the Emperor-class Battleship, and Gray and Tulas prepared to meet its attempted boarding attack.

• Gray praised Tulas for using teleport beacons and coordinating the fleet to overwhelm the Imperium warships.
• Tulas credited the captains' teamwork, while Gray celebrated the fleet's success and the absence of allied casualties.
• The Emperor-class Battleship's AI warned that an object was approaching at extreme speed and projected its image.
• Gray identified the object as an assault craft that outpaced their most advanced fighters, and he and Tulas suspected it was an ancient technological relic.
• Tulas concluded that the Imperium forces intended to board the Emperor-class Battleship and strike at Gray, and Gray welcomed the attack.

Kaliush piloted Tyberos's assault craft through the Star Navy Fleet's defenses and used a psychic teleport beacon to bring Tyberos and the Carcharodons aboard the Emperor-class Battleship. Tyberos led the boarding force toward the bridge, where heavy footsteps began closing in from both sides of the corridor.

• Kaliush endured the assault craft's punishing speed, broke through the fleet's fire blockade and Void Shield, and melted through the Emperor-class Battleship's armor with its Melta Cannons.
• The assault craft crashed into a corridor wall, and Kaliush activated and threw the psychic teleport beacon before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Tyberos and dozens of Carcharodons teleported aboard; Tyberos confirmed that Kaliush would recover and gathered the boarding force, which grew to one hundred Space Marines despite five becoming embedded in walls.
• Tyberos ordered the force to eliminate the heretic leaders and led them toward the bridge.
• Heavy footsteps approached from both sides of the corridor, and Tyberos ordered the Carcharodons to ready their weapons.

Tyberos and the Carcharodons were trapped by Earth Dreadnoughts and forced to surrender after their weapons failed to pierce the mechs’ Void Shields. Gray arrived with more than a hundred Star Space Marines and confronted Tyberos, who identified himself as the Chapter Master of the Carcharodons.

• Ten Earth Dreadnoughts emerged and repelled the Carcharodons’ barrage with their Void Shields.
• An Earth Dreadnought killed more than a dozen Carcharodons, and its pilot warned the survivors to stop firing.
• Tyberos ordered the Carcharodons to cease fire, explaining to Altai that further resistance would only get more of their brothers killed.
• The Carcharodons obeyed Tyberos and waited as Star Space Marines emerged and aimed their rifles at them.
• Gray approached Tyberos, who confirmed that he was the Chapter Master of the Carcharodons.

Gray tried to recruit Tyberos and the Carcharodons Chapter by offering them better equipment and enhanced strength under the Lord of the Stars. Tyberos coveted Gray’s armor but refused to pledge loyalty, and the chapter ended with Gray’s followers laughing at his threat.

• Gray recognized the Carcharodons as an impoverished but formidable Space Marine Chapter and explained their unusual Ash and Blood taxes.
• Gray offered to welcome Tyberos and his Chapter into the Lord of the Stars’ ranks, promising improved equipment and greater physical strength.
• Tyberos admired Gray’s Star-pattern Terminator Armour and considered killing him to take it, while keeping his insults toward the Lord of the Stars in check.
• Wright and the other Star Space Marines laughed at Tyberos’s threat, and Gray told them to stop while pointing out that Tyberos did not know his strength.