Chapter Summaries

Wells showed Nack and the Astartes officers a cloned gene-seed, explaining that it was identical to the original and to the gene-seed used by the Ultramarines. Tyberos asked whether the laboratory could clone Raven Guard gene-seed, and Wells said they would need a sample first.

• Wells dismissed Nack’s concerns and admitted that the humans were being treated as test subjects.
• Nack asked Wells to show them the cloned gene-seed, and Wells led him and the other Astartes officers to the experimental bench.
• Wells displayed the cloned gene-seed and said it matched the gene-seed used by the Astartes.
• Azrael compared the clone with the original and realized that the laboratory could potentially expand the Minotaurs Chapter’s strength.
• Tyberos asked whether Wells could clone Raven Guard gene-seed, and Wells said he could do so if they supplied a sample.

Wells assured Tyberos that he could clone Raven Guard gene-seed, but explained that cloned gene-seed would not retain past combat experience. When Arjinto asked how the cloning worked, Wells revealed a chained man sealed inside a canister in the laboratory.

• Tyberos offered to provide preserved Raven Guard gene-seed and asked Wells to clone a new batch for the Carcharodons.
• Wells agreed that his mature cloning technology could rapidly produce large quantities from a gene-seed sample.
• Azrael asked whether cloned gene-seed retained combat experience, and Wells explained that it did not.
• Azrael accepted Wells's answer, and the Astartes officers recognized that intensive training could make up for the missing experience.
• Arjinto asked how Wells cloned gene-seed, and Wells opened a hidden Adamantium canister to reveal a motionless man bound in chains.

Wells revealed that the figure in the tank was a mindless clone of Roboute Guilliman, created from genetic information in the gene-seed carried by Azrael and intended as a source of gene-seed. Azrael accepted the clone’s use after learning it lacked Guilliman’s consciousness and the Warp essence needed to be a true Primarch.

• Azrael was shocked to see a figure resembling Roboute Guilliman sealed inside an iron tank.
• Wells explained that the figure was a clone created using genetic information extracted from the gene-seed Azrael carried.
• Azrael questioned whether the clone could awaken, and Wells said it lacked the Warp essence needed to become a true Primarch.
• Wells revealed that Gaia had ordered the clone’s consciousness removed, leaving it mindless and useful only for extracting gene-seed.
• Azrael felt relieved and accepted using the clone as a gene-seed sample for the Minotaurs.

Wells explained how gene-seed cloning worked, but Tyberos and the others cared more about becoming stronger through bodily augmentation. He led them past a monstrous beast and reassured them that their treatment would be carefully controlled.

• Tyberos asked whether Wells's technology was required to clone any kind of gene-seed, and confirmed that he still wanted to clone Raven Guard gene-seeds.
• Arjinto said he cared only about becoming stronger, and Tyberos and the others agreed that their ties to the Imperium and the Primarchs no longer mattered.
• Wells returned the cloned gene-seed and Guilliman's clone to their containers, then led the group out of A103 Laboratory and deeper into the laboratory hall.
• Wells explained that excessive bodily augmentation drugs and nutrient fluid had transformed the caged beast into a monster.
• Tyberos worried that the surgery would make them monstrous, and Wells assured him that measured doses would increase their strength without that risk.

Wells showed the Space Marines the enhancement facility and began Tyberos’s body enhancement procedure. As the injection started, a hidden soul mark was also implanted to kill any Space Marine who later tried to betray the Lord of the Stars and humanity.

• Wells explained that the vast hall could perform enhancement procedures on ten thousand Space Marines at once.
• Tyberos volunteered to undergo the first procedure and followed Wells to an injection chamber.
• Wells secured Tyberos to an Adamantium cross inside the chamber and sealed it.
• After Nack gave his approval, Wells began administering the enhancement agent to Tyberos.
• During the procedure, a concealed soul mark was planted in Tyberos to kill him if he ever sought to betray the Lord of the Stars and humanity.

Azrael and the others waited while Tyberos underwent the twenty-four-hour body enhancement drug injection, hoping to see its results before deciding whether to take it themselves. When the pod opened, Tyberos emerged with blood-red eyes and a savage appearance, leaving the others to witness his transformation.

• Azrael learned from Wells that the body enhancement injection took twenty-four hours, and Arjinto suggested they wait to see Tyberos's results before deciding whether to undergo it.
• Wells agreed, and the Astartes Space Marines waited in the laboratory, watching a film and observing Tyberos's readings as nutrient fluid flowed into his body.
• After twenty-three hours and fifty minutes, the Space Marines gathered around Tyberos's pod and watched the countdown reach its end.
• The pod opened and released thick white mist, which it then drew back inside.
• Tyberos appeared with his eyes shut, then opened them to reveal a chilling blood-red gaze.

Tyberos awoke after his body-enhancement surgery to find himself far larger, healed, and vastly stronger than before. Wells revealed that Tyberos’s physical stats had increased fivefold, leaving Nack and the other Astartes stunned by the result.

• Tyberos’s shackles opened, and he fell to the floor after growing to three and a half meters tall and regrowing the damaged flesh on his face.
• The company captains helped Tyberos stand, but his slight body shake sent them flying across the hall.
• Wells explained that Tyberos had not yet learned to control his increased strength.
• Nack asked Wells how much stronger Tyberos had become, while Arjinto, Azrael, and the others gathered to hear the answer.
• Wells checked his terminal and reported that Tyberos’s physical stats were five times higher than before the enhancement.

Wells explained that Tyberos had absorbed the body enhancement serum nearly perfectly, giving him an extraordinary increase in strength. The other Astartes rushed to receive the serum themselves, while Wells warned Tyberos that his new power did not make him capable of defeating Warp-touched Primarchs.

• Wells told Tyberos and the others that Tyberos's body had absorbed the serum unusually well, greatly exceeding the normal increase in physical attributes.
• Azrael and the other Astartes eagerly demanded the serum, and Wells opened the enhancement pods for them.
• The Astartes hurried into the pods, and Wells began administering the serum to them.
• Nack asked Tyberos how he felt, and Tyberos said he felt stronger than when he first became a Space Marine and believed he could defeat a Primarch.
• Wells corrected Tyberos, saying he could at best match a cloned Roboute Guilliman and could not defeat Primarchs empowered by the Warp.
• Tyberos thanked Wells for his help, and Wells said Gray and the others deserved the credit for recommending him.

Tyberos thanked Director Wells for the body enhancement drugs that had transformed him, then agreed to let Wells draw his blood for research. After learning his wounds now healed at extraordinary speed and that his strength had increased fivefold, Tyberos was told to adapt to his new abilities before beginning specialized training and receiving custom equipment.

• Tyberos praised Director Wells and thanked him for providing the body enhancement drugs.
• Director Wells asked Tyberos to repay him by donating blood, and Tyberos agreed despite his nerves.
• Wells drew a full syringe of Tyberos's blood, and Tyberos watched the puncture wound seal rapidly with blood-clotting gel.
• Wells explained that the drugs had strengthened Tyberos's body and bionic organs, while Tyberos realized his overall strength had increased fivefold.
• Nack told Tyberos to adapt to his new state before the Astartes began specialized training and received their custom weapons and equipment.

The Astartes completed their body enhancement injections, and Wells reported that Azrael and Arjinto had gained fourfold increases while the others gained twofold or threefold. Nack then prepared to take them out of the laboratory.

• Azrael emerged from an enhancement pod, delighted by his stronger, larger body, and asked Wells to measure his results.
• Wells told Azrael that his physical indicators had increased fourfold, disappointing him because Tyberos had gained fivefold.
• Wells reported that Arjinto had also gained fourfold, while the other Astartes had received twofold or threefold increases.
• Arjinto accepted his result calmly, and Wells praised his composure compared with Azrael's.
• Nack gathered the Astartes and told Wells he would take them away; Wells agreed.

Nack brought Tyberos and the Astartes to a secret Recruit Training Camp where they could adapt to their enhanced strength. After Nack left, Azrael challenged Tyberos to a fight, and Tyberos accepted.

• Nack led Tyberos and the Astartes through teleportation to the isolated Recruit Training Camp.
• Nack explained that the gravity hall reached five times normal gravity and individual rooms reached one hundred times, while the Astartes were forbidden to leave without permission.
• Tyberos agreed to follow the camp's rules, and Nack told the Astartes that robots would deliver food and fulfill their requests.
• Nack led the Star Space Marines away, leaving the Astartes to train on their own.
• Azrael challenged Tyberos, Tyberos accepted, and Azrael charged at him.

Tyberos easily defeated Azrael in a one-sided fight, then challenged Arjinto, Dalaran, and the other warband commanders to attack him together. He fought them unarmed in the arena, exhilarated as their blows failed to do more than make him tremble.

• Azrael struck Tyberos with a powerful punch, but Tyberos charged through it and sent Azrael crashing into training equipment.
• Tyberos told Azrael that he was too weak to withstand a single blow, while Azrael angrily rejected the gap between them.
• Arjinto asked whether he and the others could defeat Tyberos together, and Tyberos invited all the commanders to attack him.
• Arjinto, Dalaran, and the other commanders rushed Tyberos, and he charged back into the unarmed brawl.
• Tyberos launched a frenzied offensive, shouting with excitement as the commanders' punches only made his body tremble.

Tyberos defeated Azrael and six other commanders in an unarmed fight, leaving them too battered and exhausted to continue. Unsatisfied with the easy victory, he challenged the other Astartes to attack him together.

• Arjinto, Azrael, Dalaran, and four others attacked Tyberos, but his strength and toughness let him overwhelm them.
• After roughly ten minutes, Tyberos knocked all seven commanders down, and they could no longer rise to fight.
• The Carcharodons cheered Tyberos's victory while the other Astartes watched in shock.
• Azrael tried to get back up, while Arjinto and Dalaran admitted defeat and the remaining four gave up and rested.
• Tyberos felt the fight had been too easy and challenged the other Astartes to attack him together.

Tyberos invited thousands of Astartes to attack him and fought through their charge, sending hundreds flying before the crowd surrounded him. Six enormous Astartes struck him from behind and launched him into the air, where others leaped after him.

• Tyberos told the Astartes to attack him together, and the Carcharodons Chapter champion charged first.
• Tyberos knocked the champion into two Space Marines and charged through the crowd, flinging hundreds of Astartes aside.
• The growing crowd surrounded Tyberos and halted his advance.
• Six massive Astartes attacked Tyberos from behind while others struck from the front, sending him flying.
• Several more Astartes leaped after Tyberos as he tried to steady himself in midair.

Tyberos lost after more than a hundred Astartes pinned him beneath a pile of bodies, and he conceded once he was exhausted. After the warriors freed themselves, their desire to fight flared up again, and they launched into another brawl.

• Tyberos fought off several Astartes, but the others piled onto him until he could no longer move.
• An Astartes told Tyberos that he had lost, and Tyberos admitted defeat.
• The Astartes climbed off Tyberos, who refused help and lay on the floor to recover.
• An Astartes urged the others to fight, and he charged at a nearby warrior.
• The Astartes in the hall joined the melee, trading punches and kicks with one another.

After five days of combat and gravity training, the Astartes learned that the Star Army had finished making their custom weapons and equipment. Nack led them to collect the gear, leaving them astonished by the Star Army’s manufacturing speed.

• The Astartes built mutual respect through a massive free-for-all, then spent four days training in gravity chambers.
• Tyberos trained under twenty times gravity until the Carcharodons Chapter champion reported that the Star Army had arrived.
• Tyberos and the other Astartes officers assembled to greet Nack and the fully armed Star Space Marines.
• Nack announced that the Astartes’ personal weapons and equipment had been manufactured and told them to come collect them.
• The Astartes expressed amazement at the five-day turnaround, while Nack said the Star Army could have completed the work even faster.

Tyberos and his party entered a vast weapons depot prepared for the Astartes, where Nack showcased advanced power armour and other equipment. Tyberos gave permission for his battle-brothers to be fitted with their new armour, and they rushed to the platforms.

• Tyberos and his party followed Nack through the teleportation platform into the fortress's immense weapons depot.
• Nack showed the Astartes the warehouse's weapons and equipment, including power weapons, artillery, grav-bikes, and Apocalypse Tanks.
• Nack introduced Assault Terminator Power Armor prepared for officers and Star Sea Type-1 Power Armour for Space Marines.
• Nack explained that mechanical arms would fit each Astartes with custom power armour on the circular platforms.
• Tyberos and the other officers nodded, and the Astartes cheered and ran to the platforms to receive their armour.

The Astartes received their custom Star Sea Power Armor and tested its agility, durability, and Void Shield. After one warrior discovered how to activate the shield, the others donned their helmets and began learning the armor’s controls with its auxiliary AI.

• Mechanical claws scanned and fitted each Astartes with his power armor in half a minute.
• The Astartes tested the armor and praised its smooth movement and strong ceramite protection.
• An Astartes questioned whether the armor contained a force-field shield generator, and his companions urged him to trust Captain Nack.
• An Astartes activated the Void Shield and showed the others how to trigger it by speaking into their helmets.
• The Astartes put on their helmets and used the auxiliary AI to learn how to control their new armor.

Nack showed Tyberos and the other Astartes their new power armour, including its powerful defenses and teleportation system. He ordered them to use Chapter colors freely but forbade Imperial Aquila wings and skulls, warning that violators would be executed.

• The Astartes quickly learned the power armour's auxiliary functions with help from the intelligent AI.
• Nack asked Tyberos what he thought of his Adamantium Assault Power Armour, and Tyberos praised its protection and said he felt amazing.
• Nack explained that the armour included teleportation for rapidly supporting trapped comrades, and Tyberos thanked him.
• Nack told Tyberos and the others they could choose their Chapter colors but must not decorate their armour with Aquila wings or skulls.
• Tyberos and the others agreed to watch for anyone who disobeyed Nack's order and said they would deal with them themselves.

Nack led Tyberos and the Astartes through racks of melee weapons, where they selected power weapons and discussed the absence of Chainswords. He then guided them to the firearms racks and began introducing the available guns.

• Nack showed Tyberos and the Astartes a wide selection of power weapons, and Tyberos tested a Power Halberd before choosing Power Claws.
• The Astartes crowded around the racks to select weapons, with some taking several power weapons at once.
• An Astartes asked why the warehouse had no Chainswords, and Nack explained that the Star Space Marines considered chainsaw weapons outdated.
• Azrael cautioned the Astartes about his complaint, and Nack offered him a power weapon as a secondary weapon alongside his familiar Chainsword.
• Nack led the Astartes to the firearms racks and began introducing weapons including the Heavy Ripper Rifle, Gauss Rifle, Blast Gun, and Sonic Gun.