Chapter Summaries

Three antimatter bombs devastated the Imperial Navy Fleet after the Star Navy Fleet escaped their blast. With the enemy fleet crippled, Mendeleev prepared to attack, but Gray urged him to use the battle for boarding operations and training, preserving useful spoils for the Lord of the Stars.

• The Planetary Gravity Engine struck one black missile, triggering three antimatter bombs and a massive explosion across the Star Sea Galaxy.
• Mendeleev ordered the Star Navy Fleet to retreat, while Archimonde warned the Imperial Navy Fleet to flee; the Imperial ships suffered heavy damage and casualties in the blast.
• Art Student watched the explosions from the Lord of the Stars Flagship and discussed the Imperial Navy’s losses with Vanessa.
• Mendeleev confirmed that the Star Navy Fleet had escaped without losses and ordered it to wipe out the damaged Imperial Navy Fleet.
• Gray stopped Mendeleev and explained that boarding operations would provide training and preserve useful items for the Lord of the Stars.
• Mendeleev agreed that Gray had reminded him of the promise to the logistics department and reconsidered his plan to rely on long-range firepower.

Gray redirected the Defense Force’s Aerospace Fighters to cripple the damaged Imperial Navy fleet’s engines while he prepared to lead the Space Marines in a boarding operation. The fighters overwhelmed the ships’ manually aimed defenses and continued attacking as intelligent wingmen approached the warships.

• Mendeleev agreed to leave the fighter arrangements to Gray after Gray pointed out that the Defense Force’s fighters had arrived from the Kuiper Belt.
• Gray ordered the First Fighter Company to destroy the engines of intact Imperial Navy ships and deploy intelligent wingmen as teleportation beacons for the Space Marines’ boarding operation.
• The First Fighter Company redirected tens of thousands of fighters and intelligent wingmen toward the Imperial Navy fleet.
• Kratos mistook the approaching fighters for assault landing craft and ordered his crews to fire macro shells, torpedoes, and other weapons at them.
• The fighters dodged or intercepted incoming attacks and fired lances into the fleet’s damaged warships, while intelligent wingmen approached pierced frigates and destroyers.
• Imperial Navy crews struggled to hit the swift intelligent wingmen with manually operated close-in defense guns, whose attacks were largely blocked by Void Shields.

Intelligent wingmen opened breaches in Imperial warships and deployed teleportation beacons, allowing Anrida’s Defense Force to begin boarding while Gray assigned the Space Marines to target the Astartes and Adeptus Mechanicus. As the Defense Force fought through a destroyer, the damaged Astartes battle barge launched assault craft to stop the advancing fighters.

• Intelligent wingmen destroyed nearby Imperial weapons and soldiers, entered a destroyer, and activated a teleportation beacon.
• Gray agreed with Anrida that the Defense Force would fight ordinary Imperial soldiers while the Space Marines targeted the Astartes and Adeptus Mechanicus.
• Anrida rallied the Defense Force and selected regiments to board the Imperial warships.
• A thousand combat robots and waves of Defense Force troops teleported into the destroyer, spread out, and attacked Imperial soldiers.
• The fighters approached the damaged Astartes battle barge under fire from its weapons, while Astartes assault craft launched to intercept them.

The Aerospace Fighters destroyed the Astartes assault craft, killing hundreds of Space Marines and leaving the Imperial Navy Fleet crippled. Grom prepared to fight the boarding heretics aboard the battle barge, while Kratos and Archimonde could only wait for the enemy to arrive.

• The Aerospace Fighters destroyed over a hundred assault craft and killed several hundred Space Marines after overwhelming them in the void.
• Chapter Master Grom ordered his forces to let the heretics board and fight them inside the battle barge, while telling the Imperial Navy to hold out without support.
• The Aerospace Fighters disabled the Imperial Navy Fleet’s engines and continued circling the warships instead of immediately boarding them.
• Kratos asked Archimonde how soon the fleet could be repaired, and Archimonde estimated that repairs would take at least eighty-five Terra hours.
• Kratos and Archimonde concluded that they had to wait for the heretics and fight them aboard the damaged warships.

General Kratos prepared the Vengeance-class grand cruiser for a last stand while the Imperium planned to report the heretics to Terra. Meanwhile, the Iron Wall Chapter’s battle barge fought off attacking Aerospace Fighters and autonomous wingmen as the wingmen tried to place a teleportation beacon inside it.

• Kratos agreed with Archimonde’s proposal to send intelligence to Terra, then rallied the Vengeance’s crew to prepare defenses and fight for the Emperor.
• Aerospace Fighters and autonomous wingmen attacked the Iron Wall Chapter’s battle barge as its Astartes Space Marines fired macro cannons and point-defense guns.
• The Space Marines overloaded and destroyed one wingman’s Void Shield, while the remaining wingmen continued attacking with plasma cannons.
• After losing more than half their number, the wingmen guided two craft into the battle barge, where they exchanged fire with Space Marines in a weapons bay.
• A wingman dropped a teleportation beacon onto the deck, and an Astartes captain ordered several Space Marines to destroy it before reinforcements could teleport aboard.

The Star Space Marines teleported aboard the battle barge and overwhelmed the Iron Wall Chapter’s defenders with their superior weapons and armor. After a failed charge cost the Astartes many lives, Chapter Master Shino ordered them to scatter and seek close-quarters combat.

• Ten Star Space Marines emerged from the teleportation beacon and opened fire on the Astartes guarding the weapons compartment.
• More Star Space Marines teleported aboard, pushing the Astartes back as both sides exchanged fire through the battle barge.
• The Iron Wall Chapter’s First Company Captain ordered his Space Marines to charge, but the Star Space Marines kept firing and killed many of them.
• Chapter Master Shino told the First Company Captain to stop the charge and acknowledged that he had no effective way to counter the Star Space Marines.
• The First Company Captain ordered the Astartes to withdraw and scatter so they could fight the Star Space Marines in close quarters.

Commander Dorak ordered the Star Space Marines to pursue the retreating Astartes through the battle barge’s corridors. As brutal fighting spread through the ship, a hidden red-helmeted Astartes ambushed a Star Space Marine with a plasma pistol.

• The Astartes withdrew from the weapons bay, and Commander Dorak ordered his battalion to split up and hunt them through the corridors.
• A five-man Star Space Marine squad encountered and killed an Astartes carrying a Vortex Bomb, then fled before it exploded.
• The squad leader warned a recruit to stay vigilant on the battlefield, and the group continued its advance.
• A blue-armoured, red-helmeted Astartes hid on the lower deck and ambushed an approaching Star Space Marine, piercing his Terminator Armour with a plasma shot.

A red-helmeted Space Marine ambushed a Star Space Marine squad, killing its leader before being driven off by their superior equipment. Kanas led an elite squad and an Earth Dreadnought toward the battle barge’s bridge to kill the Iron Wall Chapter Master as fighting spread throughout the ship.

• The red-helmeted Space Marine killed a Star Space Marine squad leader with a point-blank plasma shot, then failed to overcome another Star Space Marine in close combat.
• The Star Space Marines drove the attacker behind cover with rifle fire, and he escaped while reporting his discovery to his battle-brothers.
• The surviving Star Space Marines confirmed their squad leader’s death, appointed a new leader, and pursued the fleeing attacker after teleporting their fallen comrade back to the warship.
• Kanas led an elite combat squad and an Earth Dreadnought toward the battle barge’s bridge to confront the Iron Wall Chapter Master.
• Bloody fighting spread throughout the battle barge as both sides relied on their respective strengths in equipment and combat experience.

Kanas led the Star Space Marines toward the Iron Wall Chapter’s bridge, overwhelming the defenders with their numbers and firepower. After three Astartes died trying to halt the advance, Chapter Master Shino left the bridge with his remaining guards to face the attackers.

• The Star Space Marines advanced toward the bridge while the outnumbered Astartes and battle barge personnel fought back.
• Kanas’s squad encountered three Astartes in heavy exosuits, who charged to keep the attackers away from their Chapter Master.
• Kanas ordered more than twenty Star Space Marines to fire, and their Ripper Rifles killed all three exosuit-clad Astartes.
• Kanas led his squad onward toward the bridge, while Shino grieved for the fallen defenders.
• Shino declared that he and his guards would give their lives for the Imperium, then led them out of the bridge.

Shino confronted Kanas aboard the battle barge, hoping to learn more about the heretics before the Imperial fleet’s defeat. After discovering that Kanas served a force worshipping the Lord of the Stars, Shino ordered an attack, and the two sides began fighting in close combat.

• Kanas used a signal jammer to cut communications between Shino’s battle barge and the rest of the Imperial fleet.
• Shino and Kanas met in a conference hall, where Kanas mocked Shino’s armour and praised the Lord of the Stars.
• Shino learned that Kanas was not the heretics’ leader and that their followers worshipped the Lord of the Stars.
• Shino ordered his Space Marines to attack after Kanas insulted the Emperor, and both squads charged with Power Swords.
• Kanas overwhelmed Shino with powerful strikes, forcing Shino to struggle to block him.

Kanas killed Casilia and Shino during their battle aboard the battle barge. Shino’s surviving guards charged Kanas in grief, leaving themselves open to the Star Space Marines.

• Shino struggled against Kanas until Casilia intervened, but Kanas killed the Iron Wall Chapter Champion with a kick and a plasma shot.
• Shino charged Kanas to avenge Casilia and his fallen battle-brothers, but Kanas punched through his chest with a power fist.
• Kanas tore Shino’s head and spine from his body and threw his corpse to the ground.
• Shino’s surviving guards charged Kanas, and the Star Space Marines shot them down as they exposed their backs.

Kanas killed the Iron Wall Chapter Librarian after the Space Marines had wiped out Chapter Master Shino and his guards. He reported the heavy casualties to Mo Tuo and ordered his officers to prepare for extra training as the battalion finished securing the battle barge.

• The Iron Wall Chapter Librarian rushed into the hall, saw Shino's head in Kanas's hand, and lost control of his psychic powers in grief.
• Kanas shot the Librarian with a Daemon-Slaying Incendiary round, killing him and burning a hole into the next deck.
• The Dreadnought pilot complained that he had missed the battle, and Kanas contacted the Second Battalion squads for casualty reports.
• Kanas learned that the battalion had suffered more than thirty dead and over forty seriously wounded, then ordered the officers to prepare for extra training.
• Kanas reported the battalion's losses to Mo Tuo, who praised its speed, accepted the result, and reminded him to clear the ship of hidden dangers.

The Defense Force began boarding the Imperial Navy fleet, and Regiment Commander Tis joined the battle aboard an Avenger-class cruiser. After ordering his troops to expand the teleportation foothold, Tis led them into the fight against the Imperium’s defenders.

• The Defense Force began teleporting regiments into Imperial Navy warships while the Space Marines attacked the Adeptus Mechanicus and an Astartes Space Marine Chapter.
• Tal’s First Army attacked an Avenger-class cruiser, where Su Nuo’s battalion held the teleportation point against Imperial Navy and Astra Militarum forces.
• Tis teleported aboard with his guards and reviewed the cruiser’s layout after Su Nuo sent him the scan.
• Tis ordered the thousand soldiers in the weapons bay to join the battle and clear space for incoming troops.
• Tis’s soldiers advanced behind shield-bearing troops as combat robots charged the Imperium’s defenders and killed the attackers.

The Defense Force’s combat robots overwhelmed the Astra Militarum’s 173rd Regiment in the warship’s corridors, despite Commissar Locke’s desperate charge. Commander Yilin learned the regiment had been wiped out and was told the 183rd and 196th Regiments’ defensive positions were nearly complete.

• Tis’s combat robots advanced under heavy fire, destroyed the Imperium soldiers’ weapons, and forced them to retreat.
• Commissar Locke shot the regimental commander for complaining, then led the surviving soldiers in a charge and was killed.
• The combat robots killed the charging soldiers, wiping out the entire 173rd Regiment of more than sixty thousand men.
• Commander Yilin asked whether the 183rd and 196th Regiments had finished their defenses, and a communications officer reported the positions were nearly complete.

Inquisitor Lena and the Sisters of Battle joined Commander Yilin’s defense of the warship, while Tis’s assault force waited for reinforcements. Tal took command of the Defense Force’s attack on the Avenger-class cruiser and sent its regiments forward to seize the ship.

• Lena asked Yilin to assign her Sisters of Battle to the front, and he welcomed their support and gave them a defensive sector.
• Lena led two hundred Sisters of Battle from the bridge to fight alongside the Astra Militarum.
• Su Nuo reported that the combat robots had eliminated the corridor defenders at a cost of five hundred robots, and Tis chose to wait for reinforcements.
• Three Defense Force regiments, totaling three hundred thousand soldiers, and more than two million combat robots gathered in the weapon compartments.
• Tal took command, assigned the regimental commanders to lead the attack, and stayed with the reserves to coordinate the battle.
• Tal and the troops shouted their allegiance to the Lord of the Stars, and Tal ordered them to move out.

Su Nuo’s Defense Force fought through a macro-cannon firing bay, using timed grenades, field shields, and sustained fire to eliminate the Imperium defenders. After clearing the chamber and reporting more than a dozen casualties, Su Nuo ordered the battalion to advance toward the next weapons chamber.

• Su Nuo led the Defense Force toward a weapons chamber and ordered soldiers to fire timed grenades into it.
• The grenades exploded, and Defense Force soldiers charged behind their field shields as the surviving Imperium forces returned fire.
• Defense Force reserves rotated forward when the first row’s shields were nearly depleted, while the soldiers kept up their attack with rifles and heavy weapons.
• The Defense Force killed every Imperium defender in the chamber, then checked the battlefield and finished off the wounded.
• A company commander reported the chamber cleared, and Su Nuo noted that his battalion had lost more than a dozen recruits before ordering the advance to continue.

Tis’s Defense Force company encountered a heavily fortified hall packed with Imperial troops aboard the Avenger-class cruiser. After a probe with combat robots failed, Tis ordered a bombardment to distract the defenders while his soldiers planted explosives on the walls for a breach.

• Tis learned that more than a hundred thousand Imperial troops were inside the hall and ordered a thousand combat robots to test its defenses.
• Imperial close-in defense cannons destroyed all the robots at the hall entrance, prompting Tis to reject a direct assault.
• Tis ordered heavy weapons to bombard the hall and draw the defenders’ attention while his soldiers prepared to breach the walls.
• The commissar urged the Astra Militarum soldiers to hold their positions as Defense Force troops attached timed explosives to the hall walls.

The Defense Force breached the Imperium’s first defensive line in the warship’s hall, using combat robots and rocket fire to overwhelm the defenders. Judge Lena approved sending the Battle Sisters into the battle as the fighting spread through the barricades.

• Combat robots burst through blasted walls and attacked the Imperium soldiers, who redirected their close-in defense cannons to fight them.
• A veteran warned that more combat robots were entering through the main entrance, where the defenses had been weakened.
• A Defense Force rocket operator destroyed the cannon and anti-aircraft emplacements guarding the entrance, then ordered the soldiers to charge.
• Defense Force soldiers and combat robots breached the Imperium’s first line and fought inside its interconnected positions.
• A Battle Sister company commander urged Judge Lena to join the fight, and Lena approved the Battle Sisters’ deployment after they prayed.
• A Defense Force soldier threw a grenade into an Imperium barricade, and his squad captured the position by killing the wounded defenders.

The Defense Force advanced through fierce fighting as Pilgrimage Crusade zealots used suicidal bomb attacks to slow their progress. A Sister of Battle fought a combat robot but was overwhelmed by its reinforcements, leaving her pinned down by a barrage of fire.

• A Pilgrimage Crusade believer charged the Defense Force with a Meltabomb, but soldiers shot him before it exploded and destroyed nearby cover.
• Zealots continued launching bomb attacks, and one killed five Defense Force soldiers with a close-range Meltabomb blast.
• A Sister of Battle arrived at the front and exchanged fire with a combat robot, whose armor withstood her Bolter shots.
• After her Bolter ran empty, the Sister of Battle drew her Chainsword and charged while the combat robot retreated and requested support.
• Five Defense Force soldiers and ten combat robots arrived, and their combined firepower stopped the Sister of Battle from advancing.

Lena fought through the battlefield and challenged Defense Force soldier Wumu Weien, but her rage drove her into a reckless assault. His teammates opened fire and killed Lena, then teased Wumu Weien for needing their help.

• A Sister of Battle was killed by concentrated fire from combat robots and Defense Force soldiers after attempting to fight at close range.
• Lena destroyed three combat robots and clashed with Wumu Weien in a duel with their Power Swords.
• Wumu Weien blasphemed the God-Emperor, enraging Lena and prompting her to attack recklessly without defending herself.
• Wumu Weien called for help as his teammates teased him but rushed toward his position.
• Wumu Weien's teammates shot Lena as she dodged their fire, killing her after a bullet wounded her leg.
• Wumu Weien thanked his teammates as they explained they had meant to teach him a lesson.