Recaps

Li Qinwu arranged for Father Busi to refit the captured T'au warship and prepared to send it on an independent mission to find a Dark Age of Technology colony ship. He swore to the T'au captains that their Ethereal would return safely, then shot himself to use one of his lives.

• Father Busi warned Li Qinwu that using a Xenos warship could bring Imperial punishment, but agreed to convert its systems into an Imperial operating system in about half a year.
• Li Qinwu explained that the refitted warship would operate independently and carry an Emperor Shrine so he could revive aboard it during trade missions and its planned search for a human colony ship.
• Captain Qi He and Captain Yun Yu demanded the return of the Ethereal, and Li Qinwu agreed to send him toward their star system in a Photon Dart.
• At Captain Qi He's insistence, Li Qinwu swore before the Emperor Shrine that he had not tampered with the Ethereal or his craft and that the Ethereal would return safely.
• After the T'au captains ended the call, Father Busi revealed that Father Anthony had already modified the Ethereal beyond recognition, and Li Qinwu shot himself beneath the chin.

Father Anthony prepared the Ethereal and sent him toward the T'au fleet aboard a Photon Dart. Captain Yun Yu secured custody of the unconscious Ethereal after opposing Captain Qi He's call for a thorough examination, unaware that pheromones were spreading from the Ethereal's body.

• Father Anthony altered the Ethereal's body to hold pheromones, while the gang boss said a musical farewell before the Ethereal was loaded into the Photon Dart.
• The Photon Dart reached a T'au flagship, where Captain Qi He demanded that the Ethereal and the dart be examined, but Captain Yun Yu refused to let anyone examine an Ethereal without his approval.
• Captain Qi He stormed away, and Captain Yun Yu's technicians scanned the dart and Ethereal, finding no concealed threats and only a sedative and unusual protein on the Ethereal's face.
• Captain Yun Yu moved the sleeping Ethereal to his quarters and ordered guards to watch him, while the Ethereal's sedative wore off and pheromones began spreading through the air.

The Ethereal’s pheromones incapacitated the crew of the T'au warship, allowing Inquisitor Thraxol’s fleet to destroy it and end the space war. Li Qinwu learned that the planetary governor was advancing on the Secondary Hive City with nearly ten million troops, and considered using the battle to train his forces.

• The Ethereal’s pheromones spread through the T'au warship, causing Captain Yun Yu, his guards, and many other crew members to fall asleep and die.
• Inquisitor Thraxol’s fleet detected the disabled warship, shattered its shields, and destroyed it with a coordinated barrage and six torpedoes.
• Li Qinwu woke aboard the Golden Road and received a report from Rudosen that nearly ten million of the planetary governor’s troops were approaching the Secondary Hive City.
• Rudosen explained that the governor’s army had lost access to its T'au-ified heavy weapons after the supercomputer locked them down.
• Rudosen recommended that Li Qinwu use the governor’s infantry force to give his troops experience in large-scale combat.

Li Qinwu deployed newly produced artillery and mechanized forces around Secondary Hive City to prepare for the Planetary Governor’s advancing army. Jun Ye’s mobile artillery regiment reached the enemy’s vanguard and opened its first barrage.

• Li Qinwu sent 200 180mm Cannons, truck-mounted guns, rocket launchers, and their crews down to the surface to train and deploy.
• The Planetary Governor led his ten-million-strong army across the Agricultural Plains toward Secondary Hive City, hoping to rescue the Ethereal and regain access to the supercomputer.
• Li Qinwu’s forces established trenches, firing positions, and artillery rings around Secondary Hive City while mobile artillery advanced toward the rebels.
• Jun Ye positioned the Mobile Artillery Regiment twenty kilometers from the enemy and received targeting coordinates from the warships overhead.
• Jun Ye ordered the 180 Cannons to fire and vehicles one through ten of the rocket launchers to empty their ammunition at the rebel vanguard.

Jun Ye’s Mobile Artillery Regiment devastated the planetary governor’s advancing rebel infantry with rockets and cannon fire, then withdrew to rest and resupply. Hours later, the rebels reached the abandoned artillery position and found only spent shell casings.

• Ten rocket launchers and fifty artillery vehicles struck the rebel vanguard, destroying half the infantry regiment and forcing the survivors to rout.
• The planetary governor dismissed the artillery losses and ordered more infantry to charge forward.
• Jun Ye directed another barrage against the advancing rebels, killing and scattering tens of thousands while his exhausted artillery crews continued firing.
• After learning the cannon barrels risked permanent damage, Jun Ye confirmed the rockets had been reloaded and ordered a final salvo before withdrawing one hundred li.
• The rebel infantry reached the artillery position hours later and found it abandoned, with spent shell casings scattered across the ground.

Li Qinwu used weeks of artillery bombardment and combat exercises to train his forces while the rebels advanced toward Secondary Hive City. After the rebels’ morale collapsed, he ordered the Mining Mule to drop a massive mass of slag onto their advancing infantry, leaving its impact on the battlefield unresolved.

• Li Qinwu used the Secondary Hive City's automated Factory to produce shells and rockets as artillery battered the approaching rebels.
• Rudosen led four Armiger Knights and eighty Leman Russ tanks through the rebel main force, splitting the army in two.
• Little Joel's Power Armor infantry trained in frontal combat and artillery coordination, while Les attacked rebel supply lines and Parson recruited and trained soldiers.
• After another half month of fighting, Li Qinwu judged his forces ready to finish the battle and ordered the Mining Mule to drop its slag.
• The Mining Mule released a huge mass of slag, which broke into three meteors and fell toward the rebel infantry.

Li Qinwu used the meteor strike and surrender ultimatum to crush the rebellion on Water Blue Star, leaving only the Planetary Governor’s Spire resisting. After a failed assault and a promise of pardon, the Spire’s defenders captured the Governor and brought him out.

• Li Qinwu dropped leaflets across the planet and used the supercomputer to announce the T'au defeat and demand the rebels surrender.
• Rebel cities and legions returned to Imperial service, and Li Qinwu ordered them to attack holdouts until the rebellion index fell to one percent.
• Returned troops surrounded the Planetary Governor’s Spire, and Li Qinwu ordered the marshal to capture the Governor alive rather than destroy the fortress.
• The returned marshal’s infantry failed to breach the Spire, so Li Qinwu promised pardon to its defenders if they handed over the Governor.
• After fighting broke out inside the Spire, its gates opened and soldiers escorted the Planetary Governor out.

After Water Blue Star’s rebellion ended, Inquisitor Thraxol let Li Qinwu oversee the planet’s reconstruction under a punishing new tithe and a six-month deadline. Li Qinwu also promised to dispose of the captured Xenos warship, while Thraxol looked ahead to a possible promotion to High Inquisitor.

• Inquisitor Thraxol returned to Water Blue Star and prepared to execute rebels, set a new tithe, and rebuild its government.
• Li Qinwu asked to handle the reconstruction, and Inquisitor Thraxol agreed while assigning Catwoman Nova to guide him.
• Inquisitor Thraxol imposed tithe rates of 40% of agricultural output, 50% of industrial output, and ten million Astra Militarum soldiers each year, giving Li Qinwu half a year to meet the requirements.
• Inquisitor Thraxol warned Li Qinwu to dispose of the captured Xenos warship, and Li Qinwu said he would send it into the sun.
• Inquisitor Thraxol planned to complete one or two more missions before returning to Terra and seeking promotion to High Inquisitor.

Li Qinwu began establishing a new government on the planet and used the execution of the rebellious planetary governor to intimidate the nobles. Duke Yote sought the promised governorship, and Li Qinwu tested his loyalty by ordering him to destroy the Ayer Family.

• Li Qinwu and Catwoman Nova descended to Hive City 2 with 1,000 officials to build a planet-level government and restore the tax system.
• Li Qinwu requisitioned Duke Yote’s Spire as the government’s office and ordered the planetary governor’s public execution by white phosphorus.
• Li Qinwu watched the governor burn to death while roasting marshmallows over the flames.
• Duke Yote begged Li Qinwu to make him planetary governor and declared that he would kill anyone ordered.
• Li Qinwu ordered Duke Yote to wipe out the Ayer Family.

Li Qinwu ordered Duke Yote to exterminate loyalist noble families, then revealed that 120 families were on Inquisitor Thraxol’s purge list because of their blood ties to the former planetary governor. He promised Duke Yote the governorship if he completed the purge, and Duke Yote set out to kill everyone marked as carrying rebel genes.

• Duke Yote questioned Li Qinwu’s order to kill the Ayer Family, but Li Qinwu’s pressure made him agree to carry it out.
• Catwoman Nova challenged Li Qinwu for targeting loyal nobles, and he distracted her with an ear of wheat.
• Duke Yote reported that he had killed all 2,580 members of the Ayer Family, then received orders to exterminate the Raymond Family.
• Duke Yote returned after killing all 5,321 members of the Raymond Family, and Li Qinwu ordered him to target the Blaishet Family.
• Li Qinwu showed Duke Yote Inquisitor Thraxol’s judgment, explaining that 120 noble families related to the former planetary governor were on the extermination list.
• Li Qinwu promised to recommend Duke Yote as the next planetary governor if he completed the purge, and Duke Yote vowed to finish the task within a month.

Duke Yote’s plan to purge two thousand nobles with ties to the former Planetary Governor collapsed when they realized his intentions and attacked first. As Duke Yote was wounded and his faction faltered, the Power Axemen refused to enter because he had not used Smash the Cup as a Signal.

• Duke Yote gathered five thousand nobles at a banquet and announced his plan to become Planetary Governor and impose new taxes.
• Duke Yote prepared to signal five thousand hidden Power Axemen to kill two thousand nobles related to the former governor, while three thousand allied nobles surrounded them.
• One of the targeted nobles recognized Duke Yote’s raised cup as a signal, and the two thousand nobles overturned tables and opened fire first.
• Duke Yote’s allies suffered heavy casualties, and Duke Yote hid beneath a table before calling for the Power Axemen.
• The Power Axemen’s officer refused to send them in because Duke Yote had not used Smash the Cup as a Signal, even as nobles wounded and pursued him.

Li Qinwu questioned Duke Yote about the bloody extermination of rebellious nobles, then promised to appoint him Planetary Governor at a banquet the next day. The surviving nobles reluctantly prepared to attend, fearing the Lord Inquisitor might be setting another trap.

• Li Qinwu demanded that Duke Yote explain how the mission to kill rebellious nobles had left him gravely injured.
• Duke Yote recounted how poisoned food failed, the nobles used overturned tables for cover, and he could not summon the Power Axemen while under attack.
• Li Qinwu promised to appoint Duke Yote Planetary Governor and told him to arrange a banquet to reward the nobles who had helped.
• After Duke Yote left, Nova asked Li Qinwu what he was planning, and he said he wanted everyone in the world to be mighty as a dragon.
• Duke Yote announced the banquet, and the nobles feared it might be another attack but prepared to attend with their weapons loaded and some wearing Power Armor.

Li Qinwu trapped Hive City 2’s nobles at a banquet and accused them of exploiting Imperial citizens and driving people to the T'au. After revealing that he had poisoned the air and secured the tables, he drew his Power Swords as the nobles charged him.

• At dusk, Li Qinwu gathered five or six hundred nobles in his banquet hall and had the steel doors shut.
• Li Qinwu confronted Duke Yote and other nobles over their taxation, abductions, and exploitation of Imperial citizens.
• The nobles drew their guns and aimed them at Li Qinwu, but he revealed that they had inhaled a neurotoxin.
• The nobles tried to overturn their tables and then rushed Li Qinwu, but the tables were bolted to the floor.
• Li Qinwu drank his wine without signaling for Power Axemen, drew two Power Swords, and prepared to fight the charging nobles.

Li Qinwu killed the nobles who ruled Water Blue Star and told the turncoat marshals they would build a new planetary government using the T'au system, adapted to Imperium values. The marshals were left to take charge of the transition.

• Li Qinwu slaughtered the nobles at the banquet and killed Duke Yote with his Power Sword.
• Catwoman Nova challenged Li Qinwu over how he would form a planetary government, and he said he would use the system left by the T'au.
• Li Qinwu ordered Catwoman Nova to summon the turncoat marshals for a meeting.
• Li Qinwu told more than five hundred marshals that the old nobles were dead and that they would govern Water Blue Star.
• Li Qinwu explained that they could retain the T'au's political and social system while removing T'au cultural elements and incorporating the Imperium.

Li Qinwu helped Water Blue Star’s marshals establish a global government based on the T'au system while removing visible T'au influence. The senators made Li Qinwu a political idol and named him the Saint of Water Blue Star, a title he reluctantly accepted.

• Li Qinwu told the rebel marshals to choose their own ruler and build a government, provided they paid taxes and honored the God-Emperor.
• With Li Qinwu’s support, the marshals formed a global government with an elected High Senator, a senate, cooperatives, mutual aid associations, and labor unions.
• The new government removed T'au clothing, posters, and writing, restored Imperial Gothic in schools, and erected statues of the God-Emperor, the Gene-Primarchs, and Li Qinwu.
• Li Qinwu summoned the senators after learning his statue stood across from the God-Emperor’s, and they assured him it was smaller despite appearing as tall.
• The senators called Li Qinwu a Saint and explained they chose him as Water Blue Star’s political idol because he would soon leave and was unlikely to return.
• Li Qinwu accepted the title Saint of Water Blue Star.

Li Qinwu sent the converted T'au warship Explorer toward the distant Dark Age of Technology colony ship, then salvaged two destroyed traitor warships to gather valuable equipment and materials. He expanded his Warp Vault with salvaged steel while preparing to manage operations on two fronts.

• Li Qinwu outfitted the converted T'au warship with weapons, supplies, and fifty thousand crew members, named it the Explorer, and sent it toward the colony ship after misleading Inquisitor Thraxol about its departure.
• Li Qinwu placed an Emperor Shrine aboard the Explorer so he could revive there and use his Vault to transport people and supplies.
• Li Qinwu took the Mining Mule and the Golden Road to salvage two relatively intact wrecks from the three traitor warships destroyed by Inquisitor Thraxol's fleet.
• SCVs identified two Adamantium Keels, an intact Geller Field Generator, reactors, weapons, and other valuable materials in the wreckage, and Li Qinwu ordered the Geller Field Generator removed first.
• Li Qinwu had the SCVs cut up the warships and load their steel into the Mining Mule, where it was smelted into armor plates.
• Li Qinwu transported the plates into his Warp Vault, where Father Busi's Skitarii soldiers welded them onto its edges to enlarge it.

Li Qinwu spent six months stripping the two traitor warships and expanding his Warp Vault before preparing to leave Water Blue Star with Inquisitor Thraxol. A captain advised him to settle some crew on the planet to preserve his forces and build future influence, and Li Qinwu agreed to arrange it.

• Li Qinwu mobilized eighty thousand workers to dismantle the traitor warships and turn their wreckage into steel for his Vault.
• Inquisitor Thraxol let Li Qinwu claim the wreckage because he valued Li Qinwu more and planned to secure him a Warrant of Trade.
• Over six months, Li Qinwu stripped nearly everything from the wrecks, doubled the Vault's area, and equipped it with defenses and workers.
• Inquisitor Thraxol told Li Qinwu to prepare to leave Water Blue Star and head for the Mandeville Point.
• The captain advised Li Qinwu to let some crew settle on Water Blue Star and build a local base of support, and Li Qinwu tasked him with finding volunteers.

Li Qinwu selected 2,000 crew members to settle on Water Blue Star, rewarding them and urging them to defend and build their new lives. His fleet then followed Inquisitor Thraxol into the Warp, while the settlers eventually formed a powerful commercial and political bloc that later helped Li Qinwu’s return.

• The captain reported that more than 8,000 crew members wanted to leave, so Li Qinwu limited the settlers to 2,000 and chose them by military merit.
• Li Qinwu rewarded Little Joel, Rudosen, Parson, Little Knife, and Les as his Five Tiger Generals, giving them Mastercrafted Power Swords, life-extension surgeries, and other benefits.
• Li Qinwu converted the selected settlers’ military merit into Water Blue Star funds and housing, and placed some of the highest-merit members in government positions.
• Li Qinwu told the 2,000 settlers to kill anyone who tried to harm them, gave several outstanding members Power Swords and the rest Laspistols, and sent them to the planet’s surface.
• Li Qinwu’s warships followed Inquisitor Thraxol’s fleet into the Warp, while the settlers grew into a major commercial and political bloc that later aided Li Qinwu’s fleet.

Inquisitor Thraxol announced that the fleet would return to Terra by way of the Inuit Sector Stargate, while Li Qinwu discovered the Silent One’s strange workshop after ten years of neglect. The Silent One sat connected to an immense Iron Throne, channeling Psychic Lightning as he performed an unknown spell.

• Inquisitor Thraxol told his staff that the fleet would work its way back to Terra and reach the Inuit Sector Stargate after at least three years of travel.
• The fleet entered the Warp, and Li Qinwu continued patrolling ships protected by Ever-Burning Lamps.
• Li Qinwu remembered that the Silent One had been left alone for ten years and went to check his sealed chamber.
• Li Qinwu picked the chamber’s lock and found a workshop filled with bones, materials, machines, and Psychic Power-enhancing staffs.
• Li Qinwu saw the Silent One seated on a cable-covered Iron Throne, with Psychic Lightning bursting from his eyes as he performed a spell.

After ten years apart, Li Qinwu visited the Silent One and learned how he had developed Psychic Amplifiers using his own bones. Li Qinwu suspected the Silent One had secretly studied the Warp, then gave him the Book of Truth, a legendary artifact containing 9,999 spells of Tzeentch.

• Li Qinwu reunited with the Silent One, teased him about his gloomy appearance, and made him brighten and tidy his room.
• The Silent One explained that Inquisitor Thraxol’s fleet had brought him Psychic Power books and that he had learned to make Psychic Amplifiers.
• The Silent One revealed he had repeatedly removed his own bones and regrown them with Green Needles to make amplifier staffs, and Li Qinwu gave him more needles.
• Li Qinwu questioned the Silent One about forbidden Warp research, caught his evasive response, and threatened to withhold a promised gift.
• Li Qinwu returned with the Book of Truth from 481 Feudal Planet, and the Silent One caught it and sensed its powerful psychic energy.

Li Qinwu learned that the Silent One had corrupted another Daemon and followed him into the Warp to see what it had become. They hid at the border of Khorne's realm and watched Khorne's army clash with Nurgle's forces, where the Silent One's corrupted Daemon was expected to appear after the battle.

• The Silent One praised the Book of Truth, and Li Qinwu discovered that he had secretly corrupted another Daemon over the past decade.
• Li Qinwu and the Silent One used Soul Projection to travel through the Warp toward Khorne's realm.
• The Silent One explained that he had often visited Khorne's realm and waited for the corrupted Daemon to wander over after battles.
• Li Qinwu and the Silent One hid among rocks as Khorne's disciplined red Daemons faced Nurgle's grotesque green army.
• The armies of Khorne and Nurgle clashed at the border.

Li Qinwu and the Silent One watched Khorne’s and Nurgle’s Daemons fight before a Nurgling approached them after the battle. Li Qinwu realized the Silent One had attacked a child of Nurgle, and the two searched for their time machine as the Nurgling reached them.

• Khorne’s and Nurgle’s Daemon armies fought for hours, and their domains remained largely unchanged after both sides’ soldiers died.
• The Silent One spotted a Nurgling hopping toward the rubble and pointed him out to Li Qinwu.
• Li Qinwu panicked when he recognized the Nurgling as Nurgle’s child and berated the Silent One for attacking him.
• Li Qinwu and the Silent One searched the rocks for their time machine as the Nurgling came over and asked what they were looking for.

Li Qinwu and the Silent One encountered the Nurgling, who wanted to hear another story about Guilliman. Li Qinwu ended their friendship and took the Silent One away, leaving the Nurgling heartbroken and questioning whether Grandfather loved him.

• The Nurgling greeted the Silent One and Li Qinwu excitedly, while the Silent One admitted he had bewitched the daemon but had not placed a soul brand on him.
• The Nurgling asked the Silent One to tell him the promised story about Guilliman, and Li Qinwu scolded the Silent One for befriending a child of Nurgle.
• The Silent One told the Nurgling he would not return, and Li Qinwu declared himself the Silent One’s guardian and forbade them from playing together.
• Li Qinwu taunted the Nurgling for having no name, making him question whether Grandfather loved him.
• Li Qinwu grabbed the Silent One by the ear and took him home to do practice papers.

A heartbroken Nurgling returned to Nurgle’s Garden and demanded proof that Nurgle loved it. After Nurgle refused its wish to join Guilliman’s Honor Guard, the Nurgling ran away, convinced it was unwanted.

• The Nurgling returned to Nurgle’s chambers and asked whether Nurgle loved it because he had never given it a name.
• Nurgle apologized and promised to grant the Nurgling a wish.
• The Nurgling asked to join Guilliman’s Honor Guard, unaware that Guilliman had gravely wounded Nurgle and devastated his garden.
• Nurgle refused the wish and told the Nurgling to choose something else.
• The Nurgling threw a tantrum, and Nurgle yelled that he would put it in confinement.
• The Nurgling ran away crying that it was unwanted and escaping its family of origin.

A sad Nurgling ran away because he believed Nurgle did not love him, so Horticulus Slimux lured him out by promising to take him to his mother. The Nurgling reached Isha’s prison and eagerly pounced on her, but she struck him away, leaving him crying that his mother had hit him.

• The sad Nurgling hid inside a hollow tree in the Garden of Nurgle, upset that Nurgle had not given him a name.
• Nurgle sent Horticulus Slimux to find the Nurgling, and the gardener promised to take him to his mother.
• Horticulus Slimux brought the Nurgling to Isha’s rusty iron cage and left him to enter.
• The Nurgling found Isha in her bedroom and mistook her for his mother.
• Isha struck the Nurgling with a psychic slap, and he cried that his mother had hit him.