Recaps

Lorgar received a psychic message from Apophis, a Rangdan Xenos, who appeared as a projection and offered to make a deal. Lorgar rejected it and prepared to lead an assault against Apophis as the Fleet readied for battle.

• Apophis introduced itself to the Bridge crew through a psychic transmission, and Lorgar asked what it wanted.
• Apophis projected a humanoid apparition onto the Bridge and offered to make a deal with Lorgar.
• Hercules and Seras attacked the projection, but Anastasia explained that it was a nonphysical psychic communication link.
• Lorgar refused to make deals with xenos and destroyed the projection with a blast of Golden Psychic Energy.
• Lorgar ordered Seras to ready the Fleet and organize the assault, then assigned Hercules and Anastasia to join him in attacking Apophis.
• Lorgar told Seras to coordinate suppressive support with Mortarion's Death Guard Fleet and said the assault team needed no assault pods.

Lorgar led an assault force of Word Bearers and Dreadnoughts in a psychic teleport strike against Apophis’s Throne as the combined Death Guard and Word Bearers Fleet opened fire. He arrived inside the enemy warship and called Apophis out.

• Lorgar joined two hundred Cataphractii Terminators and five Contemptor Dreadnoughts on the assault deck, where Orpheus confirmed they were ready.
• Hercules recognized the Dreadnought Chaplain Ignatius, who promised to clear the way for him.
• Lorgar identified Apophis’s Throne as the target and enveloped the assault force in golden psychic energy.
• Lorgar teleported the force into Apophis’s Throne through a hole blasted in its hull, while the combined Fleet attacked the enemy ships.
• Lorgar entered the warship and shouted for Apophis to come out.

Mortarion struggled between the rational choice to remain aboard the Endurance and his concern for Lorgar, who had boarded a monstrous hybrid warship. He handed command of the Fleet to Kallus and left with his Deathshroud to assist Lorgar.

• Mortarion watched Lorgar's signal vanish after he breached the enemy warship and considered ordering the Fleet to continue without him.
• Mortarion reflected on how Lorgar understood him and remembered that Lorgar had saved the Death Guard during the Khrave ambush.
• Mortarion ordered Kallus to take command, suppress the enemy Fleet, and prepare to destroy the hybrid warship if necessary.
• Mortarion declared that he would assist Lorgar and left the command hall with fourteen Deathshroud guards.

Lorgar and his forces fought through the Rangdan warship, with Lorgar, Anastasia, and Hercules swiftly destroying the enemy’s strongest attackers. Lorgar burned a path toward the source of the psychic disturbance and challenged Apophis to face him.

• Lorgar smashed Rangdan Elites with his Mace and Flail while the Word Bearers opened fire on the attackers.
• A Rangdan Overlord ambushed Anastasia, but her arm became silver nanoscale powder that annihilated it at the particle level.
• Hercules killed two Rangdan Overlords by crushing their necks and hurled their bodies into a Rangdan firing position.
• Lorgar destroyed the Rangdan gravity weapon with his Mace and shielded his forces from its gravitational field with a psychic barrier.
• Lorgar swept golden flames through hundreds of Rangdan Elites, clearing the passage as he advanced toward the source of the psychic disturbance.
• Lorgar called out to Apophis, taunted him, and demanded that he come out.

Lorgar and his Word Bearers continued through the corrupted ship until Mortarion arrived to assist him, insisting that Lorgar not read anything into his intervention. A spatial distortion separated the Primarchs from their forces, leaving them alone before Apophis.

• Lorgar and his warriors destroyed hundreds of Rangdan Elites and sensed Apophis waiting deeper in the passage.
• Mortarion crashed through the ship’s flesh ceiling in a drop pod and joined Lorgar with fourteen Deathshroud guards, explaining that he had come to assist with a threat.
• Lorgar accepted Mortarion’s explanation without comment, and their Word Bearers and Death Guard formed a joint assault force.
• Lorgar and Mortarion sensed danger in a chamber, then a spatial fold separated them from their warriors and transported them into an isolated space.
• Apophis appeared before Lorgar and Mortarion, and Lorgar recognized him by name.

Apophis, the Third Warmaster of the Rangdan Empire, revealed that blackstone had suppressed Lorgar’s psychic power and asked him and Mortarion to join forces with the Rangdan. Lorgar challenged Apophis over why the Rangdan had waited until older civilizations fell before launching their crusade, leaving Apophis visibly shaken before it made its offer.

• Mortarion fired his plasma pistol at Apophis, but Apophis effortlessly dispelled the blast with one hand.
• Lorgar tried to attack Apophis psychically but found his power suppressed by blackstone.
• Apophis explained that many civilizations had used blackstone and introduced itself as the Third Warmaster of the Rangdan Empire, serving its Emperor.
• Lorgar taunted Apophis for waiting until humanity, the Aeldari, and other ancient powers had declined before attempting a crusade, provoking a brief surge of rage.
• Apophis ended the exchange and asked Lorgar and Mortarion to join forces with the Rangdan.

Apophis tried to recruit Mortarion and Lorgar by arguing that the Primarchs were engineered weapons rather than true humans. Lorgar rejected the offer and charged Apophis with his Chain Hammer, vowing to kill the Rangdan Emperor in a few months.

• Apophis proposed that Mortarion and Lorgar join forces with the Rangdan Emperor and questioned whether they were truly human.
• Mortarion erupted in fury as Apophis mocked his origins and the Emperor’s regard for him.
• Lorgar stopped laughing, took up his Chain Hammer, and rejected Apophis’s ideology.
• Lorgar charged Apophis and vowed to send the Rangdan Emperor to join it in a few months.

Lorgar and Mortarion joined forces against Apophis in close combat, gaining the upper hand despite its strength and armour. Apophis recovered from their assault and began gathering power through its Staff, leaving the two Primarchs braced for a more dangerous attack.

• Lorgar struck Apophis with his Chain Hammer, but Apophis caught the blow and counterattacked with its Staff.
• Lorgar dodged the Staff, creating an opening for Mortarion to attack Apophis with Silence.
• Lorgar and Mortarion coordinated a close-range assault that damaged Apophis's armour and forced it onto the defensive.
• Apophis unleashed a shock wave that drove both Primarchs back, then endured their scrutiny as they assessed its injuries.
• Apophis raised its Staff and began gathering terrifying energy in its Psychic Crystal, prompting Lorgar and Mortarion to prepare for its next attack.

Lorgar prayed to the Emperor for strength while Mortarion held Apophis at bay, and the Emperor’s power erupted inside the blackstone prison. Lorgar rose transformed, wielding a flaming golden greatsword, and prepared to fight Apophis again.

• Lorgar decided they needed to break the deadlock and asked Mortarion to buy him a minute.
• Mortarion advanced to shield Lorgar and confront Apophis.
• Lorgar dropped his Chain Hammer, knelt, and prayed to the Emperor to grant him strength.
• Golden power erupted from Lorgar, melting the blackstone’s suppression and terrifying Apophis.
• Lorgar transformed into a golden-armoured figure, conjured a flaming greatsword, and declared that round two was beginning.

Lorgar unleashed golden power to defeat Apophis's combat duplicate, while Mortarion fainted after being touched by the radiance. The duplicate's destruction triggered a hidden golden mark that incinerated the real Apophis aboard the Phantom Overlord, leaving its subordinate to discover the empty throne.

• Lorgar's golden sword wave devastated the pocket dimension, and Apophis barely escaped by destroying its staff and using the psychic blast to propel itself away.
• Mortarion fainted after a wisp of Lorgar's golden light struck him, while Lorgar prepared to attack Apophis again.
• Apophis poured its remaining strength into a psychic lightning spear, but Lorgar's smaller golden slash pierced the spear and killed the duplicate.
• The real Apophis awoke aboard the Phantom Overlord, felt the duplicate's destruction, and ordered that Lorgar's threat be reported to the emperor.
• A Rangdan Overlord spotted a faint golden mark on Apophis's backplate, and the mark ignited, burning Apophis to ash within seconds.

After destroying Apophis, Lorgar woke Mortarion and reunited with the forces led by Hercules inside the Rangdan warship. With Rangdan reinforcements closing in, Lorgar gathered the warriors and teleported them away, leaving the battle behind.

• Lorgar exhausted by defeating Apophis found Mortarion unconscious and woke him with a slap, then claimed the golden flames Mortarion remembered were a hallucination or dream.
• Hercules broke into the compartment carrying a Rangdan Overlord, killed it, and rushed to check on Lorgar as Orpheus, Anna, Anastasia, the Word Bearers, and Mortarion's Deathshroud arrived.
• Lorgar confirmed that their target was eliminated and ordered the gathered Word Bearers and Death Guard to withdraw as fighting surged toward them.
• Lorgar stopped the group before they left, gathered everyone close, and used golden psychic light to teleport them away from the Rangdan warship.

Lorgar returned to the Law of Faith with Mortarion and the others, then learned that the steward Medullas Aiman was Cailon's father. Several days later, the Blackstone Fortress arrived behind the combined fleet as its Mechanicus crews prepared its vast weapon system.

• Lorgar and his companions arrived safely aboard the Law of Faith, where Mortarion was taken for medical examination.
• Lorgar read Mortarion's report, which said his old scars and battle wounds had vanished, though his cheek was injured.
• Lorgar recognized Medullas Aiman as Cailon's father and praised Cailon to the surprised steward.
• Several days later, the Rangdan fleet remained disciplined despite Apophis's death, while the Blackstone Fortress arrived behind the Imperial fleet.
• Adeptus Mechanicus crews calibrated the Blackstone Fortress's enormous focusing array and energy network.

The Adeptus Mechanicus fired the Blackstone Fortress’s energy beam and shattered the Rangdan defensive barrier, allowing Lorgar’s combined fleet to advance. As Angron’s reinforcements helped turn the battle in the defenders’ favor, he decided to board the Rangdan flagship, leaving Lotara to command the fleet.

• The Archmagos activated the Blackstone Fortress’s focusing array, which unleashed a spectral beam that destroyed the Rangdan psychic barrier.
• Lorgar ordered the combined fleet to advance through the breach.
• Angron’s reinforcements aboard the Conqueror helped the defenders break the Rangdan fleet and counterattack from Xana.
• Angron identified the Rangdan flagship as the enemy command center and told Lotara he intended to board it.
• Lotara agreed to prepare Angron’s boarding craft and escort, and Khârn said he was ready to go.

The Imperial Fleet crippled the Rangdan flagship Abyssal Whisperer, and Angron and Khârn assaulted its command chamber. Angron slaughtered the Rangdan leaders and continued deeper into the ship, leaving Khârn to pursue him.

• Imperial fire destroyed the Abyssal Whisperer’s Void Shields and devastated its hull, prompting the Rangdan Overlords to order a retreat.
• An Imperial Drop Pod crashed through the command chamber dome, and Angron and Khârn emerged from the wreckage.
• Khârn attacked a Rangdan Overlord while Angron cut down the others with his Power Axes.
• Khârn killed his opponent, then found the chamber full of dead Rangdan and Angron gone through the far doors.
• Khârn followed Angron along the trail of blood and wreckage into the ship.

Angron slaughtered his way through the Rangdan flagship Abyssal Whisperer, then learned that Pascal Hive City on Xana was close to falling. He launched himself toward the planet ahead of the War Hounds, leaving Lotara to redirect their Drop Pods to follow his beacon.

• Angron cut through the Rangdan forces aboard the Abyssal Whisperer and killed the last mobile commander, a Rangdan Overlord.
• Lotara told Angron that Rangdan remnants were threatening Pascal Hive City and asked him to lead three hundred War Hounds in a ground assault.
• Angron accepted the mission and ordered Lotara to send the coordinates to the troops and deploy them using his beacon.
• Angron smashed through the flagship’s hull and hurled himself toward Pascal Hive City using a drifting armour fragment as a foothold.
• Lotara ordered the War Hounds’ Drop Pods to correct their trajectories and follow Angron to Pascal Hive City.

Khârn discovered that Angron had jumped from orbit toward Pascal Hive City, while Sechter and the remaining defenders prepared to make a final stand against the Rangdan.

• Khârn found the corridor cleared of enemies and learned from Lotara that Angron had leapt from the ship toward Pascal Hive City on a fragment of armor plate.
• Lotara ordered Khârn back to the docking point for new deployment orders in orbit.
• Sechter demanded reinforcements as he and the remnants of the Imperial forces defended the 13th Junction after fifteen days of fighting.
• Sturmerman learned that only six thousand members of the 48th Army remained able to fight.
• Sechter rallied the battered defenders and led them in a final charge against the Rangdan, shouting for the Emperor and humanity.

The Imperium’s forces faced a devastating Rangdan war machine that easily destroyed their Titans and deflected their strongest attacks. As Major Leki and the others braced for defeat, General Sechter recognized the crimson-armoured figure plunging from the sky as Lord Angron.

• The Rangdan war machine emerged through the Imperial defenses and repelled missiles, Volcano Cannon beams, and a nuclear strike.
• The war machine destroyed two Warlord Titans, spreading despair among the Imperial troops.
• Major Leki feared he would die as the Rangdan machine continued its assault.
• Warren Heinrich spotted a red meteor, and General Sechter identified the falling figure as Lord Angron.

Angron plunged from the sky and smashed through the Rangdan Colossal Construct’s head, then fought his way inside to destroy its control nexus. The construct’s psychic systems failed, and it collapsed across the battlefield.

• Angron aimed his descent at the Rangdan Colossal Construct’s head and shattered its psychic shield and armour with a single axe strike.
• Angron burst through the breach and fought the Rangdan defenders with his fists, destroying equipment and conduits as he advanced.
• Angron reached the construct’s control nexus and crushed its psychic core with one punch.
• The construct’s psychic tracery went dark, its internal systems erupted, and the Rangdan Titan collapsed.

Angron destroyed the Rangdan megastructure at the Thirteenth Junction, causing the enemy to retreat and leaving the Imperial survivors stunned. Khârn arrived with the War Hounds after the battle and found Angron picking through the wreckage, asking if they had arrived too late.

• Sechter, Leki, Doram, Heinrich, and the surviving Imperial soldiers stared in shock at the destroyed megastructure and Angron.
• The Rangdan Soldiers halted their assault and swiftly retreated from the Thirteenth Junction.
• Dozens and then hundreds of War Hounds Drop Pods landed across the Hive City's ruins.
• Khârn burst from his Drop Pod, ready to fight, but found only stunned Imperial survivors and a deserted battlefield.
• Khârn saw Angron searching the wreckage and asked whether the War Hounds had arrived too late.

Lion El'Jonson arrived aboard Lorgar's flagship, the Law of Faith, and joined the Primarchs for a briefing on the war against the Rangdan. After Lorgar outlined the strategic situation, Lion ordered a counteroffensive to crush the Rangdan's main forces in the Northern Star Cluster.

• Lion El'Jonson boarded the Law of Faith, dismissed its statues as useless, and asked Lorgar why he resembled their father.
• Lorgar welcomed Lion to a conference with Saladin, Angron, and Mortarion, then displayed a star chart of the war against the Rangdan.
• Lorgar explained that Perturabo's Iron Warriors and Curze's Night Lords would reinforce the campaign while other Legions fought across the northern theatre.
• Lorgar reported that Imperial forces had halted the latest Rangdan offensive, but warned that the enemy was regrouping for new attacks.
• Lion called for a strategic counteroffensive from Xana to destroy the Rangdan command center, strike their main force, and disrupt their supply lines.

Lorgar tried to keep Saladin from joining the Rangdan main assault after prophesying that his brother would fall in the war. Saladin refused to retreat, and with communications to Terra severed, Lorgar decided to seek the Emperor's help in person.

• Lion El'Jonson assigned the Word Bearers and War Hounds to attack, the Dark Angels and Saladin's Legion to strike the Rangdan command, and the Death Guard to secure Xana.
• Lorgar privately warned Saladin that his prophecies showed him falling in the Rangdan war and urged him to remain with the defensive forces.
• Saladin argued that prophecy was not fixed and insisted on leading his Legion from the front, promising to stay vigilant.
• Lorgar found that an unknown psychic field had cut off communications with Terra and judged that another Emperor possession would cost too much power.
• Lorgar decided to travel to Terra and report to the Emperor, hoping to return before Saladin charged into battle.

After the defense of Forge World Xana, the surviving 48th Army of Colchis gathered for wartime commendations and promotions. Leki rejected the title of hero, saying the dead deserved it, while High Admiral Sechter promised Xana would remember their sacrifice.

• Imperial forces began clearing the ruins of Xana and rebuilding defenses as survivors of the 48th Army of Colchis regrouped.
• Officials promoted Leki, Warren Heinrich, and Doram, and awarded Sturmerman the Star of Terra for their wartime service.
• Reporters tried to present the survivors as heroes, but Leki said the dead were the heroes and the living had only survived.
• High Admiral Sechter honored the soldiers and promised that Forge World Xana would remember their names and sacrifices.

Major General Doram encountered Hercules, his long-lost friend from the Colchis selection grounds, among the ruins after the battle. Their joyful reunion ended with Doram on the ground after Hercules lifted him too enthusiastically.

• Doram wandered through the devastated battlefield, exhausted and numbed by the fighting and deaths.
• Hercules lifted a massive slab of rubble to give medics room to rescue a trapped casualty.
• Doram recognized the Word Bearers Space Marine as Hercules, and Hercules recognized Doram in return.
• After the casualty was rescued, Hercules rushed to greet Doram and lifted him off the ground, painfully squeezing his back.
• Hercules released Doram, who fell into the dust but laughed through his pain as he welcomed his old friend.

Doram and Hercules reunited amid the ruins, reminisced about their time on Colchis, and discussed the continuing war. An urgent order sent Doram to reorganize his surviving troops into Lord Saladin’s expeditionary fleet’s auxiliary army and move out.

• Doram teased Hercules about his enormous size, and Hercules attributed it to an unexplained genetic mutation and Astartes augmentation.
• Hercules recalled how Doram had once urged him to use his strength to help people, and Doram praised him for rescuing the wounded.
• Hercules commended Doram and his soldiers for their brave resistance and for buying time for the Primarch to arrive.
• Hercules told Doram that Lord Lorgar and other Primarchs were planning a large-scale counterattack and that the war was far from over.
• High Admiral Sechter’s Adjutant delivered General Sturmerman’s order for Doram to report to Temporary Command Post Three and join Lord Saladin’s expeditionary fleet auxiliary army.
• Doram accepted the order, said goodbye to Hercules, and left to report for duty.

Lorgar left the Word Bearers' fleet under Rockefeller's command and raced toward Terra to warn the Emperor about Saladin, the Rangdan, and a possible future. His preparations were in place, but the Sacred Fury was caught in a violent Warp storm that threatened to delay or destroy the voyage.

• Lorgar entrusted Rockefeller with command of the Word Bearers and left Hercules and Anastasia with the expeditionary Fleet as a safeguard against Saladin.
• Lorgar asked Angron to watch Saladin, and Angron agreed to intervene if Saladin threatened the expedition.
• Lorgar and Seras boarded the Sacred Fury, and Lorgar ordered Commander Carnios to take the fastest route to Terra at maximum speed.
• As the ship crossed the Warp, Lorgar considered the Dark Angels, his safeguards, and Captain Saolis as protections against a crisis involving Saladin.
• A sudden Warp storm battered the Sacred Fury, destabilized its Gellar Force Field, and threw the ship far off course.