Recaps

Saladin coordinated the defense of Blood Scab while secretly discussing the Rangdan trap with Hannibal in a psychic meditation. He insisted on speaking with Lorgar before the Word Bearers were drawn irreversibly into the trap.

• Saladin ordered Gokbuli's First Great Company to open a breach, directed Emil's Second Great Company to reinforce it, and dispatched a squad to target the Rangdan Warmaster.
• Lion El'Jonson warned Saladin that the Rangdan were cunning and could lure Imperial forces into prepared killing grounds.
• Saladin placed Abdullah and Craston in charge of front-line coordination and went to the Meditation Chamber to recalibrate his psychic foresight.
• In the desert of Saladin's consciousness, Hannibal identified himself as the Rangdan Empire's First Warmaster and discussed the trap's progress with Saladin.
• Saladin told Hannibal that he wanted a chance to speak with Lorgar before the Word Bearers entered the trap completely, hoping Lorgar might understand or support his plan.

Saladin learned from Hannibal that two traitors were in his legion and returned to the command room to confront Craston over helping Biberus escape. When Abdullah attacked Craston on Saladin’s orders, Craston parried and countered, leaving the fight underway.

• Hannibal warned Saladin that two traitors were in his legion after they discussed plans against the First Legion and Lion El'Jonson.
• Saladin returned from meditation, armed himself with two scimitars, and went to the command room, where Craston was coordinating the battle.
• Saladin ordered Craston to lead the 3rd Company on a dangerous mission to kill the Rangdan Warmaster, but Craston refused and called the order a deathtrap.
• Saladin accused Craston of helping Biberus and other suspected traitors escape aboard a transport, then declared that Craston’s path ended there.
• Abdullah attacked Craston from behind with a psychic blade, but Craston blocked the strike with one scimitar and countered with the other.

Craston fought Abdullah and refused Saladin’s offer to surrender, learning that most of the Legion had joined the Primarch’s betrayal. When Angron’s transmission gave Craston a chance to warn others, Saladin stabbed him before he could finish his message.

• Abdullah accused the Emperor of betrayal as he fought Craston, disarmed him, and wounded him while the Primarch Guard watched without intervening.
• Saladin told Craston that nearly the entire Legion had chosen his new ideals and offered to forgive him if he surrendered.
• Craston denounced Saladin and fought on, determined to warn the Imperium about the Legion’s betrayal.
• Angron’s transmission came through Craston’s communicator, and Craston recognized a chance to send a warning.
• Saladin realized Craston might transmit the betrayal and stabbed him through the chest before he could finish his message.
• Saladin twisted his blade, killed Craston, and picked up the communicator as Angron’s channel fell silent.

After killing Craston, Saladin turned Angron’s fury into a reason for everyone aboard to commit to rebellion. He ordered the Fleet to prepare a trap for the War Hounds and abandoned the forces fighting on Bloodscab to die.

• Angron heard Craston’s dying words, denounced Saladin as a traitor, and ordered the War Hounds to attack Saladin and his Fleet.
• Saladin told the command room that Angron and the Imperium would treat them all as traitors, and the Astartes and Mortals swore to follow him.
• Saladin confirmed that Craston’s suspected loyalists had been assigned to the most dangerous ground assault zones.
• Saladin ordered the Fleet to assemble near the Conqueror’s expected arrival, prepare its weapons, and coordinate a joint strike with Mago’s Rangdan Fleet.
• Saladin ordered the forces on Bloodscab abandoned and declared that the Fleet’s target was the War Hounds.

Dirham freed Biberus from the Remembrance of Ashes's detention block and revealed that Kras had been killed by Saladin, prompting them to organize a revolt against Abdullah's loyalists. Biberus set out to kill Lauren and free the imprisoned 3rd Company soldiers while Dirham moved to seize the bridge.

• Dirham told Biberus that Abdullah had ordered him killed and that Kras had been stabbed to death by Saladin.
• When two guards mocked Biberus, Dirham killed them, disabled the cell controls, and freed Biberus.
• Dirham gave Biberus a Bolter and a Dataslate, then tasked him with killing Lauren, freeing the prisoners in C and D Sections, and securing the lower decks.
• Dirham explained that Kras had once saved his squad and said he would not let Kras's surviving men be disposed of; he planned to seize the bridge and prepare a Warp jump.
• Biberus agreed to kill Lauren and hold the lower decks, then left determined to make Saladin pay.

Biberus stormed the Lounge and killed Adjutant Lauren, triggering a close-range shootout between Lauren’s supporters and Dirham’s loyalists. The fighting ended with Lauren and nearly everyone else dead, leaving Biberus and one Dirham loyalist alive.

• Biberus broke into the Lounge and shot Adjutant Lauren three times in the chest.
• Lauren fired back and grazed Biberus’s pauldron as Dirham’s loyalists turned their weapons on Lauren’s supporters.
• Biberus and the officers fought a chaotic shootout, with both sides using the Lounge’s occupants and furnishings for cover.
• Biberus killed a Lauren loyalist who had thrown a mortal servant at a Dirham loyalist, while gunfire left nearly everyone else dead.
• A surviving Dirham loyalist shot the last twitching Lauren supporter, and Biberus confirmed that Adjutant Lauren was dead.

Biberus led the liberated prisoners and militia in a revolt against Saladin’s forces, declaring them Emperor’s warriors and driving toward the Bridge. At the Bridge antechamber, they fought the Fourth Company’s defenders, and Biberus killed several traitors before the battle continued.

• Biberus broke into the confinement sectors, freed more than a hundred imprisoned Astartes, and rallied them against Saladin, Abdullah, and their allies.
• Biberus assigned Marcus to secure the power-armour depot and engine passages while he led the remaining warriors and militia toward the Bridge.
• Biberus’s force blasted through the Bridge’s heavy door and encountered twenty armoured Fourth Company traitors defending the antechamber.
• Biberus flanked the traitors and killed two at close range, then used one corpse as cover while shooting three more defenders, killing two and wounding the third.

Biberus and the loyalist warriors seized the Remembrance of Ashes and reclaimed its command bridge, but Ship Captain Lotara refused to divert the Conqueror to help them. Rather than wait helplessly in danger, Biberus ordered the ship to descend to Bloodscab and rescue loyal warriors still fighting on the planet.

• Biberus led the loyalists through the bridge blast door, killed the three traitor Space Marines, and forced the mortal crew and Acting Ship Captain Vayne to surrender.
• Biberus ordered Vayne to secure the ship, and Adjutant Marcus arrived with captured power armour and weapons for the loyalists.
• Biberus contacted Ship Captain Lotara of the Conqueror and asked to join Primarch Angron’s forces, but Lotara ordered him to wait because the fleet was under attack.
• Biberus rejected waiting and rallied his warriors to rescue loyal Emperor’s forces still fighting on Bloodscab.
• Biberus ordered Vayne to chart a route into Bloodscab’s atmosphere, and the Remembrance of Ashes began its descent toward the planet.

Saladin welcomed the rebel fleet’s arrival and ordered Abdullah to crush Biberus’s defiance and destroy the Conqueror. Abdullah launched a decapitation strike against the Remembrance of Ashes while the Fourth Company and Rangdan forces attacked the War Hounds, unaware that Lotara’s command of the Conqueror made their assumptions dangerously wrong.

• Saladin learned that the Remembrance of Ashes had broken formation and opened a channel to the ship.
• Biberus confronted Saladin, while Dirham appeared and cursed him; Saladin ordered Abdullah to deal with them.
• Biberus promised to face Saladin aboard the Remembrance of Ashes before cutting the connection.
• Abdullah assembled an elite assault team to seize the Remembrance of Ashes and ordered the Fourth Company and Rangdan forces to attack the Conqueror.
• The chapter revealed that Lotara concentrated most of the War Hounds’ intelligence and command aboard the Conqueror.

Lotara sent Angron to deal with boarders who had teleported onto the Conqueror, and he ordered his guard to stay behind. He confronted the invading Second Legion force and asked who knew where Lorgar was.

• Lotara told Angron that a large enemy force had bypassed the Conqueror's defences and asked him to deal with the boarding party.
• Angron took his Power Axes and ordered Khârn, Skolzne, and the Primarch Guard to stay behind while he went alone.
• More than seven hundred Astartes, led by Thorns and accompanied by a Rangdan Overlord, emerged on the lower decks and prepared to attack the Bridge.
• The boarders froze as Angron appeared at the end of the passage and faced their formation.
• Angron asked the boarders who knew where Lorgar was.

Angron demanded to know where the Second Legion had trapped Lorgar, then slaughtered their forces when they could not answer. He killed Thorns and continued toward the bridge, still searching for his brother.

• Angron asked Thorns where the Second Legion had trapped Lorgar, but Thorns was confused and had no answer.
• Angron charged through the formation, killing Thorns and the first twenty Terminators with a single sweep of his axe.
• Angron cut down the Second Legion warriors and destroyed their weapons and armour despite their bolter, melta, plasma, and psychic attacks.
• Angron hurled his axe through the Rangdan Overlord's psychic shield and killed it, then continued fighting with his remaining axe, fists, and feet.
• After killing more than seven hundred Astartes and the Rangdan Overlord, Angron questioned the dying Thorns again and crushed his head when he could not answer.
• Angron dragged both axes through the bloodied corridor and headed toward the bridge.

Saladin learned that the 750-man boarding force had been wiped out without damaging the Conqueror and ordered Mago to eliminate the remaining Loyalist resistance on Bloodscab. Before Saladin could confront Angron, the Loyalist fleet arrived with four Gloriana-class Battleships and a Blackstone Fortress, and Rockefeller ordered them to destroy the Second Legion and Rangdan forces.

• A herald reported to Saladin that the boarding force had been wiped out and achieved no confirmed damage to the Conqueror.
• Saladin dismissed the failed assault, ordered Mago to clear the Loyalist resistance on Bloodscab, and said he would face Angron himself.
• A sensor officer detected a huge fleet translating from the Warp near Saladin's fleet.
• The Word Bearers' Law of Faith, the Night Lords' Nightfall, the Death Guard's Endurance, the Iron Warriors' Iron Blood, and a Blackstone Fortress emerged from the Warp.
• Rockefeller identified himself as Chapter Master of the Word Bearers' First Chapter and ordered the Loyalist forces to annihilate the Second Legion and Rangdan ships.
• Saladin reacted to the Loyalist fleet's arrival with excitement and said the battle was becoming more interesting.

Perturabo assessed the chaotic fighting across the Bloodscab Star System as Saladin’s rebellion gathered overwhelming reinforcements. With communications to Lion El'Jonson cut off, Perturabo prepared to face Saladin’s forces without support.

• Perturabo studied the battles across the planet, its orbit, and the wider star system, identifying Saladin and the missing Lorgar as his main objectives.
• Frix reported that a massive enemy fleet was translating into sector K-7, with more than twelve expeditionary Fleets and over five thousand capital ships committed to the rebellion.
• Perturabo concluded that the loyalist forces held a numerical advantage in Astartes, but faced Saladin’s home-field advantage, Rangdan technology, and rapid deployment.
• Frix told Perturabo that interference had severed communications with Lion El'Jonson's forces despite seven failed attempts to use backup channels.
• Perturabo accepted that he would have to confront Saladin’s rebellion alone and challenged him to prove the strength of his forces.

Emil’s sabotage attempt aboard the Unyielding Truth failed when Lion El'Jonson killed him and exposed the Second Legion infiltrators. As Lion ordered a purge of the traitors, the Rangdan forces launched a full counterattack against the First Legion.

• A psychic command signaled the Rangdan attack, and a vast construct erased roughly thirty First Legion ships with a blast of strange light.
• Lion El'Jonson ordered the Unyielding Truth to raise its shields and target the construct while Emil moved to sabotage the bridge console.
• Lion El'Jonson sensed Emil’s treachery and killed him with a punch before he could plant his bomb.
• First Legion personnel revealed themselves and swiftly killed the other Second Legion infiltrators aboard the bridge.
• Lion El'Jonson ordered the extermination of every Second Legion traitor across the fleet, while the Rangdan Bio-ship Fleet emerged from concealment and launched an all-out counterattack.

Saladin’s Second Legion launched a coordinated rebellion, sabotaging the Unyielding Truth and attacking the First Legion’s fleet while the Rangdan pressed their assault. Lion El'Jonson declared every Second Legion vessel hostile and vowed to confront the xenos and Hannibal himself.

• Second Legion infiltrators detonated explosives throughout the Unyielding Truth, while Dark Angels defenders fought to stop the sabotage and purge the ship.
• Second Legion militia disguised as human bombs attacked loyal crew and warriors, adding more destruction to the battles inside the flagship.
• Second Legion ships turned their weapons on the First Legion fleet, devastating battlecruisers, destroyers, and unarmed transports.
• Lion El'Jonson recognized the rebellion as a coordinated Legion-wide betrayal and ordered every Second Legion vessel designated a high-priority hostile target.
• Lion El'Jonson delegated the internal purge to the captains and vowed to deal personally with the Rangdan and Hannibal.

Hannibal confirmed that the Rangdan fleet had trapped the First Legion and learned that the Emperor would not appoint replacements for the fallen Warmasters. Aboard the warship, Arachos cut through the Second Legion traitors with the Dark Angels following, then ordered them to purge the ship.

• Hannibal studied the encircled First Legion fleet and declared that it could not escape.
• Hannibal reviewed the dead Warmasters and learned that His Majesty had no plans to replace them.
• Arachos killed the Second Legion warriors blocking his path, defeating a dozen or more traitors in the corridor.
• The Dark Angels followed Arachos and eliminated surviving traitors along the route.
• Arachos ordered the Dark Angels to advance, eliminate all traitors, and purge the warship.

Lion El'Jonson concluded that the Second Legion had joined the Rangdan and ordered the First Legion fleet to concentrate fire on the enemy’s planet-sized construct. As the Rangdan prepared for a boarding assault and the traitors struggled to regroup, the battle descended into a chaotic close-range melee.

• Lion El'Jonson identified the Second Legion as allies of the Rangdan and recognized that the fleet had been lured into a trap.
• Lion El'Jonson ordered the entire fleet to ignore the construct’s escorts and unleash concentrated fire on the planetary-scale enemy warship.
• Hannibal predicted that Lion El'Jonson would attempt to board the construct and ordered its defenses reinforced against intruders.
• Hannibal prepared the Rangdan construct to repel boarders, expecting the First Legion to strike at its core.
• Second Legion captains ordered their ships to disengage and regroup at rally point Alpha-7 after Lion El'Jonson disrupted their plan.
• Dark Angels warships pursued the retreating traitors, and friendly fire, collisions, and close-range attacks turned the battlefield into a chaotic melee.

Lion El'Jonson ordered specialized weapons against the Rangdan Construct after conventional Torpedoes failed to penetrate its shield. A Vortex Torpedo opened a breach that let the First Legion damage the Construct, while the Rangdan counterattack inflicted heavy losses across the Imperial Fleet.

• The Unyielding Truth fired fifty Short-range Torpedoes, but the Construct's shield absorbed the impacts of the three that reached it.
• Lion El'Jonson ordered the First Legion to launch melta Torpedoes and Vortex Torpedoes while the Rangdan warships began a fierce counterattack.
• The melta Torpedoes failed to break the shield, but a Vortex Torpedo created a warp rift that weakened it locally.
• The First Legion concentrated its Lances, Macro-cannons, and Nova Cannon on the weakened shield, opening a breach and damaging the Construct's Shell.
• The Rangdan's return fire destroyed a Sword-class escort frigate and heavily damaged other Imperial warships.

Lion El'Jonson sent the Dark Angels to board the Rangdan Superstructure after its shields appeared close to collapse, but the enemy restored them and trapped the assault troops inside. He ordered the fleet to bombard the Construct while the boarding forces searched for its shield generators and attacked other vital systems.

• Lion El'Jonson ordered the Dark Angels fleet to launch a boarding assault on the Wrath of Carthage and destroy its command core, power sources, and Shield Generator.
• Thousands of Drop Pods penetrated the Construct's weak defenses, and Dark Angels assault teams established landing zones inside its twisting passages.
• The Construct restored its shields and sealed the breaches, trapping the assault troops and disrupting their communications with the fleet.
• Lion El'Jonson recognized that the weakened shields and defenses had been bait, then ordered the trapped forces to disable the shield generators and the fleet to concentrate its fire on the Construct.
• The 7,000 Dark Angels inside received Lion El'Jonson's revised orders and began a destructive push through the Construct to find its Shield Generator.

Dark Angels forces fought their way through the Construct against Rangdan Elites and powerful Overlords while Lion El'Jonson watched the fleet's attacks fail. To rescue his warriors and kill Saladin, Lion decided to unleash the First Legion's forbidden weapons.

• Dark Angels squads advanced into the Construct and battled Rangdan Elites whose speed and defenses made them formidable opponents.
• A Rangdan Overlord overwhelmed a Dark Angels squad in a chamber, killing one warrior and nearly striking the company captain down.
• Lion El'Jonson grew frustrated as the Imperium's warships failed to break the enemy defenses.
• Lion left the bridge and ordered Archmagos Beskari to prepare the First Legion's forbidden weapons.

Lion El'Jonson authorized the First Legion to awaken the forbidden Excindio and send them into the Rangdan Planetary Construct. The machines tore through the enemy defenses, leaving Hannibal to reassess a battle plan being dismantled by an unfamiliar threat.

• Lion El'Jonson chose to risk breaking the First Legion's taboo to save his trapped sons and authorized access to the Forgotten Armory.
• Lion El'Jonson and Bescari passed the armory's dual authentication, and Bescari activated the ten Excindio and set their targets and priorities.
• Five silver spheres vanished from a displacement apparatus aboard the Unyielding Truth and arrived at selected locations inside the enemy Construct.
• The Rangdan forces abruptly retreated from the surviving Dark Angels, but explosions and Excindio attacks devastated them across several passages.
• An Excindio emerged near the Dark Angels and used gravity manipulation and phosphor mist to destroy hundreds of Rangdan Elites and several Overlords.
• Hannibal reviewed the Excindio's attacks as Rangdan defenses and units fell, then began recalculating his response to the unfamiliar machines.

Hannibal assessed the losses caused by the Excindio and chose to abandon the compromised sections of his ship and withdraw with the Rangdan Fleet. Lion El'Jonson realized the enemy had escaped and led the First Legion toward the battlefront where the Word Bearers were fighting.

• The Excindio destroyed the shield generator and killed most of Hannibal's Overlords, leaving only 19 of the hundred elite warriors alive.
• Hannibal weighed attacking Lion El'Jonson against retreating and decided his strategic objective had been achieved.
• Hannibal ordered the compromised ship sections severed and sent the remaining Rangdan ships withdrawing under jamming cover.
• Luther warned Lion El'Jonson that the enemy had already withdrawn, leaving only a few disabled Second Legion warships behind.
• Lion El'Jonson abandoned pursuit, and the First Legion withdrew toward the battlefront where the Word Bearers were fighting.

Angron led a boarding assault on Saladin’s ship and shattered the Second Legion’s defenses as he advanced toward the Bridge. He reached the grand staircase with Saladin waiting above, leaving their confrontation imminent.

• Saladin saw Angron’s fleet and Drop Pods approach, then prepared for the boarding assault.
• The Conqueror grappled the Soul of the Sea of Sand, and Angron boarded its ornate, fortified hall.
• Angron destroyed three Contemptor Dreadnoughts in seconds, breaking the Second Legion’s defensive line.
• The War Hounds poured into the hall and overwhelmed the Second Legion warriors.
• Angron ignored the battle and strode toward Saladin, who waited at the Bridge staircase.

Angron fought Saladin, who tried to persuade him to join his cause, but Angron refused and continued attacking unarmed. Konrad Curze intervened with a surprise strike, and the chapter ended with him confronting Saladin alongside Angron.

• Angron charged Saladin, and Saladin deflected his attacks before cutting through Angron's axe and damaging his armour.
• Saladin urged Angron to join him, warning that the Emperor would discard them, but Angron declared his loyalty to Lorgar and attacked with his fists.
• Saladin tried to cripple Angron's wrist, but a figure emerging from the shadows slashed three deep claw marks into Saladin's faceplate.
• Saladin retreated and identified the ambusher as Konrad Curze, who emerged from the shadows and taunted Angron for not inviting him.

Curze joined Angron aboard the Soul of the Sea of Sand, and the two Primarchs attacked Saladin together. They demanded that Saladin hand over Lorgar, but he denied kidnapping him and was forced to defend himself against their relentless assault.

• Curze left the Nightfall to help Angron fight Saladin.
• Curze used precise, seemingly prescient attacks to wound Saladin and wear down his defenses.
• Angron kicked Saladin through an alloy partition while Curze demanded that he hand over Lorgar.
• Saladin denied kidnapping Lorgar, but Angron attacked again without listening.
• Saladin struggled to defend against Angron's punches and Curze's attacks from the shadows.