Recaps

Lorgar confronted Adam, the Superstar’s central management system, and claimed the ship for the Imperium of Man. After Adam’s nonlethal attack failed, Lorgar overwhelmed the AI with psychic power and turned to securing the vessel’s command center and regulation system.

• Lorgar identified himself as a Primarch of the Word Bearers and declared the Superstar part of humanity’s heritage, but Adam rejected his claim and ordered him to leave.
• Lorgar tried to persuade Adam that the Imperium was humanity’s rightful heir while secretly preparing to fight.
• Adam launched a chemical projectile at Lorgar, who caught it and inhaled the neural-induction aerosol without suffering harm.
• Lorgar unleashed a psychic assault through Adam’s connection to the ship’s core systems, leaving the AI flickering and unable to regain control.
• Lorgar decided the Superstar would belong to the Word Bearers and focused on taking its command center and regulation system.

Beowulf and Tyr led a Space Wolves-led fleet in pursuit of the former Second Legion’s traitors, identifying Shirku’s flagship, the Sandstorm. After the loyal fleet destroyed the traitors’ rear Destroyers and one charging Cruiser, Beowulf ordered the pack to break through and pursue Shirku.

• Beowulf and Tyr identified the fleeing traitor fleet as the former Second Legion’s Fifth Great Company, led by Shirku aboard the Emperor-class battleship Sandstorm.
• Tyr ordered the loyal ships to target the enemy escorts’ engines and prepare boarding teams as Beowulf readied the fleet to attack.
• The loyal fleet destroyed three traitor Destroyers with its opening salvo.
• Five traitor Lunar-class Cruisers charged the Snow of the North, so Beowulf and Tyr formed a defensive wedge and reinforced the forward Void shields.
• The loyal fleet’s torpedoes crippled and destroyed one charging Cruiser.
• Beowulf ordered the fleet to tear through the traitors’ formation and pursue Shirku.

The Imperial Fleet crippled the traitor flagship Sandstorm and launched a boarding assault with seven hundred Astartes. Loyal Space Wolves and Word Bearers breached the ship and began fighting its scattered defenders.

• Beowulf ordered the Imperial fleet to destroy the Sandstorm’s Void shields and engine array, leaving the flagship powerless.
• Beowulf commanded the fleet to close in and board, sending seven hundred Space Wolves and Word Bearers toward the crippled ship in boarding torpedoes.
• Imperial fighters and gunships suppressed the Sandstorm’s remaining defenses as the torpedoes punched through its hull.
• A Word Bearer boarded the Sandstorm and killed a traitor Space Marine with a close-range bolter shot.
• Loyal Astartes poured through breaches across the ship as the boarding battle began.

Beowulf and Tyr led the boarding assault through the Sandstorm, cutting down the traitors as they advanced. Tyr identified the Bridge or main command room as the likely location of Shirku and urged the forces to break through the defenses toward the ship’s core.

• Beowulf burst into a passageway aboard the Sandstorm in a Boarding Torpedo and killed four traitor Space Marines with Frosthowl.
• Beowulf called on the Word Bearers to follow him and cleanse the passageway of traitors.
• Tyr entered through another breach and killed three charging traitors with his Plasma Pistol and Power Sword.
• Tyr told Beowulf that Shirku was likely on the upper Bridge or in the main command room, and that they needed to break through the defenses to reach it.
• Tyr dodged a traitor’s power hammer and stabbed the attacker through the breastplate.

Tyr and Beowulf cornered Shirku at the junction before the Bridge and killed him after a fierce fight. With their commander dead, the surviving traitors broke, and the loyal warriors celebrated their victory.

• Tyr spotted Shirku leading his guards and called Beowulf to join the attack.
• Beowulf drove Shirku back with Frost Howl while Tyr wounded his knee with plasma shots and helped shatter his shield.
• Tyr and Beowulf attacked Shirku together, and Tyr shot him through a weakened section of his chest armour.
• Beowulf severed Shirku's right arm, and Tyr impaled him through the chest, killing him.
• The surviving traitors fled or lowered their weapons, and Beowulf crushed Shirku's helmet before rallying the loyal warriors.

Abdullah, leading the largest remaining force of the Second Legion’s traitor remnants, decided to raid the outskirts of Colchis for supplies, revenge, and a final boost to morale. Tagum accepted the dangerous plan and began preparing the attack.

• Abdullah watched Imperial forces destroy the scattered traitor fleets while his own force remained the largest organized group of survivors, with more than ten thousand Astartes.
• Abdullah considered fleeing to the galaxy’s edges but decided he needed a victory before escaping Imperial pursuit.
• Abdullah chose the lightly defended outskirts of the Colchis Star System as the target for a raid against the Word Bearers.
• Abdullah ordered his forces to plunder and destroy the outlying worlds, then withdraw into deep space before the Word Bearers could respond.
• Tagum accepted Abdullah’s plan and began drawing up the route and attack details.

On Absolution, Biberus and Ninutal reflected on their losses while resting under Word Bearers supervision. When Second Legion traitor warships appeared over the planet, the garrison sounded the alarm, and Biberus prepared to fight.

• Biberus questioned whether he and his loyal warriors should be resting while others fought across the Galaxy.
• Ninutal complained that he had slept through the Second Legion’s golden age and awakened just in time for its betrayal.
• Ninutal asked Biberus what he would wish for, and Biberus said he wanted to personally kill the traitors who led the betrayal.
• Biberus spotted hostile warships appearing in orbit above Absolution, and the garrison sounded the alarm.
• Biberus gripped his power sword and told Ninutal that the traitors’ heads had been delivered to their door.

Abdullah’s traitor fleet attacked Absolution, and the outnumbered Word Bearers and Colchis militia prepared to defend their home and evacuate civilians. As the first Drop Pods landed and orbital strikes destroyed the defenses, Cabellion sent the civilians toward Cassandra City and led his warriors into battle.

• Abdullah ordered his forces to kill, plunder, and destroy as they approached Absolution.
• Absolution’s commander alerted Colchis and loyal forces, ordered the defenses to intercept Drop Pods, and directed civilians to evacuate.
• Biberus and Ninutal prepared to fight, with Biberus declaring that he sought revenge and atonement.
• The first Drop Pods struck defensive positions and civilian routes, unleashing traitor Astartes, controlled devotees, combat Servitors, and Rangdan creations.
• Cabellion urged the Word Bearers to die bravely, then ordered Captain Zax to lead soldiers and civilians to Cassandra City’s underground shelters.
• The traitor fleet destroyed anti-aircraft positions with orbital Lances as the Word Bearers met the attackers’ first wave.

Biberus and Ninutal fought the traitor Space Marines descending on their outpost in Drop Pods. As more enemies surrounded them, Biberus faced his former Second Legion brothers with a vow to kill them.

• Biberus tore open a Drop Pod with his Power Sword and destroyed the traitor squad inside with a Plasma Grenade.
• Ninutal blasted three traitors emerging from another Drop Pod with his plasma cannon.
• Biberus reminded Ninutal that he had once commanded the Second Legion as more Drop Pods landed around the outpost.
• Biberus recognized the traitors as former brothers and resolved that they must die.

Abdullah’s forces plundered a Word Bearers warehouse on Absolution, where hungry servants discovered and devoured the locals’ ice cream. Colchis workers beat the thieves and fled as the traitor taskmasters approached.

• Abdullah ordered his forces to seize supplies, equipment, and people from the captured warehouse before the Word Bearers returned.
• Servants broke into a cold store and found boxes of ice cream.
• A starving servant tasted the ice cream, and the gathered servants eagerly ate it.
• Colchis workers stormed the cold store and beat the servants for stealing their ice cream.
• The workers fled into the warehouse when they heard the approaching taskmasters.

Abdullah's looting operation collapsed when the Word Bearers Fleet arrived sooner than expected and devastated his forces from orbit. As his escape window closed, Biberus attacked him to avenge Craston and the brothers Abdullah had betrayed, leaving Abdullah trapped on the defensive.

• Abdullah ordered his forces to abandon un loaded supplies and evacuate after learning that a large Word Bearers Fleet was closing in.
• The Word Bearers Fleet destroyed the traitor ships with concentrated fire, while the retreat on the ground descended into chaos.
• Biberus confronted Abdullah and nearly split his head with a Power Sword strike.
• Biberus attacked relentlessly, forcing Abdullah to retreat and parry as the orbital bombardment cut off his hopes of escape.

Biberus defeated Abdullah, but Abdullah escaped with a Rangdan teleporter and landed in a swamp on Catachan. He was immediately killed when a giant toad exploded beside him.

• Biberus disarmed Abdullah and wounded him, but Abdullah threw dirt in his face and dodged the killing blow.
• Abdullah activated his unstable teleporter and vanished before Biberus could strike again.
• Abdullah arrived in Catachan's swamp, where the teleporter broke beyond repair.
• Abdullah encountered giant toads, and one detonated, killing him in the blast.

After Biberus finished defending the battlefield, Tyrion arrived and presented Lord Lorgar’s order to reorganize the loyal survivors of the former Second Legion as the Word Bearers’ 616 Chapter. The chapter left Biberus facing a permanent mission to hunt down and destroy Saladin’s traitor forces.

• Tyrion and his Terminator guards approached Biberus after he killed the last traitor, and Biberus laid down his Power Sword to await judgment.
• Tyrion thanked Biberus and his warriors for defending the battlefield, then introduced himself as Chapter Master of the Word Bearers’ Ninth Chapter and honored Biberus as a warrior.
• Tyrion read Lord Lorgar’s order to incorporate the loyal former Second Legion personnel into the Word Bearers as the 616 Chapter, with their former identity sealed and erased from official records.
• Tyrion charged the 616 Chapter with hunting down and destroying Saladin’s traitors and every remnant of their heresy, with no deadline or geographic limit.

Kael Valen’s Iron Warriors fleet searched a forgotten star system for a Dark Age of Technology pocket empire and found a dead, corrupted world. After Dexter spotted an active firefight at the planet’s north pole, Kael ordered the fleet to prepare for a descent.

• Kael Valen ordered the fleet to scan the star system for signs of the pocket empire, but the scans found no evidence of civilization.
• Kael and Dexter judged the system’s silence unnatural and raised the fleet’s tactical alert.
• The fleet found a dust-covered planet with ruined cities and strange fleshy growths across its surface.
• Dexter spotted regular flashes of weapons fire at the planet’s north pole, revealing that a battle was still underway.
• Kael ordered the fleet to the combat zone and sent the Iron Warriors and Word Bearers to prepare for deployment.

The last defenders on the city wall were overwhelmed by a horrific tide of flesh and machine, including a Mechanical Mantis that killed soldiers and a mother who recognized her child fused inside it. As the wall neared collapse, countless blazing meteors descended from the sky with voices proclaiming their arrival.

• Defenders fought off a cyborg with an ice spear, but mechanical spiders carrying tortured civilians climbed onto the wall.
• A Mechanical Mantis slaughtered an officer and nearby defenders with its high-frequency scythes.
• A female soldier recognized her child among the victims fused into the Mechanical Mantis and was killed while trying to reach him.
• Countless blazing meteors pierced the clouds and descended toward the battlefield as voices cried, "Unyielding within and without!"

The Iron Warriors launched an orbital and Drop Pod assault on the flesh tide, and Kael Valen tore apart a Mechanical Mantis Construct before leading his Legion in a disciplined advance. The steel battle line pushed the monsters back as the surviving defenders watched in disbelief.

• The Iron Warriors struck the densest flesh structures with orbital Lances while Drop Pods descended toward the battlefield.
• Kael Valen blocked the Mechanical Mantis Construct’s scythes, ripped off its weapons and wings, and tore its upper body from its mechanical abdomen.
• Kael Valen ordered the Iron Warriors to form ranks around him and led them as their spearhead.
• The Iron Warriors formed a shield wall, opened fire on the charging modified monsters, and advanced in formation.
• The surviving defenders watched as the Iron Warriors broke the tide that had nearly overwhelmed them.

Kael Valen and Dexter’s forces rescued the Twilight Star settlement from the flesh constructs, then Kael learned that the Cult had caused the contamination and ordered the constructs to exterminate the surviving Federation population. Kael and Dexter prepared to help the survivors and confront the Cult while awaiting orders from their Legions.

• Kael Valen and Dexter introduced themselves to Major Terrance after their forces defeated the attacking constructs and reinforcements arrived.
• Major Terrance offered Kael a Memory Needle to explain the Federation’s primitive technology and the constructs’ power.
• Kael crushed the Memory Needle and consumed its brain tissue to absorb Major Terrance’s memories.
• Kael learned that the Cult had unleashed the Core’s power, creating the contamination zone and its flesh constructs.
• Kael discovered that the Cult had ordered the constructs to kill all uncontaminated Old Federation survivors and continued experiments from Exile.
• Kael told Dexter that they should aid the survivors and put an end to the Cult’s actions while they awaited Legion orders.

Dexter relayed Primarch Lorgar’s orders to quarantine and evacuate the planet’s survivors while destroying the remnants of their civilization. With Perturabo’s approval, Kael Valen helped enforce the edict as the Colchis Auxiliary Army began harsh decontamination and mass evacuation.

• Dexter reported the situation to Lorgar and returned with orders to screen and quarantine survivors, relocate them, and destroy the civilization’s traces.
• Kael Valen reported Lorgar’s instructions to Perturabo, who told him to cooperate, and Kael ordered the Iron Warriors to help execute the edict.
• Iron Warriors and Word Bearers secured the ruined fortress while Colchis Auxiliary soldiers divided and processed its terrified survivors.
• Auxiliary soldiers stripped survivors of their possessions and clothing, separated anyone with wounds, and sprayed the others with disinfectant.
• Soldiers burned the confiscated belongings and herded the decontaminated survivors toward transport ships, separating a wounded mother from her husband and daughter.

Lorgar reflected on the extermination and resettlement orders he had issued for Twilight, believing the possible threat of Chaos justified the suffering they would cause. He then ordered the Word Bearers to accelerate the Great Crusade, leaving his resolve hardened against the dangers he believed were coming.

• Lorgar considered the orders he had sent to Dexter on Twilight and the destruction of the lost civilization’s culture and history.
• Lorgar concluded that even a remote chance of Chaos corruption made the population’s suffering a necessary sacrifice.
• Lorgar recalled the Emperor’s warnings and the signs of Warp-related dangers spreading through the Imperium.
• Lorgar resolved to prioritize the Great Crusade’s speed and issued orders to reassess campaign plans and accelerate the clearance and integration of worlds.

Kael Valen ordered Exterminatus of Twilight Primary, destroying the planet after its survivors had been evacuated. When the Fleet detected a powerful contamination-linked signal near the outer ice giant Exile, Kael halted its withdrawal and prepared to attack the suspected stronghold of the Cult remnants.

• Kael Valen authorized two Cyclonic Torpedoes to destroy Twilight Primary, completing the planet's Exterminatus.
• Kael Valen recorded that the planet had been destroyed because of the risk of uncontrollable hybrid technological contamination.
• A Tech-Priest detected a powerful anomalous energy fluctuation near the outer edge of the Twilight Star System.
• Kael Valen identified Exile as the likely location of the Cult remnants' stronghold.
• Kael Valen canceled the Fleet's withdrawal and ordered ships to prepare to attack the energy source and crush the Cult remnants.

Kael Valen’s fleet found the frozen world hiding a colossal orbital defense cannon, which devastated an asteroid belt and threatened to fire again. Company Captain Dexter led Best and four Word Bearers into a perilous assault on the cannon’s base, leaving them plunging toward millions of Constructs.

• Kael Valen confirmed the energy signal came from the Cult sanctuary and prepared to destroy the planet from orbit.
• A massive cannon rose from beneath the ice, deployed planetary shields, and fired a beam that badly damaged an Escort Frigate and vaporized a corridor through an asteroid belt.
• Kael ordered the fleet to suppress the cannon’s shields while Dexter launched a Storm Eagle assault to destroy its central energy node or control hub.
• Dexter, Best, and four Word Bearers leaped from the gunship toward the cannon’s base, where millions of Constructs had gathered.

Librarian Best used psychic power to clear a path through the Constructs and breach the cannon's base, where Dexter led the squad inside. Best sealed the entrance with a telekinetic barricade, and the Word Bearers pressed deeper to find the control core or energy hub.

• Librarian Best unleashed psychic lightning that destroyed a large swath of the charging Constructs.
• Company Captain Dexter led the squad through the opening Best had made and fought their way to the cannon's base.
• Best smashed a breach through the base's armored shell, and Dexter led the warriors inside as the Constructs swarmed after them.
• The Word Bearers held the breach with Bolter fire until Best used telekinesis to build a barricade from Construct wreckage.
• Dexter ordered the squad to find and destroy the control core or energy hub, then led them into the darkness inside the cannon.

Dexter’s squad fought through the Constructs in the passage and blasted open a heavily secured door to reach the hub chamber. The five Word Bearers were frozen in place as soon as they crossed an invisible boundary.

• Librarian Best used psychic lightning to clear Constructs while Dexter led the squad deeper into the passage.
• Lei En ripped an anemone-like monster from an overhead pipe and crushed its maw beneath his boot.
• Best wielded a fire-wreathed Warhammer to burn through the increasingly varied horde as the squad advanced.
• Dexter ordered Best to open the hub’s blast door, and Best destroyed it with a concentrated psychic lightning strike.
• Dexter and the other four Word Bearers entered the chamber, where an invisible boundary instantly froze all five in place.

Dexter and the Word Bearers fought a cloaked psyker who trapped them with extreme gravity, deflected their attacks, and withstood Dexter’s point-blank plasma shot. The blast revealed a frail-looking figure radiating an ancient, overwhelming psychic power, leaving the warriors facing an enemy far more dangerous than they had expected.

• The cloaked figure immobilized Dexter, Lei En, Best, and the other Word Bearers with an extreme gravity Force Field.
• Best sensed the Force Field’s structure and broke the restraints by reshaping gravity around his brothers.
• Dexter and Lei En attacked from opposite sides, but the figure evaded them with effortless precision and deflected the other warriors’ Bolter fire through spatial distortion.
• Dexter ordered Best to suppress the enemy, and Best unleashed psychic flames against a barrier projected by the figure’s polyhedral device.
• Dexter charged through the distraction and fired his Plasma Pistol at point-blank range, destroying the figure’s cloak but not stopping him.
• The exposed figure revealed a frail body and immense, ancient psychic power, and his crimson gaze swept across the battle-ready Word Bearers.

Best, Dexter, and Lei En fought the gaunt figure sustained by a black crystal, and Best destroyed the crystal with a precise psychic attack. The enemy was consumed by psychic flames and reduced to ash.

• The gaunt figure sensed that Best's aura came from the same source as the core and declared his intent to devour him.
• Best attacked with a dragon of psychic flame, but the gaunt figure's body regenerated beneath the flames.
• Dexter spotted the black crystal in the enemy's chest and identified it as the source of his power and a weakness.
• Dexter and Lei En kept the enemy occupied while Best studied the crystal's psychic defenses.
• Dexter and Lei En forced the enemy to split his attention, giving Best an opening to channel psychic energy into the crystal.
• The crystal shattered, the enemy lost his power, and Best's flames burned him to ash.