Recaps

Corvus Corax landed as a child on Lycaeus and was captured by the planet’s ruling plutocracy for study. After ten years of brutal experiments, he was left consumed by pain and hatred for his captors and surroundings.

• Corvus Corax emerged from an unmarked pod on Lycaeus as a bewildered child.
• An armed exploration team detected his extraordinary biological readings and captured him for the ruling plutocracy.
• Scientists in a secret research complex restrained Corax and began harvesting samples and testing his body.
• Corax endured years of experiments involving injuries, extreme conditions, radiation, drugs, and toxins.
• After ten years and tens of thousands of tests, Corax lost his sense of time and grew to loathe his captors, his body, and the white laboratory that imprisoned him.

After twelve years of imprisonment, Corax broke free of his restraints and slaughtered more than a hundred guards before being subdued and placed in a new cell. There, a girl named Bella Cora offered him food and asked his name, but Corax remained silent.

• During a brief lighting failure, Corax attacked his escorts and killed more than a hundred corporate guards in the corridor.
• Corax tried to reach the sealed exit, but force-field beams and anesthetic gas incapacitated him, and guards captured him alive.
• Corax awoke in a bare, unshackled cell, where his weakened body and isolation left him barely able to move.
• Bella Cora peered into Corax's cell through a ceiling opening and asked who he was and whether he was hungry.
• Bella Cora dropped a ration beside Corax, introduced herself, and asked his name; Corax did not answer.
• Bella Cora praised Corax's black eyes while he remained silent.

Bella Cora sustained Corax in his prison and taught him language, eventually becoming the first person he recognized as family. She told him about her wish to escape together and explained why she saw ravens as bringers of good luck, ending by telling him she liked him.

• Bella Cora regularly brought Corax scraps of food and water and taught him basic words, including “Soror,” meaning sister.
• Bella taught Corax to spell her name, though the letters in his mind repeatedly rearranged themselves into a different sequence.
• Corax came of age in captivity and learned to communicate while Bella remained his only connection to the outside world.
• Bella told Corax she wanted them to escape Lycaeus and Kiavahr together and live somewhere with sunlight and green plants.
• Bella explained that her brother had survived a difficult birth on the night Corax arrived and said she believed ravens brought good luck.
• Bella told Corax, whom she called Mr. Raven, that she liked him.

Corax waited anxiously for Bella after she promised to bring him something tastier, then watched her arrive battered and pursued, carrying real bread. When he grabbed her wrist to save her, his strength broke it, and Bella slipped free as the guards dragged her away, leaving Corax alone with the bread and her blood on his hand.

• Corax sensed that something bad was coming but could not escape the specially designed cell.
• After several days, Bella appeared at the opening, injured and carrying fresh bread she had brought for Corax.
• As guards seized Bella, Corax grabbed her wrist, accidentally crushing her bones with his Primarch strength.
• Bella reassured Corax and deliberately tugged her broken wrist free as the guards pulled her away.
• Corax watched Bella disappear down the corridor, left holding the bread and a breadcrumb stained with her blood.

After Corax’s power awakened, he rampaged through the facility to find Bella, but accidentally inflicted a fatal wound on her when he reached her. As he held her dying body, a golden fleet appeared above Kiavahr, leaving Corax facing an unknown future alone.

• Corax’s transformation awakened a savage power, and he smashed through his cell door and slaughtered the guards and staff in the facility.
• By devouring victims, Corax absorbed their memories and learned that Bella had entered a dangerous experiment in exchange for bread and later escaped.
• Corax tore through the facility toward the deepest laboratories, guided by memories and driven to find Bella.
• Corax found Bella gravely injured in an experimental chamber, but his unstable energy-clad hand accidentally slashed her neck as he reached for her.
• Corax lifted Bella into his arms as she died, then saw a golden fleet arrive beyond the broken observation window.

Lorgar confronted the Emperor over his decision to let Bella die and his insensitive handling of Corax’s grief. He took charge of stabilizing Kiavahr and planned to give the system to Corax once he had recovered.

• Lorgar questioned the Emperor about why he had not saved Bella, and the Emperor defended his decision as strategically optimal.
• Lorgar learned that the Emperor had told Corax to turn his grief into fuel for the Great Crusade and demanded that he think before speaking to his sons.
• Lorgar argued that revealing Bella’s nature and disposing of her body immediately could drive the grieving Corax to violence or madness.
• The Emperor asked Lorgar what to do, and Lorgar told him to leave sensitive conversations with their sons to him.
• Lorgar claimed Kiavahr and its star system for the Word Bearers, planning to restore order before eventually handing it over to Corax.

Fabricator-General Utio was angered by the destruction of the Kiavahr system and Lorgar Aurelian’s private use of advanced technology. Seeking to pressure Lorgar without provoking a direct confrontation, Utio chose his pupil Kelbor-Hal as his emissary.

• The chapter described the Adeptus Mechanicus’s power and influence within the Imperium during the Great Crusade.
• Utio received reports that the Primarchs had destroyed a Forge World in the Kiavahr system, along with its laboratories, production lines, and valuable data.
• Utio focused his anger on Lorgar Aurelian, who had allegedly withheld and privately mass-produced advanced technology instead of submitting it to the Adeptus Mechanicus.
• Utio decided against directly confronting Lorgar and searched for someone who could deliver a measured warning.
• Utio selected his prized pupil Kelbor-Hal to approach Lorgar.

Malcador warned Lorgar that the Adeptus Mechanicus was watching him over his handling of technology and urged him to keep a low profile. Lorgar instead prepared a grand show of force and ceremonial pageantry for the approaching Mechanicus visitors.

• Malcador told Lorgar that Fabricator-General Utio’s faction had taken an increased interest in his movements and warned him against provoking Mars.
• Lorgar told Rockefeller to request ten thousand warriors each from Angron and Curze to assemble aboard the Law of Faith.
• Lorgar ordered one hundred thousand Word Bearers legionaries and one hundred Warlord Titans to join the fleet, with supplies and support.
• Lorgar dismissed Rockefeller’s concern that the mobilization could provoke Mars, saying the Mechanicus would not dare attack without the Emperor’s approval or a compelling reason.
• Lorgar summoned senior Word Bearers commanders to the Law of Faith in full ceremonial military dress to receive the Mechanicus visitors.

Kelbor-Hal and two fellow Archmagoses arrived aboard the Law of Faith to negotiate with Lorgar, only to be confronted by an overwhelming display of Astartes and Titans. They entered Lorgar’s conference chamber, where the Legions’ leaders openly threatened them as Lorgar greeted Kelbor-Hal.

• Kelbor-Hal, Armstrong, and Alexeyevich landed at Docking Deck G-7 and found 120,000 Word Bearers, War Hounds, and Night Lords assembled to meet them.
• Rockefeller von Hohenstein introduced himself as Chapter Master of the First Chapter and escorted the Archmagoses past dozens of Warlord Titans toward the conference chamber.
• Rockefeller opened the chamber, where Lorgar waited with Angron, Curze, and senior officers from the three Legions.
• Lorgar calmly greeted Kelbor-Hal, while Angron tightened his grip on his Power Axe, Curze shifted in the shadows, and officers’ Visors flared with heightened alert.

Lorgar confronted the three Archmagos led by Kelbor-Hal over the destruction of the Kiavahr STC Templates and suspicions about his use of Dark Age technology. He invoked the Emperor and numerous Primarchs as witnesses to his loyalty, then warned that the Mechanicum representatives risked being abandoned as scapegoats by whoever had sent them.

• Kelbor-Hal and the other two Archmagos entered Lorgar's conference room and performed the Adeptus Mechanicus greeting while Rockefeller stood by the door.
• Lorgar reproached Rockefeller for frightening their guests, then asked Kelbor why the three had come from Mars and suggested their concern was the destroyed STC Templates on Kiavahr.
• Lorgar offered a forceful apology on behalf of the Word Bearers, making clear that the matter was settled on his terms.
• Lorgar raised the issue of his alleged research and use of Dark Age technology, citing the Emperor, Lion El'Jonson, his Primarch brothers, Malcador, and Valdor as witnesses to his loyalty.
• Lorgar challenged the Archmagos to consider whether their superior's judgment outranked the Emperor's, then warned that they could be punished as scapegoats whether their mission succeeded or failed.

Lorgar offered Kelbor-Hal forbidden knowledge, freedom, and power in exchange for his cooperation, then sent him and his companions back to Mars to make their choice. Afterward, Lorgar revealed a second safeguard as gray smoke seeped into the departing visitors through tiny gaps in their bodies.

• Lorgar laid out Kelbor-Hal’s bleak prospects under Mars and offered him everything he desired in return for choosing a new path.
• Lorgar warned Kelbor-Hal that he expected him to give Mars an appropriate account of their meeting, then ordered Rockefeller to escort the visitors out.
• Kelbor-Hal, Armstrong, and Alexeyevich left the Law of Faith under the watchful eyes of its Legion warriors and departed aboard their transport.
• Rockefeller asked what Lorgar would do if Kelbor-Hal reported the meeting truthfully, and Lorgar said he expected Kelbor-Hal to comply.
• Lorgar mentioned a second safeguard, while gray smoke slipped through nanoscale gaps into Kelbor-Hal and his companions aboard the transport.

Oll Persson arrived on Colchis hoping to retire in peace, but the hive world’s housing costs stunned him. He ended the chapter learning that even a modest Upper Hive villa would require an enormous mortgage.

• Oll Persson arrived on Colchis with his Imperial Army pension and ten million Throne Gelt, seeking a quiet place to retire.
• Colchis officials approved Oll Persson’s residency after checking his military record and possessions.
• Oll Persson’s application to buy private land was rejected because all available land was reserved for hive expansion, industry, or the Legion.
• An agent showed Oll Persson a detached villa in the Upper Hive, which he decided he liked.
• Oll Persson learned the villa cost two hundred thousand Throne Gelt per square meter and was offered a repayment agreement.

Lorgar’s Word Bearers conquered the Barlos Star System and secured its Dark Age technology for Valkyrie’s research Fleet. As Lorgar began planning for the Horus Heresy, Rogal Dorn contacted him to demand an accounting.

• The Word Bearers crushed the Renewal Compact and Pure Legacy, killed both sides’ leaders, and imposed Imperial rule on Barlos.
• The Word Bearers and Tech-Priests took control of Barlos as they restored order and shipped valuable STC templates and relics to Valkyrie’s private research Fleet.
• Lorgar considered the Luna Wolves exchange warriors and began planning how to prepare for and limit the coming Horus Heresy.
• Rogal Dorn contacted Lorgar on the Law of Faith’s command link and said he had come to hold him to account.

Rogal Dorn confronted Lorgar over his growing military, political, and technological power, demanding explanations and a detailed report. Perturabo interrupted the call to offer Lorgar help, prompting Dorn to suspect that he was involved too.

• Rogal Dorn accused Lorgar of building a private faction, currency, armies, intelligence network, and independent rule over Colchis while withholding STC technology.
• Dorn cited Lion El'Jonson's support for Lorgar and Angron and Curze's refusal to answer, but interpreted their reactions as further cause for suspicion.
• Dorn demanded a verifiable report detailing Lorgar's fleets, military resources, technological holdings, and administration of Colchis.
• Perturabo joined the call, said Lion El'Jonson had told him Dorn was targeting Lorgar, and asked whether Lorgar needed his help.
• Rogal Dorn turned on Perturabo and asked whether he had been involved too.

Perturabo defended Lorgar against Dorn’s suspicions, but Malcador revealed that the Emperor had ordered Dorn to stop investigating. Dorn secured permission to station Imperial Fists with the Word Bearers, and the chapter ended with Lorgar alone, contemplating the future.

• Perturabo declared that Lorgar was under his protection and challenged Dorn’s accusation of disloyalty.
• Dorn said he would appeal to the Emperor, but Malcador appeared and told him the Emperor had ordered him to stop investigating the matter.
• Dorn accepted the order but requested a company of Imperial Fists for long-term exchanges and joint garrison duties with the Word Bearers.
• Lorgar welcomed the Imperial Fists, and Dorn warned him not to repeat the “Saladin” incident before ending the call.
• Perturabo thanked Lorgar for his help with the Hrud and offered assistance fortifying Colchis; Malcador then ended the communication.
• Lorgar remained alone in the communications room, quietly watching the dark screen and contemplating the future.

Pei Min fought alongside the White Scars as they broke an Ork attack, earning the warriors’ respect with his twin swords. After the battle, the Legion shared food and songs until Jaghatai Khan appeared among them.

• The White Scars charged through the Orks’ defense line with Land Speeders and modified Land Raiders, then plunged into the enemy ranks.
• Pei Min, a Word Bearers exchange student, cut through Orks with his twin Power Swords as the White Scars followed his advance.
• The White Scars routed the Orks after killing their greater bosses, and their warriors praised Pei Min’s fighting.
• The warriors cooked food, drank butter tea, and sang an ancient Chogorian song together.
• Jaghatai Khan appeared among the seated Legionaries as the song ended.

Pei Min reflected on the White Scars’ blend of savagery and refinement as he joined their victory feast with Jaghatai Khan and Ding Xiu. After the celebration, the Khan ordered Ding Xiu and Pei Min to lead their companies to Suiyang and support the beleaguered defenders against a widespread rebellion.

• Jaghatai Khan approached Pei Min at the bonfire and noted that he had adjusted to life in the Legion.
• Pei Min described the White Scars as a Legion where battlefield savagery and cultural refinement coexisted, prompting hearty laughter from the warriors.
• Ding Xiu invited Pei Min and Jaghatai Khan to drink, and the Khan joined the victory celebration.
• After the feast, an urgent briefing reported that rebels had occupied much of Suiyang and trapped local defenders in a handful of cities.
• Jaghatai Khan ordered Ding Xiu and Pei Min to ready their companies and depart for the Suiyang System to assess the situation and aid the defenders.

Khorne cultists attacked Suiyang's last Hive City, using blood-tainted shells and a Daemon Prince to break the defenders' lines. The Daemon Prince slaughtered the Imperial Army in the central plaza, beginning the countdown to the city's fall.

• Millions of exhausted Imperialis Militia soldiers prepared to defend the Hive City as a vast crowd of fanatical cultists advanced, chanting for Khorne.
• The defenders opened fire, but blood shells contaminated Imperial soldiers and drove them to attack their own comrades, forcing a retreat to the second Defense Line.
• The cultists broke through the main gate, and a Three-Headed Monster tore apart a Leman Russ Tank before plasma troops brought it down.
• The monster's blood burst into a force field that killed more than a hundred soldiers and formed a towering, blood-armored Daemon Prince.
• The Daemon Prince massacred the defenders and civilians in the plaza, shattered the makeshift Defense Line, and marked the beginning of Suiyang's Hive City's fall.

Ding Xiu and Pei Min led the White Scars into Suiyang, where rebel antiaircraft fire and a Daemon Prince ambushed their Stormbirds. Pei Min leapt from his gunship, wounded the daemon, and severed its wings, but both fell toward the burning hive city.

• Ding Xiu and Pei Min led over a thousand White Scars aboard Stormbirds toward Suiyang to answer its call for aid.
• Rebel antiaircraft fire struck the formation, and a Daemon Prince attacked, destroying a Stormbird with its battle-axe.
• The Daemon Prince charged Pei Min's gunship, but Pei Min leapt out and stabbed its eyes with his twin power swords.
• Pei Min clung to the Daemon Prince and repeatedly struck its face, neck, and wing joints while evading its claws.
• Pei Min severed the Daemon Prince's wings, and both fell toward the burning hive city.

Pei Min survived his fall and reached the Imperial command post, where he reunited with Ding Xiu and learned that the enemy’s strength and blood-red psychic energy pointed to a threat beyond an ordinary rebellion. Ding Xiu planned an elite assault on the source of the contamination in the Upper Hive, and Pei Min agreed to join him.

• Pei Min recovered from his fall, confirmed his weapons were intact, and learned from the militia that no other creature had been found with him.
• Pei Min ordered the soldiers to escort him to their command post so he could assess the battle and report the red monster to the Primarch.
• Pei Min reached the command post and reunited with Ding Xiu, who explained that the Imperial forces had lost fifty Battle-Brothers and faced strange blood-mist shells and crazed soldiers.
• Ding Xiu identified the heart of the Upper Hive as the suspected enemy command node and source of contamination, then proposed leading an elite assault there.
• Pei Min accepted Ding Xiu’s invitation and prepared to help uncover what the red flying brute was.

Ding Xiu and Pei Min prepared to lead a fifty-warrior assault behind enemy lines, and Pei Min described Lady Anna as indispensable to Lorgar. Meanwhile, the wounded Daemon Prince Rahn received Khorne’s command to capture Pei Min alive and then kill him, and forged a new sword for the hunt.

• Ding Xiu and Pei Min finalized the assault plan and boarded the Stormbirds with their team and fighter escort.
• Ding Xiu asked Pei Min about Lorgar’s relationship with Lady Anna, and Pei Min called her Lorgar’s important companion and someone he could not do without.
• Ding Xiu rallied the assault team, and the Stormbirds prepared to take off in the name of Chogoris.
• Rahn killed a slave and used the blood to heal and strengthen his wounded body.
• Khorne’s revelation ordered Rahn to capture Lorgar’s son alive, bring him to the altar, and sever his head.
• Rahn forged a powerful blood-and-psychic-energy sword and began preparing to hunt Pei Min.

Ding Xiu, Pei Min, and their assault force approached Suiyang's Hive City, where the Rebel Forces had built heavy air defenses and a grotesque skull cannon. Riken destroyed the cannon in a suicidal crash, clearing the Stormbirds' path to land.

• Ding Xiu prepared for battle as Pei Min directed the Stormbirds toward a landing site near the old governor's palace.
• Rebel antiaircraft weapons ambushed the formation, and Riken led nine Thunderbolts to destroy several gun emplacements and missile teams.
• Riken's squadron spotted a blood-shrouded skull cannon that fired branching jets of corrosive energy and brought down one Thunderbolt.
• With the cannon recharging and blocking the Stormbirds' approach, Riken ordered his wingmen to cover the gunships and rammed the weapon.
• Riken's fighter exploded against the skull cannon, destroying it and clearing the Stormbirds' landing path.

Pei Min and Ding Xiu led fifty Space Marines through a Chaos-corrupted Hive City toward its central Palace, where the Daemon Prince Rahn ambushed them. The White Scars suffered heavy losses as Rahn overwhelmed Ding Xiu and cut down their warriors.

• Pei Min and Ding Xiu honored the Mortal pilot who had sacrificed himself to destroy an enemy aircraft as their Stormbirds approached the landing zone.
• Ding Xiu and Pei Min deployed fifty warriors and twenty-five Land Speeders, then led a charge through the Chaos worshippers toward the Palace.
• Rahn descended into the plaza, destroyed two Land Speeders, and fixed his attention on Pei Min.
• Pei Min leaped toward Rahn while Ding Xiu charged him with his Zhanmadao, but Rahn barely gave ground before hurling Ding Xiu into rubble.
• Rahn seized a Land Speeder and threw it into the White Scars, then struck Ding Xiu into silence and cut down more than fifteen warriors with a single sweep.

Pei Min fought Rahn to the brink of death, and the bloodstained Lectitio Divinitatus suddenly unleashed a golden storm that burned the demon. A golden figure comforted Pei Min as he lost consciousness, then the golden power took control of his body and made him stand.

• Pei Min used his twin Power Swords to hold off Rahn, but his injuries and failing strength left him increasingly vulnerable.
• Rahn shattered Pei Min's right-hand Power Sword and breastplate, then kicked him into rubble, leaving him near death beside his fallen Lectitio Divinitatus.
• Pei Min murmured a prayer from the Lectitio Divinitatus as Rahn approached to deliver the killing blow.
• A breeze turned the book's pages, which blazed with golden light and formed a vast storm around Rahn and Pei Min.
• The golden figure reassured Pei Min that he had kept faith with his oath, and Pei Min fell into a deep slumber.
• The golden power took control of Pei Min and made him stand.

Lorgar possessed Pei Min and overwhelmed Daemon Prince Rahn, destroying the Khorne altar and purifying the square. After Lorgar looked toward the Warp, his power withdrew, and Pei Min collapsed, exhausted and bewildered.

• Lorgar took control of Pei Min's body, caught Rahn's Greatsword, and hurled Rahn through the Palace walls.
• Lorgar appeared beside Rahn, crushed his head into the floor, tore off his wings, and stopped his attempted escape.
• Lorgar carried Rahn to the altar, declared that Khorne should prepare for his arrival, and tore off Rahn's head.
• Lorgar kicked apart the altar and used golden flames to burn away its blood, bones, and profane markings.
• Lorgar looked toward the Warp as his golden light faded, and Pei Min collapsed.