Recaps

Sigismund fought Hercules in a brutal arena duel, enduring crushing blows and refusing to surrender. Their final clash shattered Sigismund’s sword and left him dead, while Hercules suffered a small cut.

• Sigismund abandoned his usual defensive stance and dodged Hercules’s opening strike, but was driven back after blocking the follow-up sweep.
• Hercules urged Sigismund to surrender, but Sigismund rose through his injuries and declared that the Imperial Fists fought to the death and never retreated.
• Sigismund attacked, exchanging more than a dozen blows with Hercules as his weapon cracked and his body grew bloodied, yet he continued fighting.
• Sigismund and Hercules committed to one final attack, and their weapons collided in a devastating burst that shattered Sigismund’s sword.
• Sigismund collapsed and died, while Hercules discovered a thin cut on his cheek.

Hercules won the gladiatorial contest and was recognized by the Emperor as an extraordinary variable. The Emperor asked Lorgar for Hercules’s blood, and Lorgar negotiated for administrative support and freedom from Martian interference before leaving after the Emperor teased him about his secrets and urged him to spend time with Horus.

• Hercules was declared the victor and left the arena for the Law of Faith to recuperate.
• The Emperor summoned Lorgar to a private garden and asked how Hercules had been made.
• Lorgar claimed Hercules’s strength came from a genetic mutation and demanded a vialion of his blood for research.
• Lorgar asked the Emperor for at least a hundred thousand experienced administrators and protection from Adeptus Mechanicus interference.
• The Emperor threatened to expose Lorgar’s secrets involving Anna, prompting Lorgar to storm out.
• The Emperor advised Lorgar to spend more time with Horus, and Lorgar told him to piss off.

The Word Bearers launched a coordinated purge of the Cabal, beginning with a raid on a gathering of Kadora nobles and expanding across multiple worlds. The operation continued as Lorgar Aurelian targeted the Cabal within the Imperium while Horus fought the orks beyond it.

• Word Bearers soldiers stormed a mansion in Kadora’s Upper Hive and arrested nobles caught conspiring with the Cabal.
• The nobles confessed and revealed the Cabal’s contacts, meeting places, and funding routes.
• The Word Bearers used the information to coordinate raids across the sector and other Imperial territories, capturing Cabal agents and destroying their strongholds.
• Word Bearers Space Marines directed the purge, while loyal Holy Word Army soldiers carried out arrests and attacks.
• Horus led the campaign against the orks as Lorgar Aurelian focused his Legion on rooting out the Cabal within the Imperium.

Lorgar praised Gian Pietro Carafa for completing a purge of Cabal networks around the Colchis Star System and approved his proposal to create a Tribunal force for covert purges. Carafa left to draft regulations, while Lorgar kept the new force under his oversight.

• Gian Pietro Carafa reported that the Tribunal had purged identified Cabal sites and sympathizer networks in the Colchis Star System and a three-jump radius.
• Lorgar praised Carafa and offered him a reward, but Carafa asked only to continue purging heretics.
• Carafa warned that large Holy Word Army deployments could weaken conventional defenses and draw attention, then proposed recruiting a secret force directly controlled by the Tribunal and Lorgar.
• Lorgar approved the proposal and ordered Carafa to draft regulations for his review.
• Carafa departed, pledging obedience and promising to keep the new force under Lorgar's control.

Scharnhorst crew members investigated strange nighttime thuds in the ventilation ducts and discovered that the sounds came from a Dwarf running through the passages. The Dwarf angrily confronted them after Hansen broke open a duct panel and Toby nearly struck him.

• Rann complained about recurring thuds in the ducts, while Old Pipe told the rookies a frightening story about creatures lurking there.
• Hansen led Marns, Gerst, Toby, and other crew members into the ventilation network to investigate the noise.
• The crew heard rapid footsteps and chased the agile, unseen figure through the ducts.
• Hansen smashed open a duct panel with his crowbar, and a short, heavily equipped figure fell into the junction chamber.
• Toby swung his iron pipe wildly but missed as the figure dodged; the crew then saw that he was a Dwarf.
• The Dwarf stood up and angrily berated the crew, especially Toby, for nearly hitting him.

Lorgar met Grom Ironanvil, a furious Dwarf discovered in the Scharnhorst’s ventilation network, and teased him about his size and hiding place. The encounter ended with Hercules mistaking Grom for a dirty, moving ball, leaving Grom on the verge of another outburst.

• Rockefeller reported that the crew had found Grom Ironanvil in the Scharnhorst’s ventilation network after hearing noises and pursuing him.
• Lorgar joked that Grom was a child and asked Rockefeller where the Legion had found him.
• Grom angrily introduced himself and insisted that the ship’s passages were corridors, not ventilation ducts.
• Lorgar and Rockefeller recognized Grom as a Dwarf, and Lorgar continued teasing him about it.
• Hercules entered, pointed at Grom, and asked Lorgar where he had found the dirty, moving ball.

Grom Anvil’s furious confrontation with Hercules ended when Lorgar stopped the Space Marine and questioned whether the dwarf was an abhuman or a xenos. Grom offered an STC to avoid being thrown back into space, so Lorgar agreed to keep him aboard temporarily and test his usefulness.

• Grom Anvil shouted at Hercules for calling him a ball, then struck Hercules’s knee without causing any damage.
• Hercules nearly stepped on Grom, but Lorgar stopped him and lifted the dwarf onto an obsidian desk.
• Lorgar asked Grom whether he considered himself an abhuman or a xenos, and Grom guessed that his people might count as abhumans because they had traded with humans.
• Lorgar threatened to send Grom back into space, prompting Grom to offer his skills as a craftsman and claim he could share an STC.
• Lorgar agreed to keep Grom aboard until they verified the STC, and told Rockefeller to arrange a cabin, monitor him, and find him work.

Ferrus Manus chose to replace the ruined bodies of the surviving Morok with advanced mechanical prosthetics, believing that reshaping them in steel would save them from a Dreadnought’s fate. The operation began under Aerion’s direction as an ominous new vision of the Iron Hands took shape.

• Ferrus Manus examined the wounded survivors of the Hrud Campaign and rejected the idea of entombing them in Dreadnoughts.
• Ferrus Manus summoned Aerion and prepared precision-engineered prosthetics from Mars for the injured Morok.
• Ferrus Manus embraced the belief that flesh was weak and steel offered a more perfect, controllable form.
• Ferrus Manus ordered Aerion to begin reshaping the first warrior, and the silent operation commenced.

Corax remained consumed by guilt over Bella’s death until her apparition appeared and comforted him. She said she needed a vessel to return fully and urged him to seek a shadowy power that could help them overcome fate.

• Corax isolated himself in darkness, haunted by the memory of killing Bella and blaming himself for her death.
• Bella’s apparition formed before Corax, and he desperately embraced her despite her incorporeal body.
• Bella told Corax that her lingering shadow would fade unless she found a vessel to hold her soul.
• Bella reassured Corax that he was not to blame and blamed their suffering on cruel fate.
• Bella revealed that she had glimpsed a power beyond reality’s veil and promised it could help Corax protect what he cherished.
• Bella asked Corax to help her find a place to belong, guiding him toward a deeper darkness.

Oll Persson applied to rejoin military service on Colchis because he was broke and struggling with his villa mortgage. He chose the Colchis Auxiliary Army’s 48th Army and was ordered to report to Orbital Port Three in seventy-two hours.

• Oll Persson presented his transfer and reenlistment application at Colchis’s Third Recruitment and Demobilization Administration.
• A clerk discovered Oll Persson’s remarkable service record and asked why he had left the Ultramar Auxilia.
• Oll Persson explained that he needed work and had practical financial difficulties, including a villa mortgage.
• The clerk offered Oll Persson benefits and vacancies, and Oll Persson selected the Colchis Auxiliary Army’s 48th Army.
• The clerk approved Oll Persson’s application and instructed him to report to Muster Zone Seven at Orbital Port Three in seventy-two hours.

Grom Ironanvil examined Lorgar’s Grail-pattern Combat Robot and reluctantly admitted its craftsmanship surpassed that of most Dwarf combat machines. Anna emerged from the laboratory, recognized Grom as a Dwarf from her ancient records, and left him stunned by her presence.

• Grom inspected the Grail robot and praised its design, materials, and Thermal Blade.
• Lorgar told Grom that a friend had helped make the robot and asked how its craftsmanship compared with Dwarf work.
• Grom reluctantly admitted the robot was a little better than most ordinary Dwarf combat machines.
• Anna emerged from the laboratory and identified Grom as a Dwarf using her ancient database.
• Grom sensed Anna’s extraordinary presence, turned toward her, and stared in astonishment.

Grom met Anna, who had optimized the warship’s weapons, armor, and life-support systems for Lorgar. After she mocked Grom’s technical abilities and threatened to set Hercules on him, Anna left, declaring that he was ten thousand years behind.

• Lorgar teased Grom for staring at Anna, and Grom demanded to know where Lorgar had found her.
• Anna handed Lorgar a Dataslate containing her warship upgrades and asked to see his hidden research materials as compensation.
• Lorgar thanked Anna for her work but refused her request, saying he had business to attend to.
• Grom muttered that Lorgar and Anna were sickeningly sweet, and Anna threatened to make Hercules use him as a target.
• Anna mocked Grom’s attempt to understand or reproduce her Battle Automaton technology, called him ten thousand years behind, and left.

Johnny sneaked out of camp to buy cigarettes and persuaded an ordinary-looking passerby to run the errand for him. He learned the man was Major General Leki and was summoned to command headquarters, while Sergeant Dragovich threatened him with a punishing night of training.

• Johnny climbed over the camp wall with two coins and planned to buy his preferred cigarettes and snacks in the settlement.
• Johnny asked a middle-aged passerby to buy the cigarettes for him and gave him a coin as an errand fee.
• The man agreed to go to Old Hark's shop while Johnny waited near the camp wall.
• Sergeant Dragovich burst into Johnny's quarters and ordered him to report to Major General Leki at command headquarters.
• Dragovich told Johnny that the man he had tipped was Major General Leki and threatened him with twenty obstacle-course laps carrying a fifty-kilo load.

Oll Persson arrived at the 48th Army on Sigmar and learned that Sergeant Dragovich’s squad was far from an easy posting. After enduring Dragovich’s pull-up test, Oll earned the sergeant’s respect and a welcome into the unit.

• Oll Persson saw Dragovich drive Johnny through an exhausting run and obstacle course, and reconsidered his plan to coast through service.
• The administrative officer assigned Oll to Dragovich’s platoon, and Dragovich challenged the new arrival to prove himself.
• Oll claimed a personal pull-up best of 960, then followed Dragovich’s repeated “one, two” commands through hundreds of repetitions.
• Oll exhausted himself completing the test, and Dragovich helped him up and welcomed him to the 48th Army of Colchis.

After Ezekyle Abaddon was gravely wounded and left unable to fight at Ullanor, Horus considered how to fill his roles as First Company commander and Four Kings Council member. He summoned Marcus Junius Brutus and told him he would be tested for the temporary appointment.

• Tarik Torgaddon watched over the wounded Abaddon in a recovery pod aboard the Vengeful Spirit.
• Horus told the Four Kings Council that Abaddon would miss Ullanor and that the Legion needed an acting commander to take his place.
• Garviel Loken and Tarik Torgaddon argued that the remaining commanders could share Abaddon's duties, while Little Horus Aximand stressed the need for a clear successor to preserve authority and morale.
• Horus proposed Marcus Junius Brutus as a candidate, and the other commanders considered his record as a veteran and commander of the 42nd Company.
• Horus summoned Brutus to the council chamber and told him he would test whether he could temporarily command the First Company and take Abaddon's place at the council.

Horus appointed Brutus to command the First Company and the Justaerin until Abaddon returned, making the coming Ullanor Crusade his test. After Torgaddon helped Loken confront his doubts about succeeding Sejanus, Loken regained his resolve and suggested visiting the Word Bearers assigned to the tactical simulation area.

• Brutus pledged to obey Horus, and Aximand vouched for his experience and judgment.
• Horus asked Loken's opinion, and Loken supported giving Brutus the opportunity to serve the Legion.
• Horus put Brutus in charge of the First Company and the Justaerin until Abaddon returned, naming the Ullanor Crusade as his test.
• In the corridor, Torgaddon reassured Loken that Sejanus had trusted him to carry on his will, and Loken's resolve returned.
• Loken invited Torgaddon to visit the Word Bearers in the tactical simulation area on the lower decks.

Company Captain Comius observed the Warrior Lodge aboard the Vengeful Spirit with growing concern and reported his findings to Lorgar, who ordered him to investigate its origins. Garviel Loken and Tarik Torgaddon arrived at the training ground, leaving Comius face to face with another Luna Wolves officer wary of the Lodge.

• Comius watched ten Word Bearers Warriors train and reflected on his duty to observe the Luna Wolves for Lorgar.
• Comius considered the Warrior Lodge a threat to the Legion’s hierarchy and recalled refusing Horus’s invitation to join.
• Comius investigated the Lodge’s origins but found only vague links to an ancient custom on Davin.
• Comius grew concerned by rumours of similar secret brotherhoods among the Emperor’s Children and Iron Hands.
• Comius ordered a distracted warrior to focus, then Garviel Loken and Tarik Torgaddon entered the training ground.
• Loken praised the Warriors’ training, and Comius saluted him.

Loken told Comius that Brutus would temporarily take over Abaddon's duties, including his seat on the Four Kings Council, while Abaddon recovered. They discussed the appointment's implications but set those questions aside to focus on the imminent Ullanor Crusade.

• Loken explained that Horus had appointed Brutus to command the First Company and the Justaerin Terminators until Abaddon returned.
• Comius considered what Brutus's appointment might mean for the Legion's power structure.
• Loken asked Comius to assess Brutus, and Comius praised his experience while reserving judgment about his suitability for the larger role.
• Loken said that victory at Ullanor mattered more than internal disputes or doubts, and Comius agreed.

After the Cassandra Remnant Kingdom ambushed and beheaded White Scars warriors, Emir Timur led the 64th Company in a ruthless campaign that crushed its resistance. He ordered the soldiers’ heads placed in orbit around Baghdad as a permanent warning to the survivors and any future betrayers.

• The Cassandra Remnant Kingdom ambushed Imperial envoys and displayed the heads of slain White Scars warriors on its battlements.
• Emir Timur ordered the 64th Company to destroy the kingdom and its military by any effective means.
• The White Scars used raids, infiltration, sabotage, and terror to wear down Cassandra’s forces before crushing its final stronghold in Baghdad.
• Emir Timur ordered his warriors to cut off and collect the heads of the kingdom’s soldiers.
• The White Scars carried the heads into orbit and scattered them into a slowly revolving ring around Baghdad.

Emir Timur and the White Scars breached Baghdad’s defenses and stormed the Palace, declaring themselves the Imperium’s punishment for Cassandra’s betrayal. Timur rejected the king’s surrender and left him maimed as he headed toward the royal treasury.

• The White Scars demolished a long section of Cassandra’s wall and flooded into the city, slaughtering its defenders.
• Emir Timur declared that the Imperium had revoked its mercy and ordered his warriors to crush everything on the way to the Palace core.
• White Scars Predator Tanks cleared a route through the city and blasted open the Palace gates.
• Cassandra’s king offered surrender, but Timur said traitors did not deserve that privilege and sent his vulture to tear apart the king’s face.
• Timur ignored the horrified ministers and guards and walked toward the hidden passage to the royal treasury.

Temur broke into Cassandra’s treasury and claimed a powerful Tiger-Head Warblade as a tribute for Jaghatai Khan. He then ordered the massacre of Cassandra’s surrendered population and commanded his warriors to build a Jingguan from their skulls.

• Temur killed the royal guards, broke into the treasury, and found a Tiger-Head Warblade that stirred a powerful desire in him.
• Temur took the warblade, deciding that Jaghatai Khan deserved to wield it.
• Temur emerged to find Cassandra’s survivors gathered under guard in the palace square.
• Temur rejected his deputy’s plea to let Imperial law judge the surrendering people and ordered everyone killed.
• White Scars, Imperial Guard, and tank crews opened fire, slaughtering the crowd as Temur ordered a Jingguan built from their heads.

Lorgar learned that the rumored STC was hidden deep in the Ghoul Stars, where Grom's Dwarf brothers had failed to reach it and suffered heavy losses. Anna recognized the region as part of a highest-level Dark Age military research exclusion zone and warned that an expedition could end in death or worse.

• Grom revealed the STC's coordinates in the Ghoul Stars after Lorgar threatened him, but admitted he did not know what the relic contained.
• Grom told Lorgar that tens of thousands of Dwarves had pursued the STC, losing three exploration ships and Grom's closest cousin without breaching the ruins' defenses.
• Lorgar weighed whether the unknown STC could justify risking the Word Bearers Legion in the dangerous, poorly understood Ghoul Stars.
• Anna arrived on the Bridge, recognized the coordinates, and identified the region as a γ-7-class top-secret military research exclusion zone from her era.
• Anna warned Lorgar that the zone's defenses, experiments, or escaped creations could kill, transform, or erase everyone who entered.

Anna assured Lorgar she could get his forces safely into the Ghoul Stars, and the Word Bearers Fleet reached the edge of the region. As Lorgar prepared a reconnaissance mission, the Fleet detected a planet moving directly toward them.

• Anna promised Lorgar she could protect his forces and told him to bring Angron and Curze.
• The Law of Faith and a fleet of more than a hundred ships emerged from the Warp at the Ghoul Stars’ edge.
• Lorgar ordered the assault craft and reconnaissance squads to prepare and summoned Grom to help locate the STC ruin.
• A sensor officer reported an enormous planetary-scale object approaching the Fleet at accelerating speed.
• Lorgar turned to face the newly detected moving planet, his composure giving way to grave concern.

Lorgar’s fleet prepared to fire on a colossal silver-white sphere approaching them, but Anna identified it as an ancient security robot and shut it down. The sphere stopped just before it could attack the Word Bearers Fleet.

• Lorgar declared battle stations as the giant unidentified object approached, and the Word Bearers Fleet locked its weapons onto it.
• Anna appeared beside Lorgar and called the object a gatekeeper, then analyzed its structure and systems.
• Anna explained that the sphere was a security robot used to defend secret facilities and consume asteroids or stars for resources.
• The fleet’s officers reported that the sphere was over 1.39 million meters across, closing in rapidly, and charging energy in its tentacle-like openings.
• As Lorgar prepared to order a salvo, Anna said she was done, and the sphere abruptly powered down and stopped moving.

Anna shut down the planet-sized ancient defense machine, then convinced Lorgar to leave it behind and investigate the Dark Age of Technology research base it guarded. Lorgar, Anna, Hercules, Cassios, and Grom landed on the machine and headed toward the base, hoping to recover its knowledge and technology.

• Anna bypassed the giant machine’s security and activated its emergency hibernation protocol.
• Lorgar considered towing the machine back, but Anna argued that the research base behind it held the real treasure.
• Lorgar ordered Seras to keep the fleet on alert and told Hercules to prepare a descent with Grom and Cassios.
• Lorgar’s group landed on an immense metal platform beneath the sphere, where Grom examined the floor in awe.
• Anna led the group toward a massive passageway, calling it the entrance to the treasure vault.