Recaps

Akurduana revealed that the bombardment of Olympia was deliberate and tried to persuade Lucius and Chelast to join the traitors. When they refused, he drew his Laer Blade and attacked them, beginning a fight to the death between master and pupils.

• Lucius asked Akurduana to help persuade the Primarch to stop the bombardment, but Akurduana said the intelligence was not faulty.
• Tarvitz and Chelast reached for their swords as Akurduana drew the Laer Blade and urged Lucius and Chelast to join him.
• Lucius denounced Akurduana's betrayal and pointed his power sword at his former master.
• Akurduana taunted Lucius about the swordsmanship he had taught him, then challenged Lucius and Chelast to show what they had learned.
• Akurduana attacked Lucius, Chelast, and Tarvitz with a lightning-fast thrust toward Lucius's throat.

Lucius and Chelast fought Akurduana to keep him from stopping Tarvitz from warning the ground forces. After Lucius wounded Akurduana, their former master recognized them as worthy opponents and prepared to continue the fight.

• Lucius ordered Tarvitz to warn the ground forces while he and Chelast held off Akurduana, but Akurduana intercepted Tarvitz and kicked him down.
• Akurduana urged Lucius to surrender, but Lucius refused and renewed his attack.
• Lucius told Tarvitz to take a rear route through the Gladiatorial Arena to reach the hangar, while he and Chelast blocked Akurduana's pursuit.
• Lucius and Chelast fought Akurduana together, and Lucius's parry left a shallow cut across Akurduana's face.
• Akurduana laughed at the wound, praised Lucius and Chelast, and challenged them to show how much further they could go.

Saul Tarvitz fought his way to a Stormbird and escaped the Pride of the Emperor to warn Perturabo that Fulgrim planned to attack Olympia with Virus Bombs. As Tarvitz entered the atmosphere, he saw the White Scars fleet attacking the Iron Warriors and realized they had turned traitor too.

• Tarvitz killed the legionaries guarding the hangar, seized a Bolter, and fought his way to a Stormbird.
• Tarvitz launched the Stormbird as the Pride of the Emperor's Swordtail Interceptors pursued him and fired missiles, damaging his left wing.
• Tarvitz entered Olympia's atmosphere and warned Perturabo and the Iron Warriors that Fulgrim had betrayed them and planned to use Virus Bombs against Olympia.
• Tarvitz saw the White Scars fleet attack the Iron Warriors' ships and declared that the White Scars had turned traitor too.

The White Scars betrayed the Iron Warriors, and Bahadett Vort ordered the Iron Blood and surviving ships to fight back. With Jaghatai and Fulgrim coordinating their forces against Perturabo, the Iron Blood faced an impending battle against both Legions.

• Bahadett Vort identified the White Scars' attack as a deliberate betrayal and ordered the Iron Warriors to return fire and raise their void shields.
• The Iron Blood's weapons destroyed several enemy warships while Vort sent mobile Iron Warriors ships away through short-range Warp jumps.
• Jaghatai's flagship, the Blade Storm, joined the battle and evaded the Iron Blood's guns with its speed and maneuverability.
• Fulgrim told Jaghatai that his Fleet group had arrived and moved his Emperor's Children ships toward the fighting Iron Warriors.
• Vort saw the Emperor's Children approaching and braced for the Iron Warriors to face both Legions.

Perturabo rushed the loyalist forces into a fortress to shelter from the Virus Bombs, then left to find Tarvitz. In orbit, Fulgrim ordered the Emperor’s Children fleet to raze Olympia.

• Perturabo ordered the Iron Warriors, Emperor’s Children, and White Scars into a captured fortress and warned them to seal its airtight doors against Virus Bombs.
• Perturabo left Calliphone and the others behind, saying he would bring Tarvitz back from Olympia’s wilderness.
• Aboard the Pride of the Emperor, Fulgrim mocked Perturabo and Olympia as Eidolon reported that the Virus Bombs and orbital weapons were ready.
• Fulgrim ordered the fleet to raze Olympia, and the Emperor’s Children warships aimed their guns at the planet.

Fulgrim began a deliberate orbital bombardment of Olympia, intending to give the Iron Warriors hope of shelter before destroying them with virus bombs. As civilians fled into an underground shelter, Booker held its gate open until everyone was inside, then died outside as the bombardment struck.

• Fulgrim ordered traitor warships to bombard Olympia with repeated lance strikes before unleashing virus bombs.
• Orbital lances devastated Olympia, destroying cities, fortresses, and defenses.
• As the shelter gate descended, Booker braced it open so the remaining civilians could get inside.
• Booker revealed his life-support unit was damaged and refused to enter, saying he would only burden the others.
• Booker lowered the gate, stayed outside to shield the entrance, and died amid the bombardment while the survivors bowed in silence.

On Olympia, Andreas struggled to rescue the wounded Iron Warriors brother Deans and Loyalist Emperor’s Children warrior Percival as a Virus Bomb’s Life-Eater Virus engulfed the battlefield. He dragged them into a ruined fortress basement, where all three were overcome by the black clouds together.

• Andreas found Deans trapped beneath rubble and ignored his pleas to escape before the next bombardment.
• Andreas freed Percival, who introduced himself, then carried Deans and dragged Percival through the wreckage.
• Andreas saw a Virus Bomb release the Life-Eater Virus and found a half-open entrance to a fortress basement.
• Andreas, Deans, and Percival entered the basement and accepted that they would die together.
• The virus clouds surged into the basement and engulfed all three.

Tarvitz’s damaged Stormbird crashed into a fortress, but Perturabo rescued him from the wreckage and carried him to a bunker. There, Tarvitz reunited with Vespasian and the surviving Emperor’s Children, who confirmed that their Legion and Primarch had betrayed the Emperor; Tarvitz said he had come to warn them.

• Tarvitz lost control of his damaged Stormbird when its control stick broke, and the craft crashed into a fortress.
• Tarvitz woke trapped in the wreckage as Lance strikes battered the area.
• Perturabo dug Tarvitz out, carried him across the war-ravaged wasteland, and brought him to a shelter.
• Tarvitz woke in an underground bunker and recognized Vespasian among the Emperor’s Children survivors.
• Vespasian told Tarvitz that their Legion and Primarch had turned traitor and betrayed the Emperor.
• Tarvitz said he already knew and had fled from orbit to warn them.

As the Pride of the Emperor unleashed Virus Bombs on Olympia, Vort prepared to sacrifice the Iron Blood in a final attack. Perturabo ordered him to withdraw, and the Iron Blood escaped in a short-range warp jump as Vort promised its crew they would reclaim Olympia.

• Vort saw the Pride of the Emperor bombing Olympia with Virus Bombs and ordered the Iron Blood to prepare a final attack.
• Fulgrim watched the damaged Iron Blood advance and prepared to order its destruction.
• Perturabo contacted Vort and ordered him to withdraw, insisting that the Iron Blood must be preserved.
• Vort reluctantly obeyed and ordered the Iron Blood to withdraw from Olympia.
• The Iron Blood made a short-range warp jump, and Vort told its Olympian crew that Perturabo would lead them back to reclaim their homeland.

Akurduana overwhelmed Lucius and Chelast, then stabbed Lucius with the Laer Blade to expose him to the Legion lord’s power. Chelast used the Lectitio Divinitatus to drive Akurduana back and escaped with Lucius in a pod, but they were heading toward Olympia, a Death Planet under bombardment and viral attack.

• Akurduana defeated Lucius and Chelast in the corridor and kicked Lucius’s Power Sword away.
• Akurduana pinned Lucius against the wall and pierced his chest with the Laer Blade, pouring purple psychic energy into him.
• Chelast threw the Lectitio Divinitatus at Akurduana, and golden flames engulfed him as the psychic energy withdrew from Lucius.
• Chelast carried the wounded Lucius to an escape pod and launched it from the Pride of the Emperor.
• Chelast and Lucius escaped the traitors’ flagship but headed toward Olympia amid orbital bombardment and a viral attack.

Fulgrim extinguished the flames burning Akurduana and ordered a more perfect body made for him. After the White Scars and Iron Warriors battle ended, Fulgrim and Jaghatai discussed their next moves, and Fulgrim ordered Eidolon to continue attacking Olympia before departing on personal business.

• Fulgrim used Ferrus Manus's sword to extinguish the golden flames covering Akurduana, then ordered a Raven Guard warrior to take him away and arrange a new body.
• Fulgrim returned to the Bridge and saw that the White Scars had lost forty percent of their warships while the Iron Warriors had lost eighty percent.
• Jaghatai told Fulgrim that the White Scars would intercept the Dark Angels, and Fulgrim said he would leave part of his Fleet attacking Olympia while deciding where to go next.
• Jaghatai ended the call after wishing Fulgrim an encounter with the Word Bearers' main Fleet.
• Fulgrim ordered Eidolon to continue attacking Olympia, then left the Bridge to attend to matters personally.

Perturabo regrouped with the surviving commanders beneath Olympia after the orbital bombardment paused, learned how badly their forces had been depleted, and planned to use the planet’s defenses to repel the traitors. He left the survivors preparing to turn Olympia into a grave for any enemy who landed.

• Calliphone embraced Perturabo in the underground fortress, and he reassured her that no one would hurt her.
• Perturabo gathered with Frix, Vespasian, Rylanor, and Tarvitz around a map of Olympia while the bombardment temporarily paused.
• Vespasian reported that 5,905 Emperor’s Children remained, and Frix estimated that fewer than 70,000 of Perturabo’s forces were still deployable.
• Frix told Perturabo that the traitors had blocked long-range communications, preventing them from reporting the betrayal.
• Perturabo ordered the survivors to use Olympia’s fortresses, trenches, cover, and Anti-Aircraft Positions to make the planet a killing ground for the traitors.

Ding Xiu and the surviving White Scars took shelter from an orbital bombardment on Olympia and planned to regroup with Perturabo’s Iron Warriors. Resenting Ding Xiu’s command, Zha Jintai secretly bargained with Eidolon to trade the survivors’ location for extraction and a return to his Legion.

• Ding Xiu learned that fewer than six hundred White Scars remained and that Pei Min had seventy warriors left.
• Zha Jintai urged the warriors to leave their shelter and fight, but Ding Xiu stopped Pei Min from confronting him and planned to find Perturabo’s Iron Warriors after the bombardment.
• Zha Jintai brooded over Ding Xiu’s authority and secretly contacted Eidolon using an encrypted communicator.
• Zha Jintai offered the location, numbers, and firepower of the remaining White Scars in exchange for extraction from Olympia and a return to his Legion.
• Eidolon agreed to send an extraction team before the next night, and Zha Jintai accepted the deal before hiding the communicator.

Zha Jintai met Acorian to defect to the Emperor's Children, but Ding Xiu and Pei Min confronted him before he could give the coordinates. The two sides prepared to fight, with Ding Xiu facing thirteen Court Swordsmen while Pei Min charged Zha Jintai.

• Zha Jintai crossed the ruined wasteland to meet Acorian and the Emperor's Children, intending to give them the coordinates and escape Olympia.
• Acorian welcomed Zha Jintai and asked for the coordinates, but Ding Xiu and Pei Min appeared and accused him of betrayal.
• Zha Jintai defended his choice and accused Ding Xiu and Pei Min of betraying the Primarch, the Legion, and the Warmaster.
• Acorian ordered his thirteen Court Swordsmen to attack Pei Min, but Ding Xiu stepped forward to protect him and took on the swordsmen himself.
• Ding Xiu told Pei Min to kill Zha Jintai, and Pei Min and Zha Jintai charged at each other.

Ding Xiu and Pei Min defeated the Court Swordsmen and Zha Jintai, while Perturabo arrived and killed Acorian. Perturabo ordered the surviving White Scars into the bunker to discuss matters with him.

• Ding Xiu cut down the Court Swordsmen who attacked him and killed all thirteen.
• Pei Min fought Zha Jintai, endured his Chainspear assault, then broke the weapon and killed him with a sword thrust.
• Pei Min mourned Zha Jintai’s betrayal and returned his swords to their scabbards.
• Perturabo arrived as Ding Xiu advanced on Acorian, then crushed Acorian in one hand.
• Perturabo urgently ordered Ding Xiu and Pei Min into the bunker because he had things to discuss with them.

Perturabo gathered the surviving Loyalist commanders and laid out a plan to turn Olympia into an interconnected underground fortress, warning that reinforcements might never arrive. As he continued designing the defenses, he sensed his soul and engineering abilities growing stronger; meanwhile, Fulgrim looked toward Greater Ultramar and wondered how Ferrus Manus was faring.

• Perturabo showed the commanders Olympia’s vast underground network and proposed linking its fortresses and repairing its anti-orbital weapons.
• The officers pledged themselves to Perturabo’s command despite the slim chance that reinforcements would come.
• Back in his workshop, Perturabo felt his soul becoming whole and found that he could solve engineering problems with extraordinary ease.
• Perturabo sketched the fortress complex and its defenses, using his newfound abilities to improve Olympia’s chances of survival.
• Aboard the Pride of the Emperor, Fulgrim reflected that the slaughter on Olympia was over and wondered how Ferrus Manus was faring in Greater Ultramar.

Calth prepared to honor Ferrus Manus and the Iron Hands for their victory over a xenos empire, unaware that Ferrus planned to attack the planet. As the joyful Triumph Ceremony approached, Ferrus ordered his fleet to execute the Battle Plan.

• Calth's citizens celebrated the coming Triumph Ceremony honoring the Iron Hands and their victory over the xenos empire.
• Marius Gage and Aerion coordinated the ceremony, while Ferrus Manus prepared to lead his warriors through Calth's largest city.
• Ferrus Manus watched Calth from the Iron Fist and regarded its people and cities as targets to destroy.
• Ferrus Manus ordered his officers to execute the Battle Plan against Calth.

Iron Hands warriors released the Mechanical Virus into Calth’s underground city while recruit Cailon celebrated his hundredth day as a Space Marine recruit among the civilians he hoped to protect. Ferrus Manus watched from orbit as the virus spread, poised to turn those people into enemies.

• Two Iron Hands warriors released an odorless Mechanical Virus mist into Calth’s underground city and left to deploy more canisters.
• Cailon walked through Calth’s celebrating crowds on the hundredth day since his eighteenth surgery, carrying gifts from grateful civilians.
• Cailon reflected on his coming nineteenth surgery and his wish to become a full Space Marine and protect Calth’s people.
• The virus spread through the civilians as Cailon enjoyed their affection, unaware that Ferrus Manus was watching from orbit.

Ferrus Manus used chaos scrapcode to cripple Calth's Orbital Defense Platform without Adeptus Mechanicus Sage Trick noticing. He prepared to lead the Iron Hands in a swift assault on Calth, where the planet's people were still celebrating his expected arrival.

• A Mortals officer showed Trick anomalous readings from the Orbital Defense Platform, and Trick dismissed them as Solar Flare interference.
• Ferrus Manus's chaos scrapcode secretly disabled the platform's systems, leaving its weapons and void shields unable to function.
• Ferrus Manus armed himself with a warhammer and formed a suit of black nanometal armor designed to turn him into a walking weapons platform.
• Ferrus Manus told the Iron Hands officers to follow him and boarded a shuttle bound for Calth.
• Ferrus Manus planned to overwhelm the Ultramarines and prevent Calth's people from escaping as his shuttle plunged toward the planet.

Ferrus Manus led the Iron Hands’ victory parade through Calth as a metal plague transformed the cheering crowds into murderous war machines. With the Ultramarines overwhelmed and the city falling, Ferrus ordered the war to begin.

• Ferrus Manus and a thousand Iron Hands marched through Calth while the Ultramarines and mortal militia kept order.
• Two mortal soldiers on security duty developed itching eyes and severe stomach pain as the parade began.
• The people of Calth transformed into metal creatures, and the metal tide spread through the city.
• The Ultramarines tried to defend civilians, but the monsters overwhelmed their lines and killed many Space Marines.
• Ferrus Manus ordered the war to begin as the transformed creatures hunted the remaining survivors.

Calth's Orbital Defense Platform came under attack during the Triumph Ceremony as destruction spread through the station. The Iron Hands Legion revealed itself as the attacker and destroyed the platform with a salvo from the Iron Fist.

• Mortals soldiers responded to the alarms and saw metal monsters rampaging through Calth's underground cities.
• Explosions tore through the Orbital Defense Platform, and an officer ordered sectors sealed despite survivors being trapped inside.
• The platform's gravity system failed as explosions and damage disabled most of its weapons and communications.
• A soldier spotted the Iron Fist bearing the Iron Hands' Legion insignia and mistook it for a defender.
• The Iron Fist fired its Lance Battery at the Orbital Defense Platform, engulfing it in flames and destroying it.

Marius Gage ordered the Ultramarines to abandon Calth after Ferrus Manus and the metal monsters overran the planet. The surviving forces escaped as three rearguard cruisers headed for Calth’s sun to destroy the system.

• Gage declared Calth lost and ordered the surviving Ultramarines to evacuate while their communications remained cut off.
• Gage covered the last warriors boarding a Stormbird and saw Ferrus Manus watching him from amid the mechanical tide.
• Gage boarded the final Stormbird, which escaped Calth as Ultramarines warships fought the Iron Hands in orbit.
• Three Ultramarines cruisers overloaded their reactors and headed toward Calth’s sun to destroy the system.

Ferrus Manus used the Key of Hell to resurrect the Iron Hands and other dead on Calth, then began building factories powered by billions of souls. With Mechanical Interstellar Space Marines entering production, he set his sights on conquering Ultramar and the Imperium.

• The stellar storm melted Calth’s surface and destroyed the Iron Hands, Ultramarines, and other beings caught in its flames.
• Ferrus Manus struck Calth with his Warhammer, releasing the Key of Hell’s power and resurrecting the Iron Hands, the dead buried underground, and fallen Ultramarines as metal-altered soldiers.
• Ferrus Manus confirmed his bargain with Vashtorr, who promised to provide armies, weapons, and technology in exchange for their agreement.
• The Iron Fist dropped black Cubes onto Calth, where they transformed into factories that consumed metal and souls to manufacture warriors.
• Ferrus Manus watched the first Mechanical Interstellar Space Marines emerge and vowed to use Calth as the starting point for conquering Ultramar and the Imperium.

Rockefeller placed Colchis and the Millennium 1000 Worlds under martial law and mobilized their forces after learning that nine Legions would turn traitor. At the Eternal Fire Project, Anna ordered 1.75 million equipped Space Marines thawed and prepared for battle, while the wider defense of Colchis continued to assemble.

• Rockefeller invoked the Colchis Star System Defense Line Act, imposing martial law and directing recruitment, conscription, and round-the-clock war production across the Millennium 1000 Worlds.
• Rockefeller requisitioned Rogue Traders’ ships and redeployed the Superstar and the Blackstone Fortress Fleet Group to strengthen Colchis’s defenses.
• Anna asked Valkyrie how many Space Marines could be deployed, and he explained that equipment was available for only 1.75 million of the several million candidates in cryostasis.
• Anna ordered Valkyrie to thaw and equip the 1.75 million Space Marines so they could be sent into battle.
• Valkyrie began issuing orders, and the cryochambers lit up as the sleeping warriors prepared to awaken.

At Colchis Orbital Dock Four, Johnny and Oll Persson met Dolly, a friendly Beastman whose devoted faith in Lorgar had won him friends in the 48th Army. Their meal was interrupted by the announcement that Commander Doram had arrived.

• Johnny and Oll Persson joined the 48th Army's lavish meal distribution aboard the Yukikaze as they awaited an approaching war.
• Dolly asked to join Johnny and Oll Persson, and they introduced themselves over their meal.
• Dolly shared his worn, handwritten copy of the Lectitio Divinitatus and explained that he recited it nightly and prayed for the Emperor and Lorgar.
• A voice announced that Commander Doram had arrived, calling everyone in the mess hall to rise.