Recaps

Angron sat alone among the war-damaged ruins while the city celebrated victory, and Lorgar urged him to let his Legion experience the peaceful recognition that followed battle. Angron accepted Lorgar’s encouragement and went with him to visit the War Hounds’ quarters and see how Khârn was preparing the warriors.

• Lorgar found Angron sitting alone in the ruins and asked why his warriors were absent from the city’s celebration.
• Angron explained that the War Hounds were used to fighting and saw themselves as the Emperor’s weapon, not as participants in peaceful ceremonies.
• Lorgar told Angron that the Legion might one day learn that its strength could protect as well as destroy.
• Lorgar urged Angron to let Khârn and his warriors attend the celebration and encouraged Angron to go see them.
• Angron rose and followed Lorgar toward the War Hounds’ temporary quarters.

At the War Hounds’ camp, Lorgar Aurelian and Angron watched a gladiatorial bout and the Legion’s fierce celebrations. Angron then ordered his warriors to form up and join the parade.

• Anthony defeated a seasoned veteran in an unarmed contest, and the War Hounds cheered his victory.
• Lorgar Aurelian and Angron arrived at the arena, where the sentries saluted them and Lorgar asked them to relax.
• Lorgar praised the War Hounds’ energy and strength as he watched the warriors celebrate.
• Khârn spotted Angron and called out to him, prompting the Legion to chant for their father.
• Angron silenced the camp and ordered the War Hounds to put away their weapons, form up, and join the parade.

Angron led the War Hounds in a disciplined march through Tians’s parade, where the people cheered them as protectors despite their fearsome appearance. Lorgar explained that the crowd knew the Legion had saved them, leaving Angron newly aware of what his destructive power meant when used to protect humanity.

• Khârn, Anglia, and the other officers swiftly assembled the War Hounds into battle formation and marched them toward Central Celebration Avenue.
• Angron and Lorgar followed the Legion as it advanced toward the city’s parade celebrations.
• The crowd fell silent at the sight of the War Hounds’ blue-and-white armour and Chainaxes, then erupted into cheers after someone recalled that they had destroyed the silver monsters.
• Khârn and Angron were surprised by the crowd’s enthusiastic welcome, while Lorgar explained that the people saw the War Hounds as their protectors.
• Angron listened to the crowd’s gratitude and began to understand how his power could inspire a different response when used to protect people.

The Emperor and Malcador discussed Lorgar Aurelian’s growing influence and the rebellion the Emperor foresaw. As the Word Bearers and War Hounds left Tians, Rockefeller kept the flowers a child had given him and said he was thinking about Father.

• Malcador warned the Emperor that Lorgar’s faith and psychic power could make him vulnerable to the four dark powers in the Warp.
• The Emperor said rebellion would come, though who started it, when it began, and how far it spread remained uncertain.
• After the celebrations on Tians ended, the Word Bearers and War Hounds prepared to depart.
• Rockefeller lingered to watch the people of Tians farewell the warriors and spotted the little girl waving flowers from her mother’s arms.
• Seras noticed the dried white flowers Rockefeller had kept on his armor, and Rockefeller said he was thinking about Father.

During the Great Crusade’s Warp transit, an unknown impact breached the Law of Faith and let a horde of Orks into its lower decks. Hercules led his squad to confront them and launched a preemptive attack, but the surviving Orks charged back in a furious mob.

• Lorgar ordered the crusade fleet into the Warp, and Rockefeller looked back at Tians Prime before the Law of Faith departed.
• Days into the journey, an unknown entity struck the Law of Faith’s lower cargo holds and became wedged in a passage, prompting Lorgar to summon Hercules.
• Hercules led his Fifth Squad and technical crew through the lower decks to remove the obstruction while preparing for possible threats.
• Zadon spotted at least a hundred Orks tearing at pipes ahead, and Hercules ordered the squad to engage.
• Hercules charged the Ork leader and split him in two with his Power Sword, provoking the remaining Orks to roar and surge toward the squad.

Hercules and his squad killed the Orks that had overrun the passage, with Rhys saving Hercules from a Kommando ambush. After the battle, the technical supervisor revealed that the hull breach had not been caused by the Orks but by a strange white craft lodged in the damaged passage.

• Hercules ordered the technicians to take cover and led the squad in fighting the Orks, while Zadon picked off threats from a pipe platform.
• Rhys spotted an Ork Kommando attacking Hercules from above and killed it by throwing a combat knife into its head.
• Hercules and the squad finished off the Orks and declared the passage safe for the technicians to emerge.
• The technical supervisor told Hercules that the Orks had not caused the breach and pointed out a smooth, egg-shaped white craft wedged in the torn hull.

Hercules freed the white egg-shaped craft from the bulkhead, but the Astartes could not find a way to open it. Lorgar opened it with three knocks and found a silver-haired girl inside, leaving the warriors stunned.

• The Techmarines and Engineering Mechs failed to pull the craft free, so Hercules pushed it out of the breach by himself.
• The Astartes searched the seamless craft for an opening, and Perseus suggested asking Lorgar to inspect it.
• Lorgar arrived with Terminator veterans, ordered the others to stand guard, and tapped the craft three times.
• The craft opened, revealing a silver-haired girl lying on a Life-Support Cradle, and the warriors wondered why she was inside.

Lorgar investigated a lifelike white-haired entity discovered after a warp anomaly and found it impossibly heavy and devoid of signs of life. He ordered it secured in a containment laboratory, where Archmagos Valkyrie proposed recharging it before attempting to awaken it.

• The Sensor Chief reported that an anomalous warp flow had carried an unidentified object into the ship.
• Rockefeller struggled to lift the white-haired entity, and Lorgar discovered that it was unnaturally heavy, cold, and without any signs of life or psychic presence.
• Lorgar ordered the Law of Faith to full alert and carried the entity to the highest-security Containment Laboratory.
• Archmagos Valkyrie sealed the entity inside a force-field shield and scanned it for energy readings.
• Valkyrie concluded that the entity's energy reserves were below its dormancy threshold and recommended charging it before attempting to awaken it.

Valkyrie infused the motionless white-haired girl with energy, and she awakened with star-like eyes before unleashing a shock wave that blacked out and damaged the laboratory. Lorgar sealed the area with the Word Bearers and approached her cautiously as the confrontation began.

• Valkyrie pulled the high-energy infusion lever, sending a dangerous surge of power into the girl on the platform.
• The girl opened her eyes and moved with mechanical precision as Rockefeller warned Lorgar and raised his Bolter.
• The girl released a powerful shock wave that destroyed the laboratory’s shield and disabled its instruments and lights.
• Lorgar ordered the Word Bearers to isolate the laboratory, and Rockefeller sealed its exits with emergency bulkheads.
• Lorgar approached the girl and said the Word Bearers meant her no harm while preparing for a fight.

Lorgar questioned the awakened Nanocluster Guardian Construct, which identified itself as an Alliance unit and learned that nearly ten thousand years had passed since its last timeline synchronisation. After assessing the Word Bearers as a heavily altered but technological continuation of Human Civilization, it asked to see the facility, and Lorgar ordered Hercules to escort it while demanding secrecy.

• Lorgar asked the construct to identify itself and explain its origin, and it named itself a Nanocluster Guardian Construct belonging to the Alliance.
• The construct requested the vessel’s coordinates, and Lorgar told it that the current year was 861 of the thirtieth millennium.
• The construct calculated that 9,904 years had passed since its last standard timeline synchronisation.
• The construct scanned Lorgar and the Word Bearers, noting their extensive genetic modifications and classifying them as a divergent continuation of Human Civilization.
• The construct stepped down from the platform and asked to see the facility, and Lorgar ordered Hercules to take it upstairs and told Chapter Master Rockefeller to keep the matter secret.

Lorgar, Angron, the Word Bearers, the War Hounds, and Archmagos Valkyrie agreed to keep and study the Nano-Cluster Construct under strict secrecy and supervision. Soon after, the construct escaped during an escort, and Menoetius learned Hercules had taken her to the Legion Library.

• Lorgar proposed retaining the Nano-Cluster Construct for controlled research, and the Word Bearers' Chapter Masters supported him.
• Angron backed Lorgar's decision, while Archmagos Valkyrie agreed to cooperate under strict isolation and monitoring protocols.
• Lorgar refused to notify Mars, said he would report the matter to Terra himself, and ordered the discovery kept secret from other Legions.
• The construct broke free while Hercules and his squad escorted her to isolation, then disappeared with Hercules.
• Menoetius led a Tactical Squad to search for them and demanded to know their location; Hercules replied that they were in the Legion Library.

Anastasia completed her initial study of the Word Bearers’ records and proposed traveling to Terra, provoking Menoetius to threaten her until Lorgar intervened. She then declared a temporary alliance with the Word Bearers and the Imperium to protect humanity.

• Hercules guarded Anastasia as she rapidly studied books and Dataslates in the Word Bearers’ Library.
• Menoetius arrived with his Tactical Squad and aimed their Bolters at Anastasia.
• Anastasia asked to be called by her chosen name and proposed traveling to Terra to assess the Emperor.
• Menoetius aimed his Bolter at Anastasia and threatened to open fire, but Lorgar ordered everyone to lower their weapons.
• Anastasia told Lorgar that the Word Bearers’ goals aligned with her directive to safeguard human civilization and declared a temporary tactical alliance.

An enormous Aeldari Fleet encircled Lorgar's expeditionary Fleet and demanded that he surrender Anastasia. Lorgar refused, ordered his forces to prepare for battle, and left the two sides on the brink of war.

• An intelligence officer warned Lorgar that an unprecedented Aeldari Fleet was approaching to encircle the expeditionary Fleet.
• Lorgar ordered Rockefeller and the First Chapter to protect Anastasia while the other forces prepared to engage.
• Lorgar reached the Law of Faith's Command Center and ordered the Fleet to send a distress signal, form a defensive circle, and ready its weapons and War Hounds for boarding combat.
• Xinaniels identified herself as commander of the Rona Craftworld Fleet, but Lorgar destroyed the projection before she could finish speaking.
• Xinaniels demanded Anastasia, warning that she was essential to the Aeldari, and promised to withdraw if she was handed over.
• Lorgar refused to surrender Anastasia and challenged the Aeldari Fleet to fight.

Supreme Farseer Xinaniels foresaw Anastasia’s capture by the Word Bearers leading to the destruction of the Craftworlds, and she gathered Aeldari forces to seize or destroy the construct. As the fleets faced one another, Lorgar prepared a trap for the Aeldari he expected to target Anastasia aboard the Law of Faith.

• Xinaniels saw a future in which a Word Bearers force led by Lorgar used Anastasia to destroy the Craftworlds and extract Aeldari knowledge.
• Xinaniels traced the danger to an upcoming Warp voyage and mobilized Craftworld Lona’s forces, calling nearby Aeldari fleets to join her.
• Rockefeller reported the human fleet’s combat readiness to Lorgar and asked when they would attack.
• Lorgar anticipated that the Aeldari would try to infiltrate the Law of Faith and seize Anastasia, so he ordered Angron and the World Eaters to ambush them.
• Rockefeller relayed Lorgar’s orders while veterans, Sergeant Orwell, Hercules, and others guarded Anastasia.

Hercules and the Word Bearers defended the sealed compartment from an Aeldari boarding attack after Anastasia warned that the attackers were already inside. Hercules killed the concealed Warlock and tore through the Storm Guardians, while the corridor battle continued.

• Sergeant Orwell ordered the Word Bearers to guard the sealed bulkhead and watch for Aeldari infiltrators.
• Anastasia warned that the attackers were already inside, and Hercules kicked a concealed Aeldari Warlock out of hiding and killed them instantly.
• Nearly a hundred Storm Guardians emerged from hidden passages and charged the Word Bearers' Defense Line.
• Sergeant Orwell and his squad fought the attackers at close range as Hercules crushed two Storm Guardians with his Power Fists.
• A squad leader sent more than a dozen Storm Guardians to pin Hercules down, but he tore through them and crushed another beneath his boot.

Orwell and Hercules realized the Storm Guardians were a diversion as an Aeldari Bishop and his elite warriors infiltrated Anastasia’s isolation chamber. They forced their way inside after hearing a brief massacre and found Anastasia sitting silently atop the corpses, covered in Aeldari blood.

• Orwell recognized that the Storm Guardians were buying time and warned the Word Bearers that the real target was inside the isolation chamber.
• The Aeldari Bishop and his elite warriors appeared near the hatch while the Storm Guardians pinned down Orwell, Hercules, and the other Word Bearers.
• The Bishop used his psychic staff to open the hatch, and he and his squad slipped into Anastasia’s chamber.
• Sounds of rapid slaughter came from inside, then abruptly stopped, prompting Hercules to open the hatch.
• Orwell and Hercules found the Aeldari Bishop and his warriors dead, while Anastasia sat silently atop their bodies with blood on her hands.

Sergeant Orwell found Anastasia alive atop the bodies of the Aeldari attackers, who had been killed in seconds, and secured the isolation chamber. Lorgar received the report and learned that every surveillance recording of the attack had been erased.

• Orwell opened the isolation chamber and found the Aeldari bishop and his elite warriors slaughtered, with Anastasia sitting among the bodies.
• Orwell ordered his Word Bearers to eliminate the remaining hostiles, reinforce the doorway, and keep everyone away from Anastasia until Lorgar gave further instructions.
• Lorgar received Orwell's report that the Aeldari had breached the isolation zone but that Anastasia needed no immediate support.
• Lorgar watched a live feed of the carnage and ordered Sage Onis to retrieve every recording of the attack.
• Sage Onis reported that an external data intrusion had erased all primary and backup surveillance footage covering the twenty seconds around the attack.

Supreme Farseer Xinaniels unleashed a warp storm against the Imperial Fleet, and Lorgar Aurelian ordered a direct assault on her Craftworld. The Imperial barrage struck its psychic shield as Angron prepared to lead the War Hounds in an attack on the Craftworld.

• Xinaniels learned that the Aeldari strike force had been wiped out and ordered the fleet to unleash the Wrath of Khaine against the humans.
• Lorgar identified Xinaniels as the key target and ordered Angron to attack the Aeldari flank while the Law of Faith charged the enemy flagship.
• Xinaniels tore open a massive warp storm that destroyed a Lunar-class Cruiser and dragged nearby Escort Frigates toward the vortex.
• Lorgar ordered the Imperial Fleet to push through the storm and fire on the Craftworld, while his psychic power helped keep the Law of Faith on course.
• Aeldari Bonesingers raised a psychic shield around the Craftworld that held back the Imperial barrage.
• Angron received Lorgar's battle plan and prepared to lead the War Hounds and his Primarch Guard in an assault on the Craftworld.

Angron led the War Hounds Legion in a boarding assault on an Aeldari Craftworld, breaking through its outer defenses and charging toward its command center. Lorgar decided to join him with reinforcements while Rockefeller coordinated the fleet’s bombardment.

• Angron teleported onto the Craftworld’s northern wraithbone deck and killed the Bonesingers maintaining its psychic shields.
• Khârn, Skolzne, the Primarch Guard, and First Company veterans joined Angron’s assault and established a landing zone.
• Angron ordered Deans to fortify the landing zone while he led Khârn and Skolzne toward the building with the strongest psychic energy.
• After receiving confirmation of Angron’s breach, Lorgar ordered Rockefeller to maintain fleet command and bombardment and summoned Hercules and Seras’s veteran companies.
• Lorgar announced that he would deploy with the boarding force and ordered the troops to land.

Lorgar Aurelian led the Word Bearers into battle and faced an Aeldari Warrior Priest before the Aeldari deployed a Wraithknight Titan. Coordinated attacks from the Word Bearers, Imperialis Militia, and three Shadowsword tanks destroyed the Titan.

• Lorgar Aurelian led the Word Bearers in a pincer attack alongside Angron's War Hounds.
• An Aeldari Bishop attacked Lorgar, but Lorgar struck him back with his Powered Maul, and Hercules defended the Primarch from Howling Banshees.
• Hercules warned Lorgar about an approaching Wraithknight Titan, and Lorgar ordered his troops to take evasive action and assemble heavy weapons.
• A Word Bearers Assault Squad harassed the Titan while the Imperialis Militia suppressed the Aeldari troops guarding it.
• Three Shadowsword tanks fired their Volcano Cannons at the Wraithknight Titan and destroyed it in a massive explosion.

Gallagher piloted the Word Bearers’ Warlord Titan, Glory of the Holy Word, in a drop-pod assault on an Aeldari Craftworld. As Imperial Titans and Aeldari Phantom Titans converged, their battle began.

• Gallagher synchronized his mind with the Glory of the Holy Word and prepared its crew for deployment.
• The drop pod launched from the Law of Faith and crashed onto the Craftworld, devastating nearby Aeldari buildings.
• Gallagher led the Glory of the Holy Word out of the pod as more than ten Warhound Titans and three Warlord Titans descended.
• Gallagher fired on an Aeldari psychic spire and proclaimed the Word Bearers’ attack.
• The Aeldari answered the Imperial Titan assault with their Phantom Titans, beginning a battle between the Titans.

Princeps Gallagher and the Warlord Titan Glory of the Holy Word fought an Aeldari Phantom Titan, but three more arrived and turned the battle into a coordinated assault. With its Void Shield weakening and its enemies closing in, Glory of the Holy Word faced imminent destruction.

• Gallagher ordered Glory of the Holy Word to fire its Volcano Cannon at a Phantom Titan, but the agile Aeldari machine dodged the blast and struck the Warlord's Void Shield with Starcannon fire.
• The Phantom Titan charged through Imperial ground forces' barrage, and Gallagher focused the Warlord's lascannons on it, severely damaging its chest armor.
• A Sensors officer reported three more Phantom Titans converging on Glory of the Holy Word, while psychic interference disrupted Gallagher's attempt to summon the other Imperial Titans.
• A second, undamaged Phantom Titan broke away from its fight and joined the wounded Titan in a pincer attack on Glory of the Holy Word.
• Gallagher ordered close-defense systems to maximum power and prepared the Warlord's Power Klaw as its Void Shield weakened under the Phantom Titans' attacks.

Gallagher and the Glory of the Holy Word faced a charging Phantom Titan without support, until a Shadowsword Tank sacrificed itself to create an opening. Gallagher used that opening to destroy the wounded Phantom Titan, while the intact enemy Titan halted to reassess and the Shadowsword crew perished.

• Imperial ground forces and the Glory of the Holy Word fought while the other Warlord Titans remained trapped and unable to help.
• A Shadowsword Tank charged between the attacking Phantom Titan and the Glory of the Holy Word, then fired its Volcano Cannon and forced the enemy to dodge.
• Gallagher ordered the Glory of the Holy Word to countercharge the wounded Phantom Titan.
• The Glory of the Holy Word smashed through the Phantom Titan’s damaged chest with its Power Klaw, destroying its upper body and power source.
• The intact Phantom Titan stopped to assess the Glory of the Holy Word, while Aeldari Revenant Titans destroyed the Shadowsword Tank and killed its crew.

After the Phantom Titan ambushed and destroyed the Vengeful Fire, Princeps Gallagher redirected the Glory of the Holy Word to attack it. Lorgar Aurelian appeared before the Phantom Titan and leapt toward its head, bringing his blazing mace down on its Sensors array and control center.

• The Phantom Titan slipped behind the Vengeful Fire and severed its waist with a precise greatsword strike, destroying the Warlord Titan and its crew.
• Princeps Gallagher ordered the Glory of the Holy Word to abandon its previous target and prepare a Volcano Cannon and Lascannon salvo against the Phantom Titan.
• As Gallagher was about to give the order to fire, Lorgar Aurelian appeared in front of the Phantom Titan and halted the Imperial Titans’ weapons for an instant.
• Lorgar charged his mace with golden psychic energy, leapt above the Phantom Titan, and swung down toward its head-mounted Sensors array and control center.

Lorgar fought through the Aeldari psykers guarding the path to Supreme Farseer Xinaniels and sent Hercules to reinforce Angron. After slaughtering the defenders, he pursued Hercules, while the last surviving Farseer died after declaring that the attackers were walking into a trap.

• Lorgar’s assault squad encountered a powerful group of Aeldari Bishops and Farseers guarding the temple approach.
• Lorgar shattered the Aeldari psychic attack and killed a Bishop with his Powered Maul, then ripped another Bishop in half.
• Lorgar ordered Hercules and the Word Bearers guard to reinforce Angron and secure the decapitation strike’s flank.
• Lorgar intercepted a Farseer’s psychic blast aimed at Hercules and struck the Farseer with his elbow.
• Lorgar fought the remaining Aeldari Elites, killing most of them as they charged him.
• The last surviving Farseer claimed Lorgar and his companions were trapped, slit his own throat, and left Lorgar to pursue Hercules.