Chapter Summaries

Amon challenged Ahriman’s motives for seeking Magnus, arguing that the primarch’s choices had ruined the Legion, while admitting he would still support Ahriman. Ahriman then joined a war council where the scattered and leaderless state of the Traitor Legions left the assembled leaders relying on Perturabo.

• Amon accused Magnus of causing the Burning of Prospero and the Legion’s decline, and said many Thousand Sons had lost faith in their primarch.
• Amon told Ahriman he suspected the Book of Magnus held a spell that could cure the flesh-change, and Ahriman admitted to himself that he would choose the Legion over Magnus.
• Amon promised to support Ahriman regardless of his answer, leaving the two Thousand Sons leaders united for the moment.
• Ahriman and Amon joined a war council with Perturabo, Ezekyle Abaddon, Little Horus Aximand, Angronte, Kharn, and Fabius Bile, while most primarchs were absent or had become Daemon Princes.
• Perturabo, still furious over Adam’s insults, had placed an ineffective son into a Dreadnought and waited to unleash his anger on Terra.

Perturabo learned that the Emperor had returned to Terra, but pride and resentment drove him to continue the campaign and prove himself. He took command of the traitor legions’ strategy, proposing a Warp-powered attack that could bypass Rogal Dorn’s defenses.

• Horus told Perturabo that the Emperor had left the Golden Throne and was waiting on Terra, while Horus distracted him through the Warp.
• Perturabo considered retreating into the Eye of Terror, then resolved to break Dorn’s defenses and confront the Emperor to demand recognition.
• Perturabo decided the Iron Warriors would no longer bear the brunt of the fighting and assigned the other legions roles in the campaign.
• Perturabo explained that the traitors had secured Pluto and Uranus as footholds, where reinforcements, weapons, and more than four thousand warships were gathering.
• Perturabo rejected a frontal assault along the approaches from Uranus and Pluto, recognizing that Dorn intended to trap the attackers in a costly war of attrition.
• Perturabo proposed using a grand sacrificial ritual to make a Warp jump above the Solar System’s ecliptic plane and bypass the Imperial defenses.

Perturabo ordered the Thousand Sons and Word Bearers to sacrifice the mortals gathered on Pluto and Neptune for a mass Warp translation toward Terra. As Ahriman and Layak began the ritual, the traitor forces prepared both a surprise assault and a continued advance through the Solar System.

• Perturabo dismissed the Legion representatives’ objections and assigned Ahriman, Angron, and Layak to carry out the mass translation ritual.
• Perturabo ordered the World Eaters and Emperor’s Children to advance with him, while Abaddon and Aximand prepared the Sons of Horus for a surprise assault on Terra.
• Ahriman and Layak gathered more than ten billion mortals on Pluto and Neptune, with other Legions helping seize the slaves and suppress riots.
• Ahriman doubted Layak’s confidence in the ritual, but Layak said the gods had foretold that the final battle would take place on Terra.
• Ahriman and Layak began the ritual to translate the army into orbit above Terra.

Ahriman and Lorgar completed a ritual that sacrificed billions of humans and unleashed a Warp storm across the Solar System. They brought the resulting blood-red sphere to a sacred comet, where they began the final ritual to open a gateway to Terra.

• Ahriman invoked the ritual, branding the humans on the planet and sacrificing billions of them to create a blood-red crystal sphere.
• The sacrifice unleashed a Warp storm across the Solar System, leaving Ahriman and Lorgar physically devastated.
• Lorgar explained that the approaching comet held shrines and the bones of the Imperium's fallen, which the ritual needed to defile.
• Lorgar and Ahriman boarded a Thunderhawk and traveled to the comet, where they found the corpses of Imperial Fists and Word Bearers among the buried remains.
• Lorgar began the final ritual, bringing the blood-red sphere into the comet's orbit, where it collided with the comet.

Ahriman and the Word Bearers opened a Warp gateway to Terra by sacrificing the comet shrine, allowing Horus’s fleet to bypass the Solar System’s defenses. Lion El'Jonson ordered his fleet to regroup as the Vengeful Spirit and thousands of other ships emerged near Terra, where Horus prepared to confront the Emperor.

• Layak and the Word Bearers offered the comet’s blood-soaked shrine to the Dark Gods, opening a Warp rift to Terra as the comet burned away.
• Perturabo and Abaddon sent their warships through the gateway, while Ahriman watched the sun dim and realized they had succeeded.
• Lion El'Jonson felt the danger to Terra, and Curze told him that the rebels had already opened a portal directly to the Throne World.
• After Corswain reported the rebels’ arrival near the moon, Lion ordered his fleet to join the Terra fleet and vowed to kill Perturabo.
• The Vengeful Spirit emerged between Terra and the moon with Horus aboard, followed by thousands of rebel and ghost ships, and Horus declared his intent to lead humanity’s revival.

Horus brought his fleet into orbit between Terra and the Moon, drove the Imperial defenses away, and began the Great Bombardment of Terra. The chapter leaves Terra’s hive cities in flames as hundreds of millions died and survivors fled toward the Imperial Palace.

• Horus sent fleets toward Mars and the Moon while his main force confronted Terra’s depleted defenses.
• Horus’s fleet forced the Mountain Array and the Emperor’s Dream to retreat, while Dorn gathered forces near the Imperial Palace.
• On February 13th of the twelfth year of the thirty-first millennium, Horus began the bombardment of Terra with more than five thousand warships.
• The Imperial Palace’s Aegis defense system blocked the first barrage, but the rebels continued attacking Terra’s hive cities.
• The bombardment destroyed hive structures, flattened landscapes, and killed hundreds of millions as survivors fled toward the Imperial Palace.

Horus’s fleet bombarded Terra while the Imperial Palace remained protected by its Aegis shields, and the Emperor addressed the defenders. He accepted responsibility for Horus’s rebellion, sent the others to protect civilians, and asked Lox to speak with him privately.

• Horus’s fleet unleashed a devastating bombardment on Terra, but the Imperial Palace’s Aegis system intercepted the attacks.
• Malcador the Sigillite calmed the populace, and Rogal Dorn ordered civilians into the Palace’s outer districts for protection.
• Lox, Barabas Dantioch, Nykona Sharrowkyn, and Iron Man Adam discussed the invasion and held on to hope that the Imperium could win.
• The Emperor told the gathered defenders that Horus had been corrupted and apologized for his responsibility as a father.
• The Emperor told Leman Russ, Rogal Dorn, Jaghatai, and Sanguinius to protect humanity rather than intervene in his battle with Horus, then asked Lox to speak with him privately.

The Emperor revealed that his plans to save humanity had repeatedly led to catastrophe and gave Lox a compass that could carry the Red Alert to another universe. Lox accepted the possibility of founding a new home for humanity, though he hoped the Imperium could still be saved.

• The Emperor explained to Lox that his attempts to change the future had failed, and that even victory over Horus risked awakening the Dark King.
• The Emperor declared that he would wait for Horus to reveal himself before beginning a decisive boarding duel.
• Constantin Valdor swore that the Ten Thousand would follow the Emperor, who reminded him that he had already been given his role.
• The Emperor gave Lox a compass and tasked him with continuing the Future Reinforcement Project by seeking a new home for humanity in another universe.
• The Emperor told Lox that he could take only the Red Alert and a small number of people, who would need to sleep during the journey.
• Lox planned to bring gene-seed, human embryos, trusted people, and technological records if he had to establish humanity in another universe.

Lox accepted his role in securing humanity’s future beyond the universe while the Emperor organized Terra’s defense and Lox deployed his forces. As Horus’s bombardment weakened the palace’s Aegis, Perturabo launched an assault with thousands of Dreadclaw drop pods.

• Lox resolved to lead part of humanity into other universes if the Emperor’s plan failed, hoping they could survive and eventually help humanity in their home universe.
• The Emperor ordered Dorn to lead the counterattack on Terra, assigned Sanguinius, Jaghatai, and Russ to support him, and tasked Valdor with guarding against Warp creatures.
• Lox ordered Nykona Sharrowkyn and Endryd Haar to hunt enemy leaders and help the Imperial Fists defend the walls, while Adam assembled Iron Men forces for the coming battle.
• Horus’s month-long bombardment devastated Terra and weakened the Aegis around the Imperial Palace, as Lion’s First Legion relentlessly attacked Perturabo’s forces.
• Perturabo sent thousands of Dreadclaw drop pods toward weak points around the palace, declaring that the rebels had to take Terra to survive.

Horus’s rebel forces launched their invasion of Terra, sending waves of corrupted cultists and mortal auxiliaries against the Imperial Palace’s Solar Auxilia. The battle escalated into a fierce contest of artillery and air power, with both commanders still holding back their Astartes to make the enemy commit theirs first.

• Horus called on his followers to seize Terra, and Chaos-corrupted cultists and abhumans descended in Dreadclaw drop pods.
• Imperial Solar Auxilia used heavy guns and artillery to destroy the first wave of rebels before it could mount an effective assault.
• Cthonia Headhunter Auxilia, Word Bearers sorcerers, and Warp creatures arrived in the second wave and pushed deeper into the palace defenses.
• Selucian Thorakites attacked behind tanks and transports, sacrificing themselves to breach the Solar Auxilia’s first defensive line.
• Iron Warriors auxiliary forces bombarded the Imperial positions, while the Solar Auxilia countered with fortified defenses and aerial support.
• Rebel and Imperial aircraft fought overhead as both commanders continued using mortal troops to force the other side to deploy its Astartes first.

Jeremiah Blitz served with the 177th Solar Auxilia Regiment in the defense of Terra, where an accidental request for artillery support destroyed a hidden rebel position and earned him credit. After seven days of holding the line, a sudden plague killed and reanimated one of his comrades as the Death Guard arrived through a spreading fog.

• Jeremiah Blitz and his former subordinates were drafted into the 177th Solar Auxilia Regiment after the Imperial Navy requisitioned his ship.
• Jeremiah accidentally transmitted coordinates while scratching his wrist, and artillery destroyed a hidden rebel stronghold, earning him recorded merit.
• Jeremiah and his squad repelled repeated rebel assaults for seven days, including drawing traitor Knight suits into minefields.
• A mysterious fever killed Jeremiah's comrade, whose corpse turned dark green and rose again.
• Jeremiah burned the reanimated soldier, but plague fog spread through the position as the Death Guard began landing on Terra.

Jeremiah and the Solar Auxilia defended their line as Typhus led the Death Guard in a plague-fueled assault on Terra. The defenders launched a counterattack, ending with a recruit defiantly facing the Death Guard and promising to burn them.

• Jeremiah warned the Solar Auxilia that the Death Guard had arrived and ordered them to kill any fallen comrades who rose again.
• A Solar Auxilia soldier realized the Chaos sorcerers had spread Warp plagues across earlier battlefields to prepare the Death Guard's arrival.
• Perturabo sent the Death Guard to attack after Layak revealed that a ritual could summon them, while eight ritual sites anchored the Warp around the Imperial Palace.
• Typhus led thousands of Death Guard forward, their weapons rotting fortifications, guns, shields, and a Land Raider as they spread lethal plagues.
• Jeremiah rallied the Solar Auxilia to counterattack with meltaguns and flame tanks, and a recruit cursed the Death Guard from atop a tank.

Jeremiah Blitz fought the Death Guard on Terra, inspiring the Solar Auxilia before the enemy’s plague and sorcery overwhelmed their defenses. As Jeremiah faced a deadly melee assault, a flying mech arrived and rescued him.

• Jeremiah rallied the Solar Auxilia, but the Death Guard crossed their minefield on a corrupting fungal carpet while swarms of insects weakened their artillery and weapons.
• Jeremiah ordered the defenders to burn the charging Death Guard, then resisted Dark Apostle Layak’s blood-rain sermon and killed one attacker with a melta cannon.
• The Death Guard slaughtered Jeremiah’s comrades and raised the fallen as Chaos puppets while Jeremiah retreated and called for reinforcements.
• A platinum-painted flying mech swept in, blasted apart the Death Guard about to kill Jeremiah, and transformed as it landed.

Qin Xin and the White Scars deployed their Tengu Mechs against the Death Guard, turning the battle into a one-sided slaughter. After demanding that Mortarion face them, Qin Xin shifted his attention to Typhus.

• The White Scars’ Tengu Mech squadron launched air raids against the Death Guard and destroyed several corrupted Knight mechs.
• Qin Xin ordered the Solar Auxilia to withdraw and provide long-range fire support, then led the Tengu Mechs into ground combat.
• Qin Xin’s plasma cannon blasted apart the Death Guard’s formation as the White Scars charged into their ranks.
• The Tengu Mechs overwhelmed the Death Guard with their size, speed, armor, and power claws while shielding their pilots from daemon flies.
• Qin Xin called for Mortarion to come out, then tore through Death Guard warriors and turned to attack Typhus.

Qin Xin confronted Typhus while searching for Mortarion, whose escape from Nurgle had enraged the Death Guard leader. Typhus overwhelmed the Tengu Mech with psychic corruption and swarms of plague flies, leaving Qin Xin’s fate uncertain.

• Qin Xin cut down several Death Guards and demanded that Mortarion come out, prompting Typhus to denounce Mortarion as a coward and traitor who had escaped Nurgle.
• Typhus recalled how Isha had freed Mortarion and how Nurgle’s favored Greater Daemons, including Ku'gath and Rotigus, had threatened him for failing to guard his primarch.
• Qin Xin mocked Typhus and Nurgle, provoking Typhus to charge him with a giant scythe as his plague power corrupted the Tengu Mech.
• Typhus clashed with Qin Xin’s power claws while Destroyer Flies swarmed the battlefield and the other White Scars attacked them with plasma weapons.
• Qin Xin blasted Typhus in the face with a melta beam, but Typhus regenerated and charged again as his flies pierced the mech’s defenses and killed Qin Xin.

Nathaniel Garro arrived on Terra’s battlefield and defeated Typhus with the Emperor’s blessing, forcing the Death Guard to retreat. Mortarion then emerged from a Warp portal in an unexpected female form, leaving Garro, Lox, and Jaghatai Khan stunned.

• Qin Xin and the White Scars struggled against Typhus and the Death Guard as Warp corruption slowed their Tengu Mechs and wore down their weapons.
• Lox agreed to send Nathaniel Garro into battle, and Garro asked to settle his debts with Typhus and cleanse the shame of the XIV Legion.
• Garro teleported to the front line, where the Emperor’s power and Lox’s blessing empowered him to sever Typhus’s scythe and banish the Daemon Prince.
• With Typhus defeated, the Death Guard broke into rival groups and retreated, while Garro grieved for his former battle-brothers and wondered whether Mortarion had fallen.
• Mortarion arrived through a pale-green Warp portal with Deathshroud guards, and Garro recognized his gene-father but discovered that Mortarion had a woman’s voice and appearance.
• Lox joked to Jaghatai Khan that he might soon have another sister.

Mortarion sought to take Garro away, but he refused and Chaghatai Khan challenged her over her crimes. Their fierce duel left Mortarion wounded and enraged, while Uslan and Lox struggled to stop the fighting and learn about Isha.

• Mortarion revealed her transformed form and asked Garro to leave the war with her, but Garro refused and vowed to bring her before the Emperor to atone for her crimes.
• Chaghatai Khan barred Mortarion from escaping and fought her with Silence against his White Tiger Dao while Garro and the assembled warriors watched.
• Mortarion and Chaghatai exchanged blows and psychic attacks, wounding each other as Lox secretly boosted Chaghatai’s armor.
• Chaghatai provoked Mortarion by mocking her old reliance on Calas Typhon, and her furious psychic storm tore apart the battlefield.
• Uslan arrived and tried to stop the duel, asking Lox to help because he needed to learn Mother Goddess Isha’s situation; Lox reluctantly agreed to intervene.

The Emperor subdued Mortarion after Jaghatai exposed her resentment and the Death Guard surrendered, then considered how to punish her. Uslann proposed giving Mortarion to the Aeldari, and Lox revealed that losing her human identity frightened her more than permanent imprisonment before declaring he would support that punishment.

• Jaghatai and Mortarion fought until the Emperor’s projection restrained them, while Jaghatai continued to condemn Mortarion’s choices and resentment toward her father.
• Uslann suggested that the Aeldari could take Mortarion, whose blood came partly from their Mother Goddess Isha, and Lox agreed the proposal might be possible.
• The Emperor bound Mortarion, ordered her imprisoned in the Shadow Cells, and accepted the Death Guard’s surrender after promising not to kill her.
• Lox presented Mortarion with permanent imprisonment or expulsion from humanity into Aeldari society, and Mortarion panicked and chose imprisonment.
• Lox dismissed Mortarion’s choice and said he would vote to strip her of her human status.

Sevatar and Sigismund led an assault through the rebel defenses to reach Khârn and Angeltai, who were guarding the route to Terra. As Sevatar tried to awaken his old friend’s emotions, Sigismund fought Khârn with overwhelming force, leaving the battle unresolved as Angeltai intervened to save Khârn from a fatal blow.

• Sevatar’s Night Lords purged a World Eaters position, and he discovered that Khârn and Angeltai were stationed together.
• Sevatar and Sigismund independently chose to strike at the rebel commanders, then joined forces and advanced toward the command center.
• Sevatar reminded Sigismund of their past and his bond with Khârn, but Sigismund remained resolute and continued toward Terra.
• Sevatar and Sigismund reached Khârn and Angeltai, who prepared to defend their position as the four warriors clashed.
• Khârn repeatedly attacked Sigismund, but the Emperor’s Champion outmatched him and nearly killed him.
• Angeltai took a wound from Sevatar and threw his Custodian spear to block Sigismund’s fatal strike against Khârn, but Sigismund knocked the nearly broken spear away.

Angrath persuaded Khârn to abandon Angron and the rebellion, and together they withdrew the Word Bearers and most of the World Eaters from Perturabo’s defensive line. Their betrayal let Lion El'Jonson break through, leaving Perturabo furious as the rebel fleet descended into chaos.

• After Sigismund defeated Khârn, Angrath urged him to leave Horus and Angron and pursue a future in which humanity and the Warp could coexist, and Khârn agreed.
• Angrath and Khârn joined forces as the Chaos Legion, held off Sigismund and Sevatar long enough to escape, and ordered their followers to withdraw.
• Angrath’s fleets abandoned their mortal followers, fired torpedoes at the Iron Warriors’ defenses, and sent Lion El'Jonson intelligence about Perturabo’s forces.
• Lion El'Jonson seized the opening and launched a full assault, while rebel ships turned on one another and the defensive line collapsed.
• Perturabo learned of the retreat and raged at his commanders as the surviving rebels struggled against the Dark Angels.