Chapter Summaries

Lox spoke with Trazyn, a Necron Overlord who introduced himself as a collector and curator of the Solemnace Gallery. As the conversation revealed Trazyn’s interest in humanity and its history, Lox realized that Trazyn had come to collect him.

• Trazyn appeared in Lox’s command center and revealed that a vast stasis field had frozen the surrounding battlefield and Iron Hands veterans.
• Trazyn produced huanghuali chairs, a tea table, and tea from humanity’s third millennium, then invited Lox to sit and talk.
• Trazyn stopped Lox’s Cogitator from attacking his thought core and explained that Necrontyr civilization had peaked more than sixty million years earlier.
• Trazyn described his passion for preserving artifacts, history, and living beings as curator of the Solemnace Gallery.
• Lox recognized Trazyn’s unusual humor and humanity, then realized that Trazyn had come to collect him.

Trazyn invited Lox to leave his burdens behind and showed him the Solemnace museum, where preserved relics revealed humanity’s history and the scale of Necron technology. Lox concluded that Trazyn collected humanity because he saw in it a reflection of the Necrons’ own past.

• Trazyn offered Lox a peaceful place in his museum and warned him that the Horus civil war could doom humanity, then invited him to see Solemnace.
• Lox followed Trazyn through the pocket-dimension rift and saw the museum’s exhibits, including an Eldar Titan and an unusual Ork.
• Trazyn showed Lox a Thunder Warrior and pre-betrayal Luna Wolves, explaining that he had collected much of humanity’s history.
• Trazyn asked Lox why he valued humanity, and Lox answered that Trazyn saw his own race’s past reflected in humanity.

Trazyn explained the Necrontyr’s short lives and praised humanity’s rise, while Lox saw humans serving freely in the Solemnace Museum and questioned why the Necrons had gone into hibernation. Trazyn admitted the dynasties had slept to wear down their enemies, the Aeldari.

• Trazyn described the Necrontyr’s brief lifespans, death cults, and ancient galactic civilization, then compared them with humanity.
• Trazyn praised humanity’s cultural achievements and rapid expansion from Earth into an interstellar empire.
• Lox saw humans working freely among the Solemnace Museum exhibits, and Trazyn said he kept them as servants because he considered humanity suitable subjects.
• Lox hesitated to condemn the museum’s human servants, reflecting that most Imperial citizens also lacked freedom and lived harsh lives.
• Lox asked why the powerful Necrontyr had chosen to sleep, and Trazyn explained that the dynasties entered hibernation to wear down the Aeldari.

Lox learned from Trazyn about the War in Heaven, the Necrons’ Great Sleep, and the ancient Aeldari Empire. Trazyn explained humanity’s lack of ties to the Old Ones and described how the Aeldari later fell into decadence.

• Trazyn told Lox that the War in Heaven had left the galaxy scarred and that the Necrons entered the Great Sleep to avoid the rising Aeldari and Greenskin Orks.
• Trazyn described the Aeldari as creations of the Old Ones, powerful psykers who ruled the galaxy after the Necrons withdrew.
• Trazyn recalled observing humanity’s earliest ancestors on Earth and said humans resembled a weakened version of the Aeldari.
• Trazyn said his investigation had found no connection between humanity and the Old Ones, sparing humans from extermination by the Necrons.
• Trazyn explained that the Aeldari’s sensitivity and long period of dominance led them to pursue ever more extreme pleasures and fall into decadence.

Trazyn explained how the Aeldari Empire’s decadence stirred the Warp and led to Slaanesh’s birth, which destroyed the empire and tore open the Eye of Terror. The account left Lox shaken as Trazyn watched for a chance to draw him into his collection.

• Trazyn told Lox that the Aeldari’s indulgence and intense emotions had worsened the Warp over millions of years.
• Trazyn showed Lox a prism recording of the Aeldari capital’s destruction and explained that the birth of Slaanesh created the Eye of Terror.
• Trazyn said Slaanesh destroyed most of the Aeldari pantheon and devoured the souls of most Aeldari, while a few escaped or hid.
• Lox struggled to comprehend the power of Warp gods, and Trazyn watched his fear with satisfaction as he continued trying to draw Lox into his collection.

After learning why the Emperor launched the Great Crusade, Lox refused Trazyn’s offer to remain in the museum and reaffirmed his commitment to the Future Reinforcement Project. Before leaving, he asked Trazyn to tell him what had happened during the Age of Strife.

• Lox reconsidered his judgment of the Emperor after learning that the Great Crusade had been a desperate attempt to reunify humanity before the Warp storms returned.
• Trazyn offered Lox a place as its immortal deputy curator and promised to show him a prized starship from the Age of Strife.
• Lox refused the offer, choosing to continue his mission despite briefly wanting to escape it.
• Trazyn accepted Lox’s decision and reflected on how immortality and technology had failed to give the Necrons’ lives meaning.
• Lox interrupted Trazyn’s dramatic farewell to demand a reward: the truth about the Age of Strife.

Lox questioned Trazyn about the Iron Men rebellion before being sent back to the battlefield, where the Necrons had gone inert and the fighting ended. As the survivors collected Necron specimens and mourned their dead, Lox wondered whether the events on Sotha had been more than coincidence.

• Lox asked Trazyn about the Dark Age of Technology, and Trazyn said the Iron Men had not rebelled at first and that humanity, artificial intelligence, and the Warp had all been at fault.
• Trazyn kicked Lox through a dimensional rift, sending him back to Sotha's command room as the Necrons lost control and fell inert.
• Lox ordered the Astartes to cease fire and told Eanid Hill that he had reached an agreement with a Necron overlord to end the pursuit.
• Hill proposed that the Imperium develop specialized tactics against the Necrons, and Lox supported his plan.
• The Space Marines and Tech-Priests gathered the disabled Necron bodies, while Lox reflected on the dead and questioned whether the events on Sotha were coincidental.

Trazyn and Orikan fought through Solemnace while arguing over Lox and the human’s connection to the Necrons’ revival. Orikan warned Trazyn not to endanger Lox, and Trazyn recorded their encounter for his museum as he looked toward Sotha.

• Trazyn attacked Orikan, who deflected the blast with his chronomancer’s cloak, and the two traded accusations about their involvement on Sotha.
• Orikan and Trazyn pursued each other through the tomb world’s systems, briefly releasing a Krork from stasis before Trazyn restored its containment.
• The two took control of stasis-bound Space Marines and fought through their bodies, then Orikan tried to possess a Hive Tyrant and was forced out by its hive mind.
• Orikan asked why Trazyn had not told Lox about the Blackstones and what was imprisoned in the Pharos device, and warned him that the Triarch Praetorians would intervene if he acted recklessly.
• Trazyn recorded the confrontation as a new museum exhibit and looked toward Sotha while holding a black cube.

Lox recovered the Pharos information device and learned that the beacon could do far more than enable long-range communication, including opening portals to other spaces. The chapter left Lox and Dantioch realizing that building one depended on the extraordinary Blackstone found in the Pharos mountain range, as well as a vast energy supply.

• Lox found a Poké Ball-like storage device left atop a Blackstone instrument and used his wristband to transmit its Pharos data to the Red Alert.
• Lox and Dantioch learned that the data explained Pharos's construction and described a communication and navigation system unaffected by Warp storms.
• Lox discovered that Pharos could also create portals to other spaces, prompting the Warsmith to declare that humanity should build a beacon at any cost.
• Lox explained that Blackstone was a civilization-made material capable of controlling Warp energy, and Dantioch recognized the Blackstone in the Pharos mountains as the site's greatest treasure.

Lox explained that reproducing Pharos would require rare Blackstone and an energy source powerful enough to replace the Necron hypercube labyrinth. As he and Dantioch accepted the challenges ahead, Lox’s bracelet activated a hidden protocol and brought the Chief’s voice back to him.

• Lox told Dantioch that Blackstone could suppress the Warp, but it was rare and found only on specific planets.
• Dantioch said the Iron Warriors could search for Blackstone or seize it from whoever owned it.
• Lox explained that Pharos required specialized energy beyond the capacity of their antimatter furnaces, and that its power system sustained a hypercube labyrinth.
• Lox and Dantioch agreed to focus on the resources they already had rather than worry about unresolved problems.
• Lox’s bracelet detected unknown technology, activated Hidden Protocol 0917, and presented the Chief’s voice.

Lox spoke with an intelligent copy of the Chief, who explained why he had entrusted humanity’s future to Lox without a plan and praised his acquisition of Necron technology. The Chief revealed that his projection had activated because Lox chose to enter the galaxy’s conflicts and gather technologies beyond the Red Alert’s framework.

• Lox recognized the Chief’s voice and asked whether the Chief had returned, and the Chief explained that he was an intelligent copy aboard the Red Alert.
• The Chief told Lox that he had left him to make his own choices because the future could not be controlled across ten thousand years, and affirmed that Lox had done well.
• The Chief praised Lox for obtaining Pharos technology and warned him not to treat the Necrons as either complete enemies or trusted allies.
• The Chief explained that if Lox had fled the galaxy, the projection would have remained dormant, but his choice to join the galactic struggle and collect unconventional technologies had activated it.

Lox received the Chief’s final message urging him to complete humanity’s tech tree and free civilization from its dependence on the Warp. He returned to studying Pharos with Dantioch, while its light began proving useful to humans traveling through the Warp.

• The Chief told Lox that humanity’s technology was incomplete and urged him to gather other civilizations’ achievements to finish its tech tree.
• Lox concluded that humanity’s dependence on Warp travel and astropathic communication lay at the root of its vulnerability to Chaos and the Imperium’s conflicts.
• The Chief’s projection faded after praising Lox for recognizing the fundamental problem and urging him to keep moving forward.
• Dantioch worried that Lox was unwell, but Lox reassured him and resumed researching Pharos.
• Lox and Dantioch had already used Pharos to illuminate the Macragge system, and its light began helping humans amid the turbulent Warp.

Fafnir Blood-Bond and his Space Wolves struggled to keep the Crescent Moon intact and its crew alive while the Warp storm cut them off from the Astronomican. When the Navigator spotted an artificial beacon, Fafnir ordered the ship to follow it despite the risk of a trap.

• Fafnir executed a crewman driven mad by the Warp and tied the panicking captain to his chair to keep him from breaking down.
• Fafnir and the other Space Wolves guarded the ship, fought Warp daemons, and checked in with their brothers as the Crescent Moon deteriorated.
• Fafnir’s warriors joked about their possible deaths and he prayed to the Allfather and Leman Russ for guidance.
• A bright artificial beacon appeared in the Warp, and the Navigator confirmed that it showed a direction but might be a trap.
• Fafnir ordered the Crescent Moon to fire its engines and head for the beacon at any cost.

Fafnir Blood Oath followed an unknown beacon through the Warp and encountered Imperial ships from the Iron Hands and White Scars. After transferring his Space Wolves to a safer vessel, he met Ironcleaver and Timur Gantula, greeting the White Scar with a pointed reminder of an old grudge.

• Fafnir asked the Navigator to assess the beacon, and the Navigator said it was likely not the Astronomican and might be a lure.
• The Navigator spotted Imperial warships, and Fafnir prepared the Space Wolves to fight if they proved hostile.
• The Navigator identified the ships as belonging to the Tenth and Fifth Legions, and Fafnir recognized them as the Iron Hands and White Scars.
• Fafnir exchanged identification codes with the fleet and transferred his people and supplies from the damaged Crescent Moon to safer ships.
• Fafnir introduced himself to Ironcleaver and Timur Gantula, then used a Fenrisian farewell that reminded Gantula of the White Scars’ past decision to abandon the Wolves.

Fafnir and Gantula’s battered fleet reached Macragge by following the Pharos beacon and was cautiously escorted through the Ultramarines’ formidable defenses. While they waited for Roboute Guilliman, other survivors arrived, and Fafnir found comfort in seeing loyal warriors from several Legions gathered together.

• The Pharos beacon guided Fafnir and Gantula’s fleet out of the Ruinstorm into the Macragge system, where Ultramarines warships ordered them to power down and submit to inspection.
• Gantula complied, and the fleet followed an Ultramarines barge through Macragge’s extensive defensive lines before docking at an outer planet’s spaceport.
• An Ultramarines officer welcomed Fafnir and Gantula, told them Roboute Guilliman had been informed, and asked them to wait until the other arrivals came.
• Fafnir and Gantula waited two days as refugees, civilians, and warriors from battered Legions gathered at the spaceport, including Alexis Pollux of the Imperial Fists.
• Fafnir recognized the comfort of reuniting with loyal warriors who had endured similar hardships.

Roboute Guilliman received loyalist survivors who had followed his beacon to Macragge and pledged to unite them against the traitors. His welcome left the gathered forces ready to trust him and fight at his side.

• Lady Euten prepared Guilliman for the audience and urged him to shoulder the burden of leading humanity in the eastern galaxy.
• Guilliman entered the audience chamber and welcomed the assembled Space Marine and merchant representatives without requiring them to kneel.
• Guilliman recognized Captain Pollux and praised his command during the Battle of Phall.
• Pollux regretted failing to destroy Perturabo, and Guilliman declared that he would kill his traitorous brother and demand an answer for his betrayal.
• Guilliman asked the loyalists to fight beside him, and the gathered forces accepted him as their leader.

Guilliman welcomed the surviving warriors of several Legions and answered Gantula’s challenge about whether he intended to found a rival empire. Gantula accepted Guilliman’s answer and agreed that the White Scars would fight for him.

• Guilliman offered condolences to Captain Veyrano Ebb and received the loyalty of the Raven Guard survivors.
• Captain Ebb introduced Salton Karasson of the Iron Hands and T'kell of the Salamanders, who both pledged their Legions’ support against Horus.
• Gantula greeted Guilliman while sharpening his sword, prompting the Victrix Guard to approach before Guilliman waved them back.
• Gantula asked whether Guilliman planned to forge a new empire, and Guilliman denied it, citing his victories against Lorgar and Angron’s forces.
• Gantula sheathed his sword and agreed that the White Scars would fight for Guilliman while observing his intentions.

Guilliman worked to gain the trust and support of the Legion warriors gathered on Macragge, while Lox watched through a Pharos projection. Lox explained that the beacon could not yet open a route to Terra, and the Imperial Fists agreed to help strengthen the Five Hundred Worlds’ defenses.

• Guilliman thanked Gantula for testing his conduct and affirmed his respect for Jaghatai Khan.
• Guilliman asked Alexis Pollux to accept medical treatment and later help improve the Ultramarines’ defenses, but Pollux insisted on returning to Terra.
• Guilliman explained that the Ruinstorm had destroyed the Warp routes to Terra, while Lox secretly recorded the exchange through a Pharos projection.
• Guilliman called on Lox, who explained that Pharos had guided the warriors to Macragge but could not yet open a route to the Sol System.
• Pollux accepted Guilliman’s leadership and pledged that the Imperial Fists would help fortify the Five Hundred Worlds.

Guilliman welcomed the Space Wolves to Macragge and learned that Fafnir Blood-Brother had come on an urgent mission tied to their role as the Emperor’s executioners. Fafnir began explaining the Burning of Prospero and the Wolves’ doubts about the part they had played, but had not yet revealed the purpose of his sealed order.

• Guilliman gave visiting loyal warriors and rogue traders equal treatment while Lox observed his skill at bringing them together against Horus’s rebellion.
• Fafnir Blood-Brother and his Space Wolves stayed behind after the reception, and Guilliman asked why they had specifically come to Macragge.
• Fafnir presented a parchment bearing the marks of Leman Russ and Malcador the Sigillite, then identified the Space Wolves’ duty as punishing those who had erred.
• Fafnir told Guilliman that the Space Wolves had destroyed Prospero after the Warmaster altered their orders, driving the Thousand Sons into rebellion.
• Fafnir admitted that the Wolves’ infamous reputation was partly deserved and suggested that their enemies might have used them to provoke the Thousand Sons.

Guilliman confronted Fafnir about the Space Wolves’ orders to monitor the Primarchs, then privately found comfort in Lox’s sympathy and stories of humanity’s lost age of civilization. The two friends reflected on their burdens as Guilliman continued trying to build the Second Empire and restore humanity.

• Fafnir told Guilliman that Malcador had ordered Space Wolf hunting packs to watch every Primarch for signs of rebellion and threatened to kill Guilliman if necessary.
• Guilliman ordered his Victory Guard to stand down, rejected Fafnir’s request to remain at his side, and allowed the Space Wolves to stay in his inner palace.
• After the Wolves left, Guilliman dismissed his guards and admitted to Lox that he was turning the Second Empire into reality despite it not being what he had wanted.
• Lox compared Guilliman’s political work to business entertaining and told him that he had worked hard, briefly comforting him.
• Lox described waking after ten thousand years to find humanity’s flourishing civilization replaced by war and wondered whether the universe could still be saved.
• Guilliman listened to Lox and reaffirmed his belief that humanity could be restored with the help of those who shared his aspirations.