Chapter Summaries

The Crimson Tide and the Adeptus Mechanicus fought through the Underground Factory, killed the Zoanthrope, and completed their mission as Kroken died after holding the passage. Coriassus then organized an assault on the enormous Tyranid Hive Ship, and Anthony committed a hundred Crimson Tide veterans in exchange for a promised Chapter Homeworld.

• The Techmarine used prayers, a heavy laser cannon, and an experimental thermal lance to break the Zoanthrope's assault, then finished it with hidden blackstone darts.
• Anthony and the surviving Primaris Warriors withdrew as the Adeptus Mechanicus and Mourning Bell Titans collapsed the Tyranid passages; Kroken remained at the entrance and died after learning his final mission was complete.
• The Krieg forces landed, and the Imperial Navy assembled more than fifteen thousand Astartes to attack the vast Hive Ship while other warriors prepared to endure the Tyranids' assaults without naval support.
• Coriassus offered Chapters a Strike Cruiser for sending fifty warriors or a Chapter Homeworld for sending a hundred veterans, and Anthony pledged a hundred Crimson Tide veterans.
• The Astartes prepared to board the Hive Ship in Sacred Melta Assault Pods, with Coriassus carrying the Bio-Annihilation Fusion Bomb and the others tasked with covering his squad.

Anthony and the surviving Astartes fought through the Hive Ship to escort a Biological Annihilation Fusion Bomb toward its core. Bomb 001 was successfully placed, and Coriassus ordered all units to evacuate within five minutes.

• Anthony joined the assault force carrying three bombs toward the Hive Ship, while Imperial fighter crews launched their final sortie in support.
• Anthony's Assault Pod crashed into a Tyranid Hatchery, and he regrouped with Crimson Tide Squad Nine and the Diamond Fists bomb team.
• Anthony's force fought through Hive Guard and Tyranid reinforcements, using three Melta Bombs to blast open a passage for the Biological Annihilation Fusion Bomb.
• A Tyrant Guard struck Anthony into the bomb, destroying his Power Pack, but the Techmarine confirmed the bomb remained undamaged as the team pushed toward the target.
• Coriassus announced that Bomb 001 had been placed and ordered all units to evacuate within five minutes.

Anthony and his squad escaped the Hive Ship with the Biological Annihilation Fusion Bomb, but he lost his legs and was placed in a Dreadnought while the war on Arisath III continued. He took command of the ground defense, and the Emperor-class Titan Great Expedition joined the battle.

• Anthony’s squad pushed the bomb cart through the Hive Ship, blasted open a Melta pod with an overloaded Ion Pistol, and escaped as the bomb destroyed the ship and its Capillary Tower.
• Anthony ordered his bodyguards to cut off his legs so the bomb’s parachute could carry the Techmarine safely, then fell into suspended animation from his wounds.
• The Techmarine told Anthony he had been installed in an Ironclad Dreadnought and explained that the Tyranid ground forces and orbiting Bio-ships were still attacking Arisath III.
• Anthony joined a hololithic command conference, helped establish a unified command structure, and took charge of the medical area, war-preparation facility, and factory entrance.
• Anthony directed the defenders to conserve ammunition and target the Tyranids’ air forces as the fighting continued across the battlefield.
• The Emperor-class Titan Great Expedition emerged from the mountains and joined the battle against the Tyranids.

The Great Expedition and Imperial forces defeated the Nidhogg Hive Fleet at devastating cost, while Anthony and the defenders held the ground war against the Tyranids. The survivors faced a ravaged planet, shattered Chapters, and the psychological aftermath of the invasion.

• The Great Expedition crushed Tyranid forces on the planet and pointed the Death Korps of Krieg toward the Tervigon's nest.
• Maturio and the Lamenters, aided by the Legion of the Damned and the Death Company, planted the ninth Bio-annihilation Fusion Bomb and destroyed the central Hive Ship.
• Anthony defended the fortress breach, received a new ion cannon, and drove back Tyranids as reinforcements moved to rescue the Astartes.
• The Great Expedition finished off the remaining Tyranids, leaving the planet devastated and uninhabitable.
• Anthony entrusted the Crimson Tide's thirty-one remaining warriors to Maturio and entered stasis after arranging to attend the postwar supply meeting.
• The Imperium counted catastrophic losses as surviving soldiers and Astartes struggled with grief, trauma, and the destruction of their Chapters.

Anthony gathered surviving Space Marine Chapters under the Crimson Tide, negotiated their promised rewards, and arranged for nine depleted Chapters to join his growing bloc. Back on the Light of the People, Evan learned of the new homeworlds and reinforcements and ordered nine hundred warriors to set out for Anthony’s position.

• Crimson Tide Techmarines and the Sons of Medusa exchanged salvaged equipment while Iron Spikes warriors approached the Crimson Tide and chose to join after meeting its Techmarine and Anthony.
• Anthony persuaded the survivors of nine fleet-based Chapters to claim they still had forces elsewhere, then absorbed them and negotiated homeworlds, supplies, and anti-psyker material with Imperial officials.
• The Dawn Angels publicized the Crimson Tide’s role in the victory, while Anthony recalled scattered warriors and sent surplus newcomers to T'au.
• Evan read reports about Anthony’s campaign, the ten Chapter homeworlds, and incoming Primaris Warriors, then ordered nine hundred men to sail for Anthony’s designated position.
• Evan’s fleet hunted and captured damaged ships emerging from the Warp, then brought them to Annos to begin rebuilding them.
• A parable described Evan as a determined fish preparing to break the riverbanks and send the river toward the sea.

Chef Ternos struggled to protect his wine while the Great Thousand World dealt with its remaining troubles, and Evan received a warning that the Trade Fleet was in danger. The Cariman family ambushed Nian Cijin’s fleet at the Celestial Immortal Star system, where the opposing forces began maneuvering for battle.

• Chef Ternos tried to guard his wine with Ogryns, but they lost it, and Pirates later discovered a hidden kitchen compartment containing Chef Ferin's secret manual.
• Xiao Lan recognized Ferin's roasting method and stormed into the kitchen, where Ternos struggled to reproduce it.
• Evan received a warning from the Librarian that the Trade Fleet faced danger, while the Cariman family prepared to attack Florence's fleet and seize its ships and worlds.
• Nian Cijin's Trade Fleet headed toward the Celestial Immortal Star system to await reinforcements, unaware that the Cariman family was lying in ambush within the Fairy's Skirt dust cloud.
• Cariman Yang's lookout spotted Nian Cijin's fleet, and Yang reported its strength to his uncle as the Cariman ships withdrew deeper into the dust cloud.
• Nian Cijin sent a Nova-class Frigate and reconnaissance craft into the dust cloud, and a White Scars Son spotted and followed a Cariman ship's engine wake.

Nian Cijin’s trade fleet was trapped and attacked by the Cariman family, but Evan’s Light of the People arrived and turned the battle against them. The chapter ended with the Cariman fleet under assault and rebel Astartes pleading to join Nian Cijin’s forces.

• The Cariman grand elder ordered his fleet to ambush Nian Cijin’s trade fleet, but the fleet’s scouts exposed their positions and the Cariman commander launched an attack prematurely.
• Nian Cijin’s ships retreated under heavy fire, while eight hundred rebel Astartes boarded and fought the defenders; the Silent Fire’s engines were destroyed and its crew suffered heavy losses.
• The Tunan Jin fleet arrived and attacked the Cariman flagship, revealing that its commanders had switched sides after Evan ordered them to prove their loyalty.
• Evan brought the Light of the People into the battle, disabled the enemy ships’ shields and systems, and ordered his fleet to attack the stranded Cariman vessels.
• The rebel Astartes tried to persuade Nian Cijin’s warriors to flee with them, then begged to join them when their own ship was left unable to move.

Nian Cijin and Evan’s forces defeated the traitors and seized dozens of warships, while Guilliman reviewed the campaign and struggled with the existence of a clone of Lady Tarasha Euten. The chapter left Guilliman choosing to keep seeing her for now as he prepared to investigate a prophecy that she would bring forth a threat to the Emperor.

• Nian Cijin’s forces and the Space Wolves attacked the traitors from several directions, and the Sons of Dorn surrendered after being offered a penitent crusade.
• Evan’s forces captured 89 warships and confined the disarmed Sons of Dorn while investigating whether they were truly loyal.
• Guilliman ordered gene-seed assistance and adjusted homeworld assignments for the Chapters that had fought at Arisath, then summoned their representatives to Terra for an honor ceremony.
• Guilliman visited the cloned Lady Tarasha Euten, admitted that her existence troubled him, and accepted her offer to defer his decision over what to do with her.
• Guilliman asked the Custodian Victor whether anything unusual had happened and said he would investigate the prophecy that Lady Euten would bring forth a threat to the Emperor.

The Cariman Family summoned the Carcharodons Chapter to defend its holdings, while Evan led his fleet toward the family’s homeworld. The Carcharodons ambushed his forces, but Evan’s fleet disabled their ships and the battle turned into brutal boarding fights on both sides.

• The Cariman Family contacted the Adeptus Mechanicus and several Space Marine Chapters, and learned that the Carcharodons Chapter was the only one to answer.
• Evan took in surrendered fleets, planned to win over the Cariman Family’s worlds, and found a supply station stripped of its defenses, resources, and people.
• The Light of the People reached a Cariman outpost, where the Carcharodons hid in an asteroid belt and were discovered by Evan’s fleet.
• Evan ordered the Thirteenth Company to capture four Carcharodons Strike Cruisers, and the Carcharodons fought them fiercely aboard the White Maw.
• Carcharodons raiders infiltrated the Light of the People and freed many prisoners, while Rogier and other defenders fought them in the ship’s corridors.
• Kazhaniv clashed with two Carcharodons outside the Relic Chamber, meeting the veteran’s Power Greatsword with his Chainsword.

Evan negotiated with Tyberos for a duel to settle the conflict between their forces, and Kazhaniv fought the Carcharodons Chapter Master. After a brutal exchange that left both warriors gravely wounded, Tyberos conceded defeat.

• Kazhaniv defeated several Carcharodons warriors, equipped his Cataphractii Terminator Armour, and killed an assassin who attacked him in the armoury.
• Aboard the Strike Cruiser Nicor, Tyberos agreed to negotiate with Evan, who proposed a duel and set conditions for the victor.
• Tyberos chose to fight Kazhaniv, and the two Chapter leaders began a fierce Lightning Claw duel while Evan and the Carcharodons Terminators watched.
• Kazhaniv used an ancient stance to redirect Tyberos's charge, sending him crashing through a wall and then damaging his armour and cables.
• Tyberos battered Kazhaniv to the floor, but Kazhaniv wounded his abdomen; Tyberos then called the duel and counted the result as his loss.

The Crimson Tide traded with the Carcharodons before Evan’s fleet moved on to attack another Cariman Family world. The Trade Fleet defeated the Cariman forces and confronted the family’s allies at a banquet, where Evan invoked the Ancient Accord to pass judgment on the Cariman Family.

• Tyberos agreed to trade with Evan, exchanging a Carcharodons map of regions beyond the Milky Way and a Flying Blade Super-heavy Tank for the Crimson Tide’s armour, weapons, ammunition, and vehicles.
• Nian Cijin’s fleet attacked another Cariman Family outpost, but the Cariman defenders and allied forces trapped it between orbital defenses and a fleet striking from behind.
• The Cariman Patriarch hosted a banquet while envoys debated wagers and boarding assaults, believing the Trade Fleet was close to defeat.
• The Light of the People arrived and disabled the fleets’ Void Shields and communications, leaving the Cariman Patriarch’s guests isolated.
• Evan confronted the Cariman Patriarch at the banquet and invoked the Ancient Accord in the names of five Chapters to pass judgment on the family.

The Crimson Tide crushed the Cariman Family’s power and seized control of its region, while Evan considered using Drukhari cloning technology to fuel the Light of the People’s main cannon. The Crimson Tide received Oslosa 24 as its homeworld, where Anthony arrived as Governor Oslosa struggled against a predatory grain merchant.

• Evan declared the Cariman Family tainted by Chaos, and the Astartes subdued its members and killed a cultist who tried to escape through a warp rift.
• The Crimson Tide captured thirty million prisoners, took control of the region, and sent damaged ships for repair as the Cariman Family’s former territory fractured into rival domains.
• Evan considered stealing Haemonculi cloning technology to create Aeldari psykers as fuel for the Light of the People’s weapons.
• Guilliman dealt with Dark Angels who had executed supposed heretics, while representatives gathered to grant the ten victorious Chapters their homeworlds.
• Anthony attended the ceremony at Arisath and received Oslosa 24 as the Crimson Tide’s homeworld before departing for the system.
• Governor Oslosa argued with Viscount Akuma, who had bought the planet’s grain cheaply and resold imported grain to its people at a higher price.

Viscount Akuma tried to force Oslosa into a grain-purchasing agreement, but Anthony’s arrival and the Crimson Tide Chapter’s takeover disrupted his plans. Akuma later tried to sabotage the Chapter’s trade, yet Oslosa prospered through its network of Chapter homeworlds, leaving Akuma struggling to stop workers from seeking better lives there.

• Viscount Akuma pressured the Governor of Oslosa to sign a grain agreement, but the Governor refused and Anthony’s Dreadnought burst into the meeting, knocking Akuma unconscious.
• Anthony told the Governor that Oslosa had become the Chapter’s homeworld, while the Crimson Tide Chapter locked down the system, requisitioned merchant ships, and rejected old contracts.
• After Akuma’s family ordered him to withdraw its holdings, he found the spaceport sealed and the Chapter investigating agreements and taking control of local trade.
• Akuma apologized to Anthony and secured long-term raw-material contracts from twenty-one mining worlds, which reopened Oslosa’s factories and delayed Anthony’s population-transfer plan.
• Over the next two years, Oslosa and nine other Chapter homeworlds routed goods through their trade network, prospered, and sent people and supplies to the Great Thousand World.
• Akuma raised prices through his influence, worsening conditions on other worlds, while rumors spread that Oslosa’s factories offered excellent pay despite his claims that workers would be turned into corpse starch.

After spoiled canned food infected Badab Second World, William and the Astartes raced to contain a fast-spreading plague linked to Nurgle. The infection reached a military town, where the Planetary Defense Force was overwhelmed until the Emperor’s Angels launched a counterattack.

• Badab Second World’s defenses missed three cans of spoiled food, and Ark and Germu became infected after handling them.
• Sisyphus foresaw a plague threat, and an infected Ogryn erupted beside the river, prompting William to order a planetwide alert and lockdown.
• A Nurgle cultist gathered 777 infected people in a mountain ravine, where Nurgle’s corruption transformed the landscape and nearby creatures.
• A horde of Plague Zombies and corrupted animals attacked a military town, overwhelming its frightened Planetary Defense Force defenders.
• The Emperor’s Angels struck the battlefield, with Attack Bikes hitting the flank and Red-armored Warriors charging the plague Ogryns near the command tent.

The White Scars Sons defeated Smart-head Ogryn's force, while William led the defense against Ark's growing Nurgle army as the weakened reality barrier distorted the battlefield. As Ark approached William, 1313 emerged from a Warp rift and charged toward the Astartes' shield formation.

• The White Scars Sons fought the Plague Ogryns, overcame the Rustfall's disruption, and killed Smart-head Ogryn and the rest of his force.
• The White Scars Sons reached the town's defenses, where the Commissar burned the dead soldiers and reported that Plague Hounds had killed at least one hundred and ninety men.
• William learned that Ark was leading a swelling Nurgle army downstream and that an anchor daemon was weakening the reality barrier.
• William held back the Ministorum Priests until the artillery and air force attacked, then ordered the defenders and Astartes to engage the advancing enemy.
• William and the Astartes fought through Warp visions and Plague Zombies as Ark approached, but a Warp rift opened and 1313 emerged before charging toward the Astartes.

Boomblasta’s Ork force accidentally awakened a Necron dynasty and fled toward Badab II as the Necrons attacked the system. On the planet, 1313 revealed immense holy power while helping William defeat Ark, then disappeared into the devastation as the Necron assault began.

• Boomblasta’s Bad Moons digging machine struck a Necron tomb, awakening its dynasty, and the Necrons annihilated most of his army and sealed the system against Warp travel.
• Boomblasta escaped toward Badab II while four Necron Reapers pursued him and Imperial forces remained unaware of the incoming attack.
• 1313 fought through Ark’s plague army, healed from a Chaos trap, and displayed holy power that helped William destroy Ark’s gigantic daemonic form.
• William and the Bodyguard survived the Necron attack’s crashing warships and debris as the orbital station broke apart and the planet’s defenses opened fire.
• William learned that Orks were attacking Badab II and ordered his warriors to find 1313, who had charged into the impact zone toward Boomblasta’s landing site.

Boomblasta’s Orks, the Necrons, the human forces, and the plague army clashed across the battlefield as the Necrons’ Monolith devastated the fighting. 1313 and the White Scars Sons struck the corrupted artillery and plague forces, leaving the battle unresolved as the possessed commander transformed inside a black cocoon.

• The Necrons destroyed Boomblasta’s flagship and space station, then deployed a Monolith to attack the Orks on the planet.
• Boomblasta survived the crash inside nested mechs and led his Orks against the Dragoon regiments and the plague army, while William gathered Primaris Warriors and sought transport and communications.
• The Monolith and its Necron forces entered the battle, trading fire with Boomblasta’s Orks as the plague army was caught between them.
• The Monolith fired an Ion Storm that devastated the battlefield, killed two Weirdbosses, damaged Boomblasta’s mech, and annihilated the plague army’s grand commander; Imperial artillery then targeted the Monolith.
• 1313 charged into the corrupted artillery and plague army, destroying guns and enemies as the White Scars Sons arrived on bikes and attacked the Chaos leader.
• The Chaos leader was wounded and enclosed himself in a black cocoon; when a White Scars warrior struck it, the cocoon turned elastic and the warrior fled, while 1313 advanced toward it.

1313 helped the Imperium’s forces survive a Necron attack, but a Doomsday Lance opened a warp rift that swallowed him, William, and Boomblasta. On Terra, Guilliman confronted Belisarius Cawl over Lady Euten before Cawl activated the Deep Blue Protocol and revealed a sealed memory.

• 1313 killed the Nurgle Daemon, while the White Scars warrior recovered his broken Chainsword and fought through the cultists with an Anti-Vehicle Bomb.
• The Imperium learned that its Strike Cruiser was falling toward a nearby lake, and its forces stopped pursuing the Chaos army as the Necrons prepared a Doomsday Lance.
• The Rock fired its Doomsday Lance through the falling Strike Cruiser and struck Boomblasta’s mech, opening a warp rift that swallowed 1313, William, and the mech.
• Sisyphus recognized 1313 as a Living Saint and tried to help William stop Boomblasta from endangering the Strike Cruiser.
• Guilliman confronted Cawl about putting Lady Euten at risk and ordered him to erase her records, but Cawl activated the Deep Blue Protocol and told Guilliman, “You are not him, either.”

After Badab II was devastated, Evan’s forces rebuilt their mortal army and prepared new anti-psyker armor while Situval persuaded Evan to travel to Terra for the Chapter’s honors. As the Crimson Tide delegation arrived at Terra, the Dark Angels’ Dreadwing ambushed a Mechanicum gunship carrying a duplicate of Belisarius Cawl and destroyed it to seize his technology.

• The Necrons recorded Boomblasta, 1313, and William as dead after their disappearance into the warp, then left to answer the Silent King’s summons.
• Sisyphus survived the Strike Cruiser’s destruction, killed Captain Germu, and handed command of the battered Imperial force back to the local Governor.
• Anthony’s division reached Badab II, and its warriors left to seek Evan’s decision on T’au.
• Evan’s forces founded the Unity Army, and Christina designed bulky anti-psyker armor using rare materials and the bones of Blanks.
• Situval convinced Evan to attend the ceremony of honor on Terra, where the Crimson Tide delegation arrived aboard the Eternal Mountain.
• The Dark Angels’ Dreadwing attacked a Mechanicum gunship carrying a duplicate of Belisarius Cawl, dismantled him without obtaining his information, and destroyed the ship.

The chapter recounted how Lion El'Jonson was trapped in stasis after a battle with Necrons, then followed Evan as he addressed the ten Chapters and attended Guilliman and Cawl's equipment demonstration. It ended with Cawl demonstrating a recreated Grav-gun that crushed a War Automaton.

• Lion El'Jonson was gravely wounded by a C'tan-powered Disintegration Cannon aboard a Necron Tomb Ship, and the Dark Angels placed him in a stasis field to preserve him.
• The Dark Angels sought Cawl's Armour of Fate, grew resentful of Guilliman, and were brought back from internal conflict when Cypher took the Lion Sword and declared himself its keeper.
• Evan urged the representatives of his ten Chapters to become independent leaders, and they discussed plans for developing their homeworlds and territories.
• Situval challenged Campbell Crawford to the Blade Feast on behalf of the Crimson Tide, and Evan agreed to accompany him to the gathering and tour the Phalanx.
• Guilliman and Cawl held an equipment demonstration for the Chapters, where Cawl used a recreated Grav-gun to crush a War Automaton.