Chapter Summaries

Evan and Mephiston dealt with an Adamantium Warrior driven into the Black Rage during Cawl’s experiment, and Evan proposed escalating the test with a Psi-Titan and far more equipment. At the feast, Jaghatai Khan reorganized the Crimson Tide’s technical priorities and ended the chapter staring at Evan’s enormous painting of the Emperor.

• Mephiston’s psyker attack caused an Adamantium Warrior to relive a false memory of Horus, and the warrior attacked Belisarius Cawl before Evan and Mephiston subdued him.
• Evan confronted Cawl over the dangerous failed test and proposed using Blackstone Spires, more Adamantium Warriors, and a Psi-Titan to scale up the experiment.
• Evan asked a Custodian to arrange a Psi-Titan through the Omen Conclave, and Cawl supported testing the equipment with one first.
• At the feast, Jaghatai Khan criticized the Crimson Tide’s altered Sisters of Battle armor and ordered more Techmarines to help standardize it.
• Jaghatai Khan redirected the Techmarines toward upgrading military equipment, including adding power conduits and engines to the Space Manta.
• Jaghatai Khan learned that Evan supposedly chose painting to cultivate his spirit, then saw the enormous painting of the Emperor on a live video feed and gripped his sword hilt.

The Khan redirected the Light of the People to recruit on Terra, while Guilliman received news that the Khan had returned and Evan prepared for the encounter. Evan joined the fierce competition among Chapters for recruits, defeated several rivals, and ended the chapter fighting a heavily armed Iron Hands warrior.

• The Khan rejected recruiting tens of thousands of Hive World candidates and ordered the Light of the People to head straight to Terra.
• Maturio and the Lamenters discussed asking the Khan to train them, while Guilliman received confirmation that the Khan was returning and collapsed in shock.
• Evan avoided meeting Guilliman, ate the letter he had received, and went to recruit candidates on Terra.
• Evan defeated representatives from three Chapters and began distributing Adamantium Armor to help the Crimson Tide compete for recruits.
• Evan challenged a Morlag Clan warrior, endured his plasma and flame attacks, and faced a massive shield-hammer strike as the platform collapsed beneath them.

Evan defeated the Morlag warrior in a recruitment duel, then Guilliman sent him to hunt a missing Wind and Cloud-class Battleship that could threaten Terra. Evan tracked the ship toward an unknown star system as corrupted Inquisitors aboard it plotted to open a route for Daemons, leaving both vessels racing through realspace toward the same destination.

• Evan outmaneuvered and defeated the Morlag warrior, then won the crowd’s applause for the Crimson Tide’s recruitment drive.
• Guilliman told Evan that a Wind and Cloud-class Battleship had vanished and might be aimed at Terra, then sent him to pursue it.
• Evan took four companies aboard a Wind and Cloud-class Battleship, searched a dangerous meteor swarm, and summoned Sisyphus to help locate the missing ship.
• Two corrupted Inquisitors and a Mechanicus Priest used the missing battleship to seek Warp-inaccessible routes and planned to enable a Daemon invasion.
• Evan and the missing battleship followed psychic leads toward the same unknown star system, while Evan relied on Reality Barrier Anchors to keep the Warp sealed.

Fiedler fell under Khorne’s influence and attacked the garrison armory as the two warships entered the warped star system and fought. Evan pursued the Chaos ship toward Terra, boarded it, and confronted the Tzeentch Daemon controlling the corrupted Inquisitor.

• A Chaos whisper drove Fiedler to steal a weapon and kill two guards at the armory, prompting the veterans to investigate.
• Evan spotted another warship’s exhaust trail, entered the star system ahead of it, and fought the Chaos vessel with Sisyphus’s ship.
• The Chaos ship fled toward Terra, but Evan and Sisyphus pursued it and repeatedly prevented it from making a warp jump.
• Evan ordered a boarding assault, and Victor arranged for his Boarding Pod to arrive last.
• Evan emerged onto the enemy bridge, broke the Daemon’s control over the corpses, and advanced on the Tzeentch Daemon.

Evan pursued a Tzeentch Greater Daemon through the ship, defeated the forces it encountered, and sealed a Warp passage before the battle ended. The ship escaped the system, the Inquisitor died aboard, and a golden horn appeared through the hole left by the boarding pod.

• Evan fought the Tzeentch Greater Daemon through an illusion of a garden and an Astropath chamber while Victor joined the battle and accidentally sent the other warriors’ boarding pod crashing through the floor.
• The daemon fled into Khorne-controlled territory, where Fiedler’s ritual had opened a Warp passage, and Evan sealed the passage after the daemon escaped through it.
• Evan and Victor slaughtered the Blood Cult and stopped Fiedler from summoning a Greater Daemon while the Techmarine checked the ship and helped prepare it to jump.
• Sisyphus ordered the ship to jump as enemy reinforcements approached, and two Wind and Cloud-class Battleships restrained it during the escape.
• Evan arrived on the bridge with severed heads, and the Inquisitor died before finishing his warning about the Dark King.
• Evan dismissed the Inquisitor’s last words, and a golden horn quietly emerged through the hole left by the boarding pod.

Constantin Valdor returned to Terra and told Guilliman that his hidden Webway forces and the captured Star Children were ready for the Emperor’s resurrection. Meanwhile, Leman Russ traveled in secret toward Terra, slaughtered Khorne Cultists who attacked his transport, and was joined by a Space Marine rescue force.

• Constantin Valdor returned to Guilliman, described his hidden army of winged Space Marines and Sisters of Silence, and confirmed that he had captured the Star Children for the resurrection plan.
• Valdor told Guilliman that the Custodians had prepared a void shield as a backup for the Imperial Palace’s psychic barrier, then left for the Palace.
• Leman Russ and Magnus’s upright soul fragment argued during their secret journey to Terra, while Russ hid aboard a transport and stole liquor and food.
• A Khorne Cultist warship rammed the transport, and Leman Russ disguised himself as a Blood God fanatic and slaughtered the boarding forces.
• Annos’s Wind and Cloud-class Battleship arrived, destroyed the cultist ship, and sent a boarding pod to aid the transport as Leman Russ headed for its communications room.

Leman Russ hid from the Adamantium Warriors, but they discovered him and mistook him for a Chaos creature. After fighting them, he revealed himself as the returned Primarch and agreed to travel under their guard so another loyal Primarch could judge him.

• The Wolf Brother sensed a powerful creature and led his squad toward traces of Leman Russ, then turned back to join the other force.
• Leman Russ hid behind a wall beside a lavatory as Adamantium Warriors passed, but their anti-psyker power disrupted his attempt to teleport away.
• The Wolf Brother and the Adamantium Warriors attacked Leman Russ, mistaking him for a Chaos warrior even after he claimed to be the Wolf King.
• Leman Russ defeated the squad, revealed his identity, and declared his return while standing atop a golden toilet.
• An Adamantium Warrior refused to trust Leman Russ but proposed that at least ten warriors escort him to meet another loyal Primarch for judgment.

Leman Russ returned to the Imperium aboard the Wind and Cloud-class Battleship while Jaghatai Khan reunited with Guilliman on Terra. Evan’s experiment with the Psi-Titan went catastrophically wrong, but he survived the psychic blast and signaled defiance toward Cawl.

• Leman Russ learned that Jaghatai Khan was heading to Terra, boarded the Wind and Cloud-class Battleship with the Adamantium Warriors, and endured their preparations to contain him.
• Evan prepared to connect himself to the Blackstone Spires and a Psi-Titan as the Khan arrived above Terra.
• Jaghatai Khan reunited with Guilliman, presented him with the Holy Bell and the Three Holy Litanies, and was welcomed as the Imperium’s Warmaster during a parade.
• Evan and thousands of Adamantium Warriors began Cawl’s experiment while Sisters of Silence and Blackstone Spires helped channel the Psi-Titan’s psychic attack.
• Cawl’s chains snapped and the Sinistramanus Tenebrae engulfed Evan and the warriors in a psychic beam, but Evan stirred afterward and raised his middle finger toward Cawl.

Evan’s experiment proved that Space Marines could withstand a Psi-Titan’s full-power attack, while the Primarchs prepared a larger force for the death zone. Jaghatai Khan summoned Evan, tested him in a brutal fight, and fed him Primarch blood after nearly beating him unconscious.

• Evan recovered from the experiment as Cawl reported that he, one hundred Sisters of Silence, five thousand Adamantium Warriors, and seventeen Blackstone Spires had endured the Psi-Titan’s attack without serious injuries.
• Cawl proposed adapting the Callidus Assassins’ snake-scale skin for Space Marines, and Guilliman agreed to contact the Officio Assassinorum.
• Guilliman and Jaghatai Khan argued over Alpharius’s return and the relics aboard the Light of the People, while preparations gathered one hundred thousand Adamantium Warriors for the death zone.
• Evan met Jaghatai Khan with Ashlan, who carried weapons for the Khan, and the Khan recognized Evan as one of his gene-sons before beginning a fight over the White Scars’ calligraphy and weapon names.
• Jaghatai Khan battered Evan with several weapons, and Evan snapped the Coiling Dragon Staff and knocked strands from the Khan’s wig before finally collapsing.
• Jaghatai Khan pried open Evan’s mouth and fed him Primarch blood to keep him alive and trigger a possible transformation.

Evan gave Jaghatai Khan Snow Eagle and the Key of Helrek in exchange for a Master-crafted Power Sword, while Leman Russ ate his way through the battleship’s provisions. After Russ arrived on Terra and attacked the disguised Guilliman, the four Primarchs reunited, settled their plans, and asked what role the Alpha Legion would play.

• Jaghatai Khan healed, feasted with Evan, and beat him after Evan joked about serving as his mount.
• Jaghatai Khan asked Evan for a weapon worthy of his speed, and Evan traded him the Key of Helrek for a Master-crafted Power Sword before handing Snow Eagle to Ashlan to protect the Khan.
• Leman Russ depleted the battleship’s food stores, then enjoyed naan soaked in medical alcohol while the crew pooled their supplies.
• After nine days, Leman Russ reached Terra and attacked Guilliman, believing him to be Alpharius; Jaghatai Khan intervened and joined the brawl.
• Magnus emerged as the four Primarchs fought until night, then they reviewed their plans and asked what the Alpha Legion was supposed to do.

Alpharius revealed the vast forces he had secretly built and appointed Jaghatai Khan Warmaster as the Imperium organized Terra’s defenses for an offensive against Chaos. As the defense began, Evan prepared to channel the Emperor’s psychic power through a Blackstone network, while Grey Knights began sacrificing their souls to sustain the Imperial Palace’s Void Shield.

• Alpharius disclosed that several Alpha Legion forces, Primaris Chapters, and a hidden Indomitus expeditionary force answered to him, and he outlined plans to regroup fleets and prepare Terra for war.
• The Imperium appointed Jaghatai Khan Warmaster and Leman Russ Lord Protector, assigned forces to defend eight Warp routes, and ordered Guilliman to lead a mobile defense through the Webway.
• Evan joined the preparations beneath the Imperial Palace, where he was expected to channel the Emperor’s amplified psychic power through a Blackstone network despite the likely deaths of the servants moving the spires.
• Guilliman led Evan toward the Golden Throne as Custodes carried the Star Children inside, while Evan distributed naan to the Sisters of Silence before the doors opened.
• A Grey Knight sacrificed his soul at the altar to power the Imperial Palace’s Void Shield and confronted the Daemons beyond it, as the other Grey Knights waited to take their turns.

The Custodians and Primarchs launched the Emperor’s plan to reclaim the Webway as Evan prepared to connect himself to the Golden Throne. Konrad Curze sacrificed his remaining essence to redeem himself and call the uncorrupted Night Lords to fight for the Emperor.

• Rogal Dorn, Ferrus Manus, and Konrad Curze led the Legion of the Damned as the Custodians pushed the Blackstone Spire through the Webway and the Emperor’s power sealed its breach.
• The Custodians advanced alongside Constantin Valdor and Rogal Dorn while the Imperial Fists gathered outside the Webway, ready to fight beside their returned Primarch.
• Guilliman told Evan to sit on the Golden Throne’s connection, and Evan aligned himself with its channels.
• Konrad Curze’s Rubric form vanished as his warp essence disintegrated, and he sent a final call to the Night Lords to fight for the Emperor.
• The uncorrupted Night Lords purged Chaos-tainted warriors from their ranks, gathered their battered ships, and set out to answer Curze’s call.

Evan filtered the Emperor’s immense faith as Cawl’s Blackstone Spires filled the Webway with an anti-psyker field, and the Imperium’s forces prepared to hold back the Chaos host. Rogal Dorn defeated the Bloodthirster Seed of Destruction and faced Skulltaker as more daemons advanced.

• Magnus released the Emperor’s accumulated faith through Evan, while Cawl’s equipment reversed the Blackstone Spires’ polarity and suppressed the Webway breach.
• The Imperium advanced its Adamantium Warriors and Sisters of Silence toward the Custodes’ defensive line as Chaos forces charged through the flames.
• Rogal Dorn took the Lion’s Sword and fought Seed of Destruction, entering the daemon’s inner city to destroy its armies and defeat him.
• Dorn returned to the battlefield, severed Seed of Destruction’s horns, and banished him into the Warp, where the Blackstone Spires drained his power.
• Skulltaker crossed the curtain of fire and challenged Dorn, who raised his blade to meet him.

Evan witnessed the Emperor’s physical body die and the Astronomican go dark, then addressed the Warp to lure the Dark Gods into a trap before the Tyranid Hive Mind arrived. As Chaos forces invaded the Three Holy Litanies and the Emperor poured the galaxy’s prayers into Evan, Evan gained a fragmented view of wars across the galaxy but could not act on what he saw.

• The Emperor’s body vanished from the Golden Throne, and the Astronomican shut down, disrupting navigation and protections across the Imperium.
• Morigen ordered the White Scars fleet to turn back toward human space after receiving reports of the crisis.
• Evan challenged Khorne and the other Warp powers to come fight, warning that the Tyranid Hive Mind’s main force was approaching.
• Khorne’s armies emerged through portals aboard the Three Holy Litanies, where Trajann Valoris led the Custodians in a prepared defense.
• The Emperor forced the galaxy’s prayers into Evan, who learned to organize the flood of visions as battlefield reports and saw Abaddon’s forces attack the Space Wolves.

Evan struggled to preserve his identity as the Emperor’s memories showed him Abaddon’s galaxy-wide offensive and the Blood Angels’ battle against a Genestealer-infested Space Hulk. The Blood Angels tried to tow the hulk toward the system’s star, and the chapter left them defending the Red Tear against a boarding assault.

• Evan abandoned efforts to organize the Emperor’s memories and used two strands of thought to recite his life story, keeping himself sane as he watched Abaddon’s forces overwhelm Imperial defenses.
• Dante’s Blood Angels discovered Genestealers hidden in the Space Hulk’s Adamantium Prows after a reconnaissance squad entered the vessel and had to retreat outside under bombardment.
• Dante rejected boarding the hulk and ordered the Red Tear to tow it toward the system’s star, using thick chains connected to the ship and supported by other Battle Barges.
• The Blood Angels electrified the towing chains, while Genestealers adapted by consuming a strain that could insulate its feet and the Patriarch prepared a teleportation assault.
• Mephiston anticipated the enemy boarding attempt, and the Blood Angels gathered on the Red Tear as its guns and Lances fought the Genestealers advancing along the chains.
• The Genestealers suffered heavy losses but began leaping toward areas beyond the Blood Angels’ fields of fire as the Patriarch urged the Broodkin onward.

The Blood Angels fought a Genestealer boarding assault on two ships, and Mephiston led a strike against the Patriarch aboard the stricken Battle Barge. After Mephiston killed the Patriarch and the Genestealers fled, Evan’s conflicting memories grew clearer, leaving him unable to tell which version of his past was real.

• The Genestealers teleported aboard the ships, striking the Red Tear and the Battle Barge towing it, while Dante ordered the stricken vessel to break away and the fleet to contain the assault.
• The Solar Auxilia and a Terminator Squad reinforced the defense, and the Flying Little Train Number Nine provided sustained fire that helped the Blood Angels suppress the attackers near the Red Tear.
• Mephiston took half the Sanguinary Guard and a Mark X squad to the Battle Barge, restored communications with its defenders, and fought his way toward the wounded Patriarch.
• The Patriarch ambushed Mephiston with psychic attacks and hidden Adamantium Armor, but Mephiston fought back in the Black Rage and drove his Chainsword into the creature.
• An Astropath’s Psychic Smite helped break the deadlock; the Patriarch died, the Genestealers fled, and Dante reported that the Blood Angels had recovered the Battle Barge and begun purging it.
• Evan experienced increasingly vivid, contradictory memories of his identity and the Chapter’s history, and he could not determine which memories were authentic.

As Evan tried to preserve his identity amid a flood of believers’ memories, he watched Leman Russ and the Space Wolves battle Angron. The fight continued as Russ’s Ice-Rune Armour awakened and he drove Angron back.

• Evan repeated that he had never prayed so his future self could separate his own memories from incoming prayers.
• Evan watched Angron slaughter the defenders outside a fortress as Leman Russ and his allies arrived.
• Angron tore free the fortress gate and attacked the Space Wolves, forcing Ragnar Blackmane to order a retreat and call for orbital bombardment.
• Leman Russ joined the battle, wielding the Dionysian Spear as the Custodes and Adamantium Warriors tried to support him against Angron.
• The fighting broke through the fortress floor, and Angron wounded Russ before Russ’s Ice-Rune Armour awakened.
• Russ drove Angron back dozens of feet and taunted him for reeking of blood.

Leman Russ defeated Angron after the Ice-Rune Armour restored its power, but the Wolf King lay badly burned among the ruins. At the Imperial Palace, Angel DeWyn sacrificed himself to strengthen the Grey Knights' defense against the daemon horde and began a massive counterattack.

• Leman Russ exploited explosions and collapsing debris to weaken Angron, then battered him while the Adeptus Custodes slowed his healing with anti-psyker bolts.
• Angron regained the advantage, drove Russ into the sky, and attacked him until a charging assault warrior created an opening for the Ice-Rune Armour to restore its frost power.
• Russ and Angron fought through the air before Russ drove the Dionysian Spear through Angron's chest and tore out his neck with his fangs, destroying the Daemon Primarch's material form.
• Angel DeWyn stepped forward to replace a Grey Knight whose soul was fading and took over the Void Shield's anti-daemon power.
• Angel DeWyn fought the daemons before the Golden Throne, drew on the lingering souls and knowledge of fallen Grey Knights, and unleashed a sweeping counterattack across the Imperial Palace Region.

Leman Russ awoke from a vision in which Khorne revealed Logan Grennam trapped in the Blood God Arena, then returned to the ongoing war. Meanwhile, the King of Sapphires exploited the Iron Hands’ grief over Ferrus Manus to turn their defenses against them.

• Abaddon’s Black Legion battered a Valhallan-held supply world, while the returning Space Wolves fleet and reports of Leman Russ’s return disrupted Abaddon’s plans.
• In Khorne’s blood sea, Leman Russ ignored visions of his brothers and discovered that Logan Grennam was imprisoned in the Blood God Arena.
• Leman Russ awoke among the dead Adamantium Warriors, learned the fighting was not over, and demanded supplies and a report from the Apothecary and Custodian.
• The King of Sapphires led Slaanesh’s forces toward the Iron Hands’ defenses while seeking the hidden Gloriana-class Battleship Iron Fist.
• The Iron Hands lured the Slaaneshi fleet into a calculated killing ground, but the King of Sapphires’ music awakened their buried grief and drove warriors to attack themselves.

The Borgus Clan rallied against the Slaaneshi forces and defeated the King of Sapphires after a Neophyte struck the killing blow. As the Chemos Performers retreated, the Morlag Clan launched a coordinated assault against the enemy fleets.

• The Borgus Clan's Iron Priests restored their warriors' loyalty, and the clan regrouped to fight beside the Mordian Iron Guard and Skitarii.
• The Borgus Clan joined the Dreadnoughts and other Iron Hands forces in a direct assault on the King of Sapphires' mobile palace.
• The King of Sapphires attacked the Iron Hands, but Dreadnoughts struck him with plasma and stasis weapons while the Fellblade blasted a hole in his chest.
• A Borgus Clan Neophyte disobeyed orders, freed the Clan Chief's Power Sword, and drove it into the wounded daemon's neck, banishing him and his daemons.
• The Chemos Performers retreated with orders to recover the gene-seed they had seized, while the Iron Hands began their counterattack.
• The Morlag Clan launched an all-out assault on the Slaaneshi forces and fleet, surrounding and destroying enemy ships.