Chapter Summaries

Liu Zhipeng traveled with Ghazghk to Mandragora, the Sautekh Dynasty’s capital, intending to steal the C'tan Shards held there. He bypassed the planet’s defenses and reached the energy chamber beneath Imotekh’s central pyramid.

• Liu Zhipeng told Ghazghk they were heading to the Sautekh Dynasty to take Imotekh the Stormlord’s treasures.
• Ghazghk activated the Jump-Jump Engine and sent the Hope Rolls In to Mandragora.
• Liu Zhipeng ordered Ghazghk and the Gretchin to prepare the ship’s weapons and activate Party Mode if anything major happened.
• Liu Zhipeng transformed into golden light and passed through Mandragora’s detection nets and defensive cordons undetected.
• Liu Zhipeng sensed the C'tan Shards inside Imotekh’s central pyramid and traveled through underground energy conduits to its lowest-level energy chamber.

Liu Zhipeng found Imotekh’s hidden chamber of imprisoned C'tan Shards and recognized the dimensional labyrinth protecting it. Trazyn pursued him into the trap, and Liu Zhipeng turned to greet him as he entered its trigger range.

• Liu Zhipeng discovered that the chamber’s C'tan Shards were being drained to power the Dynasty and sensed that the room was suspiciously unguarded.
• Liu Zhipeng identified a Multidimensional Tesseract Labyrinth concealed in the chamber’s floor and walked toward the imprisoned shards instead of retreating.
• Liu Zhipeng approached a shard of the Deceiver and prepared to sever its energy shackles.
• Trazyn arrived in pursuit of Liu Zhipeng, failed to notice the dimensional trap, and became distracted by the collection of C'tan Shards.
• Liu Zhipeng smiled at Trazyn as the collector stepped within the labyrinth’s trigger range.

Liu Zhipeng devoured the C'tan shards in Imotekh’s trap while Trazyn was folded into a parcel by the multidimensional labyrinth. Liu escaped, leaving Trazyn’s cube to teleport to Imotekh, who confirmed the target had been captured.

• Liu Zhipeng touched the Deceiver shard and absorbed its will with Primordial Quickening.
• Imotekh ordered the Tesseract Labyrinth activated, and it trapped Trazyn while Liu remained unaffected.
• Liu shattered and devoured the remaining C'tan shards as Trazyn watched and protested.
• Liu escaped through a Jump-Jump Engine, while the labyrinth compressed Trazyn into a metal cube and teleported it away.
• The cube arrived before Imotekh, who identified it as the captured target, and his adjutant asked what it was.

Imotekh learned from Trazyn that a golden C'tan Shard had escaped dimensional restraints and devoured thirteen of his C'tan Shards. The two Necron Overlords formed an alliance to capture or destroy the golden being before it grew into a threat to their race.

• Imotekh released Trazyn from the cube and threatened him over the disappearance of thirteen C'tan Shards.
• Trazyn told Imotekh that a golden C'tan Shard had attacked him, devoured seven of his Shards, and stolen all thirteen from Imotekh's power chamber.
• Imotekh recognized the golden being as a major threat because it could resist Necron dimensional restraints and grow stronger by devouring C'tan Shards.
• Imotekh agreed to release Trazyn in exchange for his help tracking down and capturing the golden being.
• Trazyn and Imotekh formed a temporary alliance, agreeing that Imotekh could study the being while Trazyn collected its parts.

Liu Zhipeng returned to the Mandragora System and set his sights on the Silent King, Szarekh, planning to use the Calixis Battle Group as bait. Meanwhile, Kaspar Marlan led the fleet toward the isolated Zedos System, where its scans revealed something horrifying.

• Liu Zhipeng returned aboard The Hope Rolls In with the [Primordial Quickening] embryo safely stored and told Ghazghk that their next target was Szarekh.
• Liu Zhipeng showed Ghazghk the Calixis Battle Group insignia and identified the fleet as suitable bait for drawing out the Silent King.
• Kaspar Marlan learned that the Naphil Sector had fallen silent, the Astropaths were collapsing, and contact with the Imperial Fists and Adeptus Mechanicus reinforcements had been lost.
• Father Clement urged Marlan and the officers to continue their mission, and Marlan ordered the Calixis Battle Group to proceed to the Zedos System.
• The fleet reached Mesmok in the Zedos System, where its scans revealed a sight that horrified the bridge crew.

Maran and Kelia discovered that Necron Blackstone Obelisks had cut off Mesmok and the surrounding sector, and Maran ordered troops to destroy one. The landing force was ambushed by Necron Warriors, whose weapons overwhelmed the Seventh Infantry Regiment and its supporting tanks.

• Kelia identified the obelisks as Necron devices suppressing warp energy and said their arrangement formed a vast Gellar Field around Mesmok and the sector.
• Maran ordered the First, Third, and Fifth Armoured Regiments and the Seventh and Ninth Infantry Regiments to attack the nearest obelisk, with Evrell Stern and her Sisters accompanying them.
• Alexei led the Seventh Infantry Regiment onto Mesmok, where his soldiers found a towering obelisk, scorched farmland, and thousands of shriveled human corpses.
• Necron Warriors erupted from fissures around the troops, and their gauss rifles disintegrated soldiers while their bodies regenerated from damage.
• Alexei ordered a retreat as the Necrons surrounded the Seventh Infantry Regiment and destroyed or disabled tanks with their gauss rifles.

Liu Zhipeng appeared as a golden figure on the battlefield and restored the Imperium’s soldiers’ strength and courage. He destroyed the Blackstone Obelisk and defeated the Necron force, leaving the survivors to hail him as an angel of the Emperor.

• Fleet Master Maran learned that the obelisk’s interference field had disabled the fleet’s weapons, preventing orbital support for the ground forces.
• Liu Zhipeng appeared in a pillar of golden light, healed the soldiers, and urged them to charge as the God-Emperor’s Blade of Vengeance.
• Company Captain Alexei rallied the soldiers into a counterattack while Liu Zhipeng descended and cut down Necron Warriors whose bodies could no longer repair themselves.
• Liu Zhipeng drove his sword into the Blackstone Obelisk and destroyed its core, interrupting the Necrons’ retreat and melting those caught in the golden flames.
• The soldiers celebrated their victory, and Alexei said he did not know whether Liu Zhipeng was an angel but was grateful that he had saved them.

After Liu Zhipeng destroyed the Necron obelisk on Mesmok, the Imperium welcomed him aboard the Hammer of God as a saint. He introduced himself as Ember and joined Commander Marlan to discuss what came next.

• Necron Master Artisan Zerath ordered a second wave deployed to capture the golden figure who destroyed the Seventh Obelisk.
• Commander Marlan ordered medical and supply ships to Mesmok and prepared to welcome the figure aboard the Hammer of God.
• Evrell Stern invited Liu Zhipeng aboard, and he accepted as the soldiers knelt to see him depart.
• Commander Marlan welcomed Liu Zhipeng on the landing deck, where he gave the name Ember.
• Father Clement touched Ember’s golden light, declared it the Emperor’s light, and knelt with the other priests to pray.
• Liu Zhipeng told the priests to rise, and Marlan led him toward a conference room.

Liu Zhipeng gave the fleet a Short-Jump Engine design to counter the Necrons’ soul isolation network, then detected an enemy force teleporting through a dimensional rift directly above the fleet.

• Liu Zhipeng explained that the Necrons’ Blackstone Artifacts disrupted Warp Engines and other warp-dependent abilities and devices.
• Liu Zhipeng gave Archmagos Marcus-018 a design for a Short-Jump Engine that could bypass the dead zone’s suppression.
• Marcus-018 hailed Liu Zhipeng as the Emissary of the Omnissiah and worshipped him, while Commander Marlan pledged the Calixis Battle Group to his mission.
• Liu Zhipeng sensed an approaching threat, and the bridge reported massive spatial distortions directly above the fleet.
• Liu Zhipeng said the enemies had teleported through a dimensional rift rather than arriving by conventional travel.

Liu Zhipeng left the Hammer of God to buy Marcus-018 time to install Short-Jump Engines, then single-handedly destroyed the Necrons’ first attack group. Zerath became fascinated by Liu Zhipeng’s power and decided to capture him for the Silent King Szarekh.

• Liu Zhipeng ordered Marcus-018 and the Tech-Priests to manufacture and install Short-Jump Engines, then flew into space to buy them time.
• Overlord Maran ordered the fleet to activate its void shields, aim its guns at the Necrons, and build the new engines.
• Zerath ordered dozens of Scythe-class frigates to attack Liu Zhipeng and capture him alive.
• Liu Zhipeng blocked the frigates’ gauss beams with a golden shield and destroyed the entire attack group with golden lances.
• Zerath recognized Liu Zhipeng as a new and unknown variable, then resolved to capture him and present him to the Silent King Szarekh.

Zerath withdrew the Necron fleet after its vanguard was destroyed and prepared to trap Liu Zhipeng at the Khalifa System. On the Hammer of God, the Imperium’s forces bowed before Liu, and Lord Inquisitor Kelia Drasus began to accept him as the Ember Saint as the fleet regrouped above Mesmok.

• Zerath ordered the Necron fleet to withdraw using the Phase Shift protocol after concluding conventional firepower could not stop Liu Zhipeng.
• Zerath chose to travel to the Khalifa System with elite troops and War Constructs to prepare a trap for Liu.
• Liu returned to the Hammer of God, where the crew, Father Clement, and the Space Marines knelt before him.
• Kelia Drasus lowered her weapon and bowed to Liu, signaling an initial acknowledgment of the Ember Saint.
• Liu helped Commander Marlan to his feet and told him the battle was not over.
• The Hammer of God and the Calixis Battle Group rested and refitted in orbit above Mesmok.

Liu Zhipeng restored the wounded, Astropaths, and Space Marines aboard the fleet while the Tech-Priests installed Short-Jump Engines. He led the fleet toward the Khalifa System to strike a key Necron network node.

• Marcus-018 and the Tech-Priests replaced the Hammer of God's Warp Engines with Short-Jump Engines.
• Liu Zhipeng's divine flame soothed wounded soldiers and restored the Astropaths' souls.
• Liu Zhipeng's presence revived the Space Marines' fighting strength.
• Marcus-018 reported that the Hammer of God's new engine was installed and that the other capital ships would be refitted within two days.
• Liu Zhipeng recommended concentrating the fleet to attack Necron core nodes, and he selected the Khalifa System as the first target.
• Lord Commander Maran ordered the fleet to Khalifa, and the ships activated their Short-Jump Engines and vanished.

The Imperial Fleet entered the Khalifa System and fought through a Necron ambush, with Liu Zhipeng destroying several cruisers to open a path to Khalifa Prime. The fleet reached the dead planet, where Liu Zhipeng warned that the real battle was still ahead.

• The Calixis Battle Group arrived safely in the Khalifa System, where Commander Marlan discovered hundreds of Necron ships waiting in ambush.
• Liu Zhipeng ordered the fleet to charge toward Khalifa Prime instead of getting bogged down, and Marlan formed the ships into a spearhead.
• The Necrons attacked with Gauss Beams, while the Imperial ships pressed forward and destroyed a Jackal-class cruiser with concentrated fire.
• Liu Zhipeng flew into the enemy formation, resisted its weapons, and punched through four Necron cruisers to open a gap.
• Maran led the Imperial Fleet through the breach, and the ships broke through the outer defenses into the inner system.
• The fleet reached Khalifa Prime, where Liu Zhipeng saw the planet's Blackstone Obelisks and warned Marlan that the real battle had only just begun.

Liu Zhipeng attacked the central Obelisk on Kalifa, but Necron Master Artisan Zerath trapped him in a Transdimensional Folding Matrix and unleashed reinforcements. With Liu gone, Pheros and Sister Evreel rallied the Imperial forces to hold their ground and fight.

• Liu Zhipeng led the assault on the Obelisk while Pheros, Maran, Evreel, and the Imperial forces battled the emerging Necron Warriors.
• Liu blasted a breach into the Obelisk, but its Transdimensional Folding Matrix activated and compressed him out of sight.
• Zerath appeared and revealed that he had prepared the Obelisk as a trap, then summoned Necron Praetorians and Ghost Arks to attack the Imperials.
• Pheros rejected a retreat order and rallied the Imperial forces to defend their position until Liu returned.
• Evreel urged the Sisters of Battle to keep fighting, declaring that the Saint's divine flame still burned within them.

Liu Zhipeng escaped Zerath’s dimensional prison, destroyed the Necron commander and his army, and Zerath was resurrected with a warning for Szarekh. The Silent King ordered Zerath to explain his discovery of a self-aware C’tan with Warp powers.

• Liu Zhipeng emerged unharmed from the collapsed singularity and crushed Zerath’s skull, then burned him to ash.
• Liu Zhipeng engulfed the battlefield in golden flames and annihilated the Necron army as the Imperials cheered.
• Zerath resurrected in a Necron crypt and decided to report the powerful new C’tan to the Silent King.
• Zerath reached Szarekh’s throne world and urgently claimed that Liu Zhipeng was a self-aware C’tan with Warp powers.
• Szarekh silenced the other Phaerons and ordered Zerath to explain in detail.

After learning that a golden figure destroyed the Obelisk and burned Zerath to ashes, Szarekh ordered three World Engines awakened and set out for Khalifa. Liu Zhipeng prepared to hold the system against the Necrons, using a fabricated Emperor’s mission to rally his allies and keep the Silent King occupied while Ghazghk’s force moved toward the Necron home base.

• Zerath reported the golden figure’s actions in the Khalifa System, and Szarekh ordered his fleet mobilized and three World Engines awakened.
• Szarekh declared that he would travel to Khalifa and destroy the being if it was truly a C’tan.
• Liu Zhipeng told the commanders that the Necrons had been testing their strength and would counterattack to reclaim Khalifa.
• Liu Zhipeng claimed that the Emperor had sent a secret team to find the Soul Isolation Network’s control hub and asked the gathered forces to hold Khalifa as a diversion.
• Pheros, the Sons of Sorrow captain, Evreel, Marlan, and Kalia pledged their forces, and Liu Zhipeng assigned defenses across the system.
• After the others left to carry out his orders, Liu Zhipeng looked toward Khalifa and said it was Ghazghk’s turn.

Ghazghk and his Gretchin set out to rob the Necron ruler’s stronghold while Liu Zhipeng prepared the Khalifa System’s defenses against the Silent King’s overwhelming fleet. As the Necrons began charging the World Engines, Liu sent Ghazghk toward the Szarekh Dynasty’s central Crownworld.

• Ghazghk led hundreds of Gretchin in a battered asteroid and prepared to jump to the Necron ruler’s supposedly unguarded lair.
• Seventy-two hours later, Maran detected more than three thousand Necron warships entering the Khalifa System, including three World Engines and the Silent King’s flagship.
• Liu Zhipeng rallied the Imperial Fleet and ordered its forces to maximum combat readiness, concealing that he had expected the Silent King to bring his full force.
• The Silent King ordered the Necrons to blockade the system and charge the World Engines’ weapons to erase the Khalifa System.
• Liu Zhipeng psychically told Ghazghk that the main Necron force had been drawn away, and Ghazghk jumped toward the Szarekh Dynasty’s central Crownworld to steal its treasures.

Magos Maran split the Imperial Fleet into twelve battle groups and used short jumps to launch guerrilla strikes against the Necron forces in the Khalifa System. The Silent King adapted by disrupting their spatial jumps and deploying Flayed Ones, leaving Imperial ships facing boarders.

• Maran divided the fleet into twelve independent battle groups, and the Imperial ships escaped the World Engines’ first salvo with short jumps.
• The Hammer of God ambushed Necron ships near Khalifa Prime and the moon’s debris belt before jumping away from return fire.
• The twelve Imperial battle groups carried out repeated strikes, damaging or destroying nearly a hundred Necron ships while keeping most of their own fleet intact.
• Illuminor Zerath identified the Imperials’ short-jump technology as an unusual spatial reconstruction algorithm, and the Silent King ordered a grid-based encirclement and the capture of the high-energy entity alive.
• Necron interference ships reduced short-jump accuracy, and Flayed Ones boarded Imperial vessels through phase-shifting metal coffins.

Liu Zhipeng defended the Imperial Fleet’s warships from Flayed Ones boarding attacks, helping the twelve battle groups hold formation. After the Necrons saw him destroy the attackers, Szarekh rose from the Blackstone Throne.

• Maran ordered the Glory’s crew and Space Marines to defend the ship’s engines from Flayed Ones that had teleported aboard.
• Liu Zhipeng asked for the coordinates of the fleet’s most threatened positions, then vanished from the bridge in golden flames.
• Liu Zhipeng appeared aboard the Indomitable, destroyed Flayed Ones attacking its engine compartment, and healed a wounded Space Marine.
• Liu Zhipeng cleared threatened areas across the fleet, and the battle groups reported that their boarders had been eliminated and their ships remained operational.
• Zerath showed Szarekh a recording of Liu Zhipeng destroying the Flayed Ones, and Szarekh rose from the Blackstone Throne.

Liu Zhipeng battled Szarekh and the Necrons’ Ruling Throne, revealing a power that combined psychic force with C’tan-like reality manipulation. After Ghazghk told him he had gathered all the glowing blocks, Liu transformed into a golden supernova to shield the Imperial Fleet’s retreat from the Khalifa System.

• Liu Zhipeng ordered the Imperial fleet to withdraw and flew out to confront Szarekh at the Ruling Throne.
• Liu fought off Szarekh’s death ray and the throne’s weapons, then broke through its defenses with powers that the Necrons recognized as resembling those of the C’tan.
• Ghazghk told Liu Zhipeng that he had stuffed all the little glowing blocks into the big bag.
• Liu Zhipeng transformed into an expanding golden supernova and ordered the Imperial ships to evacuate the Khalifa System.
• Magos Maran led the fleet’s short jump to the edge of the Naphil Sector as Liu Zhipeng held back the Necron death fleet.