Chapter Summaries

After the verified intelligence revealed that Isstvan V was a trap involving eight traitor legions, Ferrus Manus became consumed by rage and insisted on attacking. Vulkan and Corax agreed to accompany him, leaving all three loyalist legions committed to the doomed landing.

• Corax concluded that Horus had devised a trap to destroy the Iron Hands, Salamanders, and Raven Guard.
• Ferrus Manus smashed the command console and demanded that the fleet prepare to land and exact revenge.
• Vulkan warned Ferrus Manus that eight traitor legions awaited them, but Ferrus refused to retreat.
• Vulkan pledged that the Salamanders would land alongside the Iron Hands.
• Corax agreed that the Raven Guard Watch would join them, and Ferrus Manus welcomed their decision.

Castor’s warning prompted Corax and Vulkan to preserve an escape route for their fleets, while Castor was assigned to the landing force’s rear as a repair commander. As the three legions began their doomed assault on Isstvan V, Castor prepared to hunt Erebus and landed with the logistics troops.

• Corax privately ordered the fleet to go silent, withdraw from Isstvan V’s orbit, and avoid joining the ground assault, giving the legions a possible way out.
• Castor received command of the 7th Detachment of the logistical maintenance unit and took a loaded armor-piercing Bolt Pistol, intending to target Erebus.
• Ferrus Manus led the Iron Hands’ first wave onto the Ullanor Basin, with Vulkan’s Salamanders and Corax’s Raven Guard advancing alongside them.
• Castor and the logistical troops landed on Isstvan V amid the opening assault.

Liu Zhipeng watched the loyalist assault on Isstvan V turn into a trap when the second wave of supposed reinforcements arrived. The chapter ended as Perturabo ordered the Iron Warriors and other traitor forces to fire on the backs of the loyalist Legions.

• Liu Zhipeng helped establish a repair platform while monitoring the battlefield communications network.
• Ferrus Manus led the loyalist assault as the Iron Hands, Salamanders, and Raven Guard pushed back the traitor Legions.
• The Iron Warriors, Word Bearers, Night Lords, and Alpha Legion landed behind the loyalists and took up positions aimed toward their allies.
• Vulkan and Corax warned Ferrus Manus that the enemy’s retreat seemed suspicious, but Ferrus ordered his troops to pursue.
• A red flare rose from the fortress, and Perturabo ordered the newly arrived traitors to open fire on the loyalist Legions from behind.

The Iron Hands, Salamanders, and Raven Guard were ambushed by their supposed allies, and Liu Zhipeng crossed the battlefield to hunt Erebus. He found Erebus preaching to captured loyalists beside Khârn, then a Tech-Sage interrupted the sermon with a gunshot.

• The Iron Hands were caught off guard by the betrayal, while the Salamanders and Raven Guard regrouped and retreated toward a new landing zone.
• Liu Zhipeng used his sensory field to locate Erebus and Khârn in a hollow away from the main battle.
• Liu Zhipeng crossed the battlefield under cover, growing angry as he witnessed loyalist warriors die defending their brothers and gene-seed.
• Liu Zhipeng found Erebus preaching to captured Iron Hands, Salamanders, and Raven Guard, with Khârn beside him.
• A red-robed Tech-Sage appeared at the hollow’s entrance and fired a Bolt Pistol, interrupting Erebus’s sermon.

Liu Zhipeng interrupted Erebus’s sermon and revealed overwhelming combat skill, crippling Khârn before turning his gun on Erebus. He killed Erebus with a barrage of bolt rounds, leaving the prisoners to witness the schemer’s death.

• Liu Zhipeng shot a Word Bearers guard and challenged Erebus’s theological theories.
• Liu Zhipeng swiftly broke Khârn’s knee and slammed his head into the ground.
• Liu Zhipeng shot both of Erebus’s knees, forcing him to kneel before the prisoners.
• Liu Zhipeng shot Erebus in the shoulders and abdomen while condemning his betrayals and schemes.
• Liu Zhipeng emptied his Bolt Pistol into Erebus’s head, killing him.

Liu Zhipeng escaped the battlefield aboard a departing Thunderhawk after killing Erebus and freeing the loyalist prisoners. As Bartan led the survivors into battle, Liu saw Ferrus Manus facing Fulgrim below and reached the brutal war in space.

• Liu Zhipeng killed Erebus, told the loyalist prisoners to take up arms, and disappeared into the battlefield.
• Bartan rallied the freed prisoners, who armed themselves and fought their way toward escape.
• Liu Zhipeng reached the evacuation point and caught the Thunderhawk’s landing strut as it took off.
• From the rising Thunderhawk, Liu Zhipeng saw Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim begin their duel.
• The Thunderhawk broke into space as the Traitor Fleet attacked the fleeing ships, and Liu clung to the craft’s underside.

After Isstvan V, Vulkan and Corax chose separate paths to oppose Horus, while Liu Zhipeng reflected on the massacre and recognized that his soul remained human. He resolved to take the initiative and use his power to give the Imperium a chance at hope.

• Vulkan comforted the surviving Iron Hands and vowed to carry Ferrus Manus's warning and wrath to Terra.
• Corvus Corax rejected Vulkan's plan and set out to wage a shadow war against the traitors' homeworlds and supply lines.
• Vulkan's fleet and Corax's fleet parted ways, with one returning toward Terra and the other disappearing into the dark.
• During the years-long warp journey, Liu Zhipeng secluded himself and reconsidered his identity after recalling the sacrifices on Isstvan V.
• Liu Zhipeng concluded that he was still human and resolved to act proactively to change the Imperium's fate.

Liu Zhipeng secretly prepared weapons against Chaos and covertly improved the Imperial Palace’s defenses after arriving on Holy Terra. Rogal Dorn noticed the extraordinary results but could not explain them, while Liu Zhipeng planted self-replicating Canoptek Scarabs in critical walls.

• Liu Zhipeng built a Reality Stabilizer, self-replicating Canoptek Scarabs, and a Voice Synthesizer during the fleet’s journey through the Warp.
• Vulkan arrived at Holy Terra and went to the Imperial Palace to report Ferrus Manus’s death and the rebellion of eight Legions, while Liu Zhipeng was assigned to maintain the Void Shield Generators in Section Seven.
• Liu Zhipeng gained control of the Imperial Palace’s defense network and secretly optimized its Void Shields, Laser Turrets, and Plasma Reactors.
• Rogal Dorn discovered the defense systems had become vastly more effective, but Fyd confirmed that the system logs showed no unauthorized access.
• Liu Zhipeng hid billions of microscopic Canoptek Scarabs within several critical defensive walls of the Imperial Palace.

As the Siege of Terra began, Liu Zhipeng secretly used Lion's Gate Spaceport's systems to frustrate Perturabo's bombardment and lead Kroeger's infiltrators into a trap. Kroeger reached the Central Control Room with most of his force dead and was killed by Sigismund.

• Loyalist forces gathered on Terra as Horus chose Lion's Gate Spaceport for the opening attack and assigned its siege to Perturabo.
• Perturabo's bombardment failed when Liu Zhipeng manipulated the spaceport's Void Shields and used phase generators to protect its guns.
• Perturabo sent Kroeger and an assault team through a secret passage to infiltrate the spaceport.
• Liu Zhipeng tracked the infiltrators and manipulated routes and access points to steer them into traps.
• After suffering ninety percent casualties, Kroeger's team reached the Central Control Room, where Sigismund killed Kroeger.

Angron’s assault captured Lion’s Gate Spaceport at devastating cost, leaving Horus shaken and the loyalists divided over whether to hold the palace or strike back. The Khan chose to lead the White Scars against the spaceport, and Liu Zhipeng secretly prepared technology to aid their charge and counter Mortarion’s plague aura.

• Angron and the World Eaters overran Lion’s Gate Spaceport, forcing Dorn to order the loyalists to retreat to the outer wall.
• Horus raged over the casualties and questioned whether he could conquer Terra, while Mortarion turned the captured spaceport into a plague fortress.
• Dorn urged the loyalists to hold their defenses, but the Khan argued for an attack and asked Sanguinius how many lives he could save by leading his sons out.
• Sanguinius answered that the Khan could save countless people, and the Khan left to lead the White Scars against Lion’s Gate.
• Liu Zhipeng used gravitational-wave amplifiers to prepare a lens that would distort the traitors’ targeting, then prepared to counter Mortarion’s despair aura.

Jaghatai Khan used Castor’s Reality Stabilizers to weaken Mortarion and the Death Guard, then defeated Mortarion and reclaimed Lion’s Gate Spaceport. Typhus reported the loss to Horus, who reacted with cold irritation to Mortarion’s retreat.

• Liu Zhipeng activated the Reality Stabilizers on the White Scars’ vehicles, dispersing Mortarion’s plague fog and suppressing the Death Guard’s resilience.
• Jaghatai Khan taunted Mortarion about Typhus and exploited his rage to stab him through the chest.
• Mortarion fell, and the Death Guard withdrew under Typhus’s direction as the White Scars and Blood Angels reclaimed Lion’s Gate Spaceport.
• Typhus told Horus that the Khan had retaken the spaceport and gravely wounded Mortarion.
• Horus questioned Mortarion’s retreat and mocked his defeat by the Khan.

Horus ordered an all-out assault on Terra as Rogal Dorn withdrew the loyalists to the Eternal Wall. Zardu Layak opened a massive Warp rift above the Imperial Palace, unleashing daemons and beginning the true siege of Terra.

• Horus dismissed his commanders’ failures and ordered every force to attack the Imperial Palace before sunset.
• Rogal Dorn ordered the loyalists to abandon the outer defenses and retreat to the Eternal Wall.
• Zardu Layak summoned the Chaos gods and opened a vast Warp rift above the Imperial Palace.
• Rogal Dorn prepared to defend the Eternal Wall as daemons poured from the rift and attacked the Final Psychic Shield.
• Chaos war machines and corrupted armies advanced on the wall while Imperial defenders fought the assault and struggled against its psychic terror.

Liu Zhipeng activated Canoptek Scarabs to repair and reinforce the Eternal Wall, then tapped into the Palace’s ancient energy core to create a Reality Stabilization Field. The field disrupted Angron’s connection to Khorne as he attacked the wall, leaving him weakened.

• Liu Zhipeng activated the Canoptek Scarabs embedded in the Eternal Wall, and they repaired a massive breach caused by a rebel Titan’s Volcano Cannon.
• The Iron Hands witnessed the wall regrow stronger, while Rogal Dorn was bewildered by its impossible structural integrity.
• Liu Zhipeng entered the hidden energy nexus, revealed his Necron Overlord body, and connected his tendrils to the ancient energy core.
• Liu Zhipeng unleashed a Reality Stabilization Field centered on the Eternal Wall.
• Angron’s attack faltered as the field disrupted the Warp energy sustaining him, weakening his body and dimming his sword’s hellfire.

Liu Zhipeng’s cold energy of Order weakened Chaos across the battlefield, but Angron and Ka'Bandha still broke through the Eternal Wall. Sanguinius descended into the breach and confronted Ka'Bandha, whose suppressed strength failed to overwhelm him.

• Liu Zhipeng’s energy of Order drained the power of Angron, Ka'Bandha, and Fulgrim and erased lesser daemons and Warp constructs.
• Angron and Ka'Bandha struck the same point on the Eternal Wall and opened a breach despite the Canoptek Scarabs’ repairs.
• Jaghatai Khan returned to the command center and called for the breach to be sealed, but Sanguinius volunteered and charged into it.
• Sanguinius’s arrival stunned loyalists and traitors alike before Ka'Bandha rushed to attack him over their past encounter at the Signus Cluster.
• Sanguinius parried Ka'Bandha’s axe with the Spear of the Archangel, and Ka'Bandha found that Order had weakened him enough for Sanguinius to stop his blow.

Sanguinius defeated Ka'Bandha and banished Angron after overpowering him in combat, then stood alone at the breach. Horus watched and ordered a teleport so he could confront Sanguinius himself despite the field suppressing his power.

• Sanguinius impaled Ka'Bandha with his spear and destroyed him with the Crimson Holy Sword, banishing the daemon to the Warp.
• Angron charged Sanguinius, but Sanguinius outmatched him and pierced his chest with a golden Power Fist.
• Sanguinius discharged the Power Fist and banished Angron back into the Warp.
• The traitor forces stopped attacking in fear as Sanguinius remained standing alone at the breach.
• Horus watched Sanguinius from the Vengeful Spirit and ordered Abaddon to activate the teleport so he could go down himself.

Horus defeated Sanguinius and was about to kill him when Liu Zhipeng distracted the Warmaster with insults, giving Sanguinius time to be teleported away. Horus lunged at Liu Zhipeng, who escaped into the Eternal Wall, leaving Horus raging on the battlefield.

• Horus appeared before Sanguinius, overwhelmed the no-magic zone, and fought him until he broke Sanguinius's wings and armour and knocked away the True Red Sword.
• Horus seized Sanguinius and slammed him into the ground, then prepared to deliver a fatal blow as Dorn and the Khan watched helplessly.
• Liu Zhipeng fired a Turbo Laser between Horus and Sanguinius, interrupting the attack, then taunted Horus over the loudspeaker.
• Horus abandoned Sanguinius and charged Liu Zhipeng, who activated a Custodes teleportation beam to send Sanguinius away.
• Liu Zhipeng used his Phase Shift to escape into the Eternal Wall, leaving Horus with nothing but his fury.

As Horus’s forces reached Terra, Malcador prepared to sacrifice himself on the Golden Throne while Liu Zhipeng delivered a voice synthesizer to the Emperor. The Emperor left to confront Horus aboard the Vengeful Spirit, where father and son finally faced each other.

• Horus realized he had been tricked and roared in rage as his Chaos energy reached Terra.
• Malcador prepared to take his place on the Golden Throne, and Liu Zhipeng appeared with a voice synthesizer for the Emperor.
• The Emperor recognized Liu Zhipeng’s role, accepted the device, and set out for the Vengeful Spirit with the remaining fighting Custodes.
• Malcador sat on the Golden Throne and restored the Imperial Palace’s Final Psychic Shield with his psychic power.
• The Emperor crossed the corrupted Vengeful Spirit and approached Horus, who greeted him from a throne of corpses and gold.

The Emperor fought Horus on the bridge, but Horus mortally wounded him after feigning remorse. When Horus erased Ollanius Pius, the Emperor’s rage surged and he destroyed Horus’s body and soul.

• The Emperor crushed Horus’s Power Claw and stabbed him with the Emperor’s Sword, burning away the Chaos power within him.
• Horus feigned remorse, then pierced the Emperor’s chest with his daemonic hand and inflicted a mortal wound.
• Ollanius Pius fired his Lasgun at Horus, who erased the veteran with a casual blow.
• The Emperor saw Ollanius Pius’s death, unleashed his power, and annihilated Horus’s body and soul.

The Emperor killed Horus but suffered mortal wounds, so Rogal Dorn carried him back to Terra and connected him to the Golden Throne. With Horus dead, the traitors’ siege collapsed into a retreat as the surviving Loyalist Primarchs began a counteroffensive across Terra.

• The Emperor killed Horus, then collapsed from his wounds as Rogal Dorn reached the bridge and carried him back to the Imperial Palace.
• Dorn connected the Emperor to the Golden Throne, where the Emperor spoke and ordered Sanguinius and the Khan to purge Terra and avenge the loyal warriors.
• Horus’s death shattered the traitor forces’ coordination, and Perturabo ordered his fleet to retreat.
• Abaddon took the Talon of Horus and led the Vengeful Spirit and the remaining Sons of Horus fleet toward the Eye of Terror.
• Sanguinius, the Khan, Dorn, and Vulkan led the Loyalists in a counteroffensive across Terra.

Liu Zhipeng fled Terra in a damaged Necron craft and activated a return protocol to his Tomb World in the Orpheus Sector. After the world’s defenses found him, its Canoptek constructs dismantled his ship and placed him in a repair chamber.

• Liu Zhipeng escaped the Imperial Palace in his Night Shroud craft as the Loyalist fleet pursued the traitors.
• He activated the return protocol, and the craft traveled through nether space while he entered stasis.
• The craft emerged near a dead planet, and Liu Zhipeng’s ancient identification signal opened a portal beneath its surface.
• The portal drew him into a vast, silent tomb city, where Canoptek Scarabs dismantled his ship and swarmed over him.
• Canoptek Spyders and an ornate Reanimator Chamber arrived, and the Scarabs placed the badly damaged Liu Zhipeng inside its repair fluid.