Chapter Summaries

Liu Zhipeng ordered the Big Tooth Gang to prepare an explosive escape as Chaos forces closed in, but he and his bodyguards were trapped on the bridge. As Us the Desecrator reached the bridge doors, a strange emerald-green power erupted from beyond them.

• Chaos warships and Black Legion troops overwhelmed the Planet Killer while the Big Tooth Gang held the breach at the cost of many Ork lives.
• Liu Zhipeng broke away from Khârn and Lucius and ordered Big'un to pack their ships and drills with explosives.
• Liu Zhipeng told the Boyz to grab loot and prepare to flee, but Lucius, Khârn, and arriving Chaos Terminators surrounded him and his remaining bodyguards.
• Us the Desecrator led Black Legion elites through the last Ork defenses and charged toward the bridge to rescue Abaddon.
• A powerful emerald-green flame erupted beyond the bridge doors, freezing Us and his warriors with its unfamiliar presence.

Toothy Big Chomper and the Orks unleashed a soul-powered explosion aboard the Planet Killer that devastated the Black Legion and left Cadia’s defenders able to counterattack. Toothy’s fourth life ended, and he received a new ability before his fifth life began.

• The souls of the Ork Boyz who had followed Toothy Big Chomper joined the Primordial Fire, unleashing a vast soul shock wave from the Planet Killer’s bridge.
• The shock wave erased Uss and thousands of Black Legion warriors, tore apart Lucius’s soul, and began to crush Khârn’s resistance.
• Abaddon escaped through a teleportation passage with his last Terminator guards, then learned Khârn and Lucius were near death and the Black Legion had lost tens of thousands of warriors.
• Abaddon discovered that Celestine and Imperium reinforcements had stabilized Cadia’s front and begun counterattacks, then roared his hatred of the Orks.
• Toothy Big Chomper’s fourth life ended, and he gained the permanent passive ability Glory of Bloodshed as his fifth life was set to begin.

Liu Zhipeng awakened as a Necron Overlord in an Aeldari palace, killed the guards, and was destroyed when Slaanesh was born. Reanimation Protocols transferred him to a reserve body, which awoke surrounded by countless Orks.

• Liu Zhipeng emerged from his sarcophagus as a Necron Overlord in an Aeldari palace.
• Aeldari guards fired at Liu Zhipeng, but their shots bounced harmlessly off his body.
• Liu Zhipeng killed the Aeldari guards with his War Scythe.
• Slaanesh's birth tore apart the palace and star system, and the resulting Warp power destroyed Liu Zhipeng's body.
• Reanimation Protocols transferred Liu Zhipeng's consciousness to a reserve body.
• Liu Zhipeng's second sarcophagus was kicked open, revealing a crowd of Orks around him.

Liu Zhipeng awoke as a Necron Overlord in an Ork arena instead of a Tomb World and killed the warboss Gurlo 'Ironhead'. He fought off the Orks until their overwhelming numbers and a Gargant destroyed him.

• Liu Zhipeng woke in a sarcophagus surrounded by Orks roaring in an arena built from scrap and wreckage.
• Liu Zhipeng gave the Orks the middle finger, and they responded by roaring even louder.
• Gurlo 'Ironhead' challenged Liu Zhipeng for his armor and weapon, but Liu Zhipeng used Phase shift and killed him with his War Scythe.
• The Orks accepted Liu Zhipeng as their new strongest boss and charged him in a massive assault.
• Liu Zhipeng killed Orks until his body cracked and his energy core neared overload, then an Ork Gargant stomped him and the horde tore him apart.

Liu Zhipeng awakened in a workshop aboard a spacecraft, where he killed Tech-Sage Kastor Alpha and stole his identity. Disguised as Kastor, he planned to gather information and find his Tomb World.

• Liu Zhipeng discovered that his Tomb World network denied his connection and scanned the area outside his sarcophagus.
• He heard a Tech-Sage praising the Omnissiah and opened the sarcophagus, choosing to seize the initiative.
• Liu Zhipeng disabled Kastor Alpha, stole his memories and knowledge, and erased his backup from a database on Mars.
• He examined the spacecraft workshop and decided to use Kastor's appearance as a disguise.
• Liu Zhipeng reshaped his living metal to imitate Kastor Alpha's robes, machinery, scent, height, and posture.

Kastor, formerly Liu Zhipeng, realized he was aboard an Iron Hands warship bound for the Isstvan V Dropsite Massacre. He decided to use his foreknowledge to survive and began weighing ways to avert disaster without exposing himself.

• Kastor identified the mission details and recognized the coming betrayal at Isstvan V.
• He ruled out fleeing because the warship was crowded with Space Marines and Mechanicus personnel who would capture and study him if they discovered he was a Necron.
• He resolved to use his knowledge of history to find a chance of survival for himself and the loyal warriors.
• He rejected contacting Terra or Mars because warp storms made communication unreliable and the attempt could reveal him.
• He rejected warning Ferrus Manus directly, fearing the Primarch would treat him as a traitor and kill him.

Liu Zhipeng forged evidence of a traitorous conspiracy to persuade Vulkan and Corvus Corax that Ferrus Manus was walking into a trap. He hid the encrypted packet in his disguised body and waited for the Salamanders and Raven Guard fleets to arrive.

• Liu Zhipeng decided to approach Vulkan and Corvus Corax after concluding he could not convince Ferrus Manus directly.
• He entered the Iron Fist’s logic engine under Kastor Alpha’s identity and searched its communications records.
• Liu Zhipeng used genuine message fragments to forge an exchange between Horus and Lorgar that described the planned betrayal at Isstvan V.
• He stored the forged evidence in an isolated memory unit, erased the traces of his work, and left the logic engine.
• Liu Zhipeng waited for Vulkan and Corax’s fleets to arrive so he could present them with the evidence.

Liu Zhipeng studied Great Crusade knowledge aboard the Iron Fist and engineered a reason to enter its strategic command center. As the ship reached the Isstvan System, he gained access to the Heart of Iron, where Ferrus Manus, Vulkan, and Corax had gathered.

• Liu Zhipeng spent the voyage absorbing knowledge about Great Crusade technology, Space Marine tactics, the Mechanicum, and the Legions.
• The Iron Fist emerged from the Warp near Isstvan, where the Salamanders and Raven Guard fleets joined the Iron Hands.
• Liu Zhipeng told Tegma-1101 that his sensors had detected a dangerous, anomalous Warp signal and claimed he alone could safely extract its information.
• Tegma-1101 agreed to take Liu Zhipeng to the Heart of Iron so he could present his findings to the Primarchs.
• Liu Zhipeng entered the strategic command center, where Ferrus Manus, Vulkan, and Corax stood together.

Ferrus Manus, Vulkan, and Corax debated the dangers of attacking Horus on Isstvan V when Sage Kastor Alpha presented what he claimed was an intercepted directive implicating Lorgar and the Word Bearers in a betrayal. Ferrus Manus rejected the evidence as a lie, leaving the Primarchs facing a crisis of trust.

• Ferrus Manus vowed to attack Horus on Isstvan V, while Vulkan and Corax warned that the loyalists might be walking into a trap.
• Tigmus introduced Sage Kastor Alpha, who claimed to have recovered critical information from an encrypted rebel transmission.
• Kastor presented a supposed directive from Horus to Lorgar Aurelian that described a plan to betray the loyalists and establish a new Imperium.
• Ferrus Manus reacted with fury and disbelief, and Vulkan urged him to stay calm and verify the evidence.

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.

Kastor’s warning prompted Corax and Vulkan to preserve an escape route for their fleets, while Kastor was assigned to the landing force’s rear as a repair commander. As the three legions began their doomed assault on Isstvan V, Kastor 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.
• Kastor 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.
• Kastor 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 Kastor’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.