Chapter Summaries

Dominic’s fleet faced a Nurgle invasion as Imperial ships in the eastern anchorage became infected and turned against their allies. As Dominic prepared to order the destruction of the infected vessels, Colonel Vulkan called with urgent intelligence about the Plague Fleet’s tactics.

• Dominic’s fleet detected a Warp rift and watched a Nurgle fleet emerge near the eastern anchorage.
• Dominic ordered the eastern ships to isolate the infected vessels, but most had stopped responding and one captain reported that plague had transformed his ship and crew from within.
• Dominic ordered nearby warships to destroy the infected vessels, but they hesitated as the corrupted ships fired plague slime at an uninfected frigate.
• Colonel Vulkan contacted Dominic on a level-one secure channel to report urgent intelligence about the Plague Fleet’s tactics, and Dominic put him through.

Dominic accepted Vulkan's assessment that the infected ships were bait and that Nurgle's main fleet was emerging from the Warp Rift. He ordered the Imperial Fleet to abandon the starport anchorage, disperse, and concentrate its fire on the enemy fleet.

• Vulkan warned Dominic that the infected ships were bait designed to draw the fleet into a vulnerable close-range fight.
• The Tech-Priest and Sister Elaine confirmed Vulkan's assessment and reported that the main source of corruption was the Warp Rift.
• Dominic set aside his suspicions about Kerry Von and ordered the fleet to spread out in a fan-shaped formation.
• Dominic ordered the fleet to stop firing on the infected ships and launch a coordinated attack on the fleet emerging from the Warp Rift.
• Dominic assigned the Spear of Flame to the vanguard strike group and instructed Vulkan to coordinate long-range fire on the left flank.

The Death Guard fleet under Rust Phelps emerged from the Warp Rift and advanced on the Imperial Tithe Fleet, aiming to capture the Gemstone and infect Brevis. Luna learned of the invasion while battling Guyu beneath Saint Garus Castle, then decided the distraction could give her more time to carry out her plans.

• Rust Phelps watched the Imperial Fleet avoid his bait and ordered his warships to advance and target the Gemstone.
• Phelps recalled that he had acted early because Grandfather's revelation warned that a Tzeentchian witch might seize Brevis first.
• Luna's staff detected a Nurgle fleet emerging in the eastern airspace, disrupting her plan to turn Dominic and Lynn against each other.
• Luna reasoned that the fleet would keep Dominic occupied and give her time to wear Guyu down before dealing with Lynn.

Lynn identified the Rust Plague and the Pale Hand as the likely force behind Brevis’s mechanical corruption, then sent the Vanguard to help defend the starport while ordering the underground assault to continue. In orbit, Dominic’s fleet fought the Nurgle warships, whose corrupted hulls rapidly regenerated under Imperial fire.

• A plague-cleansing bishop told Lynn that a Nurgle fleet had emerged from a Warp Rift near Brevis’s starport and that fighting had begun.
• Lynn recognized the mechanical corruption as the Rust Plague and suspected the Pale Hand was targeting the St. Garus Knight suits and Brevis’s STC Template.
• Lynn ordered the Vanguard expeditionary fleet to reinforce the Tithe Fleet and dispatched ground forces to defend the starport.
• Lynn ordered the assault battalions to speed through the undercity and reach the third-level entrance within half an hour.
• Dominic’s Imperial Fleet attacked the Nurgle warships, but their plague-ridden hulls regenerated rapidly and continued advancing.

Dominic’s Imperial fleet struggled to stop the Pale Hand’s Nurgle warships, whose corruption fields and rust plague overwhelmed a Lunar-class Cruiser. The cruiser’s crew faced a daemon invasion as its defenses failed.

• Dominic ordered his ships to target the enemy engines and sent Thunder fighters and bombers against the Nurgle fleet’s flank, but the attackers kept advancing.
• A Nurgle corruption field rapidly drained the Lunar-class Cruiser’s void shields, and three plague frigates rammed the barrier until it shattered.
• Plague cruisers latched onto the exposed Lunar-class Cruiser, spreading rust across its hull and disabling its systems despite the crew’s purification efforts.
• Nurgle Daemons poured through breaches in the cruiser’s bulkheads, and the defenders fought them in the passageways as disease and relentless attacks broke their lines.

Dominic’s fleet watched the Nurgle Fleet corrupt and consume an Imperial cruiser, then faced another attack on its left flank. Promethium torpedoes and incendiary shells launched from Brevis ignited the plague ships, as a pale-golden light appeared in the flames.

• The Lunar-class Cruiser became corrupted, and the Nurgle warships fed on it to repair themselves.
• Dominic ordered the central fleet to tighten formation and the Gemstone to charge its main guns, while the Nurgle flagship Pale Rose waited behind its fleet.
• The Nurgle Fleet turned toward the Second Battle Group, and Dominic assessed how its warships regenerated from conventional fire.
• An observation officer reported thirteen torpedoes targeting the Nurgle Fleet’s left flank from Brevis’s synchronous orbit.
• Promethium torpedoes and incendiary shells engulfed three plague frigates in flames, which began to shimmer with pale-golden light.

The Brevis Expeditionary Fleet joined the battle and used holy relics mixed into incendiary shells to devastate the plague ships. Dominic learned that the enemy was the Death Guard’s Pale Hand warband, whose Rust Plague corrupted machinery, and prepared to adapt the fleet’s tactics.

• The Brevis fleet’s golden incendiary shells destroyed three plague frigates and badly damaged two cruisers.
• Dominic received Commodore Griffith’s report that Governor Kerry had sent the fleet to support the Tithe Fleet.
• Gus explained that holy oils, powdered relics, and the ashes of bishops and saints made the shells effective against Chaos, and Dominic agreed to consider using the method despite his stated concerns.
• Gus warned that the enemy was the Pale Hand warband and described its Rust Plague, which corrupted machinery through contact.
• Dominic recognized the enemy as the Death Guard and understood why the earlier Lunar-class Cruiser had been corrupted so quickly.

Dominic ordered the fleet to bombard the enemy flagship with incendiaries and had holy relics prepared for ammunition. Bishop Venka objected when military police requisitioned the chapel’s relics and ancestral remains, but they took them to make purifying incendiaries for the battle against Nurgle’s fleet.

• Dominic assigned Gus’s Brevis fleet to the left-wing strike group and ordered the central fleet to concentrate fire on the enemy flagship.
• Dominic ordered Karen to gather Melta torpedoes, Promethium incendiaries, holy oil, sacred relics, and the remains of high-ranking clergy for modified incendiaries.
• Bishop Venka sensed that the chapel’s relics and the remains in its ossuary were being targeted.
• A captain told Bishop Venka that Dominic had authorized the military police to requisition the relics and remains to fight Nurgle’s fleet.
• Bishop Venka tried to stop the military police, but Karen confirmed that the relic-made shells had proved effective and that Dominic would take responsibility.
• The military police carried the holy oil, sacred vessels, urns, and bone caskets away as Bishop Venka prayed for the Imperium’s protection.

Dominic’s Imperial fleet used purifying incendiary rounds and sacred relic ashes to stop the Nurgle Fleet’s regeneration and destroy its ships. After the main fleet trapped the enemy in overlapping fields of fire, Gus’s ships struck the flagship Pale Rose, leaving Phelps in agony as the flames breached its plague mist.

• Dominic ordered the Gemstone to fire its lance batteries, destroying two plague cruisers and a newly defected Imperial cruiser.
• The Nurgle Fleet began evasive manoeuvres, and Dominic ordered his ships to maintain formation while the main fleet completed its ammunition modifications.
• After the Tech-Priest reported the modifications complete, Dominic ordered the Imperial Fleet to advance and trap the enemy under overlapping fire.
• Gus’s Brevis Expeditionary Fleet launched torpedoes at the Pale Rose, setting its hull ablaze and dissolving its protective plague mist.
• Phelps felt the holy flames burning through the Pale Rose and cried out in pain, unable to understand how they had breached Grandfather’s grace.

Dominic’s fleet destroyed the Pale Rose and believed the battle was over, but Sorine appeared aboard the Gemstone with a warning that the Pale Hand’s consciousness had survived. Dominic hurried back to investigate the corruption near the lowest deck’s District Seven cargo hold.

• Dominic ordered the Gemstone’s lance batteries to fire on the Pale Rose after its corruption field weakened.
• The lances shattered the enemy flagship, and the crew confirmed its signal had vanished and Warp readings had fallen to zero.
• Dominic spotted a silver-red glow and left the bridge, telling Adjutant Karen he was checking the chapel and holy relic ammunition.
• Sorine met Dominic in a maintenance passage and warned that the Pale Hand’s consciousness had escaped through a Warp Rift and was aboard the Gemstone near the District Seven cargo hold.
• Sorine vanished, and Dominic decided to return to the bridge and investigate her warning rather than dismiss it.

Dominic discovered that the enemy might have infiltrated the Gemstone during the Pale Rose's destruction and ordered Zone H4 sealed and investigated. Captain Keller confirmed a spreading Chaos corruption and prepared his military police to breach the hatch as chanting continued inside.

• Dominic ordered Karen to send military police to search the lower decks and inspect all surveillance and communications feeds.
• An intelligence officer reported that surveillance and communications in the H4 Living Area had failed seven minutes earlier, leading Dominic to suspect the enemy had used the flagship's explosion to infiltrate the Gemstone.
• Dominic ordered the 13th Military Police Squadron to seal Zone H4, summoned combat chaplains and Tech-Priests, and authorized the operation's captain to act against confirmed Chaos contamination.
• Captain Keller found the H4 hatch covered in rapidly spreading rust and mold, with the surrounding bulkheads corroded and an unnatural stench seeping through.
• Keller reported a suspected Chaos ritual, ordered his squad to prepare their weapons and filtration systems, and prepared to breach as chanting came from behind the hatch.

Luna abandoned her plan to wear Guyu down and ordered the Chaos Knights into a lethal melee, prompting Guyu to prepare to destroy herself rather than be captured. After Lynn’s voice reached her, three Genestealer bishops fused into a flesh altar whose power disrupted the barrier and let Guyu draw a spinal greatsword, leaving the Chaos Knights repelled and the fight transformed.

• Luna ordered all nine Chaos Knights to advance and attack Guyu at close range.
• Guyu began gathering her Psychic Power to self-destruct rather than fall into enemy hands.
• Lynn contacted Rena through their system-bound channel, and Guyu’s resolve to self-destruct faded.
• Three Genestealer bishops fused themselves into a flesh altar that unleashed enough Psychic Power to shake the barrier and disrupt local time.
• Luna ordered the Chaos Knights to focus fire and stop Guyu from completing the ritual.
• Guyu drew a spinal greatsword from the altar, released a psychic shock wave, and hurled the two nearest Chaos Knights backward.

Guyu wielded the spine greatsword formed from three bishops and used its immense psychic power to cut down two Chaos Knights at once. The Knights’ pilots were killed, while Guyu remained inside the barrier with the battle against Luna unresolved.

• Rena had prepared the three bishops as components of a spine greatsword, which merged and passed into Guyu’s hands inside the barrier.
• The greatsword’s power raised Guyu’s psychic level to match the Dragon of Frost’s true body and let her distort time around herself.
• Two fallen St. Garus family knights attacked Guyu from opposite sides with a Reaper Chainsword and a Thunder Power Fist.
• Guyu accelerated herself through the distorted time and made a single horizontal slash with the spine greatsword.
• Guyu’s strike cut through both Knights’ cockpits and destroyed their fused pilots and souls.

Guyu overwhelmed Luna’s forces despite nearing the limit of her borrowed power, then targeted the Nine-Sided Spirit-Sealing Barrier instead of Luna. After Luna used her escape technique, Guyu shattered the barrier, leaving Luna horrified as it began to collapse.

• Guyu cut down two Chaos Knight mechs with a single slash each, while Luna realized how dangerous her melee strength was.
• Guyu braced herself for one final strike as Luna ordered the remaining Chaos Knights and creatures to attack; Guyu’s psychic shield deflected their barrage.
• Luna activated the Everchanging Escape Technique and relocated within the barrier just as Guyu leaped toward its dome.
• Guyu struck the weakened Nine-Sided Spirit-Sealing Barrier with her remaining power, splitting it open and triggering its collapse.

Rena Guyu’s strike cracked Luna’s barrier, allowing Lynn’s forces to bombard it from outside while Luna began a Warp ritual. Lynn sent ten Plague-Cleansing Apostles to destroy the barrier, which shattered just before Luna’s ritual could finish.

• Rena Guyu cleaved the Nine-Sided Spirit-Sealing Barrier with her spinal greatsword, leaving cracks in its surface.
• Luna tried to repair the barrier while Lynn ordered the Vanguard’s heavy weapons to fire on the cracks from outside.
• Luna abandoned her repairs and began activating a Warp ritual, while Rena warned Lynn that it was nearing completion.
• Lynn sent ten Plague-Cleansing Apostles to detonate against the barrier and weaken it with psychic blasts.
• The barrier shattered completely after the bombardment and the ten psychic detonations.

Luna opened the Gate of Calamity and unleashed daemons of all four Chaos gods against Lynn's forces. The human line began to retreat under the unending assault, while Luna waited to see how Kerry Von would stop it.

• Luna completed the ritual as the barrier fell and opened a Warp Rift behind the altar.
• Daemons of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch poured through the rift and turned toward the human positions.
• Luna revealed that she had spent six months building the Gate of Calamity beneath St. Garus.
• The daemons attacked the Vanguard with melee assaults, plagues, flanking strikes, and sorcery.
• The Vanguard held its formation behind the bishops' psychic shields, but casualties mounted and the defensive line retreated.
• Luna laughed as she watched the human forces fall back and wondered how Kerry Von would stop the attack.

Lynn’s forces struggled to hold a staircase against endless daemons emerging from the Warp Rift until heavy vehicles and artillery arrived and drove the horde back. Lynn rallied the soldiers, who renewed their defense of Brevis as the battle continued.

• Flesh Hounds, Rot Flies, and Slaanesh’s Hellions battered the Vanguard’s defensive line, forcing the soldiers to retreat under heavy casualties.
• Lynn ordered the First Heavy Battalion to blast through the blocked passage and bring its equipment into position within three minutes.
• Iron Dragon Flamethrower Armoured Vehicles, scattershot cannons, and Cold Front Super-heavy Tanks struck the daemon horde and pushed it back down the staircase.
• Lynn addressed the soldiers, urging them to defend Brevis and its people from the daemons.
• The soldiers roared their support and resumed firing, pinning the daemon charge to the lower staircase.

Luna sacrificed her Tzeentch Sorcerers to alter gravity and turn the spiral staircase into cover for the advancing daemons and Chaos Knights, forcing the Vanguard to retreat. With Lynn and the main defenders trapped underground and the fleet occupied in orbit, Luna sent a signal to activate her agents across the midcity.

• Luna revealed that Lynn was her true target and ordered her Tzeentch Sorcerers to sacrifice themselves.
• Luna used the sorcerers’ souls to cast Deflection of Force, shifting gravity around the spiral staircase.
• The daemons and seven Chaos Knights advanced along the altered staircase, destroying defenses and forcing the Vanguard to fall back.
• Luna noted that the midcity defenses were empty while Lynn, Dominic, and the fleets were occupied elsewhere.
• Luna sent a signal through the underground sorcerous nodes to activate her agents in the undercity and midcity.

Chaos Cultists seized nine recruit camps in Midtown and began rituals using heaps of corpses as altars. In Factory Building Eight, Kyle awoke amid the ritual’s mutations and slaughter, while a sorcerous barrier sealed the recruits inside with no chance of rescue for at least two hours.

• Chaos Cultists awakened recruits and garrison soldiers across nine camps, silently killed the remaining guards, and took control of the factories.
• The cultists gathered the dead, made a corpse altar, and began blood-soaked rituals to summon the power of Chaos.
• Kyle awoke in Factory Building Eight with eerie blue light in his eyes as a recruit discovered the ritual and raised the alarm.
• The Warp’s influence mutated recruits into monsters and Chaos Spawn, which attacked the panicked crowd.
• A sorcerous barrier sealed Factory Building Eight, blocking escape and communications while trapping the recruits for at least two hours.

Isolde ordered Midtown quarantined after Chaos rituals erupted at nine recruitment camps, and Bishop Jensen took command of the response at the Third Recruitment Camp. He stopped William from blasting open the sealed factory, warning that the corruption inside could spread through Midtown.

• The Hive Mind connection returned after the Nine-Sided Spirit-Sealing Barrier shattered, and Isolde received reports of simultaneous mutations at nine recruitment camps.
• Isolde ordered the 6th Iron Guard Infantry Regiment to seal the camps and contacted Archbishop Goodwin, who sent Bishop Jensen to lead the purification operation.
• William deployed the 6th Iron Guard Infantry Regiment around the Third Recruitment Camp and prepared siege guns and demolition charges to breach it.
• Bishop Jensen arrived with Ecclesiarchy forces and presented authorization transferring battlefield command to him.
• Bishop Jensen halted William’s attack, warning that opening the gates could release Chaos-corrupted civilians and spread the disaster across Midtown.