Chapter Summaries

Lion El'Jonson approved Angrak Augustu's plan to use an STC Template as bait for the Adeptus Mechanicus, while Trazyn prepared to strike the Imperium over its persecution of Han Mingxuan. The Iron Hands and Adeptus Mechanicus recovered the STC from a Space Hulk, and Trazyn vowed to make the Imperium pay.

• Angrak Augustu showed Lion El'Jonson an STC Template and proposed planting it in a Space Hulk to lure the Adeptus Mechanicus into a Necron ambush.
• The Iron Hands discovered a powerful STC signal in a Space Hulk and informed Mars, then located and excavated the Template.
• An accompanying Adeptus Mechanicus archmagos identified the Template as Angrak's and tried to remove its locks, triggering a self-destruct in the Necron technology securing it.
• A Necron squad appeared and attacked the Iron Hands and Adeptus Mechanicus, but the defenders quickly destroyed them and recovered the STC Template.
• Trazyn watched the group emerge from his Time Corridor and vowed to take revenge on the Imperium for the nobles' persecution of Han Mingxuan.

Kelbor-Hal traveled to Terra to negotiate after the Adeptus Mechanicus was held responsible for attacking the Necrons. There, Trazyn, Imotekh, and the Primarchs demanded that the Mechanicus return Necrontyr technology and provide evidence about its dealings with Imperial Army Command.

• Kelbor-Hal ordered the Mechanicus to gather information, then went to Terra to negotiate the Necrons’ accusations.
• Kelbor-Hal met the Primarchs, Trazyn the Infinite, and Imotekh the Stormlord, but dismissed the Necrons as impostors and suffered a psychic punishment from Imotekh.
• Magnus accused the Adeptus Mechanicus of concealing its discoveries and research on Necron Tomb Worlds, while Kelbor-Hal denied that the worlds had posed a serious threat.
• Trazyn pulled the conference hall into the Time Corridor, where Imotekh demanded the return of all Necrontyr technology and threatened to replace Kelbor-Hal with a duplicate.
• Sanguinius and Lion El'Jonson invoked the Icarus Protocol and refused Kelbor-Hal’s demand to see the Emperor, while Curze demanded evidence concerning the Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperial Army Command.

Trazyn forced Kelbor-Hal to cooperate with the Imperium’s Investigation and implanted a memory to make the agreement seem legitimate. After the talks, Han Mingxuan and Ferrus Manus discussed the Mechanicus, while Angrak sought Han’s help with the X Legion’s obsession with body modifications.

• Kelbor-Hal gave Trazyn the list, and Trazyn obtained the rest from his memories before implanting a memory of an agreement that let the Adeptus Mechanicus retain its recovered Necrontyr technology.
• Trazyn and the Stormlord told Sanguinius that they had helped only for Han Mingxuan’s sake and left the Imperium’s fate to its own Investigation.
• Han Mingxuan arrived on Terra, heard how Trazyn had handled Kelbor-Hal, and praised the Necrontyr’s efficiency.
• After the meeting, Ferrus Manus asked Han Mingxuan to consider the Adeptus Mechanicus and the X Legion, and Han agreed to seek STC Templates while rooting out corruption.
• Kelbor-Hal ordered the Adeptus Mechanicus to cooperate with the Investigation, prompting its leaders to blame Angrak for setting them up with a stolen STC Template.
• Angrak visited Agrid in the X Legion, heard about its members’ obsession with body modifications, and contacted Han Mingxuan to help teach them a lesson.

Han Mingxuan warned Lion El'Jonson that ruthless purges of corrupt military nobles could trigger a mutiny, and proposed sending them to dangerous front lines in an Honor Expeditionary Force. Lion accepted the political necessity of the plan and suggested awarding plenty of medals, leaving them to discuss the force's details.

• Han Mingxuan recognized Nemiel's visit as a warning sign and went with him to meet Lion El'Jonson at the Departmento Munitorum.
• Lion proposed completely eliminating corrupt nobles and their armies, but Han Mingxuan cautioned that killing military officers as ruthlessly as Civil Servants could provoke a mutiny.
• Han Mingxuan proposed an Honor Expeditionary Force for hereditary nobles with military-earned titles, heirs, and a desire to repent, sending them to the Imperium's most dangerous battlefields.
• Lion accepted Han Mingxuan's grim political reasoning and agreed that he needed to be flexible as the Imperium's eldest son and First Legion Primarch.
• Lion suggested the force would need plenty of medals, and Han Mingxuan praised his grasp of the idea.

Han Mingxuan visited Ferrus Manus after learning that Agrid’s arrival had failed to improve the Iron Hands’ problems. Ferrus recounted how Agrid asked to leave the X Legion, condemned its brutal competition and obsession with cybernetic augmentation, and began explaining why he believed the legion was headed for destruction.

• Angrak told Han Mingxuan about problems in the X Legion, prompting Han to visit Ferrus Manus before going there.
• Ferrus admitted that he knew the Iron Hands’ culture and cybernetic obsession were problems he had been unable to change.
• Ferrus described how Agrid spent a week observing the X Legion and then asked to be transferred out.
• Agrid called the Iron Hands machine freaks, argued that humans should remain flesh and blood, and refused to apologize to the offended captains.
• Ferrus silenced the angry captains and demanded an explanation, so Agrid said the legion followed the law of the jungle and faced destruction if it continued.

Ferrus brought Agrid to challenge the Iron Hands’ law-of-the-jungle culture and excessive mechanical augmentation, and Agrid condemned both as failures to protect the weak. After defeating six company captains in the Octagon, he fought Gabriel Santar for three hours before Ferrus stopped the bout, leaving their contest to resume in three days.

• Ferrus asked Agrid whether the strong should prey on the weak, and Agrid argued that the clans endured by protecting the vulnerable and passing on their legacy.
• Agrid criticized heavily augmented Iron Hands as Machine Freaks and accused the Legion of using Dreadnoughts to extract value from warriors who could no longer fight.
• Agrid challenged the company captains to face him in the Octagon, and he defeated six challengers in succession without wearing Power Armour.
• Gabriel Santar challenged Agrid, and their fight lasted three hours as Agrid revealed his full strength and the ground began to cave beneath them.
• Ferrus stopped the fight before Santar could lose, and Santar agreed to continue their contest in three days.
• Ferrus asked Agrid whether he had been too extreme, and Agrid replied that Ferrus had brought him there for that purpose.

Agrid struggled to reform the Iron Hands as their warriors repeatedly challenged him, and Ferrus Manus learned how formidable the members of the Council of the Long Night were. The chapter ended with Agrid defeating the challengers and wishing Madian would return to handle the legion’s corruption.

• Agrid told Ferrus Manus that the Iron Hands should recognize that flesh was not weak, while Ferrus agreed that the legion’s Jungle Law needed reform.
• Santar challenged Agrid again, and Agrid knocked him down with a single slap.
• Ferrus Manus asked Agrid about his strength and training, learning that he had trained with Curze since the Old Nostramo era and believed he could defeat Valdor in a sparring match.
• Ferrus Manus asked about Nostramo’s next recruitment and Animus, but Agrid could provide little information before another Iron Hands warrior challenged him.
• Agrid beat every challenger who came to him within half an hour and sabotaged some augmented limbs, while the Adeptus Mechanicus Priests who had worked on them gave in.
• Agrid blamed the warriors’ drug use for their collapsing before fights could end and wished Madian would return to deal with them.

Han Mingxuan brought Ferrus Manus to Nostramo to seek help correcting the Iron Hands’ obsession with metal limbs. At the Sleepless Night tavern, they found the old blacksmith Hawk Hasanti, who recognized Han Mingxuan.

• Han Mingxuan agreed that the Iron Hands’ culture was a serious problem, and Ferrus Manus asked him to help his legion.
• Han Mingxuan decided to take Ferrus Manus to Nostramo, saying they needed to address his exposed iron hands before proceeding.
• Han Mingxuan and Ferrus Manus arrived at the Sleepless Night tavern to find the skilled blacksmith Hawk Hasanti.
• Nova warned Hawk Hasanti about drinking, but Likas tricked Nova into tasting alcohol disguised as water.
• Oll Persson called out to Hawk Hasanti, who perked up when he saw Han Mingxuan, while Nova realized the Father of Night was in the tavern.

Han Mingxuan sought help for Ferrus Manus’s Living Metal hands, while Ferrus wrestled with whether to have them removed. The chapter left Ferrus talking with Old Hawk at the smithy as Jia listened to Han Mingxuan explain the problem.

• Old Hawk said he could not fix Ferrus Manus’s hands alone and suggested asking Jia, who might know the Necrontyr technology behind them.
• Ferrus Manus considered the benefits and drawbacks of his Living Metal hands, then went out for a walk.
• Ferrus Manus found Old Hawk’s smithy, where Nova Spes was practicing forging, and talked with them about feeling lost.
• Han Mingxuan visited Jia late at night and explained that Ferrus Manus had gained the Living Metal after a conflict with a Necron tomb guardian.
• Jia listened to Han Mingxuan’s account and asked whether he was worrying too much.

Han Mingxuan arranged for Jia and Hawk to turn Ferrus Manus’s Living Metal skin into gloves while Jia performed a genetic modification. After an agonizing day of forging, Ferrus regained sensation in his hands and asked Han Mingxuan to teach him how to make desserts.

• Han Mingxuan asked Jia to handle Ferrus Manus’s genetic modification and Hawk to forge his Living Metal skin into a support device.
• Jia and Hawk offered Ferrus Manus two plans, and he chose to have the Living Metal made into gloves.
• Ferrus Manus put both hands into the forge, and Han Mingxuan used his Forbidden technique to block the pain from reaching his nerves.
• Jia and Hawk completed the forging, and Ferrus Manus felt sensation in his hands again when he removed the gloves.
• Ferrus Manus thanked Han Mingxuan and Hawk, then asked Han Mingxuan to teach him how to make desserts.

Han Mingxuan brought Magnus to the Iron Hands to challenge their reliance on mechanical augmentation and Social Darwinism. After Magnus defeated Ferrus Manus in a contest of physical strength, the Iron Hands urged their father to use his mechanical gloves, leaving Ferrus Manus worried about the legion’s future.

• Han Mingxuan asked Magnus and his Retinue to help change the Iron Hands’ culture, and arranged a physical fight between Magnus and Ferrus Manus.
• Ferrus Manus revealed that his iron hands had been healed and urged his Scions to listen to him, but they defended mechanical augmentation.
• Han Mingxuan called for Octagons and instructed Ferrus Manus and Magnus to fight without Psychic Power, gloves, or Power Armour.
• Magnus displayed his trained muscles and defeated Ferrus Manus in hand-to-hand combat, crediting his strength to training and Dual Cultivation of Life and Nature.
• The Iron Hands called for Ferrus Manus to put on his gloves and prove that machinery was superior, making him fear for the legion’s future.

Magnus challenged the X Legion to defeat the Thousand Sons in physical strength or serve in the Administratum, and their losses convinced Ferrus Manus to send them for training. After finishing his investigation, Han Mingxuan planned to visit the XIV Legion, while the Great Angel anticipated new arrivals at the Administratum.

• Magnus told the X Legion that they had to beat the Thousand Sons to earn further mechanical augmentations, or go train in the Administratum.
• The Thousand Sons, including the muscular Professor Ahriman, overwhelmed the X Legion, and Ahriman knocked Santar unconscious after Santar refused to concede.
• Magnus persuaded Ferrus Manus that the X Legion needed Administratum training, and Han Mingxuan praised Magnus's approach before ending the investigation.
• Han Mingxuan declined Ferrus Manus's offer to escort him and told him to wake his Scions and send them to the Administratum, where Roboute would receive them.
• The Great Angel predicted that many new workers would arrive, asked Dante to prepare fruit, and went to visit Roboute.

Sanguinius and Roboute Guilliman learned that a large batch of Iron Hands would soon arrive to train at the Administratum, giving the Ninth and Thirteenth Legions a chance to take leave. Abaddon and Aximand secretly arranged for Horus to be sent next, while Lion El'Jonson began planning a vacation on Nostramo.

• Sanguinius told Roboute Guilliman that Magnus and Ferrus Manus had arranged for a large batch of Iron Hands to train at the Administratum, and they planned a vacation on Nostramo.
• Roboute Guilliman told Abaddon and Little Horus that the Ninth and Thirteenth Legions could take leave once the Iron Hands arrived.
• Abaddon and Aximand celebrated the chance to go to the front lines, then secretly agreed to bring Horus to the Administratum next.
• Lion El'Jonson received an encrypted message about Abaddon and Aximand's plan and decided Horus could take over the Departmento Munitorum's workload.
• Lion El'Jonson asked Renato about vacation spots on Nostramo, and Renato produced Orikan's travel guide.

Lion El'Jonson asked Curze to guide him on a trip to Nostramo, where the Emperor and Malcador were vacationing, and said Horus would take over their civil-service duties. On the Vengeful Spirit, Horus accepted Abaddon and Aximand's proposal that he enter the Imperial civil service and gain influence there.

• Lion El'Jonson told Renato he would ask Curze to guide him to Nostramo, then went to the Department of Justice to speak with Curze.
• Lion El'Jonson assured Curze that he could take leave because Horus would return to the civil service, and Curze agreed to leave his work to Horus.
• Abaddon and Aximand returned to the Vengeful Spirit and proposed that Horus enter the Imperial civil service himself.
• Horus decided to join the civil service, citing his status as the Emperor's First-Returned Son and his wish to support his brothers and ease the Emperor's burdens.

Horus returned to the Imperium and agreed to take charge of its civil service departments, believing his brothers had entrusted him with the task. His brothers secretly celebrated their escape from administrative work, while Mortarion hesitated to come out and meet his uncle.

• Horus assigned Sejanus to command the Four Kings Council and lead the Luna Wolves in further conquests, then took selected Astartes with him to Terra.
• Abaddon told Sejanus and Loken that bringing Horus into the civil service would save the Legion from more administrative work.
• Horus met Lion El'Jonson, Curze, Sanguinius, and Roboute, and announced that he and his Scions would enter the Imperium's civil service system.
• Lion El'Jonson, Sanguinius, and Curze handed Horus authority over the Departmento Munitorum, Administratum, and Department of Justice, while Curze asked him to treat mortals better.
• After Horus departed with his Scions, the four brothers laughed aboard the Red Tear and set off for Nostramo to begin their vacation.
• Mortarion stayed hidden in the XIV Legion's defense zone, telling his uncle he needed time to get rid of his smell.

Han Mingxuan visited Mortarion and found him openly embracing his love of flowers. Mortarion then revealed that he suspected Typhon of betrayal because Typhon had hidden his psychic abilities and still carried the symbols of Barbarus’s ancient faith.

• Han Mingxuan arrived at Mortarion’s flower-filled flagship and learned from Typhon that Mortarion was maintaining his Power Armour.
• Mortarion hesitated to see Han Mingxuan because flowers covered his armour, but Han Mingxuan reassured him that there was nothing to be ashamed of.
• Mortarion showed Han Mingxuan his flower arrangements and explained that his Numerology used flowers as symbols for members of his Legion.
• Mortarion said Typhon had no flower symbol because his future seemed chaotic and dark, and admitted he suspected Typhon might betray him.
• Mortarion revealed that Typhon could use Psychic Power and still bore the symbols of Barbarus’s ancient faith.

Han Mingxuan confronted Typhon after learning he hated Mortarion and still served Nurgle, then summoned Nurgle to demand an explanation for leaving Typhon beside Mortarion. Nurgle claimed Typhon had been placed there for Han Mingxuan’s sake.

• Han Mingxuan reassured Mortarion that he was a good father to his Scions and offered to deal with Typhon.
• Han Mingxuan struck Typhon repeatedly until he confessed that he was a powerful Psyker, hated Mortarion, and worshipped Nurgle.
• Han Mingxuan sent Mortarion away, sealed the room with Necron technology, and demanded to know what Nurgle wanted Typhon to do.
• Typhon insisted Nurgle had never demanded anything of him and welcomed death in service to Grandfather.
• Han Mingxuan called for Nurgle, who appeared and said he had left Typhon there purely for Han Mingxuan’s sake.

Han Mingxuan met Nurgle and Isha in Nurgle’s garden, where Nurgle warned him that the universe would face absolute despair around the time of the Horus Heresy. Nurgle revealed that hope’s embers had come to Han Mingxuan and urged him to preserve them and eventually beat Tzeentch; Han Mingxuan agreed to act when the chance arose.

• Nurgle invited Han Mingxuan to his garden to discuss a deal and his prophecies, and Han Mingxuan found it to be a real garden rather than a diseased wasteland.
• Isha thanked Han Mingxuan for changing Slaanesh, but he declined her offer of tea and asked Nurgle to explain his business.
• Nurgle prophesied that the universe would fall into despair around the time of the original timeline’s Horus Heresy, despite Han Mingxuan’s confidence in the Primarchs he had raised.
• Nurgle told Han Mingxuan that hope’s embers had clung to his clothes after their previous trip to the Well of Eternity and would appear whenever he wished for them.
• Nurgle advised Han Mingxuan to leave the universe a seed of hope and to beat Tzeentch, and Han Mingxuan promised to do so when he had the chance.

Han Mingxuan prepared for a future in which the world fell into despair by creating a flower tied to death and reincarnation and accepting Isha’s life-giving authority. He then asked Szarekh to have the Necrons contain that despair through a new War in Heaven, while hinting he might seek help if he survived.

• Han Mingxuan drew a lycoris with his blood and water, explaining that it symbolized death and reincarnation and could help souls endure a desperate future.
• Han Mingxuan warned Nurgle that he would plant the flower in Nurgle’s body if Nurgle tried to corrupt Xiao Mo.
• Isha gave Han Mingxuan a golden flower containing her authority over life, and Nurgle explained that he had entrusted his purest life authority to him.
• Nurgle said he would guide the new master of death and use what authority he had left to fight for a bright future for the Warp.
• Han Mingxuan returned to the XIV Legion and told Szarekh to prepare the Necrons to start another War in Heaven if the world fell into despair.
• Han Mingxuan asked Szarekh to contain despair through that war and said he might seek help if he was not completely dead.

Mortarion asked Han Mingxuan to approve relocating Barbarus and its people to the Peaceful Star System, hoping to prevent future religious corruption. Han agreed to consult the Necrontyr, while Mortarion began preparing for the move.

• Mortarion insisted that he would deal with Typhon himself before the entire legion, and Han Mingxuan accepted his decision.
• Mortarion gathered the Death Guard captains and explained that he wanted to move Barbarus because its ancient faith in Grandfather could cause more trouble.
• Mortarion revealed that his plan was inspired by Han Mingxuan’s transformation of Nostramo and asked to relocate Barbarus to the Peaceful Star System.
• Han Mingxuan cautioned that the system was not his alone to decide over, but promised to speak with the Necrontyr.
• Mortarion thanked Han Mingxuan and began preparing the relocation, while Han’s guards reminded him that the Peaceful Star System had always been his private property.