Rise of the Primarch


Previously, on the Gathering Storm... Cadia Falls as the 13th Black Crusade launches in full. Ynnead, Eldar God of the Dead, awakes in the ruins of Biel-Tan, and his Emmsiary, Yvraine, gathers a host of various Eldar together to form the Ynnarri. Archmagos Belisarius Cawl has an ancient pact to keep with the Lord of Ultramar (as well as a super-secret package to deliver) and must get to Macragge. Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax can’t stop thinking about Saint Celestine…

Part One – Ultramar Defiant

High in the mountains of Laphis (Shrine World, Macragge System), Black Legionaries prowl the aftermath of a bloody battle against some Ultramar Defense Auxilia. War has come to Realm of Ultramar. Not all is quiet though – the Chaos Marines have detected a build-up of aetheric energy but before they can make sense of it, a massive blast of energy hurls them about. A Webway Gate reveals itself and Ynnari and Celestinian forces burst forth, quickly cutting down the surprised Black Legion marines. Despite their alliance, the Eldar and Imperial forces remain uneasy of each other, Marshal Amalrich and Inquisitor Greyfax most of all. Saint Celestine smooths things over as debate over their next move gets a bit twitchy and it becomes apparent they will need the assistance of the Ultramarines to get to Macragge itself.

Vox intercepts have picked up indicate a massive Chaos invasion – reports of Black Legion, Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, Emperor’s Children and more are heard. The Eldar/Imperial force sets off towards a nearby Ultramarine fortress, only to see it come under assault from Heldrake hunting packs. The Knights of House Taranis shoot them down and, recognising the authority of both an Inquisitor and the Living Saint herself, the Ultramarine defenders let them in. Celestine explains their mission – Cawl must be given an audience with the Lord of Ultramar, and smiles expectantly as a flight of Stormravens arrive. They were meant to be the air-support for the fortress, but now they’ll take the Ynnari and Celestinian ‘pilgrims’ to a waiting Strike Cruiser. But Not everyone though – of the Eldar only Yvraine and the Visarch will go to Macragge, with the rest of the Ynnari heading back into the Webway to spread word of Ynnead. The bulk of the Battle Sisters, as well as the House Taranis Knights, stay behind on Laphis to help its defence too.

The Ultramarines are cautious. The travellers are kept under guard as the Strike Cruiser makes the journey to Macragge and a meeting with Marneus Calgar, Lord of Ultramar. Amalrich and the Eldar aren’t too keen on being essentially locked up with nothing and The Visarch eventually takes to sparring abit with the Black Templar Marshal. Cawl purges Greyfax of the mindshackle scarabs that Trazyn had used to keep her captive and she endures the agonising process by keeping a close eye on Celestine. She was beginning to see that Celestine’s “divinity” was the real deal, that the light of her faith shines righteous. But Greyfax is still an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor – she is well aware of tricks and 'miracles' of foul nature. While she hopes Celestine is indeed uncorrupted, she is alert of the slightest hint of duplicity. Meanwhile, Yvraine and Cawl have a lengthy and circumspect conversation about upcoming events…

The Strike Cruiser reaches Macragge, only to find itself amidst a pitched space battle between the Ultramar Defence Fleet and the attacking Chaos Fleet. Macragge is under a full scale Chaos Invasion. Braving the firepower of ships from the Black Legion, Iron Warriors, the Purge and the Night Lords, the Ynnari and the Celestinians ride Stormravens down to the planet. Marneus Calgar has been informed of their arrival, along with their urgent request to meet with the Lord of Ultramar, and he awaits with interest. The battle rages around the Fortress of Hera, as the Ultramarines escort them to the strategium. Waiting them there are Chapter Master Calgar, First Captain Agemman, Chief Librarian Tigurius and Grand Master Voldus of the Grey Knight 3rd Brotherhood. Amalrich, Greyfax and Celestine bow before Calgar while the Eldar and Cawl stand impassively. Calgar reveals that he has no knowledge of who Cawl is and that he certainly hasn’t made any pact with an Archmagos. The Celestinians, bar Celestine herself who suddenly realises what’s going on, turn to Cawl in shock as he says he has no business with Calgar. He’s come to see the real Lord of Ultramar - Roboute Guilliman himself.

This raises an immediate outcry amongst the Ultramarines and weapons are raised in warning, as Cawl speaks basically of sacrilege. Celestine tries to explain - “would it help if I said we’re on a mission from God?” – but finds muzzles aimed her way too. Yvraine and the Visarch ready themselves for battle, but Chief Librarian Tigurius speaks up for Cawl. He has been having ominous visions of troubling times, visions that had helped prepare Macragge for defence against the Chaos Invasion, and he believes that these travellers have an important role to play. Calgar, who is still overseeing the defence of Macragge in the background as the standoff/discussion takes place, makes his decision: they will be allowed to enter the Shrine of Guilliman, but under heavy Ultramarine guard. Greyfax shared a glance with Amalrich – the Ultramarines would not be the only ones to exact swift vengeance if Cawl or the Ynnari stepped out of line with any more unexpected revelations.

Agemman stays behind to oversee the defences, while Calgar, Tigurius, Voldus, a smattering of 1st and 3rd Company Battle-Brothers and Honour Guard escort the Cawl and his compatriots to the Shrine. Guilliman lies before them, on a Throne of marble, gold and adamantium surrounded by the workings of his stasis field, the wounds on his armour from his final duel with Fulgrim still visible. Pausing to bow respect before the Primarch, Calgar again demands Cawl to tell him what his purpose is. Cawl explains that 10 millennia ago, before Guilliman was mortally wounded, the Primarch came to him and charged him with two great labours and that he was here to deliver on the first of those promises. Cawl had brought with him a new suit of armour fit for the Primarch, one that’s life-support systems could heal his wounds. The Ultramarines are stunned into silence – their Primarch, living and breathing again… could it be possible? Yvraine speaks up, explaining that the power she wields as the Emissary of Ynnead will be key to restoring Guilliman. But such power is not wielded without sacrifice – for Guilliman to live again, he must first die. This raises the immediate ire of the Ultramarines again, Calgar declaring that no witch will ever lay hands on the Primarch. Voldus, Greyfax and Marshal Amalrich stand with Calgar. Tigurius moves to stand with Cawl and the Ynnari. Celestine implores everyone to have faith; that this is the will of the Emperor. Weapons are raised yet again, and tensions are about to boil over…

Calgar receives a priority vox, and he’s barely able to shout a warning as an Ultramarine Thunderhawk comes crashing down in the cavernous shrine. Spilling out from its holds come a host of Chaos Raptors, wearing the colours of the Black Legion. They fan out quickly, attaching spiked icons to the floor. Teleportation flares thunder out, and Black Legion Terminators warp in and start laying fire into the Ultramarines. Calgar is aghast – Chaos, in the Primarch’s Shrine??? It’s more likely than you think! Forced to put aside his distrust of Cawl and the Ynnari for the moment, he charges into the Chaos forces - Celestine, Amalrich and Voldus with him - as pitched battle breaks out. Greyfax meanwhile copped a glancing hit in the opening salvo that knocked the wind out of her, and she’s forced to take cover. While she’s hanging back, she’s assessing the battlefield and can’t help but notice Celestine cutting a swathe through the Chaos marines – she may not fully trust the Saint, but she could not fault the woman’s selflessness or skill. Eyes on the prize Katarinya…

Greyfax’s psyocculum starts picking up on weird readings. Following the psyocculum’s needle, she notices Cawl, Tigurius and the Ynnari standing next to Guilliman’s stasis-pod. She watches as Tigurius blasts some charging Bezerkers and the realises that the weird readings she’s getting are of the psyocculum picking up a life energy transfer from the dead Bezerkers to Yvraine. She’s tries to dash out of cover, intending to go stop whatever unholy ritual is about to be performed, but she’s pinned in place by autocannon fire. Calgar notices the commotion too, and watches in horror as Yvraine raises her sword above Guilliman. He shouts a command to Tigurius, ordering him to stop the xenos witch, but Tigurius shakes his head in response as Yvraine cuts through the power cables sustaining the stasis field. The auto-reliquary that Cawl had been transporting then unfurls, and engulfs Guilliman.

The Black Legion forces, as if sensing the immensity of what’s about to happen, redouble their attacks and start to push the Ultramarine defenders back. A Chaos Sorcerer uses the new Heretic Astartes Geomortis Psychic Powers (pick up your datacards today kids!) to try and collapse the very foundations of the shrine itself – Tigurius desperately trying to make his Deny the Witch roll to prevent it – as Grey Knight Paladins teleport in shore up the defence. The battle hangs in the balance…. But a new wave of Dreadclaws smash down – 10 of the them! – and disgorge nearly a hundred new chaos marines into the fray. Calgar tries to rally to the Primarch’s Throne, but he’s tarpitted and brought to the ground by pile of Chaos Marines. Celestine is injured, an arm hanging uselessly at her side, and Amalarich finds himself bogged down too. Things look done for the Imperials as the Black Legion forces are mere meters from the throne… when the lights on the auto-reliquary blink from red to green. With a hiss, the arms of the auto-reliquary fold back and stepping out with a breathtaking splendour strides Roboute Guilliman.

(There’s a quick aside here, to briefly refresh our knowledge of the Primarchs and Guilliman in particular. It matches up with the fluff from the Horus Heresy series, alluding to Imperium Secundus amongst other things)

A stunned silence sweeps over the battlefield for a few moments as the presence of a Primarch seems to fill the massive room. It’s broken by the crazed charge of a lone Bezerker, who rushes Guilliman. But, with a speed that even the Ynnari would struggle to match, Guilliman neatly swings the Emperor’s Sword and cleaves the Bezerker in two. The moment is broken, and with a hateful cry the Black Legion forces charge at the Primarch. Guilliman strides directly to meet them. Celestine was not immune to the presence of the Primarch either – she sees it as straight up vindication of everything she has ever fought for, the Emperor’s Will made manifest. She sheds a single golden tear as she offers up prayers of thanks to the Emperor. A Black Legionnaire tries to strike at her while she’s distracted, except Celestine is anything but – she feels her injuries heal, and she drives the Ardent Blade through the traitor. She takes to the air, jumping across the battlefield to land next to Greyfax, who’s blasting away at Heretics with her boltgun.

“I erred,” Greyfax admits, “and I will do Penance. You truly are the instrument of the Emperor’s Will.”
“Vigilance is not a sin, Katarinya,” Celestine replies, “You serve Him as surely as I”.
“Indeed. Let us serve him together, as true warriors of Faith.” Together, Celestine and Greyfax launch themselves into the battle. Way better love story than Twilight.

Guilliman is utterly wrecking the Black Legion forces. None of his foes can even come close to matching the preternatural speed and skill of a Primarch. Every swing of his sword, every shot from his gauntlet sends traitor marines crumbling. His expression is grave – his last memory was of a desperate battle against a hateful brother, yet now he suddenly finds himself in a strange place surrounded by twisted and warped Astartes. Even the boys in blue are unfamiliar to him, but at least he can recognise them as allies. He eventually pushes to the downed form of Marneus Calgar. Calgar is badly injured, armour cracked and broken, but he’s alive and he looks up into the face of his Primarch in disbelief as Guilliman checks he still lives before moving on to continue his route of the Chaos Marines. The Black Legion morale is broken at this point, and they begin to flee – but not one of the will escape the Fortress of Hera alive.

Reinforcements arrive as the battle winds down, every one of the newly arriving Ultramarines dropping to their knees before the Primarch. Guilliman quickly takes charge of the scene, his strategic acumen taking over. He makes no reference to his miraculous rebirth, and none of the Ultramarines dare ask. News of the Primarch’s Rise spread through the fortress like wildfire, proclamations blaring from every vox speaker on every rampart. The Ultramarine and Ultramar Defense Auxilia manning the battlements are at first confused before finding new strength in the words they hear. In contrast, the Chaos forces arrayed against them begin to feel doubt and unease at the thought of a Primarch meeting them in battle.

Guilliman makes for the strategium, with a wounded Calgar at his side, where he formally requests command of the battle from First Captain Agemman. With Guilliman now in charge, the defense of the Fortress of Hera quickly turns in the Ultramarines favour. In short order, the fortress is swept of the Chaos presence and the Ultramarine’s stronghold on Macragge is secured. A ceremony is held in the Chapter Master’s sanctum, now to become the throne-room of the Primarch, as Guilliman is formally invested as a Lord of Ultramar and Master of the Ultramarines in front of the top command personnel and representatives of every Company of the Chapter. Saint Celestine ceremoniously gives him her blessings, and even Yvrainne and the Visarch are lurking in the background watching. The ceremony concludes, with Guilliman requesting to know everything that happened while he was gone…

Part Two – War Storm

The Warp roils with the energies of emotion and passion from the rebirth of Roboute Guilliman, as the champions of the Dark Gods become aware of the momentous event that has taken place on Macragge. Fulgrim pouts in displeasure, vowing to Slaanesh that he will put Guilliman down this time. Various Greater Demons of Tzeentch watch the weaves of fate and begin to plot the downfall of the Ultramarine Primarch. In Nurgle’s Garden, a conclave of Great Unclean Ones throw a party as they imagine all the fun times they could have together with Roboute – maybe they could even get him and Mortarion back together again! Fun for the whole family! Champions of Khorne burn 88 worlds, battling each other for the one to earn the right to answer their God – Khorne cares not for the silly plans of the other gods. He just wants Guilliman’s skull.

Abaddon has been foretold by his sorcerers of this occasion too, hence the massive forces he’d thrown at Macragge to try to prevent it from happening. Annoyed that this attack had failed, he summons and binds Kairos Fateweaver and sets him loose to stop Guilliman. Mortarion senses the reawakening too, and his rage coalesces into 7 new forms of disease and plague that run rampant across Imperial Worlds. He’s too busy with his own plans to act right at this moment, but he’s got something up his sleeve… Magnus the Red laughs in delight as he learns of the news, and the strands of fate twist before to reveal new insight. He’s already beaten the Space Wolves bloody and got his revenge, and now he sees the chance to strike at another hated foe…

Whole sections of the galaxy erupt into fierce new Warp Storms, the scale of which not seen since the dark times of Old Night, as the Primordial Annihilator turns its full attention on realspace. Legions of Demons are sent forth into the galaxy, intent on laying low the reborn Primarch. But the Great Game is ever eternal – ambitious servants of the gods take this opportunity, while the gods themselves are distracted, to launch new assaults on their rivals. Blood Legions of Khorne throw themselves at the Crystal Labyrinthes of Tzeentch’s domain, while cavalcades of Slaaneshi demons hack their way into the Garden of Nurgle…

Guilliman for his part is busy catching up on the affairs of the last 10,000 years. He’s not particularly impressed by what he learns of what the Imperium has become. Idolatry, Ignorance, Suffering, Squalor – all in the name of a god who never wanted the title. He yearns for one of his brothers to speak to, someone who could understand his heartache. Its not all mental either – whatever was done to bring him back has left him with a constant, gnawing ache in his body that he suspects will never go away. He looks up at a tapestry depicting the Emperor hanging in his sanctum.
“We failed, father,” he sighs with sorrow. “You failed us, and we in turn failed you. And worse, we failed all of them too. Did Horus not say that you sought godhood? How he would laugh to see the Imperium now.” A wave of anger washes over him which he struggles to keep in check – the last thing he needs is for Calgar and Tigurius and the rest to see him lose it.

“Why do I live? What do you want from me? I put everything into our dream, and look what they’ve done!” He snarls at the tapestry. “An empire of fear, hate and ignorance – better we had all burned in the fires of Horus’ ambition than live to see this.” But as soon as he says this, he knows he’s just talking his own fears. The Ultramarines of this age had never seen the hope of triumph of the Imperium at its peak glory during the Great Crusade, yet they are march forward unbowed. How can he show anything less? He knows of Cawl’s labours, his second promise, back on Mars – there’s hope for a better future for the Imperium. “Too long have the pawns of Chaos meddled with our species fate. That must end,” he declares.

Guilliman emerges from his chambers, 4 days later. He brings close his counsel – Calgar and Tigurius, but also Voldus, Cawl, Celestine and Greyfax. He would use every arm of the Imperium. Strength in Unity. And now its time to take back Ultramar. Macragge itself is reclaimed in a month, the scattered and disparate Chaos forces proving no match for his strategies. Imperial Reinforcements also arrive, including a number of Ultramarine Successor chapters (Novamarines, Sons of Orara and the Genesis Chapter are mentioned). The Arch-Consul of Magna Civitas organises a huge parade to restore morale to the citizens of Macragge. Guilliman reluctantly agrees, recognising the need for symbolism, and during the procession the Arch-Consul presents Guilliman with a gilded crown. But as Guilliman dons the crown, he’s struck by visions and thoughts of future glories – his armies countless beyond number, willing to die for him gladly. Planets, sectors and whole segmentums renamed in his honor and eventually the Golden Throne itself his to claim. He deserved nothing less after all…. And Guilliman rips the crown off with a gasp. The Arch-Consul dissolves into a mutant spawn, hissing and spitting, and Guilliman hears a voice echo through his mind that he had not heard since Thessala. Fulgrim mockingly welcomes Guilliman back to Ultramar and, while disappointed he resisted the temptations of the Crown of Glories, promises him that this is but the first of many temptations. Fulgrim’s voice laughs as he promises Guilliman that he will never be able to trust the feeling of self-satisfaction again. Disgusted, Guilliman slays the mutant creature, but he can’t seem to erase Fulgrim’s words from his mind…

More Imperial forces arrive at Macragge, having heard word of Guilliman’s resurrection. Delegations of Raven Guard, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, White Scars and Black Templars all hastening to the Primarch’s side. The Black Templars need only one look at the zealous look in Marshal Amalrich’s eyes, he alone of his crusade who has survived, to declare him touched by the hand of the Emperor. He’s given the armour and Black Blade of the Emperor’s Champion. Still more forces arrive – Imperial Navy and Adeptus Mechanicus fleets, Imperial Knight households, Titan Legions, Administratum officials - the list goes on. A delegation of Adeptus Ministorum priests arrive, intent on confirming and then proclaiming Guilliman’s Divinity. Guilliman is not at all keen on this, and only relents when Celestine and Greyfax point out just how powerful the Ecclesiarchy is. Better to have the Ecclesiarchy on his side, than against him. One last thing that Guilliman orders before setting out to reclaim the wider Ultramar system – he orders the Library of Ptolemy barred shut to all visitors. This is an age of Wrath and War – learning and lore must be set aside.

The War for Ultramar rages on as the Imperial Forces begin to reclaim the Five Hundred Worlds. It’s a long process though. Seven months in saw the spread of a mysterious new sickness through-out the conquest forces, causing endless streams of viscous stinking tears that eventually infect the eyeballs of its victims and leave them in agonising blindness. It becomes known as the Weeping Plague. It’s eventually traced to swarms of mites that find their way into food supplies, ammunition packs, bundles of clothing and even amongst the pages of Imperial Primers. Nothing seems to halt its spread, as it begins to cripple the human elements of the Imperial Forces. The Astartes were un-affected, but curiously the Adepta Sororitas proved strongly resistant despite them being humans also. But then something amazing – when Guilliman came to inspect the sick, his mere presence seemed to drive back the disease. Auxilia soldiers rose from their hospital beds, the sight restored and their sickness vanished. No-one could explain the cause, but wherever Guilliman walked the sick were cured. The Ecclesiarchy were quick to declare a Miracle, and their sermons rang loud with proclamations of his divinity. Guilliman couldn’t explain it either, but he could not just let the soldiers under his command die while he could do something about it. So he travelled everywhere the sick were found, days and weeks on end curing them. His absence from the war efforts began to show though, as Chaos Forces were able to regroup and launch effective counter-assaults. Worse still, the Plague begin to pop back up in places Guilliman had already cured. He was running around in circles trying to cure everyone. Grand Master Voldus eventually confronts him with the what he sees as the truth – this plague bears the mark of Nurgle. Guilliman was not curing anyone, but rather it was an insidious plan to keep Guilliman distracted and contained inside Ultramar.

Guilliman realised he had been played by Nurgle. In his desire to reclaim Ultramar and turn it into a bastion of order, he was making mistakes he’d made in the distant past. There was only one real course of action – he had to make for Terra. The fact that both Slaanesh and Nurgle had attempted to keep him trapped in Ultramar proved that he was needed elsewhere. So, and not without reluctance, he left the reconquest of Ultramar in the hands of Calgar, Tigurius and Agemman. With him would travel elements of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ultramarine Companies with Captain Cato Sicarius in command, as well as the 3rd Brotherhood of Grey Knights led by Grand Master Voldus. The various Ultramarine successor chapters present also gave their support, as did Emperor’s Champion Amalrich and his Black Templars. Inquistor Greyfax, Saint Celestine and Archmagos Cawl would also accompany Guilliman. It was at this point that Yvraine and the Visarch bade their farewell, with a promise that they would fight together again in the future (so long as it suited their needs Guilliman remarks to himself).

The Celestinian Crusade that had set out from Cadia to Macragge was over. So began the Terran Crusade. It would be an arduous journey. The Warp churned with chaotic turbulence, and the Navigators could only manage short jumps through the warp. Even then, a number of Imperial Ships suffered Gellar Field breaches and swarms of Demons would sweep through their decks before they could be cleansed with holy fire. Guilliman travelled upon his ancient flagship, Macragge’s Honour, its familiar hallways a welcome haven. He had hoped that the storms would abate the further he travelled from Ultramar, but there seemed no end in sight to the storms. And everytime the fleet dropped back into realspace, the Astropaths would pick up garbled messages of a galaxy in chaos. Morale dropped across the fleet as the weeks dragged on… until eventually the fleet came suddenly on the edge of the Maelstrom, which had swelled with power, catching everyone by surprise. Fearing the worst, the fleet performed an emergency translation back into realspace….

…right into the devastating broadsides of an ambush. Numerous ships were lost before the Imperial’s were even aware of their ambushers – a vast fleet of Thousand Sons warships. Just As Planned™. At the centre of the ambush fleet was an immense craft that Guilliman recognised as vast facsimile of the Great Pyramid of Tizca. From its observation gallery, Magnus watched his ambush play out with amusement, the chanting of his sorcerers ringing out around him. He had no desire to kill his brother just yet and, judging when his ambush had wrought enough devastation on the Imperial fleet, he completed the incantation that was being weaved. Giant Empyric Tendrils of the Maelstrom whipped out, wrapped around the Imperial ships and flung them deep into the heart of the Maelstrom.

The effect on the ships of the Terran Crusade were devastating. Unprepared for a sudden entry into the Warp, many ships failed to raise their Gellar Fields in time and were consumed by demons. The ones that did get their Gellar Fields up found themselves drifting in the tides of unnatural energy. 112 Space Marine, Mechanicus and Imperial Navy ships had set out from Macragge, and barely half that number remained. Belisarius Cawl led repairs as best he could, as the leaders of the Crusade convened to determine their next move. They were utterly lost – the navigators had no fix on the Astronomican. Faint transmissions were heard from a nearby crystal moon, and Guilliman ordered a full attack with specific instructions to capture anything that would help them navigate the Maelstrom. A band of renegades were encountered holed up on the moon – Red Corsairs – who were quickly eliminated, but when their last survivor was captured for interrogation he became possessed. A diabolical presence, speaking in two voices, mocked Guilliman - telling him that Ultramar was burning and that he would be cursed to wander the Maelstrom forever – before ending the Red Corsair prisoner. Guilliman vowed to end whatever this Demon was that had vexed him.

With their only lead dead, the fleet wandered the Maelstrom aimlessly, picking a direction and hoping for the best. How long they travelled like this, they had no idea, for time had no meaning in this place of madness. Patrols of Emperor’s Children craft were encountered and seized, but any navigational tools they possessed were blank but for the mocking words the demon had uttered back on the moon. The Crusade pressed on as supplies dwindled amongst constant skirmishes with Chaos raiding parties. Guilliman himself was further wracked by dark visions haunting his mind, of Ultramar, Mars and Terra burning. A voice promised him that these visions would come to truth, but only if he tried to leave – if he stayed in the Maelstrom, the Imperium would be spared. It was on yet another aid on yet another cursed world to find intelligence that Kairos Fateweaver revealed himself as the demon haunting Guilliman’s actions, in an ambush by scores of Tzeentch Demons. The Imperials were forced to retreat, Fateweaver mocking Guilliman all the while…

Things were getting really desperate, as the fleets numbers waned further still, ships too badly damaged to continue on scuttled in their wake. A hard, fast strike against a Red Corsair stronghold brought some measure of sanity back and it was amongst the hallways of this stronghold that Guilliman had another vision. This time it was of a mysterious Eldar figure and it spoke of a path out of the Maelstrom. Alert for yet more trickery from Fateweaver, but sensing no taint of chaos, Guilliman felt hope returning…

The fleet made for the directions the Eldar had spoke of. A promised navigational marker was reached, and then another and soon enough they had reached the final stretch of their journey out. But before them lay a massive graveyard of derelict ships from untold number of factions – all linked together in a massive web of chains. There was no way around – the graveyard seemed to stretch to infinity in all directions, which meant the only way was to go through. Progress was slow, and unnerving, as wreckage was pushed away to make room. But eventually the Navigators began to see the light of the Astronomican seeping through – they were almost out! Guilliman was extra cautious though, for this was the most vulnerable leg of the journey and his caution proved right when Red Corsair ships blazed out of hiding spots in the wreckage to attack. The Imperial Fleet was outflanked, and the Red Corsair ships were aiming to disable their targets in order to seize and salvage. Guilliman ordered his ships to prepare for boarders, even wishing the Emperor’s Blessings upon the defenders (much to his own distate).

The chaos pirates struck the Macragges Honour hard, aiming to swiftly overrun the defenders positions on the bridge. The defense of the bridge held at first, but began to give. As Red Corsair Terminators pushed through, waves of Horrors and Flamers poured in behind them, along with Kairos Fateweaver himself, wrecking havoc through the Imperial defences. Guilliman roared a challenged, and charged at Fateweaver with Sicarius, Greyfax and Celestine covering his flanks, but this was the moment Kairos had planned for. Nine Heralds of Tzeentch suddenly revealed themselves in the battle, and began chanting an incantation. Sicarius attempted to direct fire on the spellcasters, but waves of expendable horrors jumped infront of the boltgun fire to provide a flesh shield for their masters. Kairos raised his staff for the final part of the spell – ever since Guilliman had entered the Maelstrom, Kairos had been implanting subtle traps in his mind. It wasn’t easy, for the mind of a Primarch has formidable defences and the intervention of the Eldar had forced his hand earlier than Kairos would have liked, but the spell completed and suddenly Guilliman stumbled. Streams of incandescent energy poured from Guilliman’s mouth and eyes, and forced him to his knees. All the negative emotions, doubts and madness that Kairos had been seeding in Guilliman’s mind burst out and wrapped around him in a heavy crystal chain, paralysing him. Fateweaver then commanded the Imperials to surrender, lest they watch their Primarch be crushed before their eyes. With no other choice, the Imperial’s lowered their weapons. Kairos stood gloating before them, victorious…

Part Three – Rise of the Primarch

Guilliman was captured. The Imperials that didn’t surrender were either killed, or forced to submit. Emperor’s Champion Amalrich was one of the latter, wrestled and beaten down by a mob of Red Corsairs as he single-handledly held the Enginarium. The prisoners were brought to the stronghold of the Red Corsairs – a freakin Blackstone Fortress! Turns out Abaddon had been pleased with Huron Blackheart’s rebellion, and given a kingly gift to the Tyrant of Badab proving both Abaddon’s sheer power (I mean, who gives away Blackstone Fortresses as participation prizes?!) and ensuring the loyalty of the Red Corsairs to Abaddon.

The Imperials were thrown into cells inside the massive space fortress, Guilliman held fast in the chains Kairos had forged from Guilliman’s own mind. He would rot in the prison for a time – Kairos didn’t want to simply kill Guilliman, for a chained Primarch was far too good of a source of power to simple throw away, and already Kairos was plotting in ways to make use of him. The Red Corsairs would act as gaolers, content with the boons that Fateweaver could grant them. But perhaps Kairos was distracted and failed to see the future somehow, for he missed the massive horde that was descending on the fortress… Skarbrand had come for the skull of Guilliman.

The hordes of Khorne fell on the Blackstone Fortress. The Red Corsairs rallied quickly, forming firing ranks and pouring fire into the charging Khornate forces. Kairos howled in dismay at the unforeseen events, summoning masses of Tzeentch Demons to fight back as more and more Khorne demons joined the slaughter. Guilliman, still trapped in his gaol, listened to the distant sounds of battle and prepared himself for any potential opportunities to escape…

Deep within the fortress’ core, a portal that had long lay dormant flickered to life. A band of shadowed figures, accompanied by a larger robed figure, slipped unseen into the Blackstone. Through the twisting maze of hallways they went, long-dormant systems coming to life to allow them access as they passed. Eventually they reached the cells that Guilliman and the Ultramarines were being held in, guarded by a full squad of Red Corsairs with guns trained at the only door into the gaol. At least the only door the Red Corsairs knew about. Silently and unseen, a door slid open at the back of the room and the Harlequins of the Veiled Path, and the larger robed figure, moved soundlessly up behind the Red Corsairs and cut them down before they could even react. The robed figure grabbed the key to the cells off one of the guards as Sylandri Veilwalker pointed him in the direction of a specific cell.

Guilliman watched as the robed figure approached his cell. He didn’t recognise the Astarte, but he did recognise the colours of the 1st Legiones Astartes.
“Who are you?” Guilliman asked.
“I can free you,” the mysterious figure replied, ignoring the question.
“Can. Not will. What do you want?” Guilliman frowned in return.
“Take me to Terra, to the Throne, and I will free you,” said the hooded figure. Guilliman, trapped in his chains, could only glare. He didn’t have much of a choice.
“Very well,” the Primarch replied, “but know this Dark Angel. If you seek to trick or manipulate me, nothing in this galaxy can save you.” One side of Cypher’s mouth lifts in a bitter smile.
“As you say,” Cypher mutters as he unlocks all the cells.

Sylandri Veilwalker steps forward at this point, and Guilliman’s eyes widen as he recognises her as the mysterious Eldar that guided them through the Maelstrom. But was she guiding them to freedom or had she deliberately sent them into a trap? Hmmmmmmmmmm. Veilwalker begins a dance as she focuses her energy on the chains around Guilliman, unbinding them. Guilliman, Sicarius and the rest of the Ultramarines, several hundred strong, were free. They still had their armour, but no weapons. Veilwalker revealed the location of their weapons and vehicles that been salvaged by the Red Corsairs. Guilliman was highly suspicious of the Eldar and the mysterious Dark Angel, but resolved to at least let them lead him to his weapons and allies. They moved quickly, for their escape would not go un-noticed for long. On the way they find and free Celestine and her Geminae, Cawl and his Mechanicus forces, Greyfax and finally Voldus and his Grey Knights as well as the rest of the successor chapter Marines and their Dreadnaughts and Tanks that had been taken off the ships. Sicarius suggest they strike fast to their ships to escape, but Veilwalker informs them that the docks are thick with fighting. At any rate, the human crews of the ships are all dead and their navigators have been taken away. The only way off is through the Webway Portal the Harlequins and Cypher came in on.

(btw I guess this means the Macragge’s Honour is left behind in the hands of the Red Corsairs….).

Driving their vehicles through the huge passageways, the Imperials and their guides make for the Webway, but its not long before they are noticed and eventually their advance slows to a crawl as they get pinned down by both Red Corsair and Demons sent out to intercept them. Finding themselves surrounding and pinned in from both sides, things are looking grim until the timely arrival of the Legion of the Dammed. Their spectral forms sweep in and clear the Chaos forces from their flanks, allowing Guilliman’s force to move forward. Eventually they reach the heart of the Blackstone, a huge chamber a hundred miles across with bridges cutting across it, connecting various doorways. The Webway Portal is at the far side, but from the doorways stream endless waves of enemies – Khrone Demons from oneside, Tzeentch Demons from the other. As the Imperials cross the bridges towards the Webway Portal, three-way fights break out between the Khorne, Tzeentch and Imperial forces. Guilliman catches sight of Kairos lurking way in the back, clearly not keen on getting up in Guilliman’s face now that the Lord of Change’s plans are in ruins. Skarbrand is a different story though.

The massive Bloodthirster charges forth, his rage influencing everyone around him. Amalrich and his Black Templars find themselves filling with rage and throw themselves furiously into the oncoming demons, the Emperor’s Champion going straight for Skarbrand himself. Guilliman considers diverting assistance to them, but knows he has to concentrate on maintaining cohesion amongst the rest of the Imperials lest they lose themselves to Skarbrand’s rage too. Voldus and the Grey Knights lead the advance, with the Legion of the Dammed bringing up the rear, as they close in on the webway portal. Cawl and his Skitarri are mowing down demons, Novamarine Vindicators are blasting away bridges to stop the demons flanking and Celestine and Greyfax are fighting side by side as they hack their way through demons (what a great date!)

But then Skarbrand lets loose a deafening roar, and leaps across the gap towards the Imperials. Guilliman’s eyes go wide as he see’s Amalrich’s Black Blade buried in the chest of Skarbrand, the only remaining sign of Amalrich himself (“a bloody atonement for his failings on Cadia”). Skarbrand lands amongst the Legion of the Dammed, sending them tumbling down the chasm into the darkness. The rearmost of the Imperial forces begin to turn back, already succumbing to Skarbrand’s madness, and Guilliman realises he’s about to lose control. He orders all Imperials to make fast across the last bridge to the Webway Portal and he turns back to confront Skarbrand, holding at the head of the bridge in his very best Gandalf impression. All the Imperials, and the Harlequins, are through the portal by now with just Sicarius and Celestine remaining outside. But Skarbrand is bearing down on Guilliman. That skull belongs to Khorne and by golly is Skarbrand going to take it!

Guilliman feels the hellish fires rise in his mind, as he begins to lose himself to the rage and unable to stop himself he charges at Skarbrand. The Emperor’s Sword meets Slaughter, as Guilliman ducks under Carnage. With every blow, Guilliman feels his rage rising even more, and a small part of his mind realises he’s about to be lost to it. He fights a second battle, in his mind, stamping his iron will back down on the rage until its under control. Glancing back he sees Sicarius and Celestine yelling at him to get his arse through the portal, and he steps backwards towards it, blasting away with the Hand of Dominion. Skarbrand is slowly being driven back, but Guilliman is down to his last shell – he aims it at Amalrich’s Black Blade still buried in Skarbrand’s chest, and blows it apart, shredding through Skarbrand and knocking him off the platform. With Skarbrand dealt with, but more demons pressing in, he sprints for the portal and dives through after Sicarius and Celestine as it the portal seals shut behind him.

Guilliman finds himself standing amongst the survivors of the Terran Crusade. About two thirds of the warriors who escaped the cells remain alive, and Voldus and his Grey Knights have remained relatively unscathed. He notices Cypher standing with a group of similar armoured marines, and realises they must have been waiting for Cypher in the webway. Sylandri Veilwalker shares a loaded glance with Belisarius Cawl, before speaking to Guilliman – they have to move quickly. She has Skyweaver Jetbikes scouting this area of the webway, and they are reporting Chaos Marines in blue and gold on the way. It dawns on Guilliman that, through sheer luck or patented Just As Planned shenanigans, Magnus knew that Guilliman would end up here and was lying in wait. But why…? It’s Voldus who comes up with an answer, dredging up knowledge from the libraries of Titan. Isn’t there a Webway Gate in the Imperial Palace? Of course! Guilliman deduces that Magnus already knows of this gate (there were rumours that the Crimson King had already passed through it once after all) and he was now simply waiting for the defences to be deactivated to allow Guilliman’s passage. Curse you Magnus! A masterful plan! Guilliman despairs at being so close to his destination, but unwilling to risk letting Magnus get a foot through. Veilwalker offers an alternative – if he can’t go to Terra, why not go to Luna? Oh yeah, btw, there’s a long dormant Webway Gate on Terra’s moon.

To Luna it is. The Terran Crusade sets off, with Cypher and his Fallen in tow, led by the Harlequin’s of the Veiled Path. Its not long before they come under attack by the Thousand Sons though, Rubricae and Tzaangors hounding them at every turn. But Celestine cuts a way through, and the Imperials continue a fighting advance until eventually the reach the portal. Donning helms and rebreathers, they step through the portal onto the surface of Luna. It’s a harsh transition, from the relatively comfortable environment of the Webway to the harsh vacuum of space. The crusade emerges into a deep crater and, with rays of Sol itself spilling over the lip, bound their way up the sides of the pit. Veilwalker begins to incant a ritual to seal the gate, but before she can finish the gate explodes outwards with a rush of blue energy as Rubric Marines step out of the gate. They being pouring salvoes of firing into the exposed Marines clambering up out of the crater. Guilliman halts the retreat at the top of the crater, standing amongst a graveyard of old decommissioned and junked starships. Above them, Terra shines in the sky and Guilliman is at last in sight of his destination. But its not ever yet – the Thousand Sons are on Luna. Guilliman knows that all the psychic activity will have undoubtedly tripped all the alarms so he just needs to hold off until help arrives.

The Thousand Sons are pouring out of the portal now, and Guilliman orders his forces to positions at the top of the crater, laying fire down into the Traitors. The Thousand Sons are getting hammered by the fire from the crater, but pulse of dark power swirls at the gate as a wave of dread sweeps over the loyalists. Magnus the Red had arrived. He throws out a huge shield of warp energy, and the Thousand Sons forces advance quickly up the slopes of the crater unharmed behind its protection. Seeing his position at the top of the crater about to be overrun, Guilliman orders his forces to pull back to the wrecks of the spaceships for cover. The Thousand Sons rise over the lip and begin advancing again, Magnus floating up behind them, wreaking havoc with his Psychic Powers. Guilliman realises Magnus will tear through his army if left free, and launches into a charge, jumping off the edge of the crater to strike at him in the air. Magnus just manages to parry, and they both go flying into the wreckage of the ships. Behind them, the Battle of Luna rages on.

Guilliman rises from amongst the wreckage and looks around for Magnus, challenging the Demon Primarch to face him. There’s pretty cool duel that takes place, but tl;dr - Magnus has the edge until the entire battlefield lights up in fire. The Terran Defense Fleet has arrived. Aided by telemetry uploaded by Archmagos Cawl, the Imperial Ships rain orbital fire down on the Chaos forces as teleportation flares light up – the Adeptus Custodes have also arrived, and they promptly get into wrecking face amongst the Thousand Sons. Yellow Drop Pods also thunder-down to the surface, as the Imperial Fists make an entrance. And amongst all the reinforcements, a trio of Valkyries bearing the sigil of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica beeline for the duel between Magnus and Guilliman. Sisters of Silence drop out to aid Guilliman and suddenly Magnus finds his psychic edge over Guilliman completely nullified.

Meanwhile, Sylandri Veilwalker sees Guilliman and Magnus locked in their challenge and realises the moment of the Final Act has arrived. Their drama had been played out, and the “brother’s enmity burned anew”. Signalling her Death Jester to communicate with Guilliman of her plan, she sprints for the webway portal and takes out the Sorcerers guarding it. She hastily prepares a ritual as Guilliman, informed of the plan, and the Sisters of Silence drive Magnus back down the crater towards the gate. Guilliman manages to drive his sword under Magnus guard, wounding him solidly, and Magnus lets out an uncontrolled blast of sorcery that blast them apart – and Magnus through the gate. Veilwalker triggers her runestone and the gate severs completely from the Webway, cutting Magnus off from Luna. With their Primarch gone, the rest of the Thousand Sons are mopped up. Sylandri, and the rest of her Harlequin Troupe, have vanished as well… The battle is over.

Guilliman stands amongst the gathered Imperial forces. Tech Priests are swarming over the deactivated webway gate, but most of them (save the Custodes) are staring at the Primarch in awe. He allows the senior Imperial Fist apothecary to treat his wounds, as an enormous gold Imperial Lander touches down with more Custodes onboard, led by Shield-Captain Ty Andronitus. He explains that the High Lords have organised Guilliman and his warriors would be brought to Terra in all haste, to travel as part of a glorious parade to the Emperor’s Palace. After some nice descriptions of the orbital defences and Terra itself, they land at the Eternity Well spaceport. Guilliman steps out infront of a massive crowd, and is shocked at the sights around him. Terra looks very different from when he last saw it – where once had been industrious glory, now was buried in grotesque layers of gothic over-construction and macabre religious ornamentation. Some more pretty cool descriptions of Terra as Guilliman and co eventually reach one of the many entrances to the Emperor’s Throne Room.

This one is a massive doorway that stands at the end of a towering cathedral, its space filled with millions of pilgrims who cry out in awe as not only Guilliman passes through them but the Living Saint herself. Sicarius, Grand Master Voldus, Shield-Captain Adronitus, Cypher and his Fallen, Belisarius Cawl and Katarinya Greyfax are also accompanying Guilliman and Celestine, followed by the Battle Brothers of the Terran Crusade. At least Guilliman reaches the foot of the stairs leading up to the doorway, where a 20 strong contingent of Custodes stood at guard. Their leader steps forward, introduces himself as Aquila Commander Kalim Varanor, and formally asks who comes before the throne room of the Emperor. Shield-Captain Adronitus formally announces each of the leaders of the Terran Crusade as ancient formalities played out, befitting the gravitas of the arrival of a Primarch. The millions strong crowd hold their breath as the Aquila Commander makes his judgement. Varanor looks to a Hooded Tech Priest that had been waiting with the Custodes, and the Tech Priest nods his head…

…the Primarch would pass, alone, into the throne room. Everyone else will remain outside. Cypher went for his pistols – he’d upheld his end of the bargain and he’d been promised entrance! But Guilliman was not fool enough to trust the mysterious Dark Angel blindly. He might not recognise his person but he did recognise the blade Cypher carried on his back, the sight of which made him shudder with dread. There was no way he was allowing that near his father. Guilliman commands the Custodian Guard to apprehend Cypher and his compatriots. Cypher hesitates for a moment, caught between attempting escape or making a futile lunge for the doorway, before the Custodes surround him and arrest him. They take him to a cell that, not for thousands of years, had anyone escaped from but Cypher would do just that. But for the moment, Guilliman turns and ascends the steps to the Throne Room. The Custodes part way for him, but the hooded Tech Priest bows before him, blurting out in binary. Belisarius Cawl hurries up the steps to exchange binharic blurts with the other Tech-Priest before turning to Guilliman to speak of secret pacts on Mars and works nearing completion. Cawl then turns and heads down the stairs, and into the crowd, important work on Mars requiring his attention…

Guilliman stands alone before the door to the throne room. A single chime booms through the cathedral, and the sigh of million worshippers rings out as the doorway opens to reveal darkness. Guilliman takes a breath, and steps through. The doors close behind him. Hours pass, the warriors of the Terran Crusade standing to attention before the throne room. The murmurs of the crowd turn to fervent prayer, and some even step forward to offer thanks and meagre offerings to Captain Sicarius and Grand Master Voldus. Celestine and Greyfax bail at this point, to “spread her blessings” and to “report to her Ordo Hereticus superiors”. Ah, that’s what they’re calling it these days

Artificial Day turns to Artificial Night and Artificial Day again before the doors open once more, and Roboute Guilliman steps out, expression unreadable. He demands an immediate assembly of the High Lords of Terra, and that he will be resuming his seat on that council as well as forcibly removing several High Lords from office. He would, once again, become Lord Commander of the Imperium of Mankind. Of his meeting with the Emperor, all Guilliman would say is that he received all the enlighten he required. He warns the High Lords of an encroaching darkness, a terrible Warp phenomena that was manifesting over the galaxy as the war against Chaos enters a terrible new phase. Cadia was only the beginning – from Fenris to Armageddon to Attila and Balor, all were feeling the claws of Chaos. But hope was not lost. New Armies would be raised, in numbers not seen since the days of the Great Crusade. From Cawl’s forges on Mars would come new and terrible weapons whose fury the worshippers of Chaos would be unable to stand.

The Imperium would not drown in the tide of warfare, but instead ride upon the crest of a bloody wave to triumph against darkness.

Thank you very much for this. I've enjoyed your other summaries.

Which would you say is the better of the books? The others haven't interested me as much as this one and i'm thinking about getting it for the Slaanesh and Nurgle insights.

Thanks for this!

So it ends on a cliffhanger? No definitive answer as to what occurs on Terra after Guilliman steps into the throne room and Cypher escapes his prison?

Also, Cypher reaching for his pistols at the end all but confirms he's going to shoot *someone*.

In goon we trust! Thank you for the summary, what are the closing lines of the book?

Oops, the forums ate the last paragraph of the posts lol. It's there now.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Pilau Rice wrote:
Thank you very much for this. I've enjoyed your other summaries.

Which would you say is the better of the books? The others haven't interested me as much as this one and i'm thinking about getting it for the Slaanesh and Nurgle insights.

Eh, honestly I would probably The Fracture of Biel-Tan was the most fun to read. And I'm far from being the world's greatest Eldar fan. Fall of Cadia was pretty good too. Rise of the Primarch is probably the weakest story imo - there's some decent enough insight into Guilliman's mind, as well as some great descriptions of Chaos and of Terra at the end, but the story is a bit underwhelming. Especially with the pretty anti-climatic ending, especially compared to how Fall of Cadia and Fracture of Biel-Tan left off.

I was really hoping for more information on Cypher and the Fallen. I guess we'll find out in book 4?

 GoonBandito wrote:

Eh, honestly I would probably The Fracture of Biel-Tan was the most fun to read. And I'm far from being the world's greatest Eldar fan. Fall of Cadia was pretty good too. Rise of the Primarch is probably the weakest story imo - there's some decent enough insight into Guilliman's mind, as well as some great descriptions of Chaos and of Terra at the end, but the story is a bit underwhelming. Especially with the pretty anti-climatic ending, especially compared to how Fall of Cadia and Fracture of Biel-Tan left off.

Not what I wanted to hear but thank you!

 Kriswall wrote:
I was really hoping for more information on Cypher and the Fallen. I guess we'll find out in book 4?

There's a page giving the backstory on Cypher, but its nothing you don't find on his dataslate or anything (He's mysterious! The Dark Angels want to capture him bad! He works with both Chaos and Imperial forces!). But yeah, he's barely in it.

I'm kind of hoping the meeting went like

*rowboat walks into the throne room*
Rowboat: Father I ha...
*emprah corpse sitting motionlessly on the golden throne*
Rowboat: Feth me they're even worse that I thought, screw this plan b go.

You're doing God's work, GoonBandito.

Though, the phrase " Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax can’t stop thinking about Saint Celestine…" is a little rule 34'y.

Also, it would be nice if you could link your summary of the first two books, which were also excellent.

Wahey! Chaos seems like it's got teeth again even if Guilliman did make it to the throne, most of his fellow dudes got slaughtered on the way (and the rest of the galaxy is in flames).

That is... anti-climactic indeed. It has nowhere near the oomph as the other two did for how big of a game changer it is.

Cypher is just there in prison? I got to say I enjoyed the previous two more.

Well at least no one can go and scream bloody murder that the end times are happening anymore when the status quo is pretty similar to before all of these events. The Ynead is a far greater and more important event than a loyalist primarchs return. At least so far.

I'm okay with that it gives hope that the setting won't just focus on Primarch's all the time. Still I think they could have stuck the landing a little better.

If this is the new status quo it's pretty disappointing to have all this buildup just for that. It needed like 10-15% more shocking revelations at the end. Not having cypher plot resolved is torture as well. He was barely in it.

Eeee!

Skipped big chunks, but couldn't resist some spoilers.

@Goon, thank you very much for this I appreciate all the hard work you put into this.

Overall I am pretty unhappy with the way they took the story, I really was hoping for something more, the whole Cypher thing just feels unnecessary, I was really hoping Big E was a perpetual and the story ended with the Lions blade being plunged into Big E.

The Sisters of Silence still exist? Awesome!

Does anyone know how many, if any, books are left in the gathering storm? I heard somewhere they planned a total of 6, but I heard elsewhere that this was the last.

It seems unlikely this is the last, as it seems things are just getting started.

Gathering Storm is a Trilogy.

We don't yet know (but kind of suspect) there'll be at least one other trilogy this year.

 Kap'n Krump wrote:
Does anyone know how many, if any, books are left in the gathering storm? I heard somewhere they planned a total of 6, but I heard elsewhere that this was the last.

It seems unlikely this is the last, as it seems things are just getting started.

I heard there are only going to be 3 "Gathering Storm" books, but afterwards there with be 3 books continuing the story called something else. Like "The Storm has Arrived" or some such
It's pretty clear that this is all setup for something bigger.
Age of the new Emperor, anyone?

-

8th Edition is in June. We got fresh rumor confirming it. The guy has a decent 75% correct on the rumor tracker. It's most likely happening there.

So if there are only two more 40k books possible before 8th what would they be? Or will GW make those AoS months?

I suspect the next series of books will not be until after 8th. Seems pointless not to be. Most likely that is when we will see the mortarion leaked model. There are also rumors from hastings (high accuracy as well) of another deamon priomarch being worked on and possibly one more loyalist. 8th is supposed to launch with a new faction of super space marines created from gullimans blood and given new power armor and bolter pattern from cawl.

So... all I can say is it seems like there is no xenos love. This seems like 30k MK2. I'm dreading the march preview event now. Feels like 40k is dying to me and just becoming horus heresy 2.

The summary makes it look like it started off half-decent, but then devolve in to "ERMAGERD ROWBOAT GELDINGMEN IS SO GREAT ALL HIS ALLIES LOVE HIM AND ALL HIS ENEMIES WANT TO KILL HIM BUT THEY CAN'T BECAUSE HE'S JUST TOO GREAT WHY DON'T YOU LIKE HIM TOO?!?!?!?"

From the way Girlyman's Meeting is phrased. I'm now thinking he walked it, sat down and used whatever the 40k equivalent of google is to find out what a terrible state the Imperium is in, looks up to his father's rotting corpse and says:

"No."

Then he plods off to start the long and arduous task of fixing the imperium. Just like daddy would have wanted.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Gathering Storm is a Trilogy.

We don't yet know (but kind of suspect) there'll be at least one other trilogy this year.

Ah, ok, double trilogy would mesh with what I've heard then.

And yeah, I think the 8th in june rumor is probably accurate. Because gathering storms started early this year, and it's now march, so logically, if another trilogy started, it would probably end june-ish.

Bad guys definitely need some new toys, though. Don't even care if it's not orks, CSM definitely deserve something shiny after all this 'good guy' nonsense.

 primalexile wrote:
@Goon, thank you very much for this I appreciate all the hard work you put into this.

Overall I am pretty unhappy with the way they took the story, I really was hoping for something more, the whole Cypher thing just feels unnecessary, I was really hoping Big E was a perpetual and the story ended with the Lions blade being plunged into Big E.

No wonder you were disappointed.

Can we get a summary of this summary, please?

I'm always glad that you share these things in such detail, GoonBandito! even if the story is... not exactly to my taste. It's still good to have a detailed but readable summary like this.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Blackhair Duckshape wrote:
Can we get a summary of this summary, please?

Imperials: "Augh Chaos!"

"Wait, the big guy's awake now"

Chaos: "Augh a Primarch!"

Gods: "Time for some trix."

Gull: "Dang, tricked!"

Cyphs: "Let me untrick you for sneaky reasons"

Gull: "Ok"

All: "Let's go to the moon!"

Gull: "Ok"

Chaos: "Hi, we like the moon too"

*Fighting sounds*

Gull: "I'm gonna see my dad, ok?"

All: "Ok"

......

Gull: "Dang."

Thanks for all the work relaying the story!

So if this ends in a cliffhanger, I'm betting money next month is a another book "Death of the Emperor" or something like that where Cypher gasses the Emperor madness breaks loose and Abaddon brings in his boy Morty to kill everyone then BOOM 8th comes out and a wave of new updates and models for EVERYTHING.

Thanks again Goon. Beautifully written. There is a lot to get excited about, but this stood out the most:

Cadia was only the beginning – from Fenris to Armageddon

Sounds like Angron will be returning to Armageddon. I'll alert the Steel Legion.

Holy Emperor that's a lot of text! My usual questions and nitpicking, item by item:

"Reports of Black Legion, Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, Emperor's Children, and more are heard." They got reports of the Alpha Legion? Either their intel is really freaking good, it was a bluff by the AL who wanted them to hear it, or (most likely given how things have gone) the infiltrator legion forgot how to infiltrate.

"Would it help if I said we're on a mission from god?" That was pretty funny. I like your version of Celestine.

Did Calgar make it? He was wounded, but did he recover?

Not sure if it's the book or your translation of it, but damn Guilliman sounds edgy when he's catching up on the past 10,000 years. It's somewhat justifiable but still seriously man, I thought Kurze was the emo one?!

"This is an age of war and wrath-- learning must be set aside," to everyone who thought that just because there are Primarchs walking around, everything would go all noblebright, here you have it from the mouth of a primarch. 40k is still as senselessly serious and grimdark as always, whether it makes sense or not.

"The imperials that refused to surrender were either killed or forced to submit." First, why are the daemons/red corsairs bothering with taking so many prisoners? Second, assuming that the normal imperial attitude towards chaos and surrendering still holds, then most of the Terran crusade is probably dead, right?

Edit: I was happy that Kairos managed to defeat a Primarch, but was it necessary to immediately deus ex machina him free? Also how do the khorne daemons find the place anyway?

Edit: the Legion of the Damned can manifest inside the maelstrom? That's interesting. Anyone else feel like that's foreshadowing something about their identity?

Once again, thank you for writing this. Most if my nitpicking is towards the story itself, not your additions or transcription.

Commissar Benny wrote:
Thanks again Goon. Beautifully written. There is a lot to get excited about, but this stood out the most:

Cadia was only the beginning – from Fenris to Armageddon

Sounds like Angron will be returning to Armageddon. I'll alert the Steel Legion.

And don't forget to phone in Ghazghkull to join the fun.

im interested in the secret pacts on mars

 Segersgia wrote:

Commissar Benny wrote:
Thanks again Goon. Beautifully written. There is a lot to get excited about, but this stood out the most:

Cadia was only the beginning – from Fenris to Armageddon

Sounds like Angron will be returning to Armageddon. I'll alert the Steel Legion.

And don't forget to phone in Ghazghkull to join the fun.

Hey it wouldn't be Armageddon without Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. Besides I don't think Ghazghkull is going to let anyone kill old man Yarrick but Ghazghkull. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Things are about to get very interesting...

It is better than I thought, even if I despise the awakening of a loyalist primarch.
Thanks for the summary !
About the «super marines» thing, I don't believe any word of it.
It was probably the Custodian.

 Kap'n Krump wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Gathering Storm is a Trilogy.

We don't yet know (but kind of suspect) there'll be at least one other trilogy this year.

Ah, ok, double trilogy would mesh with what I've heard then.

And yeah, I think the 8th in june rumor is probably accurate. Because gathering storms started early this year, and it's now march, so logically, if another trilogy started, it would probably end june-ish.

Bad guys definitely need some new toys, though. Don't even care if it's not orks, CSM definitely deserve something shiny after all this 'good guy' nonsense.

Traitor Legions, Thousand Sons and KDK wernt enough for them this past year, as well as new plastic LOC and Bloodthirsters, and other multitudes of chaos kits?

I don't mind the awakening. ALso this is nicely setting the stage for 8th, don't give the conclusion just move the clock forward and have every faction react in their new codex.

Commissar Benny wrote:

 Segersgia wrote:

Commissar Benny wrote:
Thanks again Goon. Beautifully written. There is a lot to get excited about, but this stood out the most:

Cadia was only the beginning – from Fenris to Armageddon

Sounds like Angron will be returning to Armageddon. I'll alert the Steel Legion.

And don't forget to phone in Ghazghkull to join the fun.

Hey it wouldn't be Armageddon without Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. Besides I don't think Ghazghkull is going to let anyone kill old man Yarrick but Ghazghkull. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Things are about to get very interesting...

Angron was due to get his kicked once again. The poor thing. He never learns. Than again brain damage is going to do you just that.

Commissar Benny wrote:

 Segersgia wrote:

Commissar Benny wrote:
Thanks again Goon. Beautifully written. There is a lot to get excited about, but this stood out the most:

Cadia was only the beginning – from Fenris to Armageddon

Sounds like Angron will be returning to Armageddon. I'll alert the Steel Legion.

And don't forget to phone in Ghazghkull to join the fun.

Hey it wouldn't be Armageddon without Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. Besides I don't think Ghazghkull is going to let anyone kill old man Yarrick but Ghazghkull. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Things are about to get very interesting...

Would actually love for it to happen like this: Angron downs Ghazzy and focusses on Yarrick. He offs the commissar and tosses him aside as if he was nothing. Ghazghkull immediately, coming back out of nowhere, goes: "THAT ... WOZ MY KILL!!! WAAAAAAGH!!!" and with his newly found strength and rage, manages to banish him back to Khorne's domain.
basically the encounter between Nemeroth and Grimskull, but with the Ork actually beating the Daemon-prince.

yes, I'm not the best at writing stories.

 GoonBandito wrote:
“I erred,” Greyfax admits, “and I will do Penance. You truly are the instrument of the Emperor’s Will.”
“Vigilance is not a sin, Katarinya,” Celestine replies, “You serve Him as surely as I”.
“Indeed. Let us serve him together, as true warriors of Faith.” Together, Celestine and Greyfax launch themselves into the battle. Way better love story than Twilight.

haahha I LOL'd

 godardc wrote:
It is better than I thought, even if I despise the awakening of a loyalist primarch.
Thanks for the summary !
About the «super marines» thing, I don't believe any word of it.
It was probably the Custodian.

proably someone with crossed wires, my guess is we'llget a custodes codex this year, and storyline wise we'll see a new space marine founding.

Great Summary thank you - love the whole Celestine Greyfax relationship - most amusing

Looking forward to getting the book.

Uh, there was some talk in the past about Magnus and Guilliman sharing some brotherly words. Did they just battle? Meh.

One last thing that Guilliman orders before setting out to reclaim the wider Ultramar system – he orders the Library of Ptolemy barred shut to all visitors. This is an age of Wrath and War – learning and lore must be set aside.

I already dislike him.

Yeah I noticed that too. What a hypocrite. Wants a golden age of enlightenment like the Emps and then shuts down one of the few places of knowledge. Very counter intuitive.

I say good on the blasé Berserker. He wasn't going to let a little thing the return of a Primarch get in his way of killing. Khorne should have rewarded him right then and there with dark apotheosis. That would have made the slaughter (I would say fight but Chaos punching bags vs. the plot armored, spiritual liege, c'mon) of the Black Legion a little more interesting.

Yeah, I liked that aprt.

 Vector Strike wrote:
Uh, there was some talk in the past about Magnus and Guilliman sharing some brotherly words. Did they just battle? Meh.

That's really kind of a lost opportunity. You'd think Magnus would be a bit more... cerebral.

 Gamgee wrote:
Yeah I noticed that too. What a hypocrite. Wants a golden age of enlightenment like the Emps and then shuts down one of the few places of knowledge. Very counter intuitive.

did you read his reason....this is a new age of war, there is no time to focus on learning

very pragmatic thing to do..Roboute has always been pragmatic

Yes, I am sure the scholars that were in that Library are going to make excellent guardsmen and that their numbers are going to make a huge impact on the galaxy.

Yoyoyo wrote:

 Vector Strike wrote:
Uh, there was some talk in the past about Magnus and Guilliman sharing some brotherly words. Did they just battle? Meh.

That's really kind of a lost opportunity. You'd think Magnus would be a bit more... cerebral.

They do talk back and forth quite a bit during their duel - Magnus calls Guilliman insignificant, Guilliman fires back that Magnus is arrogant, they both accuse each other of being "slaves to monsters being worshipped as gods".

 Bobthehero wrote:
Yes, I am sure the scholars that were in that Library are going to make excellent guardsmen and that their numbers are going to make a huge impact on the galaxy.

If someone conscripted me and sent me on the front lines I would die. I'm a sickly person. I use my mind though in place of that and find a niche and use. All those scholars are now dead and the knowledge they had with them.

If he was a true pragmatist I would ask the scholars what their specialties are. Any of them who seem promising send to Cawl to aid him and train a next generation of tech priests. THAT is pragmatic. Set up a basic schooling system for everyone. What he did is dumb. Scholars take longer to train than soldiers. If the planet is about to fall like that day and it is that fire where it might all be lost anyways then sure, but he just crippled himself int he long term.

I always hear about Robut being an amazing statesmen and then I realize he is only as good as the authors own abilities which tend to be poor. This just makes me hate him more.

This was an extremely sarcastic post, forgot the sarcasm font, my bad

Great summary, thanks GoonBandito

I had hoped that they were building up to having some genuine consequences to the storyline (and not just the addition of a new Lord of War), but, there you go.

Guilliman just sounds like the usual Space Marine douche bigot on steroids. There was an opportunity for actual growth in the archetypal Space Marine character that seems to have gone wanting (the fact that it was Xenos and the Adeptus Mechanicus that saved him, over and over, and not his own smurfs, could have helped justify a new prevailing attitude in the Imperium.) But perhaps I'm being impatient, and we'll see what happens with 8th Edition and the second trilogy that presumably

a) finishes Abaddon's 13th Crusade (and hopefully Abaddon too),
b) raises the god Ynnead (so the Eldar can stop moaning about being Doomed),
c) settles the score between Guilliman and Fulgrim (more wishful thinking on my part), and
d) more clearly defines the factions in the 40K 'verse - along the lines of Good Guys, Neutral Guys, Evil Guys and Universal Baddies ('Nids)



Of course, the big disappointment was after he finished downloading (Lee Loo style) what he'd missed in the preceding millennia, his first comment wasn't "WTF happened to the Squats?"

I was agreeing with you. I was shocked when I seen that Bob. It was so pointless.

Great summary, there's a lot, A LOT, I don't like but some bits are quite cool.

I thought the plague was a particularly good bit, wonderful trick. Not just clever for 40k, but clever by any measure.

And I've loved 40k's Terra as a setting for a long time, so I may well have to pick this up.

Lord Flasheart wrote:
Great summary, thanks GoonBandito

I had hoped that they were building up to having some genuine consequences to the storyline (and not just the addition of a new Lord of War), but, there you go.

Guilliman just sounds like the usual Space Marine douche bigot on steroids. There was an opportunity for actual growth in the archetypal Space Marine character that seems to have gone wanting (the fact that it was Xenos and the Adeptus Mechanicus that saved him, over and over, and not his own smurfs, could have helped justify a new prevailing attitude in the Imperium.) But perhaps I'm being impatient, and we'll see what happens with 8th Edition and the second trilogy that presumably

Well he only actually has one interaction with the Ynnari we read, said interaction also comes quite late, just before he decides to head off to Terra, so we don't actually ever get how he or the Imperials reacted or developed with the Ynnari (and based off the discussion it seems during the battles in Ultramar the Ynnari as a military force aided them).

Said meeting we do see, between Yvrainne, the Vizarch and Roboute is...perhaps unrealistically friendly. As in, considering Guilliman was never one of the Sons who was shown to protest the Emperor's standing orders of kill all aliens on sight the way Magnus, Horus and Fulgrim did his treatment of Yvrainne is incredibly friendly. Pretty much he spends the brief conversation flattering her, saying he won't forget the debt he owes her, he asks if he can't convince her and the Ynnari to come with him and then ends it by saying that he's not going to try to force more information from her cause he values their alliance more than any potential benefits that might bring.

Then he does end by musing to himself that the Eldar will only pursue the alliance as long as it aides them.

But yeah Yvrainne gets along with him fine. In fact in the side bits we see Yvrainne wants to forge an alliance with the Necron too (but a dumb Autarch sabotages her attempt). So Yvrainne is apparently great Alliance-builder who seeks to join the species of the galaxy who she can into a great union against Chaos. Her and Sylandri are everywhere.

Overall though Roboute's bizarre friendliness with Yvrainne is indicative of one of the missteps I felt was prevalent in the book; seeing how Roboute would actually handle the new galaxy, the religion, having been saved by the hated Xenos, is all largely glossed over in sentences which don't actually show us the character's interacting. For example I was really looking forward to how interesting a situation would be where Celestine, an ardent believer, discusses with Guilliman, an ardent atheist, her faith. But, instead, we never see them have a conversation about religion and, instead, we get a bit of text which almost makes it seem like Greyfax and Celestine don't even care that Guilliman's an atheist. Missed opportunity for some fun conversation, I'd have loved to see Celestine's inner monologue concerning a being she worships dismissing the notion of religion.

Thanks for writing that one up, great stuff.

 cvtuttle wrote:

 GoonBandito wrote:
“I erred,” Greyfax admits, “and I will do Penance. You truly are the instrument of the Emperor’s Will.”
“Vigilance is not a sin, Katarinya,” Celestine replies, “You serve Him as surely as I”.
“Indeed. Let us serve him together, as true warriors of Faith.” Together, Celestine and Greyfax launch themselves into the battle. Way better love story than Twilight.

haahha I LOL'd

I genuinely think they're pairing off Celestine and Greyfax at this point. Which I support 100%, the only question is what portmanteau to use...Celefax? GreyStine? Celerinya? Katastine? so many choices!

Exalted!

I love these plot summaries. keep them up man they are great reads.

Also, it sounds like Cawl had the thing to fix Rowboat all along. So procrastination for 10k years. The best lol.

Thank you for the great job @GoonBandito. I really enjoyed your summaries.

About the cliffhanger, I'm not sure they are going to resolve it in the next trilogy. They may just use it as a starting point for the 8th, and then expand it a bit there and in the codices.

Seems pretty good.

My only issue is that I do hope they find some way of weaving the non-Eldar alien races into the story. Particularly the notion of Chaos claiming Armageddon. "DATS MA ROK!"

I know there are some side references to the Tyranids on Baal, Tau and Ghasghull.

I genuinely think they're pairing off Celestine and Greyfax at this point. Which I support 100%, the only question is what portmanteau to use...Celefax? GreyStine? Celerinya? Katastine? so many choices!

Out of those, I vote for Katastine.

thanks again for taking the time to do this, must of taken you ages!


whole thing sounds rushed to me and actually unrealistic (as odd as that can sound in 40k) like fateweaver oh lock them in cells... what... surrender.. what... just doesnt fit my own mind of how 40k 'is' feels more like a cheap action film

GoonBandito wrote:

Yoyoyo wrote:

 Vector Strike wrote:
Uh, there was some talk in the past about Magnus and Guilliman sharing some brotherly words. Did they just battle? Meh.

That's really kind of a lost opportunity. You'd think Magnus would be a bit more... cerebral.

They do talk back and forth quite a bit during their duel - Magnus calls Guilliman insignificant, Guilliman fires back that Magnus is arrogant, they both accuse each other of being "slaves to monsters being worshipped as gods".

Thanks.

That was entertaining.

Commissar Benny wrote:

 Segersgia wrote:

Commissar Benny wrote:
Thanks again Goon. Beautifully written. There is a lot to get excited about, but this stood out the most:

Cadia was only the beginning – from Fenris to Armageddon

Sounds like Angron will be returning to Armageddon. I'll alert the Steel Legion.

And don't forget to phone in Ghazghkull to join the fun.

Hey it wouldn't be Armageddon without Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. Besides I don't think Ghazghkull is going to let anyone kill old man Yarrick but Ghazghkull. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Things are about to get very interesting...

It would be awesome to have Ghazzy beat the living out of Angron...

I'm suprised we got the reaction of several primarchs to Guilliman's return but not Lorgar's, or at least any involvment with the Word Bearers. Perhaps they will be mentionned in future releases.

Lord Flasheart wrote:

d) more clearly defines the factions in the 40K 'verse - along the lines of Good Guys, Neutral Guys, Evil Guys and Universal Baddies ('Nids)

You lost me here.

This is anathema to the grittyness of the 40k universe (which is one of its most appealing qualities). Start dividing people into 'good' and 'evil' and you get the same boring tired fantasy trope of 'men vs orks' or 'men vs daemons' or any other of the countless facsimilies without any depth beyond 'these guys are evil cos they're evil m'kay...'.

 Anemone wrote:

Overall though Roboute's bizarre friendliness with Yvrainne is indicative of one of the missteps I felt was prevalent in the book; seeing how Roboute would actually handle the new galaxy, the religion, having been saved by the hated Xenos, is all largely glossed over in sentences which don't actually show us the character's interacting. For example I was really looking forward to how interesting a situation would be where Celestine, an ardent believer, discusses with Guilliman, an ardent atheist, her faith. But, instead, we never see them have a conversation about religion and, instead, we get a bit of text which almost makes it seem like Greyfax and Celestine don't even care that Guilliman's an atheist. Missed opportunity for some fun conversation, I'd have loved to see Celestine's inner monologue concerning a being she worships dismissing the notion of religion.

Yeah I'd have loved to have seen some more 'realistic' interactions and conflicts between the characters. Celestine vs Guilliman, and all of them versus the xenos would have been very interesting to see (especially if those conflicts go unresolved, leaving a bit of a fissure between the factions).

 Anemone wrote:

But yeah Yvrainne gets along with him fine. In fact in the side bits we see Yvrainne wants to forge an alliance with the Necron too (but a dumb Autarch sabotages her attempt). So Yvrainne is apparently great Alliance-builder who seeks to join the species of the galaxy who she can into a great union against Chaos. Her and Sylandri are everywhere.

I'm just going to pretend that that didn't happen. God I hate Newcrons, and how apparently they're everyone's buddy nowadays. It's almost as bad as how the Eldar are everyone's buddies nowadays too, which is one of my most disliked repetitive tropes.

Its ok, the true heroes of the galaxy - Orks - are no one's buddies.

VIva Greenskin!

I would have written it better. One word kiddies. Romance. Hot and steamy romance.

1) A love triangle between Guilliman, Celestine and Greyfax. Greyfax pines after Celestine, who in turn pines after Guilliman, who isn't interested.

2) When magnus gets blasted into the webway, guess who he gets flung into? That's right, our missing friend Russ! They fight and yell at each other, and at some point the sexual tension reaches a climax (wink wink) and hot steamy love making ensues. (Is it only me who's always seen implied sexual tension in that rivalry, or is it only me?)

3) Cato Sicarius gets some strange feelings towards Veilwalker. He knows it's wrong, but his crotchpiece is getting tight. Sadly she leaves before he can act on his heresy.

But while Russ x Magnus and Celstine x Greyfax are obviously better love stories than twilight, that's not all I'd do.

4) Vulcan (so much cooler than girlyman) turns up with Alpharius and a bunch of primarchs they made with the stolen primarch gene seed to aid in the second great crusade.

5) The Death Corps of Krieg. (Have you read 'Dead Men Walking'? Oh, it's only the coolest, most kick-arse depiction of the IG ever.) They turn up at the escape from the Blackstone Fortress and all the Terran Crusade escape, because the DKOK and the Legion of the Damned team up and kick chaos butt long enough for Guilliman and friends to escape. They all die, and a vision of the Emperor appears over their dead, and over Krieg announcing they are forgiven. A DKOK guardsman turns to his commissar, "Does that mean we don't have to fight any more?"
*BLAM* "Just because we have atoned for our forefathers' sins, does not mean the Emperor does not need our service! CHARGE!" And they kill the runts of Krieg's latest generation as training. Grim fething dark. (see 'Down Among The Dead Men')

6) A variety of other shenanigans.

"But Creed?" I hear you ask, "If you can see sexual tension between Russ and Magnus, surely you can see it between Creed and Failbaddon?" And that, kiddies, would be HERESY!!
Such a noble and heroic and intelligent figure as Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed would never do anything but wage war on the filthy followers of chaos, Failbaddon especially.
Instead, here's how I picture it:
Guilliman had saved the Imperium. He had seen the return of old primarchs, and the incorporation of new brothers. Their strength marshalled, the final battle was approaching. From the bridge of the Imperium's flagship, The Emperor's Will, Guiliman prepared to give the order to attack the amassed Chaos fleet. At the centre of the evil host was The Vengeful Spirit, and on its bridge the Warmaster, treacherous leader of chaos undivided, the dread Abbadon standing proudly, ready to prosecute death and damnation upon the servants of the Emperor, to finally strike down those who had tuned his heart into a hateful husk. As Guilman's mouth opened to utter the attack, the door to the bridge opened and in strode Trayzn and Creed. Trayzn and Cawl use their metal limbs to do a special handshake, and Cawl announces it's all good. Bemused, Guilman speaks out, "What is this? What is that xenos doing on my bridge." Creed strides up to Guiliman and takes a long drag on his Cuban cigar, preserved from the 10th millennium in stasis. A female bridge officer faints. "Move over son, let a real tactical genius show you how it's done." Guiliman steps aside, cowed by Creed's manliness, heroism and superior tactical acumen. Creed presses the transmit button on the bridge's vox. "Open fire." Through the gigantic viewport, the Imperial leadership gaze, awestruck, as the chaos fleet is wracked with explosions emanating from inside the traitor ships.
"But, how?" asks Guiliman.
"Oh easy, I just hid baneblades in the ventilation ducts," but before he can continue, Creed is swarmed with naval crew, guardsmen, space marines, named characters, all singing his praises to the emperor, and asking for autographs, etc, etc. Eventually the scrum subsides. Creed is left standing with one arm around Greyfax and the other around Celstine, "Now excuse me, I believe we have to make a visit to the primarch's chambers."
Guilman rose to stop him, but Vulkan placed a hand on his shoulder, "No brother, he deserves it."
Creed walks out the bridge with the two most important women in the Imperium to the sound of whooping applause.

Some say that if you visit that region of space, you can hear the ghostly wails of Abaddon the Fool's, crying out against the one man who had cost him a victory that could have changed the galaxy, the one man whose name he invoked at his death. That magnificent bastard. That tactical geniu-
"CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!!!"



(DISCLAIMER: The character of Creed as written above is in no way a Gary Sue of the real world user of the account CREEEEEEEEED on the website DakkaDakka.com. Not at all.)


And if you think that reads like something off of wattpad, well at least there weren't any multilazers. (Bonus points if you get the reference.)

This is an amazing write-up, I just finished your version of the trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed them. Feels good to be caught up with all the new stuff that's happening, so crazy...

Mudrat wrote:

I genuinely think they're pairing off Celestine and Greyfax at this point. Which I support 100%, the only question is what portmanteau to use...Celefax? GreyStine? Celerinya? Katastine? so many choices!

Out of those, I vote for Katastine.

I'm for Celefax.

 Frazzled wrote:

Commissar Benny wrote:

 Segersgia wrote:

Commissar Benny wrote:
Thanks again Goon. Beautifully written. There is a lot to get excited about, but this stood out the most:

Cadia was only the beginning – from Fenris to Armageddon

Sounds like Angron will be returning to Armageddon. I'll alert the Steel Legion.

And don't forget to phone in Ghazghkull to join the fun.

Hey it wouldn't be Armageddon without Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. Besides I don't think Ghazghkull is going to let anyone kill old man Yarrick but Ghazghkull. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Things are about to get very interesting...

It would be awesome to have Ghazzy beat the living out of Angron...

Honestly I just want to see that fight, I don't care which one wins because they both have too much plot armor to actually be killed. and seriously, they're a perfect match for each other in terms of skill, and both of them are probably looking for a challenge.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Lord Flasheart wrote:

d) more clearly defines the factions in the 40K 'verse - along the lines of Good Guys, Neutral Guys, Evil Guys and Universal Baddies ('Nids)

You lost me here.

This is anathema to the grittyness of the 40k universe (which is one of its most appealing qualities). Start dividing people into 'good' and 'evil' and you get the same boring tired fantasy trope of 'men vs orks' or 'men vs daemons' or any other of the countless facsimilies without any depth beyond 'these guys are evil cos they're evil m'kay...'.

At some point you have to acknowledge that the widespread collapse of safety and living standards and a total lack of prosperity might mean that someone MIGHT be a little evil...

 LunarSol wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Lord Flasheart wrote:

d) more clearly defines the factions in the 40K 'verse - along the lines of Good Guys, Neutral Guys, Evil Guys and Universal Baddies ('Nids)

You lost me here.

This is anathema to the grittyness of the 40k universe (which is one of its most appealing qualities). Start dividing people into 'good' and 'evil' and you get the same boring tired fantasy trope of 'men vs orks' or 'men vs daemons' or any other of the countless facsimilies without any depth beyond 'these guys are evil cos they're evil m'kay...'.

At some point you have to acknowledge that the widespread collapse of safety and living standards and a total lack of prosperity might mean that someone MIGHT be a little evil...

I'm all for moral relativism in my fiction, especially my 40k fiction, but it's true that, sometimes, things can be a bit more clear-cut.

If you want to go out and destroy the galaxy, you'd better bet everybody else is gonna turn you into the "bad guy"!

You know CREEEEEEEEED, i think you just convinced me that i need to ship Creed after all.

With Baneblades.

In truth, mere mortals are not enough for someone of Creed's status.
Yes, only baneblades or scout titans will do.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
In truth, mere mortals are not enough for someone of Creed's status.
Yes, only baneblades or scout titans will do.

"The machine spirit is willing"

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
In truth, mere mortals are not enough for someone of Creed's status.
Yes, only baneblades or scout titans will do.

scout titans? I dfunno man, are those epic eneugh for him? only a Warlord will do, for the Warlord of the guard!

 amazingturtles wrote:

"The machine spirit is willing"

If you type 'rule 34 adeptus mechaicus' into google, you get some very interesting results. I mean, I didn't do that just now, but y'know, if you wanted to go see for yourself, that's probably what you'd find.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:


If you type 'rule 34 adeptus mechaicus' into google, you get some very interesting results. I mean, I didn't do that just now, but y'know, if you wanted to go see for yourself, that's probably what you'd find.

Well, I just did do that, and I may never sleep again


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Thanks for the read @GoonBandito, enjoyed your summaries of all three books- my criticisms are simple, where are the rest of them? Did the Orks vanish? Or the Tyranids? Next trilogy must advance their cause....

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

If you type 'rule 34 adeptus mechaicus' into google, you get some very interesting results. I mean, I didn't do that just now, but y'know, if you wanted to go see for yourself, that's probably what you'd find.

honestly I was a bit disappointed.

Guess i just got to use my imagination

Or maybe just stop this derail before it gets any worse...

ok that last one.

 amazingturtles wrote:

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

If you type 'rule 34 adeptus mechaicus' into google, you get some very interesting results. I mean, I didn't do that just now, but y'know, if you wanted to go see for yourself, that's probably what you'd find.

honestly I was a bit disappointed.

Guess i just got to use my imagination

Or maybe just stop this derail before it gets any worse...

ok that last one.

I think for mechanicus you need to search for rule 100010.

 LunarSol wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Lord Flasheart wrote:

d) more clearly defines the factions in the 40K 'verse - along the lines of Good Guys, Neutral Guys, Evil Guys and Universal Baddies ('Nids)

You lost me here.

This is anathema to the grittyness of the 40k universe (which is one of its most appealing qualities). Start dividing people into 'good' and 'evil' and you get the same boring tired fantasy trope of 'men vs orks' or 'men vs daemons' or any other of the countless facsimilies without any depth beyond 'these guys are evil cos they're evil m'kay...'.

At some point you have to acknowledge that the widespread collapse of safety and living standards and a total lack of prosperity might mean that someone MIGHT be a little evil...

True, although i find it tends to make for rather 2-dimensional unrealistic characters.

'They do evil things because they're evil people who just like doing evil things' is a bit boring.

'They do evil things because they believe that the evil they're doing is both right, justified and necessary' makes for a much more nuanced character.

Plus, it's more realistic. At the risk of invoking Godwin's law, Hitler (one of the most evil men of our time, although not quite as bad as Stalin...) did what he did because he genuinely believed it was for the benefit of the German people who had lived through terrible hardship after WW1.

Now, i get that you get psychopaths who do horrible things just for the fun of it, but to be honest in the history of people doing horrible horrible things to each other they're in a massive minority. The vast majority of atrocities are carried out by normal people who think they're doing the right thing.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Hitler (one of the most evil men of our time, although not quite as bad as Stalin...) did what he did because he genuinely believed it was for the benefit of the German people who had lived through terrible hardship after WW1.

Stalin had a higher kill count, but I'd say Hitler's intentions made him more evil.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Hitler (one of the most evil men of our time, although not quite as bad as Stalin...) did what he did because he genuinely believed it was for the benefit of the German people who had lived through terrible hardship after WW1.

Stalin had a higher kill count, but I'd say Hitler's intentions made him more evil.

General Mao outclassed both those two in terms of kills...

What does this have to do with Reboot Goatman again?

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Hitler (one of the most evil men of our time, although not quite as bad as Stalin...) did what he did because he genuinely believed it was for the benefit of the German people who had lived through terrible hardship after WW1.

Stalin had a higher kill count, but I'd say Hitler's intentions made him more evil.

General Mao outclassed both those two in terms of kills...

What does this have to do with Reboot Goatman again?

Very true on the Mao front.

I think we're trying to decide which historical dictator Guilliman is most likely to turn out like. I've voting Hitler because of the whole book-burning/closing the library thing. We'll wait and see though. Ultramar does sound suspiciously like a Soviet state putting out nothing but good propaganda to mask the fact that it's a hellhole

Actually, speaking of the library incident, did anyone else find that a glaring instance of grimderp (grimdark for grimdark's sake with no actual basis in beleivability)?

To go from this quote:

"Why do I still live? What more do you want from me? I gave everything I had to you, to them. Look what they have made of our dream. This bloated, rotten carcass of an empire is driven not by reason and hope, but by fear, hate and ignorance. Better that we had all burned in the fire of Horus' ambition than lived to see this."

To closing one of the few remaining bastions of knowledge in this 'bloated, rotten carcass of an empire' because' this is a time of war and wrath' just seems like a pointless inclusion of something that runs completely contrary to what the character in question would actually think...

Honestly the closing of the library struck me as his acceptance of the world as it is. He has accepted that the imperium seeks not knowledge at this point and time and must focus solely on survival.

The closing of the library was his way of signifying that they would not even bother with false pretenses anymore. The imperium has only focused on survival for a long time, everything else is just lying to itself.

Overall I love love LOVED the entire gathering storm, I wish the entire thing was closer to FW hardcover levels of details but I understand that would not be realistic given the limitations. Cant wait to see what comes next and one thing I really liked that they highlighted was all of the successor chapters were merging with their parent chapter. The dark angels, the successor chapters of ultramarines, all the blood angels are merging at baal.

Its like they are going to back to the idea of legions rather than the disparate chapters of the past.

Also fullgrim is a total DICK and I love it!!! Cant wait for the Mortarian mini and nurgle kits to go with my current deathguard army. Now to figureout what to use the FW nurgle kits as versus the eventual new plastics.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Hitler (one of the most evil men of our time, although not quite as bad as Stalin...) did what he did because he genuinely believed it was for the benefit of the German people who had lived through terrible hardship after WW1.

Stalin had a higher kill count, but I'd say Hitler's intentions made him more evil.

General Mao outclassed both those two in terms of kills...

What does this have to do with Reboot Goatman again?

Very true on the Mao front.

I think we're trying to decide which historical dictator Guilliman is most likely to turn out like. I've voting Hitler because of the whole book-burning/closing the library thing. We'll wait and see though. Ultramar does sound suspiciously like a Soviet state putting out nothing but good propaganda to mask the fact that it's a hellhole

Actually, speaking of the library incident, did anyone else find that a glaring instance of grimderp (grimdark for grimdark's sake with no actual basis in beleivability)?

To go from this quote:

"Why do I still live? What more do you want from me? I gave everything I had to you, to them. Look what they have made of our dream. This bloated, rotten carcass of an empire is driven not by reason and hope, but by fear, hate and ignorance. Better that we had all burned in the fire of Horus' ambition than lived to see this."

To closing one of the few remaining bastions of knowledge in this 'bloated, rotten carcass of an empire' because' this is a time of war and wrath' just seems like a pointless inclusion of something that runs completely contrary to what the character in question would actually think...

You're right, it doesn't make sense, but according to the plot summary, gods and major greater daemons have all been playing with RG, distorting his thoughts and perceptions, so in my view him having such a cognitive dissonance actually fits the story pretty well.

Ah so it's a Tzeetchian Just-As-Planned game to destroy the Imperium in the long run by stagnating growth and development even more than it already has been?

Now that I like

I do get the idea that it's a dropping of pretenses. That makes sense too, even if it is catastrophically stupid (in war, technological development is more important than at any other time. How would the world be different if the US had stopped technological development during WW2 and the Soviets made an atom bomb first? If ol' Guilliman was the tactician he's made out to be he'd recognise the need for an educated efficient workforce.

Ultramar Citizen 1: Sweet merciful Primarch that's a daemon that's manifested there! How do we get rid of it?

Ultramar Citizen 2: I remember reading a book once that had a list of banishing rituals from the Age of Strife. Lets read that.

UC 1: Isn't the library shut now?

UC 2:...oh bother (or words to that effect)...

 Jambles wrote:
This is an amazing write-up, I just finished your version of the trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed them. Feels good to be caught up with all the new stuff that's happening, so crazy...

Mudrat wrote:

I genuinely think they're pairing off Celestine and Greyfax at this point. Which I support 100%, the only question is what portmanteau to use...Celefax? GreyStine? Celerinya? Katastine? so many choices!

Out of those, I vote for Katastine.

I'm for Celefax.

Celefax sounds like a Device from the 90s

Im for GreyStine (which sounds like Shampoo)

To be honest, it doesnt really go together

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

 LunarSol wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Lord Flasheart wrote:

d) more clearly defines the factions in the 40K 'verse - along the lines of Good Guys, Neutral Guys, Evil Guys and Universal Baddies ('Nids)

You lost me here.

This is anathema to the grittyness of the 40k universe (which is one of its most appealing qualities). Start dividing people into 'good' and 'evil' and you get the same boring tired fantasy trope of 'men vs orks' or 'men vs daemons' or any other of the countless facsimilies without any depth beyond 'these guys are evil cos they're evil m'kay...'.

At some point you have to acknowledge that the widespread collapse of safety and living standards and a total lack of prosperity might mean that someone MIGHT be a little evil...

True, although i find it tends to make for rather 2-dimensional unrealistic characters.

'They do evil things because they're evil people who just like doing evil things' is a bit boring.

'They do evil things because they believe that the evil they're doing is both right, justified and necessary' makes for a much more nuanced character.

Plus, it's more realistic. At the risk of invoking Godwin's law, Hitler (one of the most evil men of our time, although not quite as bad as Stalin...) did what he did because he genuinely believed it was for the benefit of the German people who had lived through terrible hardship after WW1.

Now, i get that you get psychopaths who do horrible things just for the fun of it, but to be honest in the history of people doing horrible horrible things to each other they're in a massive minority. The vast majority of atrocities are carried out by normal people who think they're doing the right thing.

Moral relativism tends to go out the window when your story literally incorporates daemons from beyond time and space that personify treachery, blood, disease and indulgence or mindless drone monsters that want to devour all life. Kairos isn't gonna go date a nice girl and tuck children in at night to humanize himself and the Tyranids aren't going to develop literature to explain a philosophy for their civilization.

Unless you're just referring to CSM rather than Chaos as a whole, in which case carry on. We can have that kind of nuance among IoM, Eldar, CSM and Tau stuff. Chaos, Orks and Tyranids are a little past that by inherent design though.

Oh yeah I was absolutely meaning CSM rather than Chaos itself Chaos I'm completely on board with being so lovecraftian in their motivations that they don't even register on our moral compass.

Oddly, of all the named daemons, I definitely think Kairos is the most plausible for the whole 'dating Nancy from down the street' scenario. Sounds like a Just As Planned scheme

Personally, I like Greyestine. I would say Celefax, but yeah it sounds like some sort of fax machine

Very nice review Goonbandito, thanks for making these!

This thing about closing the library... The reason given is stupid, and reeks of an attempt to sound grim, dramatic and tough without thinking things through. BUT, it could be justified given that the Consul of Macragge turned out to be a Slaanesh cultist. Is that given as a reason at all? That they need to purge the government and make sure the library won't be misused before opening it? Because that might make sense, because Tzeentch.

Also, I vote for Greystine

Do we know what the library actually contains? It's been shut to visitors but that doesn't mean it's not being used.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Lord Flasheart wrote:

d) more clearly defines the factions in the 40K 'verse - along the lines of Good Guys, Neutral Guys, Evil Guys and Universal Baddies ('Nids)

You lost me here.

This is anathema to the grittyness of the 40k universe (which is one of its most appealing qualities). Start dividing people into 'good' and 'evil' and you get the same boring tired fantasy trope of 'men vs orks' or 'men vs daemons' or any other of the countless facsimilies without any depth beyond 'these guys are evil cos they're evil m'kay...'.

Nah, that's an AoS reference. I didn't say I thought that was a good thing, but it wouldn't surprise me if GW take this as an opportunity to put various races into more easily marketed boxes.

Ah gotcha, I wouldn't be overly surprised either. They are a business after all, and the whole grittyness will be kept alive by the people who like it (which I tend to view as a bit of a 'graduation' from thinking about things in clear-cut black and white).

So I suppose they might, but it probably won't change a great deal

I'm imagining Cypher's reaction to Guilliman betraying him going something like this:

Cypher: "You're chucking me in a cell?"
Guilliman: "Yes."
Cypher: "... Do you know who I am?"
Guilliman: "Yes."
Cypher: "Well, alright then. If you insist..."
Guilliman: "Is there a breeze in here? There appears to be a draft between my ears."

Thanks for the synopsis!

More like:

Cypher: 'Do you know who I am?'
Guilliman: 'You're some upstart Dark Angel that these people don't like, but other than that no I don't know who you are'
Cypher: 'Ah, that explains it then. Do carry on...'

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Hitler (one of the most evil men of our time, although not quite as bad as Stalin...) did what he did because he genuinely believed it was for the benefit of the German people who had lived through terrible hardship after WW1.

Stalin had a higher kill count, but I'd say Hitler's intentions made him more evil.

General Mao outclassed both those two in terms of kills...

What does this have to do with Reboot Goatman again?

Very true on the Mao front.

Doesn't count. Mao had more people to begin with.

He also did it over a long period of time. If you want to talk about murderous dictators, you should think about percentages. Pol Pot killed 25% of the population in 4 years.

 Exergy wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Hitler (one of the most evil men of our time, although not quite as bad as Stalin...) did what he did because he genuinely believed it was for the benefit of the German people who had lived through terrible hardship after WW1.

Stalin had a higher kill count, but I'd say Hitler's intentions made him more evil.

General Mao outclassed both those two in terms of kills...

What does this have to do with Reboot Goatman again?

Very true on the Mao front.

Doesn't count. Mao had more people to begin with.

He also did it over a long period of time. If you want to talk about murderous dictators, you should think about percentages. Pol Pot killed 25% of the population in 4 years.

Amateurs! All of them! President Francisco Solano López of Paraguay managed to lose over 60% of Paraguay's entire population during the six years of the War of the Triple Alliance!

 commander dante wrote:

 Jambles wrote:
This is an amazing write-up, I just finished your version of the trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed them. Feels good to be caught up with all the new stuff that's happening, so crazy...

Mudrat wrote:

I genuinely think they're pairing off Celestine and Greyfax at this point. Which I support 100%, the only question is what portmanteau to use...Celefax? GreyStine? Celerinya? Katastine? so many choices!

Out of those, I vote for Katastine.

I'm for Celefax.

Celefax sounds like a Device from the 90s

Im for GreyStine (which sounds like Shampoo)

To be honest, it doesnt really go together

Ask your doctor if Celefax is right for you.

Been in a car accident? Call Greystine and associates now...

 Ynneadwraith wrote:
More like:

Cypher: 'Do you know who I am?'
Guilliman: 'You're some upstart Dark Angel that these people don't like, but other than that no I don't know who you are'
Cypher: 'Ah, that explains it then. Do carry on...'

Or even:

Cypher: 'Do you know who I am?'
Guilliman: 'You're carrying around my brother's sword as a big FU to me and my lost brothers, so it doesn't really matter if I know who you are.'
Cypher: 'Ah, right. I'll just go over here then?'

Thanks for the all the summaries, GoonBandito. It's always a joy to read.

I think this whole Gathering Storm thing is a bad idea, but I'm somewhat intrigued to see where it'll lead us, since we're stuck with it anyway.

Not enough to buy it though, so please do keep up the great work.

 ChazSexington wrote:

 Exergy wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

 Tactical_Spam wrote:

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

Hitler (one of the most evil men of our time, although not quite as bad as Stalin...) did what he did because he genuinely believed it was for the benefit of the German people who had lived through terrible hardship after WW1.

Stalin had a higher kill count, but I'd say Hitler's intentions made him more evil.

General Mao outclassed both those two in terms of kills...

What does this have to do with Reboot Goatman again?

Very true on the Mao front.

Doesn't count. Mao had more people to begin with.

He also did it over a long period of time. If you want to talk about murderous dictators, you should think about percentages. Pol Pot killed 25% of the population in 4 years.

Amateurs! All of them! President Francisco Solano López of Paraguay managed to lose over 60% of Paraguay's entire population during the six years of the War of the Triple Alliance!

Ah so it's atrocity density as a percentage over time that we're using as a yardstick?

Also, 60%! Good Lord there have been some horrible people out there.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

 ChazSexington wrote:


Amateurs! All of them! President Francisco Solano López of Paraguay managed to lose over 60% of Paraguay's entire population during the six years of the War of the Triple Alliance!

Ah so it's atrocity density as a percentage over time that we're using as a yardstick?

Also, 60%! Good Lord there have been some horrible people out there.

I think so - and Paraguay did pick a fight with Uruguay, Argentina, and the Empire of Brazil at once and then refused to surrender. I don't know if that affects the high score.

Lord Flasheart wrote:


Or even:

Cypher: 'Do you know who I am?'
Guilliman: 'You're carrying around my brother's sword as a big FU to me and my lost brothers, so it doesn't really matter if I know who you are.'
Cypher: 'Ah, right. I'll just go over here then?'

Wait, wait, did we find out what Cypher's sword is?

Spoil me!

Yes, Guilliman looks at it and recognizes it as the Lion's sword and thinks to himself that he will not let that blade near his father which is implied as the reason he has Cypher arrested, not because Cypher is a wanted man. I'm not sure if that points to the fact the Lion's blade has some strange power or not that could threaten the Emperor, but sure sounds like it

Does it say what he does with the sword then? I'm guessing they don't just chuck Cypher in a cell with it

no it doesn't. the exact wordings regarding the sword however are ".. Gulliman had expected this moment (Cypher not being given access to the emperor), and had planned for it accordingly. The Hooded Dark Angel had held up his end of the bargin, granting Gulliman and his men freedom on the blackstone fortress. Yet the Primarch was not fool eneugh to trust blindly. He may not have reckongized Cypher, but he knew the blade on the Dark Angels back. The sight of it made him shudder with dread. He would not permit such a thing into his father's presence. Stepping aside Gulliman commanded the Custodian Guards to apprehend Cypher.."

so it wasn't the IoM deciding to arrest cypher and Gulliman letting it happen. Cypher was arrested ON GULLIMAN'S ORDERS. presumably Cypher snags the sword when he escapes.


One thing I noted BTW that no one else has said yet is that Gulliman has ressurected the 500 worlds of Ultramar. declaring the releasing of them post heresy "null and void" which means, as of right now the Ultramarines are lead by a primarch, and posess a feifdom of something like 500 worlds.

BrianDavion wrote:
no it doesn't. the exact wordings regarding the sword however are ".. Gulliman had expected this moment (Cypher not being given access to the emperor), and had planned for it accordingly. The Hooded Dark Angel had held up his end of the bargin, granting Gulliman and his men freedom on the blackstone fortress. Yet the Primarch was not fool eneugh to trust blindly. He may not have reckongized Cypher, but he knew the blade on the Dark Angels back. The sight of it made him shudder with dread. He would not permit such a thing into his father's presence. Stepping aside Gulliman commanded the Custodian Guards to apprehend Cypher.."

so it wasn't the IoM deciding to arrest cypher and Gulliman letting it happen. Cypher was arrested ON GULLIMAN'S ORDERS. presumably Cypher snags the sword when he escapes.


One thing I noted BTW that no one else has said yet is that Gulliman has ressurected the 500 worlds of Ultramar. declaring the releasing of them post heresy "null and void" which means, as of right now the Ultramarines are lead by a primarch, and posess a feifdom of something like 500 worlds.

>inb4 Guilliman declares the Codex Astartes void, gathering up 60-70% of the chapters, creating Imperium Tertium.

 ChazSexington wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
no it doesn't. the exact wordings regarding the sword however are ".. Gulliman had expected this moment (Cypher not being given access to the emperor), and had planned for it accordingly. The Hooded Dark Angel had held up his end of the bargin, granting Gulliman and his men freedom on the blackstone fortress. Yet the Primarch was not fool eneugh to trust blindly. He may not have reckongized Cypher, but he knew the blade on the Dark Angels back. The sight of it made him shudder with dread. He would not permit such a thing into his father's presence. Stepping aside Gulliman commanded the Custodian Guards to apprehend Cypher.."

so it wasn't the IoM deciding to arrest cypher and Gulliman letting it happen. Cypher was arrested ON GULLIMAN'S ORDERS. presumably Cypher snags the sword when he escapes.


One thing I noted BTW that no one else has said yet is that Gulliman has ressurected the 500 worlds of Ultramar. declaring the releasing of them post heresy "null and void" which means, as of right now the Ultramarines are lead by a primarch, and posess a feifdom of something like 500 worlds.

>inb4 Guilliman declares the Codex Astartes void, gathering up 60-70% of the chapters, creating Imperium Tertium.

a number of astartes chapters have already pleged fealty to him. mostly progenator chapters, but it sounds like all the first founding chapters sent at the very least a TOKEN force to see whats up and fell into service with him when they confirmed the "miracle" of his rebirth (and yes the Imperium considers it a miracle. which technicly it is, just not of the God emperor)

noted groups that have sent detachments to him, the book describes as followed.

Many Ultramarine Progenator chapters (2nd founding) came to Macragge to see that he had returned and swore allegiance to him, these included (but where not limited to) the Novamarines, Sons of Orar, Genisis Chapter (I belive the mortifactors are also mentioned later on as some of them accompanying Gulliman to Terra)

they then mention others...

"Some like the Raven Guard and Dark Angels sent small delegations to detirmine the truth of this miracle." (the dark angels are later mentioned as helping in the battles for Macragge so presumably they sent eneugh troops to be relavant, so I'm gonna guess a demi-company to a battle company in size)

"Others came in hope and celebration, bands of Space Wolves, White Scars, black templars and others hastening to his side"

"Others too came to Ultramar upon the insistance of their seers, astropaths, soothsayers and Lords. Battleships of the Imperial Navy, regal Barons of Imperial aligned Knight worlds, fleets of warships from the adeptus mechanis and their titan legions..."

the Picture it paints is a pretty clear one, that Gulliman is attracting support from pretty much the entire IoM.

You know who aint mentioned there. The BA. Theyre all going home. Yes even the naughty ones.
Theyre trying to pull off a defence of Macragge without the asset's Robit had, and cant scream to the warp that the nids are coming.
It wouldnt surprise me if Guilliman, Only turns up to Baal, Saves the day when theyre fighting around Sangys coffin. He wakes up and sucks the Ultras dry.

stewe128 wrote:
So if this ends in a cliffhanger, I'm betting money next month is a another book "Death of the Emperor" or something like that where Cypher gasses the Emperor madness breaks loose and Abaddon brings in his boy Morty to kill everyone then BOOM 8th comes out and a wave of new updates and models for EVERYTHING.

Things are going as I predicted.... Possibly?

I feel like I'm missing something? Why the hell did Guilliman throw Cypher into prison because he had the Lion's sword? Did Guilliman have a grudge against the Lion?

If there are no real answers for this then I think GW did a terrible job writing this book.

aamendez wrote:
I feel like I'm missing something? Why the hell did Guilliman throw Cypher into prison because he had the Lion's sword? Did Guilliman have a grudge against the Lion?

If there are no real answers for this then I think GW did a terrible job writing this book.

Random duder rocks up into a Chaos stronghold where you are imprisoned, Offers to let you out... But only if you take him to the most powerful human in the galaxy, while carry a sword that is potentially one of the very few weapons that can actually kill the Emperor.

Yeah I wouldn't help but be a tad suspect