We have taken the important story beats from the ninth chapter of the March of the Machine story and highlighted them below. If you want to read the official story in its full form you can find it here. If you are looking to preorder March of the Machine you can do that at boarshatgaming.com.
Looking for our other chapter recaps? You can find them here:
Atraxa’s Downfall
New Capenna is still under attack by the Phyrexians. The Angels have re-awakened and are fighting back. They would normally never work with the demons of New Capenna, but the threat is too large to turn them away. While Atraxa sweeps through the city, the Riveteers are hard at work on their plan to take her down. Explosions set by them go off throughout the city and before Atraxa can realize what is happening she is taken out by a collapsing skyscraper.
To Theros!
With Atraxa’s death, the branches of Realmbreaker on New Capenna detach from the plane and begin to retract. As they do the Angels see a glimpse of Theros in the portals to other planes. Theros needs help badly. Without hesitation some of the Angels of New Cappena fly through the portal to help!
Giada Searches
The Realmbreaker portals on New Capenna continue to shift to different planes. Angels that came through the portal know that Theros isn’t the only plane that needs saving. They use the shifting portals to spread across the multiverse. Their job isn’t done until the multiverse is safe from the Phyrexian threat. When a portal shifts to New Phyrexia Giada sees her friend Elspeth going all out. While they know that going to New Phyrexia means certain death it is their duty to fight. So Giada and a squadron of angels charge through the portal to New Phyrexia to back up Elspeth and the others there.
Vorinclex Snarls
Teferi and the Zhalfirins commence their counter-attack on New Phyrexia. Koth and Chandra join them in the fight. Vorinclex charges Teferi but gets caught by his time magic and is put into slow motion. However, the battle is raging and Teferi’s concentration flickers for just a moment but it is enough for Vorinclex to break free. Angered by being momentarily slowed down he knocks Teferi from his mount and pins him to the ground! Before Vorinclex can finish him off though, a Zhalfirin soldier lunges from behind and decapitates Vorinclex!
Halo
Elspeth scolds Teferi for allowing himself to be distracted during the heat of battle. She then instructs him and his army to focus on holding off Jin-Gitaxias, Norn, and the main army. She isn’t sure how long they can hold, but needs time to deal with Nissa. Elspeth also explains that while the angels of New Cappena are with them their halo will make them immune to the Phyrexian oil!
Jin-Gitaxias Turns
Elesh Norn is under attack by the Zhalfirins and calls for her army to protect her. Jin-Gitaxias shows up and tells the Phyrexian army to not protect her! He no longer believes Elesh Norn can win and turns against her. In her desperation Elesh Norn calls back the badly wounded Ajani from Theros to defend her. The legion of Phyrexian soldiers descend on Norn and tear at her armor. Ajani tries to protect her but is unable to do so. Before the soldiers attack Ajani, Teferi orders them to take him alive. When they approach him, in his weakened state they are able to capture him in a net and drag him from the battle safely.
The Portal Falters
While Jin-Gitaxias is focused on taking down Elesh Norn, Teferi uses this chance to attack him. Jin-Gitaxias brings out his rumbling war machine to fend off the attack. The war machine has many whirling blades and arms attacking from all angles. In order to have a soldier sneak into its weaker interior Teferi uses his time magic to slow the machine down. Once they are in they smash it down with a powerful swing of their warhammer! However, a foul fluid leaks out from the machine and all over Teferi. The portal back to Zhalfir begins to falter and Teferi realizes they are out of time. He signals for everyone to retreat back to Zhalfir including the remaining Mirrans.
Acorn In The Ashes
The Zhalfirin army is mostly back through the portal and Teferi stands in front of Realmbreaker. He looks down and sees that there is barely any part of Wrenn’s body left, but in the ashes he sees an acorn. He picks it up and puts it in his pocket. Chandra refuses to give up on Nissa and opens her arms.
If you want to kill me, here I am. But I know you won’t.
Nissa
Elspeth lands from above and drives her sword through the back of Nissa’s head. Chandra catches Nissa as she falls to the ground.
New Body
Karn asks Teferi to buy him just a little bit more time. Teferi agrees to do what he can but either way the portal is going to close soon. Karn has unfinished business and wants to be able to walk out of New Phyrexia on his own two feet. He builds himself a new body, layer by layer. Elesh Norn is now a shell of her former self. She is crawling along the floor with no legs and no armor to protect what’s left of her.
Heavy
Karn feels the weight of the multiverse on his shoulders. As the one who created Mirrodin which became New Phyrexia, he is responsible for Elesh Norn’s invasion. He was negligent when he tracked Phyrexian oil onto Mirrodin. All he could do now is spend the rest of his existence atoning for the sins of his past. He used to think that there was a way to save Mirrodin. Now he knows that is not possible any more. Teferi cries out, as he struggles to keep the portal back to Zhalfir open. Karn promised a long time ago to never hurt a living being, but if Elesh Norn survives then so does the threat of her return to power. He can’t allow his mistake to continue to plague the multiverse. He could have asked someone else to finish her off, but that duty was now his to bear. Even killing Elesh Norn will not atone for everything but it will put an end to the current pain and destruction. Karn disintegrates what remains of Elesh Norn’s body before returning to Teferi’s side. They survey all of the carnage on New Phyrexia before finally turning and walking through the portal back to Zhalfir.
That ends chapter 9 of the March of the Machine story. Keep your eyes on our blog for the other chapters when they release.
