The first three novels of the series, First and Only, Ghostmaker, and Necropolis were collected, along with the short story "In Remembrance", into the omnibus The Founding, published by Black Library in 2007.

While en route to Menazoid Epsilon, Gaunt's subordinate, Major Rawne, is abducted by Patrician soldiers and brutally interrogated by Inquisitor Heldane, who is assisting General Dravere's plans.

In the midst of the fighting on Menazoid Epsilon, Fereyd rendezvous with Gaunt, who leads him to an underground bunker containing an incredible find from mankind's "Dark Age of Technology": an intact Standard Template Constructor, an automated factory capable of mass-producing "Men of Iron" (self-aware robots).

After blowing up the factory, Gaunt and his small entourage are confronted by Colonel Flense, who reveals that he is General Dercius's son, and was forced to change his name and restart his career from scratch after the family disgrace.

With Dravere dead, there is no record of his orders declaring the Ghosts renegades, and the Patricians are posthumously disgraced and permanently disbanded.

Gaunt confides that the same psychic who told him the truth about his father's death also predicted his dilemma, years later, on Menazoid Epsilon, and warned him that leaving the Men of Iron intact would lead to nothing but disaster.

In a review of First & Only in Black Gate, Sean Stiennon said "First and Only is primarily about infighting among the various regiments of the Guard, with the broader conflict against Chaos legions serving as the backdrop.

Each regiment of the Imperial guard calls a different world home, and so they have their own cultures, their own warrior traditions, their own combat doctrines under the broad umbrella of Imperium dogma.