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Chapter 303: In Commorragh, the Protoss Are the True Strategic Weapon
🕑 Added 2025-09-17 11:06:57 +0000 UTCChapter 303: In Commorragh, the Protoss Are the True Strategic Weapon
As he was assembling his troops and preparing to retreat, Vect had no idea that his position had already been exposed.
At that moment, a cloaked Norris was observing every move of the Kabal of the Black Heart from a nearby ruin. By tracking the retreat paths of the routing Kabals and combining it with the intelligence provided by Abathur, Norris had successfully located Vect's main camp. Although he didn't know what Vect looked like, seeing the reverence of the other Dark Eldar nobles and the behavior of the Kabal of the Black Heart, Norris felt he could already confirm his target.
Compared to the Norris of a few years ago, the immaturity on his face had been completely replaced by hardened resolve. In the past few years, countless heretics and renegades had died at his hands. Cultists, xenos, psykers, and even daemonhosts summoned by sacrificial rituals had all been eliminated by him and his Ghosts. The seemingly stable and rapidly developing Dynasty still had a dark undercurrent. The corruption and seduction of Chaos were a constant, ever-present threat.
Although the Dynasty's system prevented large-scale conversions to Chaos, the corruption of some individuals was insidious. The corrupted person often couldn't even detect it themselves. And with such a large population, every kind of person could appear: psychopaths, power-seekers, and even those who sought to use the power of Chaos to advance their careers within the Mongorte Dynasty. The Ghosts were responsible for accepting missions to secretly eliminate these destabilizing elements.
Lucan had also provided his most outstanding Ghosts with further enhancements. Empowered by the Divinity Machine, their physical strength and their control over their psychic abilities had grown stronger and stronger. At this moment, Norris and several of his most elite Ghosts were within two or three hundred meters of Vect. As they channeled their psionic power to activate their combat suit's cloaking function, they kept their psychic signature suppressed to within a two-to-three-meter radius. Although the Dark Eldar do not use psychic powers, it is not because they cannot, but because they are unwilling. As a naturally psychic race, they still failed to detect the Ghosts who were right under their noses.
Norris used his tactical visor to take a pict-capture of Vect and sent it back to Lucan. As soon as he received permission from Lucan, they would act immediately.
"My Lord! The target is attempting to flee. The Ghosts request immediate action."
"Are you confident you can take him alive?" Lucan's voice came back. "To kill him permanently, I need to be nearby. Share the location with me immediately."
"The target's defensive force is too strong," Norris reported. "I can see that those Eldar are very powerful. However, I believe the Ghosts can accomplish this. My Lord, I request support from the Spear of Adun and the Zerg."
"Your request is granted! I have already ordered Karax and Abathur to coordinate with you. When the time is right, act immediately!"
"The Ghosts will not betray your trust!"
After receiving the location, Lucan immediately ordered Kerrigan to have the Swarm clear a path at maximum speed. He also sent the coordinates to Ferrus. If Norris failed, his main force could still kill Vect. However, when Artanis also prepared to move out, Lucan stopped him.
"Artanis, I have another mission for you to complete."
"Please speak, my Lord!"
"A large number of enemy warships are converging on this location. I believe that before we can complete the hunt for Vect, the Dark Eldar will have completed their encirclement of us. I need you to take the Protoss and inflict a heavy blow on them, and to open a path for our subsequent withdrawal. In Commorragh, perhaps your destructive power is the greatest of all!"
"A heavy blow... My Lord, the number of Protoss and our warships is, I feel, not suitable for this task. I believe Kerrigan's Zerg are more suited to this. In this terrain, the Protoss are better suited to accompany you on this decapitation strike." Artanis offered his own opinion.
"No... this mission can only be completed by you," Lucan insisted. "I need to borrow the psionic power of your Protoss to accomplish it! Are all the High Templar currently on the Spear of Adun?"
"That is correct. They are all still on the Spear of Adun and have not participated in this operation."
These beings, who could merge to form Archons, were an irreplaceable asset. Lucan saw them as a tool for a mutual-annihilation, "one-for-one" trade, and they were far too precious. They had been held back as a trump card and had not been easily committed to battle.
But Artanis still couldn't understand what Lucan wanted them to do.
"Have all the Protoss withdraw from the ground battle. I need these High Templar and Karax to channel all your psychic energy through the Pylon network and gather it together."
"Gather it? But what is the point of that? The total amount of psionic energy will be enormous, but we have no way to turn it into a weapon! Even a High Templar cannot guide such a vast amount of energy. Are you thinking of having them merge into Archons? But... I do not believe it is worth it! Their numbers are too few, and they cannot destroy such a large number of warships! Their individual power has not reached that level."
"Rest assured, Artanis," Lucan said. "I am not asking them to sacrifice themselves for nothing. These xenos are not worthy of such a price. The Dark Eldar's taboo against psychic power in Commorragh is not just because they fear attracting the attention of Slaanesh. You must understand that Commorragh is a fusion of countless Webway realms and sub-dimensions. This world, which seems to be a single entity, is not as complete or as stable as you might think. The entire structure of Commorragh is extremely unstable.
"If a sufficient amount of psychic energy is released instantaneously within Commorragh, it will trigger a special phenomenon in this dimension known as 'Disassociation.' This massive amount of psychic energy will exacerbate the instability of Commorragh's space. You can think of it as a world-destroying natural disaster... one that is sufficient to destroy these gathered Eldar warships.
"The psychic energy of the Zerg is too diffuse. I am worried it cannot reach the required total. However, this is also very dangerous. To prevent our own fleet from being affected, the Spear of Adun must move far away from our fleet's defensive line and deep into the Dark Eldar fleet. I will have the Zerg flying units cover you. But you must know that the moment they sense the psionic energy on the Spear of Adun, the Dark Eldar will abandon all other targets to stop you! You must hold on until the Disassociation phenomenon appears, and then immediately warp away!"
Hearing Lucan's explanation, although Artanis had no concept of this "Disassociation phenomenon," he still obeyed unconditionally. Never mind Artanis; even Lucan had no real concept of it. He was just trusting the descriptions he had once seen online. As for whether this would cause the Dark Eldar to unite against him out of shared hatred, that was not even part of his consideration. They had already completely torn face; there was no going back.
If this succeeded, the Dark Eldar would not be able to recover for who knows how many years.
Artanis accepted the mission and immediately recalled all Protoss forces from the battlefield via warp conduit. The Spear of Adun broke formation from Lucan's fleet and began to head toward the densest concentration of Dark Eldar warships. A massive swarm of Zerg flyers surrounded the arkship, providing cover.
