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Chapter 293: The Monster Fed on Profit
🕑 Added 2025-09-13 13:38:07 +0000 UTCChapter 293: The Monster Fed on Profit
On Agathos, Eldrad and Yvraine personally witnessed the gathering of the fleets. The number of ships did not astonish Eldrad; having lived for so long, he had seen many grand sights. The fleets of the ancient Eldar Empire and humanity's Golden Age were countless times larger than the one Lucan had assembled.
What filled Eldrad with a sense of dread was the spirit radiating from Lucan's fanatical followers. They were no longer like the conservative and decadent human Imperium. Although faith still supported humanity, it also shackled them. Among Lucan's forces, that shackle was becoming increasingly thin.
Something else had taken its place: an extreme pursuit of profit.
They prayed less for the God-Emperor's protection and instead placed their trust in their own strength. An indescribable vitality and capacity for growth was on full display in these people. They seemed to fear nothing. This pioneering courage reminded Eldrad of the shadow of humanity's Golden Age.
"Eldrad... I feel as if we are witnessing the birth of a monster," Yvraine said heavily.
"I see it as well. But this is a monster driven by profit," Eldrad replied. "This human, Lucan, uses countless benefits and victories as nourishment for this monster's growth. But his actions are equally dangerous. Once he suffers a major defeat, or loses the support of those profits, this monster will die just as quickly as it rose. I find it hard to imagine how long he can maintain this. Does he truly have the confidence to keep winning forever? To always have enough profit to bind them to his war machine?!"
Eldrad's words voiced Yvraine's own thoughts. They were increasingly worried that one day Lucan might just decide to devour them as feed for his monster. But they both knew this monster would certainly not die anytime soon, so for the time being, they had nothing to worry about. No matter what the future held, their current task was to gain as many advantages as possible from this exchange of interests with Lucan.
Just as the two were conversing, a soldier entered their quarters and relayed Lucan's summons. When they arrived on the bridge and saw Lucan's back, they both couldn't help but feel a shiver.
"Eldrad, Yvraine, after we enter Commorragh, I will need you to provide my forces with the city's key strategic locations. Remember to alert your compatriots in my fleet; we need to open all the Webway portals simultaneously."
Eldrad nodded. Commorragh was not a traditional planet but a singular, strange dimension. It had not always been this large; it had only grown to its current, seemingly endless state by swallowing other Eldar cities and independent Webway realms. This fusion of countless spaces made it unstable, and the locations of some structures were not entirely fixed. But Eldrad, who had also lived since the time of the ancient Eldar Empire, knew some of the ways to crack its secrets. The construction of Commorragh had, after all, utilized a vast amount of technology from that ancient empire.
As the various fleets approached the large Webway nodes, they inevitably began to encounter Dark Eldar fleets that were also using the Webway to traverse the galaxy. These major entrances that Eldrad knew of were mostly public or semi-public portals, and the traffic of Dark Eldar warships was not insignificant. When the Dark Eldar saw these non-Eldar fleets in the Webway, they couldn't react for a moment.
How did these fleets get into the Webway?! If they were other xenos races coming to trade, where were their Dark Eldar escorts?
The gleaming golden Aquilas on the hulls of the Blood Ravens and Iron Hands warships, as well as their unique Chapter insignia, made the Dark Eldar realize: the Mon-keigh had somehow found a way into the Webway.
In that moment of hesitation, countless Imperial cannons drowned them in fire. The Dark Eldar, believing themselves safe in the Webway, hadn't even bothered to raise their holo-fields. Their ships, which relied on speed rather than armor, were fragile, and most were destroyed in the first salvo. The few fleeing ships were ignored. They were already at the entrance, and the invasion was about to begin. The survivors wouldn't have time to send back a warning.
As reports came in from each fleet that they had encountered Dark Eldar warships, Lucan knew he could wait no longer. One by one, the "in position" confirmations arrived.
Lucan sat down on his captain's throne. Hearing the reports of readiness from every deck officer, his voice echoed through every warship in the armada.
"All fleets, prepare! The Webway portals are about to open! They have abducted and tortured our countless kin, and today, we will return everything we have endured to these filthy Eldar xenos! They will feel the wrath of our vengeance!
"Kill every xenos you see! Take all the wealth you find! We will rescue our kin trapped in this den of daemons! For the Mongorte Dynasty! For Humanity! For the Imperium!"
When Lucan said the words "filthy Eldar xenos," the expressions on Eldrad's and Yvraine's faces visibly stiffened. Lucan truly wasn't bothering to censor himself around them.
Priests began to pray. Tech-priests began to activate machine-spirits. Countless macro-cannons began to load, and lances began to charge. Drop pods were readied, waves of Viking fighters were moved to the hangars, and all the Protoss prepared to warp in. A massive swarm of Zerg began to enter the spore-sacs within the Leviathans.
And Asdrubael Vect still had no idea what was about to happen.
Ferrus Manus also walked into a drop pod. Looking at the sons following behind him, he could see their fanaticism. They were getting to fight with their Primarch once again. And with the proliferation of nano-med guns throughout the Iron Hands, the degree of their cybernetic modification had reached a new level in the short time since Ferrus's return. Some of the new recruits were almost as modified as the sergeants of old.
As the Eldar operatives within each fleet began to activate the runes, the sealed Webway gates opened.
At the same instant, five giant Webway portals opened simultaneously. In Commorragh, the Dark Eldar responsible for guiding ships to the docking spires all lifted their heads to look at the sky.
"Eh? Why did all the Webway gates open at the same time? Have five Kabals returned fully laden at once? That's a rare sight. Maybe I can buy a decent slave for cheap this time."
But when the prow of the first warship emerged from the Webway, they were no longer smiling.
"Hu... Humans?! Quick! Sound the alarm!"
But before they could hit the alarm, a lance beam tore their platform apart.
Lucan's invasion had begun.
