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Chapter 265: The Rout of Chaos and the Urgency for Advancement
🕑 Added 2025-09-03 14:01:56 +0000 UTCChapter 265: The Rout of Chaos and the Urgency for Advancement
With the sheer size of the Swarm, a complete withdrawal in a short amount of time was clearly impossible. Kerrigan, however, employed a more direct solution. The Zerg that could not be evacuated were ordered to kill each other, allowing the Creep to absorb the biomass and store the energy. Without the guidance of Kerrigan's Hive Mind, the Zerg were nothing more than beasts following their primal combat instincts. In such a state, they would not differentiate between Chaos and ordinary humans. If the uncontrolled Zerg were to attack Imperial forces, they would be too easily identified as another Tyranid-level threat. The memory of the Tyranid scourge was a wound that still stung the Imperium.
On another front, Ferrus and his Purifiers were in a much better state. If other psionically-linked beings were like devices with a charging cable plugged directly into the warp, then the Null-Field had simply cut that cable. But Ferrus and the Purifiers were more akin to machines running on internal batteries. Furthermore, the Purifiers were not driven solely by psionic energy; the power provided by their Solar Cores was the key. Having been fully charged by the Spear of Adun, they were able to retain their combat effectiveness within the Null-Field.
Lucan had not expected the Null-Field to have such a devastating effect on the Protoss and Zerg from StarCraft. He had originally assumed that his own Warp Projection was fundamentally different from the conventional warp. It seemed that while some things could manifest with their in-game properties in this universe, they still had to obey its most fundamental laws.
The Null-Field's suppression of Chaos was obvious, but it also gave Lucan a sense of crisis. As he grew stronger, he would inevitably come into contact and conflict with the galaxy's former masters. The Necrons, who viewed the galaxy as their personal garden, would never stand by and watch humanity become its new rulers. The Necrons currently active were only a small fraction of their total strength; countless dynasties still slumbered, and the Silent King, Szarekh, had now returned to the galaxy.
What Lucan wanted was controllable Blackstone technology in his own hands, allowing him to selectively activate the pylons to contain Chaos. A Null-Field controlled and manufactured by the Necrons would not consider humanity's situation. An endless, galaxy-spanning Null-Field would be fatal to Chaos, but it would be just as deadly to humanity. Ordinary humans would be reduced to soulless, mindless zombies under its influence, their souls scoured away to nothing.
The existence of such a field would also severely weaken the Protoss and Zerg, depriving Lucan of his two greatest assets in a confrontation with the Necrons. Humanity itself would have to become the main force in a war against them. And while the Terran technology from StarCraft had strengthened the Imperium's foundational combat power, it offered little help against the Necrons' most advanced and esoteric weapons, save for the warp drive.
If a full-scale war with the Necrons were to break out, Lucan felt that even with his "system," his chances of victory were almost nil. The Necrons possessed far too many weapons of mass destruction. The Adeptus Mechanicus may have secretly hoarded some powerful ancient weapons, but many were single-use. The Necrons' arsenal, however, was endlessly reusable.
Lucan knew that Trazyn was an anomaly. Even among the Necrons, few liked him. Cooperation with the majority of the Necrons was impossible; they viewed humanity as nothing more than experimental subjects in their quest to regain their flesh. To fight them, humanity's current technology had to be advanced even further.
Lucan's need for the third game program was becoming increasingly urgent. He calculated that by the time the dust settled on Cadia, he would be close to meeting the requirements to load it.
Opening his comms, Lucan contacted Guilliman and Ferrus. The daemonic threat had vanished, but Abaddon, his Chaos Astartes, and a vast number of mortal traitors were still active on Cadia. Even without the blessings of the Dark Gods, these renegades would not consider surrender. Those who could retreat would, and those who couldn't would fight to the death. They knew all too well the Imperium's zero-tolerance policy towards Chaos. To be captured meant torture and judgment; a swift death in battle was a far better fate.
Lucan rallied Guilliman and Ferrus, directing them towards Kasr Kraf. Without the aid of the Zerg and the Colossi, the fortress no longer had sufficient forces to hold back the traitors.
In the void, Eldrad and Yvraine felt the spread of the Null-Field. The Ynnari were also affected; its impact on the Eldar was no less severe than on the forces of Chaos.
Enduring the discomfort in his soul, Eldrad looked out into the void. The warp storm, under the influence of the Null-Field, was beginning to weaken and subside. A massive number of warp-jump signatures began to appear all around them, an enormous fleet by any measure.
"Yvraine, it is time for us to leave," Eldrad said. "This is no longer a suitable time to negotiate with that human. The storm in the Empyrean is calming, and humanity's reinforcements are rushing to get here. There is no guarantee they will not see us as enemies.
"He has stepped onto the main stage; we will have other opportunities in the future. We have achieved our goal of expressing our goodwill. I believe we will have more chances to cooperate. They will need the help of the Ynnari, and we will need theirs. I sensed the phenomena in the warp from Khorne's domain. This human is more terrifying than we imagined. He even has the power to directly threaten the Chaos Gods themselves... it's almost unbelievable. Order the fleet to enter the Webway immediately! Let us hope our choice was the correct one."
A deep melancholy settled on Eldrad's face. Cooperation was always built on a foundation of comparable strength. In this new situation, would they become true vassals? Under Yvraine's command, the Eldar fleet began to disengage from the Cadian system.
A few minutes later, a battleship was the first to emerge from the warp. On its bridge stood Captain-General Trajann Valoris. Having left the Imperial Palace, he was now personally leading the Adeptus Custodes to Cadia. The moment he had sensed the warp storm weakening, he had immediately ordered the fleet to make an emergency jump to the system. Hundreds of Custodians and Sisters of Silence stood behind him.
The Chaos fleet before them was still vast. But the Imperium had also gathered an immense armada. The Imperial Navy, the Adeptus Mechanicus, and dozens of Astartes Chapters that had come to provide aid emerged from the warp one by one.
When the last of the warships had arrived, the number of Imperial vessels in the Cadian system now exceeded that of the Chaos fleet.
After establishing communications with Cadia and learning that the ground war had stabilized, Trajann gave the order to attack the Chaos warships.
The arrival of the Imperial fleet was the final blow that shattered the Black Legion Abaddon had gathered. The defeat of the Daemon Primarchs had already been a devastating blow to Chaos morale. The sight of Magnus fleeing aboard the Tizca's Revenge was the last straw. The various warbands, already weakened by the Null-Field, began to ignore the Black Legion's commands. Any Chaos Lord or warband leader with a shred of sense knew that the battle was lost.
