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Chapter 163: I'm All In!
🕑 Added 2025-09-21 13:20:18 +0000 UTCChapter 163: I'm All In!
After a brief period of battle plan formulation, the crusade fleet was ready to depart.
In addition to the original formations composed of the various factions, 5 battleships of different classes, 26 cruisers, a number of escort fleets, and 10 regiments of Skitarii were supplemented into the crusade fleet.
The brief pre-battle preparations were complete. With the roar of the Emperor-class battleship Dawnlight, the massive fleet quickly set sail, beginning to cross the storm-tossed expanse along the glorious path opened in the Warp.
Bork'an System, Mandeville Point.
About four days later, with a ripple at the edge of the star system, a massive purple vortex bloomed in the void like a wound.
The crusade fleet tore through the veil of reality, its iron prows the first to break through the dimensional barrier, its massive hulls gleaming with a cold metallic luster under the starlight.
Beneath the bridge's dome, a holographic projection cast a faint blue light in the air. The crew moved between the cogitator arrays, carrying out a series of post-Warp-transit refit procedures.
Romulus's long fingers slid quickly across the holographic panel, carefully sorting through the fleet's operational status.
Suddenly, the Dawnlight's sensor matrix let out a sharp screech, like a raptor that had spotted its prey. The mechanical hum of the sensor arrays rotating was clearly audible on the bridge.
The on-board auspex of an Emperor-class battleship was powerful, to the point where a considerable portion of its mass was devoted to enhancing this function. From the moment it had entered this star system, she had already locked onto her enemies.
"According to Imperial standards, this sector has 12 cruisers, 400-500 raider-class vessels, and 5 xenos orbital defense fortresses. Preliminary judgment is a planetary defense fleet," Captain Aurora quickly confirmed the target's identity. Her sharp gaze swept across the tactical screen, and then the ships of the T'au Empire were quickly projected onto the tactical display.
The holographic projection around the display marked the enemy fleet's position with crimson dots, which were particularly striking in the dim light of the bridge.
The commanders, looking at a fleet of this scale, couldn't help but show a smile of confidence. A safe and sound Warp-journey was undoubtedly worth celebrating. It could give the members an unprecedented confidence.
"Sound the battle alarm. Seize the flanks," Romulus commanded without hesitation, his fingertips sliding quickly across the holographic tactical display, adjusting the fleet's formation. Ramesses's psychic prophecies flowed into the system like a gentle stream, bringing news of omens.
The T'au Empire's reaction was equally swift.
The crusade fleet had just left the Mandeville Point by a distance of 13 VUs when the patrol fleets that had been scattered throughout the star system, like a disturbed swarm of bees, quickly gathered towards the central star-fortress. The communication network of this xenos race was efficient and precise. The trajectory of each warship was accurately calculated, forming a tight defensive net.
The technological level of the T'au Empire was not bad—or rather, in this period, having only been in contact with humanity for a few decades, they were on the cusp of their first technological breakthrough. Although they were still nascent in terms of fleet scale, their ships' firepower was not to be underestimated.
Born from an excellent technological development path, and a considerable amount of luck, the T'au Empire's development in fields such as energy and artificial intelligence was not far behind the mainstream powers of the universe. Whether it was the super-heavy ion cannons, whose power even surpassed that of a lance, or the torpedoes that could carry out precise, dense strikes with the aid of AI, all gave their ships a considerable advantage in long-range fire projection.
VMMM—
The super-heavy particle cannon arrays on the surface of the star-fortress glowed with a faint blue light, the energy accumulating in the barrels, emitting a low hum.
Then, countless azure torrents, under the precise calculation of the AI system, locked onto every enemy warship, evenly projecting a devastating firepower.
At the same time, the missile bays opened. A dense barrage of missiles roared out, nimbly evading the interception of the point-defense cannons under the control of the AI, and扑向 the crusade fleet like a swarm of bees.
In the face of such an attack, the crusade fleet's approach was—to ignore it.
Yes, ignore it.
What was there to be afraid of? A battleship-class on-board void shield... with the T'au's current firepower, which was not the super-enhanced version from a few hundred years later, besides sending some new real-space local products to the daemons of the Warp, what else could you expect it to do?
The current T'au Empire had not yet fully understood the operating principles of the void shield. Their weapon systems were still primarily based on super-high-velocity kinetic strikes. Those torpedoes, precisely controlled by AI, were less like traditional torpedoes and more like smart missiles. The moment these weapons made contact with the void shield, they only created a fleeting ripple on the energy barrier before being completely annihilated.
The large cruisers, equipped with thick void shields, were like mobile fortresses, steadily withstanding the dense fire on the periphery.
As the distance continued to close, the Imperial fleet finally bared its fangs.
The fully engaged propulsion systems suddenly pulled the slowly advancing fleet's speed up a notch.
The gunners' fingers hovered over the firing levers of the command console. The tactical officers stared intently at the constantly jumping distance readings. When the value broke the critical point—
"Fire!"
The T'au ships clearly had not expected the Imperial fleet to possess such astonishing acceleration capabilities. By the time they wanted to pull away, the crusade fleet had already plunged into their midst.
The roar of the macro-cannons vibrated silently in the vacuum. Although the physical projectiles were affected by the deflection of the gravity shields, at such a close distance, the shells, whose landing points had been altered, still viciously tore through the fragile armor of the T'au ships.
The fireworks of death bloomed one after another in the vacuum. The operators of the Air Caste struggled in vain on their bridges, their limbs twisting and convulsing in the depressurized environment, and finally turning into frozen sculptures.
When the main fleet passed leisurely through the debris field of the planetary defense fleet, only a few insignificant scratches were left on the magnificent armor of the outer cruisers, gleaming faintly with a metallic luster under the starlight.
Such a tragic outcome threw the T'au fleet into a brief chaos. The originally orderly formation showed a clear commotion, and a few surviving warships began to turn uncoordinatedly.
The star-fortress in the orbital defense system was still trying to regroup the remnant forces, but the operators found in horror that their control terminals were full of jumping garbled code, their fingers tapping in vain on the control panels.
The system had been hacked.
This was a common electronic interference method used by the Eldar, which could be considered the Eldar version of Chaos scrap-code. For the T'au's still-developing low-level AI, this malice from an ancient race was nothing short of a dimensional-reduction strike.
"I told you so. The T'au are just soulless, not Blanks. Of course their equipment can be affected by psychic powers." Romulus received the psychic interference result from Ramesses and showed a smile, his fingers tapping on the tactical panel to confirm.
He then looked up, his gaze sweeping over the busy officers on the bridge, his voice quickly spreading through the communication channel, "This is the Dawnlight. We are now conducting a boarding operation on the xenos star-fortress for intelligence gathering."
The goal of the fleet on this trip was very clear: to seize the Slipstream Module technology and to obtain a complete star-chart of the T'au's domain.
These two spoils of war, especially the former, would determine the subsequent strategy of the Dawnbreakers.
"Acknowledged, Lord Romulus."
Outside the viewport, the void shield was still faithfully fulfilling its duty, transferring all incoming fire to the Warp. Ripples spread across the energy barrier, as if an invisible sea were easily swallowing the destructive attacks. And on the other side of the Warp, countless daemons were bewildered by this sudden gift, and then let out an angry roar, but looked at the forbidden land in the Warp and cowered, helpless.
High Marshal Helbrecht responded quickly. His tall body was already standing at the ramp of a Stormbird, the Templar insignia on his power armor shining brightly in the golden light of the cabin.
He raised his power sword, his voice thundering through the communication channel, "Black Templars, depart!"
The champions and Chaplains of the various crusade fleets quickly poured into the Stormbirds.
In contrast, the other Chapters' boarding methods were more direct.
Tyberos stood on the deck of the Eternal Crusader, watching the Stormbirds being launched from the launch bay, turning into a stream of meteors and charging towards the enemy ship.
He turned his head and glanced at the Chief Librarian, who was still in a low voice conversation with the Eldar mentor, his vocalizer emitting a meaningful sound. "Te Kahurangi."
This Carcharodon Chapter Master was well aware of the intentions of the four ancient warriors. So since the beginning of the crusade, he had intentionally lowered the Chapter's presence, to allow these warriors from the ancient past to establish more connections with the Black Templars and other Chapters. After all, besides occasionally coming back for a meal and to take some things, the Sharks' understanding of the current state of the Imperium was also quite limited. Besides their powerful combat effectiveness, the help they could provide was indeed not much.
But this absolutely did not mean that he would pass up the opportunity to chop up xenos and heretics. The crusade fleet had a clear KPI. By killing a certain number of enemies, you could directly exchange for additional weapons and equipment from the Dawnbreakers.
Tyberos calculated that his brothers in the outer dark were still waiting for him to bring back gifts, and the Chapter's subsequent expansion plan also required a large amount of master-crafted equipment as support.
Who would complain about having too much good equipment?
"Almost there."
Te Kahurangi's breathing was slightly heavy, the psychic runes in his eyes flickering.
After repeatedly using his prophetic talent to confirm the safety of the spell, his constantly tense nerves relaxed slightly. The psychic glow that suddenly erupted from his eyes pierced the air like lightning.
In an instant, 39 Carcharodon warriors had disappeared from the deck and had then accurately and flawlessly appeared inside the star-fortress.
No warning, no error.
The Chief Librarian slowly looked around, and after confirming that not a single warrior had been stuck in a wall or had a teleportation misfire, his tense shoulders finally relaxed. The servo-system of his power armor let out a faint hiss of depressurization, as if it had also let out a sigh of relief.
"Monkey—Te Kahurangi, you should trust me a little more."
The voice that sounded in his mind was somewhat exasperated. The mental fluctuations of the Eldar Farseer apprentice were like those of a home tutor tutoring a stubborn student.
He had clearly given the perfect solution, but the other party had stubbornly insisted on using his own clumsy method to verify it three times.
"Hmm. I will try."
Te Kahurangi nodded noncommittally.
For him, these cunning Eldar were never to be trusted. If not for Lord Ramesses's serious explanation and guarantee, he would not have tried to conduct this teaching test.
However, the Eldar's understanding of the Warp did indeed have its merits. At the very least, in the past, they would not have dared to use psychic teleportation so recklessly. The support of the Eldar's Warp-sorcery could greatly improve the flexibility of their operations.
It was a bit of a pity that the Eldar's sorcery was difficult to popularize. An Astartes, after having his brain enhanced, could barely keep up with their neural reactions. And among the mortals, besides the biomancers, it would probably be extremely difficult for other human psykers to apply these spells in combat.
"I hope you really think so."
The Farseer apprentice felt a headache coming on. He felt that his teaching career was a bleak one.
Thanks to the efficient work of the Eldar, the Path system and cultural and technological data of this Craftworld Eldar had been quickly sorted and archived. Besides a few knowledgeable ones who were still busy, most of the Eldar were suddenly idle.
And Ramesses, who did not consider himself a daemon, after briefly pondering the remaining value of these Eldar, and after in-depth consultation with the Librarians of the various Chapters and the Eldar Farseer Hector, had innovatively equipped the human psykers with Eldar mentors.
After all, leaving aside their personality differences, these Farseers, who could still play with psychic powers under the gaze of Slaanesh, were indeed undisputed masters of the art.
Top-tier private tutors of the Warp, one-on-one master guidance.
As for the safety aspect?
Ramesses could still guarantee it. Not only was he personally monitoring it, but there was also a strategic-level deterrent force hanging around the periphery at all times. And the warning educational film was still playing on a loop in the next exhibition area—
Over in the park, the hungry Slaaneshi daemons, in order to squeeze the last bit of life-sustaining power from the souls of these Drukhari, were tormenting their dark cousins day after day. They had not managed to kill these Drukhari, and the variety of their methods had not yet been repeated.
And, for the Eldar, to be able to live in the Warp safe zone constructed by Ramesses was a dream-like benefit. There was no prying gaze of Slaanesh here. They could freely build their ideal home. As the teaching progress advanced, the mentors with outstanding performance could prioritize the expansion of their personal domains and obtain more customized living space.
Under these conditions, there was no reason to stir up trouble.
Although Ramesses had never understood the Eldar's way of thinking, he felt that these races should still have the instinct for self-preservation.
It was just teaching a class. It wasn't like he was asking them to sell their bodies. It shouldn't cost them their lives.
And the facts were indeed so.
In the special area of the Warp, the Farseer apprentice was nervously looking around. His psychic senses could clearly perceive the gradually rising psychic fluctuations of his kinsmen. Those emotions, whether anxious, resistant, or strained, were spreading like ripples in this space.
His fingers unconsciously stroked the crimson-gold figure on his robes. He let out a long breath, and a faint golden dust of psychic light escaped with his breath.
Lord of Exploration above, at least I'm still alive.
The moment this thought flashed through his mind, the Farseer apprentice couldn't help but smile bitterly.
The feeling of being a mentor to these monkeys—no, Astartes—was just like running on the edge of a wok. A slight misstep, and you would fall in.
Every time he was about to cast a psychic spell, the scrutinizing gazes of those giants seemed to be able to pierce his very soul. Even the slightest psychic fluctuation had to be repeatedly checked, and then maybe they wouldn't even follow your operation.
And if it was right, then that was fine. These Librarians' methods... they were all so wild, one after another. It made them, a race that specialized in the power of the Warp, feel afraid.
To use an ancient human metaphor, it was like a Chinese electrician watching an Indian electrician do the wiring. It was simply unbearable to watch.
And this was after they had been taught by the Lord of Exploration. He didn't even dare to think about how he would survive if he had to take on the online classes of those Librarians who couldn't even pass the enlightenment education.
The Farseer apprentice raised a hand and rubbed his throbbing temples. His beautiful face was twitching out of control. At this moment, he finally deeply understood the deep-seated distrust that humans had for other races.
He kind of wanted to quit.
The Farseer apprentice looked up at the starlight flowing on the dome of the Warp and suddenly felt that the contract of the Lord of Exploration was exceptionally merciful.
If the compatibility was really not good, then a peaceful termination of the contract was not out of the question. At most, it would be a few months of work for nothing. It was better than being killed by a suspicious student one day.
He then looked at his kinsmen around him, who were brainstorming and even eager to try. And this was with the Great Farseer having already selected a group of people to conduct research on Tyranid xenos psychic powers.
If he didn't do it, there were plenty of others who would.
He quickly adjusted his mentality. The Farseer apprentice gritted his teeth and, with a pounding heart, continued to guide.
For the rent, for more living space, I'm all in!
(End of Chapter)
