Emperor's Bane

Chapter 965 A strange combination of circumstances
You...agree?

Yes: What's wrong?
[You agree to me opening a second front: even if it goes against what you call the interests of all humanity?]

I just think everyone should have a chance to be free and unrestrained at least once, shouldn't they?
Faced with the Spider Queen's silence and confusion, the Lord of Man displayed astonishing composure. When he revealed his signature perfect smile, even the control over the father and daughter as they walked in circles was unknowingly taken into the Emperor's palm.

Now, Morgan is following in his footsteps.

After all, the Spider Queen is currently deep in a brainstorming session, and her perception and control over the outside world are rapidly declining.

This is a recurring problem for Morgan: although the Lord of Avalon appears to be a perfect being without any flaws in personality or ability, her performance in various aspects and fields still varies. In some areas, she is indeed superior to all Primarchs and even the Emperors, while in other minor areas, the Spider Queen barely manages to pass the mark.

Rather than saying she is "perfect," it's more accurate to say she simply doesn't have any fatal flaws.

However, drawbacks still exist.

From the moment she gained self-awareness, Morgan was plagued by a persistent flaw: her relatively poor ability to react in the face of unexpected black swan events.

Compared to Johnson or Leman Ruth, Morgan considered herself more like Guilliman. She preferred to list out all the possibilities in detail before setting off and then complete her tasks in a conventional manner. However, this did not seem to prevent her from encountering one or two unexpected situations in every major event.

Of course, this is not to say that Morgan's ability to react on the spot is terrible. On the contrary, her record of offering advice on the spot and quickly mediating conflicts between her brothers shows that the Spider Queen's ability to react on the spot is among the best even among all Primarchs: she simply doesn't like and is relatively bad at this kind of thing.

Unfortunately, as mentioned before, no matter how careful Morgan was, she always encountered a few unexpected situations during each major event.

Even more unfortunately, the root cause of the vast majority of these unexpected situations is always the person in front of you.

This time is no exception.

The only difference is that this unexpected situation at the Emperor seems to be in Morgan's favor.

At least he was willing to let the Primarch rescue his offspring.

This was already an unexpected concession: despite how arrogant the Spider Queen's tone was just now, both she and the Emperor knew very well that Morgan would not compare the outcome of the entire battle with the life of a mere Dawnbreaker warrior.

One of the most practical reasons is that if she changes the war plan to save one Dawnbreaker, then more Dawnbreakers are likely to die as a result, which is not a reasonable deal from an emotional point of view.

This is precisely why the compromise of the Lord of Mankind seems so bizarre, and it immediately set Morgan on high alert.

She didn't believe the Emperor would act like a pushover and show kindness on such a crucial issue.

In fact, the Primarch was quite certain that there was only one situation in which the Emperor would prioritize the interests of the Dawnbreakers over those of humanity.

That is.

This appears to prioritize the interests of the Dawnbreakers over those of humanity.

But in reality, it prioritizes human interests over the interests of the dawners.

The so-called regression is merely a cover-up achieved through verbal deception and information asymmetry.

This was precisely the method that emperors preferred.

Having been in the same industry for over a hundred years, the Spider Queen would not be fooled by such a basic act of feigned politeness.

In fact, after figuring out the intricacies of the situation, Morgan instantly grasped the truth of the matter.

The Emperor would never open a second front just because of the threat of the Dawnbreakers or Morgan: there is only one reason why he would act so rashly, disregarding the possible risks.

And that reason is...

【…】

The Spider Queen's eyes widened.

Almost simultaneously, the Lord of Man, who had been standing opposite the Primarch, also stopped in his tracks.

The moment Morgan experienced the vision, the Emperor knew his clumsy lie had failed.

Anyway, he never expected it to succeed.

In the midst of his tranquil indifference, the Lord of Humanity was met with a cold laugh from his only daughter.

[Let me guess, Father.]

The Queen of Avalon licked her lips, a dangerous glint in her blue eyes.

The reason you're being so magnanimous is because your original war plan has failed, isn't it?

We can't possibly resolve the Comoros conflict in a few months, as you suggest, right?

The emperor did not respond to her.

But silence itself is a response.

Morgan felt his breathing quicken: even the Spider Queen, who had seen all the ways of the world and possessed a mature mind unlike any other Primarch, was almost out of control at this moment. Morgan's proud absolute rationality was about to crumble.

The last time I had this feeling was when Johnson and a few fools like Vulcan insisted on staying to challenge Emperor Randan.

For a moment, Morgan genuinely considered the possibility of slashing the Emperor's face with his nemesis's blade.

Because this time, the unexpected situation brought to her by her genetic father was not like the minor incidents of the past.

Angrily enraged Angron?

A believer whose faith has been shattered?
Magnus at the end of his rope?

Or is it the grudge between Dorne and Perturabo?
Compared to the problems they face, these past catastrophes seem like a gentle breeze and are not worth mentioning.

After all, the influence of most Primarchs is limited to their legions, and no matter how much trouble they cause, they will not ruin the overall situation of the Empire: even Magnus, who personally caused the greatest losses in the Great Crusade, will eventually see his influence disappear after the Galactic Empire's long period of mutual support and self-adjustment.

But emperors are different.

It can only be said that he truly deserves to be called the father of the Primarchs. The Lord of Mankind's mere slight action was far beyond the level of the eighteen Primarchs combined.

The statement that the Comoros conflict could not be ended in time may not seem so serious.

After all, with the Emperor and Morgan in charge, even if the war develops to an unfavorable level, these two strongest psionicists in the galaxy can protect the main force of the Netway Legion and allow them to leave Comoros with impunity: in the face of absolute power, unless the Dark Eldar are madmen, they will not have any naive illusions about fighting the invaders to the death.

But that's only the surface.

The battle in the Comoros also involves another enormous force lurking beneath the surface.

That is war in the real universe.

The rebellion that Horus instigated, which was not quite a rebellion, and the various legions and the entire human empire that were already sitting on a powder keg, just waiting for a spark to ignite, along with the Chaos Gods lurking behind them: these were the more fatal problems than the Battle of Comoros itself.

I'll just say one thing.

In the war against Horus, all of the Marksmen's war plans with Dorne followed one major premise: that the Emperor would return in less than a year, and that his return would end the war.

In other words, Rogdorath never intended to fight the Shadowmoon Wolves for more than a year. It wasn't because Rogdorath was careless and didn't even have the mind to design a contingency plan; it was simply due to practical constraints: in order for the Emperor to complete the Comoros and Webpath projects as quickly as possible, the Terran government poured the vast majority of its resources into the Webpath Legion.

It was precisely because of this extreme allocation of resources that, on the eve of the crisis in the Terran domain of the Web Dao, when the Emperor and his Web Dao army were completely defeated by the Chaos Gods, they were not only able to eat and drink well for more than a year afterward without having to worry about any survival crisis, but they also did not lack the materials and tools to continue to excavate and repair the Web Dao.

On the battlefield of Comoros, every single thing—from the supplies and losses that sustained the Astartes Legion's long-term operations to the cannonballs fired by the knights and Titans behind them, and the drill bits and spare parts that the Mechanicus discarded after only minor losses to maintain maximum efficiency—all of this came from the Terra government's decades-long relentless exploitation and continuous stockpiling, as well as its strong support in clearing out all its inventory on the eve of the Terra crisis.

Under conditions of complete expenditure with no return, the entire Imperial Guard, plus three Astartes Legions, hundreds of Titans and Knights, and countless Mechanicus, amounted to only a tiny fraction of the resources available to the network: whether it even reached one ten-thousandth was uncertain.

It can be said that the reason why the Netway Legion was able to fight so heroically in the Battle of Comoros was because it traded the lives of the Terra government and the Imperial Fist Legion.

The more abundant the supplies in Comoros, the scarcer Dorne's supplies will be: regardless of whether the Terra Guard is prepared to prolong the war, he will lack sufficient supplies to realize his war plans and will have to wage a bloody all-out war against Horus and the Shadowmoon Wolves under extremely disadvantageous circumstances.

In other words, if the Emperor fails to fulfill his promise to end the Comoros campaign as soon as possible, Dorne and his army are very likely to be completely defeated by Horus's rebels due to a lack of supplies. It should be noted that in order to support the Emperor's Web Road campaign as much as possible, Dorne even diverted a lot of ammunition reserves from key fortresses.

Without these ammunition, no matter how sturdy the fortress is, it's just a dead iron shell waiting to die.

This is what Morgan is most worried about.

Moreover, judging from the emperor's tone and appearance.

The fighting in the Comoros will likely drag on for far longer than just a few weeks or months.

After all, in the original plan, the Imperial army only needed to sweep through and hold a few districts outside Comoros, and then completely destroy them a few months later: the so-called second front plan was just a scheme proposed to attract the attention of the Dark Eldar when there was a severe shortage of troops or when they had to withdraw.

This involves a very simple question.

The internet is the foundation upon which humanity will stand in the future, and it is destined to exist for a very long time.

So far, this element of the Net Way seems to be available in a stable supply only in Comoros.

In other words, even if it's just to ensure they can get this element again in the future, Morgan and the Emperor don't intend to destroy the entire Comoros; a gradual approach is the wise thing to do.

The biggest problem with the second battlefield is that a large-scale demonic invasion could potentially destroy the entire Comoros. They may not be able to destroy the Web Path, since the human Web Path is hidden deep within, but they do have the power to destroy the entire Comoros.

This fundamentally contradicted the Emperor's plans.

In other words, if the changes the Emperor mentioned were just minor tweaks to the original plan, he wouldn't have started the second front plan so early.

And to let the demons in so early: the emperor must have already sentenced the Comoros to death.

He no longer intends to maintain a steady, long-term relationship.

He was prepared to completely destroy Comoros in this war: at least he wasn't prepared to return there.

Regardless of the reasons behind this turn of events, Morgan was more concerned with practical matters.

For example, capturing a few outlying districts of the Comoros and holding them for a few months is a completely different concept from completely destroying the Comoros. Unless the Eldar are idiots, they should have realized what the Imperial army was trying to do when they destroyed the third or fourth district: they were likely to encounter a Comorian army that was forced to unite as one.

That's a different story.

Faced with the legacy of the Eldar Empire, even the mighty Spider Queen couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

She just hoped that these were all her wrong judgments.

Clinging to the last vestiges of hope, the Queen of Avalon turned her gaze to her silent father.

You have decided to change the war plan.

Morgan stared intently at the Emperor's face.

Could you tell me what the new plans and war objectives are?

+Found something. +
This time, the emperor did not hide it.

He suspended a map of the Comoros in the open space between himself and Morgan, then pointed to a spot.

It's right here.
We must occupy this place and destroy it.
【…】

Morgan nearly fainted after just one glance.

Even though she didn't understand Comoros, anyone with a little rationality and architectural talent could see at a glance where the Emperor was pointing. That was definitely the core area of ​​the entire Comoros city. Destroying that area would be no different from destroying the entire Comoros.

To give a prime example, from the Empire's current foothold to its new objective, they aim to destroy all the key districts where Comorian noble families and cult groups are based: these are vital areas that they will absolutely not abandon.

in other words.

[A full-scale war has broken out with most of the Dark Eldar.]

Morgan heard himself take a deep breath.

How long do you think this will take?

+……+
The emperor thought about it seriously.

+Sixteen months, or more.
【…】

Do you know how long the war supplies Macardo and Rogdorath have are enough for them to squander?

It takes approximately ten to twelve months.
【…】

They will hate you, Father.

I know.
The emperor simply nodded.

Morgan hesitated for a moment.

So you...didn't leave any savings?

I definitely don't have it.
The Lord of Humanity raised his head and looked at his daughter.

Just as Morgan was feeling uneasy, the Emperor suddenly said something else.
But you have it, don't you?
+You left savings for Terra. +
【…】

The Primarch frowned.

She looked at the emperor carefully, and then savored her memories.

Did I supply Terra?

I don't remember.

You really don't remember.
But...
I think Corax definitely remembers.
------

I'm not feeling well today, so I'll just write something transitional first. I feel like I have a slight fever, but not that high, probably because I've been in air conditioning all afternoon.

(End of this chapter)