Alien world

Chapter 1924, Section 557: Night Hawk
The burly man grabbed the notebook, which was no bigger than his palm, and casually glanced through it a few times. His chiseled face was quickly replaced by a solemn expression.

"A subspace passage... The ratmen actually found this crooked path."

The Empire is not entirely ignorant about the Warp; after all, Blackwatch fell victim to it, so they couldn't possibly be unaware of it.

However, their investigation focused on the Chaos Cult, neglecting the Skaven in the north.

A few minutes later, the man, who had read it several times, looked up and said, "The investigation report is very clear. What do you want us to do?"

"Destroy the subspace portal."

"Isn't that too wasteful?"

Minister Steve's words carried no weight in the Empire, and only a few could question him—and the man in front of him happened to be one of them.

"It's more effective to strike when the ratmen are already in motion."

"When the Skaven built a warp portal right under our noses and could move freely within the Empire, we had already lost. There's no point in trying to get revenge now; we can only sabotage their plans as quickly as possible to turn the tide."

The man clapped his hands: "No wonder he was nicknamed 'Steve the Brainiest' since college. He's not a barbarian at all when it comes to doing things."

Minister Steve glanced at the hourglass in the room: "You've wasted another sentence's worth of time."

“Alright, Mr. Steve, I’ll take care of it right away.” The man put away his notebook, got up and left the study.

He wandered around the military headquarters, a complex structure resembling a massive fortress, feeling as familiar as if he were back home. As he descended the stairs, the view from the window changed from the street to brick walls.

After descending for an unknown amount of time, a window reappeared beside the spiral staircase. Red light shone through the prison-fence-like window—outside lay a continuous stretch of low houses and mountains of garbage, with no sky visible, only continuous rock formations and towering stone pillars—it was clearly the Bottom Nest.

Not long after the man entered the bottom nest, the bell in the treasure layer was rung.

The drunken patrons in the tavern regained their senses, the gang leader who had been feasting on a woman stopped, and the scavenger at the foot of the garbage mountain raised his chapped face.

Ten minutes later, the bottom-nest people, dressed in various styles and exuding different scents, arrived in front of the hall disguised as stone pillars.

"Boss, you were looking for us?" asked a long-haired man wearing an aristocratic blouse but a skirt, with hickeys on his face.

The man tossed the notebook over: "We found the rat hole, and we also found the subspace passage."

The long-haired man took the notebook and flipped it through the heads of the people around him.

The man pointed at them with exasperation: "You call yourselves the elite of the Empire, the little leaders of the Imperial Night Hawks? All of you combined are no match for one Annan!"

The shirtless, muscular man covered in scars retorted defiantly, "It was just luck."

"If you get killed by the enemy on the battlefield in the future, your tombstone will say 'The enemy was lucky this time,' right?" the man said irritably.

The hall erupted in laughter.

The man's expression hardened: "The clues have been confirmed. Minister Steve has ordered our Nighthawks to destroy the rat hole and the warp portal."

"Boss, shouldn't we wait until the ratmen make their move before we act?" one of the subordinates suggested, echoing the man's earlier suggestion.

"Don't say a word, don't ask any questions, just follow orders!"

Seeing their leader's serious expression, the leaders also put away their usual frivolous manners, and regardless of age or gender, they all straightened their bodies and gave the Imperial military salute.

"Yes!"

The leaders dispersed, leaving only a dissolute poet behind.

"Boss, I have some information to report."

The man stamped his foot impatiently: "If it's not important, I won't say it."

"It's not important, but it's related to that champion warlock."

"explain."

"That champion warlock sent another batch of rat ears earlier, but..."

“If you keep me in suspense any longer, I’m sending you to the bottom of the world to smash the beehives!” The wandering poet continued, “My informant told me that some rat-men without rat ears have appeared outside the Graybeam Mountains.”

It's obvious where the mouse ears went.

Do we admit it?

“Why not admit it? It’s not like we’re the ones paying.” The man wasn’t interested in saving Steve money, but this was a good opportunity to get in touch with Annan Reeves.

“You go to Liberty City… never mind, I’ll go myself.”

……

Annan looked at the burly man from the Empire who called himself Night Hawk with a strange expression.

What is a nightjar?

The man asked, "You don't know?"

Annan countered, "Should I know?"

The man didn't know whether to call the young man naive or trusting.

However, it's hard to be wary of an ally who is unsuspecting and harmless: "Nighthawks are the Imperial intelligence agency under the Ministry of Military Affairs."

“Oh~” Anan suddenly realized, “Why not call it Nightingale? It sounds so beautiful.”

"Too girly!"

The man's answer was very imperial.

"But a nighthawk doesn't sound imposing enough. Wouldn't a griffin be better?"

"Does the griffin side with stealth and covert tactics?"

Forced to answer a few childish, playful questions from Annan, the man got down to business: "Minister Steve entrusted the destruction of the warp to our Nighthawks. I've come to you to confirm whether the intelligence is accurate."

“Absolutely accurate, Secretary Steve can vouch for me.”

"One more little thing."

The man nodded, then asked casually, "My men discovered a group of rat-people without rat ears in the north—"

"I did it."

Even the leader of the Nightingales fell silent for a moment when faced with such a frank and decisive answer.

"But things aren't as you imagine."

The fact that the Imperial Minister entrusted him with the matter of the warp passage shows that he is trustworthy, so Annan frankly said, "My people have already infiltrated the Moon-Eating Clan and are taking control of their upper echelons, gradually replacing them with my people."

Those who had their ears cut off were all ratmen from the Moon-Eating Clan. The troublemakers were sent to the Trapezoid Mountain to be worn down, and those who remained were all their own people who posed no threat to them. How can this not be considered a cleanup of the ratmen?
At most, it's just that I'm borrowing the mouse ears of the future into this moment.

And that doesn't even include the rat-man Annam who was burned by oil!

The man was confused: "You mean, you corrupted a clan of ratmen?"

Damn it, when did Middle-earth become so insane that humans actually corrupted the ratmen?!

“That’s called purification, defection, abandoning darkness for light,” Annan countered. “Doesn’t the Imperial intelligence agency have the ability to infiltrate the enemy?”

What kind of person would infiltrate the enemy's ranks and become the leader, taking over the organization?
The man shook his head: "Rat people are enemies. When dealing with enemies, you either defeat them head-on or assassinate them from behind. They will never become friends."

Stealth and leaving no survivors are the Night Hawk's principles.

Annan chose the most efficient and cost-effective method, but to outsiders he would say, "I like to defeat the enemy in the area where they excel."

(End of this chapter)