Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 221 Choosing the Buyer of the Battle Moon

In the last month of 820, the Eleventh Legion completed the cleanup of Planet Two.

The Sixth Legion also finished its purge of Planet V, and Leman Ruth did not launch an offensive against Planet VI until later in the year; the war was not yet over.

As time passed and a new year arrived, Ning Lu was just about to launch a new offensive when he received a communication message from Old Man Huang.

821.M30, Hannibal, the Primarch of the Second Legion, returned to the Empire.

Old Huang's order was that after Hannibal finished the welcoming celebration in Terra, he would be in charge of teaching him.

After listening to Arsène Dunn's report, Ninglu thought to himself.

It is reasonable that Old Man Huang entrusted the Second Army Corps to me for command before, and now I am instructing Hannibal.

Hannibal, was he more like the Silent Lamb, or Hannibal Barca, the commander of ancient Carthage?
Ninglu thought to himself, noticing the strange behavior of Suarez and Erling.

[Perhaps both.]
As Ninglu pondered, the silver-haired Primarch attendant spoke again.

"My lord, the master of the furnace has arrived."

"Let him in."

A moment later, Rosicky Cech entered the Primarch's office.

"Father."

After the master of the furnace bowed, he began his briefing.

"Adams and I unearthed a relic from the Dark Ages of technology and obtained a large number of data crystals from it."

"To date, I and my technical sergeants have completed the analysis of 1,390 of them."

"The most crucial takeaway was mastering the technology of the Orb Spider Alliance in building, using, and maintaining portals."

Upon hearing this, Ning Lu immediately became interested.

The Eleventh Legion continues to expand, its territory growing ever larger and scattered throughout the galaxy.

Although the sixty-three conquered star systems, with Vostonia at its core, are connected, there are also key nodes like Cypra Mundi and Modian that are "isolated".

Furthermore, there are six star systems in the Necromonda region of the central galaxy and Tannis in the Pacific region of the western galaxy.

Considering that the Eleventh Legion is about to expand into the Extreme Starfield, and that it wants to expand into Posur in the future, the Eleventh Legion's territory is quite scattered.

Establishing a network of portals to connect scattered territories is of great significance.

Furthermore, the Orb Spider Alliance's teleportation technology, capable of navigating the Old Nights ravaged by warp storms, will play a crucial role in future events such as the "Horus Rebellion."

"What are the similarities and differences between teleportation portals and warp travel?"

Rosicky took out the data crystal that shone with a dazzling blue light and placed it in the holographic projector in the office.

"The teleportation technology of the Orb Spider Alliance and the subspace travel technology used by the Empire are both faster-than-light travel technologies, but they are completely different in principle and other aspects."

As the "archaeologist" spoke, he operated the holographic projection, displaying a point of light.

"Humans who had not yet left Terra believed in ancient times that matter could not exceed the speed of light."

"But scientists soon discovered that faster-than-light matter has existed in the universe from the very beginning, which they call tachyons."

“A fascinating characteristic of tachyons is that they always travel backward in time. The technology of the Orb Spider Alliance is based on the research and application of tachyons.”

Ning Lu frowned slightly. According to his understanding, the use of tachyons required a lot of energy.

Mechanical tentacles extend from behind the "archaeologist" and tap on the touchscreen.

The tachyons in the holographic projection disappear, the image splits in two, and a set of contrasting data is displayed.

"After mastering how to use the portal, I dispatched ships of the same class to conduct a total of twenty-five comparative voyages from Necromonda to five other star systems."

"Each comparison voyage involves two ships departing simultaneously, navigating through subspace and via a portal, respectively."

"By the time I set off, a total of nineteen voyages had been completed, which is faster than space travel, on average about a week faster."

Ning Lu nodded slightly. This sample size was enough to draw a preliminary conclusion: the transmission technology was faster than space travel.

“Building a portal requires a lot of resources, and each teleportation also consumes a lot of energy, which is why the Orb Spider Alliance builds them near stars.”

"Teleportation technology also has a drawback: the direction of travel is fixed, and it can only travel from one interstellar portal to another."

“During subspace travel, the destination can be changed temporarily, even though this is dangerous and unpredictable.”

Ning Lu was not surprised after listening to the "archaeologist's" report.

Overall, subspace travel is more flexible, consumes fewer resources, and is more suitable for human interstellar travel and large-scale expansion.

Teleportation technology does have many drawbacks; otherwise, it would have long since replaced subspace travel as the main mode of interstellar travel, and Old Man Huang would not have gone to develop the "Netway Project."

But teleportation technology also has its unique features, enabling the establishment of an interstellar travel network exclusively for the Eleventh Legion, he said.

"Your research is fruitful and a major discovery."

The "archaeologist," who received feedback and whose research findings were recognized by the progenitor, suddenly felt as if stars were exploding within him, and his spirituality became more vibrant.

Having had similar experiences, Rosicky knew he had become a true "archaeologist."

"Star map." The Primarch's servant gestured to the Forge Master, then turned off the holographic projector and used his staff to bring up the star map.

"The portal consumes a lot of energy and is not suitable for large-scale deployment, but it can be deployed at critical nodes."

"Vostonia, Modian, Sepra Mundi, Triken, Vigilant System, Necromonda, Tannis."

"First, build portals in these seven star systems."

As Ning Lu spoke, he pushed a data panel in front of Rosicky.

"The Arbitration Lord discovered the construction template for a fortress-level energy shield on the Vigilant Star, and all the data has been backed up in the data panel."

"While constructing the portals, fortress-level energy shields will be deployed in key cities across these worlds, and technical sergeants will be assigned to maintain them."

Fortress-level energy shields are powerful shields that can protect the entire hive, but they require someone skilled in Om Messiah techniques to maintain.

"Do your will."

After receiving the order, the furnace master continued to report.

"In addition to the data crystal, the Death Lord and I also discovered atomic decomposition weapons and archaeological pistols, and have begun organizing research on them."

"To date, progress has been made in archaeological pistols, and it is now possible to manufacture scorching, lethal rays that draw energy from the planetary radiation layer."

Nimrod had a preliminary understanding of this from Adams’s previous report, but he was naturally not as clear about the progress of technological research as Rosicky.

"The experimental manufacturing of some samples will be selected by the mid-level commanders themselves."

"What are those forces that want the Battle Moon willing to give up?"

In an instant, the "knowledgeable one" recalled all the conditions proposed by all the forces and began to introduce them one by one.

"The Mars Forging General is willing to build you a Glory Queen-class battleship and dispatch Titans from the 'Flame Legion' to fight alongside the Legion."

"That's it?" Ning Ludi asked, as Mars's offer was much less than he had expected.

"There are many factions within Mars, and they disagree on researching alien tactics."

"Some people also believe that, according to the Olympia Treaty, all technology should belong to the Cult of the Machine God, and you should hand over the Battle Moon to them."

Ning Lu smirked. These guys really are having wild ideas.

He was aware of the conflicts between different factions on Mars, and that a civil war might even break out during the Horus Rebellion.

The Glory Queen level is a bit lacking, but the Abyss level is something he could consider.

"The World Forging Gloria wishes to enter into an alliance with you, provide supplies to the Legion, and dispatch the 'Morning Star Titan Legion' to fight alongside you."

"..."

Of all the offers from the various foundry worlds, Nimrod was most interested in Gloria's offer.

Known as the Crown of Miracles, the main forging network of "Crown of Greia" is capable of independent flight.

The massive nuclear fusion engine on the "Crown of Greière" can escape the planet's gravity and travel to the nearest Mandeville point, where it can traverse the warp.

This is of strategic significance in those wars where supplies are scarce and ongoing, as it allows legions to receive continuous supplies.

Furthermore, the Eleventh Legion can gain an ally and a supply base in the Storm Sector in the southern part of the galaxy.
Although Ninglu was satisfied with Gloria's offer, he did not make a decision immediately and continued to ask questions.

"Where are the sage explorers?"

The "generalist" searched his memories again, and only spoke after confirming the information.

"After Mars signed the Treaty of Olympia with the Emperor, it received the support of navigators and star speakers from the Empire and began to organize a large-scale exploration fleet."

"The sages in charge of commanding the Mechanical Ark have pledged to share future discoveries with the Legion, but so far, no major discoveries have been made."

Ning Lu nodded slightly and asked.

"What about the great sage Ryan Ramirez? Has he discovered a standard construction template?"

"No," the furnace master replied.

In other words, the Great Sage had not yet discovered the STC of the Ramirez-class Starfortress, so Nimrod made his decision.

“Grea’s terms are the most satisfactory to me, but I have one more request.”

"I want to share their research findings, and to that end, I will send five technical sergeants to conduct research with them."

Upon hearing this, Rosicky immediately understood that the Father of Genetics intended to use the same method as before with the Flaoian battlecruiser—cooperative research and development.

"I will convey your request to the director of Gloria Foundry."

Ninglu confirmed through questioning and observing the aura that Rosicky had absorbed the "archaeologist" potion.

He sent the Forge Master back to the "Land of Chaos" to concoct the "Appraiser" potion using the Cyber ​​Eye of the Steel Lord found in Necromonda.

Subsequently, Rosicky Cech was promoted to Sequence 7.

The following day, Ninglu received news that the space apes had completed the modification of the frigate.

(End of this chapter)