Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 264 The Simulated Sanctuary (Third Update, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The 33rd and 52nd expeditionary fleets assembled in the Westday system, near Vostonia.

Gabriel and Storm General Amadeus Ducaine travel together aboard the Stormbird to the Shadow of Thrones.

The war council then began, with Primarch squire Artena Dunn holding a data tablet and reporting to the two Primarchs.

"According to the intelligence provided by the merchant ronin Lewis von Valancius and the results of the Auger Matrix scan, the Vlao people's fleet consists of eight battlecruisers."

"Given that the Flao's raiding fleets often appear in pairs of battlecruisers, and that before my lord returned to the Empire, he repelled the alien raids on the Vostoria system, I deduce that they are once again gathering strength, looking for an opportunity to launch an attack."

Ning Lu nodded slightly, acknowledging the "reasoning student's" deduction. He looked at Fernus Manus and lightly tapped the east and west sides of the holographic image of the West Dai star system with his fingers.

“Manus, within the Sidde star system, are two strongholds controlled by the Flao people, located on the north and south sides respectively.”

"Our fleet will launch an attack from both flanks."

The two fleets were stronger than the Flao people, so the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion; the only question was how much damage they would suffer.

Ninglu himself was more concerned with what he could learn from the "Iron Hand" during this opportunity.

Manus's silver-coin-like eyes shone brightly, and his leaden voice rang out.

"Two sharp knives, plunged into the Westday Galaxy, let us purify the foolish aliens."

After the war conference, Manus and Ducaine returned to the flagship of the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet first, while Gabriel stayed behind to brief Ninglu.

“My lord, I have joined forces with the Steel Hand to develop the Simulated Sanctuary, which is expected to be used in the war against the Vladians.”

Ning Lu nodded slightly: "Record the data used as a reference to study a suitable version of the Shadow of Order."

He knew that the Shadow of Order, unlike the Steel Hand, could not handle massive amounts of information flow after undergoing large-scale mechanical modifications.

Among the shadowy figures of the lower order, only a small number of "generalists" can barely meet the demands of this level of quantity processing.

Nimrod would not allow the shadow of order to become an iron hand, as that would mean losing his advantage.

Whether it's equipment or tactics, what he wants is to learn from their strengths and integrate them into his army.

“Following Your will,” Gabriel replied, “I will develop our simulated sanctuary for the Legion.”

He continued his report: "Through Your revelation, the research on the golden Garuda has made initial progress, and the thirty-one technical soldiers under my leadership have been equipped."

The golden Garuda on Gabriel's left shoulder turned its head to look at Nimrod. The moment it saw the golden wings, its golden neck stiffened.

Its proud head immediately lowered and turned in the opposite direction.

"In the upcoming battle, conduct a practical test on the Golden Garuda," Ninglu ordered.

“Follow Your will,” Gabriel accepted the order and drew a cast-iron scepter from behind his back.

"Adams excavated ancient ruins in Medusa in accordance with Your command. Du Kane and I jointly discovered ten of these scepters in the second ruins we explored."

"After our research, we found that it was named the Heartforged Staff."

"I, along with the Medusa, the Steel Hand, and the Fourth Chapter's think tank, have all studied it, but none of us have been able to activate it."

Ninglu recalled his memories of the Heartforged Staff, a staff that was only suitable for those who were born with both psychic talent and mechanical body enhancement talent.

The "Iron Hand" had always regarded the Heartforged Staff as a relic weapon until the forty-first millennium, when the think tank curator, Lindrick, activated the staff and became its first master.

While Ninglu was pondering, Gabriel continued his report.

"Our only research result so far is that we have discovered that it not only has psionic circuits engraved inside, but also a rudimentary, perceptive machine soul built into it."

"The technology to achieve coexistence has now been lost."

Ning Lu nodded slightly: "Send it to the Legion's armory and have each think tank try it out. Whoever can activate the Heartforged Staff will be able to possess it."

He continued, "I have selected thirty members from the Honor Guard who will return with you and serve as the Iron Hand Commander's attendants during this joint military operation."

“I have already spoken to Manus about this. You will take them with you.”

Gabriel immediately obeyed the order, first instructing his men to deliver the seven Heartforged Staffs to the armory.

Because Adams, the "psychic," discovered the ruins and later joined the excavation, he had a larger share of the spoils.

Gabriel then led the members of the Honor Guard back to the Tenth Legion flagship. When they arrived at the strategy room on the bridge, Manus had just finished listening to Ducaine's briefing.

Manus looked at Gabriel, and the sound of lead being poured rang out.

"You previously participated in the development of the Simulated Sanctuary, demonstrating data processing capabilities comparable to the Steel Hand."

"But they haven't undergone the necessary modifications and are unable to process the data from the Steel Hand." "I've just discussed this with Du Kane and selected a commander to accompany them."

“Thank you, Lord Manus,” Gabriel replied.

Led by the Iron Hand, the members of the Honor Guard went to their respective companies and squads.

Gabriel, along with Manus and Ducaine, went to the simulated sanctuary. They removed their power armor, changed into comfortable robes, and then walked into the transfer deck, which resembled a wall of big data equipment.

Gabriel sat in a seat surrounded by cables, resembling an airdrop capsule, amidst a buzzing sound.

The runes in the niche shimmered, and the electronic devices activated, flashing a blue light.

Gabriel had just connected to the neural interface that ran directly to his spine when he was immediately thrown into a daze, swallowed up by a sea of ​​data.

Trillions of data points, including the position and speed of each warship in the Tenth Legion, surged through his mind.

Unlike reading data on a video screen in the past, there was no reading process; all the data appeared in his brain in an instant.

Previously, he didn't need to access the data of the regional commanders; they handled that, simply passing the critical data to the higher levels.

This is true for most of the Empire's fleets, but not for the Steel Hands and the Mechanicus.

Manus demanded that his descendants incorporate all data into their calculations, mechanical modifications granting them the corresponding computational power, and the simulated sanctuary providing them with the technological means to achieve it.

The Steel Hands were immersed in a sea of ​​data; though seated in their chairs, their thoughts reached every region of the entire fleet.

Unlike the Iron Hand, Gabriel did not undergo mechanical modifications and had no implants to assist him in processing massive amounts of data.

But he is an "archaeologist," and two enhancements to his mental and physical abilities have given him a superhuman brain that surpasses most Astartes, giving him greater data processing capabilities.

Meanwhile, Gabriel's powerful cat curled up at his feet, further amplifying his computing power.

After a few breaths, the "archaeologist" adapted to the massive amount of data and began to keep up with the pace of the steel hand.

At the same time, the "General Knowledgeers" on other warships only experienced one mental-body enhancement, which was much more difficult than for Gabriel.

Fortunately, the "Iron Hand" also follows the basic laws of war, with different levels having different data permissions.

For non-flagship ships, the data ocean of the simulated sanctuary only contains this part related to them, and the surging data is several orders of magnitude lower than that of the flagship.

The 52nd Expeditionary Fleet, like a precisely operating gear, "rotated" without the slightest error, precisely inserting itself into the center point of the north and south planets of the West Tai star system.

The data captured by the bird divination instrument flooded into the simulated sanctuary and entered the mind of the steel hand.

All members of the simulated sanctuary have access to information on the status of warships of both allies and enemies within the star system.

Enemy ship AJ, distance 507,429 kilometers, phase 8-0-5, angle of repose 2...

...}
Within ten breaths, they modified the battle plan based on the real-time situation.

The hundred members of the flagship strategy team were working at lightning speed, conducting deductions in a virtual thinking space.

The plans devised by everyone are passed on to each other, and each person evaluates each plan in the virtual thinking space of the simulated sanctuary.

Ultimately, Lord Manus's solution was evaluated as the best solution in the virtual four-dimensional space of almost everyone.

In the process, Gabriel realized that this was not based on the authority of the original genome, but on absolute cold calculation.

Furthermore, every member of the simulated sanctuary has a profound understanding of all the details of Lord Manus's plan.

The battle plan was transmitted to the other simulated sanctuaries of the fleet within twenty breaths, and understood by all the Steel Hands within ten breaths.

The 52nd Expeditionary Fleet, like interlocking gears, was rapidly "rotating".

Decoy warships lure the Flao people's ether cannons to attack them, while the main battleships deliver precision strikes against enemy ships.

Gabriel discovered that Manus and the Iron Hands' battle plans were calculated down to every reaction of the Flaoian fleet.

The Flao people's fleet was like a puppet on a string, destroyed by the perfectly coordinated 52 Expeditionary Fleet.

Even if a warship happens to fall outside the budget, the Steel Hands can iterate on new combat plans in a matter of seconds.

It was as if all unexpected events on the battlefield were stifled by the cold logic and calculations of the steel hand.

Gabriel discovered that, apart from the destroyers and frigates that drew the fire of the Flaoian cruisers, which could not avoid losses, no capital ships were hit by the Aether Cannons.

With the destruction of the first Frao battlecruiser, the "archaeologists" felt that a large chunk of the ocean of data had disappeared.

While observing and recording, he also had the capacity to pay attention to the battle situation of the 33rd Expeditionary Fleet, which he had previously overlooked.

(End of this chapter)