Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 290 Legion's Number of Members Exceeds 100,000
828.M30, the fifth month of Vostochnya.

Exemplary city, original palace.

Arsène Dunn, holding a data tablet, began his report.

"My lord, the mining fleet has arrived in Oxenx and is establishing a mining base under the command of the Shadow of Order."

After giving a brief report on Orsenx's condition, the Primarch's attendant continued:

"The Second Company is in Islington, purifying the mutated creatures on the derelict spaceship."

"Think Tank Nicholas, along with technical sergeants, with the help of the Eighteenth Legion, used the gravity of the uninhabited planet Islington V to permanently fix the wrecked spaceship in its orbit."

“He did a good job.” Nicholas was a key think tank member that Nimrod was focusing on. He possessed beta-level psionic talent, second only to Thomas and his apprentice Ramsey.

As soon as he completed his transformation, Ninglu selected him for the Honor Guard. After personally testing his loyalty, he sent him to deal with a space wreck as a test of his abilities.

"Nicholas, when will you return?"

“He has returned to the Shadow of Thrones,” the Primarch squire replied.

“Summon him here.” Now that Nicholas had passed the test, Nimrod decided to train him to be an extraordinary being.

After the Primarch's attendant relayed the orders, he continued with the briefing.

"In response to the assistance provided by the Eighteenth Army Corps, and in accordance with your orders, all recovered ships are to be handed over to them."

Ning Lu nodded in satisfaction and then spoke.

"Develop Islington into the Legion's training base."

"Based on Islington I, the world with the largest population, it is a plains world with a population of only 1.03 million."

"Build training bases for guerrilla warfare and heavy infantry."

"..."

After recording the orders one by one, the Primarch's attendants continued to report.

"The 11th Warband lost 413 Order Shadows in the battle to purify the Andrew droids in Orsenx and the space wreck in Islington."

"Despite suffering considerable losses, the total number of the legion has exceeded 100,000."

"The largest increase in personnel came from the Third Warband. With the addition of 3,814 new recruits from Modian, the army now has 10,153 Order Shadows."

"The Seventh Battle Group has a new batch of 1,782 recruits, bringing the total number of Shadow Order members to 5,674."

The Primarch's attendant reminded him with some concern, "My lord, the Legion's supplies have been affected to some extent because the Triken system and Vostoria have begun constructing Ramirez-class fortresses."

"Power armor supplies are delayed by five Terra days, and explosive rifle supplies are delayed by an average of fourteen Terra days..."

"The supplies provided by Huangquan No. 8 in the Pacific Star Region and Glea in the Storm Star Region have alleviated some of the pressure, but their effectiveness is limited due to the long distance."

Ninglu knew that in the "Second Randan War," Randan would deploy more than a dozen combat satellites, and he began making preparations in advance.

I need a forging world ally in the Misty Starfield to alleviate the Legion's supply burden.

Next time, use the Prophecy Dice for divination.
Thinking of this, Ning Lu said, "Continue building the Star Fortress. I will solve the supply problem within a year."

"As you wish."

The silver-haired Primarch's attendant let out a soft sigh. Although he didn't understand why the Black Emperor was in such a hurry to build a Ramirez-class star fortress, he knew the Black Emperor couldn't be wrong.

Fortunately, the supply pressure will soon be resolved.

Moments later, Nicholas arrived as ordered. Nimrod told him to wait outside, then returned to the "Land of Chaos" and ordered the space monkeys to concoct the "Sailor" potion.

Nicholas's psychic talent is not one of the five common psychic factions, but rather, like "Windcaller" Nigal, he is a storm-type psychic.

In order to match his talent, Nimrod decided to train him to be an extraordinary "tyrant".

Subsequently, Nimrod summoned the wise man Wojciech Belik.

"Your Majesty, the sage who forged World Griffin IV will arrive in twenty-three working cycles to discuss the details of the covenant."

"On Mars, the Foundry Director stated that because they also need to forge the Glory Queen-class battleships for other Primarchs, they can only build three for you."

“I agree,” Ninglu nodded, “but the first ship must be delivered before 833, the second before 836, and the last before 841.”

Although he had already prepared a Ramirez-class star fortress for the "First Randan War," the Glory Queen-class battleships remained important for him to gain an advantage in the war.

If he could acquire two Glory Queen-class battleships before 836, he could have three warships to meet his operational needs before the outbreak of the First Randan War. The final Glory Queen-class battleship was not so urgent; it could be acquired before the Second Randan War.

“Your Majesty, I will convey your words to the Martian Sage.”

After twenty-three working cycles, representatives from Foundry World Griffin IV arrived in Vostochny.

Nimrod dispatched a delegation composed of "lawyers" and technical sergeants to negotiate the details of the alliance with Griffin IV.

After receiving the final text, he focused on the key points.

In addition to supplying the "Shadow of Order" and dispatching friars, the "War Griffin" Titan Legion pledged to provide fifty-eight Titans, including thirty-six Marauder-class battle Titans.

Ninglu recalled that before the grand birthday celebration, the War Gryphon had 176 Titans, about half of which were Marauder-class battle Titans.

[Yes, there aren't many Titans in the "War Gryphon" fleet that exceed one hundred right now, and providing fifty-eight is quite generous.]
After signing the agreement, Nimrod made a request to Sage Griffin IV to recruit the Titan Legion of War Griffins and the Guardians of the Faith to the Necromonda Subsector.

They will join forces with the Darkfire and Morningstar Titan Legions of Underworld VIII, along with the three chapters of Shadow of Order, to complete the conquest of the subsector.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After the prophecy dice were fully charged, Nimrod immediately began divination.

His mind raced through all the information he knew about Lucius of the Forging World.

Lucius, the Founder of the World.

The hollow planet has an artificial sun at its core, a giant nuclear fusion reactor that powers the forging plants that sprawl across it.

It is the only casting world capable of producing Sunfire Alloy, an extremely durable alloy.

Home of the Voidwalker Titan Legion.

...]

Nimrod had a considerable understanding of the world of Lucius the Forging World, so his mind was brimming with information.

He chose to consult Lucius and decided to ally with him because Lucius was extremely unique among all the forging worlds.

First, because of Lucius's core, which provides a continuous source of energy, the world's foundries never stop running.

Its production capacity even allowed Lucius to win the defensive battle when faced with an invasion by the Leviathan Hive fleet, as he was able to recover mechanical parts and recast troops faster than the Tyranid Hive forces could absorb biomass.

Lucius's production capacity and continuous manufacturing capabilities rank among the top in the world of foundry.

Secondly, it is because the artificial sun provides unique resources, and the Yangyan alloy is a unique material.

Furthermore, the Voidwalkers, renowned as the racers of warp space, are unlike other slow-moving Titan legions. Their swift action and rapid response to wars across the galaxy make them staunch allies of Chagatai.

When the Titans joined the war, they also possessed incredible speed, with the entire formation appearing on the enemy's fortifications with an elegance and swiftness disproportionate to their massive size.

In the future, Lucius will master teleportation technology, and the Voidwalkers will be the only Titan legion that can teleport to the battlefield, making them the envy of all other Titan legions.

Finally, Lucius approached the Legion's most important battlefield area for the next few decades.

Ran Dan's main sphere of influence is the northern part of the Milky Way.

The First Randan War was located in the northeastern part of the galaxy, in the largest casting world in the space surrounding the Lucius War Zone.

Lucius, possessing four major advantages, led Nimrod to choose this casting world.

Although he knew that Lucius was on the galactic map, located northeast of the Vostonia sub-sector, this did not allow him to pinpoint Lucius's location in the vast galaxy.

A single point on a Milky Way map is actually thousands of light-years away.

Nimrod must perform divination to determine Lucius's exact location.

Ninglu quickly went through the thought process in his mind and then silently recited it to himself.

[Star map of Vostonia leading to Lucius.]

[…]
After reciting it silently eleven times, he stretched out his hand and threw the prophecy dice in his hand.

After the triangular cone tumbled several times in the air, it landed in Ning Lu's outstretched hand, and a scene that looked like a holographic projection appeared before his eyes.

After Ninglu noted down the star map, he entered it into the data crystal.

The Navigator leader, Eden Visher, charted a star map for the Legion to reach Lucius, and the Eleventh Legion's fleet set sail.

(End of this chapter)