Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 320 The Shadow of the Order of the Kassers

The shadow of the Kasserian order, tallest in the legion.

Originally, Kasser was two meters tall as an adult. After the modification surgery, the Eighth Legion warriors were taller than the Katachan descendants of the Seventh Legion and the tallest Salamander among the twenty legions.

Compared to their tall stature, their bodies are more slender, and their shoulders are not as broad as those of the Katachang people or the Salamanders.

Pierre Wright, draped in a tasseled cloak made of fur, raised his left arm, raised his explosive pistol, and launched an attack on the wolf-headed, humanoid alien.

His squad of nine then raised their weapons and fired, just as they had followed Pierre since childhood.

This habit had long become their instinct, not only because Pierre was the son of their lord, but also because of his superb swordsmanship.

Amidst the deafening explosion, the energy shield flickered.

The overlord roared in fury, and thousands of human slaves bound by nerve collars swarmed forward.

The Randan warriors followed behind his slave army with a cold smile, waiting for his army to wear down the black-armored warriors before leading his warriors to launch an attack.

“Follow me.” Pierre already knew the tactics commonly used by the Randan Xenomorphs from the data distributed by the Father of Genetics.

He knew that it was both shameful and pointless to waste his power on human slaves enslaved by aliens.

The superhuman senses of the Shadow of Order had already locked onto the enemy, and he gripped the longsword in his right hand.

The longsword is a full 1.8 to 1.9 meters long, from the hilt to the meticulously carved, slightly curved blade and finally to the tip.

His longsword was forged from Kaser steel, but its blade was longer than the 1.5-meter blades of other Kaser nobles, to match his superhuman physique.

Even in the hands of the Shadow of Order, the longsword still appeared slender and elongated, just like his body.

Pierre channeled his meager spiritual energy into the longsword in his hand, and as the blade trembled slightly, he became one with the sword.

The same applies to other warriors. In the past, only nobles could obtain the longswords forged by Master Kasser, but now every member of the Eighth Order's Shadow can obtain the same psionic longsword.

Pierre sketched out the best route to reach the overlord of Randan in his mind, and then strode forward.

The sword spun rapidly, tearing open a gash.

Pierre charged into the crowd like a black tank speeding along, his longsword only wielded when necessary.

The nine members of the team charged forward, with him as the spearhead.

In the blink of an eye, the squad arrived in front of Ran Dan Overlord.

The overlord roared in fury, "Useless trash!"

His psionic howl pierced the nerve collar, causing the metal spikes to vibrate, and the human slaves launched a fearful attack on the black-armored warrior.

The wolf-headed, human-bodied Randan aliens also swarmed towards the black-armored warriors.

"defense!"

His squad of soldiers immediately set up a defensive line around and behind him.

Pierre charged toward the Overlord, his longsword clashing against the serrated blade with a dull scraping sound.

The swords clashed, then clashed again.

The continuous collisions sounded like the ringing of bells.

The power of the overlord Randan repelled Pierre; his swift attacks were as fierce as those of a wolf.

The Randan warriors and human slaves charged towards the squad members' lines.

Facing an enemy hundreds of times larger, the Kaser Order Shadow held firm to their lines, wielding their longswords to hold off the foe.

A Randan warrior prostrated himself behind dozens of slaves.

He suddenly lunged forward, charging towards a black-armored warrior.

The shadowy order of the Kaser people keenly discovered the Randan warriors lurking behind the human slaves, launching a surprise attack.

He swung his sword horizontally, cleaving the enslaved man in two at the waist. He then swung it diagonally, deflecting the attack of the Randan warriors with the "Usa style".

But the Randan warriors' charge was unstoppable, and he could not dodge, thus exposing his captain to the alien.

His gaze was resolute; he neither flinched nor dodged, and faced the alien's heavy blows with his longsword.

The psionic sword slashed at the individual's energy field, creating invisible ripples.

A mocking glint flashed in the wolf's head as the Randan warrior swung his flail and smashed it against the black power armor.

The shadowy figure of the Kaserian Order did not dodge; he abandoned defense and swiftly swung his longsword, launching a fierce attack on the alien.

This is a contest of speed and defense.

Muffled thuds and explosions filled the air as the Shadow of Order clashed swiftly with Ran Dan's tactics more than a dozen times.

As the flail slammed onto the helmet, the longsword tore through the individual's energy field and pierced the Ran Dan warrior's chest.

Pierre held his sword horizontally to deflect the enemy's swift attack.

He knew his warriors wouldn't last long, and he had to kill the overlord as soon as possible.

As a seasoned swordsman, Pierre knew that the more urgent the situation, the more he needed to think calmly, seize the opportunity, and win with a single blow.

He held his sword level, his "Yowisa-style" defense impenetrable. The wolf-headed humanoid overlord's strength and speed advantage failed to break through his defense. The overlord suddenly leaped up, like an enraged wolf king.

Pierre's eyes flashed as he spotted a weakness in the agitated enemy.

He slid to the right, bent down from the right side, and then leaped up, simultaneously with the overlord of Randan, using the "Verabey style".

Pierre poured all his strength into the sword, slashing downwards at an angle from right to left.

Sparks of psionic energy flashed as the sword slashed at the personal energy shield of the Ran Dan Overlord.

With a loud bang, the energy shield was shattered.

The overlord's attack missed, and his energy shield was broken. He tried to retreat.

But Pierre's prepared attack was even faster.

He used the Death Strike – "Erka Style"!
The longsword tip pointed forward, piercing the wolf's head through its throat, the tip protruding from behind its head.

Pierre let his longsword linger for a moment, the blade crackling against the overlord's head, until the light in his eyes was completely extinguished, before he withdrew the sword.

The death of the overlord chilled the warriors of Randan to the bone.

Just as they were retreating and regrouping, more soldiers from the Eighth Division appeared and launched an offensive together with Pierre's squad.

The "Shadow of Order" launched a boarding operation, capturing a total of forty-one Randan warships of different classes.

Five of them were towed to the dock in Ramirez, where they were dismantled by technical sergeants and technicians led by Gabriel.

The strategic significance of the Ramirez-class star fortress lies not only in its status as a semi-mobile space fortress and a powerful fleet killer, but also in its role as a strategic base.

Imperial fleets can use star fortresses as maintenance, command, and resupply facilities, saving warships the long journey to and from temporary resupply bases or repair docks.

Even in the heat of battle, docking points can be used to repair and resupply cruiser-class ships, as Starfortress has enough firepower to ensure that maintenance personnel are not disturbed while working.

The technical sergeants used these facilities to dismantle and study the Randan warship.

In Ninglu's memory, many Ramirez-class star fortresses will be used as deep space research facilities in the future.

The remaining captured warships were partially modified at the Starfort's docks and used to replace the tugboats destroyed in the Void War, towing the Ramirez-class Starfort as it continued its advance.

The great sage Ryan Ramirez also captured a battleship-class Randan warship and dismantled it for research.

As the Imperial fleet advanced, research was conducted comprehensively, not just limited to the Randan warships.

The technical sergeants also collected, organized, and studied the relatively complete Randan weapons and personal energy shields they found on the battlefield.

The chief pharmacist leads his team in conducting anatomical studies on the Randan alien.

The think tank director took over the research project on the neural collar, leading a joint research team comprised of think tank members, pharmacists, and technical sergeants.

Their short-term research focus is not on control, but on de-control.

Randan's enslavement of humans and other aliens through neural collars is the core of their tactics; any research breakthroughs could reduce losses.

The 33rd Expeditionary Fleet, relying on the Ramirez, is advancing steadily.

Damaged warships were promptly repaired.

By 839, the Imperial fleet had advanced to orbit the four planets outside of Spiral-Morse, several months faster than Nimrod's memory had recorded.

While the fleet conducted orbital bombardment, inside the Primarch Palace, Nimrod summoned the commanders of each chapter and three research leaders.

"My lord, the research on the neural collar has yielded some results," the think tank director reported.

“My lord, I have been inspired by your removal of the nerve collars from the slaves’ control, and I will use the techniques of the Osiris Mind Control Seed to conduct research,” Thomas said.

"Although their methods of enslavement were not exactly the same, there were certain similarities."

"In comparison, Osiris's Mind Control technique is more subtle and less likely to be detected."

"Ran Dan's neural collar is easy to replicate; anyone with a certain level of psionic item manufacturing skills can complete it."

After comparing the two, the think tank director continued:

“I have mastered the method of manufacturing neural collars, and all the Legion’s psionic artisans can manufacture them.”

Ninglu nodded. Although he preferred purifying the aliens to enslaving them, there might be a need for it in the future.

[Humans cannot always be enslaved; when necessary, aliens must also be enslaved.]
“With the help of pharmacists and technical sergeants, I developed a device,” Thomas said, pulling out a heart-shaped crystal ball.

Ninglu looked up and saw that the dazzling heart-shaped crystal ball was engraved with a dense array of runes, most of which were similar to those on the blue staff of Osiris's Mind Controlling Seed.

"After being infused with psionic energy to activate it, the crystal ball will release specific psionic energy fluctuations."

"It can interfere with people within a 50-meter radius who are controlled by neural collars, ordering them to stay in place."

"The results of conflicting commands from the neural collar will lead to different situations. The affected person may execute any command or may be caught in a contradiction and waver."

“This is a good start,” Nimrod said, praising Thomas’s achievements before issuing instructions.

"Deployed for ground operations and tested for improvement."

(End of this chapter)