Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 331 The Broken Claw Guild
The Shadow of Reigns, Primarch Palace.

After listening to the request made by the wise man, the envoy of Lucius of the Forging World, Nimrod spoke:
“I can allow Lucius to join the research on artificial war satellites, but I also have conditions.”

“I am very interested in Lucius’s hollow furnace, and in return, I will send a technical team to study it.”

Ninglu knew that the current center of Lucius's core was an artificial sun, providing endless energy to the forging plants that spread across the surface. All the factories would never stop operating until the Great Rift opened.

He was very interested in this, and now that he had the opportunity, he naturally wanted to make a request.

“Lord Nimrod,” the sage’s visor flashed for a moment before he spoke, “the hollow furnace is part of a great experiment/that cannot be replicated.”

“The wise men have studied this/concluded a conclusion/I can share the report/proof with you.”

“No need,” Nimrod interrupted the sage, “I believe that anything is possible with human effort. If we continue our research, we will at least gain something from it.”

Even if the oil enthusiast couldn't research anything, he believed that the extraordinary individuals on the "Perfect" path would achieve research results, and their abilities would improve as their sequence advanced.

“I only need the research license; Lucius doesn’t need to be responsible for the results.”

“My lord,” the sage envoy said, not wanting to reveal Lucius’s secret to others, “could you change/modify the other conditions?”

"No." Ninglu refused decisively.

"I//this unit/cannot decide/to forward your request to the casting director."

After Lucius's forging sages departed, Nimrod went to the "Land of Chaos" and ordered the space monkeys to concoct the "Knowledgeable One" potion.

He then sent a message to Ryan Ramirez.

A moment later, the great sage arrived as ordered, and he bowed in respect.

"Your Majesty."

Ninglu looked down at Liang, his attitude like that of a subject, quite different from what he had shown a few months earlier.

"Drink it."

Without asking any questions or issuing any warnings, Ryan walked straight to Ninglu and picked up the golden potion.

A moment later, Ninglu instructed Rian to restrain his own power through telepathic communication.

"Thank you for your gift."

Ninglu nodded slightly. He did not explore STC, allowing Ryan to regard him as the divine incarnation of Om Messiah or something similar. This was the effect of "Corruption," one of the signature abilities of the "Corrupted Baron."

Rian's mind was "corrupted," and he became loyal to him without realizing it.

"Rian, you discovered the standard construction template for the Ramirez-class star fortress, which has similarities to artificial war satellites. The research on the Randan artificial war satellites is now entrusted to you."

"As you wish," the great sage said, bowing.

"The Spiral-Morse Galaxy has abundant reserves of stone and metal, and you will be responsible for establishing a mining base there."

The enslavement of millions of humans by Randan to build artificial war satellites also requires corresponding resources.

After Ryan left, Arsène Dunn began his report.

"My lord, I have compiled the loss reports submitted by the various parts of the expeditionary force."

"The legion suffered a total of 5,410 casualties, slightly higher than the Incaladion rebellion, and only lower than the 'Wheel of Fire' campaign."

"The expeditionary fleet lost a total of 138 ships, including 24 capital ships."

Ning Lu's eyes dimmed as the image of Saisak having his brain swallowed by the Brain Eater War General flashed through his mind.

The Battle of the "Wheel of Flames" lasted nearly three years and resulted in the loss of more than 7,000 men. In Carradine, it lasted nearly two years. In the First Battle of Randan, which lasted less than a year, 5,400 men were lost. The Spinning Point-Morse was only a secondary outpost of Randan.

Randan possesses technology comparable to the Empire and powerful psionic abilities, posing a significant threat.
He then considered that the First Legion had suffered 10,000 casualties and lost 50 capital ships, including a Queen Glory-class battleship, and felt that the loss was still acceptable.

Without the Ramirez-class Starfortress, even with a numerical advantage in warships, the losses against Randan's artificial war satellites and massive numbers of drones would likely be substantial.

Before the outbreak of the Second Randan War in 862, preparations needed to be made in advance, including obtaining strategic weapons such as the Void Claw.
As Ninglu pondered, the silver-haired Arsena continued:
"The Third Warband suffered the most casualties, with a total of 2,740 Order Shadows killed. They were the main force on the front lines in the decisive battle against the fortress and main planet of Spiral-Morse IV." "The Iron Guard of Mordian also suffered heavy losses, with 9,270 killed."

"Fortunately, a new batch of recruits for the Third Regiment will be added in two years, with an estimated number of 1,630."

Ninglu nodded. This was one of the advantages of having a world suitable for recruitment; the troops of the warbands could be replenished quickly.

However, I have already advanced to the intermediate sequence, and extracting genetic material again would result in the loss of extraordinary characteristics.

Although a single extraction may not have a significant impact, repeated extractions over a long period can still result in substantial losses.

It's time for the Legions to rely on their own resources for replenishment. After all, children grow up eventually, and with the surge in Primarch returnees across the Legions, they won't be able to continuously extract Primarch genetic material.
Ninglu recalled that fewer and fewer pharmacists needed to extract genetic material from him, and the genetic seeds produced by Astartes were already sufficient to meet the needs of training new recruits.

[Frequent extractions are needed when a large number of my followers, the Vostonians, undergo modification, and the stockpile of gene seeds cannot meet the surge in demand.]

It has little impact now.
As Nimrod pondered, the Primarch's attendants reported the number of casualties suffered by each participating warband one by one, and finally spoke.

"My lord, the awarding ceremony is ready."

"As per your orders, in commemoration of this battle, the medal awarding ceremony will be held tomorrow on the Ramirez."

The following day, in the central area of ​​the Ramirez.

Nimrod approached Pierre Wright of Kassex and first pinned a commemorative badge on Pierre's head, marking his participation in the First Randan War.

The main body of the emblem is black, with seven circles—six large and one small—painted on it, symbolizing the six planets of the Helios-Morse system and artificial war satellites.

Every legionary soldier and auxiliary soldier who participated in the battle will receive a commemorative badge.

Those who are not personally awarded the medal by the Primarch will be awarded it by their commander.

He then took the emblem of the Broken Claw Order from the tray and began to praise it:
"Pierre, your superb swordsmanship in slaying four overlords of Randan is truly admirable."

"Father, I will definitely continue my efforts to slay the aliens for you."

Nimrod then placed the Broken Claw Order's emblem on his head, the emblem of which was a circle passing through three sharp claws.

Ninglu not only directly adopted the name of the "Dark Angels" sect targeting Ran Dan's severed claw from his memory, but also directly adopted their emblem.

[Yes, the "Dark Angels" are no longer the main force against Ran Dan.]
Then he walked up to San Diego Bergkamp.

“San Diego, make good use of the power I have given you and achieve victory against the aliens in the icebergs of Planet VI.”

“Father, I will always remember your teachings and use the strength you have given me to win even greater victories.”

Nimrod placed the Iron Halo behind San Diego's helmet, and the Legion's technical sergeants would later paint it on the power armor with a red mark.

The Iron Halo is an insignia awarded specifically to outstanding battlefield leaders and tacticians who demonstrate exceptional initiative.

The Primarch bestowed medals upon each member, thinking to himself.

[The First, Second, Third, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Battle Legions—these eight battle legions, which selected the main extraordinary pathways, comprise a total of 10,700 Royal Court cultivators.]
The Primarch spent a day reviewing the Legion warrior casualty data on the data panel and then completed the statistics.

Each squad leader is an extraordinary individual; their presence ensures that the characteristics of each battle group are implemented at the squad level.

Next, they will be promoted to Sequence 8, and each squad will have two Extraordinary individuals at Sequence 9 level in that pathway, consolidating the unique advantages of each chapter.

In the final stage, some teams will be trained to cultivate exceptional individuals from other backgrounds, creating complementary abilities.
While contemplating his three-stage training plan, Ning Lu conferred medals upon everyone.

After the awarding of medals was completed, he issued the order.

"The Fourth Battle Group will remain at Spin Corner-Morse to collect the corpses, while the other battle groups will return to rest."

"The Ramirez serves as a research center and training base for technological research."

"Each combat group selects new recruits to take turns coming to the Ramirez for training in preparation for future long-term threats."

Five days later, the Shadow of the Royal Power and the fleet of the Eleventh Fleet set sail back to Vostoria.

(End of this chapter)