Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 484 Alkahas Far: Reinforcements Can't Be This Quick
The surface of Shana II in the Shana-Vesidax system.

The commander of the Nineteenth Legion, the Shadow Lord Alkahas Far, wielded his giant axe with a thunderous roar, the violent shriek even drowning out the explosions.

Alkahas charged fiercely at the alien slave army. The man, enslaved by the nerve collar, still foolishly charged at him, but the terror in his eyes betrayed his fear.

He raised his automatic gun, trying to inflict some damage, but the giant axe had already swung down, tearing the plastic steel machine apart without stopping, followed by the head, the nerve collar, and the torso, before finally stopping at the pelvis.

Blood, flesh, and bone fragments splattered across Alkahas's armor, and the mangled corpse lay on the ground like a slaughtered Grookes.

Alkahas pulled his chainsaw axe from among the mangled limbs and tore another charging enemy to shreds.

The metal bullets clattered against his Terminator armor before bouncing off.

The automatic sensor display on the Farrer detected an enemy attack from the left.

Without hesitation, he charged into the crowd, violently crashing into them.

Armored fists smashed the skulls of human slaves, while roaring chainsaw axes tore at the second slave, ripping him into a cloud of blood mist.

More bullets came flying, and the slaves desperately attacked Alkahas.

Alkahas, leading his fellow warriors, continued the massacre without mercy.

They were all recruited from the savage and battle-skilled arid tribes of Terra's Asia, the Duststorm region, and each was the eldest son of a warrior.

Bombs, chainsaw swords, and power punches—they used every means to slaughter their enemies like livestock.

During the killing, Far felt a surge of rage, and he continued to kill, blood splattering everywhere, leaving no survivors.

Amidst the screams and the piercing sounds of blades cutting to the bone, his mind remained silent.

Alkahas carried out the slaughter in silence until a voice broke the stillness.

"Shadow Lord, they are merely people to be driven; you should not waste your energy on them."

Alkahas continued his actions, and as he swung his giant axe, tearing the three apart, a voice suddenly rang in his mind.

He didn't need to distinguish to know whose voice it was.

Balsa Kuturi, a think tank.

Within the Legion's think tank, only he could break through his own unwavering will and let his voice resonate within his own heart.

As soon as Alkahas thought of this, black flames descended from the sky.

One slave after another was engulfed in flames, emitting painful cries.

Alkahas turned his head and looked at Baal, whose eyes were gleaming with golden light.

"You interrupted my killing spree. I hope your reasons are sufficient."

"Lord of Shadows, there is a void fortress approaching amidst the waves of the warp."

"I also see more shadows creeping in, and we are about to receive rescue."

“Balsa, you’ve got it wrong,” Alkahas said coldly.

Despite being one of the Legion's most outstanding think tanks, possessing powerful psychic abilities that rival even those of the "Shadow of Order" and the "Thousand Sons," and being particularly adept at precognition, he was certainly wrong this time.

"We will wait for reinforcements, but not so soon. The nearest legion will take at least five months to arrive."

After Alkahas finished speaking, he turned around and charged forward.

“Leave no one alive,” he said over the intercom.

At the same moment, in the void of the Shana Vesedicas galaxy.

San Diego Bergkamp stared intently at the crystal ball, his eyes deep and unfocused.

The astrologer gazed at the ripples spreading within the spinning crystal ball.

He rapidly marked runes on the tactical holographic screen while speaking into the communicator:

"In the fourth asteroid belt, the gravitational anomaly will trigger a tide in two hours and eighteen minutes, lasting for five hours and twenty-one minutes."

"Asteroid number 186 was the least affected."

"You will arrive at the ambush point in two hours and launch an attack on the pursuing fleet on time." "As you command, my lord." Upon receiving the reply, Santiago immediately switched communication channels and continued to issue orders.

"The second and thirteenth enemy ship groups will arrive in near-Earth orbit of Shana IV in one hour and thirty-seven minutes."

"With gravity higher than other orbits, the enemy ship's speed will decrease by 29 percent."

"You will arrive at the rune marker location one hour and twenty-four minutes later and launch an attack."

San Diego issued a series of orders to the companies, while simultaneously drawing out shimmering arcs on the holographic tactical map.

"Fleet channel, communications silent."

"Steering 4-6-1, lean angle 5."

"Entering the asteroid belt, prepare the ether cannon."

The black warship then crashed through the dust blocking its path and disappeared into the telemetry equipment of the Randan warship.

The audio signal on Ran Dan's communication channel was somewhat noisy.

"Damn it, these black warships are too cunning. They don't engage us head-on. After launching an attack, they hide in places like asteroids, using celestial bodies to hinder our attack."

“They even communicate for very short periods of time each time, making it impossible for us to track and lock them down.”

The angry voice was accompanied by heavy banging.

"In the past six days, we have lost a total of 291 warships, including 83 capital ships."

"But we only destroyed forty-six enemy ships, and only five of our capital ships."

His voice was full of worry; their naval advantage was rapidly eroding.

"We must win, at all costs," a stern voice declared.

"As long as we occupy two human colony planets and utilize human industrial facilities, slaves will build more warships and war satellites for us."

"Yes, sir." The commanders could only hang up the communication and continue their pursuit of the cunning black warship.

Three hours later, Santiago met his target: a Randan capital ship, a class of battleships comparable to those of the Empire.

"Fire!"

Two beams of colorful ethereal light shot out from both sides of the bow.

The beam of light pierced through layers of obstacles in the void and accurately hit the enemy ship.

In the holographic image, white electric arcs collide with one stone after another, and the beam of light visibly shrinks.

"Saturation firepower strike".

"Open the fleet channel."

Santiago has given the order: there is no longer any need to hide.

Then the "astrologer" looked up and gazed out the window.

A series of sounds came through his communicator.

"My lord, the Ramirez-class Star Fortress has arrived in the Shana system."

"My lord, the ambush was successful. Thirteen enemy ships were destroyed, including five capital ships."

"My lord, the ambush was a success. Four enemy ships and one capital ship were destroyed."

"..."

The dazzling starlight evoked memories of the astrologer's childhood in Sepra Mundi, gazing up at the sun in his home galaxy.

He clenched his right hand slightly, as if he were holding the stars, and at the same time felt as if the stars were shattering inside his body.

[I became a true "astrologer".]
San Diego felt a surge of power within him, dispelling the fatigue of nearly a week of tension, and he issued commands in the warband channel.

"Launch a full-scale attack!"

(End of this chapter)