Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 501 Ning Lu: I will only send two battle groups

Steelblood, bridge.

Captain Bachdet Wot, who sits on the command throne, is a half-cyborg whose body has been specifically modified to suit the duties of a captain. He is completely integrated with the command throne.

“Sir, we need 25 hours and 36 minutes of standard ship time.” His voice was as mechanical as the synthesizer of the Mechanicus, but it sounded even colder, like the rock of Peturabo.

“I want you to execute the flight plan perfectly and arrive earlier than scheduled.” Peturabo’s voice was like frozen rock.

"The plasma reactor will operate at 1.5 times the standard power, and its output power will be increased to 1.49 times. It is expected to arrive 21 hours and 25 minutes after standard time."

"The plasma reactor maintenance time will be increased by 36 hours..."

“Execute!” Peturab coldly interrupted Bachdet’s report.

"As you command, Lord of Iron."

Twenty-one standard hours later, Peturabo and his Trident arrived on the flight deck.

Perturabo's icy blue eyes were fixed on the iron-gray Skyhawk shuttle in front of him.

"Change it!"

"The trident's blade," asked Fricks, the company commander and war blacksmith, cautiously.

"Shall we ride the Stormbird?"

"Yes."

Peturabo offered no explanation, and the Trident members exchanged glances.

The war is over. Heading to the Brotherhood is more appropriate for the Skyhawk Shuttle than the Stormbird.

My father was very satisfied with the design he had personally created, but now he wants to replace it with Stormbird, which is unusual.

The three became increasingly certain that their father was unhappy.

The slave laborers moved silently and swiftly, dragging fuel hoses to inject fuel into the Stormbird and unlocking the gravity lock.

The Stormbird gunship roared into the main elevator, its atmospheric engines already in place.

The hangar's outer shield opened, and Perturabo and Trident entered the Stormbirds through the boarding stairs.

As soon as Trident sat down, he immediately fastened his seatbelt, and Perturabo walked straight to the front of the Stormbirds' crew compartment.

"Go!" With his command, the gunship shot upwards, even though the pistons that were closing the hatches were still working.

The heavy, airtight doors of the hangar slowly opened, revealing the void and rows of black warships.

Peturabo glanced at the void with his icy blue eyes, then looked away, a series of numbers appearing in his mind.

Building a stargate system centered on Olympia would require resources... and take... 470 years.

The time required for new construction far exceeds the time required for repairs.
Perturabo's icy blue eyes darkened further. He was capable of designing a new stargate navigation system, but considering the resources and time required, it was unrealistic, and he couldn't get support from the War Council.

The Stormbird slowly landed on the helipad of the Reign Shadow, its gravity locks fastened to its iron-gray fuselage.

Peturab stepped onto the deck and immediately saw Nimrod's Primarch servant, Arsena Dunne.

"Lord Perturabo..."

“Take me to Nimrod,” Peturab interrupted the Primarch’s servant, giving the cold, hard order.

Alsena paused for a moment, then said, "As you wish."

A moment later, Perturabo entered the Primarch Palace and saw the obsidian supporting the dome tilted haphazardly, with twelve metal rods and chapter banners arranged asymmetrically.

He quickened his pace, [to end this quickly.]
Before he even reached Ninglu, his dreadlocks started swinging.

“Ninglu, now that the war in Shana is over…”

The Primarch keenly sensed the somber atmosphere surrounding Peturabo.

His dark pupils met those icy blue eyes, and he immediately understood why Perturabo was unhappy.

Ninglu smiled slightly, "No, the war in Shana is just the beginning. We are facing a powerful alien alliance."

“Your arrival will herald the start of our counterattack.” Peturabo’s cold eyes lit up.

He was not late.

He still has a chance to smash the Olympia hammer into the alien.

Perturabo's dreadlocks calmed down. "Tell me about the aliens, and I will devise a battle plan."

"Alsena, display the intelligence sent by Company Commander 'Star Hunter' Bogle."

“As you wish.” Alsena said, raising his cane as he watched Peturabo sit down calmly.

The star map of the Bad Habits sector was projected in front of Peturabo and his trident, and the dense red markings attracted their attention.

"My lord, as you can see, the colonized world of the Bad Habits Sector has been subjected to a full-scale invasion by aliens."

"Millions of humans are enslaved by aliens, their sanity bound by neural collars."

"Star Hunters have observed an artificial war satellite appearing in the Campinas system..."

As Fricks listened to the detailed report, he felt inexplicably strange.

His eyes were downcast, and after thinking for more than ten seconds, he realized what was making him feel strange.

The intelligence is incredibly detailed!

This is not the style of the "Star Hunters".

The "Star Hunters" are unique; they disregard orders given to them by anyone other than the Emperor.

Lord Peturabo, Lord Horus, and the Sealholder will not obey orders.

Even if Lord Ninglu rescued the 33rd Company, they wouldn't have conducted such a detailed reconnaissance.

They would only send a few brief reports, and then, like a wild horse, they would disappear from sight, wandering off to who knows where.

This is so strange!

How did Lord Ninglu manage to command those unrestrained Star Hunters?

He also always managed to calm Lord Peturabo down... an extraordinary charm?
Perturabo ignored the unusual performance of the 33rd Starhunter Company and instead converted the information provided by Alsena into a series of data.

He only looked at Nimrod after the Primarch's attendants stopped reporting.

"How many troops can your 'Shadow of Order' deploy in the Malice Sector?"

Ning Lu met those icy blue eyes and saw a glimmer of light within them.

He knew that Peturabo wanted to prove himself, and he should give him that opportunity, so he could not send more troops than the "Iron Warriors".

Because of my presence, the Fourth Legion did not suffer heavy losses when liberating Incaladion, and Peturabo was not punished with eleven-killing. Now, the "Iron Warriors" number about seventy to eighty thousand.

However, the "Iron Warriors" built fortresses and left a force to garrison each conquered world, which was a considerable burden and one of the reasons that would eventually bring down Peturabo.

The "Iron Warriors" force can mobilize no more than 70,000 people; to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, let's conservatively estimate it at 50,000.
Thinking of this, Ninglu said, "My legion has just gone through a major battle and needs to rest."

"I will send the Second and Fourth War Legions, 50,000 men, to join the war to reclaim the Bad Habits Sector."

The Second and Fourth Regiments had assembled more than 60,000 troops in the Cariham Gate area, and four other regiments had also completed their assembly but were not deployed to the Shana operation.

Ninglu not only considered Peturabo's desire to win glory and prove himself, but also Randan's ambitions from other directions, especially the northeastern Milky Way, and his territory, the new district of Colonid.

He remembered that the alien race Basmemanik had fled into the empire during the Second Randan War when they were invaded by the Randans.

Perturabo stood up and walked to the holographic projection. "Now, it's time for us to discuss the operational plan for the Malice Sector."

Frick stood behind Peturabo, with the other two Trident members, Haco and Gorg, standing behind him.

Ninglu walked to his side, lightly tapping the Gildes system with his finger, highlighting that area.

"Shana's Machine God Guard will launch an attack on this star system as their revenge against the aliens."

(End of this chapter)