Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 569 Omega, you not only supported me in becoming a War Master, but also helped me create the Alpha Detection Ball.

On the Shadow of the Kings, Rosicky Cech stands outside the helipad prepared for the Alpha Group, holding a turquoise spherical metal object in his left hand.

At the heart of this wondrous artifact, crafted by the "mechanical expert" himself, lies a drop of blood that shimmers like a ruby, originating from the primordial Omega.

He activated his spiritual vision and stared into the metal sphere. Centered on the blood, there were nine "small snakes" containing blurry red lines.

Their outer skin is derived from Omega skin tissue, and the bloodline is a strand of Omega blood, floating aimlessly.

The "mechanical expert's" focus returned to the exterior of the metal sphere, with layers upon layers of runes, each one personally inscribed by him.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a metal player from the helipad.

"Ready! Ready!"

"The 'Alpha' Legion's Aquila shuttles have arrived. Please pay homage to Primarch Omega..."

Accompanied by a rousing notification sound, the ruby ​​blood inside the metal sphere in Rosicky's hand trembled slightly, turning a deep crimson like blood.

Five “little snakes” suddenly sprang up and simultaneously crashed into the metal casing in the same direction, causing runes to jump up one after another.

Rosicky stared at the five gleaming runes located in the same area.

He quickly looked up and confirmed that the direction of the rune was the deck of the helipad.

Rosicky saw the distance indicator on the tarmac, which showed 20 kilometers.

[Including my distance from the landing zone, the maximum effective detection range is 20.2 kilometers.]
Rosicky examined the azure metal sphere again, the emerald green runes inscribed upon it growing brighter and brighter.

[The closer the distance, the brighter the light.]
The servo arm behind him moved rapidly, precisely recording the brightness of the runes on the data panel in his right hand.

On the monitor on the tarmac, when the distance to the jump reached 100 meters, Rosicky retracted the servo arm, turned around, and left.

The Primarch's attendants who arrived exchanged nods with the Forge Master. The Keeper of Knowledge lingered on the gleaming metal sphere for a moment before continuing forward.

At the same moment, Robert Guilliman, in high spirits, entered Nimrod's palace before Omega and Lane Eljonsson.

Fighting alongside Nimrod, a key figure among the Fearless Brothers, filled him with anticipation for the Turks' campaign to purify the aliens.

[Hmm?] Guilliman frowned slightly. The obsidian was tilted erratically, defying the laws of mechanics, and looked like a damaged dome.

The twelve flags of each battle group were arranged asymmetrically, with three on the left, four on the right, and five in the center.

Guilliman surveyed his surroundings, and the scene of calculation, which completely defied the Fibonacci sequence, made him feel somewhat uneasy.

As a seasoned politician, Guilliman quickly concealed the subtle expressions of discomfort he might have been displaying.

He had long heard that Ninglu, in addition to his fondness for all sorts of strange things, also liked asymmetrical and disordered architectural styles.

The Shadow Keep, a fortress monastery within the "Shadow of Order," is one of the most unique buildings in the Empire. It is said that outsiders are affected by some supernatural force and become lost within it.

"Guilliman, welcome."

"Father."

"Ninglu, it's a pleasure to fight alongside you."

After greeting Nimrod, who had given him a warm welcome, Guilliman turned his gaze to Glenn Wosotto, who was standing next to Nimrod, and nodded slightly.

"You did well."

When Wosotto heard Guilliman's affirmation for the first time, he was filled with mixed emotions.

Guilliman had always disliked Terrans, and the first time he affirmed himself was because of his performance in following Lord Nimrod.

He earned honor for the Ultramarines in this war, all because of Lord Nimrod's trust.

Wosotto lowered his head and walked behind Guilliman, his gaze sweeping over Marius Gage.

My father will never trust me or the other Terrans.

My decision to pledge allegiance to Lord Nimrod was correct; only he would give me this opportunity.

I must secure support for myself, and for the Terrans of the First and Second Chapters, or we will forever remain mere tools for carrying out extermination orders.
He raised his head and, along with Gage, walked to the seats on either side of Guilliman and sat down.

After Nimrod spoke with Guilliman for a while, Omega and Ryan arrived one after the other.

Ryan remained expressionless as he looked at Urian Bendreg, who was greeting him with Nimrod.

The moment their eyes met, Urian instinctively looked away.

Ryan's gaze was sharp as a knife. He lingered on Urian for a moment before walking to the spot reserved for him.

Urian silently followed and sat down between Chief Swordsman Kos Wayne and Priest Nemir and others.

The war council then began, with Guilliman speaking first.

"Based on the intelligence obtained from the battle between 'Shadow of Order' and the aliens, as well as from the infiltration of 'Alpha', I have developed a battle plan."

"First, the Combined Fleet, with its overwhelming naval superiority, will tear open the gateway to Turks. The specific plan is..."

Gage, in accordance with the Primarch's narration, connected the data panel to the Meditation Machine.

The star map flashes, and the numbers scroll.

Wosoto looked at Gage, who was clearly involved in the development of the battle plan.

This happened every time, and he was never allowed to participate.

Thinking back to how he had been involved in the formulation of the battle plan since meeting Lord Ninglu, Wosoto became even more determined in his choice.

Guilliman explained his plan in detail, including the fleet deployment arrangements, the operational areas of each fleet, and logistical support.

"After that, launch the landing operation."

"According to Imperial documents, Turks was a mountainous world before it was taken over by the Xenomorphs."

"The aliens will definitely use the terrain to build fortresses, and orbital bombardment won't be very effective. We must..."

Just as Gage was displaying the holographic star map of the Empire's data, with mountains categorized and marked, the silent Ryan suddenly spoke.

"and many more."

"Give us a ground operations plan once we reach Turks orbit."

“The aliens have been there for a long time, and the Turks are no longer what they used to be.”

Guilliman looked at Lane, "The battle plan should still be formulated in advance and adjusted according to the situation."

Nimrod observed a clash of ideologies between Guilliman, who was accustomed to handling multiple tasks simultaneously, and Ryan, who focused on one thing at a time.

He had anticipated this, and spoke up.

“Guilliman, you have a pre-planned strategy: once we arrive in the Turks system, Alpha will infiltrate and gather intelligence.”

Ninglu looked at Omega and pulled him into the conversation. Omega nodded in agreement, and he continued.

"After obtaining the scan results, we will finalize the battle plan."

“Okay.” Guilliman and Omega agreed, and Ryan nodded silently.

The three Primarchs rose at the same time, with Ryan taking the lead and walking away alone.

Just as Guilliman was about to speak to Nimrod, Omega spoke first.

"Ninglu, I have something to talk to you about."

After Guilliman nodded to Nimrod, he left with Gage, Wosotto, and the others.

Twenty minutes later, in the Primarch's private reception room.

Omega entered the room and chose the third seat on the right from the asymmetrical seating arrangement of five on the left and six on the right.

After drinking the finest black tea from the Cradle of the Sea, he began to speak.

“Ninglu, I want to thank you again for saving me from the evil alien.”

“Welcome back,” Nimrod put down his black teacup and looked at Omega scrutinizingly. “You should be adapting very well.”

“I am aware of the current state of the Empire, including all my brothers.” Omega’s eyes were deep.

“I think you should already know that our father, the Emperor, intends to leave the front lines.”

"He will appoint a commander to continue leading the Great Expedition."

"Horus, Lane, and Phenus have all taken action, and Guilliman's conquest has accelerated."

When Omega saw that Ninglu still had a smile on his face and hadn't changed at all, he was stunned for a moment before continuing.

"I will support you in becoming a War General."

"Not just because you rescued me, but also because we both value information."

[And the royal court you've built has many secrets.] When Omega and Alpharis communicated, they reached a consensus that only the "Dark Angel" and the "Shadow of Order" shared a similar attitude towards information and secrecy.

Guilliman is the least suitable to be a war coach, followed by Finus and Peturabo.

They are skilled at calculation, but they don't respect their secrets like Nimrod does.

Hiding secrets is too costly; they would lose many intelligence personnel.

"You also mediated the conflict between the brothers, allowing us to fight together using the cultural methods of our respective legions."

Omega explained why the two brothers ultimately chose between Ryan and Nimrod.

"I have no interest in the position of War General. I will follow the Emperor's choice and obey the orders of the person who will serve as War General."

Ninglu waited until Omega finished speaking before immediately refusing.

Even though Alpharis has followed Huang Laohan the longest, he still doesn't know him well enough. How could the War Master be chosen by "voting"? Whoever he chooses is whoever he chooses.

However, if I really had to choose, who would I support...?
Ninglu examined all the possible candidates with great interest.

[First, eliminate three people: Ryan, Finus, and Guilliman.]

They were all outstanding military strategists, perfectly capable of serving as war commanders and leading various expeditionary fleets to victory.

Guilliman's only problem was that, now that he was in that position, it was much harder to hide the Legion's secrets in his reports; he was the type to read every report, even the appendices and logs, in detail whenever he had free time.
Nimrod thought of the "Battle of Gadinar" launched by Fernus to win the position of Warmaster, but in the end he realized that he was not suitable.

Fernus will calculate all factors and finally make the most "rational" choice.

But this was too cruel to the other legions. He used Guilliman's sons as cannon fodder, without considering the lives of millions of auxiliary troops.

Even without the Battle of Gardinal, there would have been other battles, and Finus would have quickly realized that he was not suited to be a war commander.
Although Fernus had a friendly relationship with Nimrod, he would not support a cruel person as a warlord, and he would never allow his offspring to be used as cannon fodder.

[The problem with Ryan is even bigger. I might support him in the memory of him ten thousand years in the future, but it's completely impossible now.]

Arrogance was irrelevant; in order to win, he disregarded all costs and sacrifices, not only towards other legions but also towards most of his own.

He can't even manage his relationship with his own children, let alone Luther, Zaharie, and most of the Terrans. The flying headbutt that sent Nemir's head flying was just a symptom...
Ninglu examined the three people who did not support him and made his own judgment.

[Guilliman's words are just a bit more troublesome.]

With Fernus and Lane as Warmasters, and without the Four Peddlers involved, many Primarchs would rebel. At least, I cannot accept the two of them leading.

Hmm... Forgrim would support Fernus, but as for Ryan... besides Perturabo, who else would support him?
Nimrod then thought of the remaining two people, Horus and Saint Gilles.

They are all fine; they won't affect my development.

Regardless of any premonitions, Horus's achievements and attitude towards other Primarchs make him the most suitable candidate.

Old Huang's choice wasn't wrong; he was simply corrupted by the four peddlers in the end.
Ninglu gathered his thoughts and spoke to the puzzled Omega.

"I would prefer to get intelligence support from 'Alpha'."

Alpha is adept at infiltration and has trained a large number of agents in various parts of the world.

Ignoring psionic acquisition and the divination of "Shadow of Order," Alpha is the leader in obtaining intelligence through conventional means.

Omega paused for a moment, realizing that information and secrets were more valuable than the War General.

"Okay." He agreed first, and would discuss the scope of intelligence provision with Alpharis later.

At the same time that Omega's Skyhawk shuttle took off, in the Primarch Office.

Nimrod instructed Arsena Dunn, “Omega has agreed to provide us with intelligence, but we cannot completely trust him.”

“Every intelligence report must be reviewed by your entourage, and you will make the final decision.”

“Yes, my lord,” Rosicky replied after the “Knowledge Keeper” answered.

“My lord, I am conducting the first test on the item used to detect Alpha.”

He displayed the metal sphere to Ninglu.

"Test successful. Alpha can be detected. Detection range is..."

Ning Lu nodded slightly, thinking to himself.

[Omega, you not only supported me in becoming the commander-in-chief, but also helped me create the Alpha Detection Ball.]

Even though you don't know it, it's still a way of showing gratitude.
"Continue the research and conduct the next round of trials in Turks."

Considering that Rosicky's ability to create magical items would further improve with the advancement of the sequence, and that Alpha would only infiltrate the various legions on a large scale after being persuaded to rebel by the cult, he decided not to create all the identification orbs at once.

His plan was to produce thirteen pills before the grand birthday celebration began, distribute them among the twelve battle groups, and keep one for his flagship.

(End of this chapter)