Warhammer: Black Emperor

The legions assembled in Chapter 801 already exceeded the combined forces of three legions.

988.M30.

"The Disordered Country," the third layer of space.

Ninglu picked up the gleaming triangular cone, and the information about Heliossa flashed through his mind.

[The Heliossa Galaxy is located in the Ark Edge Cluster, which consists of six galaxies.]
The Ark Edge Cluster is much smaller than the Cyclops Cluster in the Colony New Area, which encompasses more than one hundred galaxies.

Many worlds within this star cluster originate from a diverse genetic baseline. They have been isolated from the human race for thousands of years and differ significantly from the prototype genome, but within acceptable limits.

The numerous worlds of the six star systems are interconnected through trade corridors and share a defense network.

The star system where Heliossa is located is a binary system, composed of the Aven people.

[…]
Ninglu had planned ahead, and before the grand birthday celebration, he had all the "Corrupted Barons" of Sequence 6 promoted to "Chaos Mentors".

The numerous civilizations in the Ark Edge Cluster have developed over thousands of years, fulfilling the requirement of an eleven-thousand-year ascension ceremony.

Apart from Zadekiel, the "Descendant of the Featherbrush" chapter leader of the "Word Bearers" who had previously been promoted to the Jingyuan Federation homeworld, he did not summon Balsa Kuturi, who had been promoted to the "Dark Raven Guard" think tank director.

He didn't want to get too close to Balsa and influence the future selection of him by Macardo as the founding mentor of the "Grey Knights," Augen.

Moreover, considering the future responsibilities of the "Grey Knight," completing the promotion ceremony is not difficult.

Twenty people were promoted this time. Apart from the deputy commander of the Dark Angels and the grand mentor of the Grand Knights, Luther, the rest were all high-ranking commanders of the Eleventh Legion.

The squadron leader was Per Koscielny, the first company commander was Gibbs, the second company commander was Kirkland, and the third company commander was Chambers, among eighteen others.

The Ark Cluster not only allows the "Corrupted Barons" to complete their ascension rites, but the Shrike on Heliossa and the library of the Phoenix Court are also of great value.

The Snowfield Shrike's swift speed was so great that even Azek Ahriman, a top psychic in the field of prophecy, struggled to keep up.

Its beak can easily pierce the power armor of the "Thousand Sons" scarab terminator like a knife cutting through tofu, and it is very likely a magical potion ingredient.

The books in the Phoenix Royal Court amazed Magnus, who was browsing through the cultural treasures of various nations during the "Great Expedition."

Ninglu's mind raced through a wealth of information about Helios and the Aivens, which he considered quite in-depth, and then he silently recited it to himself.

[The star map leading from the Caligum Gate to Heliossa.]

[…]
After silently reciting it eleven times, he reached out and threw the prophecy die in his hand.

After tumbling several times in the air, the triangular pyramid landed in Ninglu's outstretched hand, projecting a dazzling star map.

He released the triangular cone, then flipped his wrist, and a dark data crystal appeared out of thin air.

The primordial gene is infused with psionic energy, and as the information flow becomes richer, the data crystals continue to brighten.

Ninglu took a step and returned to the real world.

He took the data crystal, walked out of the office, and went to the Primarch Palace.

Twelve metal rods extending down from the dome, along with the flags of various battle groups hanging at their bases, are arranged asymmetrically, three on the left, four on the right, and five in the center.

"My lord." The twelve battle group commanders and the company commanders present all stood up.

Most of the lords of the "Shadow of Order" were attending a Legion meeting in the real world for the first time.

Lord Howard Finder of the First Legion and Thierry Vieira of the Eighth Legion followed the Black Emperor from Vostonia to rise to power. Lord Adams of the Fourth Legion and Sanchez of the Seventh Legion, along with other former Reapers, still remember the scene of gathering in the Flame Wheel system when the Legion was not yet large.

At that time, Lord Wilshire of the Second Warband, Flamini of the Sixth Warband, and William Wood of the Twelfth Warband had not yet become the shadow of the Order.

Nimrod handed the data crystal to Artena Dunne, who then shared it with the lords and company commanders through the Primarch's servants. He then looked around at the lords.

He summoned all chapters again after the "Randan War" because the battle of the Arkside Cluster had plunged the three Astartes into a bitter struggle.

After the "Word Bearers" were the first to discover this region of space, the "Space Wolves" joined the war and successfully conquered four star systems.

Riemann Russ, mired in the war, requested assistance from Magnus, and Amrodi Skasen Skasenson, the wolf lord of the Fifth Company, was ordered to bring "Thousand Sons" to the battlefield.

[Well, if Ruth hadn't wanted the treacherous old wolf Osher Woldmaker to steal the Thousand Sons' intelligence, his decision to seek help would be completely incomprehensible. Ruth couldn't possibly turn to Magnus, with whom he had a long-standing feud, instead of Guilliman, who respected him and led the largest army at the time.]
Ning Lu suddenly recalled the conflict between Qianzi and the wild wolf at Phoenix Cliff.

Chiko, who protected the library from being burned down by wolves, used her psionic energy to tear apart the charging Fenris wolves.

Qianzi and the wolf faced each other and shoved each other.

Ruth kills Hastur, the Thousand Sons of the "Bright Feather School," whose flesh and blood have mutated.

Magnus and Russ were facing each other with swords drawn, and if it weren't for Loga, who was a friend of both of them, intervening, a fight would have broken out.

Before leaving, Ruth used the Siren's Bite, which he had seized in Duran and which was displayed on the weapon shelf in the office, to cut his palm and swear a blood oath:
“Your hands are stained with Fenris’s blood. There will be a final reckoning between us, Magnus.”

[Ruth, I was too good to you after all. This time you don't need to swear a blood oath.]
Ning Lu gathered his thoughts and returned his attention to the battle in the Ark Edge Cluster.

After being invited to join, "Thousand Sons" successfully conquered the fifth star system.

However, during the decisive Battle of Ulano, Heliossa's three Astartes were caught in a fierce battle.

By 999, the three legions had nearly reached their peak numbers before the grand birthday celebration:
The Space Wolf has 95,000 to 100,000 members.

The number of "thousand sons" ranged from 80,000 to 85,000.

The “Word Bearers” are a special case. On the surface, they number only 100,000 to 150,000, but in reality, Logar recruited on a large scale after his pilgrimage to the Eye of Fear.

Like the current "Shadow of Order," the "Word-Holders" overstated their military strength, with their actual force exceeding 200,000 during the grand birthday celebration.

Nimrod estimated that the Word Bearers would not deploy more than 100,000 troops in the Ark Outer Cluster.

He considered other battles, such as the Third Legion's estimated deployment of about 230,000 troops in the Ark Edge Cluster after the Jingyuan Federation War, which was originally scheduled to take place at the time, but which was still embroiled in a bitter struggle in Heliossa.

In his memory, the First Society of Ahriman alone, the Second Society of Phossis Taka, the Temple Chief of the "Falcon School," and the Third Society of Hathor Mat of the "Bright Feather School" had collectively killed more than three million Evan warriors in the six months leading up to the final battle.

Nimrod decided to deploy 270,000 Order Shadows to launch a war against Heliosar without affecting the current front lines and defenses of the various warbands.

[The assembled legions already exceed the combined forces of the three legions deployed in the Ark Edge Cluster.] He nodded with a smile.

Ning Lu watched as all the battle group commanders and participating company commanders finished reviewing the information before turning his attention to the "Corrupted Barons" of the 11th Battle Group.

"In this campaign, we not only need to acquire the entire star cluster, but also have specific objectives."

"I will hand over the war in the five star systems to the Eleventh War Group."

"You are to gather intelligence on the various worlds, and then plan and lead the war of conquest."

After concluding the war conference, Ninglu returned to his office.

Luther, dressed in a black robe and wearing a crystal mask, was already standing at the door.

"My lord."

Ninglu nodded, walked back to his desk, sat down, and listened to Luther's report.

"...That's what Meryl Astland told me."

Ninglu nodded slightly; Merrill's words had awakened his memories.

[Yes, it's similar to what Merrill said in my memory, but at a different time. I remember it was probably during the grand birthday celebration when interstellar communication was not working.]

However, Merrill was indeed a pragmatic person who hated Ryan.

The corrupted baron's outward display of power was more pronounced than that of Luther, whose appearance hadn't changed significantly at the time, so his early defection wasn't surprising.
He thought of the conspiracy organizer that Luther had just mentioned and gave the order.

"I will grant you power soon. After you return to Caliban, try to subdue Merian and Nereids."

Luther's eyes lit up, and he knelt on one knee excitedly: "As you wish."

(End of this chapter)