Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 351 Tyrant Star

The Vischer family's ties to the empire were so deep that he believed the arrival of the regent was an attempt by Guilliman to reconcile their conflict with Gao Yi.

Of the three families, he was the one least willing to engage in a direct conflict with the empire.

However, the latter two families thought differently. The Cassini family believed that as long as they united with other navigator families, they could gain an advantage and obtain more benefits without giving up any of their own interests.

So what if he's a regent? He still needs these navigators.

Although the Ortelius family was not as overtly radical as the Cassini family, their intentions, both overt and covert, were almost identical.

Besides disagreeing with the Wiescher family's opinion, they also didn't want to be the first to stick their neck out.

Although they possessed vast wealth, the decline of their family members meant they could not afford any further losses.

“Our argument is pointless. Do you two really think you can ignore the Regent’s demands? Our refusal is just giving them an excuse to cause trouble.”

Do you know how many people the Regent killed on Terra? You all saw his expeditions; he showed no mercy even to the sector governors!
"If we were to engage in direct conflict, aren't you afraid that the Assassins of the Assassin's Court would target us?"

Ovid, the patriarch of the Vischer family, silenced the remaining two as well.

“Ovid, since you disagree with my opinion, then you should come up with a feasible solution. You have seen the decisiveness of the Montgomery dynasty. If we agree to that meeting request, what if they really ignore Guilliman and kill us?”

Given the other party's current status and achievements in the Empire, do you really think Lord Guilliman would punish him for killing us? The other party is now the true ruler of the Expansion District and the Calicus Sector, the Inquisition, the Holy Mechanism, the Astral Army, and the Astartes.

Have you ever seen any imperial power that possesses all these strengths simultaneously? Moreover, the speed at which they accumulate wealth is terrifying. I think you've all seen that trading platform, right? In just a few short years, the wealth accumulated by the Montgomery Dynasty has already surpassed the total accumulation of our Navigator families over thousands of years.

His dynasty and its allies, like hungry wolves, entered all walks of life, using money, resources, and force to seize markets.

A large portion of the profits already belong to us. Do you really think that high lord would willingly give them up?
The world's wealth and resources are finite. If he takes one more bite, we take one less. I imagine everyone is now starting to sell their possessions, even using family assets they would never have touched before, to maintain the normal operation and livelihood of their entire family!

Clyde, the patriarch of Cassini, said without any mercy that while Veschel and Otellius could live off their past achievements, his newly formed navigator family could not afford to at all.

The Cassini family is now even struggling to maintain its normal operations.

“But war is ultimately undesirable, Clyde. Aren’t your slain private soldiers enough proof of this? Our strength is far too disparate, and we are ultimately dependent on the Empire. Perhaps we can explore other star sectors and establish new partnerships, abandoning the interests of expansion and the Calissis sector.”

Ovid revealed his worst-case scenario.
Ovid's words made Clyde sit back down in his seat, and it seemed that Clyde was about to be persuaded by Ovid.

The words of Pasini, the patriarch of the Otellius family, made both of them turn to look at him.

"Gentlemen, stop clinging to these unrealistic fantasies. The Montgomery Dynasty must have mastered technologies we don't know about. Their long-distance travel can already leave the warp. They are definitely not training navigators on their own or mastering some fast and safe route. Do you really believe their nonsense excuses to the outside world?!"

The existence of the Montgomery dynasty will only lead us to our destruction!

"Pasini, stop spouting nonsense. If you can, come and find us a suitable solution!"

"Of course there are suitable options. The three of us combined are indeed not enough, and the same goes for all the navigator families in the expanded regions and the Calissis sector. It's impossible to eliminate the Montgomery Dynasty with just these forces. However, we can rely on some external forces."

Passini's words drew the attention of both Ovid and Clyde, who were curious about the foreign power he spoke of.
"Speak, Pasini, stop playing coy." "Do you remember the Dakka family?"

The expressions of the two men changed upon hearing the word "Dhaka".

"Pasini! What do you mean by that? Are you related to the Daka family?!"

Ovid stood up and questioned Pasini.

The Dakka family was originally a large navigator family active in the expansion area.

They arrived here during the Anjou Expedition to expand the territory of Calicus, but due to the large-scale chaos caused by the war with another navigator family, the living saint Drusus of the Empire stripped them of all their property and status.

They were exiled to remote, uninhabited star sectors, and fueled by long-standing resentment, they began to secretly oppose the Empire's support for various rebellions, even sending navigators to serve on ships opposed to the Empire.

This family had long been labeled traitors and heretics by the Empire and expelled from the Empire's Navigator system.

Ovid and Clyde both knew of this family, but their long period of seclusion had made them almost forgotten.
"Do you intend to cooperate with them?! What if the court finds out?"

"No, no, no, it's not related. You can treat it as a tool. Besides, haven't the Tribunal used the power of Chaos enough? We can attend the meeting proposed by the Regent. Gao Yi will definitely be there too. Our agents and spies have been searching for his whereabouts but have found nothing."
Now he's delivered himself right to our doorstep!

Both of them understood what Pacini was saying.
"You want to use the Daka family to kill Gao Yi Mengget?! That won't do. At this kind of meeting, regardless of whether it succeeds or not, as long as we take action, Guilliman will place the biggest suspicion on us."

Ovid immediately rejected the suggestion.

“Under normal circumstances, that might indeed be the case, but suspicion is still suspicion. Clyde, you also said that if Gao Yi really killed us, he might not necessarily be punished by Guilliman, and the same goes for us.”

Killing Gao Yi would prevent Guilliman from using the technology, so we would still be his only option.

Moreover, suspicion might not actually fall on us. What if my Dakka family could predict where Tyrant Star would appear next?

"Tyrant Star?!"

"That's right! By taking advantage of the chaos caused by the tyrant, we can completely shift the blame to this calamity star. It was this star that attracted the Dakka family and brought about the chaos. What does it have to do with us?!"

This planet has existed for countless ages, and no one has ever known where it came from.

"But the emergence of this Tyrant Star was completely unpredictable. How could Dhaka possibly have known?! Do you know how many resources the Inquisition has invested in the question of this planet's origin?"

"Isn't that even better? The more mysterious it is, the less suspicious we are. The wonder of this world is that we can always discover things we don't know, isn't it?"
Perhaps the Dakka family knows some secrets on a planet unknown to anyone?

After he finished speaking, a bird claw mark on the back of Pasini's magnificent robe began to glow eerily... but no one noticed it.

The Tyrant is a mysterious astronomical phenomenon in the entire Calicus sector and its surrounding areas. Every appearance of the Tyrant brings disaster or even destruction to the Empire.

Even some of the most powerful figures in Calicus formed a secret meeting in an attempt to uncover the truth about Tyrant Star, but after so many years, they still found nothing.
(End of this chapter)