Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 358 Prelude to Invasion
As the space elevator passing through the starport reached the Earth's surface.

The disdain in Fletcher's eyes was even more obvious.

Sintira, the most prosperous capital city in the Calesis sector, appeared so wild and backward to Fletcher.

Many technologies, in his view, wouldn't even be used by civilians in his time.

Even though Fletcher was dressed in clothes provided by Collins to conceal his appearance in this crowded trading market, he still attracted attention.

His face, occasionally peeking out from under his hood, and his undeniable charisma made him seem like an oddity in this area.

Looking at this barbaric and backward world, Fletcher even had an urge to kill them all.

"This is our world... How dare they turn it into this! Look at these people... filthy... ignorant..."

"My lord! Let's leave. We're too conspicuous here; we'll easily attract the attention of those usurpers."

Collins couldn't help but say this as he saw more and more people paying attention to them and Fletcher becoming increasingly irritable.

He didn't want to expose himself now...it would disrupt the original plan...he knew Fletcher's psionic abilities were very strong...

But after all, there were only two of them, and the warships of those pseudo-imperial followers were still floating overhead...

He planned to take Fletcher to the location where Gao Yi and the Navigators would be meeting, as scheduled.

However, what they didn't know was that their group had already attracted the attention of the agents dispatched there by the Montgomery dynasty.

The trade market, being a place where all sorts of people mingle, has always been home to a large number of agents, judges, and attendants from the tribunal led by Ian.

The news of Gao Yi's impending arrival has prompted them to raise their alert level to the highest level, determined not to overlook any anomalies.

These people, ostensibly from the court, were actually all members of the Montgomery dynasty.

Just like the Blood Raven, we must start with the fundamental selection process to ensure that those who join the imperial official departments are also on the side of the Montgomery dynasty.

"Casey, have you seen that person?"

"You mean that hooded man? He looks like a high-ranking nobleman. A high-ranking nobleman bringing only a few people to the trade market?"

“I also think something’s off. They don’t look like they’re here to buy or sell anything. These days, with trading platforms… which noble would come to a place like this in person? These are special times. Notify the rangers and also contact the nearby Blood Ravens. They have a killing squad stationed here. Let’s go check it out!”

But just as the two agents were preparing to take action, a riot suddenly broke out in the entire trade market.

Frenzied roars and screams suddenly erupted throughout the trading market. Some people, their faces contorted in pain, then launched a sudden attack on the crowd.

One of them even suddenly awakened psychic powers.

The uncontrollable surge of psychic energy released an impact that instantly killed those nearby.

These out-of-control individuals rushed into the crowd. At this moment, they seemed to have completely lost their minds, hacking and killing anyone they saw.

Those without weapons even used their teeth to bite through the throats of their companions.

Upon witnessing this scene, the agents could no longer afford to worry about Fletcher and his group and immediately launched an attack on the attackers. The scene before them resembled a riot caused by lurking Chaos cultists, and the piercing alarm attracted the city's defense forces and law enforcement.

A nearby Blood Raven squad also rushed towards the scene.

Under the overwhelming force, the riot was quelled in the blink of an eye, leaving only a field of corpses.

Just as the two agents turned back to continue searching for Fletcher and his group, they had already vanished without a trace.
The two agents approached Blood Raven.

"My lord... what exactly is going on?"

"The power of the warp... perhaps it belongs to cultists?"

The think tank member from the Blood Raven team spoke in a deep voice.

Is it related to chaos?

The two agents immediately brought up Fletcher, whom they had noticed earlier.

However, when they tried to confirm the other party's identity and whereabouts through the surveillance equipment here, they found that they could not see the other party's appearance clearly in the surveillance footage. In fact, after the other party left, all the surveillance cameras that could see the other party became invalid.

"Find them! We absolutely have to find them!"

However, in the minds of Blood Raven and the Inquisition agents, Fletcher and his group were just cult members and they didn't think too much about it.

Everyone initially thought the chaos was caused by the Chaos Cult trying to disrupt Gao Yi, Guilliman, and the leaders' meeting. However, after investigating these irrational individuals, it was discovered that their identities were almost entirely unrelated.

There were even a few merchants who served the dynasty.
This whole affair is eerily strange. While others might have been unwittingly misled by the chaos, those working for the dynasty are subjected to comprehensive checks every so often.
How did this chaotic corruption escape the purifying power of the mark of purity?!
What the Dynasty agents were unaware of was that this was the Precursor Disaster triggered by Comos's ever-approaching approach to Sintira.

Fletcher finally couldn't resist and mobilized some of Comos's power.

At this moment, Comos, which was infused with a large amount of the power of the Four Gods, was becoming increasingly effective against the secondary disasters that had been mentioned earlier.

The power of the gods, aided by the power of the Well of Eternity held by Comos and Tzeentch, was able to directly influence the real universe through the veil of reality to a certain extent, causing these people to instantly lose their minds.

By the time the agents noticed Fletcher, he had already been discovered by the other side.

Upon seeing Blood Raven's think tank, Fletcher's face also showed an expression of interest.

He doesn't think much of current technology, but he still finds psionic energy very interesting.

In Fletcher's view, it was no easy feat to have such stable control over psionic energy through such ordinary genetic enhancement technology.

“Come on, Collins, take me to meet the other followers you mentioned. I’ll tell Olivia to prepare for action.”

"Yes, my master!"

Collins led Fletcher toward the designated Navigator's Palace.

Pacini had already arranged for people to meet and wait for the two to arrive.

"Lord Fletcher, Pasini, the patriarch of the Ottilus family, pays his respects to you. The power of myself and my family will be at your disposal!"
We will help you rebuild your empire!

Pasini looked at Fletcher with respect, but also with a hint of longing... He longed to acquire the same powerful spiritual energy as the golden statue before him...

Fletcher looked around the palace with great interest, reaching out to touch the exhibits in the display cases.

Many of the artworks and decorations are even relics from the Golden Age, prompting him to reminisce about that era.

The more this was the case, the less Fletcher could accept that the once glorious past had come to this. "You say the leaders of those two usurpers will be here soon?"

"Yes! My lord!"

"Great, at least we don't need to go looking for them anymore. We can take care of them once and for all!"

“My lord… I’m afraid we can’t do it on our own… Your control over psionic energy is unmatched. As navigators, we are well aware of the power of psionic energy. But if the enemy is someone else, it’s fine. However, if the enemy is Gao Yi, we need more power.”

The opponent has this special ability; he can devour spiritual energy. Trying to kill him with spiritual energy is very difficult... And if he fails and cannot kill the opponent in one go, the consequences will be unimaginable. The opponent's warship is still docked in orbit.

If the enemy, in a fit of rage, uses warships to attack, none of us will survive!

Pasini reminded Fletcher that even the divine power of the Four Gods could be devoured... Fletcher's psychic power was far from reaching that level.

"Absorbing psionic energy? Don't worry, our methods are not limited to that..."

Fletcher used his psionic powers to contact Olivia, who was still on Comos.

Olivia was also having a terrible headache at this moment...

Repairing some of the extinction remnants did not go as smoothly as expected, as there were originally hundreds of powerful automated machine soldiers in Comos.

But almost everything had been destroyed in the demon's attack.

Normally, the maintenance of these automated soldiers is done by the stone golems they create.

These loyal stone men, with their formidable mechanical abilities, caused most of the gold people to become complacent in their mechanical studies.

After all, the stone men can handle everything, and even do it better. Besides, they're obsessed with psychic ascension, so why should they bother to work on the mechanical aspects?

Fortunately, the maintenance equipment in Comos was highly automated. STCs were not uncommon in their time; any colonial fleet would have one, let alone Comos, although most of these devices were damaged in battle.

However, Olivia discovered that a small number of devices were still functioning normally, which was beyond what was expected.

These devices, like the internal intelligent systems of Comos, were possessed by Tzeentch's demons.

If even the antivirus software itself has become a demon, then there's no way it can protect the devices here from being possessed by demons.

Driven by psionic and demonic forces, it was impossible to repair all the automatons.

However, by piecing together the still relatively intact parts, they were still able to successfully repair 30 automated machine soldiers in a short period of time.

After regaining control, these automated mechs can still exert at least 70% of their original combat power.

Even 70% is quite terrifying. Imagine what it would be like if 30 units that are physically similar to the original Gene on paper suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

It feels neither tired nor in pain, possessing a metallic body and weapons from the Golden Age, coupled with the system's powerful computing capabilities.

Any one of them appearing on a regular battlefield can be said to be capable of changing the course of the battle.

"Fletcher, 30 bodies. These 30 are the best we can do right now!"

Hearing Olivia's answer, Fletcher felt even more reassured.

"That's enough... Once we deal with these two usurpers, we'll have plenty of time to find the manufacturing and research facilities that are still in operation. From what their servants have said, the star sectors controlled by these usurpers are now much smaller than our former territory!"

Wait for my signal. I will guide you with my psychic powers. Once you receive my psychic signal, send it all to me!

"Don't worry, I'm all ready. Although the weapon systems on the Comos are severely damaged, some of them are still functioning normally. If their warships are really as advanced as you say, the Comos is more than capable of dealing with them now!"

"Give me all those warships in orbit!"

"Olivia, are you able to contact any of your fellow countrymen?"

"No... Comos's AI system only recorded their message. They said they had gone to other important worlds of the usurpers and that they could not communicate with them remotely without Comos's help."

"I understand... They must have their reasons for doing this! Let's finish what we need to do first!"

After receiving confirmation from Olivia, Fletcher looked at Collins and Pasini again.

"No need to worry, I've already prepared a way to deal with him. Take me with you to that meeting you mentioned!"

"As you command!"
-
Meanwhile, Gao Yi and Guilliman had already arrived on Sintira.

All preparations for the meeting have been completed.

Controlling these navigators sooner will alleviate the pressure on the Empire more quickly.

Under the protection of a group of guards, the group headed to the palace owned by the Navigator family.

However, Guilliman, who was sitting next to Gao Yi on the way, did not look worried.

"Guilliman? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Yes. My expeditionary fleet has sent a message: large-scale demonic invasions have occurred in the Misty Starfield, the Peaceful Starfield, the Limitless Starfield, and the Stormy Starfield..."

"A demonic invasion? Even if the entire planet is corrupted, your expeditionary fleet should be able to handle it with its current strength, right?"

"That's true, but it's too abnormal... Some planets didn't show any signs at all... There were no warp rifts or storms around them."

Suddenly, an entire demonic legion appeared on the planet... If it weren't for your quantum communication system, we wouldn't even have known about the situation there in advance... In the past, such an invasion would have swept across several nearby star sectors, each of which would have been enough to cause the Empire to sacrifice a large number of soldiers.

The inquisition suspects that Alpha-level or higher psychic beings have appeared in these areas, perhaps even stronger?

"Alpha-class?! When did Alpha-class psionicists become so worthless? But as you said, that was in the past, Guilliman. Focus your energy on the present. Nothing is more important than what's happening now: gain control of them. I will send my fleet to work with you to resolve these issues."

Even so, Gao Yi still had a bad feeling in his heart.

The Chaos have been lying dormant for so long, they must be brewing some kind of conspiracy. Cypher has not sent any intelligence, which means that this should not be the work of those Chaos Space Marines. With their size, they absolutely could not have carried out such a large-scale simultaneous attack.

Gao Yi also believed that Chaos had gained a considerable understanding of his strength. Since they had launched such a large-scale operation, they must at least feel that it posed a sufficient threat to the current empire or to him.

After listening to Gao Yi's words, Guilliman nodded. As fighter jets landed on the landing site, the Ultramarines and Night Guardians began to take over the surrounding defenses.

The patriarchs of the three major families dared not delay and all greeted the two at the landing site.

(End of this chapter)