Warhammer 40k: Melee Warriors

Several years ago, the Tau Empire's pioneering fleet encountered the Orks. They were utterly defeated by the green tide, and even lost much of the world they had cultivated over a long period of time. In desperation, Vashtor had no choice but to create this new type of machine bee to strengthen the combat power of the Tau Empire's army.

Of course, he could also fill in some codes to make these machine bees ruthlessly betray their master when necessary, but such attempts all failed because the Kruts were too sensitive to the warp.

The thought of the Krutts made Vashtor grit his teeth in hatred. A large part of the reason he was constrained in the Tau Empire was because of these damned carnivorous aliens. If it weren't for them guarding the Tau Empire, corruption would have already spread throughout these prosperous homeworlds.

In addition to the influence of the aliens, the progress of Vashtor is also limited by the Tau Empire system. They have built a brand new empire, not burdened by the heavy history of the past, which is completely different from the human empire that lives in the cesspool left by their predecessors.

They were able to accurately count the number of people in their world! This truly astonished Vashtor; the last time he had seen such an efficient government was 26,000 years ago, when humanity's golden age was just beginning.

Even Terra under the Emperor's rule, or Macragge under Guilliman's rule, did not perform as well as these Tau people.

Of course, they are able to do this thanks to the large-scale use of AI. They are unaware of the instability of these things yet, but Vashtor will tell them someday in the future.

After carefully sensing for a long time, Vashtor suddenly muttered under his breath, "Can you really lose your life just to collect a debt? What a useless piece of trash." Then, recalling the contract he had signed with this devilish employee, he quickly found the service he was supposed to provide.

If he can save them, he will; if not, then so be it. Anyway, demons don't have any relatives or anything, so he doesn't need to pay any compensation. Vashtor is just doing this to avoid breaking the contract.

If it's written in the contract, then it has to be done; otherwise, it shouldn't have been written in the first place.

Vashtor has built his power over his long journey through the warp, prioritizing honest business practices and adherence to rules. If he were to break his word, how would he differ from the capricious Chaos Gods?

He stood there, closed his eyes, and knew that the work ahead would not be easy for him either.

He separated his consciousness and flowed it into the subspace, then rushed towards the location where he had disappeared.

He quickly found the war-torn Ironbreaker Star and smelled the lingering scent of his demonic employees.

Chapter 553: You really know how to pick your time!

Ha...a bunch of ants, do you think you can bully my people?

Vashtor projected his consciousness, and his body, formed from the rubble of the Enschold Tank Factory, appeared before the ancient knight, who was about to jump off, amidst a rumbling sound.

Koji turned around and exclaimed inwardly.

Dude, you're really coming? This is the Gothic Sector, which is way too far from the damn remote Tau Empire on the edge of the galaxy. Aren't you being a bit too dedicated to being a boss?

Vashtor, whose body was forged from scrap iron, did not recognize that the same person was inside both Otto's and Markus's bodies. He merely gave a cold glance around, and the terrifying aura of a powerful demon immediately gripped the throats of many soldiers, making it difficult for them to breathe.

"Was it you? You killed my subordinate?" Vashtor's gaze locked onto the knight piloted by Komi. Komi immediately tensed up. He had read the book "Dead Zone of Exorcism". Vashtor's ability to control and corrupt machinery was simply outrageous. He could even humiliate the army of the Necromancer Dynasty.

How should I fight him? If I reveal that I work for Markus, will I be able to avoid a fight?

Komi swallowed hard, deciding to observe Vashtor's actions before making a decision.

Vashtor stared at the knight. Neither the reactivated ion shield nor the cratered armor could stop his gaze from penetrating. After a few breaths, he grasped the knight's structure and infused it with his own power. He prepared to let the cables on the mechanical throne pierce through Komi's body, drain his life force, and then launch an attack on the soldiers who were staring blankly at him. This would be considered as him fulfilling the terms of the contract.

As for why this devilish employee disappeared without a trace, Vashtor said that the world is so big that accidents happen all the time, and he was too lazy to delve too deeply into questions that had no answers; he was a very busy man.

"Go to hell..."

At that moment, there was a knock on Vashtor's door. The person who knocked seemed to be doing so simply to remind Vashtor, rather than to ask for his permission to enter the room.

Vashtor, located in the Tau Empire, suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes. He cursed inwardly at the damned Ether Prophet for coming at this crucial moment!

He suppressed his urge to grind the Ether Prophet to dust, endured the immense burden of his consciousness traversing such a long distance, and managed to force a respectful smile to greet the Ether Prophet.

The hatch opened, and a high-ranking ethereal prophet, accompanied by his guards, slowly walked into Vashtor's laboratory. If that were all, it would be fine, but Vashtor also saw a Krut chieftain wearing a bone amulet who followed him in.

The Krutians... Vashtor's face twitched; he still had to hide his demonic nature from the Krutians' damned sense of smell.

On the other side, Komi watched helplessly as the broken iron statue reached out its palm towards his knight. The knight's machine spirit also sensed an evil force corroding the machine. He was already prepared to take Firlin and escape from the cockpit immediately, but found that the huge statue made of scrap iron seemed to have fallen into a daze and was motionless.

Is Vashtor... experiencing a warp delay?

Koji could only understand the current situation with his own limited knowledge; he didn't know if this was a trap set by Vashtor to lure him into attacking.

At this moment, Vashtor was struggling to deal with the Ether Prophet and was unable to respond to the temptation of the ancients. He could only hope that the Ether Prophet had just come to offer his routine condolences.

The prophet of the ether entered, his hand stroking the smooth tabletop. Although his tone carried a calm undertone, as if not urging Vashtor to work, his flickering eyes betrayed his eagerness. "Tu.Vash, I heard your research is finished?"

Oh no... this guy isn't planning on leaving.

Vashtor gritted his teeth, which made his smile stiff and strange. The Ethereal Prophet noticed his abnormality and asked him with concern.

"Tu.Vash, are you alright?"

"Ahem... The long hours of work have made me a little nervous, please forgive my lapse in composure." Vashtor's explanation was approved by the Ethereal Prophet, who patted Vashtor's back a few times, a gesture of unparalleled honor and trust in the Tau Empire.

But Vashtor was not excited about this. He glanced at Chief Krut, who was sniffing the air, afraid that he might have actually smelled something.

The Ethereal Prophet has never brought such a crude beast into my laboratory before. Why is he doing this today? Is he starting to become wary of me?

As Vashtor was pondering, he suddenly felt a piercing pain. His temporary body, constructed from a separated part of his consciousness, was attacked by Komi, whose chainsaw sword sliced ​​off a surprisingly heavy piece of iron.

The Ether Prophet saw that Vashtor's blue skin had turned light blue and thought to himself that Vashtor had truly sacrificed too much for the prosperity of the Tau Empire, so he decided to give him a long vacation to rest for a few days.

But before that, the Ether Prophet was eager to learn about the results of his recent research.

“Of course, Your Excellency Prophet.” The agonizing Vashtor paid no heed to bowing to a Tauman. He pressed a button, opening the opaque blast barrier, and introduced his new product under the Ether Prophet’s gleaming eyes. He planned to deal with the Ancient One who had been attacking him while the Ether Prophet was still in shock.

A ship engine that meets the needs of the Tau Empire will help them cross the formidable Gulf of Damocles.

“Oh! This thing is really beautiful.” Ether took a few steps closer, and if he weren’t mindful of his appearance, he would have loved to press his face against it to examine this new ship engine closely.

Vashtor breathed a sigh of relief, and just as he was about to close his eyes to deal with the situation of Ironstar, he heard the plague-stricken voice of the Ether Prophet again.

The Ethereal Prophet asked the most crucial question, “How much can this engine reduce our travel time? I want a precise answer.”

"Based on calculations..."

Vashtor collapsed to the ground after saying only a few words, and heard Komina's increasingly smug laughter in his ears.

"I thought you were something special, but you just showed up briefly and then disappeared!"

Vashtor's eyelids twitched violently as he was lifted up by the machine bees. He coughed a few times, realizing that if he didn't quickly resolve the matter of Cutting Iron Star, he wouldn't be able to fulfill the promise he had written in the contract.

“You seem to be really exhausted.” The Ethereal Prophet frowned as he looked at Vashtor.

"Let me examine your body. We are excellent warriors and also excellent doctors." Chief Krut spoke, flashing beside Vashtor without giving him any chance. The smell of mud and rotting flesh mixed together flowed into Vashtor's senses.

Chapter 554: The Slave Master of Machines? We're Not Slaves!

Instead of stopping Chief Krut's actions, the Ether Prophet told Vashtor about how the herbs made by the Krut clan had saved the lives of Tau Empire soldiers on many battlefields.

It just doesn't taste very good. According to soldiers from the Tau Empire who used it, these herbs emit a strong stench similar to orc excrement after they dry.

You bastard... staying away from me is better than anything else...

Exhausted and in pain, Vashtor really wanted to curse the obsequious Chief Krut. He looked up and met the chief's bloodshot eyes, saying weakly, "I'm just overworked. I just need to rest for a while."

Are you kicking us out?

Chief Krut's words puzzled Vashtor; he couldn't tell whether it was a normal inquiry or a purposeful interrogation.

"I..."

“Alright, since Technician Tu.Vash has made this request, we should grant it. After all, he has made many contributions to the Tau Empire, hasn’t he?” The Ether Prophet said leisurely, leading Chief Krut and his guards out of Vashtor’s research institute. His voice drifted back in before the door closed.

"Tu.Vash technician, I hope you can understand my urgency. I'll give you half an hour to rest."

Half an hour? That's more than enough! Plenty of time!

Vashtor was not grateful for the Ether Prophet's understanding. He relied on the machine bees to close his eyes and concentrate on controlling the Iron Star's clone.

In that short period of time, his enormous body, which he had created from a large amount of wreckage and scrap metal, had been dismantled by Komi and was now on the verge of collapse.

"Enough! How long are you going to be so arrogant, you ant!" Vashtor roared in anger, instantly blasting Komi, who was piloting the knight, far away. Then he created two hands, preparing to cruelly kill Komi on the mechanical throne.

Damn, this guy's warp delay has recovered!

Komi was startled. Under Vashtor's control, the knight mech contracted inward, emitting a painful groan, and the cables he held in his hand began to move like venomous snakes.

Ma Wen turned the Knight's heavy cannon around, but just as she aimed at Vashtor, his indifferent glance took control of the Knight. The combat suits that tried to fire in unison were in no better shape. The machine spirits screamed under Vashtor's power, and one painful face after another was etched on the screen.

The God of Machines is the master of machines, and his existence is like a dream! I, Vashtor, am the supreme slave master who enslaves machines, and my traces are left everywhere in the warp!

This painful fluctuation continued to spread and amplify. The Pride of Iris had already been lifted into the air by the power of the warp, and would soon be compressed into a very small, extremely dense alloy block.

Komi could easily tear apart the compressed knights by relying on his passive nature, but Vashtor was truly enraged, causing the mechanical throne to endlessly grow cables that tightly bound Komi's body.

If you can't attack, then being passive is out of the question.

Komi struggled desperately, but Otto, without the Markarth Armor, was ultimately just a stronger mortal. He tried to bite off a few cables with his teeth to stack passives for himself, but the cables seemed to have foreseen something, always swaying slightly at his lips before suddenly swinging away.

Am I going to die here? Die at the hands of Vashtor?

Several cables tightly constricted Komi's neck, making it difficult for him to breathe. He strained to prevent the constricting cables from snapping his neck.

At this moment, the only option is to enter the pure white hall and utilize the power of the trade license.

Komi closed his eyes, preparing to send his soul into the Pure White Hall, but Vashtor's restraints far exceeded his expectations. The knight became a huge cage binding his soul, causing his attempt to enter the Pure White Hall to fail. He could only carve a small opening to get there.

But that's enough...

The pure white hall not only contained soul bricks, but also many flying machine souls. They sensed the situation here through the cracks, and were very dissatisfied with Vastor's arrogance in enslaving machines.

The Machine Souls support their friends in their own way, striving to fight against the corrupting power brought by Vashtor.

What is this thing? A machine spirit?

Vashtor was startled. He felt that his absolute control over the machinery had been greatly weakened. The alloy would not melt because of his arrival, and the cables would not twitch because of his shouts.

The machine spirit's resistance gave Komi a precious opportunity. As soon as he felt the cables binding his body loosen, he exerted his strength, preparing to use the power of the trade license to completely drive away Vashtor.

Wait... the struggle of the machine spirit?

Komi, who had just obtained the trade license, also realized something. He scanned the angry machine spirits in the pure white hall and watched them extract the power of Vashtor from the other machines.

If these machine spirits can withstand the corrupting power of Vashtor, could they also resist Tzeentch, or even the Void Dragons' corruption of technology?

When Komi realized this, an immense sense of happiness washed over him from head to toe, giving him goosebumps all over.

What are the reasons for the current stagnation and decay of the human empire? Besides the limitations imposed by the warp on the human empire's communication and transportation, there is also the Tzeentch's covetous eye on any progress or innovation.

He is indeed the god of change and progress, but what He likes is not to lead civilization toward light and hope through progress. He only likes people to advance step by step on what they believe to be progress, only to end up playing with fire and burning themselves, falling into a deeper despair than before. He sits on high and laughs at all of this, weaving new amusement for them.

Therefore, for a technology to become a driving force for the progress of a human empire, it must overcome many difficulties. Among these, the mechanical sages' selfish blocking of technology is merely the most insignificant and harmless obstacle.

The Church of Mechanics had to spend a considerable amount of time ensuring the purity of this technology, confirming that it was a legacy from the past, a gift from the Omniscient God, and not a trap set by the Dark Gods of the Warp.

Throughout the history of human empires, there have been many flawed technologies, such as the Hades-class heavy cruiser, which was initially conceived as an enhanced version of the Styx-class heavy cruiser with better performance.

As a result, some of the designs of these warships made them extremely susceptible to corruption by the warp. They were thrown into the Chaos Fleet along with a whole ship full of people and supplies. Now, they are part of Abaddon's fleet invading the Gothic Sector.