Warhammer: Empire Reboot

The captain remained silent.

"So what's your suggestion?"

"Pass this on to those who cherish words. Let them try it first."

The captain nodded in satisfaction.

"Caution is a virtue of a war general."

The officer bowed his head.

"For the War Commander."

Inside the helmet, the 666-faceless access swarm thinking system is implemented.

"From today onwards, you are the leader of the Infiltrators' battle group."

The faceless figure stood in the shadow of the bridge, its posture unchanged.

"Yes, my lord."

Lawson continued:

"Exclusive title: Shadow of the Infiltrator, Faceless One."

Lawson awarded him the tenth flag.

That flag has no physical form.

It exists only in the depths of the swarm's mind.

After the flag was received without a face, all 666 infiltrator nodes simultaneously completed their permission updates.

"You will not be included in the public battle reports."

"Your battle flags will not be planted on the Imperial battlefield."

"After you die, many people will only think of you as traitors to Chaos."

"But swarm intelligence will remember you."

"I can too."

"Your souls will return to the Temple of Glory!"

Six hundred and sixty-six nodes responded simultaneously.

"Facing chaos, the heart returns to the palm."

On the plaza of the Temple of the Great Forge, Lawson opened his eyes.

The nine warbands stood in the light.

The Lurker squad moves in the shadows.

That's complete.

The Avengers need a blade like the White Tiger, capable of tearing through enemy lines head-on, and also a shadow like the Infiltrator, capable of poisoning the enemy's wine, shifting lines on the enemy's star map, and adding a sentence to the enemy's oracle.

The Milky Way is too big.

There are too many enemies.

Lawson needs to proceed with extreme caution, as if walking on thin ice.

If Er Gou heard this, he would probably burst out laughing.

Because what Lawson called "walking on thin ice" usually manifests as publicly executing Typhons in front of the entire galaxy, verbally abusing the major Chaos forces to the point of breaking their defenses, causing them to rush over like mad dogs.

Just then, the swarm intelligence sent a message.

The remnants of the Iron Warriors are dragging three sections of the Chaos Warship's keel.

[Target prediction: Bring them back to the temporary base for repairs.]

[The towed objects included: a section of the main ridge of a Killer-class cruiser, a section of the bow of a Khorne Killer, and a partially melted macro gun array.]

[Enemy composition: three tugboats, two frigates, and one damaged Ironclad armed transport ship.]

[Suspected Commander: Warsmith Kadeross, who participated in the outer battles of Agrippina and lost a power armor depot during the evacuation.]

[The hidden anchor points have been set up.]

Lawson was furious.

"Stealing my trash?"

"This is worse than killing me."

"Kill them!"

PS: 2.9 words updated today, please vote!

Chapter 178 Agrippina's Post-War Reconstruction

The Iron Warrior heavy cruiser tumbled out from the edge of the subspace, its hull covered in charred armor plating and three unhealed gun blast wounds on its port side, yet the bow still retained the Iron Warrior's characteristically heavy structure.

The Anvil deployed camouflaged probes in an attempt to scan the berths, patrol gaps, supply lines, and warship identification codes of the Rosen fleet.

T-001 stood behind Lawson, with eight servo arms hanging down on either side of its steel back.

Lawson looked at the star map.

"White Tiger Squadron, attack. Don't rush to annihilate them all; drive them out first."

The order was given.

The White Tiger and three Sword-class corvettes advanced from the flanks. The Avenger's light spear array did not fire, but instead locked onto the Anvil's engines and weapons bays.

The Anvil finally confirmed that it had been exposed.

The Iron Warriors have always been direct in their approach.

If we can win, we fight; if we can't, we retreat to our positions and fight again.

The heavy cruiser turned suddenly.

With all the side armor gates closed, the Void Shield compressed to near-ship distance. The thrusters spewed dark red flames as the Anvil retreated towards the asteroid belt on the outer edge of the system.

The data eye on the T-001 flashed.

"The enemy ships have retreated to the seventh asteroid belt. This area contains abandoned mines, ice rocks, and the wreckage of old warships, making it suitable for building fire positions."

Lawson opened the star map.

The Anvil retreated while simultaneously deploying equipment.

A large magnetic anchor was driven into the asteroid, the automatic turret deployed its support, and the main cannon and secondary cannon were dragged into the back of the ore. The mine chain was stretched into a three-layered arc.

The Iron Warriors have turned their retreat route into a space fortress.

They abandoned the surprise attack and switched to positional warfare.

Inside the bridge of the Avenger, Star Trek assassins are giving their deductions.

"The conventional pursuit route has entered enemy crossfire. It is estimated that three to five of our frigates will be damaged, and the probability of the White Tiger being hit on the side is over 60%."

Lawson looked at the channel laid out by the steel warriors.

This defensive position is very standard.

This means that it must have inertia.

Lawson raised his hand and pointed to a dark area inside the asteroid belt.

That wasn't a shipping lane, but a gravitational shadow. Hundreds of fragmented stars tugged at each other, creating turbulent currents. Imperial fleets usually avoided such areas, as navigators couldn't accurately predict landing points, and a ship that made a short hop could crash into the rocks.

T-001 immediately connected to the data.

Lawson ordered:

"Full fleet short jump. Target: gravitational shadow inside the asteroid belt."

"After jumping out, attack the fire support nodes first, not the hull."

"The White Tiger Squadron is preparing to board, and the Bear Guard is preparing to board the ship."

A bell tolled from deep within the Avenger's hull.

The Gothic-class heavy cruiser, the Luna-class cruiser, the Tyrant-class White Tiger, and ten Sword-class corvettes simultaneously activated their Void Shields.

The thrusters, inertial stabilizers, astronomical instruments, and fire control arrays are all held by the same will.

The next instant, the fleet jumped into subspace and disappeared from the spot.

In the outer asteroid belt, the Iron Warriors' stronghold still awaits.

Inside the bridge of the Anvil, the war blacksmith Caladis stared at the tactical sand table.

He was clad in iron-gray Terminator armor, with dangerous stripes etched on his shoulder plates. Half his face was replaced by a steel plate, and his voice sounded like gears grinding through metal filings.

"The Imperial Fleet has disappeared?"

A Dark Mechanicus priest connected to the data cable.

"Short-range subspace perturbation. Direction cannot be confirmed."

Karadis said coldly:

"They want to go around. Activate the second layer of turrets to expand the firing arc. Block off both the upper and lower routes."

As soon as the command was issued, twelve white dots lit up behind the sand table.

Those white spots appear inside the asteroid belt.

It was right behind the Anvil position.

Caladis's iron hand crushed the edge of the sand table.

How did they get in?

His answer was the Avenger's light spear.

Six beams of incandescent light shot out from the shadow of the shattered star, piercing through the three disguised turrets.