Warhammer: Empire Reboot

In the past, he could convince the residents that the empire was out of contact, Agrippina had fallen, and autonomy was the only way to survive.

But now, that mad warlord is using full-band interference to tell everyone: Agrippina is still here, and the empire will return.

This is more dangerous than the fleet approaching.

The fleet will only break through the Void Shield.

Hopefully, their rule will be broken.

"What were the results of the search?" Melchior asked.

The internal affairs supervisor bowed his head and said, "In three days, we arrested 17,600 people for disseminating illegal broadcast content. 3,400 were executed, and the rest were sent to temporary labor camps. There are still receivers hidden in the middle and lower ranks; we need more time."

"Time is running out."

Melchior looked across the table.

A red pirate was sitting there.

The opponent hadn't removed his armor; bone chains and old Imperial military tags hung from his dark red power armor, and a grinning red beast head was painted on his shoulder armor. His helmet lay on the table, revealing a burned face.

Half of his lip is missing, and metal tooth roots can be seen when he speaks.

Savik Red Fang.

The captain of the Red Pirates' branch fleet is also the external ally that Melchior has been least willing to publicly acknowledge, yet most reliant on, over the past three years.

Savik picked up the glass and smelled it.

"Good wine."

Melchior said coldly, "You heard that."

“The whole planet heard it,” Savik grinned. “Your inhabitants are probably very moved right now.”

The military advisor looked grim.

“We have begun arresting people who are hoarding receivers. Mid-level rationing registration is proceeding as usual. As long as the crowd is brought together, emotions can be controlled.”

Savik chuckled.

"You always like to talk about control."

He tapped lightly on the table.

"Control food, control air, control broadcasting, control the Ministry of Justice, and eventually control everyone on the planet so that they're just waiting for someone else to kill you."

Melchior looked at him.

“I invited you here not to listen to pirates talk politics.”

"I'm not here to hear the governor talk about loyalty."

Savik took a sip of his drink.

"We're talking business."

A holographic star map lit up on one side of the conference room.

Albiter-3 slowly rotated.

The entire network of nesting cities, orbital defense networks, starports, cargo elevators, granaries, water purification towers, and population hotspots below the nests are marked. Those densely packed dots of light are simply transferable assets.

Melchior spoke.

"The first batch of middle-level residents have begun to concentrate in the ninth, thirteenth, and twenty-first allocation squares. Skilled workers, young laborers, and children will be screened out first. The lower-level population is more chaotic, but the number is large, making it suitable for rough screening. I will not submit the population of the top and upper-level nests."

Savik looked up.

"I have no interest in bringing a bunch of aristocratic good-for-nothings onto the ship. They eat a lot, shout loudly, and even if they were transformed into slaves, they would still negotiate terms."

The Chancellor of the Exchequer stood behind Melchior and continued his report.

"According to preliminary statistics, the first phase can relocate approximately 17 million people. Among them, there are 3.2 million skilled workers, about 2.4 million children under the age of 16, 4 million lightly polluted laborers, and the rest are ordinary laborers."

Savik frowned.

"Too little."

Melchior said, "The orbital lift has limited capacity. What you need are people you can take away, not corpses in the square."

Savik's metal teeth made a soft clicking sound.

"The ship I brought can hold thirty million. You're giving me seventeen million? Are you trying to sell a starving population at a noble price?"

Melchior looked at him calmly.

“What you need is time. Lawson’s fleet is being reorganized in Agrippina, and his first reconnaissance fleet could jump into this system at any time. You need to load up and leave before he arrives. The plaza screening has begun, and the starport will be open to you for six standard hours. In six hours, I will shut down all elevators.”

Savik stared at him, then suddenly laughed.

"You're more like a pirate than I thought."

Melchior slammed his glass down.

“I am the legitimate governor of Albitel.”

"A legitimate governor selling his own planet?"

"I am relocating people who are disorderly."

Melchior offered a plausible explanation: "The mobs, the unemployed, the middle class swayed by rumors, the burdens that cannot sustain production. If they remain here, they will only deplete the last fuel of the upper civilization."

Savik turned to look at the red pirate lieutenant beside him.

Write it down.

The adjutant asked, "What should I write down?"

"When interrogating the Imperial Governors in the future, leave them a chair. They'll make their charges sound even more convincing than we do."

Melchior did not get angry.

He simply pushed a data key to the center of the table.

"Identification codes for the seventh to twelfth turrets of the Orbital Defense Network. Your personnel can only use this once. During loading, if a small Imperial scout ship approaches, you can use the defense network to intercept it."

Savik did not take it immediately.

"The entire defense network."

"That's impossible."

"I brought a boat, and you give me half a set of keys?"

Melchior looked at him.

"The Ministry of Justice was wiped out by me back then because it wanted the entire defense network. Captain Savik, I'm always generous to my allies, but I don't hand my neck to anyone."

Savik reached out and took the data key.

"Then I'll tell you the truth too. If Lawson really comes, I won't protect the planet for you."

"I know."

"I will leave with whatever I can take with me."

"That's why we were able to reach an agreement."

The two exchanged a glance.

There is no trust.

Only a shared countdown.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer asked in a low voice, "Your Excellency, what if a riot breaks out in Registry Square?"

Melchior stood up and walked to the window.

Below the spire, the lights of the city descended layer by layer. Those lights represented the population, the labor force, the taxes, the army, and also the faces looking up, waiting for rescue.

"The Civil Defense Force opened fire."

He didn't turn around.

"But don't waste young people."

Savik laughed and said, "Right, don't hit the bad stuff."

Melchior did not refute this.

Ninth Rationing Square.

When the gates closed, the crowd initially didn't understand what was happening.

The armored gates surrounding the square descended one by one, and the riot control turrets on top turned inward. Civil defense personnel sealed off the exits, and the black and gold eagle claw flag fluttered in the wind.

The ration box was pushed out.

The crowd immediately stirred.

But those boxes were not opened.

Immediately afterwards, another group of people appeared.

They wore black leather armor as Red Pirate slave overseers, had metal breathing apparatus on their faces, and carried bundles of slave collars in their hands.

Several Red Pirates Astartes stood on a high platform, watching the square like livestock.

Ellen's heart sank.

Mira understood.

She held Tom in her arms, her voice very low.

"We have to go."

Ellen looked around.

We can't leave.

Gun barrels were on all four sides.

The broadcast started.

This time it was Governor Melchior himself.

His projection appeared in the sky above the square, huge, clear, and solemn.