Warhammer: Empire Reboot

It is to become the guillotine at the Nakmond Pass.

Anyone who wants to enter or leave this place must first ask Lawson for his approval.

Void Claw has been incorporated into the T-series control system.

This technologically advanced, apocalyptic weapon remains dangerous.

Lawson won't use it recklessly for the time being.

But it is sufficient as a defensive deterrent.

With the Void Claws pressing down, and in conjunction with the Vengeful Spirit, the Agrippina fleet, the low-orbit defense array, and the stasis field boarding system, any fleet that wants to approach the Vigilant Star in the future will have to be prepared to have its course deflected, its shields torn apart, and its boarding torpedoes ramming into it.

The Vigilant Star card has finally been secured by Lawson.

Another report came from Dante.

Upon learning of the final results of the Vigilant Star battle, the old man was unusually elated.

Abaddon was defeated, the Soul of Vengeance changed hands, Nakmond Pass was secured, and Vigilant Star's Blackrock plot was thwarted.

This was a victory that could be written into the history of the Blood Angels for the dark side of the Empire.

Dante did not contest Lawson's right to dispose of the Vigilant Star.

Instead, he directly confirmed that the reconstruction, defense, population management, tax revenue restoration, and Blackrock oversight of Vigilant Star and its surrounding areas were all handled entirely by the Dark Side Ruler.

This attitude is extremely clever.

Dante knew what he was good at.

They also knew what Lawson was good at.

The Holy Blood Angels can raise their banner in despair.

They were able to hold back the chaos with the remnants of the empire's dark side.

They could support the morale of half the galaxy with their aging bodies.

Managing star sectors, coordinating billions of people, restructuring industry, suppressing nobles, eliminating petty thieves, and transforming a rotten-to-the-bone fortress into a war machine—these are not Dante's forte.

Lawson worked faster and more ruthlessly.

What pleased Dante even more was that Lawson would not ask Terra for every stamped document.

He would get things done first and then let others adapt to the outcome, which suited the dark side of the empire very well.

In addition to the Vigilant Star, Dante also handed over a star system that his fleet had just recaptured to Lawson for management.

That galaxy contains more than a dozen imperial worlds.

Some are agricultural satellites.

Some are nested worlds.

There are also several refueling relay stations and semi-abandoned rail docks.

If the old imperial administrative system were in place, these places would have accumulated decades of bad debts simply by re-assessing taxes, re-registering, purging local warlords, and restoring transportation.

Dante had no interest in engaging in lengthy wrangling with those local nobles.

It's easiest to leave it to Lawson.

Dante understood it very well.

Lawson is fierce in war, and even fiercer in governance.

What the dark side of the Empire lacks now is not another hero who can shout hymns on the battlefield.

It lacks someone who can restore order from the mountains of corpses, the seas of blood, the ruins of warehouses, the corrupt bureaucrats, and the remaining population.

Lawson once asked Dante how the tithes of the future empire's dark side would be collected.

Dante's response was simple.

The allocation of resources in the darker aspects of the empire is naturally determined by the one in charge.

The empire's hidden aspects, such as taxation, resource allocation, wartime enfeoffment, and military supplies allocation, fall within the authority of this title.

As long as supplies continue to be provided to the Imperial war machine, as long as the human world is reintegrated into order, and as long as Chaos and the Xenomorphs continue to be killed, Dante has no intention of interfering with the specific proportions, cycles, methods, or ledger formats.

Lawson was satisfied with the answer.

This means he can act freely.

The power of the shadowy ruler has finally transformed from a mere title into a tangible reality.

The last report came from within the Black Legion.

After the Soul of Vengeance was captured, the Black Legion entered a period of turmoil.

After Abaddon escaped back into the Warp, his arms regenerated, and his body became increasingly chaotic.

His prestige was damaged, but far from collapsing.

On the contrary, his failures drew more gamblers, madmen, ambitious individuals, and haters to him.

Vashtor has appeared, and Huron has also surrendered with his remaining troops.

Some Chaos factions that had initially been observing the situation rejoined the tattered banner after confirming that Abaddon was preparing to make a comeback.

Losers understand losers best.

They had all lost to Lawson, and they all wanted to tear Lawson to pieces.

Lawson opened his eyes, and the star map on the tactical table slowly rotated.

The remaining movements of the Black Legion were marked in dark red by the swarm intelligence.

Lawson's lips curled up slightly.

It's just a losers' league.

The war on Vigilant Star ended beautifully, but the problems exposed by the war were also analyzed by Lawson one by one.

The synergy between the combat sequence and the cornerstone sequence is now well-established.

Ground battles, urban warfare, underground mopping-up operations, takeover of key locations, and post-war administrative restructuring—all these stages withstood the test of the Vigilant Star.

After its Tier 6 upgrade, the Bear Guard has become a living siege weapon on the front lines. Even without power armor, it can engage in hand-to-hand combat with Chaos Space Marines, leaving many traitorous Astartes questioning their very existence.

All nine warband systems have found their place on Vigilant Star.

Only the Flying Bears team exposed their weaknesses.

The Flying Bear Heavy Anti-Gravity Assault Motorcycle was originally designed for the Bear Guard.

Ground support.

Mid-range sprint.

Rapid battlefield segmentation.

Heavy firepower to decapitate.

This thing is like a flying heavy assault tank; its speed, armor, ram, shield, and world-shattering spikes are all geared towards brute force.

It's very effective against orc caravans, and it's also sufficient against greenskin flying vehicles.

Those green-skinned Dhaka jets were essentially suicide iron coffins with wings and red paint. The Bear Guard pilots, using swarm micro-management, could turn them one by one into fireballs.

The warning star battle proved that the Flying Bears were not a true air superiority unit.

The Infernal Wyverns, Chaos Raptors, and Warp Contamination flying units brought by Starseer Haken made things difficult for the Flying Bears.

If they face Eldar fighters, Necromancer Nightscythes, or Dark Mechanicus air superiority platforms in the future, the Flying Bears, with their 60-ton aerial heavy hammers, will eventually be pulled along by more specialized air combat units.

It can smash bridges, overturn chariots, and deliver world-shattering nails right in the face to Chaos Titans.

But it is not a Hunter-type fighter jet.

With a flick of his finger, data on the Empire's current fighter jets appeared.

Thunder Heavy Fighter, Avenger Strike Fighter, Lightning Fighter, Predator Bomber, Thunderhawk Gunship, Stormclaw Interceptor.

These platforms each have their own advantages.

The Thunder heavy fighter is robust and can continue flying in bad weather and bad battlefields.

The Avenger attack fighter has powerful ground attack capabilities, making it suitable for turning ground targets into mincemeat.

The Lightning fighter jet is fast and suitable for air interception, but its airframe is relatively fragile, and its range and battlefield survivability need to be improved.

The Marauder bomber has a high bomb load and is very effective at clearing out enemy positions, but it becomes clumsy when facing highly mobile units.

The Thunderhawk gunboat has many functions, but it is too similar to the traditional Astartes transport platform, which is costly and requires a lot of maintenance.

What Lawson wanted was not to simply copy the old Imperial Navy system.

He needs swarm-compatible fighter jets.

It can be connected to the static field for ammunition replenishment, but cannot rely on the static field for overall teleportation.

The fighter jet is too big to be easily stuffed into a small stasis door and pulled around like a Flying Bear motorcycle.

Future air combat systems must rely on motherships, orbital platforms, forward airfields, space decks, and combat lunar hangars.

Battle Moon could become a giant hangar in the future.

The warning satellite also needs a real aerospace defense production line.

Lawson pulled up another set of simulations.

If the prediction is correct, the undead forces in space will gradually awaken.

Sooner or later, a larger-scale conflict will erupt between the Empire and the Undead.

At that time, Lawson would never have stood idly by.

Living metal, phase technology, dimensional anchors, and necromantic tombs were all easy targets for him.

The problem is that the Necromancers' air units and warships are far more advanced than the Orks' technology, and far more stable than the Chaos's stitched-together monsters. The Bears' strategy of holding out will inevitably backfire.

Lawson pushed the proposal into the T-series task queue.

[Project codename: Hunter.]

[Objective: To develop a swarm-adaptive heavy air superiority fighter based on the Empire's existing air combat platforms.]