Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Horace frowned: "What did you say?"

Sarasien looked completely innocent.

"I complimented him on how good his armor looked."

Horace stared at her.

Salasion added, "He also gave a compliment to his grandmother's screams."

The officer on duty turned even paler.

Horace ignored her.

The procession continued onward.

Ilancia followed at the back of the group, finding a less conspicuous spot between the human guards and the Eldar chieftain.

She was about to follow them through the gates of the Starfire Royal Court...

"stop."

A high-ranking Eldar following behind the chieftain's team turned around; it was Serano, the deputy chief of the Prophets.

"Ilancia. The Starfire Royal Court is the council chamber for high-ranking clan chiefs and the chief of the Prophets. Your clan's rank is insufficient."

Ilancia stopped in her tracks.

Although she was born into the upper lineage of the Crimson Moon Clan, her rank was warrior, and without the clan leader's authorization, she was indeed not qualified to enter the Starfire Royal Court.

She also understood the deeper reason.

She opened the gates of the web, bringing human armies into Saim-Han.

The nature of this matter within the tribe has not yet been determined; whether it is saving the country or betraying the tribe depends on who holds the power of discourse after the war.

Serano stopped her not out of personal grudge, but because he was following the rules.

If a warrior suspected of treason who has not yet been tried can freely enter the Starfire Royal Court, then what is the point of the Prophet Corps' control over the safety of the Ark?

Ilancia lowered her head.

"I understand."

Her feet had already started to move backward.

A hand grabbed her wrist.

Lawson's hand.

"She came in with me."

Serano's expression changed: "Lord Master, the Starfire Royal Court has ancient entry regulations..."

"Ilancia made a huge sacrifice to ask me to rescue Saim-Han. Without her, it's hard to say whether any of you here today would even be able to stand here for this meeting."

He glanced at Serano.

"She's more qualified than you."

Serano wanted to argue that the admission rules were a tradition of Saim-Han for tens of thousands of years, and could not be changed by a single word from a human warlord.

But at the same time, he was also weighing the options: if he confronted Lawson head-on at this moment, whose side would the patriarchs take?

He looked at Salosin.

The old patriarch had already entered the gates of the Starfire Royal Court, his back view seemingly saying: You decide for yourself.

Serano's lips twitched.

He stepped aside to make way.

Lawson led Ilancia through the gates of the Starfire Royal Court.

As Ilancia was being pulled forward by him, she felt the warmth of the hand on her wrist coming through her wrist guard.

It's very hot...

She stood inside the Starfire Royal Court and glanced back at the outside of the passageway.

In the instant she was stopped at the door, she thought she was about to be pushed back into the shadows by her own people.

Kolosen casually pulled her into the innermost council chamber of Saim-Han.

The Starfire Royal Court was larger than she had imagined.

The Spirit Bone Dome is extremely high, with a holographic star map covering the entire Ark world and the surrounding star field suspended above it.

Twelve spirit bone pillars extend from the ground to the dome, each engraved with the history and bloodline inscriptions of a superior clan.

The ground is a transparent spirit bone plate, and you can see the psionic veins of the Ark's core flowing slowly beneath it.

The clan leaders had each taken their positions beneath their respective clan pillars.

Lawson walked to the center of the star map.

He didn't ask where he should stand; he simply stood directly below the star chart, the position usually occupied by the chief prophet or chief patriarch who presides over meetings.

No one corrected him.

Er Gou and San Gou stood on either side of him, with the Mastiff Guards standing behind him.

Ilancia found a corner to stand in.

When Sarasien Qianxian followed Lawson in, all the Eldar in the Starfire Royal Court focused their attention on her.

She endured those gazes—hateful, wary, disgusted, and fearful—yet her expression was as cheerful as if she were attending a welcome banquet.

……

When the holographic star map of the Starfire Royal Court was lit to its maximum brightness, all the wounds of the entire Ark were exposed under the Spirit Bone Dome.

Salosin Bloodwind lit the first mark with his staff.

"Third anchorage ring, your forces have moved in. The Chaos Landing Pod has been pushed back into its outer shell, but the Necromancer Phase Assault Team is still lurking near the Soulstone recovery channel."

He lit the second spot.

"The Seventh Dwelling Dome. Dark Eldar raiders entered through the abandoned network tunnels and have already captured three groups of wounded. The Night Tide Clan sent two rider squads in pursuit, one of which has lost contact."

The third place.

"The outer perimeter of the Flamespear Clan. Vastor's Dark Mechanicus forces have built a makeshift tracking furnace there and are correcting the fluctuations of the key fragments. We bombed it twice, and they repaired it twice."

Fourth.

"Antarctic Spirit Bone Ridge. A swarm of Necromancer Heavy Destroyers has penetrated from the bottom of the Ark, burning through two layers of spirit bone decks. We've deployed three Phantom Titans to block them..."

He paused for a moment.

"One unit was lost."

On the star map, a blue dot disappeared from the location of the Antarctic Spirit Bone Ridge.

The fifth place.

"The western dock cluster. Chaos and Necromancers are fighting there. We originally wanted to take advantage of the situation, but after they finished fighting, they both rushed at us... The second Titan there had its left leg severed by the Necromancer's convergence beam and has withdrawn from the battle."

The sixth location.

"Soul Stone recovery main channel. The Slaanesh fleet..."

Salosin glanced at Sarasien, who was standing behind Lawson.

Sarasian gave him a charming smile.

Salosin withdrew his gaze and continued, "The Slaanesh fleet's song is still interfering with Soul Stone recovery. We've closed three outer channels, but at the cost of a 60% reduction in Soul Stone recovery efficiency. That means we can only recover four out of every ten Soul Stones left on the battlefield."

The star map was covered with dense red markings that covered most of the outer layer of the ark.

Blue markers are scattered across several key nodes, with the densest cluster located in the third berthing ring...

That's the area where the Losen troops have already entered.

Lawson stood directly below the star map and looked at all the markings.

Horace, standing beneath the Pillar of the Crimson Moon, added: "On the space front, since your forces entered the fray, the Slaanesh fleet's squire demons have suffered heavy losses; their whistle coverage has shrunk by nearly 40%. The outer riders' combat effectiveness is recovering. But the Omen Ark itself is still closing in; those six behemoths are too thick for our fleet to handle."

Lawson scanned all the marked points on the star map.

“Your Eldar have an old problem when it comes to fighting.”

Several clan leaders looked at him at the same time.

"They are flexible enough, but not good at tackling tough challenges."

Lawson pointed to four locations on the star map: the Antarctic Spirit Bone Ridge, the western dock cluster, the tracking furnace at the Flame Spear position, and the seventh residential dome.

"These four points are where you suffered the heaviest losses. They all have one thing in common: the enemy has established fixed positions or strongholds with heavy firepower, which your cavalry and light troops cannot cut through, and you cannot push forward from the front. You are forced to use Titans to block them... Titans are something that your Eldar can only build one less each time, and using them to fill the gaps in this kind of melee combat is a waste."

The expressions of the clan leaders changed.

What Lawson said was true. The Eldar's war philosophy was based on mobility and precision. When the enemy stayed put, built fortresses and set up heavy artillery, no matter how fast the Eldar's swordsmanship was, they couldn't cut through the walls.

“I propose that my troops lead the attack, with your clan warriors assisting.”

Lawson's finger traced across each of the four points.

"Antarctic Spirit Bone Ridge, I will deploy the Bear Guards and Black Tortoises to overwhelm the undead heavy firepower from the front. Your riders will be responsible for cutting off the undead's flank teleportation channels. At the western dockyard cluster, the Flying Bear Squadron and Crimson Dragons will move in, while your light cruisers will intercept fleeing ships on the perimeter. At the Flame Spear position, the White Tigers will lead the charge to destroy the tracking furnaces, and your jet motorcycles will be responsible for intercepting Dark Mechanicus reinforcements. Seventh Dwelling Dome..."

He glanced at Horace.

"I'll send my combat units to search for the two missing Night Tide Clan rider squads. The Dark Eldar raiding ships are to be handled by Flying Bear."

He withdrew his hand from the star map.

"I'll gnaw on the dirtiest and toughest bones. You guys do what you do best... quick, accurate, and precise."

The clan leaders exchanged glances.

In the Eldar's tens of thousands of years of alliance warfare experience, even when Imperial Space Marine chapters came to their aid, the Eldar always fought on the most dangerous front lines, while the humans played a supporting role. This was determined by strength, and also by pride...

The Eldar will not entrust their lives to humans.

But at this moment, Lawson's proposal was exactly the opposite.

He was going to lead his troops to tackle the toughest challenges...

Those were the meat grinders that were devouring Saim-Han's fighting force. Meanwhile, the Eldar were assigned to mobile support positions.