Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Three hundred thousand. That's still a significant number, equivalent to the entire motorcycle reserve of a medium-sized clan.

But compared to three million, it has gone from "cutting off flesh" to "bleeding out".

Salosin glanced at the expressions of the other tribal chiefs.

Horace's face remained tense, but he offered no objection. Kellach's lips were still twitching, but the twitching had lessened. The matriarch lowered her head and remained silent.

“Three hundred thousand,” Salosin said. “Saim-Khan can produce that number.”

He looked at Lawson.

"But I have a reminder. There is a psionic compatibility between the Eldar motorcycle's spirit core and the Eldar rider."

Lawson nodded. "My technical team will handle the compatibility issues. We'll return them to you once our own production line has mass-produced the new motorcycles."

Salosin remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he did something that surprised Lawson a little.

The old clan chief gently shook his head.

"You don't need to pay it back."

Lawson raised an eyebrow.

"Three hundred thousand Eldar motorcycles."

Salosin sighed. "Consider it Saim-Han's apology for the previous assassination attempt. Also, consider it the Eldar's show of sincerity."

When these words were spoken in the Starfire Royal Court, the expressions of the clan leaders were complex.

They all understood what Salosin was doing.

The old clan chief redefined "being forced to hand over 300,000 motorcycles" as "actively apologizing and showing goodwill."

"Forced" means that Saim-Han was robbed at knifepoint.

"Apologizing" means that Saim-Han admitted his mistake and offered compensation.

The former is humiliation, the latter is dignity.

With the same 300,000 motorcycles, in other words, Saim-Han at least managed to save face.

Moreover, the word "sincerity" refers to the future, while apology is settling old scores, and sincerity is for new relationships.

Salosin is using 300,000 motorcycles to send a signal: Saim Khan is willing to establish a long-term relationship with Losen, and not just be forced to submit after being beaten into submission.

Losen looked at Salosin.

The old patriarch stood before him, leaning on his staff, having been tossed and turned over and over in the past hour.

He had knelt, yielded, surrendered the foundation of his clan, and signed treaties of surrender, yet his eyes were clear when he uttered these words.

He found a rope to hold onto amidst his defeat.

"Old clan chief."

Losen patted Salosin on the shoulder.

"A grand vision."

After receiving everything he wanted, Lawson looked around at the Spirit Clan chiefs in the Starfire Royal Court.

They all looked terrible.

A group of high-ranking Elven clan chiefs who had lived for hundreds or thousands of years were manipulated and controlled by a human warlord in his own supreme council hall for more than an hour.

The technology was handed over, the materials were agreed upon, the network route was provided, and the contract for 300,000 motorcycles was signed.

Looking at their expressions, Lawson spoke.

"Don't always have that long face."

"You won't lose out by surrendering to me. I'll publicize it as an alliance. Allies, equals, mutually beneficial. I'll save face for you."

The expressions of the clan leaders softened slightly.

"Surrender" and "alliance" are two completely different characterizations at the political level.

If Lawson were to publicly declare that Saim-Han was his vassal or a defeated one, the Eldar's reputation throughout the galaxy would be damaged. Other Arks would regard Saim-Han as a disgrace to the Eldar, the Empire would see them as easy targets, and the Chaos and Necromancers would be even more vulnerable.

But if it's an alliance, that's a different story.

The idea that the Eldar Ark has formed a strategic alliance with the Dark Side of the Empire at least allows Saim-Han to maintain a certain level of dignity and deterrence when facing external forces.

Salosin tapped his staff lightly on the ground.

"Thank you for your consideration, Your Excellency."

Indeed, I am grateful. The old clan chief knows when to be assertive and when to accept favors.

Lawson nodded.

Then he went on to say something that none of the clan leaders had expected.

"I'll give you another choice."

He brought up three planetary projections on the star map control panel.

"Within the Agrippina Sector, I have 318 planets under my command. Some of them have quite good environments, with blue skies, starlight, green land, and their hive cities are much more orderly than most parts of the Empire."

Three projections unfold.

The first planet had a clear atmosphere and thin clouds, and from orbit, one could see vast green plains and winding rivers.

The hive cities were built on the edge of the plains. They were large in scale, but the layout was orderly. They did not have the oppressive structure of typical imperial hive cities, which were layered and grew wildly into the sky.

The second star has ample sunlight, and the nests are built along the coast, with large artificial seaweed farms surrounding them. Air quality monitoring data is directly projected onto the screen.

The third high-altitude world has nests nestled among mountains, surrounded by terraced agricultural areas managed by keystone sequences.

The three planets share common characteristics: clean, orderly, and have a sky.

Lawson said, “I will designate one hive city from each planet, which can accommodate a total population of one billion. You Saim-Han can move some of your people there, or you can move them all. It’s voluntary, not mandatory.”

The clan leaders' first reaction was to refuse.

Kellach spoke first: "Live in the human nest capital?"

His expression suggested that someone had suggested he eat at the orcs' repair shop.

“We know very well what the Imperial Nest is like. The lower levels are paved with corpses, the middle levels breathe in exhaust fumes, and the upper levels are served by slaves. The Eldar don’t live in such places.”

Several clan leaders nodded in agreement.

In the Eldar's understanding, the Imperial Hive is one of the most uninhabitable man-made structures in the galaxy, second only to the Orc fortresses and the Chaos shipwrecks.

Lawson was not angry.

“You Eldar do have stereotypes about the Imperial Hive, but that’s the old Imperial. My sector is different.”

He pointed to three planets on the star map.

"First, the environment. The nests on these three planets have all undergone a complete transformation using the foundation sequence, and the air, water, food supply, and sanitation standards have reached levels rarely seen in the Empire. You can send someone to check it out first—Ilancia has traveled all over the Agrippina sector, and she can vouch for it."

He raised his second finger.

"Second, security. I have deployed foundational and combat units on every planet. More importantly, my network covers the entire sector, so if the Slaanesh try to infiltrate your settlements, they will be stopped immediately. You can't do that on the Ark, but you can on my territory."

The third finger.

"Third, you can return to the Ark at any time. A stasis field anchor will be established in the hive, so you can teleport back to Saim-Han in one step when needed. Moving there does not mean leaving the Ark, it just means having another place to stay."

He withdrew his hand.

"Furthermore, your arks can patrol within the Agrippina Sector. That's my territory, and even if the arks are attacked again, I can provide support at any time. You don't need to wait for other arks to come to your rescue like this time, since they won't come anyway."

The Starfire Royal Court was silent for a few seconds.

"You two discuss it, I'll give you time."

Lawson stepped aside, leaning against the edge of the star map control panel, leaving space for the clan leaders.

The chieftains gathered together and discussed the matter in hushed tones in the Eldar language.

Salosin first called Ilancia over.

"You stayed in Agrippina for over two months." The old chieftain looked directly at her. "Is what he said true?"

Ilancia knew what the chieftain was asking. He wasn't asking about the details of Lawson's policies, but whether those planets were truly suitable for Eldar to live on.

“I have traveled to almost every world in the Agrippina Sector.”

She chose her words carefully, but her tone was very firm.

"The order is real. The safety is real. The civilians on those planets have hot food, clean water, medical care, and education. The living standards of the lower-class hive dwellers have improved significantly since Lawson took over."

“It is indeed different from other parts of the Empire.”

“Are you taking his side?” Kellach stared at her.

Ilancia met his gaze. "I am testifying to what I saw with my own eyes. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to see for yourself."

Kellach snorted, but didn't press the matter.

The prophet Ilantheran had been standing on the periphery of the community, listening intently. Then she approached.

"I support this plan."

Several clan leaders turned to her.

Ilanser stated, "This great war exposed a problem we've been avoiding: Saim-Han put all our people, all our Soulstones, all our Ancestral Temples, and all our strategic reserves on an Ark. Once the Ark is besieged, we're all the eggs in one basket."

She looked at the projections of three planets on the star map.

"Disperse the race across three planets, while retaining the core forces on the ark to continue patrolling. This way, even if the ark suffers another catastrophe, it won't be wiped out in one fell swoop."

Salosin nodded.

"Losen is too domineering."

The old patriarch's voice could only be heard by a few core patriarchs around him.

"But his strength also means strong protection. His territory has battle moons, battle formations, and a complete industrial and military system. His people are probably safer there than on the Ark."

He had a very complicated expression on his face when he said those words.

The Eldar chieftain himself admitted that the human warlords' territories were safer than the Eldar Ark. A day ago, he would have rather bitten his tongue off than utter such a statement.