Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Last time, his right leg was bitten through by the Tyrannosaurus Rex; the time before that, his chest was cleaved by the Chaos Champion's Power Sword; and before that, four of his ribs were broken by the Orc leader's giant hammer.

The pharmacists in the medical ward had prepared a private bed for Calga, with his name embroidered on the pillow.

"Is it serious?" Guilliman asked.

"It's not life-threatening, but the medical officer recommends bed rest for two weeks."

“Let him lie down and rest.” Kiriman paused for a moment. “I need a small team for an escort mission. The target is the Evrene envoy, and the destination is the dark side of the Empire. They need to be capable of fighting.”

The other side thought for a moment and said, "Lieutenant Tetus, the deputy company commander of the second company, is currently resting in Maklag. He just returned from the Nakmunde front three days ago. He is suitable for this kind of non-standard mission."

Guilliman recalled the files on Titus.

“Yes, let Titus take two combat brothers, a three-person team, to escort the envoy Everene to the dark side of the Empire.”

"Yes, sir. Do you need to give Lieutenant Titus any special instructions?"

Guilliman thought for a moment.

"The safety of Evrene's envoy is the highest priority; nothing else matters."

"Keep an eye on Evelynn and don't let her cause trouble."

The communications officer on the other end was silent for half a second; this instruction was somewhat beyond the scope of regular military orders.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Guilliman turned off the communication and leaned back in his chair.

He glanced again at the intelligence data panel on the table that was face down.

"Losen's combat strength assessment: Demigod level. Psionic energy intensity: Annihilation level. Melee weapons: Imperial Goldfire Reforged version of Horus' Claw and Angron Battle Axe."

He picked up the next damage report and continued working.

The Imperial Regent's work efficiency tonight was about seven percent lower than usual.

…………

Vigilant Star, Ruler's Court.

Lawson flipped through the quarterly trend charts compiled by Swarm Intelligence.

The red area on the dark side of the empire is shrinking.

Organized Chaos Legions are becoming increasingly rare.

After losing the firepower support of the Ominous Ark, the various Chaos Warbands were dismantled one by one under the combined attack of Lawson's battle order and the First Legion.

The empire's greatest enemy on the dark side has become the orcs.

For every orc stronghold that Lion King and Dante's forces wiped out, three more appeared two star systems away.

Fortunately, the orc threat is manageable.

They won't cause a systemic upheaval like chaos; they're just a bunch of weeds that need to be trimmed regularly.

Lawson closed the situation map and pulled up another report.

The report is labeled orange, meaning "potential threat, not yet confirmed".

Fragmented information from the Imperial Holy Mirror indicates that the Fourth Terran War has fully erupted.

The Leviathan fleet penetrated into the heart of the Empire from the western side of the galaxy, forcing Guilliman to divert his main forces to deal with it.

The Zerg cannot get through the Great Rift for the time being.

But Lawson will not let his guard down because of this.

No one knows whether the Hive Will will one day find a way to cross the rift.

A more realistic threat is space necromancy.

Signs of necromancy have appeared on the dark side of the Empire.

The XV25 stealth mechs used for reconnaissance detected residual Gaussian energy and traces of dimensional displacement unique to the Necromancers in three different star systems.

The exact size has not yet been determined, and the deep space reconnaissance team of the Luan Bird Squadron is conducting further investigations.

He put down the data tablet and leaned back in his chair.

The situation on the dark side of the empire is improving.

Chaos is receding, territory is expanding, production capacity is increasing, and military strength is growing.

But new threats are always lurking on the horizon.

This is the Milky Way.

After defeating one enemy, the next one is already lined up.

…………

Subspace, the forging realm of Vashtor.

The core furnace reached its highest temperature ever recorded.

The cold blue forging fire turned scorching white, and even the subspace around the furnace itself was distorted and deformed by the high temperature.

Tens of thousands of demon souls were thrown into the furnace to serve as fuel, their screams turning into pure energy in the flames.

Vashtor's six robotic arms operate simultaneously.

An object is suspended in the center of the furnace.

It is not shaped like a key.

It is more like a geometric equation forcibly compressed into a solid state, with polyhedra nested within polyhedra, each face vibrating at a different frequency.

The entire component rotates slowly. With each rotation, its shape subtly changes; some faces disappear, some new faces appear, and some edges bend into angles that shouldn't exist.

It is trying to crash.

Vashtor used his strength to suppress it.

Original fragments of the ancient saint account for approximately 65 percent of the component's volume.

The remaining 35 percent was a substitute that Vashtor forcibly added using the laws of forging and the Force of the subspace.

The substitute material is the closest thing Vashtor could find to the creations of the ancient saints.

Each of these materials, taken individually, is a rare substance of galactic level.

Even when pieced together, it still can't compare to the original.

The cracks are the evidence.

At the seam between the original fragment and the replacement, energy conduction is not perfectly matched.

Vashtor didn't care.

He had already told Abaddon before that it didn't need to be perfect, it just needed to be usable.

The final packaging process is complete.

Vashtor's six robotic arms retracted simultaneously.

The component is suspended in the forging furnace, and its rotation speed increases.

The dark blue light at the crack became brighter, and the whole object emitted a deep hum, like a heart beating irregularly.

Estimated stable duration: approximately four to seven minutes under normal use.

After more than seven minutes, the replacement part began to disintegrate irreversibly. After more than twelve minutes, the component disintegrated on its own and released the encapsulated subspace energy.

That's enough. He only needs the door to open for a split second to get in.

Vastor removed the component from the furnace.

It floated in his palm, and irregular vibrations were transmitted to his torso through the robotic arm.

The rotational speed of the component increased dramatically.

The dark blue light at the crack turned into a blinding white.

The vibration frequency of the entire object spiked, exceeding the normal tolerance range in the forging field.

Washtor's computing power is entirely invested in guiding the energy flow of the components.

What he had to do was simple: use this inferior key to pry open the entrance to the treasure vault that the ancient saints had built in the interdimensional space between the warp and the dimensional space.

The component begins to release energy.

It doesn't fit the keyhole as precisely as a genuine key.

It's a brute-force attack.

The substitute for Vashtor produced the expected resonance deviation.

The deviation caused the energy release to shift in direction, like an out-of-control drill bit crashing around in the dimensional layers of subspace.

Vashtor attempted to correct the course using his own strength.

Six robotic arms exert force simultaneously to pull the deviated energy back onto the predetermined trajectory.

The component's energy output reached its peak in the fourth second.

A crack was knocked open in the interlayer.

Vashtor's perception passed through the slit and reached the space on the other side.

He sensed the presence of the ancient sages' creation.

It was an existence more ancient, more sophisticated, and more powerful than anything he had ever seen.

Before Vashtor could even enter.

Suddenly, the replacement parts of the component began to disintegrate.

It was completed ahead of schedule.

The seam between the replacement and the original fragment shattered instantly under the impact of peak energy.

The encapsulated subspace force erupted from the cracks, no longer under Vastor's control.

The component became a bomb that detonated in the subspace dimension.

It conducts along the cracks in the dimensional layers, like lightning rushing along a wire.