Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Making her owe a favor is worth more than saving ten Usvi Arks.

Moreover, Evelyn represents not just herself at this moment, she represents Guilliman.

Guilliman and Evelyn's relationship is what it is.

However, before Lawson could respond, Swarm Intelligence pushed out a new message.

Priority: Highest.

Lawson quickly scanned the contents.

The 7th Company of the White Tiger Legion is on a pursuit mission at the very edge of the Imperium's dark side, near the boundary between the Unknown Void and the Great Rift. Their target is a Chaos Lord, Obsidius Malex, a millennia-old villain whose hands are stained with the destruction of at least three Imperium worlds.

During the pursuit, the Seventh Company of the White Tigers stumbled into an unexpected area.

A colossal structure floated in the void.

Based on long-distance sensing data, its size is close to that of a planet.

The outer shell is made of some extremely ancient black material, with geometric grooves and ridges covering its surface.

The interior of the structure is constantly active, its structure is constantly changing, and the corridors and compartments are reorganizing themselves, as if the entire fortress were a living, breathing organism.

The company commander of the Seventh Company of the White Tiger repeatedly used the word "Black Stone" in his report.

Lawson became excited.

Blackrock Fortress.

He retrieved all known Imperial archives regarding Blackrock Fortress from the Hive database.

Six Blackstone fortresses have been discovered in the history of the empire.

These structures are believed to be creations from ancient times, possibly the work of ancient sages, or even older.

Each one possesses planetary-level firepower and virtually indestructible defenses.

All six Blackstone fortresses were lost in the Gothic Wars and the fall of Cadia.

Abaddon seized several of them and used them to breach the Empire's defenses.

The White Tiger Seventh Company is now reporting that they have discovered the seventh one at the edge of the unknown void.

Lawson continued reading.

After the White Tiger Seventh Company pursued the Chaos Lord into the fortress, they encountered an Imperial robot in a constantly changing corridor.

The Casteran-class, one of the oldest combat robot models of the Imperial Mechanicus, features an Imperial double-headed eagle welded to its chest.

But the robot's behavior was very unusual. Instead of attacking the White Tiger Seventh Company, it tried to communicate with them.

It claims that "the previous owner is dead," but it is still carrying out the last command left by its owner.

Lawson stared at the report, his mind racing.

The Seventh Blackrock Fortress... Castellan-class robot... Deceased master... Still carrying out orders.

These elements collided in his mind.

He felt he should know what this meant.

A key juncture in the history of a certain empire, and an important figure associated with Blackrock Fortress.

The information was somewhere in the swarm database, but he couldn't remember which one it was for the moment.

However, one thing is certain: the importance of this Blackrock Fortress far exceeds that of ordinary battlefield spoils.

If it truly is the seventh one, and still fully functional, then its strategic value surpasses that of all the thousands of ordinary worlds on the Empire's Dark Side combined.

This is far more important than the attack on Usvi Ark!

He needs to go in person.

Lawson closed the report and looked at Evelynn, who was still kneeling in front of him.

He hadn't said anything, and Evelyn assumed he was still hesitating—or had simply decided to refuse.

Evelyn took a deep breath, her expression changing from pleading to acceptance.

"Since the Master of the Seal is unavailable..."

“Then please take us to the vicinity of the Usvi Ark. I will personally go to the rescue. Titus and Ventris can serve as my guards.”

She didn't complain; since Lawson refused, she prepared to go by herself.

This decisiveness earned Lawson an even higher opinion of her.

He personally reached out and helped Evelyn up.

"Who said I'm not going to help?"

Evelyn was taken aback.

“I am indeed unable to go in person, as I have other important matters to attend to, but for your sake, I can send troops to rescue the Usvi Ark.”

He looked into Evelyn's eyes.

"But let me be clear from the start. I can't guarantee we can save them. From your description, it seems that Vashtor's forces have infiltrated the Ark, and the Bone Soul Realm is being corrupted. If we arrive too late, the core area of ​​the Ark may have already fallen."

Evelyn's expression shifted from surprise to delight, then quickly settled into gratitude.

"Thank you, Your Excellency, who holds the seal."

She bowed again, her chest swaying, and Lawson quickly looked away, realizing it was rather impolite.

"Second Dog, Third Dog."

The two people appeared at the door almost instantly.

"You shall lead the Mastiff Guards, with eight thousand Bear Guards, to escort Evelynn's envoy to the Usvi Ark to carry out the rescue."

"The safety of the messenger is the top priority."

Er Gou nodded: "Understood, boss."

The two turned and walked out of the inner court.

The Mastiff Guards were already lined up in the corridor, waiting.

Evelyn looked at how efficiently this force had assembled in just a few minutes and added another calculation to her mind.

She turned to Lawson.

“My Lord, I will never forget your kindness today.”

Lawson waved his hand.

Evelyn turned around and quickly caught up with Er Gou and San Gou's group.

Titus and Ventris followed closely behind. Andros hesitated for a second, clearly disapproving of the idea of ​​"the Imperial army going to rescue the Eldar," but ultimately followed anyway.

Their figures disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Lawson also took a step forward, heading towards the Seventh Blackrock Fortress.

……

Static force field unfolds.

Eight thousand Tier 5 Bear Guards entered in batches, their tower shields and power hammers emitting a low metallic resonance during the teleportation process, their massive bodies disappearing one after another into the light curtain.

Evelynn followed behind Er Gou and San Gou, with Tetus, Ventris, and Andros close behind.

With one step, they appeared in the military assembly area of ​​Saim-Han Ark.

The Spirit Bone Dome unfolds in an arc overhead, illuminating the entire space with soft bioluminescence.

Thousands of Saim-Han's wild riders are already lined up in the assembly area, having received orders from the Saim-Han chieftain to join the Seal Bearers' forces in their journey to the Ark of Usvi for rescue.

When the Eldar riders saw the Bear Guards emerge from the light barrier, there was a brief commotion in the ranks.

Fortunately, the military assembly area of ​​Saim-Khan is large enough to accommodate them.

The old chieftain Salosin stood at the entrance to the assembly area, leaning on his cane.

Evelyn walked up to him.

"Elder Salosin, is the network channel ready?"

"It's open. The nearest branch of the net road to Usvi Ark takes about three and a half hours."

Evelyn frowned.

The distress signal from the Usvi Ark has been sent out for several hours. Every minute of delay means another Eldar will die inside the Ark.

She turned to look at Er Gou.

"Doesn't the Usvi Ark have a teleportation node for the Marker? If it does, we can directly..."

Er Gou grinned.

"No."

“Usvi’s bean sprouts think too highly of themselves. When the boss invited each Ark to establish navigation and communication nodes, Saim-Han accepted, and several other small Arks were also in talks. Usvi was the one who jumped out the most aggressively.”

Er Gou patted the battle axe at his waist.

"If you don't appreciate our kindness, then we won't give it to you anymore. You only remember us now that something's happened? You deserve to have to walk for three and a half hours."

Titus stood a little further away and glanced at Er Gou a few more times.

This person's way of speaking was completely different from what Titus knew about imperial officers.

That confidence comes from strength.

When you are strong enough, you don't need to say nice things.

"Let's go."

Evelyn turned to the entrance of the network channel: "Three and a half hours it is, not a minute can be wasted."

Inside the network channel.

The skeletal remains passageway stretched around the procession.

The walls of the passage emitted a soft bioluminescence, and beneath one's feet lay a smooth, spirit-bone surface, polished over tens of thousands of years.

Saim-Han's wild riders, riding jet-powered motorcycles, escorted the column on both sides, acting as guides.