Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 376 Encounter with Space Dwarfs
"I can't wait to board the shuttle and win a perfect victory." Fugrim smiled as he thought about riding in the same aircraft as the Imperial Eagle on his chest.

His friend, Finus Manus, asked in a voice as heavy as lead.

"Have you resolved your legion's problems?"

“Yes,” Forgrim said with a smile, his eyes gleaming, “the ‘Son of the Emperor’ will once again traverse the galaxy, and I will set out from Terra and march northeast.”

"I have heard that pirates are harassing the northeastern part of the Sun Star Region."

Upon hearing this, Ning Lu couldn't help but recall the star map of the northeastern part of the Sun Star Region.

The words "Sun Star Region, Northeast Direction, Pirates" stirred Ninglu's memories.

Almost instantly, he knew that the area that Fogrem had heard about was the area where Alicia was located.

Alicia is not only the homeworld of the future elite Alicia Airborne Forces, but it is also located on a major subspace trade route in the region.

Therefore, the area around Alicia is known for its pirates and is a haven for both humans and Ida pirates.

Ninglu thought to himself as he realized that Fugrim might discover Alicia.

Alicia is a commercially developed world, which naturally has disputes that require arbitration, making it a suitable world for recruiting soldiers for the First Warband.

The "Alician Paratroopers" are also elite Astral soldiers, and Alicia's developed commerce is also extremely valuable.

Macado requested that I supply more Skyhawk shuttles, and Alicia could serve as a sales location for it and various future products.
Ninglu also realized that the Legion currently only possessed a dozen or so star systems centered around Necromonda.

Alicia's location is more advantageous, serving as another foothold.

With that in mind, he decided to use the prophecy dice to divine Alicia's fate later.

As Ninglu pondered, the Mars Foundry Director stepped into the council hall at the last minute, at the twelfth second, a time symbolizing the sacred number of the God of Machines.

After he took his seat, psionic projections of the Emperor and Constantine Waldo appeared.

Amid the salutations of the crowd, Ninglu heard a new voice addressing Old Man Huang as "My Lord"—it was the powerful voice of Ryan Aljonsen.

The emperor surveyed the crowd and began to speak:
"The reason I've gathered you here today is to discuss how to deal with this newly discovered special species. They are willing to trade with the Empire, but refuse to join us."

"More than thirty expeditionary fleets reported that they lived in a huge underground city. They were a short, hardworking, and tenacious but stubborn and conservative race, and were named after the first world scott to be discovered."

"The biological sages accompanying the ship conducted genetic testing on them to confirm that they belonged to the human category."

Upon hearing this, Ninglu realized that Old Man Huang was referring to the Space Dwarfs.

He knew that the space dwarves were clone templates created to mine minerals in the extremely dangerous environments of the galactic core and stars, where gravity and radiation are high.

The space dwarves were dispatched to that dangerous region before the Empire was established, and therefore had little contact with humans from other regions.

Ninglu knew that because of the dangerous environment, very few forces would enter the core of the galaxy until the Great Rift opened and many forces were drawn into the cursed scars that tore the galaxy apart.

Besides the Wotan Alliance, there are only the Greenskin, which are equally tough and highly adaptable.

The Empire is not actually located in the physical center of the galaxy.

The central region of the Milky Way is actually located in the extreme star field.

For ease of administration, the Human Empire divided the region around Terra, but in reality, it also designated a much larger area as the Limit Starfield.

The future Limit Starfield is the largest among the five major starfields, and that is precisely why.

[I recall that after the Empire rediscovered the Space Dwarves, a portion of them, located on the edge of the Galactic Core, officially joined the Empire of Man, but retained a high degree of autonomy.]
Nimrod knew that although the Space Dwarves did not have the massive size of the human empire, they were still enormous compared to many Xenomorphs.

There are numerous alliances among them, some nominally joining the human empire, some completely independent, and others hostile to the empire.

However, even getting the space dwarves nominally to join the Empire came at a considerable cost.

The Mark III Steel Power Armor was specifically developed after bloody battles fought in the underground cities of worlds like Skoda.
Ninglu knew that the future Mark III Steel Edition, from its design to its widespread use, was not intended to replace the Mark II Expeditionary Edition, but rather a special adaptive version developed for environments such as boarding and underground operations.

It sacrifices flexibility for increased defense, but it's not as extreme as the Terminator. Of course, it also requires far fewer resources to build, making it suitable for widespread deployment.

No sooner had the Lord of Humanity finished speaking than the Mars Forging Director eagerly raised the demands of the Mechanicus:
"Their technology is unique and very different from the technology we have now." "It is valued highly, and we must acquire their technology."

“Since the biological sages have determined that they are human, we should adopt a more gentle approach.” Vokan admired the resilient Skots; he could see the shadow of the Nocturne Star People in these short human groups.

Both are resilient and hardworking, but the Nocturne people are tall while the Skot people are short.

"Moreover, their willingness to trade indicates that it is possible to make contact with them."

Lehman Russ curled his lip and said in a hunter's manner:
"These dwarves resist joining the empire; only blood and fire can make them face reality."

“We should send envoys again and try to persuade them to join the Empire through diplomatic means,” Makado’s voice came from beneath his hooded robe.

Subsequently, all the Primarchs expressed their opinions, supporting Makado's proposal.

The Emperor then made a decision: "Magnus, your Thousand Sons are closer, so you will be in charge of the negotiations."

Ninglu knew that "Thousand Sons" were often dispatched as diplomatic envoys.

Because they are eager to collect knowledge from various civilizations, they tend to be more moderate in their interactions with different powers.

More importantly, they use mental abilities to get the other party to accept their conditions.

The "Thousand Sons," along with the outstanding-looking "Son of the Emperor," attempted to cultivate a perfect image of themselves, not just as Horus's "Shadowmoon Wolf," a war commander, and the "Ultraman," skilled in politics and diplomacy, who undertook almost all diplomatic activities during the "Great Crusade."

But this time, Old Man Huang miscalculated. The space dwarves were resilient and had a certain resistance to psionic energy, so even Qianzi could not persuade them.

Senko's diplomatic efforts will fail, just like Gardiner's.
As Ning Lu pondered, his gaze swept over Fernus Manus.

The Battle of Gadinal was a glorious victory for Manus, but it also marked his realization that he was merely a conqueror and not suited to be a war commander.

After the war, he told his friend Forgrim, "I want you to know that it won't be me, and whoever ends up in that position, I will support them."
Nimrod knew that Manus had close ties with the Mechanicus and that during the Great Crusade, he conquered mostly industrial planets.

Each of them is an industrial world that can meet the world's casting standards, and many have even been directly colonized by machine oil enthusiasts.

In terms of scale and capacity, among the five hundred worlds of Otlama, only a handful, such as Kos, can compare.

However, their numbers were relatively small, and like Medusa, Manus did not directly rule them, but merely extracted resources and production capacity.

This is also why the "Iron Hand" armored forces have always been the best among all legions.

[Among the many worlds I have conquered, Vostonia, Triken, and Cypra Mandy in the Misty Starfield, and Kos and Gan Meteor in the Limit Starfield, are no worse than Manus's.]

Gadinar is undoubtedly the brightest jewel Manus conquered during the "Great Crusade," and I can take control of it ahead of time, bringing eleven advanced industrial worlds and hundreds of billions of people into my territory.
Ning Lu gathered his thoughts and turned his attention back to the space dwarf, then spoke.

"The Skots have already refused once; it might not be easy to get them to join the Empire."

“We should prepare in advance. I was just in the underground caves of Kos…” Nimrod glanced almost imperceptibly at Guilliman and continued.

"In the battle against the alien creature also named Gorgon Basilisk, I found that underground operations require stronger protection due to the lack of cover."

He looked at the Mars Foundry Director, "Can Mars provide new equipment for this?"

Ninglu guessed that Huang Laohan might have sent his Pegasus to join the battle against the space dwarves himself.

In order to gain an advantage and reduce losses in underground operations, he made a request to the director of Mars Foundry.

Ninglu believed that Mars, which was eager to obtain the technology of the space dwarves, would be happy to provide assistance.

"Ninglu, Mars is naturally capable of providing more suitable equipment for underground operations."

"Before the Great Expedition began, better armor was being researched, and this project was advanced when Father Malevolus was involved in the casting of the Manus armor."

"The terminator armor, named Iron Cavalry type, is ready for deployment. Mars will prioritize providing equipment to legions participating in the battle against the Skots."

Ninglu nodded. He knew that the Ironclad Armor, as the first Terminator armor to be deployed, was constantly adjusted based on feedback from actual combat after being equipped by the Space Marine Legion.

Before the grand birthday celebration, the Iron Cavalry model was already quite mature, and many units in the legion were equipped with it, with the "Shadowmoon Wolf" and "Iron Hand" being deployed on a large scale.

(End of this chapter)