Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 385 Boarding the Longbeard-class Short-Descended Giant Cruiser
The Shadow of the Kings.

Ning Lu stood in front of the tactical table, watching the battle erupt in the void.

The black warships of "Shadow of Order" launched an offensive against the space dwarves' fleet.

Raindrops of light shot out from the bow, piercing the iron-black enemy ship like spears.

The space dwarf warship also fired a beam of light in retaliation from its bow, flashing red and yellow.

The "Shadow of Order" fleet, with its overwhelming numerical superiority, overwhelmed Rosario's space dwarf fleet.

All screens were filled with signals, silent explosions were everywhere, and the keel of the destroyed starship was burning fiercely.

Nimrod saw a space dwarf cruiser being severed in half by the crystalline, deadly energy spewed from the Kings Shadow's spear.

His gaze continued to search among the enemy ships, and he quickly locked onto a super-massive warship.

The warship was 7.8 kilometers long, which would be considered a large cruiser by Imperial standards.

It is slightly longer than other space dwarf cruisers, but more significantly wider and taller.

[It seems to be a Longbeard-class dwarf super-giant cruiser.] Nimrod thought uncertainly.

[It should be the flagship of the Rosario dwarf clan.]
The Space Dwarves, also known as the Wotan Alliance, consist of thousands of alliances of varying sizes.

The alliances include both commercial alliances dedicated to trade and war alliances aimed at establishing hegemony.

The alliances consist of a varying number of clans, with the largest, the Great Serian Alliance, comprising up to two hundred clans.

Each alliance must have at least one Wotan core, also known as an ancestor core.

The number of clans varies, ranging from hundreds or thousands of space dwarves to tens of millions.

Each clan will have at least one ancestral shrine, whose ancient technology allows every clan in the alliance to know the current location of Wotan at any time.

Of course, as one of the largest populations in the galaxy, the Wotan Alliance, skilled in trade, also has various guilds, corporate alliances, and agreement organizations.

The Rosario clan is small and unlikely to have an ancestral core, but it should have an ancestral shrine.

Each clan castle has an ancestral shrine, but the Longbeard-class dwarf super-massive cruiser may also have one.

Large clans often have more than one ancestral shrine; Rosario's clan is smaller, so it's uncertain, but there might be two.
Ninglu raised his hand and tapped lightly, marking the Longbeard-class short-breed super-giant cruiser.

"Prepare to board!"

He wanted to seize the ancestral shrine and then use a "sleight of hand" to obtain the secrets from it.

The Ancestral Core is a wise oracle, the embodiment of the collective consciousness of the ancestors, and a super-intelligent computer.

It contains all the information about Wotan's survival and development in the universe, including the technical parameters of weapons, standard manufacturing templates, scientific and philosophical learning materials, genetic lineage data, and military and survival-related theories and strategies.

The only Hearthborn who can communicate with Volkan are called Grimnir Sages, responsible for seeking guidance from their ancestors or interpreting the results of their output. The high-tech, mysterious facility they use to perform this activity is called the Ancestral Shrine.

The honor guard assembled on the deck and boarded the boarding torpedoes and gauntlet assault boats.

Ninglu boarded the gauntlet-shaped assault boat, modified to fit his massive frame; the heavy armor could carry an Astartes squad.

The Primarch occupies two positions, while Arsena occupies one.

Compared to a typical Astartes, his body appeared too small, and the compact seat was too loose for him.

The support system consists of multiple retractable inertia-damping clamps attached to the powered armor, locking Nimrod and seven Honor Guard members in place.

The hydraulic rods hold Alsena in place, preventing him from being thrown up due to inertia.

The operator pulled down the control lever, and the afterburner reactor started.

With superhuman speed, Astartes pushed and pulled the control lever, dodging incoming beams and projectiles at an incredible pace. When it was still 150 kilometers from the Longbeard-class short-blooded super-massive cruiser, its twin high-energy laser beam cannons began to fire beams.

The driver twisted the control lever sharply, and the gauntlet-shaped assault boat suddenly spun horizontally in mid-air.

A beam of light grazed past the gauntlet-shaped assault boat, and a piercing buzzing sound rang in the driver's ears.

He examined the panel and found that the extra armor had been melted by the beam, but the inner armor was undamaged.

The driver noticed numerous threatening runes lighting up on the video screen.

Enemy gunboats swarmed ahead, intercepting them.

The driver, wearing a touch-sensitive glove, gripped the weapon system and pressed a button forcefully.

Each wing has a Blazing Furious missile launcher, which roars out a volley of missiles.

Missiles trailing blinding light slammed into the gunboat.

The explosion's light flashed on the video screen before extinguishing.

The driver raised his left hand and pressed the control button for the short rocket engine.

The gauntlet-shaped assault boat shuddered violently, its speed increasing dramatically in an instant.

The driver pressed down hard with his right hand, and the promethium fuel burst into flames.

"Prepare for impact! Five, four..."

"one!"

The assault boat slammed into the target warship like a heavy punch, unleashing a torrent of molten lava.

The heavy armor of the Longbeard-class short-blooded giant cruiser melted rapidly, and the guarding space dwarf firepower team raised their plasma guns and launched an attack.

Liquid hydrogen fuel is heated into plasma, the magnetic field expands and opens, and the plasma is ejected through a linear electromagnetic accelerator, like a solar flare shining from the core star of the Milky Way.

A high-energy hydrogen-based plasma sphere slammed into the blast shield of the cockpit, producing a crackling sound.

Ning Lu took off first, followed by the other Honor Guard assault team members who slid down the assault ramp.

Ninglu raised his left arm, and the explosive gun mounted on his power gauntlet fired a barrage of bullets at the small enemy.

The space dwarf, clad in grey clan void armor, was torn apart by a bomb.

The honor guards raised their weapons, and the roar of explosives and the buzzing of ion weapons rang out simultaneously.

Ninglu launched the attack while simultaneously asking questions via communicator.

"Other ships of the Space Dwarfs can come to our aid."

A moment later, the voice of the sound array master rang out: "My lord, there is none."

Ning Lu hung up the call, thinking to himself.

[It can be confirmed that the Longbeard-class short-blooded mega-cruiser does not possess the Ancestral Core.]
He knew that if the location of the ancestral core was attacked, the space dwarves would surely come to his aid.

All the space dwarves will give their lives for the Ancestral Core.

[I wonder if this Longbeard-class short-breed giant cruiser has an ancestral shrine.]
Ning Lu led his team onto the deck, where they were suddenly confronted by countless bodies encased in mechanical shells.

They marched with heavy steps, their finely crafted warhammers clanging loudly.

Ninglu looked at them, thinking to himself, "[Iron Descendants.]"
There were also numerous dwarves clad in void armor, with gray beards, wielding automatic parallel bomb guns and plasma axes that were longer than their own height.

[Descendants of the Furnace.]
(End of this chapter)