Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 597 The Long Night, the Trembling Earth
In the Primarch's office on the Shadow of Reigns, Arcena Dunn reports to the Black Emperor.

"My lord, the Star Lord reports that the Fifth Legion has broken through the only corridor of the Volpa Star Gorge, creating conditions for the deployment of the Ramirez-class Star Fortress."

"Once deployed, the Ramirez-class star fortress will block the only path to the Gugan system and the Sak Trada Abyss."

"The Legion's Chief Navigator, the esteemed Mr. Visher, reports that the flagship's delivery will be completed in thirty-one standard minutes."

Malena Scarla's brown eyes flickered, and after the Primarch's servant finished reporting, she spoke.

“My lord, the construct I created using the technology of Schloss has been successfully tested and completed.”

"Although I have not yet mastered the technology to manufacture necrosis weapons, I used damaged construct limbs to fill them in."

Ninglu nodded slightly and gave instructions to Malena.

"Deployed on Planet Gorgis, within the ambush zone."

Nimrod had already informed the two of his plans, explaining in detail the function of the Peturabo stasis device, while selectively concealing parts of the plan such as the "Disordered Kingdom".

He then got up and walked toward the bridge with the two men.

……

After the Shadow of Reign arrives in the Gugan system, a torrent of data floods onto Captain Diana Pauline's control panel.

The hypnotist's superhuman brain works at lightning speed, organizing information and forming a report.

"My lord, the Fifth Battle Group has established a defensive line at Star Gorge."

"The Simulated Sanctuary has received the scan results from the Fifth Warband and located the target planet—Gorgis."

"Death Lord reports: The Fourth Warband has completed its assembly as planned."

Ninglu nodded and gave the order.

"Execute the planned attack on Gorgis."

“As you wish.” Diana reviewed the Fifth Legion’s report and refined the battle plan she had developed based on the information issued by the Primarch.

Overall, Hrud's warships were no match for the Imperial warships.

They pose a significant threat at close range; the Volpa Star Gorge, which the flagship is currently traversing and the Fifth Legion is breaking through, is the most favorable environment for them.

At the same time, the technical sergeants led by the "mechanical expert" were analyzing the compiled scan data in the simulated sanctuary.

Entropy field defense, spacetime oscillation shockwave...

After Diana completed the battle plan, she looked up at the huge holographic screen above her.

The Shadow of Reign traveled through the narrow void, smashing through the broken rocks and burning metal debris in the void.

Her vision gradually opened up, and on one side were black warships engraved with the "Shadow of Order" Legion insignia, and on the other side were black warships engraved with the green skull of the Fourth Legion, converging on the flagship.

They deployed their forces around the Glory Queen-class battleship HMS Reign Shadow and the Chapter flagship HMS Death and Wither.

The black fleet weaved through the stars in the faint glow of their twinkling lights.

Diana's gaze fell back on the tactical images on the control panel, where the Hrud fleet had set up a defensive line in space between 10,000 and 30,000 kilometers from Gorgis.

The blurred runes, enveloped by layers of spacetime fields, are becoming clearer at a visible speed.

“Captain,” the gunnery officer’s gruff voice rang out, “Enemy ship locked, ether cannons ready, bow lances charged.”

Diana quickly marked the two targets, then stared at the screen as colorful beams of light shot out from the Shadow of Reign and the Death and Decay.

A blazing white beam of light, followed by a stream of colored light, struck precisely the two gray rune marks.

The two gray rune markers vanished.

As Diana's hands moved, the gray runes disappeared rapidly.

The gray light of the entropy energy beam that shot out quickly faded and dissipated before reaching the black rune.

After five rounds of attacks, the Hrud warships realized they were at a complete disadvantage in long-range firefights, and a swarm of runes surged forth.

Diana became busy, issuing orders at lightning speed.

"Royal Shadow, turn 3-6-8, lean 4 and proceed."

"..."

The black warships dispersed, spreading out like a large net to increase the distance between themselves and the Hrud warships.

The Herodians of the Ancient Gan system lost most of their warships at the Volpa Gorge, and the remaining warships were insufficient to close the distance.

They burned fiercely in the depleting entropy energy field.

After the Black Fleet arrived in Gorgis's high orbit, Diana summarized the results of the fleet's Auger Matrix scan and reported to the Primarch.

"Sir, the scan results show that there is no alien life signal on the surface."

"As you said before, the Hrud are a nocturnal race; during the day they all stay huddled in the caves they have dug."

"Order the Fourth Battle Group to land and establish a line at the tunnel entrance. Do not enter the tunnel before inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy," Ning Lu instructed before rising and going to the strategic table.

Alsena followed the Black Emperor to the strategic table.

The "Guardian of Knowledge" knew that the Black Emperor was choosing an ambush location, and his blue eyes scrutinized the holographic image.

A moment later, he pointed to a spot in the Gorgi equator, a place filled with natural caves.

“Natural caves are the ideal dwelling places for the Hruds, and the aliens should be most concentrated there.”

Ning Lu nodded, then raised his hand to zoom in on a spot.

"here."

As Nimrod selected the ambush coordinates, the heavy transport ships of the 4th Regiment unloaded their "cargo." Oliver, the company commander of the 1st Company, successfully landed without encountering any anti-aircraft resistance for the first time.

Encased in armor, the "spirit medium" strolled off the deck and looked up at the faint, tiny starlight.

[Hrud hates sunlight even more than we do!]
Oliver withdrew his gaze and strode toward the rune-marked tunnel.

As he walked through the ruins, he looked around with a critical eye.

The obvious drag marks confirm that, as the Black Emperor said, the Hruds are a race of scavengers.

When Oliver arrived at the tunnel entrance, the company members had already set up their defensive lines in an orderly manner, following the exercise plan.

The technical sergeant led his servants, recruited from the Necromonda artisan class, and deployed a ring of tarantula sentry guns around the entrance.

The Shadow Order did not carry bomb guns, which were not very powerful after being weakened by the entropy field. Instead, they stood between the sentry cannons, wielding weapons that had just been equipped by the warband and originated from the space dwarves' vibration technology.

Oliver looked up and saw that the starlight had dimmed to the point of being like a candle flame.

The "psychic" activated his spiritual vision and looked into the depths of the tunnel.

Grayish-white specks of light and shadow were reflected in the eyes of the "psychic".

They throbbed and trembled, their red, bloodthirsty desires shining through.

The moment a sentry gun was deployed at the tunnel entrance, the long night in Gorgis began.

"Ready to fight!"

Oliver gave the order and strode forward, carrying the concussion weapon.

When the machine spirit of the Tarantula Sentinel Cannon sensed the presence of the Hruds, it immediately roared and opened fire.

Even to the keen-sensed eyes of the Shadow of Order, Hrud was an almost imperceptible shadow.

However, the thermal imaging system of the Tarantula sentry gun can capture the leakage of environmental heat caused by the entropy effect.

The sentry guns spun, and the twin laser cannons roared as they fired.

The laser's speed defied all physical limitations, piercing the enemy's entropy field and tearing the two Hruds to shreds.

A dozen or so Herudes surged forward, their entropy fields overlapping each other, causing the air in front of them to bend and tighten, as if covered by a curtain.

They moved swiftly, propelled forward by a long arm and two legs, freeing their hands to hold plasma flintlock pistols.

In the blink of an eye, they swiftly raised the plasma flintlock pistols in their hands.

A weapon that is essentially a simple symbiosis of thermal weapons and plasma weapons, it fired beams of fire hotter than starlight at the Tarantula sentry gun.

The laser beam hissed as it attacked again, killing one of the Hruds.

The pillar of fire swept across and engulfed the metal body of the Tarantula Sentinel Cannon.

The machine spirit roared, driving the twin cannons to launch a final barrage, tearing the two Abominations apart.

The "psychic" watched as the aliens screamed and surged toward the tunnel entrance, then slammed his raised concussion weapon down.

The human empire had lost the technology to manufacture the shock weapon, which crashed at the tunnel entrance.

The ground shook, and an invisible shockwave completely tore apart the wreckage of the Tarantula sentry gun.

The shockwave shot straight into the dark tunnel and slammed into the surging Hrud.

The shockwave pierced through the distorted force field surrounding the Hrud, roaring as it tore apart the muscle pillars.

The interconnected spines were torn into a pile of fragments, scattered on the ground.

The "psychic" gazed into the tunnel, and more Hrud surged forth.

He swung the concussion weapon again and again, slamming it down whenever Hrud came within ten meters.

The tunnel continued to vibrate, and debris fell like raindrops, crashing onto Hrud's body, which was torn apart by the shockwave.

After countless attacks, the tunnel collapsed with a deafening roar.

Oliver stepped back as the ground shook, his eyes filled with gray and white light and shadow in the tunnel ruins.

In an instant, the tunnel ruins were distorted into dust by the entropy field of countless Hruds gathered together.

As dust settled, forty-one Tarantula sentry guns roared and opened fire simultaneously.

The machine spirit identified the alien's entropy energy region, and none of the eighty-two beams were aimed at Oliver.

Dozens of Hruds were torn apart by the shrieking beams, but the shadows showed no signs of diminishing.

In the distance, artificial hills rise, and the shadowy figures of the non-royal court raise explosive and incendiary weapons.

They switched their helmet imaging layer to a thermal imaging system.

They aimed at the center of the hot yellow and red, pulled the trigger, and the molten flames turned the area in front of the tunnel entrance into a sea of ​​fire.

Hrud surged into the inferno, their free hands raised to strike a guard member dressed in a Saturn-shaped Terminator prototype suit.

As if the thermal field did not exist, the bullets that traveled between the physical universe and the subspace bypassed the defenses and scorched the black armor black.

Amidst the surging flames, the honor guard of the First Company raised their concussion weapons and slammed them down.

The shockwaves converged, creating a shock storm that cleared away a large area of ​​Hrud.

In the long, dark night, the Fourth Legion fought on the front lines of the tunnels, facing millions of Hruds.

The tarantula sentry guns roared, the sea of ​​fire surged, and the vibrations continued.

(End of this chapter)