Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 173 The fish takes the bait
Burns has been mining on this planet for a month.

Every day on this planet can be described as mental torture.

The oracle devices on the several armed transport ships in orbit were running at full power 24 hours a day. He knew very well that these armed merchant ships could not withstand those Eldar pirates; all they could do was provide early warning for them.

However, some people seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

They believed that after so much time, the pirates might no longer attack the planet they had attacked.

Once the two-month deadline is up, they can return to the dynasty and receive a generous reward.

But what's meant to happen will happen eventually.

A sharp warning siren echoed throughout the camp.

The few remaining personnel on the transport ship stared in disbelief at the oracle before them. By the time the Eldar pirates' warships appeared on the oracle, they were already very close.

"By the Divine Emperor, how did they bypass the divination instrument's detection?! It's those pirate warships! Quick! Start the engines!! Cannon deck, fire!"

But how could these armed merchant ships possibly match the Eldar fleet, which excelled in speed?

Not to mention the Mourning Remembrance, which underwent further maneuverability enhancements.

Using the network and the stealth equipment on their warships, the human warships detected that they had approached within firing range of both sides.

These armed merchant ships didn't even have Void Shields. A single spear from the Mourning Memory could tear an armed transport ship apart, and the cannon fire from these merchant ships couldn't even break through the Eldar's shields.

Those warships that couldn't leave in time were reduced to fragments and crashed onto the planet's surface.

Burns looked up at the sky, where countless pieces of warship debris rained down on the earth like fire.

"They're here. These aliens have really arrived! Quick, send a communication to the dynasty! Grab your weapons, everyone immediately to your designated tactical positions!"

Burns himself led a group of soldiers to the warehouse.

The Eldar warships on orbit could even be seen from the ground.

Meanwhile, the Eldar pirates' ground forces began landing.

As the vanguard, the half-brothers who filled the warrior class launched an attack with poison weapons.

The harsh hierarchical system meant that these half-born sons could only serve as cannon fodder for the powerful and wealthy.

Then came the elite warriors led by Kalushin, many of whom were Eldar who had left the corrupted Chrollo with him from Koror.

The dimensional spiders from the Eldar Ark of Kolor did not immediately join in the slaughter of their fallen brethren, Karusin.

They felt a sense of disgust watching these people vent their emotions so wildly and recklessly, filling the void left by their own kind with their tormented souls.

They would not have fought alongside these corrupt brethren if not for the orders of the Prophets' Council.

Although the Dark Eldar do not attack the Ark Eldar, who are their fellow Eldar, there are always some extremists who will launch attacks against the Ark Eldar and even abduct them back to Comoros.

The Dark Eldar who landed also encountered strong resistance.

However, in order to disguise themselves as an ordinary construction team, most of them were not equipped with combat suits.

If these pirates had 1 elite soldiers in combat uniforms, without the aid of warships, they might not be able to defeat them.

The area where Burns was located was particularly vulnerable to attack, and what Burns needed to do was make the enemy think that he was the weak point.

"Lord Burns' pirate gang is heading this way!"

"Keep tightening the defenses and lure them over!"

The servo system inside the combat suit continuously transmitted battle information, but at the same time, there were also occasional screams of comrades being tortured.

These dark Eldar are abusing those who have lost the ability to resist.

Above the camp, Dark Eldar Reaper gunships circled overhead, their vortex cannons firing whenever any attacking force encountered resistance.

This weapon does not destroy enemies with explosions and energy shocks like conventional energy weapons, but instead forms a pulse.

This pulse can overload the electronic systems inside combat suits and even directly cause great damage to the nervous system of living organisms.

This was perfect for the pirates who needed to abduct people.

The dynasty soldiers who were unable to resist were forcibly stripped of their battle uniforms, while some who had lost the ability to resist were tortured on the spot, and others were taken away as slaves.

Karusin also joined the battle, wielding his powered longsword.

But seeing Burns and his men retreating and fleeing, Karusin grew anxious. Given the current situation, human reinforcements would arrive quickly. His ultimate goal was to capture slaves; if they escaped, his raid would be meaningless. "My fellow countrymen of Korol, you don't want to defy the will of your prophet, do you? Don't think yourself so noble, able to watch my crew die while you stand by and do nothing! If you are unwilling to join the battle, then go back and tell Ayla! The Twilight Sword will terminate its cooperation with you!"

The threat from Karusin spurred these dimensional spider warriors into action.

Compared to ordinary Dark Eldar warriors, these heavily armored dimensional spiders even possess ghost-like short-distance teleportation abilities.

Burns and his soldiers, seeing that the pirates had been successfully lured over, were preparing to leave the battlefield.

After all, their mission wasn't to fight these Eldar pirates to the death.

But before they could retreat, they saw bursts of dazzling light generated by psionic energy.

The enemy, who was originally some distance away from them, suddenly appeared right next to them.

The opponent's orange-red armor was particularly eye-catching.

"Not the Dark Eldar?!"

The sudden attack instantly claimed the lives of more than a dozen soldiers.

Deadly net-weaving guns rained down on the surviving human soldiers.

Razor-sharp single-molecule filaments instantly tore the most threatening units into pieces of flesh and blood, beyond the protection of combat suits.

The dimensional spider, which had reached everyone through spatial displacement, also brandished its powered blades.

Combat suits might compensate for humanity's disadvantage in long-range firepower, but these long-lived Eldar warriors, who have been immersed in the path of cultivation for so long, are still too skilled.

The armor-piercing capability of powered weapons is exceptionally high, and the combat suits are not so sturdy that they can be ignored.

When Burns' retreat was disrupted by these enemies who suddenly joined the battle, the Dark Eldar who surged in behind him completely lost hope of retreating.

"Don't kill them all! These guys are pretty good fighters; we might be able to sell them for a better price at the Comoros arena."

Karushin tried to stop his crew from killing all the survivors, but found that his crew and even his proud kin from Kolor were standing still.

He also looked in the direction of the gaze.

A huge, deep blue crystal stands here.

Although Karusin, who was once an Eldar of the Ark, no longer uses psionic energy after his fall, he remains sensitive to psionic energy.

The Dark Eldar don't lack the ability to use psionic energy; they simply refuse to use it.

The crystal before them was constantly releasing spiritual energy devoid of negative emotions; none of the people present had ever seen such a creation before.

Beside the crystal lay a probe that appeared to be damaged and no longer in operation.

The two styles are very similar, and it is immediately obvious that there must be some connection between them.

Karusin had the heavily wounded Burns dragged to him.

"Monkey! Tell me! What is this thing?!"

Karushin held a dagger to the neck of the already seriously injured Burns.

Burns then said with difficulty.

"This is the alien we dug up. I don't even know what this creation is."

Since evacuation was impossible, Burns decided to play along, his plan being to pique the curiosity of the aliens and get them to take him away.

Karusin felt as if he had found something incredible.

“Karushin! Corol needs this creation, and the Prophets’ Council will give you a sufficient price!” A dimensional bishop stepped forward to Karushin.
"Sure. But for this kind of unknown creation, I need more compensation!"

"The Council of Prophets will consult with you."

As they explored further, they discovered several insect eggs placed in a petri dish and an SCV.

Karusin ordered his crew to take these supplies as spoils of war, but the Eldar of the Ark had no interest in either of them.

But he remembered that the terrifying bloodlust people in Comoros were always looking for tissues and organs from various creatures.

If they meet their requirements, Karusin can receive a fairly good reward.

(End of this chapter)