Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 186 Celestial Spirits: I Have Two Lives
The crystal's warp-in didn't stop; more Protoss troops were on their way.

Salam looked on with heartache at his fallen brethren. Every Eldar was precious, and now their bodies were being torn apart by the psionic blades of these unknown races, their pure blood flowing onto the sacred Ark.

"No! What are you doing! Krol has never been an enemy of a race like yours!"

What terrified him most was witnessing Artanis take up the Soulstone that protected the souls of his people after slaughtering them.

When the Soulstone was in Artanis's hands, he saw it visibly breaking apart.

The souls of our compatriots are wailing, the souls of our compatriots are disappearing!
After the Eldar soul within the Soul Stone was devoured, the blood-red Soul Stone completely dimmed, and another Protoss appeared on Eldar.

Artanis looked at Salam and the other psionic artisans, who were now surrounded by Templars.

The probe seemed to have found its master and came to Artanis's side.

Under Artanis's orders, the probe began constructing a number of photon turrets to reinforce the defenses.

The portals continuously warped squads of Protoss into this world.

The Templars who subsequently arrived at Corrol also began to form small squads.

They began a full-scale invasion of the ark, and the Protoss took advantage of the Eldar's inability to react, causing as much destruction and chaos as possible to create more advantages for their subsequent forces.

Artanis came before Salam.

Gao Yi once told Artanis that the most important thing in the entire Ark world is its infinite circuits!

Only by occupying or destroying the Infinite Circuit can one truly occupy the entire Ark, and even bring the invaluable Spear of Aeons to this world. The countless Eldar souls contained within the Infinite Circuit can multiply the existing number of Protoss.

"Tell me! Where is the infinite circuit?!"

Artanis's voice echoed in Salam's ears, but even though Salam was terrified and his body began to tremble, he did not utter a sound.

Every Eldar in the Ark knows what the Infinite Circuit represents; the souls of their loved ones are preserved there, and protecting the Infinite Circuit is also protecting themselves.

For the Eldar, physical death is not the most terrible thing; the complete annihilation of the soul or being taken away by the Slaanesh is the most painful.

"What...what are you? Why are you invading our Ark?!"

"You started this war, Eldar!"

Salam's eyes widened. If such a pure psionic race existed, how could he not know about it? No matter how hard he searched his memories, he couldn't find any such beings as Protoss.

"How could that be! We've never even seen your race before! Your existence has never been recorded in the treasure trove of knowledge in Kolor, so how could you possibly start a war!"

Seeing Salam's expression, Artanis knew that it was the same trick those in power used to play; these commoners had no idea about the decisions made by those in power.

But when the war begins, what distinction is there between civilians and soldiers? Did the Zerg spare the civilians when they attacked Aiur?
Not to mention the Zerg, during the Protoss's most prosperous period, their golden fleet burned many planets, and besides the soldiers, these planets also had countless civilians.

In StarCraft and Warhammer, the same thing happens: the Imperium of Man has wiped out countless Xenomorphs since its founding.

It's just that all of this is more in line with the interests of the race.

When Artanis emerged from the laboratory again, there wasn't a single living Eldar left.

With the sudden appearance of the Protoss, the world of Koror Ark was instantly thrown into chaos. It had been countless years since the last war to invade the Ark.

In the past, the defenses against the Ark were mainly against threats from the Void and the outside world. The Web and the divination of the prophets were enough to allow them to avoid most of the dangers.

The threat, coming directly from within without warning, caught the Eldar off guard.

"Prophet Aila! The Ark has been invaded!"

"What! What on earth happened? How did they get in? Has there been any report of an intrusion on the Ark?"

“No! There are no enemies in the nearby star systems. Our star system has already been explored. There aren’t even any living creatures here!” Ella calmed herself down and sensed the surroundings. At this moment, a large number of powerful psionic reactions appeared in the Ark.

For a moment, he even thought that a demon had found an entrance in the Webway and entered Corol through the Webway Hub inside the Ark.

Meanwhile, the other prophets in the Council of Prophets watched the images transmitted back from the location of the attack inside the ark.

The Templars' appearance is extremely similar to that of the Probes and the Crystal Tower.

Inside the laboratory researching the Crystal Tower, all the Eldar artisans and warriors had lost contact, and the prophets knew from the direction the Protoss appeared that they all came from.

"Summon all the Guardians! No matter how they got here, we must protect our home! Send Guardians to protect the Infinite Circuit! The Infinite Circuit absolutely cannot be compromised!"

Ella began issuing orders, and everything that was happening pointed to the crystal tower he had brought back.

During this period, the only external creation that Kolor brought back was the crystal tower; there were nothing else.

Meanwhile, all Eldar armies within the Ark world began to assemble, and the war machines created by the Eldar bones were activated.

The invasion alarm had not sounded in the Ark world of Corol for over a thousand years.

Kolor, who adhered to isolationism, always avoided appearing directly in the sight of other intelligent races.

However, the seemingly reclusive nature of Kolor does not mean that their warriors are not good at fighting. Ella has been manipulating the leaders to clear obstacles for Kolor over the years.

The warriors of Koror also occasionally leave the Ark to fight, and the Koror Eldar warriors' philosophy has always been to use offense as defense, eliminating the enemy before they can launch an attack.

After all, it was Eldar's home turf. When the Eldar reacted, their numerical and firepower advantage temporarily suppressed the Protoss's offensive.

Eldar Rangers, Assault Scorpions, Howling Banshees, and Dimensional Spiders, warriors from various paths, clash with Templars throughout the Ark world.

Ordinary Eldar warriors posed no significant threat to the Templars, and the complex terrain of the Ark provided the Templars with opportunities for close combat.

However, the firepower of vehicles such as the Flame Crystal Tank cannot be blocked by the Protoss's single-target shields.

The Ark Eldar, who inherited the legacy of the former Eldar Empire, still displayed their due fighting power after realizing what was happening.

Even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse; the limited number of portals restricts the Protoss's reinforcement speed.

Without reinforcements, even if Artanis is strong enough, he cannot stop the entire Ark world's enemies.

The battle line is rapidly advancing towards the Crystal Tower.

The Eldar's goal was also to destroy the crystal and cut off the invaders' support.

However, whenever the Eldar managed to eliminate a Templar, they discovered that the Protoss vanished instantly in Koror with a beam of light.

The dying Protoss instantly teleported back to Aiur using the crystal array device on its armor. This device allows a severely injured Protoss to be instantly teleported back to a safe location.

This is equivalent to giving the Protoss two lives.

Unfortunately, their physical injuries could not be healed, and these severely wounded Protoss were put into Protoss mechanical constructs.

Just like the Netherworld constructs of the Eldar.

Artanis watched with heartache as his people were teleported away, severely wounded. Although they were not completely dead, once inside the construct, they would never have a chance to come out again.

For the sake of the Protoss, these heavily wounded warriors were willing to make such a sacrifice.

As the construct was activated, the Protoss's heavy ground units began to enter the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)