Warhammer begins in 2026

The six-year bloody war in the Randan Star Region has come to a complete end.

With the spiritual essence of Emperor Randan completely devoured by the Zero Eagle Banner, the spiritual distortion and terrifying power to enslave all races in the entire star field vanished. More than ten core planets and hundreds of outer territories were all restored, and the four Primitive-level Alien Guardians were all annihilated, bringing the interstellar catastrophe that had lasted for several years to a complete end.

After the war, the entire star field entered a period of comprehensive rest and recuperation.

As promised, Huang Feng rewarded the entire army for their merits. Without exception, all participants were awarded medals and reissued massive amounts of combat supplies. Whether they were Space Marines fighting to the death on the front lines, Dark Angels guarding the core, Blood Angels breaking through enemy lines with mobility, Thousand Sons laying out psionic defenses, Iron Warriors building fortifications, or the Imperial Guard, Gray Knights, Mortal Support Forces, and Mechanicus Engineers, every soldier who fought valiantly received an exclusive "Randan Star Medal of Honor".

The badge is inscribed with the star map and imperial emblem of this battle, permanently recorded in the imperial war history, symbolizing the supreme achievement of quelling the spiritual aliens and eliminating the chaos in the interstellar seas. At the same time, a massive amount of high-level military equipment, psionic crystals, forging materials, ship energy cores, and mech repair consumables were all distributed to replenish the losses of six years of war, upgrade the equipment of the entire army, and allow the million-strong interstellar army and hundreds of billions of auxiliary forces to fully rest and replenish themselves, returning their combat power to its peak.

Just as the Randan star region was completely stabilized and the entire army was resting and preparing for battle, Emperor Neos and Macardo had already arrived in the distant Caliban star region.

Caliban, once the most renowned and glorious star on the galactic frontier, is also the most tragic cursed place in the entire sector.

Born in the turbulent ancient times of the star seas, this planet was once a frontier outpost of human colonization. It possessed clear skies, vast continents, and prosperous city-states, where early inhabitants settled and thrived, building a powerful frontier civilization. But no one knows when, a stable subspace shadow rift connected deep within the planet's core. Endless shadow energy constantly overflowed, gradually corrupting the planet's ecosystem and void. Days shortened, nights became eternal, fertile lands withered, and life mutated. This once-prosperous colonial sanctuary ultimately became a desolate starfield forever shrouded in shadow.

For millennia, Caliban has been regarded as a forbidden land and a prison of shadows by the civilizations of the Starsea. The warp rifts are perpetually restless, from which shadow monsters, aberrations, and chaotic spirits constantly pour forth, slaughtering life and eroding the land. No outside power dares to set foot on this intractable land of calamity. It is precisely because of its isolation that of the three warp engineering machines left behind by the Old Ones, only the Ouroboros remains here. Tuchucha and the Heart of Plague were lost to the Starsea over countless ages, their whereabouts a mystery. This makes Caliban's ancient shield tunneling machine the only Old One network core currently usable by the Imperium.

Generations have guarded this land with the native inhabitants of Caliban and the Dark Guardians born from the shadows. They are descendants of the colonists, their bloodline adapted to the shadow's corruption, and they have been burdened for generations with the destiny of guarding the rift and preventing the shadow from leaking out. Without the support of the Empire or aid from outside, relying solely on their own people and ancient pacts, they have managed to contain the rampaging shadow rifts of Caliban and withstand countless shadow catastrophes that could have swept through the surrounding star sectors.

The origins of the Dark Angels are rooted here, which is why the Legion's soldiers are naturally familiar with the wounds of their homeland and revere its resilience. When the Emperor and Macardo arrived, the native Dark Angels remaining in Caliban, fully aware of their intentions, showed no hostility and proactively facilitated the meeting. They did not want their ancestral treasure to ultimately spiral out of control and devour the cosmos, and they also hoped to find a way to break their homeland's millennia-old curse.

With the help of local tribesmen, the meticulous and skilled negotiator Makado took the lead in engaging in equal negotiations with the Dark Guardians of Caliban.

Makado truthfully informed everyone of the Ouroboros's full capabilities and inherent weaknesses, allowing the Dark Guardians to fully recognize the value and limitations of this unique ancient machine.

Ouroboros, a fully formed machine constructed from spirit bones, is the core backbone of the ancient Saint Asia space engineering system. It possesses top-tier capabilities to repair damaged network channels, fold void structures, anchor subspace interlayers, and reshape stable passageways. Even when left alone, lacking the other two supporting machines, it can still operate independently and construct a long-term usable subspace network, sufficient to meet basic interstellar travel and rift stabilization needs.

However, it has an unavoidable natural flaw: it lacks the ability to purify chaos and cannot withstand large-scale chaos contamination. Once faced with high-intensity chaos eruptions and demonic torrents, its formed tunnels are extremely susceptible to erosion, corruption, and eventual collapse. The two supporting machines, Intuchucha and Plague Heart, are not in Caliban and have been lost and not yet found. This prevents the formation of a complete, interconnected system. Lacking the auxiliary capabilities for storm emergency tunneling and contamination neutralization and purification, it can only operate conservatively and maintain the network cautiously, unable to maximize the expansion of deep-space routes.

Macard explained the Empire's final solution to the Dark Guardians with reason and consideration of benefits: the Empire would fully acquire the unique Ouroboros Primordial Shield Machine to build a dedicated and stable network between the Empire's homeland and distant star systems, completely solving the problems of unstable interstellar travel and lack of routes for the human race.

In exchange and as compensation, the Emperor will personally bestow permanent protection upon Caliban, safeguarding his homeland, native inhabitants, and the Dark Guardians, thus ending the long-standing erosion caused by the Shadow Rift and eliminating the threat of warp distortion and chaos infiltration.

After weighing the pros and cons, the Dark Guardian knew that he could not fully control this ancient artifact on his own. Keeping it in Caliban for too long would only create hidden dangers of it getting out of control. Moreover, the protection promised by the Empire was enough to cure Caliban's millennia-old shadow problem. In the end, he agreed to the covenant and voluntarily handed over the Ouroboros.

The negotiations were finalized, and the true power to subdue and take over the creation was handed over to the emperor to execute personally.

As a top-tier creation of the Ancients, Ouroboros possesses mature and autonomous intelligence and immense subspace power. Ordinary negotiations and mechanical checks and balances cannot shake its ownership. Only the Emperor's supreme psychic energy and absolute strength, which transcends the stars, can suppress the will of the ancient machines and complete the transfer of power.

Within the deepest shadow rift of Caliban, the massive ouroboros skeleton slowly rotated, its luminous white skeleton patterns flickering with light and shadow, and rich subspace energy surging in layers. The ancient and boundless pressure of this primordial creation enveloped the entire shadowy sky.

Emperor Neos stepped in, and an invisible golden spiritual energy source spread out around him. It was not a violent and destructive attack, but a superior order crushing and absolutely dominating the ancient creation.

The ouroboros, whose intelligence operated autonomously for countless years and was beyond human control, completely submitted to this supreme will, obeying the power of the covenant and the imperial order, and unconditionally relinquishing its native binding authority.

The entire takeover process was smooth and flawless, with no collapse, no loss, and no energy outbursts. The complete Ouroboros tunnel boring machine was completely separated from the Caliban Rift system and came under the Emperor's complete control.

After fully subduing the treasure, the emperor raised his hand and activated his vast spiritual energy, creating a thick and stable protective barrier of spiritual energy that covered the entire domain.

Pure golden psionic energy flowed throughout the entire Caliban star system, firmly anchoring the native void rift, completely calming the restless shadow energy, sealing the risk of the rift going berserk, and isolating it from all external chaotic invasions and demonic infiltration. This permanently existing psionic shield eternally protects the land of Caliban, its native inhabitants, and the Dark Guardians, completely ending the shadow erosion scourge that has plagued this land for millennia, and making up for all the losses incurred by surrendering the Primordial Shield.

With everything settled, the ancient treasures of Caliban were successfully returned to the Empire, and the scourge of the star system was completely eradicated—a win-win situation.

The Emperor withdrew his psionic energy, took the complete Ouroboros Primal Tunnel Boring Machine, and together with Macardo, who had completed the negotiations and checks and balances, turned around, stepped out of the Caliban Shadowlands, and set off to return to Terra.