Chapter 375: What Exactly Did the Lamenters Do in the Ghoul Stars?
The welcoming ceremony was brief and solemn. Arthur's entourage consisted only of a squad of Dark Angels.
After a pep talk that rallied the demoralized Astartes with just three sentences, Arthur led the team quickly into the work exchange phase.
Everything that needed to be said had been said. For Astartes, cheesy pleasantries were less satisfying than loosening up in the duel cage after the meeting.
And the Lord of Knights happened to have such time.
"So you shouldn't have suffered so many casualties?"
Ramesses's voice rang out in the conference room.
He was leaning over to examine the connection state between the Sus-an Membrane and Te Kahurangi's soul, his fingertips manipulating psychic threads, his brow slightly furrowed: "Before encountering that special type of Slaugth?"
The atmosphere in the conference room was somewhat relaxed, yet permeated with efficiency-first coolness.
Arthur and Ramesses stood on one side, focusing on sorting out the details and results of the war. The Pyrewing staff sat around the long table, fingers sliding rapidly on tactical slates, categorizing and organizing information, then transmitting it to Romulus on the Dawnbreaker Fleet via the internal encrypted channel for strategic adjustments.
On the other side of the hall, Huron was tugging at Azrael's vambrace, asking for advice in a low voice.
His expression rarely showed a hint of annoyance—
Not long ago, an Alpha Legion cell had infiltrated his ranks, and he urgently needed guidance from this professional. Azrael crossed his arms, expression calm, occasionally nodding or shaking his head.
"Correct."
His soul standing beside Tyberos, Te Kahurangi nodded solemnly.
Because of their pragmatic attitude cultivated in extreme environments and the deep trust forged through blood and fire among members, the Carcharodons were often the primary experimental subjects for various cutting-edge technologies.
At least this experimental warp technology worked; the Librarians' souls were preserved, no longer easily swallowed by the warp.
Unfortunately, ordinary Astartes couldn't be saved. Their souls were not as special as Librarians'. They were now lying in the warp, either reporting to the Legion of the Damned or simply remaining dead.
Ramesses couldn't initiate a ritual for global recruitment either. Simply recruiting a warrior was too wasteful of souls from an economic perspective. After all, humans couldn't shuttle back and forth in the warp seamlessly like the Eldar.
These Eldar are too privileged. Isha's blessings are given out like they're free.
Ramesses couldn't help but complain inwardly.
"That batch of special Slaugth was first discovered by us."
Phoros added from the side: "Their scale was smaller, but they had a strong talent for imitation, able to forge various signals we use during brief engagements."
"At the same time, the combat weapons they used were different from other Slaugth we encountered. Compared to those lighter and bio-tech-filled warships, the space vehicles used by these enemies were massive war moons."
"And they could spread some unknown corruption on occupied planets. The xenos and human races ruled by them would show a high degree of ideological unity with these aliens. We could only completely purge all intelligent life on those planets."
"In this campaign, over one thousand five hundred Astartes casualties were sustained in conflict with this special xenos branch."
Tyberos provided detailed data tables.
The Ghoul Stars were always rampant with monsters. The Carcharodons had indeed encountered small xenos groups with similar characteristics, but never a massive group capable of ruling several planets.
The intensity was terrifying, and the Mortal Auxilia were easily corrupted. If the Carcharodons weren't experienced enough, they would have lost many more troops.
However, these xenos had low resistance to psychic powers. Eldar Wraith-constructs were very effective against them, and Librarians could also create advantages for their side on local battlefields by releasing psychic energy.
Of course, as a master psyker, Te Kahurangi didn't die because he was targeted.
Te Kahurangi died of sheer bad luck, taking a direct hit from a ship-borne cannon.
Although the scope of the Ghoul Stars conflict was small, the intensity was exaggerated. Even Eldar forces were used, and the Ashen Claws were pulled in for space battles just to maintain a stalemate. In this chaotic state, the enemy usually targeted large psychic units like Wraith Titans; no space unit would target a small Librarian.
Te Kahurangi 'volunteered' to help the Librarian-short Lamenters break out, and then took a shot from a war moon while his ship was moving.
The war moon wasn't aiming at him either; the angle just lined up perfectly when it was shot down.
Speaking of this, Phoros couldn't help but fall into deep self-blame.
'That's not Slaugth, is it?'
After carefully reading the data, several members of the Dark Angels team suddenly showed subtle expressions.
Especially Zabriel.
The shadow of his hood hid his expression well, but his tight jawline betrayed his vigilance.
Fun fact: Zabriel was a Dreadwing Destroyer during the Great Crusade and participated in all three Rangdan Xenocides, surviving the entire campaign. He was a true Rangdan veteran.
These characteristics were not Slaugth, but very similar to their allies from ten thousand years ago.
He glanced at his colleague from the Order of the Broken Claw beside him.
"I will apply to lead a team there."
The Broken Claw member broke the silence first.
Although based on current intelligence, these suspected Rangdan remnants were unlikely to become a major threat, for the Dark Angels, any related clues were worth a thorough investigation.
This was their duty.
"What kind of luck is this?"
Ramesses looked up at the sky and nudged Arthur.
"Ghoul Stars. Normal."
Arthur, who approved the application, replied without much concern.
Although many xenos were destroyed during the Great Crusade, many survived.
Like the Hrud who could manipulate entropy and time, or the Slaugth with advanced bio-technology and unknown warp travel tech, and Rangdan remnants...
These things either hid beyond the Astronomican or on unexplored planets. Who knew when they would deal a heavy blow to the Imperium? But compared to the Tyranid Hive Fleets about to sweep the galaxy or the awakening Necron dynasties, these were just minor irritations.
Of course, minor irritations compared to the entire Imperium. Any force capable of threatening the Imperium landing in a local area would be an utter disaster.
It had to be said, worthy of the Lamenters' luck. If the Carcharodons weren't overstrength and equipped far beyond Legion standards, they would have died on the spot.
"And then there's this wormhole."
Ramesses pointed at the wormhole nested with the Maelstrom in his hand, looking troubled.
This was just an optical illusion. In fact, the wormhole was far from the Maelstrom, even inside the Badab sub-sector.
This was outrageous.
Everyone knew the T'au Empire would create such special navigation technology in the future, which was difficult to replicate. Considering the current state of the galaxy and a series of possible future threats, the Dawnbreakers invested heavily in this area.
Even though they could now use the Eldar Webway in local areas, they didn't relax at all.
After all, this might be one of the few FTL means they could fully control.
"I know the warp drive part of the Slipstream Module has indeed entered the application stage, but I remember we didn't add the warp jump module for safety reasons, right? And the experiments haven't even started yet, this..."
Arthur spun the star map, letting the 3D structure of the wormhole rotate slowly.
"Could it be some resonance between the Lamenters and Carcharodons joint fleet and the distorted space of warp drive navigation? Did the compressed warp channel tear a path in the warp rift area?"
As the supervisor responsible for this part of the research, Arthur knew this technology well.
"And then it just happened to open a stable wormhole from the Maelstrom System to the Ghoul Stars?"
Ramesses asked back: "Is this statistically reasonable?"
"Of course it's unreasonable."
Arthur also felt it was ridiculous, but his facial management was better.
"Mm—but the result is good?"
Ramesses struggled for a moment, finally concluding: "Misfortune turns to blessing?"
"Doesn't count."
Arthur looked at the repair reports of various ships. Thanks to the highest standard of ship maintenance personnel assigned to the Lamenters, a series of catastrophic accidents during the wormhole traversal were properly resolved.
The fleet led by the Lamenters finally left the wormhole safely, but the dense maintenance records silently told the story within.
Through the text, Arthur could feel the strong desire to survive contained therein.
"Purely survived by being tough."
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