chsdbacks Chapter 78 Conquest
Chapter 78 Conquest
939.M30.
Extreme Starfield.
Kel's Star.
Moorish Nest City.
At this moment, artillery fire raged, smoke filled the air, bombs exploded, and cries of agony rose from all sides.
The crimson-painted landing pods of the Thousand Sons crashed down like raindrops, creating craters of varying depths on the scorched, bomb-strewn ground. Then, a group of fully armed Thousand Sons warriors appeared, bestowing death upon this planet that dared to defy the Empire.
"Kill! Protect our home!"
On the streets of the upper level of the hive, amidst the ruins, a group of rebels dressed in tattered overalls, brandishing their old laser rifles, launched a desperate charge towards the tall, crimson power armor-clad Thousand Sons.
Standing at the forefront of hundreds of elite warriors, Li Wei coldly observed the rebellious army charging ahead, shaking his head. He then gave a stern order to his adjutant:
"Open fire! Since persuasion to surrender has failed, then rout them all!"
In an instant, the dense explosions of bombs, the bursts of purple psionic fireballs, and the screams of the rebels before their deaths intertwined into a cruel elegy of death.
About half an hour later, at the end of the bronze corridor of the ancient library in Moor's Nest, cast from marble and bronze, Li Wei fired a psionic fireball, burning the last rebel hiding behind the bookshelf at the library entrance to ashes.
He then ordered his thousand warriors to enter the long-sealed library and move books and ancient manuscripts.
Only then did Li Wei take off his slightly heavy power armor helmet, his gaze fixed on the smoke-filled sky where enemy planes occasionally crashed, trailing black smoke, his thoughts drifting into the distance.
Three years have passed since the Thousand Sons Legion marched alone into the unconquered star sectors of the Limit Starfield after the battle at Phoenix Cliff with the Space Wolves and Death Guard on Shrike Star.
At an average rate of one planet every five months, the Thousand Sons Legion has already conquered seven planets.
This progress far exceeds the previous conquest efficiency of the Thousand Sons, and has even reached the average level of a typical Astartes legion.
It's not that the Thousand Sons Legion has changed its nature and is no longer committed to deeply exploring the ancient ruins buried deep underground on every conquered planet.
It was Li Wei who suggested that the Thousand Sons must accelerate their pace of conquering planets, quickly plunder the psionic knowledge on each conquered planet, continuously replenish the knowledge of the Thousand Sons Primarch Magnus's Book of Magnus, accelerate Magnus's awakening of his warp nature, and also increase the Thousand Sons' extremely scarce manpower.
Thinking about the problem of replenishing the ranks, Li Wei rubbed his temples helplessly, feeling a headache coming on.
In fact, Qianzi's "black ship" was completed and officially put into service a year ago, but an awkward thing happened. Qianzi conquered too few planets, and the psionic suppression cruiser, which could carry 2 qualified psionicists, could not be fully loaded on each voyage, which greatly delayed Qianzi's progress in replenishing its troops.
In addition, there is another important reason: the Thousand Sons Legion wants to participate in the glorious grand ceremony of the Ulanno Triumph.
The reason why the Thousand Sons Legion was so desperate and rapid in conquering the planet was to find the planet Ulanno, which would not be discovered by the Empire for decades, in advance, so as to make full preparations and gain more say in this war between the Empire and the Orcs that would determine the future of the Empire.
The triumph of Ulano was a pivotal moment in Horus's ascension to the position of War General, but also cast an eternal shadow over the Thousand Sons. The Council of Nicaea was about to commence here.
Li Wei's idea was simple: the Thousand Sons Legion should also participate in this grand event, and even gain more military merits to challenge Horus's future position as war commander.
Of course, Horus's position as Warmaster is not so easily shaken, but the Thousand Sons can take this opportunity to fight alongside the Shadowmoon Wolves in exchange for Horus's friendship.
Livy remembers clearly that Horus remained neutral at the Council of Nicaea.
However, if Horus were to break his neutrality and side with the Thousand Sons, it would lead a large number of Primarchs to join the Thousand Sons.
Horus was able to assume the position of Warmaster not only because of his outstanding military talent, but also because he was so adept at navigating social situations that he had already won the support of most Primarchs.
If he were willing to publicly support Senko at the Nicaea Conference, Senko could escape that catastrophe and thus change her already predetermined tragic fate.
Just as Li Wei was secretly making plans, he suddenly received an urgent communication from Magnus, which was filled with excitement.
"Liwei, the Primarch of the Night Lords, Conrad Coz, has come to visit the Legion of the Thousand Sons. He specifically requested to see you to explore prophetic abilities together. Come aboard the Fatep now to greet Conrad Coz."
"Hmm." Li Wei, who was lost in thought, suddenly snapped back to reality, his expression blank for a moment, and subconsciously responded.
This is the first time since the Great Crusade that a Primarch from another Legion has made a special trip to visit the Thousand Sons.
However, this situation is actually quite normal in other legions.
However, the Thousand Sons seemed extremely abnormal, because the Thousand Sons had long been labeled as fallen wizards by the Legion Primarchs who were hostile to psionic powers. Even the Primarchs who were on good terms with Magnus had never made a special trip to visit the Thousand Sons.
What's even more absurd is that Li Wei is not the chief mage of the Black Raven School, one of the five major schools of the Thousand Sons; he is not skilled in psychic prophecy.
He possesses a psychic technique that allows him to foresee the future, but he can only see the next ten seconds or so; beyond that, he can no longer see clearly.
This wasn't a matter of Li Wei's lack of talent, but rather a matter of the overall trend for the next few years or even decades. Li Wei had also explored this, and like those Black Crow School prophetic masters, he had seen fragmented images of the future, or even an abstract omens.
But this is completely meaningless, not only because those abstract prophetic signs are obscure and difficult to understand, but also because Livy does not believe in fate. Otherwise, if he did believe, what would be the point of his current efforts?
Moreover, the ability to foresee the future is one of Tzeentch's core powers.
If you completely believe in the future you see and act accordingly, you may fall into the trap of Tzeentch's schemes and be doomed.
As for Conrad Coz's prophecy of exploring the future with the Thousand Sons, it's not surprising, since the Primarch of the Midnight Lords had already begun to awaken to the nature of the warp and gained the ability to foresee the future.
"So, Conrad Coates is here to solve that problem of immersive precognitive experiences?"
Levi's gaze drifted to the deep expanse of space, as if he could see Conrad Coz, the Primarch of the Midnight Lord, aboard the Fortep.
Knowing the future is not a good thing, especially when it feels like you are actually there. It is a kind of despair. You can only watch helplessly as a tragic future unfolds before your eyes, powerless to change it. This is a tragedy.
Conrad Coates was just like that; he had long since fallen into madness, even betraying the Empire and plunging into chaos, and even allowing a mortal to take his life because of a prophecy.