Chapter 162: The T'au Are Too Abstract |
[Emergency Communication: Classified Information - Epsilon Level
The order within the Orpheus branch fleet has experienced severe fluctuations. The proliferation of massive numbers of Genestealers has plunged the interiors of various ships into considerable chaos.
Despite the loyal Imperial Navy Admirals fighting valiantly against the Xenos, the vast majority of starship command echelons had already suffered heavy casualties before reinforcements could arrive.
Currently, after nearly a month of combat, the fleet's Genestealer contamination has been purged. Control over the branch fleet has been restored, and they are now resting and refitting in the Macragge system.
Let us remember the heroic sacrifices of the Imperial Navy, preserving the Imperium's most precious assets.]
"So, you bumped into the old man himself?"
Inside the Transmigrators' cabin, Rameses said in a teasing tone.
The flames before him flickered eerily, burning continuously despite the lack of fuel. Twisted faces of Daemons periodically surfaced within the fire, releasing silent wails. Even with Psychic Isolation in place, the air in the room remained thick and oppressive.
"What did he have to say?"
"He supports our approach. To put it bluntly, he was just giving us an Empty Promise."
Romulus shrugged, casting a lingering glance of trepidation at Arthur.
Heaven knows how Old Man Huang managed to project himself through armaments alone.
And he actually managed to speak coherently.
Chime.
Romulus hastily opened the message.
In his field of vision, a pop-up appeared on the psychic interface that Rameses had helped construct.
The Navigators sent word: the Warp Storm that had been constantly enveloping the southern region of Tigrus showed signs of subsiding. At almost the exact same moment, they all glimpsed a clear and calm route.
Warp Travel was always fraught with peril, and few things were more dangerous than a Warp Storm.
Once a ship encountered a Warp Storm, the best-case scenario was being thrown off course and emerging at an arbitrary distance from the destination; the worst-case scenario was being lost within it forever.
Naturally, when facing such threats in the Warp, Navigators had their countermeasures. They relied on continuous, short-distance jumps to bypass the affected areas.
While risks still existed, the current priority of the Expeditionary Fleet was to reinforce Ultramar. This level of danger was well worth it.
But now, the appearance of a stable passage was the best possible news.
Everyone believed this was the Divine Protection of The Emperor.
"Well then, I underestimated The Emperor. At least we won't need you to burn Daemons to calculate the Warp Routes anymore."
Romulus sighed, recalling the tales of the Age of Apostasy.
Dealing with localized Warp Storms did not seem to be a difficult task for The Emperor after all.
So, in the original timeline, while the T'au were opening Wormholes and expanding back and forth across both sides of The Great Rift, what exactly were you doing, Emperor?
"I hadn't even started calculating the Warp Routes yet—but your encounter is truly interesting."
Rameses pondered, pinching his chin.
"When I contacted Old Man Huang before, it wasn't like this. His personality was so fractured that getting a single coherent squeak out of him was a challenge. There was no shortage of facets harboring extreme emotions, so dangerous they weren't much different from the Evil Gods. Could it be because of Arthur?"
Arthur lowered his eyes to stare at the black sword in his hand, its gilded patterns flowing sluggishly over the deep, dark steel.
"You mean because of my traits?"
He thought for a moment before speaking, his eyelashes casting fine shadows on his cheeks as he lifted his gaze.
"The personality The Emperor tried to squeeze through could only be the normal one, because in my perception, his other personalities probably don't count as human."
"Although revoking Old Man Huang's humanity status for some of his parts is a bit of an outrageous guess, it somehow makes sense coming from you."
Rameses suddenly chuckled, then patted Arthur on the shoulder.
"Master Arthur, you should go make your presence known among the Sisters and the Adeptus Astartes when you have time. Charge up that gear of yours, lest Old Man Huang fails to speak coherently at a crucial moment."
He glanced back at the Soul Circuits hovering in the void, frowning slightly as he fell deep into thought.
Honestly, Rameses did not think much of the T'au. Their strongest opponent at present was still the Tyranid Hive Fleet. If Arthur could truly repel an entity on The Emperor's level, one of his grand hypotheses just might work out.
The Soul Circuits were essentially a Warp Energy Amplifier. Though their original purpose was surely something else, this was precisely why the Imperium had mined the circuit materials on Optus in the first place.
The Imperium's Psychic Titans relied on these materials to greatly conserve the expenditure of Psykers. The consequence of their every action was that the Aeldari trapped within the Soul Circuits were forced to face the turbulent waves of the Warp, allowing the Titans to unleash their power with abandon in the material universe.
It was not until the Aeldari inside the circuits were shattered and wiped out entirely that Optus was abandoned by the Imperium, reverting to an ordinary mining Planet.
Rameses did not share that pressure; he would just as readily use Daemons.
And with Arthur acting as a potent Psyker Nullifier, just think about it—for a swarm connected by a Psychic Link, what would happen if its Psychic Core was crowded out by an unknown force, and then another psychic presence was plugged in?
"Mhm."
Arthur nodded.
"There's one more thing: the T'au Empire's Star Map."
Romulus flipped through his logs.
According to the memories of the Transmigrators, the current T'au Empire should have expanded to encompass roughly three hundred Planets, approximately the size of two Imperial Sectors.
Out of those three hundred Planets, only fifteen held true value as the Sept worlds that served as the core of their rule. The rest were not worth investigating.
Among those Sept worlds, the best targets for the Transmigrators would be the T'au home world or the worlds inhabited by the Earth Caste.
The Earth Caste served as the producers and researchers within T'au society. All of the T'au's technological advancements and manufacturing were handled by this specific caste.
The Expeditionary Fleet could afford a maximum of three additional warp jumps before they absolutely had to head to Dal'yth, the Sept world that served as the primary battleground between the Imperium and the T'au in the Damocles Gulf.
Their primary objective was to push through the Warp Storm to provide reinforcements; it was impossible to search all three hundred Planets one by one.
"Can we only look up the T'au's allied client races right now?"
"Yes. Because their souls are so dim, the Prophecy has no focal point to lock onto. I can only say they live up to being Games Workshop's Chosen Race, naturally suited to surviving in a galaxy like this."
Rameses nodded.
It was genuinely absurd. An Aeldari Prophecy could calculate exactly where the World Eaters Primarch Angron's Cultivation Vat would land, allowing them to hire the Dark Eldar for a Precision Strike.
Yet, because the T'au's Warp signature was as dim as a mundane rock, the Aeldari Prophecy was rendered entirely useless against them.
Recalling the utterly shocked expression on the Aeldari Farseer Hektor's face—as if thinking, 'I can't believe such a race exists in the galaxy'—Rameses just felt an impending headache.
It was far too abstract.