Warhammer 40k: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 171: The Bait is Set, and the Fish are Finally Biting

Ten thousand Protoss was still a small number compared to the population of humanity, but their combat effectiveness was beyond doubt, and with Lucan's purchasing and collection, their numbers would continue to rise. Artanis also began to construct other Protoss units based on the currently available energy infrastructure. Lucan did not inquire about the specifics; he only required that Artanis could raise a sufficiently powerful Protoss army when needed. For Artanis, who had once commanded the entire Protoss race, this was a small matter.

Lucan returned to the Dynasty's capital world, Agathos, to implement the next step of his plan. Accompanying him were several Probes. Agathos also needed some Pylons built. If the need ever arose, the Protoss could enter the battle, just as several Nydus Worms were always on standby in the underhive of Agathos.

The Rogue Trader's palace once again welcomed its master.

Pavian, Rebecca, and Verre all looked at Lucan with excitement.

"Pavian, how is the reverse-engineering coming along?"

The Pavian of today had a completely different aura compared to his former self. The number of Adeptus Mechanicus members under his command was now no less than that of some ordinary forge worlds. And as the leader of the Cult of the Holy Machine, his power was astonishing, with a vast amount of scientific research resources in his hands.

"By the Holy Machine, my Lord! Although we still haven't cracked the jump drive technology, through our efforts, we can now attempt to dismantle the jump engines of the Gorgon-class and transplant them onto Imperial warships. The power output will be lower, but we can win with quantity. The wear and tear on the existing Gorgon warships will be quite significant. An Imperial warship of the same size might need two Gorgon jump engines to achieve the original effect. And short-range jumps, like the tactical jump, still cannot be replicated. Some kind of technological barrier is preventing us from transplanting the technology."

Hearing Pavian's words, Lucan couldn't say he was entirely satisfied, but he did not blame him. After all these years, it was about time they had some results. Although the cost was not small, it was still within an acceptable range.

"Make the retrofitting of the Stellar Pioneer the highest priority. Send the most skilled tech-priests and workers to Malfi to complete the modifications on the Stellar Pioneer as soon as possible."

Once the refit was complete, it would be a considerable help in the upcoming war against the Eldar.

"With the help of the Holy Machine, I believe it can be completed soon. However, my Lord, this may result in the loss of at least 30 to 40 Gorgons. After all, the Stellar Pioneer is simply too massive. But I hope you will allow the Dynasty to accept this loss. The Gorgons with their jump engines removed can be fitted with warp drives, or they can be left unmodified. They are still qualified to serve as planetary orbital defense fleets for in-system combat."

"Do what you must, Pavian!"

"Thank you for your trust. The cloning technology obtained from the Inquisition is also on track. We are expanding the scale. The first batch of soldiers is estimated to be ready to enter the army in about six months. The initial test subjects are still somewhat mentally unstable due to the overly rapid production and development speed, but I believe that once we have enough experimental data, we can summarize a complete set of brainwashing methods."

"Pavian, I will not inquire too much about the specific methods the Cult of the Holy Machine uses on these clone soldiers. But I hope you will still maintain a bottom line. Although we all know their future role is to fight for the Dynasty on the most brutal battlefields, I do not want them to be treated as mere consumables. Even if they are clones, they are still human!"

"I will personally supervise the experiments of those bio-priests. Rest assured, my Lord!"

The system of the Death Korps of Krieg was cool to read about, but Lucan couldn't quite accept applying such a brutal selection method to his own people. Compared to simply sacrificing countless lives to achieve final victory, Lucan preferred to see every one of them play a greater role.

After hearing Pavian's report, Lucan looked at Rebecca and Verre. They understood his meaning and immediately handed over their reports.

The losses caused by the Eldar Corsair and Dark Eldar raids on the Dynasty were greater than imagined. The bloody, rough death toll made Lucan's brow furrow. The Dynasty had not suffered such losses for a long time.

The targets of these Eldar raids were all remote frontier systems, and they avoided the well-armed core regions of the various dynasties. If the alliance wanted to develop, it could not just stay holed up in the core regions; they had to go to other star systems, or their resources would one day run out.

Some remote colonies were completely slaughtered before the troops could arrive. A portion of the people were taken away, but a large number of extremely abused bodies were left on the planet.

The attacks on transport fleets were also exceptionally frequent. Although the combat suits had improved the overall defensive capabilities of the convoys, there were so many transport fleets coming and going. It was impossible to deploy enough soldiers in every convoy; there simply wasn't enough manpower to go around. And the combat suits only provided an advantage in boarding actions; in a fleet battle, they could only watch helplessly.

Although the overall damage to the Dynasty was not high, it had caused a wave of panic among the exploration forces, colonization teams, and transport crews. No one wanted to fall into the hands of these Dark Eldar.

"Have we figured out who the enemy is?"

"According to the reports of some senior ship captains and some survivors, it can be confirmed that the most active enemy is a group of Eldar Corsairs called the 'Swords of Twilight'. This pirate group even has a record of cooperating with the Dynasty. Some survivors have even reported seeing some Craftworld Eldar figures among these Dark Eldar pirates. They have already attacked four frontier planets and five transport fleets.

"Of course, they are not the only Eldar attacking the Dynasty. Some Kabals also appear from time to time, and those are even more difficult to deal with. The Dynasty is also very confused as to when the Dark Eldar and the Craftworld Eldar started mixing together. The leader of this Eldar pirate group is a Corsair Prince called 'the Wind-chaser'. Just as his title suggests, these pirates move very quickly, often leaving before the Dynasty's support fleet arrives."

"The Swords of Twilight."

Lucan murmured the name. Rebecca and Verre didn't know why Craftworld Eldar would appear in this pirate group, but Lucan, who had some background knowledge, did. The Eldar known as the Wind-chaser was Prince Yriel, who was originally from a Craftworld. Although he had fallen from grace later, he still had connections to his birth Craftworld of Kholor.

Lucan had just been wondering how to find a Craftworld to reforge the Spear of Adun, and now the other party had delivered themselves to him. It was a good feeling to have a pillow delivered to you when you were sleepy.

"How are the preparations for the plan I mentioned to you before?"

"The team has been assembled. We just don't know if the enemy will take the bait."

"They will. We just need a little patience! Have the follow-up arrangements for the personnel executing the mission been prepared?"

"They are all clear about their mission and know that they may be sacrificed, but they are all willing to sacrifice for the Dynasty. The Dynasty will give them sufficient rewards, and their immediate family members will also receive the care they deserve from the Dynasty."

"Very good. Load the Probes, SCVs, and Zerg eggs onto this team's ships. Perhaps we will have a chance to deal with these xenos!"

"I'll see to it at once!"

Lucan's plan was simple. Since he couldn't actively find these Eldar who were attacking the Dynasty, he would give them a piece of bait and let them take it!

An exploration team carrying a large amount of supplies would go to a mining planet without the protection of the Dynasty's army to carry out a symbolic collection, to lure these Eldar into an attack. While these Eldar killed, they would also take away usable resources and ships.

And once they took the Pylons and Probes as spoils of war, the Pylons could provide the Protoss with the coordinates of the Webway, allowing them to deploy forces directly, bypassing the need for a gate. The Zerg eggs could also be hatched when needed to try and create Nydus Worms. The Pylons could produce pure psychic energy; Lucan didn't believe the Eldar wouldn't be tempted!

He wanted to destroy the Swords of Twilight, and he also wanted that Craftworld!

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