Warhammer: Lord of the Endless Monster Horde [181]

Not long ago, Cawl received a report from an exploration vessel that something unusual had been discovered on that planet.

Among the many worlds of the Imperium, this planet was completely unremarkable.

When Abaddon attacked here during the Fourth Black Crusade, the Imperium barely did anything and simply abandoned the planet.

But all signs indicated there was something special on this planet—Eliade VI, the exploration planet, held objects that attracted the attention of Chaos Warmaster Abaddon.

Belisarius Cawl, the Archmagos of the Mechanicus, had to go see for himself.

"It's just a minor investigation. You can send one of your subordinates, we're really busy right now. Didn't you say you wanted to improve the Fate Armor?" said Rhodes.

During Cawl's latest upgrade, Rhodes had added some Ace killer weapons and regenerative metal to his mechanical body, greatly enhancing it.

Because of this, Cawl was very interested in the two special metals Rhodes provided. After obtaining dozens of tons, he decided to incorporate them into the Fate Armor, granting it self-repair capabilities and greatly improving its defense.

"These aren't difficult tasks; I've already designed the improvements for the Fate Armor.

Adding two new metals won't take much time—I can finish the work en route," said Cawl.

"The Golden Throne will be repaired in about a month. When it's done, I can take you through the Webway, or we can travel at superluminal speed directly to the planet you want to explore. It's called Eliade VI, right? Why not wait a while?" Rhodes suggested.

His forces couldn't go to Cadia Fortress, but if he did, with the powerful firepower of his flagship, plus the 100 King Joe and over a hundred thousand Primaris Super Space Marines aboard, he could give Abaddon the fight of his life.

Rhodes planned to wait until the end of the campaign, after Cadia Fortress had completely fallen, to rescue some Imperial forces and then head to Macragge.

"This would only delay you a little, Lord Rhodes. It's just a small exploration—I'll collect a few things and leave right away.

You focus on repairing the Golden Throne here, and when it's done, we'll head to Macragge and meet up there," said Cawl.

He was just going to investigate a mysterious Blackstone material, and honestly, he didn't want to delay the new Primarch's work. Repairing the Golden Throne, or reviving another Primarch, was far more important.

"You've got plenty on your plate too—the new Primaris conversion work, and even their new weapons. The ray weapon I gave you isn't just any lasgun—it's more like a Necron Gauss weapon.

If these are equipped, the firepower of the Primaris will increase greatly. Leaving just for some minor exploration isn't wise.

And you'll have to travel through the Warp, where anything can happen—you might arrive days early, or years, even centuries, late," Rhodes argued.

"Lord Rhodes, if we use the Webway or your FTL engines, how long would it take to reach Eliade VI?" Cawl nodded.

Right! Why rush? Traveling through the Webway or at FTL is much safer than the Warp.

"I have some contacts among the Eldar. Wait a moment, I'll ask a Harlequin.

By the way, how far is that planet from the Solar System?" Rhodes asked.

"It's about twenty thousand light-years from us. If we take the Warp, we should get there in about two months," said Cawl.

Rhodes felt his FTL engines weren't that fast after all.

His ship, at full speed—one hundred times the speed of light—could cover one light-year in three days, which was already very fast!

But to cover 20,000 light-years would take over 90,000 days—hundreds of years.

With hibernation pods, this speed could still explore the galaxy.

Even at a thousand times lightspeed, it would take over 7,000 days, while Warp travel could do it in just two months.

The Webway would be even faster—no wonder humanity never pursued FTL engines!

Warp travel is more cost-effective!

For short trips—hundreds or dozens of light-years—FTL is safer and more stable, needing only a few months or days.

But for tens of thousands of light-years, Warp is much more efficient—otherwise, it would be hard to traverse the galaxy at all. (In the Ultraman universe, movement isn't just thousands or tens of thousands of times lightspeed—it's some kind of spatial jump.)

"FTL may be a bit slow. I'll ask the Harlequins." Rhodes picked up the communicator and contacted Seth.

After a while, Seth gave a clear answer: to reach Eliade VI, it would only take one month, and Seth also told Rhodes that Cawl's interest in the planet was partly due to their involvement.

Rhodes knew this—reviving Guilliman had involved significant help from the Eldar, even a collaboration between Cegorach and the Emperor.

Cegorach seemed to have told the Harlequins about Rhodes' true identity.

But they wouldn't tell the other Eldar, and Rhodes could use the Webway anytime.

"I understand. Arrange the Webway in a month. I want to bring the Mechanicus Ark with me," said Rhodes.

"No problem, Lord Rhodes! Also, Cegorach has a message for you," replied Seth.

They'd been shocked to learn Rhodes' identity!

"Go ahead—what's Cegorach's message?" Rhodes asked.

"The Messenger of the Death God, the Ynnead, is about to awaken!

Our troupe will guide her to meet you, so you need not worry."

"I see."

Rhodes nodded. By his calculation, the Black Crusade had started, and the old seer would soon summon the soul of the Death God—Yvraine should be awakening as well.

By now, the summoning ritual should have been interrupted by a Deathwatch squad, and the Death God's soul was already wandering.

"If we use the Webway, we'll arrive in about a month. Once my scientists finish repairing the Golden Throne, we'll depart together," said Rhodes.

First, finish transforming all 460,000 Space Marines, and then we can dawdle on the way. When the great retreat begins, just save a few people.

"Understood, Lord Rhodes. Let's continue our current work!

I'll have my Ark ready. One thing to remind you of: Never let the Primaris Super Space Marines appear before Imperial forces. It's not time for them to enter public view," Cawl warned.

Primaris are just too powerful—any one of them can crush a regular Space Marine.

Even ten regular Firstborn couldn't defeat a Primaris, and that's without their berserk transformation. And Lord Rhodes' gene-sons can even survive in space, further enhancing their combat range.

As a top scientist, Cawl wanted to replace his 200,000 Primaris neophytes with Rhodes' gene-seed, but if he did, Roboute Guilliman would probably lose his mind!

The Primaris gene-seed could have all flaws removed, like the Blood Angels' flaw, but according to Guilliman, those flaws must remain, or the neophytes couldn't integrate into their teams.

"What are you struggling with?" Rhodes asked.

"It's like this, Lord Rhodes," Cawl explained Guilliman's request to retain each chapter's flaws.

"I'll teach you the simplest way—don't worry about all that.

Just replace all the gene-seed with Guilliman's," said Rhodes.

Forget about keeping those damned weaknesses! If they refuse the upgrade, wait until the Firstborn is fighting over scraps with regular troops—they'll beg for an upgrade then.

Tradition is meant to be broken—don't indulge their bad habits.

If the Firstborn won't accept the new transformation, just let them become obsolete. Simple as that.

"Hahaha, Lord Rhodes, your gene-seed is more perfect," Cawl laughed.

"If I replace them all with mine, Guilliman would be paranoid!

For the 200,000, just use his," Rhodes said, touching his nose.

If he replaced them all with his own, even with the Emperor's endorsement, Guilliman would always be wary.