Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor

Nareth perceived the thoughts of the Rangers and decided to capture them alive. He took a deep breath and suddenly opened his mouth.

The Primarch let out a long "Psychic Scream," a mental storm that swept through the ranks of the Saim-Hann Aeldar Rangers.

Thud thud thud...

Rangers began falling from their jetbikes, crashing to the ground.

Only a few of the most seasoned Aeldar Rangers, known as Pathfinders, remained upright.

Their wills were resolute; they had long since rejected the hedonism and savagery that had doomed so many of their kind to soul-devouring by Slaanesh.

Several Pathfinders swayed slightly, bracing themselves against their jetbikes to avoid falling.

Before they could react, Nareth had already appeared before the lead Pathfinder in a blur.

The "Briber" reached out and grabbed the Pathfinder, hurling him toward another Aeldar with immense force.

Under the power of his throw, the airborne Pathfinder spun like a windmill and smashed directly into his comrade.

Even the Pathfinders, who could dodge bullets with their reflexes, had no time to react before being knocked down.

In an instant, all the Pathfinders were subdued.

Nareth issued orders to a techmarine in his Honor Guard: "Bring back their range long rifle, cameleoline cloaks, and jetbikes for research."

Nareth knew the Aeldar Rangers' long laser rifles were sniper weapons, similar to the long-barreled laser sniper rifles used by Auxilia snipers.

They didn't use wraithbone, but rather psy-grown crystals specifically designed for laser focusing.

Imperial laser technology struggles to maintain beam focus over long distances, but these psy-grown crystals allow for pinpoint precision at far greater ranges.

'Most Aeldar weapons are psychically bonded to their users, but the Rangers' rifles are among the few that aren't, making them easier to reverse engineer. Still, their high degree of customization means that others can't use them with the same accuracy or range as the original wielder.'

'The Savant should be able to crack the tech behind these Aeldar sniper rifles. Equipping elite auxilia snipers and treasure-hunting squads with them would be useful. The Crystal Mirage holds plenty of psy-crystals; we can probably create human-compatible versions, though the custom manufacturing costs will be high. Still, they'd be perfect for elite Vostroya auxiliaries.'

Nareth also recognized the Rangers' chameleonic cloaks were made with a kind of color-shifting coating, offering camouflage and stealth, especially effective in dim environments.

'Their cameleolinen cloaks and Imperial camo-cloaks both use similar coatings, but likely not the same formula. Perhaps we can improve our stealth tech by studying them. The technical challenge should lie somewhere between reverse-engineering their rifles and their jetbikes.'

Like most Aeldar technology, the jetbikes required psychic resonance with their rider.

Their handles and grips were embedded with small psycho-reactive crystals, allowing the rider to control the bike with thought alone.

Reverse-engineering jetbikes would take a long time, and even if replicated, training riders to use them would take just as long.

Even for the Aeldars, mastering jetbike riding is an exhilarating challenge, requiring years of training to reach their full potential.

Nareth planned to eventually equip some of his psychic troops with psy-crystal bikes, forming elite strike riders to hit the enemy fast and hard.

The techmarines quickly organized servitors and thralls to collect the loot, sniper rifles, cloaks torn from the Aeldar, and the jetbikes, loading them onto the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignty for later study.

While the techmarines supervised salvage efforts, Nareth noticed Howard boarding a fragment of the Ark vessel. He turned to the Arbiter and said:

"These Aeldar prisoners are yours. Extract the secrets of Saim-Hann from them."

"I'll make sure our xeno guests are properly entertained," replied the Interrogator

With a wave of his hand, the Arbiter Lord of the First Chapter stepped forward and dragged off the Aeldar captives.

The Primarch pressed on, scavenging the Ark fragment.

Unlike human constructions, Aeldar architecture appeared fluid and organic, without harsh corners or crude edges.

Nareth's gaze swept over the elegant, artful structures without slowing his pace.

The deeper he went into the Ark, the closer he came to the areas targeted by concentrated lance strikes. Eventually, the skeletal frame of the Ark vessel emerged before him.

His black eyes scanned the surroundings and soon caught sight of flickering colored light in the air, a sign of aetheric energy.

Following it, he found the Ark's inner hull exposed by the lance blast.

The Briber leapt down into a fissure in the Ark and was immediately greeted by the glow of spiritual light.

It emanated from the wraithbone keel, the backbone of the Ark.

Every Aeldar ship is built around a framework of wraithbone, followed by internal compartments and then specific internal systems.

Even the largest Craftworlds are fundamentally constructed from wraithbone.

Wraithbone is a solidified form of Warp energy, drawn from the Sea of Souls by Bonesingers, Aeldar who walk the Path of the Bonesinger, and shaped through ancient rituals.

It can be formed into any shape, is stronger than any known steel, possibly even rivaling adamantium, and can repair itself, with the Bonesinger able to accelerate the process.

'Wraithbone carries spiritual energy. It's a potion ingredient, one I'm unfamiliar with.

Most likely it's a material for the Parragon pathway, though there's a small chance it fits the Mother pathway. However, since the Aeldar haven't yet discovered soulstones, their wraithbone networks don't yet form infinite feedback loops.'

Nareth's eyes narrowed as he thought of soulstones and infinity circuits, suspecting they, too, were high-grade potion material.

'Perhaps I should wait before launching a full assault on the Saim-Hann Craftword. Let them recover their strength and develop soulstones and infinity circuits first. Iyanden discovered it in M33; Saim-Hann should follow sometime around M34.'

Just then, Nareth turned to a nearby techmarine and said, "Excavate the Aeldar structures above us. Study their energy cycling and life-support systems."

Then, pointing at the wraithbone, he added: "Preserve this wraithbone. I'll collect it later."

The Primarch climbed back up through the fissure and continued his search.

Eventually, he discovered a magnificent temple.

The entire structure was made of wraithbone. Most striking was a lifelike giant serpent coiled around the building.

Its head rested atop the roof, raised toward the heavens.

The Cosmic Serpent, Saim.

One of the gods of Aeldar belief.

Nareth knew every Aeldar Craftworld had multiple religious traditions, but one god from their pantheon would usually dominate the culture.

For Saim-Hann, their chief deity was Saim, revered as the Cosmic Serpent.

He stepped into the temple, where at its center stood a lifelike statue of Saim, sculpted entirely from wraithbone.

A quick scan of the statue revealed its spiritual energy was no stronger than regular wraithbone, so Nareth moved on.

All around were miniature shrines in various styles. Each housed a small miniature Saim statue, about the size of a human head, each depicting a different aspect of the god.

'These statues emit stronger spiritual energy than standard wraithbone, definitely higher-grade materials. Saim, the Cosmic Serpent, is believed to know all secrets of the past and present. The Sequence 1 of the "Wheel of Fate" path is the "Snake of Fate". These shrines are likely materials for the "Wheel of Fate" path.'

As he pondered, Nareth walked to one of the shrines on the left and examined it carefully.

'The spiritual power isn't quite at Sequence 1 level, and since the "Snake of Fate" is nearly at the peak of the path, there's no way there'd be so many materials. More likely these are main ingredients for mid-sequence potions, or supporting materials for high-level ones.'

After forming his judgment, Nareth turned to the Shadows of Order around him and said:

"Spread out and search the area."

Then, while they were gone, he quickly transported all the statues into the "Kingdom of Disorder."

Since he didn't know how much wraithbone a high-sequence potion required, he left the temple intact for now, remaining aboard the Ark fragment.

He continued his search but found nothing else of interest. He then hauled some broken pieces of wraithbone back to the Kingdom of Disorder.

Before returning to Vostroya, the Primarch summoned Howard.

"The Vigilus System is now the responsibility of the First Chapter. Besides maintaining order, the top priority is to locate the sacred template of a fortress-grade energy shield."

"And stay away from the local Vorrian Sandstorm Vortex, it's extremely dangerous. No exploration for now."

With that, the fleet set sail back to Vostroya.

On the return trip, the Seventh and Twelfth Chapters reached the Tanith system and launched an assault.

...

If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.

[email protected]/DaoistJinzu