The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Before obtaining this Ark ruin, the Black Hole Pirate Gang was small and on the brink of extinction by the Tyranids. Unexpectedly, after Elda eliminated the swarm, she gifted them this 'development' opportunity.

But just having 'boys' isn't enough. Pirates need warships. Elda's unique material was unusable by the Greenskins. Even the most creative Mekboy couldn't understand the bone-like material. So, they constantly seized human ships, salvaged junk from the Warp, or beat up nearby minor races for 'primitive accumulation'.

After a long development period, the Black Hole Pirate Gang's fleet was substantial, but they still lacked a truly powerful flagship.

Most importantly, the Black Hole Pirate Gang had set its sights on the neighboring Creeper Alliance. Without a powerful warship, they couldn't breach the opponent's star system defenses with small ships, and their mobile home was uncontrollable. So, the Black Hole Pirate Gang's boss temporarily halted pirate activities, ordering all 'boys' to build his flagship.

Hearing his subordinate's dissatisfied mumbling, the pirate boss stepped forward.

"Oi, me first mate, sounds like you'z got a problem."

Greenskins have an almost instinctive sensitivity to violence. Sensing fun, the 'boys' stopped what they were doing and curiously gathered around.

"It was me who ripped you, wailing like a grot, from the giant bug's mouth, or you'd be bug poop! You don't tell me what to do!"

"The boyz want to fight! Not build ships!"

In response, the first mate pounded his chest and charged at his captain with a surge of momentum.

The challenge was made.

With a rough thud, the first mate staggered back. The 'boys' formed a large circle around the fighters. Even Greenskins who couldn't see the fight roared excitedly in the distance. Their excitement churned in their bellies, activating their bloodthirsty spores.

The first mate charged again, his armor clanging a second time, taking huge strides, and spitting challenging saliva at the pirate boss's face.

The audience frantically clapped their hands, weapons, or grots.

Some 'boys' shouted:

"Boss, krump 'im!"

Others shouted:

"Gwaaa, we love you, first mate!"

Most 'boys' didn't care who won, just enjoying the fight and anticipating the loser's miserable end.

The first mate punched the boss's jaw. The boss shook his head, until his jaw was realigned after spitting out blood and saliva. He swung again, but the boss blocked it with his arm.

"You'z just a drunken git!"

Next was a swift reversal. The pirate boss's hands clasped around the first mate's neck, squeezing through thick muscle, and gripping his throat.

"I ain't drunk! We need a proppa scrap, not fixin' grot-hole ships all day! Boyz want to fight! Boyz want to krump humies, creepers, and pointy-ears!"

He headbutted his boss, harder than the last punch, knocking his hat off. The two Greenskins staggered apart.

"You'z a squig-sucking squig!"

The pirate boss panted, exhaling wetly through his flattened nose.

"I'm relieving you of duty and hanging you on me new ship!"

Just as the pirate boss was about to draw his gun, a thunderous rumble suddenly erupted from somewhere, shaking the entire hall.

Then, a shower of dust and spiritbone fragments rained on the pirate boss's head. He looked up, blankly staring at the hole in the dome.

The other Greenskins also fell silent, and looked up when the hall shook a second time.

Then all the Greenskins widened their small eyes and opened their mouths almost in unison—

The giant, nearly completed junk ship in space was enveloped in a strange light, then, like a toy model dropped in water, its parts slowly separated from the main body, drifting in all directions, falling apart.

The wreckage of the warship suddenly shrunk, rapidly compressing together at an incredible speed, and shrinking rapidly, finally disappearing into a faint, healing rift, along with a large group of Greenskin 'boys' still repairing it.

"Wot da zog was dat?"

The joint forces of the Eternal Court and the Creeper Alliance launched a swift and powerful attack. The powerful ancient Eldar super-battleship, the Night Butterfly Tal-Anreik, destroyed the Greenskin flagship and all surrounding small ships near the Ark with a single blow. Even Sorshian was shocked by its power. Without dazzling lasers or roaring cannons, gray light arcs silently flashed, binding them in dazzling spots of light, then directly compressing and sending them into the Warp. This was about twenty Gloriana-class ships stronger than the Eternal Crusader's Rift Cannon, not an exaggeration, although it was also related to the opponent not activating its Void Shields.

Of course, the Creeper Alliance commanders were most shocked. They might have known the Eldar were powerful, but they didn't expect the Eternal Court's power to be so great, that this one ship seemed capable of destroying their small kingdom.

But shock aside, the battle couldn't be delayed. As Sorshian's deployments reached every frontline commander, countless aircraft and small ships charged towards the Maelan-tai Ark floating in the void.

"This is Maelan-tai."

On the Tal-Anreik's palace-like command bridge, a psychic projection device projected a true-to-scale miniature of the Ark in front of Sorshian. He could even disassemble its interior with his fingers.

Although no two Arks are the same, this Ark was very different from most Eldar Arks Sorshian had seen. It was generally arrow-shaped, and smaller than Iyemlok. The Ark had many towering towers, each at least a thousand meters tall. If the description was correct, those were weapons, Pulsar lances commonly used on Eldar Ark ships. Also, bubble-covered turrets could be seen in various parts of the Ark. Those were Star Cannon clusters. Sorshian roughly counted 72 Star Cannon clusters on the entire Ark. A cruiser-level Wraithship could only equip two Star Cannon clusters. This Ark's firepower was at least equal to 36 Eldar cruisers, far exceeding the self-defense firepower level of a normal Arkworld. No wonder Maelan-tai was a fortified Ark. Also, several huge tubular devices in a retracted state could be seen on the Ark. These were probably ancient Empire weapons collected by Maelan-tai in the past, and were their capital to fight against the Tyranids.

It was a pity that these weapons didn't save them in the end.