The Emperor’s Angel of Death

"These lowly, inferior races have been tainted by the blood of the Aeldari! They must be destroyed!"

"Revenge! We must have revenge!"

"These inferior races must learn their place!"

"Let's completely destroy their small country!"

The war cries of the Aeldari warrior leaders rose one after another. Sotha Nul refocused his attention, narrowing his eyes, and sensing his mood, Dolarn immediately shouted:

"Silence!"

Instantly, all sound disappeared. In recent years, Dolarn's Kin-Guards had gained considerable influence in the court, after all, who doesn't have a few secrets? Although it also earned him the title of "treacherous official."

After a silence of more than ten seconds, Sotha Nul slowly said:

"Summon the petitioner from Lyra'Lassus."

As soon as his words fell, a long voice was heard outside the Privy Council:

"By order of His Highness, summon the petitioner from Lyra'Lassus!"

With a flash of light, a young Aeldari male in red attire, looking very nervous, appeared on the platform, replacing Yvraine.

Then he knelt on one knee, holding his breath and said in a slightly trembling voice:

"Barbarians, Gunther Treesinger, greet His Highness the Phoenix King! On behalf of all the soldiers and civilians of Lyra'Lassus, I implore Your Highness to quickly send troops to save our relatives, friends, and homeland!"

As he spoke, he went from kneeling on one knee to kneeling on both knees, prostrating himself on the ground, sobbing incessantly.

Sotha Nul dreaded this the most. He could already see the Aeldari in the hall, who had been suppressed, becoming agitated again, with anger and hatred building up.

"The court will naturally not ignore the pleas and suffering of its brethren. Please rise. For the upcoming military operations, I need to understand some things from you."

Hearing Sotha Nul say this, the man wiped away his tears and stood up.

"The kingdom of Lyra'Lassus, has it had contact, or rather, communication with the T'au in the past?"

"Your Highness, we have never had any contact with those dirty blue-skinned monsters! The kingdom has an ancient orbital cloaking ring system; those blue-skinned monsters' inferior technology would never discover us!"

"Then how did they know the location of the Lyra'Lassus kingdom?"

Upon hearing this, Gunther Treesinger almost gnashed his teeth and roared in a low voice.

"Because they are a group of ungrateful beasts! When the Dragon of Hunger attacked their weak homeworld, a ship that had lost power came near the kingdom. Out of pity, the kingdom decided to save them, using its only ancient small ship to send them food and take them to the nearest star system. It was probably then that they learned the location of the kingdom! Moreover, they constantly threw all kinds of garbage into the area where the kingdom was located. Some of it fell to the ground, and when opened, it was all their clumsy audio-visual products, as if to introduce their inferior culture. It's simply outrageous!"

As soon as these words came out, many warriors immediately erupted into an uproar, condemning the T'au.

"They are indeed a lowly and inferior race; they must be completely destroyed!"

"War! War! They must pay their blood debt!"

Noticing that Sotha Nul was narrowing his eyes again, Dolarn immediately shouted loudly:

"Silence! Silence!"

And he used a small hammer to strike the golden bell hanging beside him three times.

After the sound subsided, Sotha Nul slowly said:

"How long ago was this?"

"About seven light arcs."

A light arc was a common unit of time in the ancient Aeldari Empire, equivalent to about 12 standard Terran years, meaning that it was roughly eighty years ago.

"The T'au should have discovered the Lyra'Lassus kingdom seven light arcs ago. Why did they wait until now to attack?"

At this time, a Warleader from Iyanden said in a deep voice:

"Perhaps they were severely damaged by the Dragon of Hunger before, and have only recently recovered their strength. The T'au have short lifespans; seven light arcs is only about two generations."

Then another Warleader also expressed his opinion.

"Moreover, according to various intelligence and records, the T'au are a race no less aggressive and expansionist than humans. Since they officially entered the galaxy, they have carried out a large-scale expansion almost every period of time. In a very short period of time, their domain area has more than quadrupled compared to the beginning! It can be seen that their desire for planets and resources is extremely greedy."

Once things reached this point, even Sotha Nul had nothing to say, because from the Aeldari perspective, this was an invasion. The T'au's attack was just one of their many expansionist actions. If Sotha Nul were to delve into the internal details and reasons, it would easily give people the feeling that he was prevaricating or avoiding war.

Now that they were so excited, if someone stood up and pointed this out, it would be somewhat awkward no matter how Sotha Nul reacted.

"What is the strength of the invaders?"

"Uh..."

Hearing Sotha Nul ask this, Gunther Treesinger's tongue was tied. It was clear that he didn't know.

"Many, very many. Their fleets are crowded in orbit, and various soldiers and mechanical offensives are like a tide. The kingdom may fall at any time!"

Sotha Nul's consistent principle of war was to know yourself and your enemy before the war. Even when dealing with the enemies of Chaos, he would try to find out the other party's strength, origin, members, and troop distribution. The last time he went to support the Lyra'Lassus kingdom, these things were not needed because it was a human army. Sotha Nul, as an Astartes who had served as the supreme commander of the Imperial Expeditionary Force, knew the human armed forces and their level very well, so even without specific intelligence, he could roughly analyze the situation and know what equipment, weapons, and tactics they would use.

But the T'au, at least to him personally, were completely unfamiliar opponents. Although the court had a lot of information, and the records from the Harlequins and some Craftworlds were very detailed, it was impossible to restore the armed forces and level of a civilization based on text alone, especially since the T'au's military strength was indeed not weak among the various races in the galaxy, and their tactics and structure were very special.

"By the way, isn't the kingdom of Lyra'Lassus on good terms with the Weeping Dawn Troupe? Have they sent reinforcements?"

Gunther Treesinger hesitated for a moment, then answered disappointedly:

"No, we sent out a distress signal, but there was no response, and no reinforcements. I don't know what happened."

Last time, the kingdom of Lyra'Lassus at least managed to call the troupe, but this time, the kingdom of Lyra'Lassus couldn't even call the troupe. A trace of doubt couldn't help but rise in Sotha Nul's heart.

But he didn't show it, just nodded and said softly:

"I understand. You should go down and rest first. I want to formulate a detailed troop dispatch strategy with the ministers."

After Gunther Treesinger disappeared, Sotha Nul fell silent, gently tapping the armrest of the throne with his right-hand fingers.

After a long while, he said loudly:

"The fact that the T'au's attack can destroy the defenses of the Lyra'Lassus kingdom so quickly shows that their troop investment is very large. It is very likely that they have come out in full force. Going to support them would be a major battle. A lion uses all its strength to hunt a rabbit. No matter what their strength is, the court must go all out. But the ground forces are okay. The webway gate of the Lyra'Lassus kingdom has not yet fallen. What about the naval forces?"