The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The Alarakens' millennium of wandering has also changed their thinking. Although they emphasize spiritual independence, they also admit that the spirit cannot replace matter, and it is difficult for the weak to guarantee spiritual independence.

Simply put, they realized they were too weak. If they had enough power, they wouldn't have lost their home and wandered around.

In this dark galaxy, it is not easy to make oneself stronger. Although their civilization has achieved considerable success after more than four thousand years of development, it has also lost its ability to continue to develop after losing its foundation.

If they want to survive and develop, the only way is to borrow strength, and seek shelter when they are weak.

With a tentative attitude, they cautiously sent a signal to the Tears of Heaven fleet, and prepared to run away at any time.

Giulio, who received the Alarakens' message, didn't take it seriously at first. There are so many races in the galaxy, and he doesn't know many of them. He doesn't know if this signal is true or false, so he doesn't plan to respond. However, his deputy reminded him that the royal court has regulations for contacting unfamiliar races, and at least the other party's identity needs to be confirmed.

Thus, a brief contact began. The two sides agreed to meet on the surface of a nearby barren planet. The Alarakens sent their representatives, and the Aeldari also sent several representatives.

After meeting, the Aeldari were also taken aback. They originally thought this was a humanoid race, but they found that it was actually an insectoid race.

The Alarakens are a hermaphroditic race. Their females are like some kind of giant spider, with a bloated lower body and a huge abdomen, six slender legs, but the upper body is very slender, with four arms, and the whole body is covered with brightly colored carapace. The head has a unique vocal organ and six symmetrically arranged eyes, as well as two segmented antennae that curve backward. The male Alarakens are completely different. They are very tall overall, nearly three meters tall, covered in jet-black, shiny carapace, with two very strong legs and four arms, and folded hind wings on their backs, which can help them fly short distances. The strong, spring-like thigh muscles allow them to jump to a height of nearly thirty meters, and even more amazing is that their calves are as narrow and sharp as razors, and even their shoes are more like 'scabbards'. In addition, the head is also different from that of females, with only a pair of compound eyes and chitinous, upward-pointing forked horns.

Even the Aeldari representatives, who have a certain understanding of galactic biological classification, couldn't help but be surprised by a race with such a huge difference between male and female individuals.

After a brief exchange, the Aeldari representatives initially understood the situation of this race, and also understood the other party's intention of contacting them - they wanted to seek support.

In fact, this move is extremely risky for the Alarakens, because the other party has the strength to exterminate them, but the Holy Trinity Council believes that the other party cannot get anything from them, and they have a common enemy, so they can completely negotiate.

Out of prudence, the Aeldari did not agree. After thinking about it again and again, Giulio decided to let Thaddeus decide personally.

As for directly bringing the Alarakens' fleet over, on the one hand, he considered that the Tau's main fleet had just been wiped out, and it was difficult to guarantee that the other party's small fleet would not come to clean up the battlefield. These fleets were insignificant in his eyes, but wiping out the Alarakens would be more than enough. On the other hand, he also keenly realized that this race that hates the Tau may be of great use in the future, and it would be a pity to miss it.

The Alarakens were also direct, and the whole clan just followed.

Knowing the cause and effect of the matter, Thaddeus praised Giulio's command and decision-making, as well as his decision to bring the Alarakens, because this race is indeed of great use, and not just in the future.

Right now, they can play a role.

Thaddeus didn't delay and immediately went to Tal-Anrekk to meet with the Alarakens' leadership.

The social structure of the Alarakens is very unique. As a life form with insect characteristics, they are not the kind of obvious gestalt or pyramid-shaped society. Instead, they counter-intuitively emphasize the independence of individuals. Therefore, their basic social unit is an organization called a 'cooperative', which is composed of multiple female Alarakens and 1-2 male Alarakens. However, it is not a 'family' in the human understanding, but a basic social unit that combines production, reproduction, and management. Members are relatives, friends, and colleagues. The property within the cooperative is completely shared, so it cannot be simply summarized as a polygamous system, because the Alarakens have no concept of marriage at all. The main role of males is to assist females in reproduction, and to conduct ritualistic duels when there are differences in interest between two cooperatives or on certain festive occasions, and to protect the entire race when war breaks out.

The reason why there is this form close to a matriarchal society is that female Alarakens have extremely developed brains and sensitive nervous systems, while males emphasize the reactivity of nerve ganglia and are far less capable of thinking than females. Therefore, female Alarakens assume key social functions such as managers, producers, and scholars of the race. Their natural reproductive number is also several times that of males, and they also have a kind of emotional sharing ability. This is different from the Aeldari's mind sharing. They do not share each other's thoughts, but emotions. They can keenly perceive subtle emotional changes in each other, and then resolve possible conflicts as soon as possible.

This basic structure determines that the Alarakens' regime is relatively fragmented. Even their highest leaders are 'elected'. Each cooperative will select a representative, and then the representatives gather together to form a temporary council, called the Holy Trinity Council. The council members persuade most people by declaring their respective ideas through a special pheromone communication method, and become the speaker of the Holy Trinity Council in the final vote, that is, the highest leader called 'Broodmother'. The 'Broodmother' will select two of the strongest and most tactically minded males to become 'Sire', forming a highest-level 'cooperative', and this position is held for life, until the current Broodmother dies before a new Broodmother is elected.

So what Thaddeus is going to meet is the Alaraken Broodmother and Sires.

As the huge arch slowly opened, a rustling of footsteps sounded. Thaddeus on the throne looked into the distance and saw a huge, spider-like creature slowly walking over.

Her appearance is indeed the same as that of the Alaraken females, with a huge abdomen and lower body, and six slender, segmented legs, but the upper part is covered with a metal-textured veil with very exquisite patterns. Her upper body is very slender, and looks similar to that of the Aeldari, wearing a long robe with the same metal texture and patterns. Her four arms are slightly suspended on her sides, and her head is smooth and round, with eyes but no mouth, and two long antennae raised behind her head - but this is not actually her real body. The body of the Alaraken females is actually in the lower part. Their 'upper body' is the result of the 'evolution' of the huge claws of their primitive ancestors. That body is actually their hands, giving them the ability to handle more complex tasks.