The Emperor’s Angel of Death

“I've been dreaming a lot lately, dreaming that I'm sitting on the back of a giant golden phoenix, and it's carrying me through billions of stars, soaring through many worlds, those beautiful, magnificent, mysterious, cruel, twisted, and terrifying scenes are so bizarre. Finally, it lands under a large tree. This tree is so big, so big, and its appearance is particularly strange, like...like a body with only nerves left, head facing down. Under the tree sits an indistinguishable person...should be a person, with one finger pointing to the sky and one finger pointing to the ground.”

Leaning against Soshyan's chest, Veronica murmured softly with her eyes closed.

After listening for a while, Soshyan gently put his arm around her shoulder and said softly:

“Is there any physical discomfort?”

“Not really, just bored. I'm too lazy to meet those chattering envoys, representatives, and the Seer Council every day. It's always the same topics, arguing endlessly for 'possibilities,' which is completely pointless. It's more interesting to watch the Araken girls weave void tapestries. Why don't I join you next time you go to war?”

“Oh, your health is important, how can you run around everywhere.”

As he spoke, Soshyan's hand caressed Veronica's slightly protruding belly.

“I wonder when the little one will be born.”

“The Farseers can't predict it. Now we can only wait, but pregnancy doesn't affect my actions. I even feel that my psychic powers have become stronger. If I meet that stinky dog again, I will definitely hang him up and send four Howling Banshee matriarchs to humiliate him severely!”

“Haha, if he dares to get close to you again, I'll deal with him first. By the way, during the battle with the Necrons, Okham got a Szarekhan-made cage. I devoured a fragment of the Flayer and gained control of the Flayer Pylon.”

After listening to Soshyan's account of his experiences in the Flayer Pylon and the subsequent recovery of the Bone Kingdom of Drazak, Veronica opened her eyes, looked at him curiously, and reached out her slender hand to touch his face.

“My Soshyan, are you not really becoming a Star God?”

“Well... I can't say for sure, but I'm still flesh and blood, okay? Relatively solid flesh and blood. My physiological functions still show that I'm an organic being, not an energy being.”

“Then that's a good thing. By enslaving these Flayers, you can easily deal with some more distant enemies. You don't have to worry about what the others in the court will think after they know. Being able to enslave ancient enemies is something to be proud of. They will be happy. The Aeldari are not as rigid as humans. Using enemies to deal with enemies is precisely the guiding ideology of most Craftworlds.”

“I'm just wondering if the accumulated power is enough to attack Nurgle's domain?”

Veronica shook her head upon hearing this.

“I'm afraid it's far from enough. Not to mention the domain of the God of Decay, it's not even enough to challenge the entire Commorragh.”

“Alas, yes, that Hope is still nowhere to be seen. The power here in the court seems to have reached a bottleneck. Unless we can leverage a large Craftworld, it will be difficult to have a rapid increase in hard power. Even if we annex a few more Savage Kingdoms, it won't help much. There are already seventeen Savage Kingdoms under the court, right? Not to mention providing help, they even take away a considerable number of troops from the court to protect them. It's difficult.”

“Husband, have you ever considered incorporating those pirates? I think I mentioned it to you before?”

Hearing Veronica mention this, Soshyan couldn't help but fall silent.

Regarding the Aeldari pirate forces, Dorar had also mentioned it many times, and strongly suggested that the court offer appropriate conditions to "recruit" these space rogues and interstellar heroes.

Most Aeldari pirates are Craftworld Aeldari youths who are tired of the strict dogmas of the Path and have just come of age. They are full of enthusiasm for the galaxy and adventure, and cannot sit in shrines all day to receive Path training. Because people often choose to leave their homes and go out to adventure, the Craftworld world does not encourage its young people to rush out and venture out, after all, the birth rate of Craftworld society is extremely low, and young people running out to seek excitement at the risk of death will only make the unhealthy population structure of the Craftworld worse, but at the same time, the Craftworld is extremely free in some aspects, especially personal choices. The Seers believe that everyone's fate is already predetermined and cannot be changed, so since they have chosen this path, they will not deliberately obstruct it.

When young Aeldari form various small groups and set off on adventures in warships gifted from their homeland (the Eldar really don't lack ships, just give them away), Aeldari pirate groups are formed. Many people will never return to their Craftworld homeland after many, many years. Some of their descendants are simply born in deep space warships and have never set foot on their old Craftworld. And since they are pirates, their daily life is to attack and plunder the fleets of other species (mainly humans) and rely on the plundered materials for a living or, or bring them to Commorragh to trade.

That's right, although most Aeldari pirates come from Craftworlds, most pirate fleets can walk on both sides of the law, and maintain good relations with both Craftworlds and Commorragh. Some pirates are even willing to farm with their dinosaur-obsessed savage relatives in order to get a haven on the savage Aeldari planets.

This determines that their components are very complex, which is why Soshyan has always had concerns.

And Dorar told Soshyan that the mental state of the Aeldari pirates may be closer to that of the Aeldari during the time of the Empire. They are neither as highly disciplined as the Craftworld Aeldari, nor as perverted and indulgent as the Commorragh Aeldari. These pirates are actually more compatible with the court in terms of culture and habits. The court is also a "middle ground" that has neither strict precepts nor indulgent depravity. The key is that these Aeldari pirates are all good at naval warfare and are good at dealing with all kinds of naval battle scenes. Among them, there are many top captains and fleet commanders who have commanded thousands of naval battles. This kind of excellent naval warfare talent is what the court lacks and urgently needs.

Perhaps realizing the message implied in Soshyan's silence, Veronica said softly:

“Are you worried about Commorragh and the humans?”

Soshyan nodded slightly.

“Yes, the components of the pirates are too complex, and they are too involved with various forces, a group of unpredictable and fickle forces, and although I have not been in contact with them, there are too many Imperial records of contact with them. Even if they are willing to be recruited by the court, will they give up plundering and become Imperial Navy peacefully? I don't think so, or rather, most of them won't. They will only nominally belong to the court, use the court as a haven, and even cause trouble everywhere under the banner of the court, which would be really troublesome.”