Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 37 Nimrod's Firm Judgment

Piszczek, strategy room.

Amber and red console lights shone on Nimrod's polished black armor, and the tactical video holocron that took up an entire wall emitted a bright plasma light.

He looked at the holographic projection of the Vostroya system and asked Rosicky.

"I need information on the Adeptus Mechanicus."

"King Nimrod, I received the latest battle report. The alien fleet that plundered the Vostroya system consisted of two battlecruiser-class warships and twelve destroyer-class plunderers. Seven of the plunderers have been destroyed."

As Rosicky spoke, he operated the contemplation machine to establish communication and interconnection with other friendly ships, marking the alien warship in red on the holographic projection.

Nimrod stared at the two large alien warships. Their hulls were harpoon-shaped, with pointed bows protruding and wings spread out like saw teeth, which were exactly the same as the battlecruisers of the Flao people in his memory.

The number of warships also fits the tactics of the Flao people. When they are protecting a planet from orbital strikes, their warships will appear individually, but when launching an attack, they will appear in pairs. This is an important reason why they are called space nomads.

"The enemy's large warships have strange cannons. Hitting a ship will immediately cause shield overload. The smaller ships are not equipped with such powerful cannons."

"In addition, the aliens also landed on many islands in the Cradle of the Sea and plundered them, completely cutting off Vostroya's food supply."

"We have a total of fifty-one warships, including one Mechanical Ark, the Glory of Fire, three cruisers, fifteen frigates, and thirty-two destroyers."

Rosicky said, marking the friendly ships in green on the holographic projection.

"Although we have an advantage in numbers, most of the frigates and destroyers come from the major Vostroyan families, making it difficult to achieve coordination."

Rosicky did not elaborate, but Nimrod understood his meaning. It was obvious that the captains sent by the Mechanicus were not good at commanding space battles. Warfare is not just about calculations; coordination and communication are also part of the art of command.

Of course, calculations were essential in space combat, and his eyes scanned the parameters of each ship flashing on the surrounding screens.

"Enemy ship AI, distance 271,503 kilometers, phase 4-9-2, inclination 6..."

"Enemy ship A-II, distance 196,024 kilometers, phase 7-5-8, inclination 3..."

Although it was Nimrod's first time on board a ship, he quickly absorbed knowledge from his genetic memory and understood everything at an astonishing speed.

In space orbital dynamics, phase refers to the relative position of two spacecraft on the same orbit or in the same orbital plane. This relative position is usually expressed by the angle between the two spacecraft and the center of the earth or the focus of the elliptical orbit.

Nimrod knew that the Piszczek could not withstand a round of attacks from the ether cannon, so he could not act recklessly if he wanted to seize the Doflao battlecruiser.

He scanned the holographic projection with his eyes, incorporating parameters such as the speed and phase of the enemy and our own warships into the calculations, and gained insight into the tactics of both sides.

The sage who commands the friendly warships wants to use the numerical advantage of the warships to encircle and annihilate the enemy ships.

The Frao people used tactical evasion to avoid being surrounded and annihilated, and used ether cannons to kill.

Ningluo's brain was working rapidly as he made deductions. Five minutes later, a confident smile appeared on his face and he issued an order.

"Change course, heading for six-nine-four, pitch eight."

Szesni beside him immediately conveyed the order. He stared at the holographic projection, trying his best to understand Nimrod's order.

As Rosicky thought about it, he outlined a blue route on the holographic projection.

"You are planning to launch an assault on enemy ships in the Vistula asteroid belt."

"Yes."

Rosicky held the data tablet in his hand and searched the information on it.

"The Vistula Asteroid Belt is located between Vostroya and Cradle of the Sea and consists of 362 asteroids."

He then checked the battle plan report sent by the Ark Mechanic battleship and found the relevant information. "According to calculations by Sage Kivio-9, the enemy ship marked as AI is expected to pass through the Vistula asteroid belt in fifty-six sidereal hours, with a probability of 65.13%."

"The enemy ship marked A-II is expected to enter the Vistula asteroid belt in twenty-seven sidereal hours, with a probability of 79.26%."

"No, A-II will definitely enter the Vistula asteroid belt in twenty-six sidereal hours."

Nimrod said this with certainty, and Rosicky frowned upon hearing this.

"Why are you so sure?"

“Calculation and Deduction.”

"Sage Kiviole-9 is a logician from Vostronia. Even when he was an information executioner, he was renowned for his calculations and logic. But even he can't be so sure."

Szczesny was furious when he heard this, and Wojciech was also dissatisfied with Rosicky's tone, but he did not think that Nimrod's calculations would be more accurate than the logician.

"You'll know later, Rosicky. Your task now is to adjust the boarding torpedoes to suit my size."

"Szesny, you will lead the Fourth Regiment to use assault boats to teach the Contemplation Machine."

"Wojciech, you continue to improve waterproof weapons."

Rosicky remained silent, wanting to wait for the results before making any suggestions to the powerful Nimrod.

Altar Nine of the Sonchisandchiga Hive as the three ships headed towards the Vistula Asteroid Belt.

Technical Father Zelinsky, wearing a red robe, walked out of the altar and came to the I-9 factory he managed.

After sending away the attentive fat overseer, Zelinsky came to his laboratory.

He took off his robe, revealing dense blue feathers at the base of his thighs.

After changing into a blue hooded robe, Zelinsky came to a complex blue mechanical turntable.

The mechanical turntable is divided into nine areas, and the eight surrounding areas are bird-shaped. Starting from the top, there are parrots, vultures...

In the center of the disc is a sea sculpture made of silver. It is lifelike, with its head held high, and the two diamonds in its eyes sparkle brightly under the reflection of the lumen light.

This mechanical turntable was not built by a technician or a servitor, but by him himself.

A mechanical tentacle extended from Zelinsky's right shoulder and inserted itself into the center of the turntable—the crow's beak.

The mechanical turntable rotated, and the nine "birds" seemed to come alive, rising and falling in a disorderly manner amid the mechanical sounds.

The turntable turned nine times and then stopped. Amid the sound of gears turning, the door in front opened.

After Zelinsky walked into the gate, he raised his mechanical tentacles and inserted them into the mouth of the silver sea eagle on the wall, and the gate closed.

Zelinsky walked down, and his eyes, which had not been mechanically modified, gradually turned yellow with their irises, like the eyes of a sea eagle.

After walking down nine thousand and ninety-nine steps, he saw an irregular circular platform. It changed shape every nine seconds: circle, ellipse, rectangle...

Like him, there were seven other people walking out of different passages. They were all wearing blue robes and walked towards the center of the platform, where there was a withered old man holding a crystal staff in his claws.

The old man looked even less human than the mutants in the slums; he was hunched over and looked like an ostrich.

His beak was sharp like a hook, his neck was covered with colorful feathers, his feet were bare, and his claws, like his hands, were like those of a sea eagle.

(End of this chapter)