Chapter 88: Tyranids vs. Human-T'au Combo
In the endless sea of stars, a vast human fleet was in a standoff with a T'au Empire fleet of roughly equal numbers. Both sides had assumed an attack posture, their weapons trained on the other. But strangely, although they were within each other's weapon range, neither side had fired the first shot.
In the massive, indestructible, antenna-to-engine-armed flying cathedral of humanity, Admiral Heraclius of the Kar Duniash Fleet stared grimly at the holographic projection of the T'au Empire's ships.
"These xenos are developing too fast," he said, letting out a breath. "Their ships are starting to be a match even for a Lunar-class. In just a few hundred years, they can now contend with our main battleships."
An Inquisitor beside him explained, "According to the intelligence we have, after the first Damocles Gulf Crusade, these xenos began to upgrade their warships, but the results were not ideal. Later, it is suspected that with the help of another xenos species, they adopted a completely new shipbuilding philosophy to build new warships. What we are seeing now are the products of the T'au's 'BENSEN Project'."
"Those cog-heads are just unwilling to take out their good stuff. Otherwise, we wouldn't be in such a passive position," the Admiral grumbled.
"Hahaha, don't let the accompanying Tech-Priests hear that. Otherwise, the drinking water pipes in your room will be connected to the sailors' latrines."
"Err—" The Admiral, a dark cloud over his head, subconsciously looked around for any cog-heads who might be plotting against him. If what the Inquisitor said happened, it would be a great loss of face for an Imperial Navy Admiral. And if the army grunts with their flashlights on the ship heard about it, he would rather die with the xenos.
Fortunately, after a detailed search, the Admiral found no cog-heads, which put him at ease. Not wanting to lose face, the Admiral had just opened his mouth to say, "If those cog-heads dare, I'll—"
"Report! A Mechanicus explorator vessel has been detected approaching at a speed far exceeding the maximum cruising speed of a normal ship," the officer in charge of the augur array reported.
"I f***ing knew it! The good stuff is all in the hands of these cog-heads!" the Admiral cursed through gritted teeth. "What class of ship is it?"
"From the hull structure comparison, it should be an Exorcist-class grand cruiser."
"Should be?"
"This explorator vessel only matches the keel of an Exorcist-class in the database."
"Scrap..."
The Inquisitor looked helplessly at the cursing Admiral, then turned his attention to the holographic projection of the explorator vessel's course. He felt that the ship's course was a little strange. Sure enough, an hour later, the officer in charge of the augur array shouted in panic, "The ship's destination is the T'au fleet's assembly point!"
This news startled Admiral Heraclius. If this ship's intrusion caused the two sides to open fire, he didn't care about the cog-head's life, but the Kar Duniash Fleet, which had just recovered from a heavy blow, might be crippled again. And if it were just that, it would be fine. Admiral Heraclius was always prepared to die for the Emperor. But if this misunderstanding led to another war between humanity and the T'au, then this region of the Far East...
"Report! The explorator vessel is sending a communication."
"Read it!"
"Greetings to the brave naval officers of the Imperium. This is Magos Omega's Cogboy. We are proceeding to the T'au Empire fleet to transfer T'au Empire troops. Please do not misunderstand. Report complete."
What the hell do you mean, "please do not misunderstand"?!
"Report!"
"Speak!"
"The T'au Empire fleet's ship positions have changed!"
"Hmm?"
"The other side has formed a welcoming formation!"
Admiral Heraclius: Heh heh, finally a legitimate reason to kill a cog-head. Excellent!
Omega didn't know that his Imperial allies were currently plotting how to kill him. He was heading for the T'au fleet for the same reason he had stated in his communication to the human fleet. The Cogboy had tens of thousands of T'au on board. As for why he had T'au on his ship, that was a story that started back on Bork'an.
Omega, who had been waiting on the T'au Sept world, had originally planned to leave after receiving the news that the ceasefire agreement had been officially signed. But with the war over, there was no need for him to return to O'nyl. The question of where to go next once again lay before him. As for sending Inquisitor Fenni back... the vengeful, black-hearted little cog-head had no such intention. Omega, who had already gained both fame and fortune, looked at Inquisitor Fenni with an expression that told the psychologist-trained Inquisitor that he was currently plotting how to torment her. This made the young and beautiful Inquisitor feel nothing but anger and helplessness.
Just as Omega was planning to find a remote and obscure planet to drop off the Inquisitor before considering his future itinerary, the T'au had approached him, asking him to help transport a batch of graduating apprentices. The transport fee the T'au were offering was not low, which tempted Omega greatly, so he had agreed. But after he had agreed and learned the details, he had regretted it.
It turned out that the ceasefire between humanity and the T'au was due to external factors. A Tyranid splinter fleet was currently rampaging in the Far East. And the predicted trajectory of this Tyranid fleet threatened several important human and T'au worlds. This was what had prompted the peace talks. To deal with the Tyranid threat, humanity and the T'au had not only reached a ceasefire agreement, but also a cooperation agreement. The content of the cooperation was that both sides would temporarily set aside their differences and work together to eliminate this Tyranid splinter fleet.
This batch of graduating T'au apprentices was to supplement the T'au fleet. Because time was tight, the T'au's "warp-skimming" FTL speed was not fast enough to deliver the apprentices in time, which was why they had come to Omega.
Upon receiving this news, Omega had suspected that he had been tricked by the blue-skinned xenos. To collude with the xenos so blatantly under the nose of the Imperium... wasn't this to frame him, a "loyal and good general," for injustice? The shameless little cog-head had immediately gone back on his word. But after the T'au had increased the transport fee several times, the cog-head had forgotten his loyalty and had once again become the T'au's good friend.
But there was a price. To find a weighty witness for himself, Omega had once again used his long-sealed secret technique: he had hugged the Inquisitor's leg. After signing various unequal treaties, he had gotten Inquisitor Fenni's agreement. And so, the scene at the beginning had occurred.
After returning to the human fleet amidst the thanks of the T'au commander, the first thing Omega did was to drag Inquisitor Fenni to pay a visit to the docks. He didn't want his own people to misunderstand. He and the T'au were innocent.
Omega hadn't expected to see General Nicholas, Chapter Master Douglas, and Canoness Celes waiting for him on the flight deck of the Navy flagship as soon as he arrived. The three of them were very enthusiastic upon seeing him.
"Magos Omega, long time no see. I didn't expect to see you here."
"I had a premonition this morning that something good would happen. I just didn't expect it to be a great event like a reunion with Magos Omega."
"The sisters of the Order have been missing Magos Omega."
"Greetings to the three of you. Why are you all here?" Omega asked curiously.
Why were they here? Of course, it was because after the end of the O'nyl campaign, the Far East Command had retained only the necessary defense forces from the original expeditionary force and had transferred the rest to the joint fleet organized to deal with the Tyranid threat. Of the three of them, only General Nicholas had been transferred. The Space Marines and the Battle Sisters had volunteered.
The Cogboy had been detected by the Admiral's ship's augur array, so it had naturally been detected by other ships as well. The Chapter Master of the Sufferer Chapter had quickly received a notification from his battle-brothers: their Magos Omega had arrived.
After understanding the situation, Chapter Master Douglas knew that Omega would definitely go to the Navy flagship to explain. He had immediately decided to wait for him. To go and welcome Magos Omega alone would seem too abrupt, and he would be accused of hogging the food by the Astra Militarum general and the Canoness. So the Space Marine Chapter Master had informed the other two, who also missed Magos Omega, to go with him.
After hearing Douglas's "slightly adjusted" explanation, Omega thanked the three of them. "I see. Thank you for coming to welcome me."
"It's our duty. Why did Magos Omega come here?"
"Inquisitor Fenni's mission to the T'au Empire was actually to negotiate a ceasefire. This led to me having to stay in the T'au Empire for a long time. Later, when I was about to leave, those blue-skinned xenos used the Tyranid threat as an excuse to ask me to help them transport reinforcements for their fleet. I had originally refused directly. Who would want to help the xenos? But the xenos said that by doing so, I was undermining the cooperation. In short, they came up with all sorts of excuses and reasons. In the end, I had no choice but to make a trip. Inquisitor Fenni was present the whole time. She knows how shameless those xenos were. Isn't that right, Miss Fenni? Miss Fenni!"
"Yes, yes," the Inquisitor replied, annoyed.
Omega secretly poked the Inquisitor who had taken the benefits but was not doing her part. The Inquisitor, receiving Omega's reminder, just gave the angry little cog-head a glare and showed no other reaction.
The three people opposite were all shrewd individuals and had had their fair share of dealings with cog-heads. They could see at a glance that there was something more to this. Magos Omega must have received some benefits from the T'au to have made this trip. But to say that Omega would do something to harm the interests of the Imperium... they would never believe it. They had personally seen how actively Magos Omega fought the xenos.
"The xenos are truly shameless!"
"Truly despicable."
"These blue-skinned xenos are very hypocritical!"
The three of them, with a few words, set the tone for Omega's matter. It was all the xenos' fault. The loyal Magos Omega had been coerced by the shameless xenos. It was for the sake of the bigger picture that he had transported troops for the xenos!
Inquisitor Fenni was different from Omega in her popularity. But she didn't know yet that Omega, who now had the support of the people, was already considering whether to tear up the unequal treaties.