206: Chapter 26 Twilight of the Empire

As Nurgle's shattered essence slowly dissipated in the depths of Extragalactic Systems, Slaanesh's escape trajectory was firmly locked by the Extragalactic Pursuit Task Force, and the cold observer's gaze was permanently sealed by the Human Federation. With these threats, each capable of exhausting any civilization's entire strength, one by one resolved, Han Zhe's attention finally turned to the ultimate goal that had existed since the Human Federation's inception: the Imperium of Man.

This ancient regime, rotten for ten millennia yet still claiming to be the legitimate heir of humanity, was severely weakened after the Eye of Terror campaign. Guilliman's Indomitable Crusade fleet suffered nearly half its strength in losses, forcing it to retreat to the Ultima Segmentum; the Chaos invasion in the western Imperium, though indirectly alleviated by the Human Federation, also exposed the thousands of holes in its defenses; countless frontier worlds wavered in the aftermath of the Eastward Torrent, secretly beginning to cast tentative glances towards the Human Federation's dark golden banner.

But the Imperium was still the Imperium. Terra remained, the Emperor remained, and the sacred barrier forged by the prayers of trillions of believers still protected the last vestiges of dignity for this ancient regime.

“Taiping Star Domain.” Han Zhe's finger traced the star map, finally stopping on a vast segmentum located in the central region of The Galaxy, adjacent to the border between the Ultima Segmentum and Segmentum Obscurus. “This is the Imperium's last granary and source of troops. Guilliman's Indomitable Crusade primarily relies on supplies from here. If we capture the Taiping Star Domain, the Imperium will lose its ability to counterattack.”

“More importantly,” he brought up the latest intelligence captured by the Diting Network, “deep within the Taiping Star Domain, two Aeldari arks are hidden. They are disguised as asteroid belts, dormant for thousands of years right under the Imperium's nose, maintaining a secret symbiotic relationship with certain high-ranking Imperial officials. The Aeldari provide prophecies, and the Imperium provides protection.”

“These Aeldari have been secretly observing us. The destruction of Saim-Hann didn't deter them; instead, it made them even more covert. They are waiting, waiting for the moment when both the Human Federation and the Imperium are mutually wounded.”

“Unfortunately—”

Han Zhe's voice was as cold as ancient ice:

“They won't get that chance.”

“Order: Initiate Operation Pacification Sweep.”

“Objective One: The entirety of the Taiping Star Domain, to be occupied within three months. No surrenders accepted, no negotiations. If Imperial garrisons resist, annihilate them all; if they surrender, transfer them to the Reshaping Crucible for deep modification.”

“Objective Two: The two Aeldari arks, Dance of Pale Light and Whispering Forest, lurking in the Taiping Star Domain, are to be incidentally destroyed during the occupation. No prisoners, no samples, no contact of any kind. After confirming their core structures are destroyed, perform Causality Eradication on the ark wreckage to ensure no soul stones remain.”

“Overall Commander of the Operation: Alpha-1. The adjudicator will provide full tactical support.”

When the Human Federation's fleet appeared at the edge of the Taiping Star Domain, the Imperial defenders' reaction was even more tragic than expected.

One thousand six hundred and twenty-seven Imperial battleships, sixty-three colossal star fortresses, and hundreds of thousands of escort fleets were arrayed and waiting in the outermost Saint Shield System of the Taiping Star Domain. At the center of the fleet was a scarred yet still radiating golden light Gloriana-class battleship—the Eternal Light, the flagship of Imperial Navy Admiral Cadius.

Cadius, this veteran who had held the Imperium's eastern defense line for three hundred years, did the only thing he could in the face of the Human Federation's fleet: he prayed.

He knelt before the Emperor's holy effigy on the bridge, golden light flowing from the effigy and enveloping his entire body. All the crew around him, regardless of rank, knelt with him and prayed with him.

That was not cowardice, not surrender.

That was the last resistance in despair.

Because the data displayed on their sensors had already transcended the concept of combat:

Thirty thousand ships. Seventy thousand ships. One hundred thousand ships.

The scale of the Human Federation's fleet deployed to the Taiping Star Domain was twenty times that of their defenders.

And at the forefront of that sky-obscuring dark golden torrent were twelve entities never before seen in human history: the twelve Source of Order-class battleships that had once been sacrificed to the Spear of Paradox and then rebuilt. Their hulls were no longer metal, but solidified laws themselves; their weapons were no longer cannons, but the authority to rewrite causality.

Cadius's prayers went unanswered, or at least, not in the way he had hoped.

But he stood up, drew his power sword, and pointed it at the dark golden sea of death:

“Imperial warriors!”

“We are the Emperor's sword! We are humanity's last line of defense!”

“Today, we may die!”

“But the Emperor's glory—”

His voice was swallowed by a colorless light.

The Source of Order-class flagship, Terminus, fired a Causality Eradication Cannon.

The light did not strike any ship. It struck the void three hundred kilometers in front of the Eternal Light.

Then, something incredible happened.

Wherever that light reached, the Imperial defense line was deleted from the causal chain. Not destroyed, not defeated, but as if it had never existed. One thousand six hundred and twenty-seven battleships, sixty-three star fortresses, hundreds of thousands of escort ships, and Cadius and his warriors, who were swearing their oaths on the Eternal Light, vanished from all timelines—past, present, and future—at the same instant.

The Saint Shield System was left with only an empty void, as if the Imperium had never established defenses there.

After two months of sweeping and purification, over ninety percent of the star systems in the Taiping Star Domain were under Human Federation control. The Imperium's resistance was more tenacious than expected, yet also more powerless than expected.

Tenacious were the warriors who truly believed in the Emperor. They would detonate reactors before the last fortress fell, shout the Emperor's name for a final charge when surrounded, and smile calmly before being locked onto by a Causality Eradication Cannon.

Powerless were all their efforts, which, in the face of the Human Federation's transcendent technology, were like throwing eggs at a rock.

On one Hive City world, millions of Imperial defenders and fanatical Ecclesiarchy believers hid in giant underground fortresses deep within the planet, vowing to defend to the last person.

Alpha-1 glanced at the fortress structural diagrams provided by the adjudicator and initiated the Planetary Purification Protocol.

Not orbital bombardment, not ground assault. Twelve Annihilator-class carriers in orbit directly above the fortress deployed a total of four thousand tons of Deep Infiltrators, a specialized drilling device capable of penetrating thirty kilometers of rock and releasing miniature zero-point energy pulses upon reaching the target depth.

Three hours later, the coordinates of that fortress were replaced by a giant crater five hundred kilometers in diameter.

Millions of defenders, along with the holy effigies of the Emperor they worshipped, were vaporized.