Chapter 196: Where in the Galaxy Are We?
Temporarily leaving that section of the Webway, Lucan ordered the Spear of Adun to continue its exploration. As the Arkship advanced, Lucan had no idea how much distance he had crossed. The concept of space was altered within the Webway.
Along the way, they saw some Eldar cities that had completely fallen into ruin and even encountered a legion-sized force of daemons. Breaches in the Webway, eroded over time, had given these daemons a chance to enter. It was clear the Webway was not as safe as one might think. To avoid bringing the Protoss to the attention of the Chaos Gods, Lucan had the Spear of Adun take a different route.
Just as Lucan was preparing to end this exploration of the Webway, as it was getting deeper and more complex, Karax's voice rang out.
"Hierarch! There is a huge Webway gate ahead!"
Sure enough, a Webway gate large enough for the Spear of Adun to pass through with ease appeared before them.
"My Lord? Should we attempt to cross this gate?"
After thinking for a moment, Lucan wanted to personally experience just how magical the Webway could be. His mentality was, "Well, we're already here."
"Let's send a probe out first! Who knows what's on the other side of that gate. It would be interesting if we went straight into the Eye of Terror!"
Lucan knew that the Webway also connected to many Crone Worlds. These first colony worlds of the Eldar, from the time of their rise, had once been incredibly prosperous, with countless Eldar living on them. And precisely because these worlds had once been so populous, they were the first to be destroyed when the Eldar's debauchery went too far and created Slaanesh. The psychic energy that erupted at Slaanesh's birth had swallowed all the Crone Worlds into the warp, turning them into unique existences between realspace and the immaterium.
Lucan had no desire to fight a planet full of daemons right now.
After activating the Webway gate, a Protoss Observer was released. Lucan watched as the probe passed through the gate, and he nervously monitored the data it sent back. If the probe was destroyed or detected any anomalies, Lucan would immediately close the Webway gate to prevent any possible enemies from crossing through.
"My Lord! All is normal. This Webway gate is established in the void! The probe has not detected any anomalies in the vicinity!"
Karax's words made Lucan breathe a sigh of relief. The opening of the Webway gate had also removed the barrier of space, allowing the probe to successfully transmit its data and images back.
After ensuring it was safe, Lucan ordered the Spear of Adun to pass through the gate. The Arkship once again returned to realspace.
"Karax, can the Spear of Adun connect to the psionic matrix established by the Pylon on the Stellar Pioneer?"
"It can, but it is very weak... This situation means that the distance between the two is extremely far!"
"Try to use the psionic matrix to send a communication to the Stellar Pioneer. We need to confirm our current location."
Lucan waited for a reply, but it took a full hour before the Spear of Adun received a response. It had to be known that the existence of quantum communication meant that communication with a neighboring star system had only a few seconds of delay. Within the entire Koronus Expanse, with relay stations established, the communication delay over the furthest distance was only a little over a minute. For the even more advanced communication technology of the Protoss to have such a long delay, although the lack of a Pylon as a relay station was a factor, was still absurd.
"Mother of mercy... where in the galaxy did it send me? Karax, record the current coordinates and try to explore the vicinity."
As the Spear of Adun moved away from the Webway gate, its psionic sensors began to operate at full power. The energy of the Solar Core drove the Arkship forward at great speed. Soon, several planets appeared on the sensors.
Just as Lucan was debating whether to approach for a closer look, Karax's urgent voice came to his ears.
"My Lord! A large number of fleets have been detected moving toward our position at sub-light speed."
"Fleets? Karax, have the Spear of Adun ready to jump at any time!"
Lucan prepared to identify their current location from these warships. The jump drive would also allow the Spear of Adun to leave the battlefield instantly after making contact. In a short while, the appearance of the other party's warships was displayed on the holographic projection before Lucan.
Looking at the display, this fleet had a full twenty ships. A fleet of this size could be called massive in any star system. And the lead flagship was over twenty kilometers long.
Lucan had detected them, and they had also detected the Spear of Adun.
As the distance closed, the appearance of the other party's warships was displayed on the holographic projection. Blue prows, golden laurels...
"Holy crap, the Macragge's Honour?"
No other warship would be decorated in such a style. It's you! The Space Romans!
Then, a battle-worn face appeared on the holographic screen before Lucan. He had a head of white hair, and his right eye had been replaced by a red bionic one. The Macragge's Honour was hailing them.
Seeing his face, Lucan immediately recognized him.
"The ICU War God, Calgar? Well, well. To think we've gone from the galactic west all the way to the galactic east. Is this Macragge? We've crossed countless star systems and sectors!"
Having just played through Space Marine 2 before coming to Warhammer, how could Lucan mistake his appearance? The speed of the Webway was truly absurd. They had been traveling in it for no more than an hour, right? Even with continuous jumps, considering the cooldown time, his own jump drive probably couldn't have been this fast.
"Xenos! This is Macragge! This is not a place you should have come!"
Calgar's voice was extremely angry. For a huge xenos warship to suddenly appear in the heart of Ultramarines' territory was no different from a declaration of war. When he had learned of the massive size of the Spear of Adun, he had immediately summoned most of the Chapter's available forces to meet the enemy, even deploying the Gloriana-class battleship, Macragge's Honour.
Lucan did not reply to Calgar. He was currently on a xenos warship, and he was the only human on the entire ship. No matter what he said, the other party would not believe him. Even if he brought out his status as a Living Saint, it would probably be useless. They would probably think he had been captured by xenos. Even Lucan himself would not believe the other party in this situation.
To avoid a conflict, Lucan immediately ordered Karax to jump back to the Webway gate.
Just as Calgar was about to order the Ultramarines to attack, the next second, the Spear of Adun suddenly disappeared from their augur arrays.
"Lord Calgar! The xenos warship is gone!! The augur arrays can no longer detect its presence at all!" a tech-priest reported to Calgar.
This stunned Calgar, who had been ready to smash the invaders with his power fists.
"Disappeared suddenly?! Could it be the Eldar?! Order the fleet to search this sector! Perhaps there is a Webway gate we have not discovered!"
In Calgar's eyes, only the Eldar, who could use the Webway, could disappear so suddenly. However, the Spear of Adun was very different from an Eldar warship and was not in any Imperial records.
Back at the Webway gate, Lucan had it activated again and entered.
"I never thought it could lead directly to Macragge... Guilliman is still lying in a stasis field there. I wonder if my ability can purify the warp-poison Fulgrim left in his body. If so, then Guilliman's resurrection might not need the power of the Eldar's God of the Dead. I and Cawl's Armour of Fate could pull him from his near-death state!"
Lucan pondered this in his heart. According to the Harlequins' prophecy about him, he couldn't be sure if the Eldar would change their stance on Guilliman. After all, saving Guilliman only served the Eldar's current interests. Once humanity became a greater threat to the Eldar than Chaos, they would quickly turn their spears on humanity.
The coordinates of Macragge had been recorded. If he could find Cawl, perhaps he could come here with him and give Regent Guilliman a hand.
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