Chapter 302: Vect: Plagiarizing Me?!
The advance of the Protoss, Zerg, and the Raiders was not slow.
The Zerg, relying on their numbers, acted as a living wall of flesh. They were not concerned with the speed of their advance but were instead relentlessly compressing the Dark Eldar's living space, ensuring that Vect could not escape by mixing in with the other Dark Eldar. The Raiders, clad in their powersuits, rendered the low-armor-penetration Splinter Rifles of the Dark Eldar largely ineffective. After the Dynasty's recent boom in wealth, four of the Raider regiments had even been upgraded further. The two Raider regiments currently active on the field were equipped with full suits of adamantium powersuit, painted in a pitch-black livery. Although their mobility was somewhat affected, it was more than enough to withstand most of the attacks from the Dark Eldar.
The Protoss Zealots, meanwhile, were battling the Wyches and powerful gladiators amidst the ruins, preventing these assassination specialists from inflicting a devastating blow on the Raiders' command structure.
"My Lord, our time is short," Damon said, approaching Lucan with a hint of tension on his face. "More and more Eldar warships are converging on this position. Although our fleet can still hold the line, if this drags on for too long, any single Eldar warship that successfully breaks through and bombards this area, without regard for their own kind, could affect our subsequent withdrawal. Furthermore, according to the reports from the fleet captains, the Dark Eldar are attempting to encircle us."
He was trying to persuade Lucan to return to the safety of the flagship. The task of killing Vect could be left to them. Lucan's safety was more important than anything else.
"There is still time!" Lucan replied confidently. "Our fleet is not so fragile. Norris and his Ghosts should be able to find Vect's location soon."
At that moment, Vect, under the protection of his Kabal of the Black Heart, no longer looked so composed. Looking at the casualties among the various Kabals, he knew that even if they could withstand this invasion, the power core of Commorragh was about to undergo a major reshuffle. Most of the Kabals who had been willing to come here with him to encircle the Zerg were loyal to him. The losses these Kabals had sustained had already exceeded their limits.
And these were not the only Kabals in Commorragh.
Those with hidden ambitions were always, at every moment, trying to replace him, especially the remnants of the old Dark Eldar nobility. He himself had used the Salamanders to slaughter the original old nobles and had transformed Commorragh into a meritocratic society, giving the lower-class Dark Eldar a chance to rise. This had struck at the fundamental interests of those nobles. Vect even felt that those lingering remnants of the old nobility wanted him dead more than the humans did. Or perhaps... the humans' entry into the Webway had their shadow behind it?!
Vect knew that he hadn't managed to kill all of the old nobles back then; some had hidden themselves away. Although they had lost their old titles, in their bones, they still believed they were nobler than the other Eldar. In the past, the lower-class Eldar didn't even have the right to enter the spire districts of Commorragh. Now, they were secretly supporting some of the Kabals. Some Kabals were even secretly established by these old nobles.
And among the warships currently engaging the Mon-keigh, some of them belonged to these people. These Dark Eldar often lurked in the subsidiary regions outside of Commorragh's main city. Vect even suspected that, even if they repelled the humans, these warships might just bombard his position and try to bury him in the undercity for good. He knew his own kind all too well.
When his subordinates asked him what to do next, he couldn't think of any way to win. He had thought this was an encirclement of the Zerg, but from the current situation, it seemed it was a trap set for him. Lucan's fleet had invaded and then charged directly toward his position without a moment's hesitation, as if everything had been planned. Even a human Primarch had appeared among their forces.
At this moment, Vect felt that this was a plot hatched by the old nobles, imitating his own tactics. Just like him, they were using the hands of humans to get rid of him. Otherwise, how did the humans enter the Webway?! And how did they know his location so precisely? One link after another, it was as if everything had been arranged.
Regardless, it had already happened. He could either fight to the last, or he could find a way to retreat immediately. And without a doubt, the only option now was to retreat.
Vect told himself that he knew when to be flexible. This wasn't the first time he had done something like this. The last time, when Yvraine had awakened the power of the Death God and destroyed the Gate of Khaine, letting a horde of daemons in, Vect had also chosen to lie low, waiting for the situation to calm down before emerging once again to take power. Although this would have a severe negative impact on his prestige, he couldn't be bothered with that right now.
He knew just how vast Commorragh truly was. The current human fleet had not yet reached the point where it could truly destroy or occupy the Dark City. Knowing it was an impossible fight, why would he waste his own effective strength? As long as he was alive, Vect felt that with his abilities, he could completely retake control of Commorragh.
No one knew how many people had accumulated in Commorragh over the millennia. Even Vect, as the Overlord, did not know. Commorragh was a practically infinite, ever-expanding space. Every day, thousands of warships of all classes were docked here. As long as they could get through the initial chaos, they could annihilate the human fleet, just as they had repelled the human invasion in the past. The fleets of the other city-states were already on their way here. Even just by relying on numbers, they could wear down the invading humans. And many of the more powerful warships were not permanently docked in Commorragh. To capture more slaves to sustain their lives, a large number of Kabals and pirates were active all over the galaxy. It may have seemed like Commorragh was being suppressed now, but when those people learned that their property in the Dark City was being damaged, they would definitely come back to deal with these invaders.
But that would take time.
And from the strength Lucan had displayed so far, it was already impossible for Vect to win the ground battle in the undercity. The current social structure of the Dark Eldar, and indeed all Eldar, made them completely unsuited for a head-on, pitched battle. This was especially true for the Dark Eldar. The number of people in a single Kabal was too small. Although many powerful Kabals had gathered here, there was no way for them to trust each other enough to cooperate and provide support.
This meant that when facing Lucan's attack, the moment they showed any weakness, there would be instances of one Kabal using another as bait to preserve its own strength. This kind of backstabbing was a huge blow to morale. Most of the Kabals did not dare to commit their full strength to the battle. Forget fighting to the death with the humans; they didn't even have time to guard against their own allies. Some Kabals had already begun to rout.
If you were to place these Kabals on a conventional battlefield for a head-on fight, even without Lucan, the Imperium of the past would have had the ability to deal with them. In the end, they were, in essence, just a bunch of hit-and-run pirates. They were not the ancient Eldar Empire.
And in terms of individual combat strength, although Vect was the Overlord, his power had never been in his personal combat ability. He had some, to have reached his position, but not much. He relied more on conspiracy, intrigue, assassination, and kidnapping. Forget Ferrus; even Guilliman could kill him.
"Ignore the other Kabals," Vect commanded. "Rally all the members of our Kabal of the Black Heart and withdraw from here!"
"I understand, Lord Vect!"
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