Vashtorr departed, but before leaving, he thoughtfully offered Sith a three-month truce.
Besides outwardly demonstrating that he was a deity who would never take advantage of Sith, it was also because Vashtorr needed at least three months to equip a batch of troops with the Bolter.
In fact, these three months were entirely for Vashtorr's production time, not research and development.
After all, in Vashtorr's view, there must be only one key technology in this type of Bolter that he hadn't mastered yet; the rest was common, dime-a-dozen technology.
Cracking the secrets and replicating the hundredfold power in Sith's hands was simply a piece of cake for him.
Sith thus gained a precious opportunity to rest and began mobilizing the inventory within the lunar class ship to repair his warship with all his might.
Just when Sith thought he could finally catch his breath, in a certain star system in the distant galaxy, a massive fleet of over a hundred ships was quietly anchored in the void.
Lacking the bizarre decorations and mutations of the Chaos side, these warships exuded a cold, steely mechanical aura.
At the same time, on an Emperor-class battleship in the center of the fleet, the striking Imperial double-headed eagle could be seen.
Yet a fleet of this scale was merely one battle group under one of the ten expeditionary fleets of Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade.
As the second largest expeditionary plan in the history of the Imperium of Man since its inception.
Guilliman had assembled an unimaginable number of Imperial troops for the Indomitus Crusade he single-handedly orchestrated.
Even a single battle group casually dispatched to pursue Sith was large enough to launch an Apocalypse-level war on its own.
Inside the Retribution-class battleship at this moment.
Countless Krieger were marching in neat rows from the Transport onto the deck; with uniform attire and strict formation, the hundreds of thousands of Krieger legionnaires filled the entire deck in front of the giant guns produced by their home planet.
Yet the battle group Commander, who was supposed to come and receive this batch of Krieger, had yet to appear.
Meanwhile, on the high platform in front of the deck, a large number of crew members were busy running back and forth.
No expression could be seen behind the respirators of the Krieger, while the Commander who was supposed to receive them was staying on the bridge, looking at an adjutant who had rushed over to report, as well as the striking location on the projector.
So, this is where that traitor is located!
An Admiral who had undergone life-extension surgery and looked no older than forty.
Was looking at the flashing light point on the projection and spoke with a stern face.
One could easily hear the irrepressible anger in the Admiral's words.
After all, it wasn't just Abaddon and Vashtorr who had been led by the nose by Sith; the task force ordered to hunt down Sith had been as well.
Watching themselves run around for half a day, even going so far as to enter The Great Maelstrom and fight a battle with Huron, only to fail to even catch a glimpse of Sith in the end.
Not only the Admiral, but almost the entire task force was seething with rage.
According to news from the nearby sector government, the traitor named Sith is right here at this moment.
The adjutant confirmed again, and having clarified the authenticity of the information, the Admiral almost immediately waved his arm violently at the red dot on the projection.
The entire fleet is to warp immediately. After eliminating this traitor, we still need to complete Lord Guilliman's expedition plan.
The Admiral was impatient, and the surrounding Astartes Captains, Astra Militarum Commanders, Battle Sisters, and others showed the same anxiety, as if none of them wanted to continue being led by the nose by Sith.
Only one Ecclesiarchy Priest, watching the aggressive crowd before him, couldn't help but raise a question after thinking for a moment.
Traitors naturally need to be eliminated without reason.
But regarding the words of those prisoners from the other group of traitors, the Red Corsairs, shouldn't we consider them a bit more?
After all, so many prisoners said they saw 'Legion of the Damned's; perhaps there is really some misunderstanding about this... human called Sith.
The Priest was as tactful as possible, not even wanting to utter the word 'traitor'.
Hearing this, the people on the bridge withdrew their attention from the excitement of finally ending the needle-in-a-haystack search and looked at the Priest seriously.
Instead of scolding him directly, the group actually kept their reason and began to think seriously.
Besides the fact that their ability to become high-ranking members of the task force was enough to prove their excellence.
It was also because even when the Astartes Librarian and the Adeptus Mechanicus used every means at their disposal, it proved that these prisoners were not lying.
The rebel army they were hunting really had a unit of the God-Emperor's Legion of the Damneds.
Although the Imperium of Man had never acknowledged Legion of the Damneds, as high-ranking officials, they all knew what the appearance of Legion of the Damneds meant.
It meant that the other party had the personal certification of the God-Emperor and was absolutely and unequivocally a loyal subject of the Imperium of Man.
The scene was quiet for a while, and then the Admiral broke the silence:
Regardless of whether the other party truly has Legion of the Damneds, we must send someone to take a look.
Even if the traitors aren't lying, who knows if their memories are flawed?
The Admiral's words were immediately approved by the crowd, and then looking up again at Sith's location on the projection, the Admiral paused briefly before waving his arm again:
Send a strike force over first. The other party only has one ship; once we catch up, they won't be able to run.
No one on the bridge raised any further objections. Soon, in a corner of this massive fleet, a small strike fleet consisting of two lunar class cruisers and ten frigates slowly detached from the main force and began to warp toward Sith's location.
Facing the departing fleet, everyone prayed that they could end this long pursuit.
At the same time, they were full of confidence in the pursuit force they had sent out.
Not to mention that the other party only had one damaged lunar class, while they had two, and they had also equipped ten frigates in one go; this paper strength looked like it far crushed the opponent, and they really couldn't think of any reason for failure.
Afterward, the entire fleet remained anchored in the void, waiting for news that the strike force might send back at any time, because it didn't take much time from here to where Sith was.
Very quickly, with a burst of footsteps approaching rapidly from the cabin where the Astropath was located, the frontline report that everyone was expecting was finally delivered.
It is a direct recording of the call, but the content...
The officer delivering the message had a strange expression and actually couldn't continue after picking up the report.
Seeing this, everyone looked at each other, and then the Admiral took it directly and scanned it quickly:
A traitor Legion corrupted by the Chaos Gods / The Four Gods?
His brows relaxed, and the Admiral looked at the Priest, letting out a sigh of relief:
It seems this Sith is undoubtedly a rebel.
After saying this, the Admiral continued to read with the relief of having almost defied the God-Emperor.
Then, the smile that had just appeared stiffened slightly:
What do you mean by, next to the rebels, the ones providing them with fire support are Legion of the Damneds?
The bridge was instantly silent. The Admiral also stared blankly at the report, not even having time to pay attention to the Ecclesiarchy Priest's instantly pale face, and continued reading down.
Then, the Admiral's brows instantly furrowed into ravines:
The God-Emperor...
Turned traitor too?!
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