In the dining hall, everyone ate in silence. Lord Li Feng was also eating black bread with borscht, Valhallan style. The Soldiers were trembling because the friend of the emperor, the Great Hero, and the Supreme Commander were dining with them.
Seeing the silent atmosphere, Brocklaw wanted to liven things up, so he asked Commissar Cain:
"Political Commissar, how did you and Lord Li Feng meet?"
Upon hearing this question, all the Soldiers pricked up their ears, as these legendary stories between heroes were what Soldiers loved to hear most.
Caiaphas Cain put down his wine glass, rolled up his sleeves, and said:
"♪ ~ I remember when my Legion first started, we only had a few hundred men and dozens of cannons. When we encountered the Tyranids, they chased me until I was dizzy. Thanks to Li Feng, he blew up the Hive Tyrant with a grenade. He blew up the Tyrant without batting an eye, as if it were nothing. Only after he drove away the Tyranid Soldiers did I escape a great disaster. This life-saving kindness I will never forget; I, Caiaphas, am a man of loyalty and will surely repay it. ~ ♪"
Ho! Good heavens, Li Feng didn't expect our Commissar Cain to have this skill; he could even sing a tune right off the bat, how remarkable! How remarkable! ... The following is an excerpt from "Purge the Guilty! A Righteous Account of the Gravelax Liberation," by Admiral Yang Wen-li of the Imperial Navy... Imperial Year 42085.
Editor's Note:
As a historian, in order to pass down my first battle experience as a historical record, it must be stated that not all quoted books fully describe this campaign as the most reliable source, but unlike most studies of the Gravelax incident, this book at least attempts to incorporate the broader historical context into the description of the conflict. Most other historians have obvious limitations, and my own summary of the causes of the incident, as an eyewitness, is what I actually saw.
The seeds of the Gravelax incident were sown many years before the full outbreak of this disaster. Recognizing this, in retrospect, it becomes very clear to discern how this non-human conspiracy evolved and developed over these generations.
However, historians can always only have hindsight, and this cannot be used to blame the participants at the time. Therefore, instead of pointing an accusing finger and righteously shouting, "Why were they so foolish?" it is more appropriate for us to merely shake our heads and lament the blindness of our ancestors, who ignored their predicament on the brink of destruction.
Nor can we condemn the servants of the Emperor, especially those combat units concerning the wise Holy Emperor and those diligent administrative personnel; the Ultima Segmentum is vast, and the Damocles Gulf is a frontier Star Sector full of unknowns.
After those Heretics, the Tau, were routed by the valiant expeditionary fleet in the early Imperial Year 41740, their attention immediately turned to more urgent threats: the invasion of Hive Fleet Leviathan, the awakening of the accursed Necrons, the frequent harassment by Orks, and especially the never-ending danger from the renegade Legions.
Nevertheless, the Tau still existed on the fringes of Imperial space, and they once again almost unnoticed encroached upon the territories blessed by the Holy Emperor.
Up to this point, Gravelax was still an insignificant, remote outpost, its existence unnoticed by the wider galaxy. Its land was fertile enough to allow its sparse population to live quite decently, and abundant minerals were sufficient to support large-scale industry.
In short, it had no commodities for trade, and its population was not large enough to conscript into the Imperial Guard. Bluntly speaking, it was a stagnant backwater, with nothing to pique any interest.
It was a sad mistake if Gravelax believed it could remain undisturbed indefinitely. Less than a century after being thoroughly defeated by the servants of the Imperium, the black-hearted Tau returned, once again spreading their corrupt Heretical ideas throughout the Star Sector.
They occasionally discovered Gravelax but paid it no mind, but in the last century of the last millennium, they had firmly established roots.
Historians will not be surprised, as it is well known that aliens are inherently fickle. They arrived at this stepping stone merely for further infiltration. What remains shocking even when recorded is that many greedy and selfish individuals willingly helped them, becoming perfect sacrifices for this grand conspiracy.
No doubt you have already guessed, I am referring to those so-called Rogue Traders. They are indeed scoundrels, for they place their own interests above the Imperium, humanity, and the Holy Emperor!
How and why these profit-seeking pariahs began doing business with the Tau is not recorded in history. What is certain is that Gravelax, due to its independent position on the edge of Imperial territory and its proximity to the expanding domains of these evil aliens, became a perfect location for such clandestine trade.
Inevitably, corruption began, trade volume grew, and it became increasingly open. Tau spacecraft entering and leaving the newly expanded Starport became a common sight. Tau were also frequently seen in the cities of Gravelax, mingling with civilians, polluting their human essence with their soulless alien ways.
Heresy spread, and even ordinary citizens dared to use unholy equipment, brought by lurking alien allies, that had not been blessed by Adeptus Mechanicus priests. This situation had to change! And indeed it did.
The stench of corruption gradually became known to the ever-vigilant Inquisition, who wasted no time in summoning an expeditionary force, personally composed of the "friend of the emperor," to cleanse this festering sore from the land blessed by the Holy Emperor.
They deserved it; the vanguard of this glorious endeavor was none other than Political Commissar Caiaphas Cain, a war hero of the Imperium, whose name alone made the enemies of mankind tremble with fear... And what the Tau did not expect was... this time awaiting them was not just the regular Astra Militarum forces and Planetary Defence Force, but also the great: friend of the emperor, Imperial Prince, fox of the imperium, hero of frax, archmagos of the adeptus mechanicus, venerable of the ecclesiarchy, prime minister of the badab sector... a highly experimental fleet and Legion personally assembled by Lord Li Feng, all aspects of this battle were widely circulated as a combat textbook for the Imperial Army in later years.
It can be said with fairness that Lord Li Feng, from that moment on, completely transformed all combat methods previously used by our great Imperium of Man.
Advanced tactical concepts were popularized, iterated weapon equipment and war machines, the comprehensive construction of an informationized command chain... It can be said that the Imperium's ability to once again restore the glory of the Great Crusade era ten thousand years ago is entirely due to Lord Li Feng's efforts and contributions.
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