Meyer paced anxiously on the ship's deck, waiting with a burning heart.
He constantly looked up at the orbital dock connected to the port, hoping to see the other party emerge from it.
Negotiations, negotiations, wasn't it supposed to be about talking it out?
But who would have thought that the other party would just leave, not even bothering to talk?
"We haven't angered them, have we?" Meyer was restless, feeling that something big was about to happen, so he turned to look at his retinue behind him, his general staff, hoping to find some comfort there.
"General, don't worry."
One of the staff members, considering himself very experienced and skilled in negotiation tactics, said with great confidence.
"According to our predictions, the other party should also be discussing now and will soon come out with a relatively lenient condition."
"That's right, negotiations must be assertive." Another staff member agreed.
"Although we lost the battle, this was only a local defeat, not a defeat of the entire colony. If the other party wants to gain benefits from us, they must lower their conditions!"
"You can rest assured, General."
The staff successively expressed their opinions.
"Don't forget, you have CEC and the United Government standing behind you!"
Indeed, they couldn't be blamed for thinking this way, as the main purpose of war is to seize survival resources.
Who wages war purely to annihilate the other party?
It's not that it doesn't exist, but such war situations are rare, and even if it's to annihilate the other party, it's for better occupation of resources.
The essence of war is the extension of interests. Humanity occupies vast colonies and possesses immense resources. This is their core interest. In the eyes of the United Government and CEC, the main purpose of this mysterious fleet is nothing more than wanting a share of the spoils.
It couldn't possibly be purely for the purpose of annihilating them, could it?
This neither conforms to interests nor to the necessary nature of biological development.
Looking at the chattering staff, all expressing their positions, Meyer, a Five-Star General, could only sigh deeply, his face showing an extremely forced expression.
"I hope so, that the other party can lower their demands."
But even so, the worry in his eyes still hadn't faded.
This was the opinion of the United Government and CEC Company. Even if he was the supreme commander of the Space United Forces, he still had to listen to the opinions of these staff members.
However, from his parting with "Magos Galahad," he had glimpsed a deep fire of rage in the other party's eyes, which should have been devoid of emotion.
This was the source of his unease!
Would the other party truly make concessions as CEC and the United Government anticipated?
Meyer, filled with worry, looked at the magnificent battleship, full of darkness and holiness, complex and eerie.
The gate opened, and as steam surged out, the familiar rust-red mechanical figure, as before, walked out with slow steps.
Seeing this, the staff members beside Meyer couldn't help but slightly curl their lips.
"Do you see, General?"
The staff members' faces showed a touch of pride, and they straightened their backs.
"This is negotiation skill. As long as we remain firm, the other party must lower their conditions. As long as they still want to gain benefits from us, they must do this!"
"That's right, this is politics!"
The other staff members also nodded in agreement.
Meyer's heart calmed down a little. He personally only wanted to preserve these United Forces soldiers as much as possible, but if he could also secure benefits for the United Government and CEC on this basis, he wouldn't mind.
Seeing Galahad approach, Meyer's face once again showed a smile, and he strode forward.
"Magos Galahad, we…"
Clang!
The iron staff embedded with gears suddenly dropped, making a huge impact sound with the deck.
Meyer's words were caught in his throat. Galahad' already cold gaze, with the red light of the bird's instrument, swept over Meyer and the staff members in front of him one by one, as if delivering a final verdict, and he spoke.
"Given your foolishness, the Great Dominator of the Emrys family officially issues its judgment upon you."
Wait, wasn't this a negotiation?
The word "judgment" uttered from Galahad' mouth was exceptionally heavy, as if carrying a suffocating pressure.
Meyer's pupils suddenly constricted. He realized that they seemed to have… guessed wrong!
"According to the authority granted to the Rogue Trader by the Imperium."
Galahad held the gear staff, his eyes full of ruthless coldness, and his hoarse voice, like a sharp blade, directly pierced their hearts.
"In the name of the Dominator of the Emrys family, because of your foolishness, we have decided to use the 'Holy Conflagration' protocol to purify a heretical nation with the flames of the Machine God, as a warning!"
"Wait, wait, Magos Galahad…"
Although Meyer didn't know what the Holy Conflagration protocol was, it didn't sound like a good thing from the name!
However, Galahad didn't want to hear the sophistry of these foolish carbon-based life forms at all.
"Objection invalid." His gaze was icy, staring directly at Meyer.
"The command has been issued by the Machine God, and its execution is irreversible, in accordance with the laws of the Imperium and the Mechanicus. Here… the command of the Dominator of the Emrys family is unique and absolute."
Everyone in the staff was dumbfounded.
How was this somewhat different from the outcome they had imagined?
It was agreed, weren't negotiations supposed to be intense verbal sparring, two sides exchanging interests, and finally reaching an agreement?
How did it turn into them being threatened with the "annihilation of a nation" if they didn't agree here!
Unfortunately, Emrys couldn't hear it.
But even if he did, he wouldn't care, after all, there were no ancient Eastern nations here.
He was double-standard, was there a problem with that?
The Holy Flame Arbiter sailed out of the port, ignoring the communication requests from Meyer and the staff, and directly aimed its lance array downwards.
"Yes, right here!"
Emrys looked at the map below, suddenly raised an eyebrow, and shouted fiercely.
"Aim here, hit them with all you've got, sink these those little broken islands for me!"
"Entering Holy Conflagration protocol!"
"Coordinates entered, Eye of the Machine God locked onto the surface heretics!"
Under the joint control of the Soul of Logic and the Soul of Wrath, four thousand Mechanicus Transformer Priests throughout the ship chanted prayers in unison.
Then, the "Judge" class lance array at the bow of the ship was lit up simultaneously.
The light emitted by the firing crystals plunged the star field for a thousand miles into a stark white, and six beams, a hundred meters in diameter, like the thunder spears hurled by Zeus, the King of Gods in ancient Greece, directly pierced the atmosphere!
Immediately, the entire sky was ignited by the high temperature of the lances, and the beams spanning the sky dragged dark electro-ion cracks.
Under the bewildered gaze of the United Government and CEC high-ranking officials, six beams struck the islands located on the Indian Ocean plate.
The superheated plasma torrent, carrying destructive airwaves, erupted with a roar that shook heaven and earth!
Boom—!
Steel, rock, and flesh were all vaporized into mist within microseconds!
In the directly hit area, the island plates disintegrated, and the magma erupting from volcanoes, mixed with towering tsunamis, swallowed and erased this sinful nation, completely wiping away any trace of their existence.
The aftermath of the lances caused violent atmospheric storms.
black-purple thunderstorms rolled in the stratosphere for months without dissipating, like roaring beasts.
Even more terrifying was the massive radiation level, which meant that even if there were survivors in this area, they would never be able to survive.
This place had been completely turned into a dead zone!