[Side Quest Triggered: War for Survival (Final Ring)]
Difficulty Level: Lv.53
Mission Information: The fall of believers should not be paid for by the world, nor should a Living Saint's resting place be desecrated by Xenos! Defend Shrine World Kerigran from destruction by an Aeldari Craftworld fleet.
Reward Information: 12,000 Honor Points, one-time special equipment [Tears of the Living Saint]
Mission Failure: All attribute values deducted by ten points
Note: This Aeldari fleet is the Ulthwé Craftworld fleet, normally stationed in the Eye of Terror. This attack on the Shrine World is highly unusual.
Kenmyo Isayama had just finished briefing Black Templars Marshal Adebelard on Shrine World Kerigran. He had already identified which high-ranking members of the Ecclesiarchy in charge of that star system had betrayed the Emperor, marking them as targets for the Black Templars' execution.
Everything was ready, and then a communication signal from an Inquisition Black Ship was received: the news that their destination, Shrine World Kerigran, was under attack by an Aeldari fleet from an unknown origin.
Kenmyo Isayama's final ring of his side quest had also appeared, which was the battle to defend the world of Kerigran.
He looked at the quest on the warhammer simulator, especially at the quest reward, the Tears of the Living Saint.
Kenmyo Isayama reviewed the data and only then discovered that this Shrine World, Kerigran, actually contained a Saint's sarcophagus.
At the same time, he also understood why Slaanesh's followers would choose this planet to corrupt: because a Living Saint slept there.
In a somewhat blasphemous sense, a Living Saint is, in a way, equivalent to a Greater Daemon under a Warp Chaos God.
They are the Emperor's Greater Daemons!
Living Saints possess extraordinary power; their attacks have a special bonus against Daemons, they resurrect after suffering fatal injuries, their wounds instantly self-heal, and they are immune to the corruption of the Chaos Gods.
The record of every Living Saint is a history of the Imperium's honor. They are heroes worthy of a personal audience with the Emperor. Although Living Saints are immortal, they do have a lifespan. Once their natural lifespan ends, they enter a state of slumber (death).
The Saint's sarcophagus is the resting place provided for these Saints who have made countless great sacrifices for the Imperium, giving their lives over and over.
One such Living Saint sleeps on Kerigran; her true name and title are unknown, as history is too ancient to trace.
Currently, the consecration of Living Saints is primarily conducted by the Ecclesiarchy. The Living Saints who remain relatively active within the Imperium include Saint Celestine and Anais, both of whom originate from the Battle Sisters.
Kenmyo Isayama was very interested in the one-time equipment, the Tears of the Living Saint, although its properties could not yet be viewed.
However, every single characteristic of a Living Saint would be of immense help to Kenmyo Isayama.
"Immortality," "special effect on attacks against Daemons," "super-regeneration," "super-high resistance to psychic attacks"—these are all characteristics of a Living Saint, truly deserving of the title "Emperor's Greater Daemon."
Each one looked like a "golden legend" tempting Kenmyo Isayama.
But before Kenmyo Isayama could obtain this equipment, he would first need the White Eldar's fleet; failure would result in a deduction of ten points from all his attributes.
White Eldar refers to the Aeldari.
The Aeldari are a race many times more ancient than humanity, even participating in the War in Heaven alongside their creators, the Old Ones. (The War in Heaven was sixty million years ago.)
In comparison, the forty-thousand-year-old Imperium of Man is like a newborn infant.
The Aeldari were once the overlords of the cosmos, their advanced technology allowing them to consider themselves the "Supreme Rulers of the Stars," freely controlling the laws of star systems and transcending natural life and death.
Even death could be reversed, with resurrection from the Warp. At that time, the Warp was as clean as pure water, and the souls of the deceased Aeldari would not be defiled, allowing them to return to the real world from within it.
It can be said that if the mighty ancient Aeldari Empire still existed today, there would truly be no place for the Imperium of Man.
The factor that led this formidable race to the abyss of destruction was, like the once-mighty Imperium of Man, their own doing.
The Aeldari are a race with rich emotions. When they felt that nothing in the universe could threaten them, and societal wealth was so abundant that even if the Aeldari did not work, they would still receive astonishing amounts of money. Then there was only one thing left to do: indulge in pleasure.
The pursuit of life's pleasures, art, and intellectual stimulation was a great temptation for them!
The Aeldari held an orgy for over ten thousand years, and the variety of their games was no longer limited to the usual tricks they had grown tired of, because they were not afraid of death—they could always resurrect in the Warp, so they became increasingly depraved.
They began to indulge in the pursuit of extreme sensory stimulation, novel experiences, and intellectual stimulation. These psychic energies were released into the extradimensional space and coalesced into a physical entity.
This led to the Aeldari personally creating a terrifying monster, which is now one of The Four Great Chaos Gods of the Warp, the "Lord of Pleasure" Slaanesh, who previously tried to make Kenmyo Isayama a Chaos Chosen.
The Aeldari are also one of the prime culprits who turned the Warp into such a foul and unspeakable place.
The energy burst at Slaanesh's birth permanently shattered the veil separating the Warp from the real world. Thus, all planets and stars in the entire region of the ancient Aeldari Empire are now engulfed within the Warp, becoming worlds of Chaos Daemons.
This region is now located on the edge of the The Galaxy / Milky Way, within the Segmentum Obscurus, northwest of Terra, and is known as the Eye of Terror.
That place, heavily guarded by the Imperium, is the graveyard of the former Aeldari Empire, a truly tragic sight.
Their population suffered at least a ninety percent loss, and the surviving Aeldari even engaged in internal strife.
Even more tragically, after death, just like the warriors of the Imperium whose souls return to the Golden Throne, their souls are meant to return to the Warp, specifically to the domain of the Lord of Pleasure, into Slaanesh's embrace. How could they tolerate that?
Fortunately, they discovered an object called a Spirit Stone that could contain their souls.
Therefore, Slaanesh is the archenemy in the hearts of the remaining Aeldari; even after death, they struggle to find peace.
But the problem is that Slaanesh also quite likes the Aeldari, and his Chaos Legion will capture Aeldari to offer to their master.
These pale-skinned, tall creatures look similar to humans. Not only do they fit within Slaanesh's preferred aesthetic, but even humans are sometimes attracted to this elegant and beautiful race.
Similar to the handsome men and beautiful women of the Elven race in other settings, the Aeldari also have long, pointed ears and ranger-type units.
However, because the Aeldari are more slender and graceful than the "shrimp" humans, the crude Orks call them "bean sprouts"; the pale ones are White Eldar, and the Dark Aeldari are Hei Dou Ya.
The Aeldari are classified as Xenos by the Imperium. If this race appears within Imperial territory, they will be hunted and exterminated by the Ordo Xenos, one of the three branches of the Imperial Inquisition.
However, Kenmyo Isayama knew that the current Imperial Regent, the Ultramarines Primarch, the Thirteenth Primarch Roboute Guilliman, reportedly has a lover, an Aeldari woman referred to as the "Regent's Consort."
Actually, given a Primarch's iron will, secular desires shouldn't be very likely, but this fact has already occurred. Those Inquisitors, Ecclesiarchy, and astartes who clamor that the Aeldari are heretics cannot shake or change it.
They should still be in their honeymoon phase, so why would an Aeldari fleet brazenly attack a world belonging to the Ecclesiarchy?
The battle situation there was so critical that even a distress signal was sent out, indicating that the enemy's firepower was so fierce that the star system's own defense forces could no longer withstand it.
Whether the Aeldari are serious or not is another matter.
The defense forces of the Ecclesiarchy's world are truly worthless.
Kenmyo Isayama couldn't help but curse, and also, is this really not some internal cover-up, some petty maneuvering by you all?
How could the timing be so coincidental? Damn it, the Inquisition oversight team led by Kenmyo Isayama hasn't even been stationed there yet, and they're already thinking of covering their tracks.
The Aeldari fleet attacking the Shrine World, where the Inquisition and Black Templars were about to be stationed, created an opportunity for the Imperial rebels.
How to bury an entire matter so that no one knows the truth behind it? It must be by burning down the entire world, clearing away all evidence, intelligence, data, and all corrupted participants.
For the traces on an entire planet, war is the simplest method to destroy all suspicious tracks on it. Such things are commonplace everywhere; Kenmyo Isayama had even seen robbers who only stole twenty million from a bank, but the news reported it as one hundred million.
They are all masters at fishing in troubled waters.
Kenmyo Isayama knew there was a good show to watch. Who would be most enraged by the Aeldari fleet attacking Shrine World Kerigran? It would undoubtedly be the Black Templars!
This time, they had stepped into every pitfall that Black Orks could. Kenmyo Isayama could tell from Marshal Adebelard's dark face that the Aeldari were in for a world of trouble this time.
The wrath of the Black Templars would bring destruction upon them.
The most terrifying and biased thing about the Black Templars isn't just the Gloriana-class battleship, the relic of the Imperial Fists.
The reason the Black Templars can sustain high-intensity, continuous crusades is because they possess large-scale supply ships and factory ships organized into proper formations.
This is equivalent to the Black Templars having their own large dry docks and shipyards at home, allowing them to achieve self-sufficiency in warships independently of all support from the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars and Imperial armaments.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them a mini-Legion. Moreover, as the most renowned and successful Chapter among Dorn's sons, there's a subtle sense that they are replacing their original Chapter, which was once annihilated.
"Gentlemen, there are heretics now ravaging the Emperor's territories."
Kenmyo Isayama was not on an Inquisition Black Ship this time, but instead accompanied the Black Templars Astartes Monkss to the Imperium's largest conventional battleship—the Gloriana-class battleship, the Eternal Crusade.
Battleships of this class easily exceed twenty kilometers in length; they are ancient relics from the Imperium's Great Crusade era. Currently, it is known that the Imperium built twenty such ships, each serving as the flagship for a Primarch. For example, the Ultramarines' flagship, the Macragges Honour, was twenty-six kilometers long, and the Iron Warriors Legion's flagship, the Iron Blood, was twenty kilometers long.
This battleship was far more formidable than Kenmyo Isayama's Inquisition Black Ship fleet. Both its firepower and armor thickness were of the highest specifications. Gloriana-class battleships are equipped with incredible firepower, capable of single-handedly defeating entire fleets or rebellious planets.
However, according to Black Templars history, this battleship was seized by Chaos Space Marines shortly after it came into their possession. Ultimately, both sides fought until the Black Crusade was largely rendered inoperable, only then did the Black Templars reclaim it.
Fortunately, the Black Templars had a complete ship repair system, and it took them twenty years to fix it.
Now, the Eternal Crusade represents the Black Templars, following discussions and an agreement of cooperation between the senior leadership of the Inquisition and the Black Templars.
The Black Templars Grand Marshal transferred control of this flagship to Adebelard, an old veteran with five hundred years of service.
"Do not let the honor of the Black Templars be shamed."
Thinking of this, Black Templars Marshal Adebelard's face was very grim, and the faces of his Black Templars warriors were also as dark as water, all unable to suppress the anger in their hearts.
"These damned heretics, how dare they lay their hands upon our land."
As the Emperor's most loyal servants, how could they stand by and watch a Shrine World be so desecrated by xenos?
"Remember, gentlemen, I don't want a single one of these wretched xenos to escape back into the Webway."
Inside the main control room of the Black Templars' Eternal Crusade, Kenmyo Isayama had already seen the Shrine World of Kerigran on the large screen.
Even from his current position, Kenmyo Isayama could see that the surface of the azure planet was covered by giant explosions occurring intermittently, with blue beams hitting the ground and producing sparks that shot straight into the atmosphere.
Seven or eight incredibly smooth, elegant-looking giant battleships, with azure surfaces, were gathered in orbit around Kerigran. Moreover, like a swarm of locusts, dense, small red spacecraft were continuously pouring out of their motherships.
Those battleships with two giant wings, one above and one below, constantly flickering with faint blue light, are the Aeldari's pinnacle of shipbuilding craftsmanship, the Void Stalker-class battleships, which are super-heavy battleships of the Aeldari. Flanking them were their respective escort frigates.
Aurora-class light cruisers, Eclipse-class cruisers, Shadow-class cruisers, and so on—these are common Aeldari warships.
These massive behemoths, the Void Stalker-class, possess unimaginable maneuverability. Equipped with artillery matrices and pulse lances, these warships become the most terrifying weapons of war.
And those dense red objects, similar in size to the fighter jets from Kenmyo Isayama's original world, are Aeldari fighter craft. They are designed to complement the Void Stalker, which can carry several squadrons of swarming Darkstar fighters or Eagle bombers, capable of performing various missions.
For example, bombing designated high-value targets, decapitation strikes, indiscriminate attacks, and other missions are all things these flight squadrons can accomplish.
Every Imperial serviceman who sees Aeldari fighter craft will lament that Aeldari fighters are as swift as hurricanes, with incredible agility. These killing machines possess an elegance and speed that younger races cannot. In combat, they are as precise and deadly as the eagles of the Aeldari hunter god, Kurnous (a sleek, inescapable, deadly raptor).
The Void Stalker is a combination of what Kenmyo Isayama recognized as a missile destroyer and an aircraft carrier. Its firepower can serve as a primary damage dealer, while the dense swarm of Aeldari fighters demonstrates ultra-high maneuverability, providing large-scale fire support and devastating enemy warships.
Who would have thought that these things were all left behind by the Aeldari ancestors, and their shipbuilding technology still remained in that era? Moreover, regardless of size, the Aeldari Craftworld warships, in terms of both dimensions and power, are directly comparable to the most formidable warships of the Imperial Navy.
When the human race was still in its infancy, the Aeldari had already traversed the vast and boundless cosmos for tens of millions of years, the shakers of the stars.
The technological gap between the Imperium of Man and the Aeldari is immense; even though the Aeldari have made no progress in tens of thousands of years, remaining stagnant, the difference is still as vast as that between primitive humans and modern humans, like the distinction between cold weapons and hot weapons.
The Imperium is the weaker party; their macro-cannons and lances are imitations of Aeldari warship weapons, but their power should not be underestimated.
Kenmyo Isayama had originally intended for the Black Templars to engage only after reinforcements from the Imperial Navy arrived. Imperial Navy warships would also be coming, as Kerigran's distress signal had been sent to several star systems within the sector.
"Void shields full power!!!"
Black Templars Marshal Adebelard, seated in the captain's chair, issued the first order to all Black Templars warships involved in the operation.
"Maximum speed, all forces attack!"
Kenmyo Isayama's eyes widened, utterly astonished by the Black Templars' actions.
The void shield is an outer protective field for the fleet, shielding it from artillery attacks. However, the fiercely aggressive Black Templars, these few Black Orks, seemed to be intent on ramming their own warships directly into the Aeldari warships.
Let's see whose warship is tougher.
They charged in, shields up, ready for a bayonet charge, including the Eternal Crusade, which had been modified by the Black Templars. Kenmyo Isayama even thought he was on a greenskin warship; are they all this reckless?
"No pity! No remorse! No fear!"
Marshal Adebelard, seated in the captain's chair, passionately roared the Black Templars' battle cry.
The Aeldari fleet also noticed this large group of black ships, cloaked in void shields, diving towards them at extremely high speed, like a blade poised to pierce the enemy's heart.
"This is suicide! This is madness!"
The Aeldari fleet was startled by the sudden attack. They had been discussing the extent of destruction to inflict upon Kerigran before disengaging, and now a dozen warships were diving towards them.
Suddenly, all weapon ports opened. The artillery, which had been firing intermittently, now unleashed a torrent of shells as if money were no object.
The pulse lance arrays and heavy cannons of the Aeldari fleet's Void Stalkers began to roar ferociously, and countless salvos of fire slammed head-on into the Black Templars' warship formation.
"Impact in three seconds! Three, two, one!"
Boom! The Aeldari's relentless artillery barrage poured forth, and violent explosive fireballs appeared directly above the void shields. Kenmyo Isayama felt as if he were on an ocean liner in a storm, pitching uncontrollably. If he hadn't used his psychic powers to anchor his feet, he would have been tossed into the air by the turbulence.
The rocking made Kenmyo Isayama dizzy.
Countless dense torpedo volleys from the Aeldari fleet streamed from all directions, launching attacks against the Black Templars' warships. The escort frigate formation in front of the Aeldari fleet was struck by the Black Templars' warships, resulting in violent explosions, and dazzling fire illuminated the entire bridge of the ship.
Why did the Black Templars engage in such a thankless endeavor? It's simple: they wanted to engage in the most efficient close-quarters combat. While the Imperium's armaments and warship performance might be inferior, it doesn't mean these terrifying Astartes Monkss of the Black Templars are inferior to the Aeldari.
When the warships were very close to each other, something like a teleportation device appeared in the Black Templars' warship compartments. astartes, armed with power swords, were already prepared, entering the teleportation gates in groups of several.
Kenmyo Isayama, wielding a chainsword, also stepped into this azure teleportation gate. He had never seen this race, touted as the most beautiful and elegant.