Calgar convened a meeting of many high-ranking officials in the conference hall of the Macragge's Honor battleship. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss matters related to launching a war against the Forgotten Civilization.
His personal guard members, clad in full armor, stood around the hall, symbolizing Calgar's prestige and status. The Captain of the guard stood behind Calgar.
He listened to the contents of the strategic meeting. The guard Captain's task was not only to ensure safety but also to provide reminders and advice at critical moments.
Understanding overall strategy, having one's own strategic thinking and judgment, was also a necessary skill. The high-ranking officials participating in this meeting were primarily from the military. There were representatives from various space marine Chapters, as well as officers from different branches of the Imperial armed forces. The Navy, the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Sisters of Silence, the Adepta Sororitas, the Astra Militarum, and other lesser-known organizations.
Even the Inquisition and the Officio Assassinorum sent their representatives to participate in this meeting.
Even if they couldn't send a representative, they participated via holographic projection.
Colorful uniforms were neatly arranged, like an army preparing for war. The most striking figure was seated to Calgar's left, clad in golden armor. That person wore a tall, conical helmet, concealing his face.
If the unique decorations on his armor weren't enough to reveal his identity,
the strong sense of aggression emanating from his massive physique was enough to explain everything.
He was none other than Livius, the Legio Custodes Tribune assigned to Universe 04. The status of the Custodes was very special within the Imperium; they symbolized the Emperor's majesty and served as overseers.
After the Emperor departed from the Golden Throne,
their guarding of the Imperial Palace became meaningless.
Currently, only a small portion of the Ten Thousand still guard the Emperor's dungeons or oversee the prisoners of the Astronomican.
Most of the Custodes have been deployed externally. They are once again active in various sectors of the Imperium. Their duty is to guard the Emperor's dream and ensure that the Imperium follows the path the Emperor envisioned. The Custodes oversee the operation of every department in the Imperium, their sharp gaze omnipresent, constantly searching for signs of corruption.
Livius did not participate in the meeting's discussions but sat there silently.
Like other Custodes, Livius possessed a soul where the qualities of both scholar and champion coexisted harmoniously.
He could discern the intentions of each speaker from their words.
He judged their inner desires and cravings, their loyalty to the Imperium, and their fealty to the Holy Emperor.
If the pursuit of personal desires surpassed their loyalty to the Imperium and the Holy Emperor,
then they would face divine purification. This was to prevent them from straying further down the wrong path. The representatives attending the meeting were all armed.
Everyone wore their uniforms, be it military standard attire or monastic robes.
Each had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Holy Emperor, vowing to defend His cause and glory with their lives.
Armor and weapons gleamed, and banners fluttered in the airflow from the air handling units.
Bright lights illuminated every corner. The polished marble floor reflected the crowd.
A Ministorum Priest lit incense in the hall.
Rising smoke drifted through the hall, stirred by the air currents into brief vortices.
"The orks are on the move; they will be deployed to the frontier battlefield within three standard weeks. The tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus have inscribed the technology to cross realm barriers into their genetic sequences, which will activate at the appropriate time, allowing them to construct stargate devices to different worlds." An intelligence officer was giving a report, his voice echoing in the vast space station.
"According to reports from our infiltrators, we already have one hundred and three worlds as footholds. They are already working on constructing beacons; once the beacons are lit, Imperial legions can rapidly descend. Some unimportant peripheral worlds have been chosen as resource planets for dismantling, and their materials will be used to build 'End of Magic' devices to weaken the enemy's application of transcendent power. This project is overseen by the Adeptus Mechanicus, and currently, four hundred 'End of Magic' devices have been manufactured. According to theoretical maximum calculations, they can cover a diameter of 3.56 million light-years, creating a Silent Zone."
"At maximum power, the warp within this zone will be frozen, and no soul will be able to leverage its warp energy. At maximum power, it will also have some impact on us, easily causing soldier fatigue and drowsiness. Therefore, the power will be designed to allow ordinary people to operate normally for long periods, while psykers will need to be equipped with specialized gear to continue using their psyker abilities."
"From the intelligence currently gathered, the Forgotten Civilization is divided into different realms, including the Low Spirit Realm, Immortal Realm, Great Yang Realm, Heaven Realm, Spirit Realm, daemonic Realm, Great Yin Realm, and so on, with different worlds separated by different realm barriers. There are passages between different realms; using these passages, distances of tens of thousands of light-years can be compressed to days or even minutes. Without using the passages, the distances between different realms are extremely vast, but there are some beings capable of traversing them by utilizing warp power."
"The Forgotten Civilization's development path focuses on how to utilize the power of the warp. According to known information, these guys have at least several systems of realm division, which will not be redundantly described here. The main focus will be on the levels that can pose a threat to the Imperium, such as the Heavenly Emperor, or Immortal Emperor, God Emperor, and even higher levels."
"Above the Immortal level, those beings show clear signs of warp corruption; the higher the cultivation level, the more pronounced the signs of corruption. Imperial-level beings can be fully regarded as warp entities, but they possess physical bodies, so they cannot be simply classified as warp entities. These beings already possess the ability to distort the laws of the real universe, and if not careful enough, entire organized units could be killed by them."
"Out of consideration for reducing casualties, all confrontations with Imperial-level and even higher-level beings will be handled by the Primaris Marines and the Officio Assassinorum, who will be responsible for executing decapitation tactics."
The official extracted the key points of the current information regarding the Forgotten Civilization and read them aloud.
Detailed information had already been transmitted to everyone's personal databases. The preliminary strategy had been formed in previous discussions.
A tech-priest from the Adeptus Mechanicus took over the official's speaking position.
His name was Fila, born on a Forge World.
He was a newly promoted Magos. The rapid expansion of the Imperium had given many people opportunities.
Fila was one of them.
It only took him five hundred years to be promoted from Enginseer to Magos.
He had also actively requested to be assigned to Universe 04.
He was certain that in this backward yet powerful universe, he could find much knowledge about the past. That knowledge would help him walk the path of truth.
Fila's body was as bulky as other Magi, covered in steel and cables.
Various amplification devices were also installed on his head, enhancing his brain's computational power.
"The Adeptus Mechanicus is establishing enough production lines in this world; we are already capable of locally producing the most advanced colossus-class warships and world-ending weapons. The Titan production workshop, incorporating the latest technical knowledge from Magos Sigma, has also been successfully constructed, and the first batch of new Titans is expected to be put into use within one Terran standard year."
"To enhance inter-departmental cooperation, I propose constructing enough beacon devices to improve information exchange between different forces. My team has already proposed several optimizations for the beacons, which can expand the radiation area and enhance communication efficiency, making communication more stable, and also making previously expensive real-time warp communication inexpensive. More importantly, the beacons also serve as amplifiers to strengthen the Holy Emperor's power in this universe."
"This is an excellent suggestion," a general said. "If soldiers can feel the Holy Emperor's will with them, they will undoubtedly fight even more bravely."
Fila's suggestion was very pertinent.
Even some generals who usually found fault with everything couldn't find any flaws.
Next, the representative from the Officio Assassinorum spoke.
People from this department always gave off a chilling aura.
Perhaps it was related to their unique profession. The Officio Assassinorum was specifically responsible for eliminating individuals who posed a threat to the Imperium. The assassins trained by the six Great Temples.
Each one was one in a million.
Even Primaris Marines would find it difficult to withstand their assassinations.
"The assassins of the Callidus Temple are ready; they will prioritize eliminating dangerous powerful enemies according to the list."
The Assassinorum representative's words were very indifferent.
No one was surprised by this.
Normally, the Officio Assassinorum would not participate in such meetings. Their presence in the Imperium was very weak, so weak that only a handful of people knew of their existence.
Calgar also didn't mind the Assassinorum representative's indifference. They were born this way.
A sharp blade that exists only in the darkness.
Representatives from other departments also spoke, offering suggestions and raising concerns, perfecting the final strategic plan. The meeting lasted for a very long time.
By the time it concluded, a full day and night had passed.
Coordinating such a massive army inevitably consumed a great deal of time.
Even with extraordinary minds, it would require immense effort and time to command this campaign. The territory of the Forgotten Civilization spanned 150 million light-years. This was a distance unimaginable even to the gods in the myths of many races.
Imagine the mental effort required to wage a war involving countless lives across such a vast distance.
Calgar and the many high-ranking military officials methodically coordinated production and troop deployment.
All sorts of war factories appeared in the void, some as small as a town, others comparable to a planet.
Massive industrial machines dismantled planets, stars, and even various gigantic structures left behind by that ancient civilization.
Ores were sent to smelters, and seawater was transported to the reserve areas of colossus-class warships.
All resources were rationally allocated and utilized.
Vast numbers of war engines were forged, magnificent and awe-inspiring, their might enough to plunge the Imperium's enemies into despair.
Imperial forces were deployed to Universe 04 on an unprecedented scale. The frenzy of mass production had begun; all resources would be dedicated to war.
Ring-shaped 'End of Magic' devices were towed by massive transport ships, heading to the battlefield.
All Imperial legions took their oaths of war, vowing to conquer this world for their monarch. They would make the Imperial Aquila banner fly over the ruins of the Forgotten Civilization.
A campaign even grander than that in Universe 02 was about to erupt. This was a clash of civilizations.
Humanity was determined to seize Universe 04.
No matter the enemy, the warriors of the Imperium would advance fearlessly, delivering destruction.