[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor":3,"chapter-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-262":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Warhammer: The 11th Primarch - The Black Emperor",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1510811,1962,"Chapter 262: The Simulus Chambers","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-262",262,"\u003Cp>The 33rd Expeditionary Fleet and the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet gathered in the Sidai System, near Vostonia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabriel and Amadeus DuCaine boarded a Stormbird together, bound for the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The war council began at once. Arsena Dunn held a data slate and gave a report to the two Primarchs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"According to intelligence provided by the Rogue Trader Lewis von Valancius and the results of the Augur-Matrix scan, the Fra'al fleet fields eight battlecruisers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Given that Fra'al raiding fleets usually appear in pairs of battlecruisers, and that before my lord's return to the Imperium they had been repelled from raiding the Vostroyan System, I infer that they have once again gathered strength, waiting for the chance to strike.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth nodded slightly, approving the \"Student of Ratiocination's\" deduction. He turned toward Ferrus Manus, his finger tapping the eastern and western edges of the Sidai System's hololithic projection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Manus, in the Sidai System, the Fra'al hold two strongholds, one to the north, one to the south.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our fleets will strike from both flanks.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fleets were stronger than the Fra'al. The battle's outcome was not in doubt; the only question was the scale of losses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What concerned Nareth more was what he might learn from the Iron Hands during this operation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manus's silver eyes glimmered, and his voice, heavy as lead, resounded:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Two daggers, thrust into the Sidai System. Let us purge these foolish xenos.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the council ended, Manus and DuCaine returned first to the flagship of the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet. Gabriel remained behind to brief Nareth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My lord, the Iron Hands and I have jointly developed the Simulus Chamber. It is expected to be used in the war against the Fra'al.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth inclined his head: \"Record the operational data as reference, and study a version suited for the Shadows of Order.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew the Shadows of Order were unlike the Iron Hands. The latter, with their widespread cybernetic augmetics, could process torrents of information.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the Shadows of Order, only \"Savants\" could barely cope with such volumes of data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Nareth would not make his legion into another Iron Hands, for that would strip them of their own unique strengths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether in equipment or tactics, what he sought was to borrow their advantages, then integrate them into his own legion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"By your will,\" Gabriel answered. \"I will develop our legion's own Simulus Chambers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He continued: \"By your inspiration, our study of the Golden Garuda has made initial progress. Thirty-one techmarines under my command are already equipped.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Golden Garuda perched upon Gabriel's left shoulder turned its head toward Nareth. When its golden wings came into sight, its neck stiffened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its proud head immediately lowered, twisting backward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In the coming battle, the Golden Garuda will undergo live-field testing,\" Nareth ordered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As you command,\" Gabriel bowed, then drew from behind his back a wrought-iron staff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Following your command, Adams uncovered an ancient ruin on Medusa. In the second site that DuCaine and I explored together, we discovered ten of these staves.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our study revealed it to be named the Heart-Forced Staff.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I, the Medusans, the Iron Hands, and the Librarians of the Fourth Chapter all examined it, but none of us could activate it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Nareth recalled his knowledge of the Heart-Forced Staff. Such a relic was fit only for those born with both psychic talent and augmetic strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Iron Hands had long treated the staff as a relic weapon until, in the 41st Millennium, the Chief Librarian, Lendrick, became its first wielder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Nareth pondered, Gabriel went on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our only result thus far is discovering that within are etched not only psychic circuitry but also a rudimentary machine-spirit, semi-sentient.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The science of coexistence with it has been lost.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nareth nodded faintly. \"Send them to the legion's armory. Let every Librarian attempt it. Whoever can awaken a Heart-Force Staff shall claim it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He added, \"I have chosen thirty members from the Honor Guard. They will accompany you, serving as adjutants to the Iron Hands' commanders in this joint operation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have already spoken about this with Manus. You will take them with you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabriel accepted at once, first ordering seven of the staves delivered to the armory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because it was \"Mystery Pryer\" who first discovered the ruin and later co-led the excavation, his claim to a greater share of the spoils was acknowledged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Gabriel, with the Honor Guard, returned to the flagship of the Tenth Legion. When he arrived in the strategium, Manus had just finished DuCaine's briefing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manus turned to Gabriel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You aided in the development of the Simulus Chambers, showcasing data processing power equal to my sons, the Iron Hands.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But you have not undergone the augmetic transformations; you cannot wholly match their capacity.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yet I have already, in agreement with DuCaine, chosen commanders for your Honor Guard.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My thanks, Lord Manus,\" Gabriel answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Led by Iron Hands, the Honor Guard were assigned across companies and squads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabriel accompanied Manus and DuCaine to the Simulus Chambers. They shed their power armor for comfortable robes, entering a chamber where massive banks of cogitator-machines formed walls like a secondary deck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the hum, Gabriel seated himself in a chair encircled with cables like a drop-pod.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Runes in the alcoves lit, electronics flaring with blue light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instant Gabriel linked his spine into the neural interface, he was engulfed, swallowed by a sea of data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every warship of the Tenth Legion, its position, velocity, billions upon billions of telemetry streams, surged through his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was unlike reading figures from a viewscreen. There was no process of interpretation. In an instant, everything was present in his brain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before, he only ever received key data filtered through sector commanders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So was it across most of the Imperium's fleets. But not so with the Iron Hands, nor with the Mechanicum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manus demanded that his sons bring all data into calculation. Augmetics gave them the capacity. The Simulus Chambers gave them the means.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Iron Hands sat immersed in the data-sea. Though bound to their chairs, their thoughts spanned the fleet entire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabriel lacked augmetic implants to aid him. But he was an \"Archaeologist\", twice-strengthened in the mental body, his mind surpassing most Astartes in data-processing might.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gyrinx crouched at his feet, further amplifying his computations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within heartbeats, the \"Archaeologist\" adapted, keeping pace with the Iron Hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elsewhere, the Shadows of Order Savants struggled far harder, having only one mental-body enhancement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luckily, the Iron Hands adhered to the basic laws of war: different ranks had different levels of data access.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Non-flagships held only their relevant segment of the sea, their torrents of data far less than the flagship's.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 52nd Expeditionary Fleet turned like precise gears, slotting into the Sidai System's northern and southern planets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Data from augury-instruments surged into the Chamber, into the Iron Hands' minds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every participant knew the positions of friend, foe, and ally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>{Enemy ship A–J, range 507,429 kilometers, phase 8-0-5, inclination 2… …}\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within ten breaths, they adjusted the battle plan to the live situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the strategium, a hundred minds raced within a shared virtual cognition-space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each drafted plans, passing them between one another, each tested and evaluated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Ultimately, Lord Manus's scheme was judged optimal in nearly every analysis.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabriel realized: this was not Primarchal authority, it was cold, absolute calculation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And every member of the Chamber comprehended Manus's plan in full detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within twenty breaths, the orders spread to other Chambers. Within ten more, every Iron Hand had grasped them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 52nd Expeditionary Fleet spun like meshed gears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Decoy ships drew Fra'al ether-cannons. The main force struck with precision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabriel saw that Manus and the Iron Hands' plans accounted for every Fra'al reaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Fra'al fleet, like puppets on strings, was destroyed by the flawless coordination of the 52nd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even when a warship strayed from prediction, within breaths, new plans were computed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every battlefield uncertainty is strangled by the Iron Hands' cold logic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabriel noted: except for the destroyers and escorts drawing Fra'al battlecruiser fire, unavoidable losses, no capital ship was struck by Aether fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the first Fra'al battlecruiser's destruction, the Archaeologist felt a whole section of the data-sea vanish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And while observing and recording, he had enough focus left to turn his attention at last to the 33rd Expeditionary Fleet's front, which until then he had overlooked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>.....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[email protected]\u002FDaoistJinzu\u003C\u002Fp>",1400,"2026-06-06T05:05:10.769Z",1,"novelbin.me","88123e4be2009bf868225a4c3d027c62489008cba0338de8f1596afd7c506f46","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-263","warhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-chapter-261",698,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarhammer-the-11th-primarch-the-black-emperor-cover.jpg"]