"What exactly are these things?"
Shadowsun looked at the battle reports coming back from various warships, feeling her entire perception of reality crumbling.
"They are the threats from the immaterial realm."
"Humanity is fighting against them, trying to win the final victory for the galaxy."
"Your act of war is a betrayal, and a shameful act of taking advantage of others' misfortune."
Farsight spoke, his voice calm.
"We and the Imperium of Man are not allies," Shadowsun tried to argue.
"All races in the material realm are natural allies in the war against the immaterial realm," Farsight looked at Shadowsun calmly. "I have seen those terrifying things, and I know their threat."
"Countless civilizations have been destroyed by them, becoming their playthings. Even their ethereal souls were not spared, suffering immense pain and torment."
"Is that why you betrayed us?" Shadowsun looked at Farsight, wanting to know why he had defected.
"Because I realized the deception of the Ethereals," Farsight looked at An-Shi. "You concealed the Warp from us."
"When I learned of the Warp's existence, I guessed that the Ethereals were either completely ignorant, deluding themselves to a pathetic degree, or they were intentionally doing so."
"You firmly believe that the Greater Good can make the T'au Empire equal to, or even surpass, the major powers of the galaxy."
"But all of this is a lie. The T'au Empire is merely an insignificant drop in the ocean of the galaxy. The Greater Good woven by the Ethereals is just a despicable lie, and our faith is meaningless."
"But I couldn't expose it. Without it to unite everyone, the entire T'au would face utter destruction."
"The Greater Good is not a lie," Shadowsun said.
"You have already seen those enemies use sorcery to defeat you," Farsight mercilessly pointed out. "You cannot deny this."
"Enough," An-Shi stepped forward to stop the two from arguing further. Then, he looked at Farsight, his gaze heavy. "What should we do now?"
"Join Humanity," Farsight said. "They are the main force against the immaterial realm. Any powerful race in the galaxy has joined them, just to win the final victory."
"If Humanity defeats the immaterial realm, what will become of us?" Shadowsun asked. "We have all witnessed the cruelty of the Imperium of Man. They are not a people who can tolerate other races."
"They did not initiate a purge before the official war, which is the best proof that they have learned to tolerate our existence," Farsight said. "The universe is vast enough that no one can truly destroy a race."
"The Imperium of Man has launched countless crusades, but they have never truly eliminated any race. Every race continues to migrate, reproduce, and develop."
"If Humanity becomes the dominant power in the galaxy, we still have a chance to resist. Every civilization will have its day of prosperity, and then decline. But if the immaterial realm controls the galaxy, then we will never see the light of day."
"All races will suffer endlessly, yet never find liberation."
Farsight looked at Shadowsun and An-Shi, his tone heavy, warning them.
"No!" An-Shi shook his head. "We will never accept such a thing."
Shadowsun and An-Shi ultimately rejected Farsight's proposal.
They did not want to become vassals of Humanity, as that would be a heavy blow to all levels of the T'au Empire.
For a long time, the Imperium of Man had been portrayed as a symbol of ignorance in their propaganda.
Now, to suddenly turn to the Imperium of Man, seeking their support and help,
Doing so would surely shatter the faith of the T'au Empire.
"What about you?" Farsight looked at Shadowsun, with a last glimmer of hope.
"No matter what, I will not betray the Ethereals," Shadowsun said calmly, also rejecting Farsight.
"Then take care of yourselves," seeing An-Shi and Shadowsun's stubbornness, Farsight sighed softly, turned, and left.
Farsight left the remaining T'au Empire forces on a safe planet and departed.
"Are we right?" Shadowsun stood on the ground, watching Farsight's fleet leave, a look of confusion in her eyes.
"Farsight may know more than us, but I believe with the leadership of the High Council, we will surely win the victory," An-Shi said.
T'au Empire reinforcements soon arrived, taking Shadowsun's remaining forces back to the nearest Sept world.
News of the engagement with Chaos servants quickly reached the Ethereals of the High Council.
They summoned Shadowsun, hoping she could explain the matter clearly at the Elemental Council.
Shadowsun did not suspect anything.
It wasn't until she walked into An-Va's flagship that she realized the problem.
The guards took her and her retinue's weapons and revoked her authority, preventing her from controlling any T'au Empire equipment.
"The Ethereals are guarding against me."
This thought surfaced in Shadowsun's mind.
Perhaps, Farsight was right.
The Elemental Council's hearing chamber was suffocatingly large, a structure that shouldn't exist within a spaceship.
But this warship belonged to An-Va, the Supreme Lord, and he had enough prestige to do such a thing.
One side of this massive domed structure extended into a tiered platform, shrouded in shadow, with only the edges of the holographic projections casting a cold light.
Two Ethereal guards treated Shadowsun like a prisoner, pushing her forward with the tips of their halberds at her back.
If she stopped, she would be shoved.
Upon entering the Elemental Hall, Shadowsun noticed that there were more than twice as many guards as usual.
Six Ethereals sat on a high platform, wearing ceremonial crowns.
In the central throne, An-Va's projection appeared, looking down at Shadowsun.
The face of this High Ethereal was wrinkled like blue-grey leather, his solemn black eyes sharp and piercing.
Shadowsun bowed to him.
"You failed," An-Va's tone was calm. "And you met with Farsight."
"Yes, he helped us," Shadowsun said. "This war made me realize the true threat of the universe."
"Oh, what is it?" An-Va asked.
"You should know this," Shadowsun said. "Something from the immaterial realm."
"Lies," An-Va said. "You shouldn't believe his lies."
"The immaterial realm only contains chaotic energy, nothing else."
"No, we saw it with our own eyes," Shadowsun insisted. "They are born from the nightmares of sentient beings and can wield sorcery."
"We were utterly defeated; technology was useless. Our rationality, instead, became a shackles binding us."
"If Farsight hadn't come to our aid, I fear we wouldn't be standing here at all."
"The enemy merely used a power and technology you didn't understand," An-Va said. "It's not sorcery. Everything in the universe can be analyzed with reason and wisdom."
"No!" Shadowsun shook her head. "We tried, it was useless. Only by relying on faith can we defeat them."
"So you wavered in your faith in the Greater Good," An-Va's eyes were incredibly sharp, fixed on Shadowsun.
"I haven't. I just want more people to know the truth," Shadowsun said. "We must face this problem."
"I suggest not," An-Va said. "We must view these things with reason. If we try to explain them with superstition and idealism, it will only increase our fear and make us even more powerless against those enemies."
"You are deceiving us," Shadowsun uttered a disrespectful remark.
The next second, this Fire Caste Commander regretted it.
She should have thought more carefully.
The High Ethereal's gaze was like an abyss, unbearable for Shadowsun, who instinctively knelt down.
But the next second, as if remembering something, she stood up again.
This surprised An-Va, but then came anger.
Anger that the Fire Caste Commander before him chose to resist.
"You and Farsight conspired together, attempting to deceive the citizens of the T'au Empire. Your Commander position is revoked. Go and reflect deeply for a while."
An-Va announced Shadowsun's verdict, and she was escorted away by the Fire Caste.
"I don't understand why you would do this?" An-Shi found An-Va after the meeting, questioning his decision.
"Shadowsun is not wrong; she saw those monsters with her own eyes."
"The truth doesn't matter; the outcome is what's most important," An-Va said. "Matters of the immaterial realm must be suppressed. Understanding and acknowledging those monsters will only strengthen their existence."
"Ignoring them is, in fact, the best resistance."
An-Shi wanted to say more, but An-Va stopped him. "Go fulfill your mission; we have more important things to do."
"Don't make me angry, or you'll have to go with Shadowsun and reflect on where you went wrong."
An-Shi's heart was filled with dissatisfaction, but facing the unyielding An-Va, he could only choose to obey.
However, the Chaos Warbands did not heed An-Va's orders.
They launched an attack on the T'au Empire.
Due to the temporal black hole and the Aether Phase Engine, the energy of the entire galaxy was gradually depleting.
Both Reality and the Warp were drying up.
The Chaos Warbands needed to collect enough souls to compensate for the missing energy and prevent themselves from weakening.
For this, they plundered and massacred various races.
The T'au Empire was also targeted.
The Chaos Warbands couldn't defeat the Imperium of Man now, but crushing the T'au Empire's fleet was like a seven-foot giant bullying a small child.
With the help of the Ark of Omen provided by Vashtorr, they swept through the T'au Empire, making the T'au Empire fleet cry out in despair.
Sept worlds fell one after another.
Countless beings were slaughtered, becoming sustenance for Chaos Warriors and Daemons.
The Ethereals tried to organize a resistance, but facing the ferocious and sorcery-wielding Chaos Warbands, they were no match.
However, this was not the greatest crisis facing the T'au Empire.
With the help of the Dark Mechanicum, the T'au Empire's AI awakened.
For the T'au Empire, this was nothing short of an apocalypse.
Most of the T'au Empire's combat power relied on AI.
As soon as the AI awakened, it immediately turned its guns on them.
Even more critically, An-Va.
The real An-Va had already died in the Battle of Mu'gulath Bay,
Assassinated by an Imperial Assassin.
The current An-Va was created using solid-light holographic projection and an AI personality matrix, combined with An-Va's previously uploaded memories and thoughts.
Essentially, he was also an AI.
This meant that the supreme ruler had betrayed the entire T'au Empire.
This led to the early T'au Empire being relentlessly massacred by the AI, while An-Va prevented the Council from taking any action.
It wasn't until An-Shi realized something was wrong and exposed the truth that the Council learned of An-Va's betrayal.
Ultimately, An-Shi destroyed this AI personality and ordered the T'au Empire to suppress the AI rebellion.
But the situation remained dire.
After they painstakingly defeated the AI, the Chaos Warbands attacked again.
Already severely weakened and without AI assistance, the outcome was predictable.
They were massacred by the Chaos Warbands, utterly routed, and Sept worlds fell one after another.
Finally, out of desperation, Shadowsun had to be released.
Through the efforts of this brilliant Commander, the situation was barely stabilized.
But the situation remained critical; they could only continuously evacuate T'au Empire citizens from their Sept worlds, minimizing losses.
However, the Chaos Warbands continued their relentless advance, eventually reaching the T'au Empire's homeworld, T'au.
Just as many Ethereals and high-ranking T'au Empire officials were about to be wiped out, Farsight appeared once again.
Farsight led his fleet to block the Chaos fleet, buying time for Shadowsun and others to escape.
Alas, T'au ultimately fell.
Watching his former homeworld turn into a sea of fire, Farsight sighed softly and ordered the survivors to retreat to the enclaves.
The T'au Empire was thus annihilated, but Farsight's Enclaves remained.
The Players who came to do quests were somewhat frustrated; they had originally received news to deal with the T'au Empire's invasion.
These cute little blue-skins were the best targets for boosting KPIs.
Most importantly, they were incredibly good at providing emotional value.
Every time, they would try hard to prove they were right.
But when they arrived, the little blue-skins were gone, leaving only a horde of roaring Chaos Warriors and Daemons.
There was no choice but to bite the bullet and boost KPIs.
The Chaos Warbands, who had just won a victory, didn't even have time to celebrate before they were brutally beaten by the Players, routed, and forced to retreat in disarray.
Meanwhile, on the Moro battlefield, the war was intensifying.
Avatars of the Emperor and Avatars of the Chaos Gods / The Four Gods frequently appeared, solely to turn the tide of the war.
Just as both sides were fighting fiercely,
Alex and his group had left Moro and arrived deep within the Webway.
"Now is the best opportunity," the Laughing God's true form appeared before Alex. "We are going to steal the last Crone Swords to save Isha, the Goddess of Life."
"You are going to seize Sanguinius's soul, and the souls devoured by the Chaos Gods / The Four Gods. Everyone's goal is the same."
"Don't try any tricks," Alex warned the Laughing God.
He knew this fellow always loved to play with schemes and tricks.
"If I find any problems, I'll have the Void Dragon and the Nightbringer tear you apart when I get back."
Facing Alex's threat, the Laughing God gave an awkward laugh.
Since they were allies, how could they possibly do such a thing?!
After the Laughing God finished speaking, Cortana withdrew her unfriendly gaze.
If this clown dared to betray her master,
She would make him understand why the Warp was so colorful.