"Phew, after walking for more than a year, we finally arrived... the maelstrom."
Looking at the distant and slowly moving red nebula outside the observation window, Soshyan clenched his fists subconsciously.
The fleet is now at the edge of the Kliman Drift Zone, which means that they have officially entered the strange area called the Great Whirlpool. After that, the fleet will go straight to the Sagan Galaxy.
The Maelstrom, the area connected to the Empire's territory is usually called the Maelstrom area, and the Ministry of the Interior has set a lengthy administrative name for it, calling it the "Imperial Resource Exploitation Network 004-357 Maelstrom Autonomous Region", which is located at the extreme limit
The area in the star field close to the galactic core.
Like the Eye of Terror, it is an ancient rift in the Warp, but unlike the Eye of Terror created by the Chaos God Slaanesh at his birth, the Maelstrom is, as far as Imperial scholars can determine, a natural phenomenon.
Just like using physical means to observe the center of a maelstrom, you will find that it is dark because all light is involved in subspace, where the material and non-material worlds intersect. If you are not careful, you will fall from reality into the void, or
Return again.
But the area around the maelstrom is visible, because it is located near a straight line between the core of the Milky Way and Terra, and is an area with the densest stellar mass. Therefore, the outer spin covers an area of hundreds of light-years. If you look at it alone
The outline of its outer region shows that it is a huge, slowly rotating gyration, made of a mixture of nebulae, dust and stellar matter, although countless stars and worlds in it have long since disappeared.
Although a Warp Storm is volatile and unpredictable enough to render any star map worthless, and any conquest or even patrol an impossible task, it is still greater than most other Warp Storms recorded.
It is much more stable, and there is evidence that it existed before humans evolved.
However, although it is stable, it is not a static existence. As time goes by, the size and turbulence of the vortex will fluctuate periodically, and it is impossible to find the last location through any position inside. This is why Baiscar is very
Be cautious about informing Soshyan about the situation.
Over the centuries, many scholars and explorers have tried to find a pattern to the chaotic fluctuations of the Maelstrom, but most have gone mad or lost themselves, and the few who have left discernible records often attribute its patterns to
Compare it to the intermittent sleeping breathing of the gods, or the electroencephalogram when nightmares tear apart the brain.
But this does not affect the importance of the Maelstrom. As early as during the Great Crusade, the Emperor sent troops to try to penetrate the Maelstrom and remove the evil forces hidden in it. At the same time, the wealth in the Maelstrom also attracted various human explorers and traders.
The fleet is drawn to the Maelstrom.
Thanks to the unremitting efforts of many explorers and expedition teams, part of the Great Whirlpool was discovered in the middle of the Great Crusade. It turns out that humans also tried to colonize here in the early days. There is a lot of evidence that humans in the Golden Age once existed in this area.
Similarly, the Maelstrom Zone also has a large number of enemies, and their forms are diverse and disgusting. In the early battles of the Great Crusade, hundreds of battleships and troops were sacrificed here. As other areas of the galaxy were reconquered,
The Emperor declared the area cleansed.
In the years following the Horus Heresy, Primarch Guilliman of the Ultramarines Legion believed that the Maelstrom posed too great a threat to the stability of the scarred Imperium and that its danger could not be ignored, and subsequently ordered the reinforcement of the surrounding area
, to contain any attacks that may come from within.
Over time, the Empire slowly established several important Imperial outposts within the Maelstrom during the 38th and 39th Millennium. These outposts became increasingly prominent as a beacon of Imperial influence in the region, as well as a swaying beacon of defensive power.
.
Three of the important star systems formed a distant trade chain, allowing the resources and wealth of the Maelstrom area to continuously flow into the empire's treasury. These three star systems are Siniax, Sagan and Badab.
When time entered the 41st millennium, the forces of Chaos became more and more active, especially the Word Bearers warband who repeatedly summoned demons to attack the Imperial world. As a result, the situation in the Maelstrom became increasingly unstable, causing this space to become almost
It has become a paradise for pirates, criminals and traitors, and the empire's most important commercial route is increasingly threatened.
Especially in 557.M41, after the destruction of Signax, the empire's most important military town in the Maelstrom region, the empire's control over the northern Maelstrom region quickly collapsed. Without Signax, plus the past few
With other losses in the region during the Century, vital Imperial military supply chains extending to Bakkar and Terra were threatened, forcing the High Lords Council of Terra to take action.
587.M41, under the order of the High Lord, the Maelstrom Guardian Alliance headed by Star Claw was established.
These include the Lamenters Chapter, the Tomb Guards Chapter, and the Mantis Warriors Chapter.
"Originally, I thought this was our place of glory in the past, but I didn't expect that it turned out to be our place of curse."
A deep voice made Soshyan turn around, and then he saw Malakin slowly walking over. Suddenly he remembered that he had indeed invited him to the flagship before.
Because he wanted to know some of the internal details of the Maelstrom Guardian.
"Brother Malarkin."
Malakin walked to Soshyan and looked at the Kliman drifting zone with a little nostalgia in his eyes.
"I separated from the Recruit Company in 647.M41 and officially joined the Sixth Company, and happened to participate in the Natural Disaster Battle."
"Battle of natural disasters?"
"This is a campaign launched by the Alliance against the demonic worlds at the core of the Maelstrom that are entrenched by the forces of Chaos. The main target is actually Galmyk, a world occupied by the Word Bearers. This world had already become a state before the end of the Horus Heresy.
A lair of the Word Bearers, they are entrenched here and continue to launch attacks on the empire."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Galmyk..."
Soshyan then recalled information about this legendary demonic world, but since the rise of Huron, the Word Bearers seemed to have rarely been active.
Malakin continued to describe everything that happened in a calm tone.
"At first, the expedition was successful until the Tomb Guard Chapter withdrew. The High Lords forced them to withdraw from the Maelstrom Guardians and sent them to the distant Veil Sector to support the Xanatos expedition."
"this--"
At a critical moment in the war, if such an important force was suddenly withdrawn, Soshiyang would probably be furious.
"What are the high lords thinking?"
"I don't know either, but this sudden transfer actually ended the Scourge Campaign. Subsequently, the Guardian Alliance requested that a battle group that replaced the Tomb Guards be reassigned to the Maelstrom area, but was rejected by Terra...
...In the following more than a hundred years, the alliance suffered a series of setbacks, and the remaining three chapters suffered heavy casualties. It was also during that period that I became the company commander, and Rovik, the former chapter leader of the Star Claws
·Black was killed in battle while resisting an greenskin attack in 715.M41. Luft Huron, who was the third company commander at the time, later became the chapter leader."
With that said, Malakin turned to look at Soshyan.
"At that time, he had only served for one hundred and sixty years, and was almost the youngest Chapter Master in the empire's recorded history. Of course...until this record was broken by you."
"....Yeah."
Seeing some embarrassment on Soshyan's face, Malakin withdrew his gaze and looked at the star cluster.
"At that time, the Guardian Alliance was already overwhelmed by the Chaos invasion and pirate attacks. It could only adopt an increasingly defensive posture and suspended all operations near the Maelstrom... Even now,
I also have to admit that Huron was a skilled tactician and charismatic leader who saved the Guardian Alliance and readjusted the alliance's strategic deployment and formulated a policy to expand its fleet - taking a large number of captives
pirate ships, forming a huge fleet for daily patrols, and he also implemented the policy of scorching the enemy planets, and increased the war group's reserve of exterminating weapons. At that time, many worlds in the Maelstrom secretly protected pirates, and Huron ignored it
The Ministry of Interior and even the Ministry of Military Affairs protested and decisively ordered the execution of an extermination order, killing chickens to scare monkeys and making many world rulers give up their collusion with pirates..."