Warhammer 40k: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 131: Target: Calixis Sector

Two years later.

Footfall.

Within the palace that belonged to the King of Footfall.

Lucan was sitting on the throne belonging to the King of Footfall. The previous occupant had been the deceased Scyvilla.

Jae Heydari stood before Lucan, her head bowed respectfully.

Jae, who was once just a gang leader, had now become the new Queen of Footfall.

And the original King of Footfall, Tantos, was now floating in some unknown sewer.

Lucan had very much wanted to let him live.

But in the end, he did not give up his obsession with power.

He secretly attacked the Dynasty's soldiers and even caused destruction within Footfall.

"My great Lord, all of Footfall will follow your will!"

Jae, at this moment, appeared exceptionally high-spirited. She never would have imagined that the bet she had once made would yield such a bountiful reward. Although the true rulers were still the officials dispatched by the Mongorte Dynasty, just being responsible for some of the material allocation and operations had allowed her personal wealth to accumulate to a level she could never have imagined before.

It was good to have shade when leaning against a big tree. The previous Governor of Footfall was merely a front-man, a laborer for the Rogue Traders. But now, some high-ranking officials of the Imperial Navy and the heads of various corporations had to greet her with a smile. Everyone knew she was now the exclusive representative of the Mongorte Dynasty.

And now, Footfall had completely become Lucan's sole domain.

The Kourda Dynasty, after the death of Aspice, had fallen into a long period of internal turmoil. The unrest within the Imperium even prevented their forces in the Calixis Sector from coming to their aid.

The turmoil even attracted raids from the Dark Eldar and Orks, which made the Kourda Dynasty's situation even worse.

Although they had successfully chosen a new Rogue Trader, without support, it would take them more than a decade to recover from the losses in Winterscale's Realm.

Looking across the entire Expanse, apart from the occasional xenos fleets that appeared, no other Imperial force could be found that could compete with Lucan for hegemony over Koronus.

Even the Dark Eldar fleets felt their scalps tingle when facing Lucan's massive Starport production capacity.

And in these two years, more and more Rogue Traders had proactively joined Lucan's Rogue Trader Alliance.

It wasn't just the material aid and intelligence sharing. More importantly, they discovered that those dynasties that didn't join the Rogue Trader Alliance often suffered more from xenos incursions.

Combat suits had also slowly ceased to be a restricted commodity within the Rogue Trader Alliance.

Once one joined the alliance, they could purchase combat suits at a more favorable price.

The combat effectiveness enhancement brought by the combat suits meant that even space pirates like the Dark Eldar were less willing to raid these worlds for population.

They were there to harvest souls in agony, not to throw their own lives away.

Attacking these worlds would incur a greater cost, so why not attack those worlds that were easier to succeed against and weaker?

And the quantum communication system established by Lucan could allow any allied world suffering a large-scale xenos attack to receive the most timely assistance.

Of course, Lucan only opened this system to alliance members. Even the right to use it was in the hands of the Tech-Priests dispatched by the Mongorte Dynasty.

Someone had to suffer. If the alliance members didn't suffer, then only those outside the alliance could bear it.

Lucan's current strength had not yet reached the point where he could radiate across the entire Expanse and protect every place.

The Dark Eldar's desire for slaves was endless; after all, they relied on this to prevent themselves from falling into the hands of Slaanesh.

The Departmento Munitorum and the Navy had no intention of interfering with the change of power within the Expanse. The Rogue Traders were the true masters of the Expanse.

They just had to ensure the Expanse still belonged to the Imperium.

And Ian, just as he had envisioned, had used the massive resources provided by Lucan to win over many low-ranking Inquisitors with similar experiences to his own. One should not underestimate these low-ranking Inquisitors; after following their superiors for so many years and even doing a lot of dirty work for them, although they were constrained by higher-ranking Inquisitors, they also knew many of the other's unspeakable secrets.

The saying "when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you" was not quite appropriate for an Inquisitor. It should be said that when you gaze into the abyss, you discover that you are even darker than the abyss. No Inquisitor was clean.

The Inquisition had various different factions within it, and the struggle between factions was also constant.

If they were just one person, trying to use these scandals to threaten their high-ranking Inquisitor, the consequence would surely be being sent on some suicide mission or being expelled.

But with Lucan's help, Holter used the influence of the Ecclesiarchy to amplify their scandals, slowly forcing them out of the center of power of the Koronus Inquisition.

Even if they didn't have the right to convict these Inquisitors, once some things were brought out into the open, they were still unacceptable to the Imperium.

It didn't matter what the Inquisition looked like in the eyes of those in the know, but in the eyes of the Imperial populace, the Inquisitors were still pure.

Footfall at this time was also no longer as chaotic as it once was. Even in the most squalid and filthy shadow districts, order had begun to exist.

All disputes often arose from a lack of resources, and under Lucan's injection of resources, Footfall began to revive.

Whether it was gang members or worshippers of forbidden cults, they were all enveloped by the fear brought by the Ghosts.

The Ghost unit under Lucan's command had been slowly expanding in scale. The selection of personnel specifically recruited psykers who had suffered from Chaos or xenos.

With the psychic inhibitors ensuring their loyalty to Lucan, they also held sufficient hatred for Chaos and xenos.

The Ghosts, invisible and walking in the shadows, with the assistance of the Death Cult, had killed most of the heretical cults within Footfall.

The ability of mind control was simply a perfect tool for interrogation.

No one knew the true face of this Ghost unit, but discerning individuals could see that this was an unknown force in the hands of the Mongorte Dynasty.

Even if no one revealed the true name of this unit, people, out of fear and its characteristics, began to call them the "Ghosts of the Mongorte Dynasty."

But even so, it was still impossible to completely extinguish the constant budding of Chaos in the dark. Lucan, looking at the situation reports provided by Norris from time to time, would find that Chaos's attempts to infiltrate the Dynasty were becoming more and more frequent.

Lucan sat at his desk, looking at the power he now held in his hands.

A complete fleet, elite soldiers, and massive resources integrated from numerous planets. He and his Dynasty now finally possessed the strength to step out of the Koronus Expanse.

The Stellar Pioneer, 8 cruisers from various allied dynasties, and 30 frigates.

And this didn't even count the Gorgons that could be warped in at any time from Agathos, plus the warships belonging to the Imperial Navy itself. This was already a fleet of a scale not to be underestimated.

The fleet was already docked outside Footfall. They were ready at any time to cross "The Maw" and head to the Calixis Sector.

And besides Lucan's direct Dynasty combat personnel, the first wave of combat personnel dispatched by the various dynasties plus Lucan's own already numbered one million.

Although this was insignificant in the face of the Imperium's human population, the number of people on an expedition within the Imperium was also mostly in the millions or just over ten million.

And this was not a million rabble issued a lasgun and a piece of flak armor, but soldiers all equipped with combat suits.

And the number of logistics personnel was even more exaggerated. If needed, a continuous stream of supplies and combat personnel would be transported to the front lines.

Lucan estimated that the Imperium could never have imagined that the support force from the "unimportant" Expanse would be so powerful.

"Prepare to depart. Target: Calixis Sector!"

(End of Chapter)

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