The Emperor’s Angel of Death

“Your Highness is right. After the Kabal of the Flayed Skull officially declared war, one-third of the captains of the Steel Serpent Reavers chose to defect or not join the war. Among them, nearly fifty ships even chose to defect to the Mandrake courts. It was these people who brought detailed intelligence and information. Some also chose to defect to the Shadow Hub, because Zharghaan offered very generous prices. As long as they were willing to leave the Steel Serpent pirates, they would not only have permanent trade and settlement rights in the Shadow Hub, but also receive a large reward. Under these circumstances, Kaelis-Ra has only about four hundred warships left, Your Highness. As you know, the pirate ships are relatively small, mostly Corsair-class, Lileath-class, and Aconite-class, and their firepower is not as advantageous compared to the Kabal warships.”

“So, she now hopes the Mandrake courts will help her defeat Zharghaan, and then what?”

Sorshyan stretched out his palm, looking at Doral, and then at Veronica.

“Our previous condition was to allow her limited autonomy, requiring authorization from the Mandrake courts only for large-scale operations, while also providing her with equipment, positions, and other benefits. Even so, she was still procrastinating. Now that she's in a desperate situation, she knows to be anxious, but there's no such good thing in this world.”

Veronica also nodded.

“We offered her such conditions back then because she had a thousand ships, but now... she doesn't even have half left. Naturally, she doesn't deserve such conditions. Lord Doral, what do you think?”

“Your Majesty, that's natural. Allowing her to live and have a decent identity is already a sign of the Mandrake courts' magnanimity. However, Your Majesty, Your Highness, there are now richer spoils of war in front of us than the Steel Serpent pirates.”

Sorshyan looked at Doral, and the two suddenly smiled knowingly, displaying perfect understanding between ruler and subject.

“That's right, the Steel Serpent pirates are just scattered rabble, it doesn't matter if there's one more or one less of them, but... the Shadow Hub is a great gift. However, I don't think you've only just started considering the Shadow Hub, have you? Otherwise, how could you have investigated so thoroughly.”

“Your Highness, the Conclave has actually been formulating relevant strategies for Commorragh for a long time. A total of several plans have been formulated. After joint research with Lord Ivar Kahn and several Inner Court ministers, I believe that one of them has the greatest feasibility and has been submitted to Your Majesty.”

“Hmm?”

Sorshyan turned to look at Veronica.

“Is there?”

Veronica blinked innocently.

“It seems there is... Maybe I was too busy receiving the Honored Matres of the Araken in the previous period, and I forgot about it for a moment? Besides, I don't quite understand these things.”

“Then where is this plan?”

“Your Highness, I have prepared a copy here.”

As if expecting this, Doral drew another soft spirit paper from the spirit bone axis barrel on his waist, and then asked the Phoenix Guard to present it to Sorshyan.

Sorshyan opened it, and the text was displayed in the air, like a display screen.

The entire plan, codenamed 'Snake,' consists of roughly four steps.

The first step is to win over and divide the internal forces of Commorragh, especially those Kabals who are highly dissatisfied with Vect and have formed great hatred with him. It lists more than a dozen Kabals, all of which are considered to be objects that can be won over. The main means are rewards, promises of territory, etc. In addition, for the non-Kabal forces in Commorragh, such as the Wych Cults, the Nightmare Temples, and the Mandrake clans, try to keep them as neutral as possible. This is already being done.

The second step is relatively new, that is, to prioritize the occupation and control of other secondary hubs in the Webway. The purpose of this is mainly to block Vect's possible reinforcements and the direction of the enemy's escape. In addition, the secondary hubs are the forward bases for many Kabal's raiding activities. Controlling them is equivalent to seizing the lifeline of some Kabals, and they can be forced to obey the Mandrake courts' orders. Finally, dispatching troops from the secondary hubs to Commorragh is much faster than entering directly from the Webway entrance. There are still quite a few of Vect's spies within the Mandrake courts. If troops are mobilized in a grand manner, it is easy to be discovered. But if troops are secretly assembled in the secondary hubs first, and then a surprise attack is launched, the situation will be different.

But there is another key to this step, which is to ensure that Vect does not discover that the secondary hubs have been occupied. Generally speaking, the Black Heart Kabal rarely pays attention to the secondary hubs occupied by exiles and marginal Kabals, but if the banner of the Mandrake courts is blatantly erected, it will still alert Vect. After all, he is one of the top foxes of the Aeldari race.

Therefore, the Mandrake courts must both control these key areas and ensure that they appear to be controlled by the Kabals on the surface. The only way is to manipulate and puppet a Kabal to occupy these secondary hubs. This is also the focus of the plan.

The third step is to secretly transport two Blackstone Fortresses to the secondary hubs when the operation is about to be launched, and assemble them there. The Snake plan is for the Mandrake courts to first conduct a war as a cover, using this as a reason to mobilize the Blackstone Fortresses. When the Blackstone Fortresses are in place, deploy troops immediately, and let the internal response in Commorragh open the passage. The Mandrake courts fleet will escort the Blackstone Fortresses directly to Commorragh and publicly announce that the Mandrake courts will only attack the Black Heart Kabal. Other Kabals will not be considered hostile targets as long as they do not interfere.

The fourth step, in order to prevent Vect from becoming desperate, elite troops such as the Phoenix Guard must control the sealed gates of Commorragh as soon as possible. It is best to get the Nightmare Temples on the Empire's side. The plan even proposes that the Nightmare Temples be allowed to retain their lifestyle and territory as followers of Khaine, and recognize their legal status in the Mandrake courts in exchange for their support. At the same time, it is also necessary to isolate the connection between the Commorragh city areas by means of bombing or psychic means to ensure that Vect's forces are difficult to fully mobilize.

In fact, to go into detail, the entire plan has dozens of steps, as well as many details and appendices, including the scale of troops to be used, and even a detailed siege simulation, analyzing what troops to use to attack what area. In addition, there are treatment plans for the Bloodbrides. What surprised Sorshyan here was that the Snake plan does not agree with the destruction attitude of most of the Mandrake courts residents towards the Bloodbrides. The plan believes that a heavily guarded Webway prison can be built to accommodate these evil and maverick people, and the reason is that the biological and soul knowledge mastered by these Bloodbrides is an important asset for the Empire, and abandoning it at will is undoubtedly a waste. Their knowledge and technology are very useful in fighting against enemies such as Orks and Tyranids.

In addition, there are also arrangements in the plan for the treatment of those Kabals after the war. This is even more radical than the treatment of the Bloodbrides - the way is to let all the high-level Kabal go to the Fire of Asuryan, and arrange some tricks in the middle to kill them all, and then shirk that their souls have entered Asuryan's embrace and are reborn.