Chapter 104 The Collapse of the T'au Empire (1)

Shadowsun sized up Vane, a deeply suspicious look on her face.

“You appear to be human. How exactly are you representing the Changer of Ways?”

“I am a devout follower of the Changer of Ways. I speak in His name,” Vane replied smoothly. He covertly used the Tzeentch statue to cast a subtle blessing over Shadowsun.

In a split second, Shadowsun’s mind felt incredibly sharp. Every piece of knowledge she had ever absorbed surfaced flawlessly in her memory, and complex tactical problems she had previously struggled with suddenly made perfect, intuitive sense.

“This…” Shadowsun’s face was etched with shock.

“This is the blessing of the Changer of Ways,” Vane explained. “He holds absolute dominion over knowledge and truth. He empowers those He blesses to better seek out both.”

“It seems you really are His follower.” The sudden mental clarity completely dispelled Shadowsun’s doubts. “Then let’s talk business.”

“We need the power of the Changer of Ways to fight the enemies in that alternate dimension.”

“The Changer of Ways is never stingy when it comes to helping others,” Vane said, putting on his absolute best holy-man act. “Especially when dealing with a civilization like the T’au Empire, one entirely devoted to seeking truth and knowledge.”

“And what are His terms?” Shadowsun asked.

Vane shook his head slowly. “The Changer of Ways asks for nothing in return. Protecting those who pursue truth and knowledge is the greatest reward He could ever ask for.”

“So we don’t have to give up anything, and we still get His protection?”

“Exactly. The Changer of Ways never seeks compensation,” Vane firmly reiterated. “However, He deeply respects free will. He needs your explicit consent before He can intervene in your affairs.”

Sitting nearby, Big E practically had to bite his tongue to keep from busting out laughing.

That giant blue magic bird asking for nothing in return? That has to be the most hilarious joke in the galaxy this millennium.

“Of course we are will—”

“The T’au Empire will not accept any guidance outside of the Greater Good.”

Shadowsun was about to agree when she was abruptly cut off.

The diminutive Ethereal Aun’La strode into the strategy room, heavily flanked by his elite Honour Guard.

“Aun’La.” Shadowsun immediately stood up and bowed respectfully.

Big E locked his eyes on Aun’La, narrowing them slightly. He didn’t say a word.

Vane glanced at Aun’La, then back at Shadowsun. “Pardon me for asking, but is this partnership still on?”

Shadowsun opened her mouth, but Aun’La beat her to the punch.

“We will not be collaborating with you in any capacity. Leave immediately.”

“No, we need an ally,” Shadowsun argued, desperately trying to salvage the lifeline. “We’ve completely lost contact with the homeworlds.”

“We have to find a safe way through that wormhole, or we are going to die trapped out here.”

“The Earth Caste scientists will find a solution, Supreme Commander,” Aun’La said coldly.

“Our science can’t crack these bizarre, unnatural phenomena yet!” Shadowsun shot back. “We need an ally from that dimension. If they can just get us back home, we can assemble the greatest minds in the entire Empire to figure this out.”

“You have violated a primary taboo, Supreme Commander.” Aun’La glared at Shadowsun, his face twisting with barely suppressed fury. “You have no business seeking any knowledge regarding that alternate dimension.”

The robed Ethereal Honour Guard activated their ceremonial halberds. Their muscles tensed, fully prepped for combat. It was blatantly obvious that if Shadowsun kept pushing back, they wouldn’t hesitate to strike her down on the spot.

A spark of intense irritation flared in Shadowsun’s chest. Her lifelong respect and reverence for the Ethereals were rapidly being swallowed up by sheer anger.

She couldn’t understand why Ethereal Aun’La was being so ridiculously stubborn and unreasonable when it came to this specific dimension. According to the official teachings of the Greater Good, there was absolutely nothing in the Warp. These weird psychic powers were supposedly just some form of mental technology that T’au scientists hadn’t managed to reverse-engineer yet. If the Earth Caste just put their heads down and researched it, they’d eventually unlock all of its secrets. So why was Aun’La acting so paranoid and keeping everything so tight-lipped?

“You all should leave for now,” Shadowsun finally ordered, having her Fire Warriors escort Vane and his group out.

The moment they stepped out the door, Big E’s voice echoed in Vane’s mind.

The T’au Ethereals might actually be puppets of the Rangdan. I just sensed the aura of those enslavers on that Ethereal back there.

The Rangdan Cerbovores were an incredibly powerful, horrific alien species the Imperium of Man encountered midway through the Great Crusade. Big E himself had to lead the campaign personally. Even with multiple Primarchs backing him up, it cost the Imperium two entire Space Marine Legions, over a dozen Titan Legions, dozens of armadas, and tens of millions of Imperial Army troops—all completely wiped out—just to finally defeat them.

And even after all that absolute carnage, the Rangdan weren’t fully driven to extinction. Big E had only managed to shatter their overarching psychic link, causing their hive-mind to collapse and forcing the scattered survivors to flee to the galactic fringes.

The Rangdan? Vane replied telepathically. Are you absolutely sure about that?

I’ve dived deep into their psychic network before. I know exactly what those xenos’ mental frequency feels like. There’s zero chance I’m wrong.

Well, this just got a lot more interesting, Vane mused. We definitely have to set up a massive Heresy for them now.

Vane honestly hadn’t expected the Ethereals controlling the T’au Empire to actually be the remnants of the Imperium’s most brutal historical nightmare.

The aura on these Ethereals is incredibly weak, and their control over the T’au isn’t absolute, Big E noted. They probably haven’t managed to repair their macro-psychic link yet.

Big E quickly dumped the full historical databank on the Rangdan into Vane’s mind.

The Rangdan possessed a highly specialized psychic ability that let them instantly communicate with their kin, forming a unified gestalt consciousness. It also allowed them to mentally dominate other species, forcing unconditional obedience. Not even the Astartes were completely immune to it.

During the Rangdan Xenocides, the Second Primarch had stumbled right into one of their traps. The Rangdan used their collective psychic link to completely brainwash him into a living puppet, turning him into a weapon against the Imperium of Man. Big E was ultimately forced to execute him. To prevent mass panic and shattered morale across the Imperium, he completely expunged all records of the incident.

Beyond straight-up mind control, the Rangdan were flawless shapeshifters. If they consumed an individual of a certain species, they could perfectly replicate their target’s abilities, talents, and even their genetic code. That was exactly how the Eleventh Primarch had died. He was eaten alive, and the Rangdan perfectly cloned him. Big E executed that clone too, sealing the tragedy away in the darkest vaults of history.

Clearly, the Rangdan of today hadn’t fully recovered. That was why the Ethereals—despite having massive political clout—didn’t possess absolute, unbreakable mind-control over the T’au Empire. If this were a peak-condition Rangdan, Shadowsun would have blindly and instantly executed whatever order Aun’La handed down, thoroughly convinced she was doing the right thing.

These guys are seriously that broken?

Vane clicked his tongue in silent awe. The Warhammer 40k universe truly was the ultimate hardcore server—don’t even bother logging in if you aren’t packing major cheats. You could pluck any random alien species out of this setting, drop them into a horror movie, and they’d easily be the final boss. The sheer grimdark scaling was no joke.

After meeting Shadowsun and realizing the Ethereals were just meat-puppets for the Rangdan remnants, Vane and Big E doubled down on their “tuning” of Goddess T’au’va. They turbocharged the psychic awakenings across the T’au Empire, turning the trickle of rogue psykers into a raging, violent tidal wave.

At the same time, they secretly nudged and corrupted the clueless T’au citizens, tricking them into holding dark sacrificial rituals. Countless T’au were transformed into literal fleshy gateways, letting Warp demons pour directly into reality.

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