The Dark Eldar, or Eldar as they are, are a rather unique race in the entire universe.
To be honest, they are one of the groups in the entire universe that are relatively similar to humans in appearance.
They have two arms and two legs, walk upright, and have a torso. Their faces are quite similar to humans, unlike the green-skinned orcs with their blue faces and fangs. From a human perspective on the beauty of their own kind, the Eldar's appearance is somewhat strange, but still considered handsome.
The history of human empires dealing with them is quite long.
Ten thousand years ago, during the founding war of the human empire, the Eldar were spotted by humans.
However, to this day, the Eldar remain a relatively mysterious race to humankind.
Unlike many regional alien races encountered, the Eldar do not seem to have a clear 'base,' or homeland, or their own kingdom.
From this perspective, they are somewhat like the Orks or the Voidlings, who could appear throughout the entire universe.
However, their numbers are very small, and they are clearly beings with whom communication is possible. Unlike typical aliens, they are not essentially hostile to humans.
The Eldar are different; they are both enemies and friends.
Humanity has always upheld the policy of purifying all filthy aliens, and the Eldar are certainly a part of the aliens, so the overall attitude of the human empire towards the Eldar is indeed hostile.
But there are differences.
Where does the Empire now find the capacity for large-scale external expansion and expeditions? Since the Solar Expedition, which lasted sixty years and exhausted countless resources, creating the new Solaria space domain, it has become a wasteland, an endless bleeding point, and a chaotic battleground for various factions. The person who went to Solaria to become the space domain chairman initially thought it was an opportunity to stabilize the domain—a great achievement that would not only bring substantial local benefits but also a valuable political resume, allowing for promotions upon returning to the Imperial center…
Looking back now, I realize I was overthinking it.
Despite the empire being embroiled in constant warfare and chaos, a closer look reveals that it's not actually fighting others; it's being beaten up all the time!
It's either invaded by the Greenskins, the Zerg, or the Chaos;
Or it could be internal strife, rebellions caused by conflicts between imperial powers or other reasons...
In this situation, what good is it to treat the Eldar as an enemy? Are we going to take the initiative to attack them?
Furthermore, given that they can appear in various locations throughout the universe, perhaps with a base of operations, or perhaps without one, there is even less reason to actively attack them.
The Eldar, unlike those truly hostile races, do not launch attacks against humans at the drop of a hat.
On the contrary, they sometimes suddenly appear on the battlefield when humans are fighting against other enemies, cooperating with human armies to fight those enemies together.
Of course, they sometimes attack humans as well.
Their actions were characterized by their unpredictability. This adjective is fitting whether describing their movements, their goals, or their motives.
This is the overall impression of the Eldar.
Specifically, there are also distinctions within the Eldar race. They generally have two skin colors: one is grayish-black, and the other is pinkish-white.
Those with pinkish-white skin are the more normal Eldar.
Those that are grayish-black are called the Dark Elf race.
These guys are really annoying.
Like ordinary Eldar, their whereabouts and goals are elusive, but their motives are quite clear: plunder.
They steal everything—resources, goods, industrial products, ships, people…
In addition, their ability to appear and disappear without a trace makes these dark elves extremely annoying.
At times, they even raid the planet's surface.
There was no frontal combat, no large-scale battles, no positional assaults... None of that happened. The Dark Eldar, piloting combat airships and hovercraft, swiftly launched a surprise attack, killed, looted, and fled.
They don't gather many troops for each operation, and they rarely seek out powerful opponents for direct confrontation. They usually opt for quick attacks and raids.
Is this yet another victim of the Dark Eldar?
But more importantly, where did these dark-skinned people go? Can we find a way to get rid of them?
Wang Jiarong put a lot of pressure on the Navy.
According to her, her caravan has many more trade trips planned. If she can't deal with this group of dark elves, who knows how much more trouble awaits them.
...
If there is any force within the human empire that has a relatively good understanding of the Dark Eldar, it would be the Exile Order.
This faction of Inquisitors, dedicated to fighting alien enemies and dealing with the corruption caused by aliens, possesses information on various alien races.
The Eldar are mysterious, but we know more about them than most other imperial powers.
Moreover, in recent years, as the Dark Eldar have been causing trouble all over the empire, their activities have become increasingly large. Although not fatal, they are like countless flies and mosquitoes, buzzing around the vast territory of the empire, which is really annoying.
One of the areas most severely affected by the disaster was the Wuji Starfield, the capital city of the Eastern Space Region, located in the southern part of the Alliance.
Meanwhile, the Transverse Space, where we will be doing business with the Alliance, is also an area where the Dark Eldar are very active.
Therefore, the Exile Order also launched some special operations against the Dark Eldar, accumulating more information.
Now, all of them are being used.
Meneque Martini hadn't expected that this group of people would be put to use so quickly.
The Alliance Plan includes many political elements besides taxation. While the Alliance does possess considerable autonomy, the Empire can theoretically send observer missions to be stationed permanently on Alliance territories to monitor its situation.
Of course, most people know that this is actually just a vanity project.
It's just a measure to put the gentlemen on Holy Terra at ease.
What can the few hundred or so Terran messengers possibly monitor? Even if the Alliance wanted to rebel, it's questionable whether they could detect it beforehand; even if they could, they couldn't stop it. Even if they just wanted to send a message back to Holy Terra, they had little chance; the Alliance could easily deal with it beforehand.
Of course, we are far from that point yet.
Although the Alliance Plan has not yet been officially signed, and Governor Gu is still on his way to Holy Terra, some things have already been done ahead of time.
Gu Hang has already invited a group of members of the observation team stationed in the alliance.
The trial court is definitely of paramount importance, and Gu Hang has invited representatives from all three major trial courts to attend.
The alliance even promised to donate some money to the court.
The Inquisition of Heretics and the Inquisition of Demons remained somewhat reserved, offering no response for the time being, saying they would wait until the negotiations regarding the Alliance Plan were finalized on Holy Terra before making any further comments. However, the Inquisition of Foreign Inquiry was more proactive in aligning itself with the Alliance.
During the previous war, they had built a fairly good relationship with the Alliance, so they simply allowed a group of Inquisitors who were originally going to leave the Spiderweb Space and return to Holy Terra to stay on the spot and form the Inquisition's branch in the Alliance.
After the signing of the Alliance Plan, they will become representatives of the Exile Order, joining the observation group to 'monitor' the Alliance's development and ensure it complies with the relevant provisions of the Alliance Plan. Before signing, they will be a branch of the Exile Order, cooperating with the Alliance to jointly combat alien activities in the eastern border of the Empire.
In a sense, this could even be considered an expansion of the Expansionist Order. They originally had two main core branches in the eastern border of the empire, and it seems they intend to establish a third within the alliance.
Although the Exile Order is a large, independent force and certainly won't listen to the Alliance, given their relatively good relationship, they can cooperate effectively on many anti-Xenomorph operations.
If the Outer Rebellion wants to have particularly strong support in the Eastern Universe, the Spiderweb Universe, and even the surrounding Star Devouring Universe, the Great Craftsman Universe, and the McGregor Universe, then the power of the Alliance will be a huge help.
Martini was appointed by Gu Hang to be responsible for dealing with the inquisitors of the Anti-External Religion.
He himself was a judge, and came from the Shining Tribunal.
The Tribunal of the Flash is a small tribunal originating from the Eastern Universe, and Martini is considered its chief judge, a high-ranking figure.
When the Alliance was fighting against the Flamebringer Chapter, the Shining Inquisition was a force that Gu Hang invited from the heart of the Eastern Universe to challenge the Silver Inquisition, which was then closely aligned with the Ironclad Chapter. Martini represented the Shining Inquisition.
Once he arrived, he stayed, which means he was successfully poached by Gu Hang.
Currently, he still holds a position in the Shining Tribunal and has also joined the Alliance's 'Witcher' organization.
The Flash Tribunal had no objection to this.
They are even willing to send more people over—as long as the Alliance can maintain its funding for the Shining Tribunal.
Before leaving, Gu Hang told Martini that he should make good use of the people from the Rebellion of the Outer Religion; they couldn't just be kept around for nothing.
They can play a role in cleaning up the remaining swarms of insects and infected groups in the Spiderweb Universe.
But to be honest, dealing with the remaining disabled swarms isn't really a big deal. It wouldn't make much difference if we didn't use them.
Martini had been trying to figure out how to invite them to the northeastern part of the Dragonhawk Starfield.
There are still quite a few greenskins alive in those four areas once occupied by the Irontooth Orcs. Although those greenskins have long since fallen apart, without a unified war leader to lead them, and their threat level is quite low, and they still fight among themselves, overall, the disorganized greenskins are still more difficult to deal with than the disabled insect swarm.
Unexpectedly, I could find employment right here in the Spiderweb Universe.
Martini himself had some understanding of the Dark Eldar. Back when he was still in the capital of the Eastern Universe, the Starless Star, a significant portion of their mission as the Shining Tribunal was to combat the Dark Eldar pirates rampaging through the Starless Starfield.
Now, I've returned to my old profession.
It was precisely because of this, and by joining forces with their fellow judges from the Anti-External Cult, that they were able to capture the lurking Dark Spirit Clan from Yangyu Star in such a short time.
Then he witnessed some of the truly formidable aspects of the Exile Order.
The Dark Eldar who were captured alive were subjected to severe interrogation.
He had interrogated those black bean sprouts before, but to be honest, it was very ineffective.
Those black bean sprouts seemed to have a strong resistance to interrogation and physical torture.
Whips, electric shocks, branding irons...
Breaking teeth, pulling nails, cutting tongues...
Various instruments of torture and all kinds of punishments were used on them, making the scene bloody and gruesome. Ordinary people would have been unable to withstand it long ago, but the dark spirits who were subjected to severe torture did not seem to feel that way.
They didn't have particularly strong wills, but rather... they kind of enjoyed the torture?
Martini found this hard to understand.
However, the members of the Exile Order seem to possess special methods that truly frighten the Dark Eldar.
—They can sever the Dark Eldar's connection to a place called 'Comoro,' preventing their souls from returning upon death.
Whenever the members of the Outer Order spoke, so many dark spirits, Martini could see their usually grinning, manic, and twisted faces turn serious.
Of course, these black bean sprouts are usually not believed.
Then, in front of the other prisoners, the members of the Revolt Order would perform a live demonstration.
They used a special ritual, setting out many special incense sticks and candles. Several psionicists from the Inquisition, led by the Inquisitor, carved a complex pattern on the ground. Then, they each stood in different positions on this evil formation, chanting incantations.
In just a moment, the face of the dark spirit began to contort. He screamed uncontrollably, his eyes glowing purple, his bound body writhing on the stool.
Just a few seconds later, he stopped and remained motionless.
It was as if my soul had been ripped out.
The remaining Dark Spirits all changed their expressions drastically, then became docile, willing to confess and tell anything, only asking for a quick death.