Having received the Black Wolf tribe's plea for aid, the Black Tiger tribe's Seventeenth Legion fleet, come to lend support, at this moment crossed through a star gate into the Black Wolf tribe's star system, and swiftly reached the Black Wolf tribe's home star.
They were the first reinforcements to arrive — less than three hours had passed since the plea for aid was received.
And this was only because they'd happened to be conducting simulation training; otherwise they'd never have come so quickly.
"My lord? How is it the Black Wolf tribe's home star should suddenly plead for aid?" the adjutant inquired, puzzled, at a Black Tiger commander's side.
The Black Tiger commander said, "I'm much puzzled too. At present the only enemy within Warhammer is that rebel-army lot. But the rebel army's strength — how could we not be well acquainted with it? After several rounds of encirclement and extermination, their combat power is long since under a tenth of what it was at its peak. Even now, with the main fleets of the various tribes all off scrambling for resources in the masterless star systems the Mechanical Race gave up, so far as I know there are still two legion fleets garrisoned near the Black Wolf tribe's home star. And a starport fortress besides. By the rebel army's strength alone, how could they possibly threaten the Black Wolf tribe's fleet?"
"Then just what on earth is going on?" A curiosity rose in the adjutant's heart.
Some tens of minutes later, the Black Tiger tribe's fleet reached the Black Wolf tribe's home star.
But everything they saw there set their hearts shaking within them.
"Have we… have we come to the wrong place?" The Black Tiger commander rose from the captain's chair and inquired, with some disbelief.
"Going by what the coordinates show… this is indeed the Black Wolf tribe's home star." Having said this, the adjutant gulped.
The Black Tiger commander raised a hand, a sharp tiger-claw pointing at that planet before them, seemingly "ablaze."
"So… this is the Black Wolf tribe's home star? Could it be that that contraption over yonder is their starport fortress?"
The Black Tiger commander looked, too, toward the other side — a star-structure fallen into ruin, belching black smoke, with small clusters of explosions still going off within it now and again.
Its features, at this moment, were already utterly beyond recognizing for what they'd originally been.
But one could see, within its framework, no small number of traces of interstellar-warship wreckage.
"Report — our interstellar warships have found a stretch of interstellar-battlefield wreckage; among it… among it are the wrecks of three T4 Butchers!" a crew member reported.
The Black Tiger commander's pupils dilated; he at once had the crew shift the image of that stretch of interstellar battlefield onto the display before him.
It was a region all of interstellar-warship wreckage, ship-wreck fragments drifting everywhere.
There were snapped-off hulls, snapped-off main guns, and, again, interstellar warships cleaved clean in two.
And among it, the three most enormous stretches of interstellar wreckage were, beyond doubt, three T4 Butcher-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers.
Destroyed though they'd been, these were, after all, T4-grade interstellar warships; the sturdiness of the hulls was still a terrifying thing.
Even with their hull armor pocked and pitted, holes everywhere, one could still make out the rough structure of a starship keel.
And from this, one could imagine, too, just how terrifying an attack these three T4 Butchers had suffered in the moment of their fall.
"Scan these three T4 Butchers; find a way to read out their combat data, and gather whether there are any survivors round about. And find a way, besides, to collect the black-box data of those interstellar warships — I mean to get to the bottom of just what happened here!"
The Black Tiger commander's two eyes fixed, unmoving, upon that burning Black Wolf tribe home star.
He said in a grave, low voice, "Send out reconnaissance craft; take a look at the state of the losses upon the Black Wolf tribe's home star. And contact the Black Wolf tribe's main fleet, out abroad, at once — notify them of what has happened here."
"Yes."
These orders were all arranged and handed down.
The Black Tiger commander sat back down in the captain's chair, his expression grave.
Never in his wildest imaginings had he thought he'd witness such a scene here.
Very soon, one report after another from the battlefield search came treading upon each other's heels.
"Report — going by our investigation of the three T4 Butcher wreck-hulls, the damage to these three T4 Butcher hulls was chiefly caused by two kinds of weapon. One is a cluster-laser cannon; the other is interstellar missiles. The internal systems of these three T4 Butchers are gravely damaged; recovering the black-box data will take some time."
The Black Tiger commander listened to the report, rubbing at his own temples.
"Report — going by our investigation of the Black Wolf home star, the Black Wolf home star suffered an assault by a great mass of interstellar missiles. All of the major cities, and the research, military, energy, and related installations, are entirely destroyed! The great mass of interstellar missiles brought about, at one point, 23 volcanic eruptions, seven small-scale earthquakes, and every manner of related natural disaster. Up to now, the Black Wolf home star, which originally had 5 billion inhabitants, has under 1 billion left! And if they are not rescued in time, of these 1 billion inhabitants, those who can survive through the remaining disasters will be a vanishingly small few!"
The Black Tiger commander drew a deep breath, and looked, fixing his eyes, at the crew member reporting this matter.
"Which is to say — this planet has already lost any value whatsoever. Is that it?"
The crew member nodded.
"Yes. It's been wrecked far too severely. To restore it to its original state would take, besides a massive investment, at least 50 years of construction!"
The Black Tiger commander said blandly, "Since it's lost its value, then there's no need to waste our resources saving these people, either. Order our fleet to go on searching the interstellar-warship wreckage here; without fail, we must root out the culprit who attacked this place!"
"Yes!"
…
Far off, a thousand li and more away, in another star system, the Black Wolf main group army — off opening up frontiers and expanding territory — was, at this moment, still steeped in the joy of having grasped one more small star system.
"Counting this one, we've now grasped four star systems. Though none of them are high-resource systems by any means — still, to have them beats not having them! It's only these last few years that we've newly become a great tribe; we must rely on this chance to shore up our standing!" The Black Wolf chieftain raised a wine cup, steeped in this victory feast.
Below him were the Black Wolf tribe's noble generals.
And among them was one regarded as the Black Wolf tribe's hope — the Black Wolf Princess!
The Black Wolf Princess drank her wine, silent, saying not a word.
Seeing his daughter in such a state, the Black Wolf chieftain beckoned with his hand, signaling his daughter to come to his side.
"What is it — out of sorts?"
The Black Wolf Princess murmured low, "It's still on account of that matter I spoke of to you before, honored Father. The factional strife within Warhammer grows fiercer by the day. You publicly declared your support for the four great tribes — the Giant Lion, the Fox-folk, the Bull-Head, and the Black Tiger — and set yourself against the Dragon-folk tribe. This is very much to our disadvantage! We ought to go on keeping neutral."
"You're still too young, after all. Keep neutral all the while, and how will others come to regard you? It's precisely because we stood on the side of the Black Tiger and those four great tribes that we had the chance to inherit the White Tiger tribe's seat among the great tribes — and, in a single leap, to become one of Warhammer's twenty great tribes! I know this matter is a gamble — but only by gambling can one seize the greater profit!" the Black Wolf chieftain said greedily.
The Black Wolf Princess made to speak, then held back; she could only drink her wine and say nothing.
"Report!"
Suddenly, an officer came rushing headlong into the banquet grounds; kneeling upon the ground, he cried aloud, "Word has come from the Black Tiger tribe's side. Our Black Wolf tribe's territorial home star has come under assault by an unknown force. The Wolf-King Starport Fortress has fallen; the home star… the home star is destroyed!"
The home star, destroyed?
"No! No! This is impossible! This is impossible!" The Black Wolf chieftain shot to his feet and roared aloud.
But the very next second, he spat out fresh blood, and fainted dead away on the spot.