Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 962

Chapter 953: Not as Good as Toilet Paper

Chapter 953:

The two parties signing the contract were Dexa and Veselani.

They represented two factions, each smiling as they shook hands at the negotiation table.

A photograph of this scene was also captured. It’s unknown how the Dark Eldar managed to do this, but on the human side, the relevant information was reported in the news.

Another thing worth mentioning is the background of the photo.

Excluding the two smiling ambassadors shaking hands in the center, the overall setting reveals an execution ground.

There, twenty-three bodies could be counted, hanging from the gallows, already dead.

Those farther back were less clearly visible, but the one in the front had a clear face.

In human time, a few weeks ago, she was considered a major Dark Eldar general, wielding influence in the real universe and within the Alliance’s home turf. This Eldar general played an invaluable role in transforming the Alliance from its arrogant demand for the Dark Eldar’s unconditional surrender to a willingness to negotiate.

She was Isara, Archon of the Dusk Fang. The unrestricted warfare she led in the heart of the Alliance was, frankly, the source of the Alliance’s greatest losses since the outbreak of the Comoros War.

During peace talks, the Alliance imposed a condition: the Dark Eldars surrender Isara and hang her on the spot during the negotiations.

In the Alliance’s words, “This is a war criminal hated by all the people of the Alliance,” and they demanded her public execution for war crimes.

While the two sides were at war, war is a struggle between soldiers. The primary factor contributing to Isara’s numerous crimes in the heart of the Alliance was her brutal campaign against civilians, carrying out various acts of genocide, resulting in over seven billion civilian casualties. These

crimes were heinous and unforgivable!

The Dark Eldar naturally could not accept this,

at least not initially.

They clearly understood the viciousness of the Alliance’s demands.

The condition for signing the peace agreement was to betray their own “war heroes.” It was a truly ironic situation to have the corpse of a war hero hanging behind the peace treaty.

For the various factions within the Dark Eldar supporting Viktor, this was a devastating blow to morale.

This was completely different from Viktor’s executions of disobedients. That was a demonstration of his power, even if it was done in a horrific manner.

But betraying Isara to the humans was a completely different matter.

Viktor was forced into submission.

For a leader who relied on internal authority to rule, this was undoubtedly a significant blow to his authority.

Veselani initially vehemently objected to Dexa’s demands.

She retorted that the humans had also committed numerous crimes during their attacks on Comoros, particularly the use of the extermination weapon, the Earth-Blasting Star Destroyer, which destroyed several city districts and caused massive deaths…

But Dexa ruthlessly refuted this claim.

What civilians were there among the Dark Eldar? None. They

were either a ruling class akin to government officials, combatants, slave owners, or secret agents… By the human definition of civilians—those not involved in war—they were truly few and far between among the Dark Eldar.

Of course, Dark Eldars also needed food, clothing, and consumer goods. Of course, these things require producers.

But in Dark Eldar society, producers aren’t civilians, but slaves, alien slaves.

And more than half of these slaves are humans. After all,

humans are the most numerous and largest race in the real universe.

Dexa took advantage of this incident to angrily declare that Isara’s trial and execution were a prerequisite for peace talks and non-negotiable. Furthermore, according to the agreement, the Alliance’s “concession” in the Comoros has extraterritoriality. Alliance crimes and misdeeds are subject to Alliance law. Dark Eldar offenses unrelated to humanity are handled by the Dark Eldar themselves, but crimes involving humans, such as murder or being murdered, or other crimes, fall under the jurisdiction of the Alliance.

This isn’t the most humiliating aspect. Even more directly, Queen Rose Harbor and Pursat Harbor, two areas under full Alliance jurisdiction, are considered Alliance territory. Dark Eldar actions within these ports must adhere to human rules. Humans also have every right to deny Dark Eldar access to these ports.

According to the terms of the peace treaty, Isara and her troops committed a serious crime within Alliance territory. The Alliance didn’t demand that all soldiers involved in the attacks on human worlds in the real universe be tried, a gesture of consideration for the Alliance’s dignity.

Now, simply demanding the elimination of the ringleader was already a significant concession on the Alliance’s part, one that even seemed unworthy of the seven billion innocent civilians!

If the Dark Eldar wouldn’t even agree to this, it would mean they had no sincerity in peace talks, and there was no point in negotiating!

Ultimately, Veselani, or rather, the dark-skinned ruling class behind her, reluctantly agreed.

Isara was a powerful psyker,

her entire body transformed by Haemonculi, and a formidable warrior. Her strength was enough to kill an ordinary Chapter Champion.

Under normal circumstances, “hanging” such a being would be difficult. First, they captured her, administered d*rugs that essentially destroyed her body, and then applied the manacles. Through these multiple methods, Isara was left half-dead.

The final execution was a mere formality.

But formality itself was crucial.

Isara’s death itself wasn’t a major issue. The loss of a Chapter champion-level individual warrior and an exceptional commander was a tragedy, but the Dark Eldar had no shortage of replacements.

The Alliance wanted her death to create a negative political impact on the Dark Eldar and set a serious trap for Viktor.

Besides Isara, the other twenty-two hanged bodies were all from the list of “war criminals” provided by the Alliance.

After all, even Isara, the great commander, had been sent away, so the Dark Eldar naturally satisfied the remaining demands.

…

Once the peace treaty was signed, the war was indeed settled.

Both sides withdrew their forces along their current fronts. Once the Alliance received the order, they began to withdraw, handing over several districts involved in the conflict. They even surrendered some districts completely captured by the Alliance.

These districts themselves were of little significance to the Alliance—as long as there wasn’t a state of war.

However, some districts remained unhanded, and the Alliance maintained garrisons

there. This was stipulated in the peace treaty.

The Dark Eldar promised to grant eight ports as concessions and promised the Alliance permission to consolidate their control over these ports.

The urban districts and neighborhoods retained by humanity, or surrendered from the Dark Eldar, served as links between the eight ports and Queen’s Rose Port.

Before the peace talks, humanity occupied approximately 4% of the Comoros. After the negotiations, with the transfer of territory between the two sides, the human-held area remained roughly 4%.

However, the shape of the territory had changed, from a fist-like shape centered on Queen’s Rose Port and extending to Bodhisattva Port, to a chain-like surface transportation linking a total of eleven ports.

Of course, this is merely to facilitate the transportation of supplies, personnel, and transport.

If fighting were to resume, such controlled areas would be quite vulnerable, vulnerable to being cut off, divided, and surrounded by the Dark Eldar.

Such concerns are perfectly normal.

A treaty has been signed, yes, but can that piece of paper guarantee peace?

Far from it.

From the Alliance’s perspective, Gu Hang is, in fact, somewhat satisfied with the current situation.

Satisfied, meaning the strategic objectives have been achieved; somewhat, because they still want more.

However, the Alliance needs a break.

The Alliance is currently engaged in a war on five fronts.

While internal operations are performing quite well, internal pressures stemming from military pressure persist.

The Alliance needs to issue a higher level of mobilization.

Simultaneously, the Alliance needs to devise solutions to the two major issues that previously hindered their offensive.

Fortunately, some ideas

are emerging. Given the Dark Eldar’s continued involvement in the real universe, the Alliance’s “hunter fleet” will need to expand.

To this end, the Alliance’s domestic warship production lines will undergo some adjustments to their orders. The construction plan for various high-speed vessels has been significantly increased.

Besides the Western Front, which has already penetrated the other side of the Empire, all other fronts must intensify the deployment of more high-speed vessels.

The ‘hunter fleet’ strategy has proven in previous confrontations to significantly reduce the damage inflicted on Alliance territory by Dark Eldar unrestricted warfare.

Logically, strengthening and implementing this countermeasure would further enhance its effectiveness. Furthermore,

information on the preparedness should be disseminated to all Alliance territories, ensuring military preparedness.

That should be enough.

Of course, this doesn’t completely address Dark Eldar attacks targeting civilians or vulnerable areas. After all, a thief can be prepared for a thousand days, but there’s no way to prevent a thief for a thousand days. Maintaining this current defensive strategy would require the Alliance to divert too many troops from the real universe and its own territory, placing a significant financial strain on the Alliance.

The only truly permanent solution is to completely destroy the Dark Eldar and capture Comoros.

To achieve this, a solution to the maze would be necessary.

Humans believe the Blood Rose Labyrinth is a massive living weapon, and specialized research teams are researching and developing countermeasures and technologies against it.

Meanwhile, the Alliance’s military and various chapters have accumulated extensive experience fighting within the Blood Rose Labyrinth. This valuable knowledge will be refined and summarized, partly providing technical personnel with weapons development, and partly helping military commanders and staff optimize their combat strategies. They must devise appropriate tactics to counter this formidable threat before war breaks out again. In

short, while the Alliance still desires more for Comoros, a pause in the war, allowing more time for preparation, is a positive development.

The Dark Eldar, in particular, need time to heal their wounds.

This invasion of Comoros was, frankly, a proactive offensive by their own initiative, but one that went awry. The Dark Eldar were woefully unprepared for the current situation.

The current situation in the war has left them incredibly vulnerable, and the losses they have suffered so suddenly have been devastating.

However, the Dark Eldar were stunned and hurt by the blow.

But were they frightened? Perhaps a little, otherwise they wouldn’t be so eager to negotiate a ceasefire.

To say they were convinced was a far cry!

Not only were they convinced in their hearts, but even their words weren’t entirely convinced.

They needed time to breathe, time to heal their wounds. They needed to resolve some internal issues, rebuild their strength, and come up with some practical strategic plans.

From this perspective, the peace agreement was quite fragile.

The party that benefited from the agreement felt it wasn’t enough; the party that lost out was completely unconvinced.

In this case, while it was called a peace treaty, it was actually just a temporary truce, no more effective than a piece of toilet paper.

Gu Hang was absolutely certain that these completely unconvinced Dark Eldar would, once ready, tear up the agreement without hesitation and resume the war.

And coincidentally, the Alliance was also prepared for this.

With the acquisition of eight new leased ports, the territorial exchange within the Comoros has been completed. While the newly acquired territory is relatively scattered, making it less conducive to defense,

this also presents a benefit: the Alliance can leverage its military strength to a greater extent.

By rapidly deploying reinforcements from these ports, the expanded area under effective control will allow the Alliance to simultaneously attack more areas in its next all-out offensive.

In short, the risks and benefits are mutually beneficial.

For the Black Skins and Humans, this is a tacit temporary truce.

Both sides are preparing for war under the guise of peace.

Once either side is ready, they will undoubtedly rip up the agreement.

Any renewed war would likely be far more brutal than the past six months!

To prepare for the inevitable future war, the Alliance’s most pressing task is to rapidly deploy reinforcements to the Comoros.

Ideally, this would also involve utilizing the eight newly acquired “concession ports.”

However, this presents two major challenges for the Alliance.

The restrictions of the treaty and Robert’s Terra expeditionary force’s departure.

These two points, at present, are both difficult to overcome.

(End of this chapter)