"They're attacking, and they're coming for Cain." Rebecca sat beside Lin Fan and quietly told him the news. "Should we move our troops forward?"
Lin Fan took a sip of hot soup and stirred the food in the pouch with his spork. "In the past, I definitely would have put our forces on the front line. But now, it's hard to say..."
"Because of the Reflections?" Rebecca asked, then dipped a finger into the soup and sucked it clean.
"Exactly... They showed up far too early. They shouldn't have appeared at this point. It's only 963 now, isn't it? Astartes imitations like the Reflections should have emerged around 999, and there should only have been a dozen or so prototypes." The moment he brought this up, Lin Fan lost his appetite. He had thought this war could force Shadowsun into surrender, then, when the treaty was signed, Slaanesh would burst out and tear Aun'Va to pieces.
Then the Imperium of Man and the T'au Empire would unite against their common enemy and wipe out Slaanesh's minions. Commissar Cain and Lin Fan would explain the horrors of the universe to Shadowsun, take her and her Loyalty subordinates on a joyride through the Warp to broaden their horizons, and finally Lin Fan would slap the T'au tourists, whose SAN had dropped to zero, back to their senses. Then this war could be brought to an end.
As for the Space Marines' opinion... Lin Fan had learned from Wodhaus about the revelation brought by The Emperor—the so-called dream message from The Emperor. At present, the Space Marines' desire to completely eradicate the T'au Empire had weakened considerably. These warriors still knew how to distinguish priorities. They were more interested in seeing how long the xenos empire could hold back the Tyranids.
But the