Zeke directly exposed his fleet's image to the tau through communication, an action that gave the tau a ray of hope for survival. They believed the other party was open to negotiation, otherwise, they wouldn't have opened such a communication channel.
After all, such a display of force is usually reserved for situations requiring negotiation. If there were no intention to negotiate, they would simply proceed with orbital bombardment.
With this in mind, the Ethereals on the planet felt there might still be a chance for a turnaround.
Inside the Ethereal Council chamber of the tau colony, several Ethereal Supremes, clad in opulent robes, sat around a holographic projection.
When the image of the Dominion Fleet clearly appeared before them via quantum communication, a glimmer of hope flickered in the Ethereals' mercury-colored pupils.
"Venerable Supremes," Chief Ethereal Aun'Va slowly began, his tentacles trembling slightly, "This mysterious, unknown force has actively displayed its power but has not immediately attacked. It must have an ulterior motive. This is our opportunity to practice the greater good."
In the projection, the Terran Dominion's silver-white battleships were arrayed neatly in orbit. Their streamlined hulls shimmered with ethereal blue energy patterns, and the main cannons' charging lights shone like dazzling stars.
What shocked the Ethereals even more was the massive flagship at the center of the fleet—its size even surpassed the largest tau Guardian-class carrier, and the colossal cannon on its bow exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.
"Immediately prepare a negotiation team," Aun'Va commanded, "Have the Water Caste send their most excellent diplomat, along with our most precious gifts. Remember to show the utmost sincerity."
"And since they are a civilized force, there's no reason we can't bring them into the fold of the greater good. As long as they are willing to engage in diplomacy, we can surely achieve it."
Zeke's displayed attitude made these Ethereals feel there was a chance for negotiation, and even a chance to draw Zeke into their camp.
To be honest, if Zeke's civilization were the Federation instead of the Terran Dominion, their actions might actually have been effective.
After all, the Federation could be said to be extremely xenophilic, but unfortunately, they encountered the Terran Dominion, which has no goodwill towards these xenos.
Only a few xenos meaningful to the Terran Dominion can be preserved, but they cannot obtain full citizenship rights.
Moreover, they cannot receive the treatment that Terran Dominion citizens should have, which is utopian abundance. The Terran Dominion once passed an act in the Star Council's one-man rule.
The greater good.
Therefore, the Terran Dominion changed its citizen treatment to utopian abundance, which, in simple terms, is the highest stage of communism.
Although the Terran Dominion harbors extreme xenophobic sentiments, it is not entirely unable to tolerate any alien races. There are still some races that can be accepted, tolerated, and perfectly integrated.
As for how to become a xeno tolerated by the Terran Dominion, it is quite simple: you must be beautiful enough, and you must be willing to surrender when facing the Dominion Fleet.
For example, those Saintesses in the Stellaris Galaxy, because of the existence of these beautiful xenos that meet human aesthetic standards, the Terran Dominion can still proudly declare to the entire galaxy that it is not some utterly evil species-purist.
The Terran Dominion can still accept the existence of xenos, but if you yourself are too ugly, causing the Terran Dominion to reject your existence, then that is your own problem.
It's not the Dominion's problem, in any case.
But it was clear that the tau before him did not meet any of the standards for acceptance by the Terran Dominion. Why did Zeke still choose to negotiate with them?
To put it bluntly, it was simply because there were too many xenos on the planet. Without a Colossus, it would be too difficult to efficiently clear them out. Orbital bombardment would take at least a year.
As for sending his ground forces to jump down and kill them all, that was even more complicated. Who knew if they could truly kill them all?
Furthermore, there were also a large number of humans on this planet. He couldn't just wipe out the humans along with them, could he? Although the Terran Dominion is extremely xenophobic towards xenos, it is extremely friendly towards humans.
Therefore, Zeke directly ignored the eager gaze of the Custodes Legion Commander and rejected the proposal for the army to engage.
The army could not be sent to battle. He had so few ground troops that he would feel pained if even one was lost. He was extremely stingy right now.
So, given that, how could he gain control of this planet and simultaneously clear out those xenos?
Naturally, by utilizing the Warp—
It was mentioned earlier that the retaliation-class battleship was also equipped with a Warp Trap device.
These Warp Traps can directly convert reality into the Warp, and then... what happens next goes without saying.
Whether chaos corrupts all these tau or the Dominion's Psykers completely erase them, in any case, these T'au Empire people will be thoroughly and cleanly dealt with.
Perhaps some might call such methods cruel, but in the eyes of all members of the Terran Dominion, such methods are called efficient.
This galaxy, as chaotic as a throne, would not allow Zeke to harbor any mercy for a xeno at this moment, because such an action could always backfire on himself.
After the Dominion Fleet arrived in orbit above the planet, it halted its advance, awaiting the tau's Water Caste to come for negotiations.
The tau diplomatic shuttle slowly entered the docking bay of the Dominion flagship. Kais'l'n composed himself, tidying his appearance. His tentacles trembled slightly from nervousness, and his mercury-colored pupils constantly scanned the cold metal bulkheads around him.
The pristine condition inside the ship made it impossible for him to determine which faction's warship this was; after all, he had never seen a battleship of this caliber in the entire galaxy.
It was certainly different from the Imperial Fleet he had seen; the Imperium of Man's warships were not nearly this refined.
When the hatch opened, a squad of Custodes in golden power armor was already lined up, waiting. Their towering figures and crimson visors made the Water Caste diplomat involuntarily take half a step back.
Because Zeke was using a Warhammer MOD for his Stellaris game, he had special Custodes units. These Custodes looked exactly like those of the Imperium of Man.
As for their combat power...
As everyone knows, the Emperor's biological units are substandard.
Even when not wearing their Custodes armor, these Custodes could use their physical bodies to defy some physical laws.
This was the pinnacle of human genetic engineering from the Terran Dominion's mid-stage.
However, to be honest, this kind of physical combat power is not very significant in Stellaris. Powerful arc weapons and Lances are enough to destroy all resistance.
Let alone these Custodes who can defy some physical laws, what about those powerful Battle Sisters and Psykic Force?
These Psykers, incorporated into the legion's combat order, could even easily collapse a continental shelf, but once on the planet's surface, they still had to dutifully hunker down.