Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 313 Titan Legion
Less than ten minutes after Chen Xi switched back to the Governor, the Mechanicus sent a formal note demanding that he remove this precious divine machine from Kharkiv.

For this reason, they were even willing to bring in an entire Titan Legion to serve the expeditionary force rather than let this precious machine remain in such a dangerous place.

When Chen Xi heard that the Cult of Mechanics was willing to send an entire Titan Legion, he was somewhat surprised that these tech enthusiasts were really willing to spend so much.

It's important to know that even by the standards of the Mechanicus, a Titan Legion of Tier 2 military strength can deploy as many as 100-120 War Engines in battle. Even if most of them are Warhound or Marauder-class, the deployment of an entire legion is still a terrifying sight.

Chen Xi didn't even expect it to be a level 2 legion. Even if it were a level 3 Titan legion based on Martian standards, it would still have dozens of Titans that could be deployed in battle.

With this level of military strength, it would indeed be very easy to flatten Kharkiv.

However, after hesitating, Chen Xi did not agree to the demands of the Mechanicus, but instead expressed his desire to have a face-to-face meeting with the sages of the Mechanicus.
-
Several hours later, the shuttle that Chen Xi was riding slowly landed on the planet's surface.

Through the porthole, he was shocked to see that a steel fortress had been erected on the once empty plain—the priests of the Mechanicus had built an astonishing defensive structure around the psionic warlord-class Titan in just a few hours.

Although this Titan is tens of meters tall and can be considered a behemoth in the eyes of ordinary people, for the Empire's powerful infrastructure capabilities, a building of this scale is just another demonstration of the efficiency and fanaticism of the Mechanicus.

The mechanical priests, dressed in red robes, directed hordes of machine servants and slave laborers to quickly build the main framework of the fortress using fast-setting concrete.

The private treasures of the sages were continuously transported in. Plasma reactors, void shield generators, and adamantite armor plates, which should have been carefully treasured by the sages, were now being installed in various parts of the fortress without any hesitation.

Even more alarming was that when Chen Xi's shuttle was still 200 kilometers away, it was firmly locked onto by the fortress's advanced oracle array.

Despite her repeated sending of authentication codes and being confirmed as a friendly force, the crosshairs of the automated turrets and laser anti-aircraft arrays continued to follow the shuttle relentlessly.

Clearly, the Cult of Mechanics considers this psionic Titan a sacred relic that cannot be lost, and any object that approaches it is subject to the strictest precautions.

The shuttle's soul even hummed uneasily at the sight of so many weapons locking on it, and only after the shuttle had come to a stop on the fortress's landing platform did those deadly targeting beams finally move away.

"This is the first time I've been pointed at by so many weapons in an area controlled by the Empire." Chen Xi stepped off the shuttle and looked at the mechanical sages, including Kaul, who had come to greet him, and uttered the above exclamation.

Kaul simply shook his head slightly, then said, "This divine machine is too precious; we must ensure its safety."

"To ensure its safety, it doesn't have to involve pointing so many weapons at a judge, does it?" Although Chen Xi didn't show any emotion about the matter, he didn't intend to let the topic go easily.

"The Cult of Mechanics is willing to offer compensation, but the safety of the Divine Machines must be guaranteed!" Kaul seemed to be making some concessions, but still maintained his bottom line. For the Cult of Mechanics, they didn't care whether the Empire's territory was invaded by aliens, nor whether the Empire faced a crisis. In fact, for the Cult of Mechanics, the absence of an Empire was better, because then no one would covet their precious machines.

When they encounter precious and powerful ancient technological relics, the Cult of Mechanics doesn't think about how to study them thoroughly, replicate them, and promote them; instead, they want to enshrine these invaluable relics.

Therefore, in their eyes, this incomparably precious Psionic Warmaster Titan should be enshrined in the most sacred temple on Mars, receiving the worship of countless followers of the God of Machines, rather than being used on the battlefield.

“But the Kharkov war zone needs this divine machine to stabilize the front lines,” Chen Xi said calmly, officially beginning his struggle against the Mechanicus.

“We are willing to exchange an entire Titan Legion for it.” The Great Sage Caul’s mechanical voice carried an undeniable firmness.

“Mobilizing the entire Titan Legion would take a lot of time.” Chen Xi frowned slightly. Although it was indeed tempting, he knew that it was largely just empty promises.

"And can the Cult of Mechanics really spare an entire Titan Legion for a minor battle in such a remote sector?" Chen Xi was highly skeptical, even though he knew perfectly well that the Cult of Mechanics would stop at nothing to obtain this psionic warmaster.

“Near the Mariupol sector, there is a Tier 3 Titan Legion stationed with approximately 50 deployable war engines,” Caul replied, already prepared.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi merely curled his lip in disdain: "A Tier 3 Titan Legion? A force of this size probably doesn't even have heavy Titans, right? Is it really feasible to deploy them to the war?"

Although the expeditionary force faced a relatively small-scale war, His Majesty the Great Sage should have already personally experienced the technological prowess of the Necromancers. While a Titan legion of this size is indeed powerful, it cannot replace the strategic value of this psionic Titan.

"That's precisely why! We absolutely cannot leave this sacred machine here! The Necrons of space could damage it at any moment!" Caul excitedly waved his mechanical appendages, the metal joints emitting a grating grinding sound, his voice hoarse with excitement: "Psionic Titans have long since disappeared from the Imperium! This is the only known Warmaster-level Psionic Titan! A miracle bestowed by the God of Machines!"

Kaul's prosthetic eye flashed a dangerous red light: "Even the slightest damage would be a blasphemy against the God of Machines and an immeasurable loss! The Mechanicus would rather exchange the entire Titan Legion for it than allow it to suffer any harm!"

After a brief silence, Kaul, seemingly after a fierce internal struggle, added, "If you are willing to hand over the psionic titans to the Cult of Mechanics for research, I can, on behalf of the Cult of Mechanics, place a titan legion under your personal command."

"Put it under my personal command?" Chen Xi could not hide his shock. "Does the Great Sage mean to completely transfer the ownership of this legion to me?"

This far exceeded his expectations—it wasn't a small favor like a few new Warhound-class Titans, but an entire well-organized Titan legion, including dozens of Titans of various types, a supporting transport fleet, and an elite Titan guard!
To put it bluntly, with such a large military force, coupled with an Astartes Chapter and a sufficient number of Astral Army soldiers, he is fully capable of conquering the entire sector.

(End of this chapter)