Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 487: Concealing the truth
“Ms. Hathor,” Chen Xi’s voice was steady and powerful, like a giant ship anchored in a storm, with a calm understanding of the overall situation, “I understand your feelings stemming from the past, but what we are facing is not the controlled expansion of the Great Expedition, but the annihilation of twenty years from now.”

The empire, this decaying machine, its bureaucratic system and red tape, are certainly abhorrent, but at this moment, it is the reality within which we must operate.

His words precisely separate emotion from reality.

His finger touched the grotesque, galactic-torn crack on the holographic star map, as if touching the pulse of fate: "The inquiries of the court and the suspicions of the high lords are the noise and friction that inevitably arise when this rotten machine is running."

Directly confronting them and wasting precious energy fighting against the inertia of the entire imperial system will only cause us to waste the resources and time that should be invested in fighting the real threats even faster in this pointless internal strife.

What we need is efficiency, to buy time, not to ignite another civil war right now—even if it's just a localized administrative conflict.

Chen Xi looked directly at Hathor, his eyes sharp and resolute: "Patience is not surrender, but strategy. For the ultimate goal, we must, like a blade lurking in the shadows, temporarily conceal our sharpness."

We need to utilize the rules, not be tripped up by them, especially before we have the power to completely disregard or reshape them.

His analysis is calm and pragmatic, closely linking the grand crisis with the immediate constraints, and clearly articulating the core philosophy of survival and action under the Iron Curtain of the Empire.

Hathor's molten gold pupils were fixed on the shocking cracks on the star map. Chen Xi's words were like a calm rain of reason, completely extinguishing the embers of anger that had been burning in her heart because of the memories.

She remained silent for a few breaths, and the instinct of a war commander to weigh the pros and cons finally overwhelmed Horus's remaining arrogance.

The clouds of the gas giant outside the window churned, much like the calming thoughts that followed the intense struggle within her heart.

“You’re right, Your Excellency,” Hathor’s voice regained the calm of an administrative secretary, the helplessness and restraint clearly discernible, but the previous intense emotions had been replaced by deeper strategic considerations. “For the ultimate goal, to make amends for… the mistakes of the past, we must move forward in this suffocating quagmire.”

She closed her eyes slightly, seemingly trying to suppress her instinctive aversion to inefficiency and constraints.

For the sake of a greater redemption, she chose temporary restraint.

When she opened her eyes again, the molten gold light shimmered with the cunning and pragmatism of a legion commander.

“Since the single chapter designation ‘Ash Knights’ is too sensitive to gather thousands of Astartes, easily provoking the fragile nerves of those bureaucrats… then why should we be so fixated on a name? Let them see the scale they ‘want’ to see.” Her thinking instantly became clear and aggressive.

Hathor's fingers traced patterns on the table, as if sketching a deployment on a star map.

“In my time, the Legion’s vast strength was often dispersed under the names of ‘expeditionary detachments’ or ‘special strike groups.’ We can emulate their essence, but go a step further.” She proposed a bold and practical solution: “To give the Ash Knights’ power different, temporary sub-designations, based on companies or combat groups.”

For example, the 'Rostov Expeditionary Force Vanguard Strike Group', the 'Mariupol Suppression Task Force', the 'Inquisitorial Authorized Heretic Purification Company', and so on.

The key is to ensure that different actual companies use the same 'standard' company number in external operations and written reports.

For example, when the 1st, 5th, and 7th companies were on operations, they all referred to themselves as the '4th Combat Company' or the '7th Strike Company'. The specific numerical designation used was not important; what mattered was that outsiders believed it was always the same company of the same size carrying out different missions.

To the outside world, it is claimed that this is to deal with threats of different natures in different areas within the sub-sector, and that you, as the supreme commander of the expeditionary force and the inquisitor of the Expeditionary Order, have temporarily integrated and deployed different battle groups or combat units according to your authorization.

Actual command and logistical support remain with the Ash Knights Chapter headquarters.

“In this way,” Hathor’s lips curled into a faint smile, a smile that carried the wisdom of the Legion era and a mockery of bureaucratic rules, “on the surface, we are only mobilizing independent combat units that conform to the ‘scripture scale’ and are even always the ‘same’ company number.”

What the Inquisition and the High Lords saw were scattered, clearly defined combat sequences, or simply the same company carrying out missions in different locations, rather than a single, terrifyingly large battle group entity.

Their fragile tolerance threshold will naturally not be easily crossed.

As for unified command and coordinated operations within the organization… as long as we ourselves know who the power belongs to, the numbers on flags and documents are nothing more than smoke and numbers to deceive ordinary people.”

This proposal cleverly bypassed the rigid scrutiny of the Imperial bureaucracy regarding the size of a single Astartes organization, exploited the ambiguous authority of Chen Xi's dual identity, concealed a massive force under the names of multiple "legitimate" tactical units, and even further obscured the actual size of the force through "shared designations."

This is both a compromise with reality and a pragmatic circumvention and manipulation of the rules, belonging to the era of legions.

Chen Xi seriously considered this suggestion.

He quickly assessed the feasibility of the plan: "This plan is feasible, Ms. Hathor. It can indeed alleviate the current 'concern' issue to a great extent."

The designation was a shield, the numbers a fog… It cleverly exploited the 'unspoken rules' of the empire's operation and the bureaucratic inertia.

Chen approved the plan, his tone decisive: "In particular, the idea of ​​'shared designations' can greatly reduce the risk of being discovered." He instructed the battle group's staff to immediately begin formulating detailed plans for secondary designations, corresponding 'mission briefings,' and rotation rules for 'shared designations.'

It seems we'll need to prepare several more flags with the same number printed on them for the soldiers, along with corresponding 'scripts'.

Hathor nodded slightly.

As she turned to look out the window at the surging sea of ​​sulfurous clouds, the deep-seated impatience and contempt for the mortal bureaucratic system in the depths of her molten gold eyes did not disappear, like the eternal thunder deep within the clouds, but at this moment it was covered by a cold, pragmatic calculation.

Patience and pretense are for the final reckoning—whether it be against chaos or against the decaying shackles that hinder humanity's survival.

To achieve her goals, she can temporarily play the role of a "secretary" within the rules and cleverly distort those rules.

(End of this chapter)