The Astartes Family's Notebook

However, considering that this was said by the instructor, its authenticity is questionable, and there is also the possibility that Katz wronged the Astartes Codex.

However, the instructors would beat Kars so badly that he couldn't take care of himself, but the Astartes Codex couldn't bite people, so the injustice was unjust.

Because he remembered what happened before the modification surgery, Katz also remembered that a year on Frankis III had 378 days.

Seven thousand two hundred and eighty days have passed since the day I participated in the selection.

In other words, the next selection is just around the corner.

This means the battle group is coming to pick them up soon.

probably.

To be honest, although the instructors were inhuman, as the reformation surgery progressed, the Astartes recruits also became less like humans.

The fifth year of training to withstand blows once made Katz consider ending it all.

But from which year did it begin?

In the seventh or ninth year, Katz's tolerance for pain caused him to almost fall asleep during anti-torture training, resulting in severe pain.

Humans are just perverse, even though Astartes is called a demigod.

Outwitting and outmaneuvering the high and mighty instructors has become Kaz's obsession.

Since mental health testing equipment can't detect one's true thoughts, one can naturally be as malicious as possible.

Treat training like a game; it can actually be quite fun, as long as you don't think of yourself as a human being.

So what are the instructors up to now?

The Mechanical Training Institute has training grounds in all three hives, and all the new recruits have passed the Mars standard atmospheric general-purpose aircraft pilot qualification test. Sometimes, when the instructors want to slack off during training, they just randomly pick an unlucky guy to be the pilot.

Anyway, the instructor was wearing full power armor, and his power backpack had an external jet attachment, so he wouldn't die from a fall.

But isn't the Lemanrus a tank used only by the Astronauts and PDF forces? Why are we Astartes recruits being asked to drive this thing?

Kaz could understand as he practiced reversing the Land Raider into a parking space, since the Land Raider was an armored vehicle used exclusively by Astartes.

Train Leman Russ?

The shortest of the thirteen recruits was 2.15 meters tall, and it was difficult for him to squeeze in. What was the point?

Forget it, the instructors have been inhuman for a long time now. What are they after? I can't find out, so it's really pointless.

So, the Lemanrus, which normally had a minimum of three people per crew—one commander, one driver, and one gunner/loader—was instead crammed with two Astartes recruits, one driver and one gunner/loader, with the commander role decided by rock-paper-scissors.

It's just right, still the familiar instructor, the familiar inhumane.

Because there were thirteen new recruits, while Lemanrus only prepared six, Katz, who had been performing well, was singled out by the instructor and made to pilot the Sentinel mech.

The biggest misconception among new recruits in Astartes is that their instructors love them.

Compared to the robust and durable Lemanrus, which is all armor and flesh, the so-called Sentinel mech, despite its name suggesting a high-class mech, is essentially no different from a sidecar motorcycle—it's just flesh wrapped in iron.

A heavy logging gun and a high-powered searchlight are all the armaments of this Sentinel mech.

The only good news is that there are a full five thousand rounds of ammunition.

So, there's no need to guess anymore; it's definitely because the instructors have taken on some kind of shady business again.

Kars had no protagonist's sentiments; he obediently put on the helmet with the built-in communicator on his head and piloted the Sentinel mech in a rather awkward posture, following the team forward.

It's impossible not to feel awkward, because normal-sized Astragalus soldiers are piloting Sentinel mechs while sitting in a driver's seat.

The Empire's weaponry emphasizes versatility; you can't assume that there aren't any muscular men in the Astral Army who can grow as tall as an unarmored Astartes.

So height is not the reason why Kaz is awkward.

Body shape is the real big problem.

Compared to height, the biggest difference between Astartes and ordinary people is their size.

With his ribs having grown into bone plates that folded together like a tortoise shell, the Sentinel mech, which was often used as a "cannon" by veteran soldiers, was too cramped for Kars, making him feel like he was shrunk into a ball.

But it's not a big problem. The instructors have made the recruits do tactical shooting with their knees on the ground the whole time, and it's not the first time. The little Sentinel mech is easy to handle.

Unfortunately, the instructors disappeared after assigning the tasks. Otherwise, the accidental discharge of the heavy logging gun would have been an unavoidable part of the battlefield experience, and Kaz would have been willing to spend a month in the dark room for it.

Chapter 4 Extraterrestrial Enemy

There are bad guys among the instructors.

Adal and Ittis are dead.

Although they were drilled like dead dogs every day, the recruits still knew each other's names.

After all, there is a type of training called group training.

A single shockwave cannon shot ripped open the Lemanus piloted by Adar and Etris; even armored Space Marines might not survive, let alone unarmored recruits.

It's covered in bruises and welts, it's beyond saving.

Fast food chicken?

That doesn't make sense. If they were fast-food chickens, their genetic material should have been recycled. Why were they blasted into dust?

The term "fast food chicken" was something Katz heard from a Mechanicus priest while he was being brainwashed in the hydroponic pod.

The two tech enthusiasts chatted with the meticulousness typical of engineering students, and even explained what fast-food chicken meant, as if afraid the other wouldn't understand.

As is widely known, to cultivate a new Astartes, you need genetic seeds.

An Astartes can only produce two genetic seeds in its lifetime: one below the neck, which matures in five to ten years, and the other deep in the chest cavity, which matures in fifteen to twenty years.

So how should we replenish our forces when a battle group suffers fatal casualties?

The standard answer is to rest and recuperate while requesting a replenishment of gene seeds from Holy Terra.

After all, the Astartes Chapter has to pay a gene seed tax. The more taxes they pay in normal times, the easier it is for Holy Terra to allocate the previously collected gene seeds to replenish the Chapter's ranks when disaster strikes.

Our Holy Terra has everything we need, why would we want your meager earnings? We're just saving it for you, like insurance, you know?

I understand. Kaz knows insurance all too well. Claim denial is an important part of insurance, and you have to try it.

The fact is that the genetic seed tax collected by Holy Terra has not been distributed for thousands of years.

Therefore, when a battle group with a mother unit, belonging to the same father unit, suffers fatal battle losses, it borrows gene seeds from its superior/brother unit.

But I have to pay it back, what should I do?

This is where the so-called fast food chicken comes in.

One becomes two, two become three, three become four, with normal development, disregarding the chance of surgical failure, a single gene seed can bring one more Astartes to the Warband every ten years.

However, if, what I mean is, one becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight, as long as the success rate of the surgery is higher than 50%, then the recruitment efficiency will be higher than the previous one.

Right? Fast food chicken is all about speed and efficiency.

As for the issue of dead people, hey, guess what the Empire fears least?

Kaz pulled his wandering thoughts back.

The problem now isn't about fast food, but rather why a theoretical armored training exercise was bombarded by ground-shaking artillery.

Don't be fooled by its appearance; the earthquake cannon is a siege weapon that only Titans and super-heavy tanks can afford. A single shot can penetrate several meters of thick city walls, and it's designed to deal with fortresses.

The term "earthquake cannon" is a common name used within the Astronautical Army.

All non-energy-based, solid-projectile artillery that petrified lizards cannot lift is called a ground-shaking cannon.

There is another theory that the "ground-shaking cannon" is a misnomer for the "positional artillery."

Whether the rumors are true or false is not important. What is important is that there are many cannons that can blow up Lemanrus, but not many that can crack his skull.

Katz didn't even bother to find out the model of the cannon.

A top-down attack, live-fire artillery—why are you even concerned about the model number? It's obvious we've been ambushed.

The route hasn't been leaked, and food is included, right?

I've been betrayed.

It wasn't just Katz who thought of these things.

Those who become Astartes are not physiologically stupid; internal communications are conducted at a rapid pace, and everyone quickly reached a consensus.

Drive straight through, do not reverse! Please be careful.

Lemanrus has good maneuverability, so he turned around and returned the way he came. Except for Katz, everyone else will suffer heavy losses.

A single shot was fatal; excluding any element of luck, it's obvious that the other person had calibrated the shooting parameters.

The route arranged by the instructors had a desolate, broken terrain on the right and the guard zone of the 373rd Farron Guard of the Astronautical Army on the left.

If you go to the right, the broken terrain is impassable even for Leman Russ. If you go to the left, let's not even assume the enemy is the Astraklans. Just consider the restricted zone. If it doesn't have five figures of landmines per square kilometer, does it even deserve to be called a restricted zone?

Although the Astartes sometimes deliberately allow rumors to spread, such as that a single Astarte can slaughter an entire Astronaut Army.

Even for new recruits in training, instructors repeatedly emphasize that power armor is not invincible; the Astragalus laser gun, jokingly referred to as a flashlight, can penetrate the armor with about 300 consecutive shots.

A single molten metal bomb can take down a fully armored Astartes who is unaware of his own limitations.

Most importantly, the Terminator Armor cannot withstand a direct shot from the Leman Russ's main cannon.

So before the morale of the Astronauts collapses, don't be foolish enough to cross hundreds of meters of fire line and chase after skirmishers in the trenches with your chainsaw sword.

It is documented that far more Chaos Astartes died at the hands of the Astronauts than the Loyalists.

After all, warbands might falsify data, and the highest honor medal for mortals like the Terra Star wouldn't be issued lightly.

Regardless of how accountability is pursued afterward, as the Emperor's angels of death, the recruits must complete their mission.

Even if it means dying together with the instructor while clinging to the flames, they must first complete this marching order.

Inflexible and lacking in adaptability.

This is the order; this is the Emperor's super soldier.

A sense of tension was spreading; the recruits trusted Katz's eyes more than Lemanrus's oracle.

The Sentinel mech is far superior to Lemanrus in terms of vision, and everyone hopes that Kaz can provide more vision intelligence.

The problem is that Katz didn't see anything.

Aside from the two new recruits who died, that deadly artillery shot really seemed like an accident.

Haha, if it really was an accident, should Abaddon award the artilleryman who fired the shot two Eye of Fear medals?

That's dark humor.

They completed the armored march under intense pressure, and surprisingly, nothing else happened except for that one artillery barrage.

Upon arrival at the destination, a Stormhawk was parked in an open area.

Eleven new recruits left the vehicle and surrounded it with unwavering determination.

However, when the hatch opened, the spacious cabin contained not only three instructors, but also a fully armed squad of Storm Loyalists and an inquisitor.

Kaz regretted it; he shouldn't have left the Sentinel mech, where there was a heavy logging gun and a full five thousand rounds of ammunition.

However, when the judge, whose entire face was covered by a black glass mask, read out the verdict, the recruits, including Kars, were stunned. Even Astartes' brain, which had been enhanced by Superman surgery, was somewhat paralyzed.

What does it mean that the Inquisition prevented a murder of a new recruit of the Desolation Wings Chapter?

Please, while touching your symbol of power and your Rose Festival, explain to everyone what it means that the instructors of your own battle group want to kill us.

Is this the Warhammer world?

A judge who doesn't seem like a good person saved his life, and the battle group instructor who was about to become his comrade-in-arms was planning to murder the recruit he had been training for almost twenty years.

Just when Katz thinks he has a deep understanding of the world's true nature, the world always manages to give him an even bigger surprise.

Adal and Etris, I wonder if you died unjustly or have finally found peace.

May your souls rest in the golden throne.

Chapter 5 Enemies and Friends Share the Same Origin

Prejudice in people's hearts is like an ancestral mountain of excrement; as long as you can still run, don't touch it.

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The judges, the judges of the Empire, are not the high judges of the 2K era who sit in court studying legal principles and judging cases.