The Astartes Family's Notebook

Since the new recruits trained by the Dark Angels can withstand it, it proves that the pressure on Kas is not high enough.

Up the stakes!

You know what, the Astartes really does have its merits.

Under the pressure of heavy training in the company, the new recruits began to actively compete for the quota of going out to perform missions.

Finding a specific individual in the vast galaxy is really difficult, especially with a guy like Deathwatch who wanders around everywhere.

Even though the Deathwatch office in Balhout provided the approximate location of Epsilon, Katz chased after it all the way there, only to find nothing.

Where are the people from TM...?

Many warning signs left by Epsilon have been found, but no one has been seen.

The entire Sabat region was riddled with problems, and the Eighth Company had to clean up a lot of messes for the local governor's office along the way.

In particular, on a certain planet, Katz unexpectedly discovered a production line for the Fury Interceptor that was in a semi-abandoned state.

General Kaspersky was completely unable to walk.

"Poor kindness..."

"Company commander, don't say anymore, I've done my best..."

Normally, the technical sergeants in a company are responsible for maintaining and repairing the weapons and equipment of the brothers in the gang. In times of war, they are responsible for collecting supplies on the spot and overseeing the construction of fortifications.

However, after being in the Chaos Warband for so long, Kaz truly treated Choon as a war blacksmith.

Unfortunately, this poor kid, Qiong En, had never experienced a normal day as a technical sergeant, and he didn't even notice anything amiss.

Is dismantling a production line something an Astartes technical sergeant should be doing?

Even a sage with decent mechanical skills couldn't do this job.

When they dismantled and took away the Macarius heavy tank production line in Alevia, it was a genuine act of the Martian Great Sage, paid to the Desolation Wings as part of the reward for the Apocalypse-level campaign.

This whole thing took so many years to complete.

Currently, the Crown of Lucia has a production capacity of less than 300 vehicles per year, which is only achieved by the State Religion using its connections to import a large number of parts from other foundry worlds. Ramirez Star Fortress is at best a large assembly workshop.

If the Wasteland Wings were to actually manage it, they might not even be able to guarantee a production capacity of thirty vehicles per year.

Therefore, the lion's share should be taken by other countries' national education authorities.

Every year, out of 300 Macarius heavy tanks, 150 belong to other countries' religious groups. Well, nominally they're for the Sisters of Valor, but what really goes on... those who know, know.

Of the remaining 150 vehicles, 100 belonged to the state church, since the bishops also needed some "significant" gifts to give away through connections.

However, the State Education Department needs to pay for these 100 vehicles.

The bishops didn't care about such a small amount of money; if Throne Coins could solve something, then it wasn't a problem at all.

The last fifty vehicles belonged to the Wings of Desolation.

Don't think it's a small number; fifty cars a year, that's five thousand cars in a hundred years.

However, the frustrating thing is that although the Macarius is inferior to its big brother, the Emperor Poison Blade series, on paper, it is a genuine heavy tank. While a destroyer or frigate can hold eight Leman Russ tanks in one compartment, a single Macarius is enough to fill the entire space.

In terms of ground combat effectiveness, Makarius undoubtedly outperforms Lemanrus, but in terms of fleet capacity, the situation is somewhat complicated.

So of the five thousand Macarius heavy tanks that went to the Wasteland Wings, Saladin also sold more than three thousand of them to "friendly" units to recoup funds.

Before Katz disappeared, the atmosphere on Haven Star was still unstable. Now it's barely habitable, so there's no need for so many heavy tanks for protection.

That means the Imperial Icon, a large ship converted into an aircraft carrier, can really carry a lot.

Since a large portion of the internal structure of this Mars-class battlecruiser was removed and the hangar was converted, it's not a big deal to cram dozens of heavy tanks into the ship's aircraft hangar when there's still space.

Although the Macarius heavy tank is larger, the Fury Starhawk has a significant advantage in terms of area occupied.

When the Eighth Company threw forty Macarius heavy tanks onto the planet's surface in one go, both hives on the verge of civil war instantly calmed down.

One hundred thousand Star Guardians, a company of Astartes, a fleet in orbit, fighter jets in the atmosphere, and armored assault forces on the ground.

Whatever Lord Katz says goes, we have no objections.

Katz was delayed here for two months in order to dismantle the production line.

I won't go into details about the work involved in coordinating internal conflicts within the planet, but there was one unexpected situation that I had to mention.

Badab has arrived.

ha?

Wang Xiulun?

No, he's a purchasing agent for the Mantis Warriors.

What's going on?

Kaz may not be well-educated, but he has read the Imperial war reports carefully. Isn't the Mantis Warriors Chapter's defense zone the Endymion Cluster? How come it came from the Badab side?

All I can say is that Desolation Wings really nailed the part about family ties.

As a subgroup of the White Scars, the Mantis Warriors have a relatively harmonious relationship with their parent group, while the Desolate Wings have an even more harmonious relationship with the White Scars than the Mantis Warriors. Therefore, Kars and Gilly were already arm in arm less than thirty minutes after meeting.

"How is Zhu Dan Khan? I haven't seen him in a century, I miss him."

"Um, Kaz brothers, isn't anyone going to correct your pronunciation? It's Juba, I can understand if you pronounce it as Juban, but what's with this Judan accent?"

"Hey, Zhu Dan doesn't mind, why are you correcting me?"

"Hehe, okay then, whatever makes you happy. Big Khan is doing well."

Sometimes, the friendships between Astartes are just that simple and unpretentious.

Let's talk about how Zhu Dan and Han took care of us back in the Black Cup, and about the life-or-death friendship between Desolate Wings and White Scar. After a few cups of the Water of Life, the Gili brothers of the Mantis Warriors poured out their grievances about the Great Vortex to Kaz.

This is invaluable firsthand information!

"My name is Jieli, not Jili."

"Yes, yes, yes, this name sounds auspicious."

"Never mind, whatever makes you happy."

The story begins with Wolf and Dog.

During the Great Expedition, the Emperor dispatched an expeditionary force to subdue the Great Whirlpool, but aside from declaring victory, there was no actual gain whatsoever.

In contrast, in the years following the Horus Rebellion, Robert Guilliman, the de facto ruler of the Empire, felt that the Great Vortex posed a significant threat to the stability of the wounded Empire and that a strong crackdown was necessary.

As a result, by the time our handsome and capable Regent was laid to rest, the preparations had only progressed to the preliminary stages.

However, the orders of Primarch Robert Guilliman are absolute, even if he has already made them available for public viewing.

The Empire of Man has been advancing this plan based on a scheme devised by Guilliman thousands of years ago.

By the 38th and 39th millennium, the steady and pragmatic empire had actually achieved some success.

Three important star systems formed a distant resource-gathering chain, continuously channeling the unique and vital resources of the Great Vortex into the human empire's coffers.

These three star systems are Siniax, Sagan, and Badab.

Although the environment in the Silver Heart region is extremely harsh, it is also incredibly wealthy.

They even have metallic planets in a molten state, and more than one of them.

The three star systems were not only outposts of the empire, but also important mining bases and transportation hubs.

The taxes that the three star systems provide to the Empire each year are equivalent to the standard amount of ten star sectors.

That's just outrageous!

Note that it is a star sector, not a sub-sector.

But if nothing unexpected happens, something unexpected is bound to happen.

Just before the Kazia space voyage, Siniax was destroyed.

A sudden warp storm swept through Soniax, and internal corruption coupled with external attacks led to a brutal civil war between the Soniax's Astral Army and the Death Cult.

A Chaos Warband calling itself "The Reborn" has intervened in the Empire's civil war.

As a result, with the covert assistance of the Chaos Warband, the Death Worshippers seized a portion of the planet's missile defense system and suicidally detonated a large number of atomic bombs and plasma warheads in Siniax, completely shattering all surface structures, including the hive city, and even causing the planet's orbit to lose stability within a few years.

"That's wonderful!" Kaz listened, mesmerized. This was exactly what he wanted to see, but he never had the chance...

The resulting permanent nuclear winter, radioactive fallout, and dramatic changes in the continental plate structure destroyed all life in Siniax.

With the fall of this crucial world, the Empire's control over the northern part of the Maelstrom region rapidly crumbled.

As a result, Sagan and Badab were also impacted and became shaky.

It was under these circumstances that the Terran Highlords reluctantly issued an Imperial decree in 587.M41, ordering several Space Marine chapters to permanently suppress the Great Vortex.

Among them, the Claw of the Stars even obtained the highest command authority over the Guardians of the Great Vortex.

Oh, don't take it too seriously. Even the main group can't really command the sub-groups, let alone the Star Claws Chapter, which is nominally the big brother.

Well...except for the Dark Angels.

Back to the Whirlpool Guardians, the Gilly brothers get angry whenever they talk about it.

Originally, the plan was quite good: the Wailers and Tomb Guardians of the Ship Base Chapter would be responsible for the outer patrols, while the Star Claws would take over the defense of Badab and join forces with the Mantis Warriors of the Endymion Cluster to hold the line.

Furthermore, the Empire even separated a combat group from the star system fleet of the Solar System to be permanently stationed in the Vortex Zone, truly giving them both face and substance.

With fortified defenses and mobile fleets, how can those monsters and demons of the Great Vortex possibly breach the Empire's defenses?

Then, during the Scourge campaign from 640.M41 to 651.M41, a series of combat operations initiated by the Star Claws aimed to penetrate deep into the heart of the Maelstrom and attempt to destroy the enemy's foundations through proactive attacks.

Then, the shitty thing happened.

Initially, the battle was quite successful. The Astartes allied forces swept through the enemy lines, and ordinary warbands had no courage to mess with the loyalists. They were simply beaten up and killed, with those who were not able to walk properly being killed.

Then, the tomb guards suddenly withdrew from the battle.

Because of the sudden departure of an entire battle group, the Star Claws were unable to hold out on their own and had to retreat to the Badab system, ending the Cataclysm campaign in vain.

Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the High Lords had severed the connection between the Tomb City Guardians and the Maelstrom Guardians, sending them to the Viled Sector to participate in the Sanatos Expedition.

Okay, okay, fine, you're all loyalists, all G4+4 guys. You, the Tomb Guard, were under orders from Lord Terra, so I don't blame you.

Then the High Lords, send another warband to the Great Vortex to replace the guards of the Tomb City.

Dameyo.

Holy Terra rejected the Star Claws' request.

The entire empire only has so many Astartes. If they weren't truly unable to produce any, would the High Lords do something so despicable?

Hmm, hard to say...

As a result, the Maelstrom Guardians suffered a series of setbacks over the next twenty years, with significant casualties, including among the Mantis Warriors.

This incident created a rift in trust between the Maelstrom Guardians and the Empire.

Amidst the constant demonic invasions and pirate raids, the guardians of the Great Vortex were forced to adopt a defensive posture, voluntarily suspending their daily raids near the Great Vortex.

This, in turn, fueled the arrogance of the demons and monsters in the Great Vortex.

That being said, as long as Badab and Sagan are still in their hands, the empire's foundation in the Great Vortex has not completely collapsed.

However, bad luck seems to specifically target those who are unfortunate.

In just a few years, an orc army, led by the legendary greenskinned pirate Vog Mambana, has been rampaging towards the Badab system.

Lovick Braco, the chapter leader of the Star Claws, determined that they must take the initiative.

We must not allow the Greenskinned Orcs to spread the war to the Badab system. We must take the initiative to launch a series of attacks to intercept them and defeat this group of Greenskinned Orcs outside the system.

Although Kaz had extensive experience fighting green-skinned orcs, he couldn't tell from the Gilly brothers' description whether the Star Claws Chapter Master's decision was wise.

But Kaz's intuition told him that the outcome probably wouldn't be good.

"So you Mantis Warriors went to Badab to fill the void left by the Star Claws?"

"Yes, the Endymion Cluster was already weak. The Star Claws have deployed all their main forces, and the Mantis Warriors outside also have to send people to guard Badab. The pressure is too great."

When an Astartes frankly tells his brothers from other branches that he feels a lot of pressure, then the pressure must really be immense.

"How can I help?"

"Weapons and equipment. The Star Claws launched a proactive attack and almost emptied the Badab's arms inventory. We urgently need a large amount of weapons and equipment, both those used by the Astartes and those used by mortal soldiers, everything that can be used for combat."

"Brother Geely, was it really that bad?"