The Astartes Family's Notebook

Aside from the fact that they were either spies or themselves, the rumors were indeed true.

Those who frequent the Astartes, whether loyalists or Chaos traitors, know that the Empire has spent thousands of years establishing rules: whoever attacks Deathwatch will be punished by Holy Terra.

They even went so far as to publicly offer amnesty.

So they would rather spend money to buy the identity of Red Viper than try to get involved with Deathwatch.

After all, it's not worth the risk.

It was just a casual remark made during parting, but it happened to strike a chord with Kars.

No one's planning to mess with my beloved family, friends, and brothers, Epsilon, is that right?

Sephiroth, you deserve to die!

Chapter 488 Fine Traditions

The same sentence can be called a complaint by an ordinary person, an instruction by a leader, an opinion by an expert, public opinion by the masses, and a regulation when written down as a rule.

-------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------

Katz brought his eight brothers to the worlds of Sabat, and the results were quite good.

After all, the Sabatian realms theoretically have less than two hundred planets, and a company of Astartes can do a lot of things.

However, it is unlikely that Kaz's arrival in the Sabat world would be very effective.

The problems of the Sabat worlds do not lie in Sabat itself, but are caused by three factors.

The first issue is the perennial one: subspace travel.

The stability of the subspace routes between the Sabat worlds is relatively good, which is the core of the system that can support the region.

Then there were the motorcycle enthusiasts from the south who couldn't get away with stunts from the Ironbelt gang, so they had no choice but to continue their northward journey to the Storm Starfield Alien.

Finally, there is the issue of the swirling bandits.

Back when the four warbands Star Claw, Tomb Guardians, Mantis Warriors, and Lamenters were guarding the Great Vortex, the Chaos Warbands were getting beaten so badly they had no time to go south.

Now that the Star Claws are locked in a fierce battle with the Greenskin Orcs, the Tomb City Guards have left, and the Mantis Warriors and Lamenters are doing well just to hold onto their position. They have no time to continue wiping out the Chaos forces and Alien Pirates of the Maelstrom.

The root of the turmoil lies in the massive raids by the Great Vortex Raiders that ravage the realms of Sabat.

Kaz has enough manpower to touch any of the factions, but that won't solve the fundamental problem of unrest in the Sabat region.

Moreover, Kars is here to "escort" the Epsilon brothers back to see the Warband Commander; that's his job.

All he had done before was to do odd jobs on the way to pick people up so that he could earn some extra money for the brothers' meals.

Now that he knows the Chaos Warband is planning to sabotage Deathwatch, Kaz has no time to take on any more side quests.

Saving Private Epsilon is the top priority, otherwise the main questline will be doomed.

Unfortunately, the Deathwatch are not your average Astartes Chapter. They do the dirtiest and hardest work for the Imperium. Their experience in counter-tracking over thousands of years is beyond rich.

That is the foundation of survival.

Katz was conducting a massive, relentless pursuit based entirely on the deep space beacons deliberately left behind by Deathwatch.

For those who haven't been Deathwatchers before, let me tell you that the Alien Killers are very pragmatic. If they can win, they fight; if they can't, they mark the location and move on to the next one.

Because Deathwatch's data is not publicly available, the most optimistic estimate is that the Astartes organization has a maximum of six to eight thousand members. That is, each of the Empire's thousand branches sends one or two brothers to support the organization. Add to that those who are determined not to return or those who cannot return as lifelong temporary workers, plus some unspeakable and untraceable Black Shield members, and that basically constitutes Deathwatch's core base.

If we're not so optimistic, or even a bit conservative, then in this day and age, the total number of Deathwatch players may be less than two thousand.

The Empire needs four full-strength warbands to barely defend the Great Vortex. What can two thousand Death Watchers do across the entire Empire?

To put it bluntly, in such a vast world as Sabat, Epsilon has at most two killing squads, and might even only have one left.

Aside from placing more beacons, Sabat's Deathwatch is already doing a good job of what it can; don't expect anything more.

As a result, Katz was constantly investigating and cleaning up the mess left by the old company commander.

Kaz can handle situations that Deathwatch can't manage due to a lack of manpower.

For example, the Pirate Starport, which has been completely controlled by the Dark Eldar.

Black Bean Sprouts have no moral bottom line. They cause trouble everywhere under the guise of humanity, taking advantage of Deathwatch's lack of manpower and inability to sustain a long-term conflict with them.

But what kind of person is Katz? He would never go it alone if he could form a gang.

The Eighth Company only sent one Imperial Icon, but Kaz also had the Imperial Navy's sector fleet that had been "borrowed" from him.

The old canteen chef at the KA Zhongtang restaurant was so good at feeding the captains and officers that their cheeks were bulging and they were very obedient.

Calling the captains in for a meeting shows that everyone has their own expertise.

The deep-space beacons left by Deathwatch provided detailed records of the intelligence they gathered, and the Imperial captains were also highly professional.

After thorough discussion, the captains unanimously agreed that our fleet is strong and well-equipped, so there is no need for any tactical maneuvers; a direct confrontation will suffice.

The key is not to give the pirates in Starport a chance to escape. The money, that's all Lord Katz's money.

Hmm, that makes sense, let's do it that way.

It is common knowledge that Black Sprout's ships are more maneuverable than Imperial warships.

It has an advantage in mobility and is on par in long-range firepower, but it has problems in every other aspect.

If it were an Imperial starport, Astartes would have to consider the impact on public opinion and whether the powerful figures who held shares in it would cause trouble.

Why would you need to pick a day to seize a wild Starport like this?

This is why Kars always brings the Astronauts with him to the fleet whenever possible.

In many cases, the Astartes' superhuman strength cannot replace the Astral Army's numerical superiority.

Take, for example, this pirate extermination campaign.

Logically, the fleet should win the virtual naval battle first, and then slowly clean up the mess.

But sorry, Kaz isn't here to fight the space raiders for the Empire. He just happened to come across a Death Watch map marker and brought everyone here to make a little money and give the gang members some combat experience.

Therefore, in terms of tactical arrangements, Kaz violated the Imperial Code.

The Void Naval Battle and the Starport Offensive and Defense Battle commenced simultaneously.

Those desperate, penniless guys in Ironbelt are willing to sell anything. The astronomical array in Pirate Starport is fortress-level, making any breakthrough impossible.

But on the other hand, the hardware facilities of Star Harbor alone are a pretty good guaranteed income. Brothers, let's grab our weapons and get to work!

The problem with the navy is its arrogance; it's prone to losing its temper and has a kind of "I'm the best in the world" kind of arrogance.

However, Katz's status and position effectively suppressed the captains' arrogance.

Kaz did not get involved in the specifics of the Void Sea Battle, but simply clarified the objective of the operation: everyone was there to make money.

If we can fight the black bean sprouts, we'll fight them; if we can't, we'll run away and let them run. Later, we'll empty the warehouse and blow up the starport. We can just write the battle report with all that subtlety.

I'm thinking about it.

Even the worst order is better than no order at all, and even the worst tactical guiding principle is no worse than everyone doing their own thing.

Katz is willing to take the blame, and even a disgruntled naval captain won't step in to stop his colleagues from reaping the benefits.

Do you still want a promotion?

Therefore, even if they had to fight under the fire of both enemy and friendly forces, the Astronauts had no complaints.

There's no other reason than that they gave too much.

The pirates at Pirate Starport never imagined they'd run into an Imperial fleet with so many marines.

You should know that when faced with such a situation, the Imperial Navy fleet would simply throw out armed sailors and boarding teams to fight. A ship only has a few armed sailors and professional boarding teams combined. Thanks to the starport's defensive facilities, the pirate raiders were not actually afraid to fight the Imperial Navy in a fortress siege.

However, as soon as Kaz made his move, he threw eight Astral Legions over, which completely intimidated the pirates.

Hmm, is the transport capacity sufficient?

That's enough.

Deploying the Star Forces from the fleet to the surface of a planet is very difficult; logistics and supplies are all troublesome matters.

However, in a zero-gravity environment, rapidly deploying troops is not a difficult task.

Don't forget, the rebel Astral Legion that Khazra brought out wasn't a blank slate; at the time, other Astral Legions of the Imperium had "cobbled together" to supplement their weapons and equipment.

Imperial standard equipment places great emphasis on applicability.

Replacing the filter canister of the standard gas mask with an oxygen tank is no problem, and the protective performance of the shell armor is also decent. Wearing the chemical protective suit inside and the shell armor outside solves the problem of airtightness in void combat.

Another company was issued two small cans of quick-drying gel for plugging holes in ships. Even if there was a scratch, they didn't have to worry about it; they could just spray it wherever it was broken.

If their standard two-hour oxygen tanks run out and reinforcements don't arrive, these Astragalus soldiers are probably doomed.

Therefore, the answer strategy is clear: quick victory!

Having no experience in professional void combat is not a problem at all; sometimes, numbers trump everything.

In particular, Astartes were responsible for pinpointing and eliminating enemy bunkers, while the fleet was responsible for removing large gun towers.

Just go for it.

Katz's decision was certainly not the optimal solution. The first wave of Astral Army troops to land suffered heavy casualties, losing nearly 50% of their forces in less than 30 minutes.

But a kind heart cannot command an army.

Once the Star Guardians, under immense pressure, launched a counterattack into the port berths, the outcome of the entire war was no longer in doubt.

Due to the issue of firing range, the fixed gun positions in Pirate Starport are unable to deal with enemies coming from behind. Both the Undead and the Faded Ones understand how valuable it is to push through maps in reverse.

As a result, while the air naval battle was still in the stage of testing firepower, the amphibious landing operation had already achieved phased results.

"Send the reinforcements up, Draven. You lead the team yourself and quickly seize key facilities. Be careful of any tricks they might pull, like self-destruction. I'll go and reinforce them once the situation here is clearer."

"it is good."

When the Terminator team stepped into the Chosen Battlefield, which perfectly matched the design concept, the Astartes entered their perfect comfort zone.

Earning extra money from writing is simple and enjoyable.

Three pirate ships fled when they saw that things were not going well, but thanks to the decisive action of the Imperial forces, most of the raiders were trapped inside the starport.

No, who plays cards with two Kings and four twos right from the start?

That makes sense, but what if I had four Aces, four Kings, four Queens, and a pair of Jacks?

The black bean sprouts that hadn't had time to evacuate were still struggling to survive, while the alien pirates, who knew about the Empire's foreign policy, were also putting up a last-ditch resistance.

However, a large number of Astartes were mixed in with the organized Astral Army, and the goal was to exterminate them all.

The entire battle resulted in the deaths of nearly 30,000 Star Realm soldiers. If this were placed in other literary works, even the most thoughtful writers would begin to reflect on the meaning of war.

But even the Star Army members themselves were discussing that this was a resounding victory.

Completely eradicating a pirate starport of roughly half the size of a Ramirez-class fortress in four hours is an undisputed victory, especially considering the fleet suffered almost no damage.

Then came the old tradition of the Fourth Company: leading the new recruits to identify high-value spoils of war.

The Astral Army's rewards are distributed directly in Throne Coins, with hard currency being centrally collected.

"Quickly dismantle everything. Take away all the useful and usable equipment, regardless of whether it's from the Imperial Army or not."

Fun fact: Tanks and excavators can share the same chassis.

Simply equip the Makarius heavy tank with a shovel, and demolition becomes a relatively straightforward and efficient method.

The advantage of having two technical sergeants in the Eighth Company became apparent again. With double the resolution and ample manpower, Kaz took away everything that could be dismantled within 24 hours. He even had the Imperial Navy demonstrate precise shooting while stationary, directly using light spears to physically cut and strip away the main energy system of the pirate starport.

Sorry, the Imperial Icon is a battlecruiser with aircraft carrier specialization. The engineers removed the flight deck bulkhead, and they were able to fit an ion reactor several hundred meters high inside.

It's so straightforward: it shows that big is beautiful, big is good, and big is strong.

If you randomly pick any industrial world with a little technological accumulation, the spoils from the battle of Pirate Starport, even if sold as a package, could easily be converted into two or three hundred billion Throne Coins.

The losses in this battle were negligible compared to the gains.

Furthermore, the destruction of the pirate starports effectively curbed the plundering of surrounding areas by space pirates, resulting in even greater political and military gains.

The battle record is verifiable, and the logbooks on all the ships in the fleet provide irrefutable evidence.

After recalling the ground forces, the fleet unleashed a farewell fireworks display, and Kaz continued his pursuit of the Epsilon brothers.

This was originally part of the Imperial Navy's duties.

Humanity's territory is so vast, and although apocalyptic battles are constantly underway, wars like this are the daily routine for the Navy.