The Astartes Family's Notebook

The Shadow of Death faction thought the same thing.

The space fleet was annihilated. Although the second hive city did not have a void shield defense system, its equipment was not handy, and the energy shield was not an easy target.

The ability to utilize the extensive tunnel system to create conditions for surprise attacks is naturally Astartes' most proficient fighting style.

How could Motor Sich not have thought of this? It's just that the Raptor Squadron is better at this kind of small-scale infiltration operations. Let the professionals do the professional work, that's the right thing to do.

In the purgatory galaxy, trust is an expensive luxury, which happens to lie between the fourth and fifth ranks.

The Raptor Chapter, being a Raven Guard sub-branch with the backing of a savior, is not lacking in some rare and sophisticated weapons.

Two two-handed Thunder Hammers, a Storm Shield, and a Power Claw—quite a collection!

As luck would have it, the Fourth Company happened to have a one-handed version of the Thunder Hammer and another Power Claw, so they lent them to the Big Head Eagles, making a Power Claw set. The Thunder Hammer and the Storm Shield also formed the classic Shield Guardian set.

That's why the eagles didn't suffer any losses in the encounters that took place in the underground tunnels.

The Withering Overlord, nicknamed the Plague Pig, is an extremely difficult creature to kill, almost immune to light weapons.

However, the combination of Storm Shield and Thunder Hammer, especially in the unique environment of underground mines where only the brave prevail, would leave even the Wither Overlord helpless.

With a 2:5 casualty exchange, and especially considering that the Shadow of Death lost a Wither Overlord veteran wearing Terminator armor, the Raptor Chapter can be considered to have won a great victory.

Neither Motor Sich nor Yesfer could manage a smile.

Something felt very off. The Shadow of Death Gang was quite different from the Chaos Gangs they had encountered before; they lacked much of the madness characteristic of Chaos.

This feeling is less like fighting against the Chaos Cult and more like an imperial civil war.

Chapter 108 Marginal Cost

Ladies, to judge whether a man loves you, the poor look at money, the rich look at time; these are their most precious things.

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The Wastewing and the Raptor Chapter have already paid a heavy sunk cost for the Battle of Skold, so the loyal Astartes must ensure that victory belongs to the Empire.

Therefore, the second nest always takes the initiative to attack.

Motor Sich knew very well that if the fleet battle was won, subsequent imperial reinforcements would naturally arrive in an endless stream.

However, neither of the two factions could wait any longer.

Because Skord is not a crucial hub world, if the Imperial navy and experienced inquisitors were to arrive, an extermination order would be the best outcome for this mining world.

Since the mineral veins in the shallow continental shelf have already been depleted, blowing up the planet would allow us to continue mining, wouldn't it?

As for the people...

Long live the people!

Whether the Imperial citizens of the Second Hive who did not succumb to Nurgle's tyranny could survive depended on whether they could use their own strength to destroy the First Hive and nip the Nurgle plague in the bud in the bud.

The Empire has never lacked intelligent people. In any case, the Master of the Planetary Legal Department was well aware of the Empire's style. He knew very well that the Emperor's angels' urging of the still unorganized PDF to go into battle was not a disregard for human life, but rather a manifestation of excessive humanity.

These Astartes truly wished for more people to live.

Therefore, the acting governor of Skord had absolutely no complaints about being a rubber stamp.

The legal department chief had no complaints about the Astartes treating him like the head of the military affairs department.

Even the residents of the Nest City who were forcibly conscripted into the army had no complaints.

Anyone who dared to express dissent was suppressed.

We're short of officers.

The remnants who retreated into the second hive were almost relentlessly pursued and beaten by the Shadow of Death warbands, which completely eroded their morale. Most of the experienced and righteous officers were also killed by the Chaos traitors' explosive bombs.

You don't even need to think about what kind of quality survives in the PDF; you can tell at a glance.

So, the Wastewing clearly brought two standard Astral Legions of mortal support troops to operate armored vehicles and heavy artillery; to put it bluntly, they were high-level cannon fodder.

As a result, when faced with the frustrating situation of the second hive, they could only dismantle one regiment and send it out to serve as officers.

As the saying goes, "a tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives." You know, I'm just a soldier from a remote planet, and I've already made the leap from soldier to officer in just a month or so since I landed. The Astartes are truly blessed!

With three years of preparation time, the Astartes, being strict with themselves, naturally wouldn't let these mortal auxiliary troops go unpunished.

Therefore, these former PDF soldiers, who were rigorously trained on the Victory Balance, had no idea that their training level had surpassed that of 90% of the Imperial IG forces.

The veteran soldiers weren't interested in promotions; they figured they could make a fortune just by surviving. So they promptly submitted applications and reports, hoping to be transferred to the regiment that hadn't been disbanded and continue serving.

Meanwhile, young people eager to take a chance are submitting applications and writing reports, hoping to seize this opportunity to achieve upward social mobility.

With these two maneuvers, Motor Sich now possessed an armored legion that could be used as a spearhead, as well as over 300,000 local PDF troops.

With such a small force, it's impossible to breach the No. 1 Nest City, which is protected by the Void Shield.

In particular, the 300,000 PDF troops first experienced the relentless pursuit of the Chaos forces, and then witnessed the Wings of Desolation's harsh purge of the officer class.

Their combat capabilities are truly hard to describe.

However, as a filler unit, don't expect too much; as long as it works, that's fine.

The army set out, and its first priority was to recapture a large mine pit located southwest of the second nest city.

The Empire is proficient in C programming, and synthesizing starch from carbon dioxide is hardly a high-tech achievement. Therefore, the Second Nest City does not need large areas of farmland to feed hundreds of millions of people; mining will suffice.

On a filthy planet, farming is tantamount to suicide; synthesizing food from the byproducts of promethium refining is the only correct approach.

Therefore, in order to alleviate the food pressure caused by the influx of a large population, this mine must be taken over.

Despite the fact that it involves satisfying one's appetite, the morale of the PDF troops is still quite good.

Moreover, the road conditions leading to the mining area are decent, and armored vehicles can pass through smoothly, so taking over this mine shouldn't be a big problem.

Not big, is it?

The Shadow of Death faction has differing opinions.

Have you ever heard of a haunted gold mine? Go tell the Nurgle zombies.

Hey, look at Company Commander Yesfe's volatile temper.

Trying to sabotage behind enemy lines with our Raptor Squadron, huh? You really don't consider the offspring of our Raven King as human beings, do you?

Okay, if you want to play, I'll play with you. I'll personally play with you!

The Seventh Company Commander left his beloved Pioneer Star and was kicked by Motor Sich to take over the management position vacated by Jesfer's departure in the Second Nest.

Jessford himself led his stretcher team into the mine to wipe out Stink Canner, who was hiding behind the Nurgle horde.

The large number of people is truly remarkable.

Did the Shadow of Death faction ask the Astartes for their permission before trying to delay the loyalists' war with these underhanded tactics?

Even with attacks on all sides, Motor Sich still holds half a company of Astartes, including twenty Terminator Men. He's not afraid of the Chaos War Gang causing trouble; he's afraid the Shadow of Death will cower in Nest One and remain silent.

The sheer number of people is indeed remarkable. It's unknown how many Imperial subjects, either voluntarily or forced, submitted to the Nurgle Apostles and became accomplices and lackeys of Chaos in the First Nest. Although the Imperial fleet in the sky suppressed the tactical diversity of the Chaos traitors, and any Nurgle cultists who dared to gather together would be bombed, Skord, as an old mining world, had an extensive network of underground mines that connected almost all of the planet's major continental shelves.

The loyalists are still under immense pressure.

Following the enemy's line of thought is not Motor Sich's tactical style.

The most fundamental problem is still the No. 1 Nest City, which has become a breeding ground for chaos.

To breach the first hive city, we must leverage the numerical advantage of the mortal auxiliary forces in the second hive city.

To leverage the numerical advantage of the mortal auxiliary forces in the Second Nest City, these mortals must be shown hope for victory.

To give these mortals hope of victory, a feasible plan to breach the first hive city must be devised.

Isn't this just a case of being stubborn and inflexible?

Or maybe we should just execute the extermination order...

Motor Sich only made a brief self-deprecating joke.

Ultimately, it all came down to my own insatiable greed.

Given the current situation, and the Death Shadows faction's ability to endure loneliness while hiding behind the Void Shield of City One, then Sir, the Fourth Company Commander, wouldn't mind turning an FPS game into an RTS game?

Creating cards out of thin air is something everyone can do. At most, you can have two full-strength companies of stinky canned goods. That won't wipe out all the Nurgle Infected in City One, and it certainly won't wipe out your Shadow of Death faction.

After initially stabilizing the grain mine, only three PDF regiments and one squad of Astartes were left to handle potential underground attacks. Another 150,000 PDFs were sent out to clear out the wandering Nurgle walkers. Motor Sich gathered a company of Astartes and sent out his elite armored regiment and the selected usable PDF troops all at once.

So you're playing dumb, aren't you? You're not going to move an inch, are you? Well then, how will you respond when I retake the destroyed space orbital tower?

The Empire's advanced materials technology is just that outrageous. In other technological civilizations, a space elevator that breaks in two would inevitably be destroyed along with its base when it collapses due to the enormous internal stress.

However, the engineering materials used in our human empire are exceptionally robust; even if half of it is destroyed, the remaining half can still be used.

With Motor Sich making a show of wanting to rebuild the orbital space station, the Death Shadow Warband must make a swift decision, regardless of whether the surviving Imperial forces in Skold believe it or not.

This is an empire, a human empire whose technology is shrouded in mystery.

If Motor Sich truly has the ability to rebuild the Orbital Tower, then this battle, shrouded in the shadow of death, will be unnecessary.

The zombies of the benevolent father will eventually run out, but the army of the empire will never cease.

Even though they knew the Empire's lackeys were deceiving the War Gang's brothers into leaving City One, they dared not gamble on the shadow of death.

This question is way too difficult! It's so confusing, and it even has to be a multiple-choice question!

Chapter 109 Frontal Assault

The great river flows eastward, and the stars in the sky follow it.

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The threat posed by orbital fleets is real and profound.

Motor Sich did not bomb the first hive city, not because the fleet could not do so, but because after estimating the cost, it was found not to be worthwhile.

Without the Void Shield, the fleet could completely destroy the first hive city with just three minutes of firepower.

However, even the most optimistic and bold estimate is that it would take a month of continuous bombardment day and night to overload the Void Shield of the first hive city.

In planning this long-range raid, the fleet did not bring any supply transport ships. The light spears were fine, but the macro cannons definitely wouldn't have enough shells.

Therefore, if we can rebuild the orbital tower and obtain the necessary supplies for the fleet from the second hive city, then overloading the void shield of the first hive city with artillery fire is actually a possible solution.

Motor Sich originally intended to lure the Shadow of Death gang out for a field battle, and then fire a few salutes at these Chaos traitors.

Halfway through the plan, it suddenly dawned on them that a fake story could become real. Although Skold's industry was developed in a rather distorted and unbalanced way, Nest Two did indeed have production capacity and production lines related to metal smelting.

In other words, Motor Sich truly has the capability to repair the orbital tower.

Once the original design blueprints of the orbital tower are obtained, the key components of the large nano-incense burner on the Victory Balance can be printed out without the involvement of the Cult of Mechanics.

When the Loyal faction went to seize the Orbital Tower base, the Shadow of Death warband remained indifferent.

But just as the loyalists began repairing the Orbital Tower, the Shadow of Death launched a new offensive.

Ground attacks are not feasible. Before the light spear and the macro cannon, all beings are equal. Even Nurgle's blessing cannot withstand the physical laws of the real universe.

So it's the same old routine: using the continental shelf caves that the Skolds spent three thousand years digging out to transport troops.

But Motor Sich wasn't stupid; the Raptor Squadron had already completed a three-dimensional mapping of the mine tunnels and shafts in the main mining areas surrounding the Second Nest City.

The mining world may not be able to produce weapons like the Leman Russ, but it has an abundance of explosives.

It took the loyalist Astartes over a month to kill more than 30 million low-intelligence Nurgle zombies, while the man-made mining disaster buried hundreds of millions of traitors from Hive City No. 1 in just a few days.

Do they care about the shadow of death?

These stinking canned goods don't care. They didn't care about the casualties of mortals when they were still eating the emperor's food. Now that they've all sided with Chaos, do you expect the Warband to care about ordinary Nurgle believers?

What does it matter if hundreds of millions of plague-infected people die, as long as it can prevent the Desolate Wings from repairing the Orbital Tower?

Lacking command-oriented personnel, the human resources of the Second Nest City could not be fully utilized, much to Motor Sich's dismay.

The governor family's rule over the planet Skord has been very stable for three thousand years.

The first hive city was built because the first governor felt he needed one.

The reason for building the second hive city was that there was so much money that there was nowhere to spend it. The governor at the time preferred to build another hive city rather than carry out any industrial upgrading or industrial substitution.

So when the disaster struck, the vast majority of the planet's elite population was trapped in the first hive city.

Although the governor's granddaughter escaped, her bloodline was enough to enable her to unlock the core permissions of the second hive city, but the second hive city could not compare with the first hive city in any aspect, and there were not many reliable military noble families to be found.

All the capable personnel are already working beyond their capacity. After going through the complete mental journey of "questioning the High Lord, understanding the High Lord, and becoming the High Lord," the Master of the Legal Department has lost his sense of reality about living. Now, his greatest enjoyment each day is three hours of sleep after taking sleeping pills, and his greatest wish is to die just before victory and return to the Golden Throne.