The Astartes Family's Notebook

If the bedrock of the First Nest City hadn't been so solid, and these Chaos Astartes had drilled deep enough, it would have been a disaster.

Kaz had never witnessed the power of a Cyclone Torpedo explosion, so his emotions remained relatively stable.

Kars just had a strange sense of destiny.

The Fourth Company had previously extorted a virus torpedo from Judge Odach.

Although the virus warhead was specifically designed for the Omidas ecosystem and its shelf life had long expired, the cyclone torpedo's warhead was still lying on the Pioneer Star.

Your Majesty, your imperial decree is a bit too much.

Chapter 141 Return to the Garden World

There was no trace of the bird in the sky, but it had flown by.

The world has been cleansed of the smoke of war, for I have been here.

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While the Astartes were arguing with the Imperial Navy, Kaz gained a lot of useless trivia about the human Empire.

For example, why are the Imperial Admiralty and the Mechanicus unwilling for the Astartes Chapter to have new star-class corvettes?

For ten thousand years, Holy Terra has restricted the Astartes Chapter's warships from possessing light spear weapons.

For a long period, aside from the legacy of the Legion era, the new warships acquired by the Astartes Chapter were always crammed with macro cannons, but were not equipped with light spear weapons.

The reason is simple: the high lords of Holy Terra harbored a natural distrust of the Astartes Chapter after the Horus Rebellion.

The range of the light spear weapon is much greater than that of the macro cannon. By restricting the Astartes Chapter's warships from possessing light spear weapons, the Imperial Navy's fleet can maintain an overwhelming advantage over the Astartes Chapter in terms of combat power.

Well, it's really hard to judge...

Bullying the weak is easy with light spears, but in civil wars between Imperial standard warships, isn't the main method of killing by moving the ship close to it?

In the long course of practice, the Imperial Navy also discovered that unless a large fleet was assembled, the light spear cannon sea could not fully exert its range advantage. Otherwise, if Imperial Navy ships of the sector fleet level really clashed with the Astartes Chapter, close-quarters combat with macro guns and boarding would be the main means of warfare.

Restricting the Astartes Chapter from possessing warship light spear weapons was a completely off-the-cuff idea, as ridiculous as asking "Why don't they eat meat porridge?"

Therefore, by the time of the M41, this unspoken rule had long been defunct.

In particular, after more than 10,000 years of factionalism within the Mechanicus, the Martian headquarters' control over other troublesome forging worlds was even worse than the Persian headquarters' control over the Ming Cult in the Central Plains.

Special praise must be given to Ruizha and Huangquan No. 8 here.

While both Agrippina and Lucius were troublemakers, at least they maintained a respectable image regarding Mars. As for Riza and the Mars supervisory team that mysteriously died on the Planet of the Dead, it's hard to say whether they could even circle the planet's equator.

It's not easy to learn good things, but it's easy to learn bad things. Since there are bad students setting an example, what's there to worry about?

Unfortunately, the Imperial Navy has no marines, and the Mechanicus is also guarded against by Holy Terra. The Astartes Chapter, capable of both land and air combat, is the best partner for the Mechanicus to recover lost technology.

So there's nothing we wouldn't dare sell. Do you have STC templates? We at Foundry World have them!

The so-called non-proliferation agreement for the Light Spear weapon was broken by the various Forge Worlds of the Cult of Mechanics themselves.

Aside from powerful weapons like the Nova Cannon, ordinary large light spears have long been put on the shelves by tech enthusiasts.

The Huangquan VI Forged World was originally created by Huangquan VIII as a way of repaying the favor of Holy Terra. It does not seek political independence in the Taiping Starfield and wholeheartedly serves the Starfield government.

As a result, this attitude actually made Huangquan No. 6's disguise as a heretic exceptionally secure.

Huang Liu is Huang Liu, and Huang Ba is Huang Ba. Although everyone knows what's going on, as long as the disguises aren't exposed, some things just won't be the same.

As part of the exchange, the explorers of Huangquan VI agreed not to use "conventional methods" to eliminate chaos in the No. 1 Nest City.

The so-called conventional method refers to the humane annihilation of all Astragalus Army and DPF forces that fought against the Nurgle cultists.

The Empire has always had a reputation for being utterly inhuman.

Although the Nurgle plague was troublesome, the number of mortal troops the Empire deployed in the Battle of Skord was not large, and the overall cost of the subsequent isolation and medical services was manageable. After calculating the gains and losses, the Underworld VI agreed to adopt "humanitarian" post-war measures.

At this point, the entire battle has entered its final stages.

Once the Desolation Wings and the Raptor Chapter have conducted one more sweep of Skord and confirmed that no Chaos Astartes from the Death Shadow Warband are hiding there, they can leave.

It wouldn't be difficult for the Chaos Astartes to hide their tracks from mortals.

However, it won't be so easy if the opponent is another Astartes.

Especially the Astartes, which believe in filth, have such obvious characteristics that their very presence carries supernatural traces of chaotic corruption, making them impossible to hide.

In particular, the Raptor Squad, as the offspring of the Raven King, has a family tradition of covert operations, and their reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance methods are top-notch. Motor Sich seized the opportunity to ask the Wastewing to watch and learn carefully, and not miss the chance to learn from them.

Yesfer didn't care about this. They were all guys. After all this time, couldn't they see what kind of people the Desolation Wings were? Even if the Raptor Legion taught them seriously, how much could they possibly learn?

It's not good to dampen the enthusiasm of other units. If you want to learn, then learn. Just don't keep asking "How's your skill level?"

Upon hearing this, the internal communication channel of the Fifth Company of the Raptors erupted in cheers and laughter.

The Katz brothers are famous for being bad at the game but addicted to it.

Instead of being a proper berserker, he insisted on learning stealth techniques, but the eagles don't seem to dislike him.

Katz also has his own troubles.

What should be done about those gene stealers?

When cunning is found in a world, it means that cunning has become rampant in that world.

The principle that development is the best contraceptive does not apply to gene stealers.

If you have the means, you should have children; if you don't, you should have even more. This is an ironclad rule etched into our DNA. Gene thieves are a problem.

However, Katz lacked the selflessness to sacrifice himself to feed the eagle.

Because he simply couldn't explain the source of this intelligence.

Beneath the seemingly loose surface of the four companies lies an extremely rigorous internal review atmosphere.

In order to ensure loyalty and purity within the Astartes Company, the three loyalty principles are consciously taught.

That is, loyalty to the Emperor, loyalty to the Empire, and loyalty to the warband.

But the Fourth Company was different; the gang atmosphere there practically encouraged the fighting brothers to make mistakes.

But when you're truly infected by this atmosphere and show signs of disloyalty, you'll find that your former "yes, yes, yes" fighting brothers have all changed their tune.

They're all old-fashioned imperial coins used for entrapment!

Even if everyone is a rebel, isn't that another form of loyalty?

Given the prevailing atmosphere in the company, there was nothing Motor Sich could do but let things take their course.

When every Astartes in the Fourth Company became accustomed to this kind of entrapment-style test of loyalty, who, except for the new recruits, would dare to object?

Isn't this a different kind of loyalty brainwashing? The Fourth Company plays double agents every day. At least when faced with the instigation and inducement of other forces and warbands of the Empire, or even the Chaos forces, the first reaction of the brothers in the company is not that what he said makes a lot of sense, but that this guy is probably trying to catch me.

It has a strong flavor, so it doesn't need much salt.

By writing a report, Katz submitted a loyalty report to Company Commander Motor Sich related to the gene stealers. He did not use the word "gene stealers" at all, but only used the phrase "shared common mutation characteristics" to subtly express his opinion.

Motor Sich still valued Katz, so he handed the report over to the explorer sage of Yomi VI.

At this point, there wasn't much more that Katz could do.

After a thorough search, two remnants of the Chaos Stinky Canned Food were indeed found hiding in Nest City No. 1.

Once the Nurgle cultists were divided and surrounded and lost their mobility, they were wiped out in droves by the Astronauts. By this point, the war was no longer of much concern to the Astartes.

They could have left much earlier, but the warhead of that whirlwind torpedo slowed down Desolate Wings.

It was difficult to get the Shadow of Death down, and it was even more difficult to get the Wings of Desolation up.

As a result, it was delayed for another twenty days, until Judge Vinava had finished the handover work before the Astartes completed the transfer.

This battle was very fruitful.

To his surprise, Motor Sich discovered that after the war, he not only didn't lose money, but actually made a profit.

Although the Leman Rustank-class armored vehicles that were deployed were not recovered, the Governor-General spent a great deal of money to acquire the two Astral Army units trained by the Wasteland Wings.

Feeling panicked without a gun, the local PDF forces governor herself couldn't bear to look at them. So, in order to retain ownership of the two Astral Legions brought by the Desolate Wings, the female governor offered a high "transfer fee".

You asked what the attitudes of these two astral legions are?

Of course, I'd be a million times willing! That's exactly why I came to Skord. In the human empire, the lower classes don't have many opportunities to change their fate.

So the governor was interested, the Star Guardians were willing, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement. The Astartes left happily with a huge sum of money.

The Astartes were all monks, without worldly desires, but when the Throne Coins accumulated to a certain amount, they still caught Jesper's eye.

Because Motor Sich had secretly made a deal with Yomiuri VI to reserve the warship in advance, he already felt guilty towards Yesfe, so when it came time to divide the spoils, he compensated the Raptor 5th Company with a lot of money.

"This isn't fair, Motor Sich. It's clear that your Wastewing has contributed more, so how can we take the lion's share? This isn't fair, it really isn't fair."

The collaboration and cooperation between the Astartes Chapters also follows a set of unspoken rules.

For example, honor and favors, owing such debts of gratitude, such as the expedition that the Black Knights booked, the Desolation Wings had to bring their own provisions to help.

However, the situation with the Raptor 5th Company was different; it was a mutual emergency between brother squads. If Motor Sich didn't respond, there wouldn't be a next time.

Therefore, after a battle is over, the fourth company is usually required to make up for the equipment losses of the fifth company.

To put it bluntly, it means ensuring that the number of explosives, power armor, and other weapons and equipment in the five-unit system remains the same as before the battle.

Yesfe was also quite surprised, as it was common for Astartes to lose money in wars, and making money was a rare occurrence.

Especially the fact that he could make a fortune by fighting the Chaos War Gang was something he had never seen before since he became a company commander.

Generally, when the Astartes Chapter is short of food, clothing, or other necessities, they use their honor and personal connections to ask the sector government for help, or they work for the Forgeworld.

Self-sufficient companies like the Desolate Wings Quartet are extremely rare.

"Just take it. We brothers have come all this way, we can't leave empty-handed. It's Throne Coins, after all, we can always use them. Don't be shy."

After some back and forth, Yesfee could not persuade Motor Sich and had no choice but to accept it.

But the raptors are honest people; they remember the good things about Desolate Wings and will call for reinforcements again next time.

"Well then, goodbye for now, contact me again if anything comes up."

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Go back and check if the company's cruiser has been repaired."

"No, I mean you don't want the payment?"

"Oh, didn't you already pay the reward?"

Motor Sich looked puzzled. "Jesford, buddy, how did you become a company commander?"

We came to Skord because that old scoundrel Leothers offered a bounty. What you just received was the allowance from the female governor. The Grand Inquisitor has another portion; that's the real reward.

"what!"

"hiss......"

Alright, no need to see each other again. Let's all head back to Garland Gordon with Judge Vinava to turn in the mission.

Jesfer did not expect that, in addition to the share sold to the Star Legion, the Inquisitors had also found another share when they searched the top of the First Nest City.

"Four company commanders, take a look."

The judge, who voluntarily conceded defeat, obtained the right to dispose of the spoils of the top nest of the first hive from Motor Sich. The strong woman, who was determined to climb to a higher position, did not care about short-term material gains or losses. The resources that the judge could mobilize were terrifying. Vinawa would not risk her reputation to embezzle a little bit of the spoils, so the distribution of the spoils was very fair.

"Good heavens, this is..."

"Yes, I bypassed the Mechanicus and seized Skord's special mineral reserves. With the Netherworld VI Foundry monopolizing Skord's future production, the value of this batch will increase."

The inventory is not large, with all kinds of minerals totaling less than 10,000 tons, but in terms of value, it is equivalent to dozens of times what was sold to the Star Realm Legion before.

Moreover, it's the kind of item that's priced but unavailable.

"This...is really not appropriate."

Even Jespers, an outsider, wavered.

Monks abstain from greed, anger, and delusion, and money doesn't easily tempt the Astartes company commander. However, the special metal mixed into ceramsite that can significantly enhance the performance of power armor is a precious reinforcement material that money can't necessarily buy...

"Don't refuse what's yours. We, the Wings of the Wasteland, only have two companies of troops, but we're taking up the share of three companies. That's already too much. So don't refuse."

"Then I'll..."

"Take it quickly, any more politeness would be pretentious."

"Okay, don't hesitate to ask if you need it in the future."