After obtaining the coordinates and data from Grand Archon Junior, Ferrus, lying in his life-sustaining sarcophagus, allowed a faint smile to cross his lips.
Three thousand Imperial standard ships, mostly battleships, cruisers, and heavy carriers.
The ship designs strictly adhered to the Imperial AI prohibition, utilizing mechanical automation that significantly reduced crew requirements.
Their performance was superior in every aspect—maneuverability, turning speed, and weapon range all exceeded the Empire's top-tier standards.
Thanks to automation, the rate of fire for their naval guns was at least 30% higher than that of ships of the same class.
As the data flashed through his mind like a stream of light, Ferrus felt victory was already within his grasp.
Once this powerful, fresh force launched a surprise attack on the battlefield, it would be enough to break through the enemy's lines at a single point and disrupt Solas's command deployment.
[Send a vox-message to the Ministry of Interior.]
[There is a fresh force within this star system; have them verify it and arrange for the relevant personnel to be inducted.]
After making the arrangements for the rear, Ferrus let his thoughts drift through digital logic, quietly using his authority as supreme commander of the front line to assign the new fleet to the "Legion Joint Fleet" sequence.
This was the only time he had acted for personal gain since taking command of the Rangdan Xenocide.
Looking at the grand picture, Ferrus felt faintly that humanity was beginning to gain the upper hand; no matter how long the war lasted, they would eventually achieve final victory.
Once the Rangdan War ended, it would be time to distribute rewards.
For the Primarchs and the Astartes, the honor would naturally be unparalleled, and their glorious deeds would be sung throughout the Human Empire.
But Ferrus wanted to secure welfare for his brothers.
While honor is dazzling, it requires powerful strength to support it.
This batch of powerful warships manufactured by Nur was undoubtedly a potent force, enough to compensate for the losses many of his brothers had suffered during the war.
With the fleet assigned to the "Legion Joint Fleet" sequence, once the war ended, they would naturally be divided among the various participating legions.
In the long reach of the Great Crusade, they would have more safeguards to rain down ultimate judgment upon the enemies of humanity!
Having handled these matters, the smile on Ferrus's face vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
He continued to sink his mind into the data link, allocating battlefield resources and competing with Solas on the front.
The void war was exceptionally intense; he needed to calculate the gain and loss of every single warship.
Furthermore, on the surface of Planet Nine, the Rangdan Overlord had appeared, and elite corps were being deployed, about to launch an attack on the Iron Hands' positions.
[Dark Angels Legion, launch a landing assault on World Six!]
The campaign commander issued the attack order. With Planet Nine under attack, he needed to divide his attention.
Since that was the case, he would use a fierce counterattack to respond to Solas, who was deep within Planet Six.
Having witnessed the war on Planet Five, the Dark Angels Legion could no longer restrain themselves, and the Lion had submitted requests to fight several times already.
A firm response came through the digital communication: [First Legion acknowledges the order; dealing with some small trouble first.]
At the ground command center on Planet Seven, Lion El'Jonson stood before the command sand table, a faint, proud smile on his face.
On the sand table before him, the Rangdan army had descended onto the landing zone, with 100,000 Rangdan elites and countless slave elites posturing aggressively.
"Luther!" The Lion let out a low growl, summoning a man from the standby ranks.
He was slightly shorter than the legionnaires, but his face was determined and composed, his beard neatly and exquisitely trimmed.
Luther, as the Lion's foster father on Caliban, had returned to the First Legion with him.
This Calibanite knight had long since passed the optimal age for Astartes augmentation, but due to the Lion's favor, he had undergone customized surgery and possessed the strength of an Astartes.
The men cast respectful gazes toward Luther; he had raised the Lion and possessed a powerful personal charisma worthy of respect.
The Lion raised a hand, signaling to forgo the kneeling ritual, and said, "I want you to lead 40,000 legionnaires to attack the Rangdan landing force."
Having spent a long time together on Caliban, the Lion trusted Luther's abilities and entrusted him with this important task.
"I will bring back victory once again," Luther replied in a deep voice, making a vow to his former foster son using the Calibanite knight's salute.
He had long been impatient for war, yearning to command superhuman warriors and seize a glorious victory.
Luther had followed the Lion into the void and seen the burgeoning vitality of the Human Empire.
Driven by his outstanding personal abilities, his ambition grew day by day, and he was never content to live under another.
"Astelan, Alajos, step forward!"
As the Lion growled, two tall warriors stepped out, wearing black power armor and winged helmets, their knightly swords resting on the ground as they knelt on one knee before their gene-father.
The Lion looked satisfactorily at his emerging young scions and instructed, "You are responsible for following Luther and protecting the commander's personal safety."
Though young, they were the best of Caliban and served as Temple Knights, with swordsmanship among the best in the legion.
Sending Temple Knights to protect Luther showed how much the Lion valued him.
"We follow your command." The two masters of the blade walked behind Luther, shielding their target in the center.
Feeling so valued, Luther nodded in emotion, though his face was filled with gloom as he put on his helmet.
In his view, the Lion's protective gesture was not a protection of him, but rather an expression of extreme distrust.
A failure to recognize his own ability.
Luther hurried out of the command center, using the Lion's authorization to contact the commanders and assemble a large army to prepare for the attack on the xenos.
As the command center doors closed, the Lion pointed to another landing site: "40,000 troops are responsible for defense."
"The enemy commander wants to attack on two fronts, using a pincer maneuver to bypass and cut off the connection between the war fortress's forward area and the rear, consume our mortal troops, and occupy the fortress facilities to use as a springboard to push deep into the fortress."
"The tactic is very aggressive, and also very classic."
"Hmph!" The Lion let out a cold snort, causing the temperature in the slightly dim command room to drop a few degrees further. "Unfortunately, the tactical planner is a bit naive."
He pointed to the defensive line, his fingertips hovering and marking several key nodes: "We will build a defensive line here to carry out preliminary defense."
"It doesn't need to be too solid or a fight to the death; it just needs to be able to defend against the Rangdan's attack."
The Lion waved his arm, drawing an offensive route from the attacking troops: "Luther has the ability to annihilate them."
"Once one landing point is annihilated, the pincer maneuver will naturally cease to exist."
"Then we will abandon defensive operations, walk out of the trenches to pursue the Rangdan forces, and destroy most of the alien landing forces in one fell swoop."
The Lion's majestic voice recounted the plan in the command room, while the standby ranks hid in the shadows, silent like statues.
The legionnaires understood that their gene-father was merely stating a plan, never consulting them.
The last brother who questioned the Primarch had his head smashed off by a single punch.
"The remaining troops will act as reserves for now, ready to support the front line. Once the situation stabilizes, we will land from the spaceport, prepare the warships, and ready ourselves for an air drop onto Planet Six."
"All of you, go and prepare!" Finally, the Lion gave a low roar, waving for them to leave.
Clatter, clatter!
The silent knights knelt, saluted the dais, and quickly left the command center.
The Lion was very satisfied with the speed of his scions; after continuous reforms, the legion had finally undergone a qualitative change.
Internal strife within the legion had ceased; all bowed to his majesty, their thinking unified and powerful, without need for any questioning.
The legionnaires were a sharp blade, listening to the wielder of the sword, preventing any aberrant thoughts.
Chaos was always looking for an opportunity in the shadows.
The Chaos summary had turned to ash in the plasma flames, destroyed by the Lion himself, but he remembered every word of its contents.
He knew some truths about the Warp; beyond the void, evil existences lurked, eyeing humanity with greed.
The Lion identified them as enemies and sought to form a system within the legion to resist Chaos.
Though he acted in secret, he constantly thought and worked—concealing the truth of the legion while constructing a defensive system within their minds.
Unifying their ideology was the first step he had tentatively taken.
He also had some clues for follow-up plans.
The Lion intended to establish a system whose members were not ranked by military rank, but were all hand-picked by him, requiring absolute will to resist.
Those at the top of the pyramid would be allowed to know the secrets within their authority.
Then, ring by ring, the legion system would be broken down and kneaded, establishing a hidden system beneath the facade.
The command hall was very quiet; besides the rocking caused by planetary bombardment, there was only the sound of information being sent.
The Lion overlooked the sand table, his emerald eyes unfocused, his thoughts drifting far away.
He didn't care about the battle at the landing points; with the combat power of the Dark Angels, as long as they followed the deployment strictly, they would surely achieve their operational objectives.
He built a secret organization deep in his mind, constantly perfecting the details.
In the battle on Anvilus, the Lion had discovered that Nowick's scions fought with intimate cooperation, and their connectivity was incredibly strong.
Based on his observations, he felt that his brother's scions should have a set of secret communications and authentications.
The Doom Legion already had an effective scheme in place.
But the Lion would never ask; his proud heart always believed that if his brother could do it, he could do it too.