Chapter 6 - Holy

"It's not that I doubt you, Magos Dio."

Amidel stared at Dio seriously: "Some things sound too tempting, so much so that they make one believe it's a trap."

"We believe Magos Dio that you wouldn't intentionally harm us, it's just... at least we should know the general direction."

"While you will certainly be surprised, I am very confident this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Dio pointed out the destination on the star map, and everyone gathered around to observe, all of them surprised by Dio's decision.

"Holy Terra?!"

"That's a place I never even visited during the Great Crusade Era..."

"Are we sure we want to go? On a ship with an unrecognized keel code, and even piloted by... felynes partners?"

"I just think we'll be shot down as soon as we enter the Solar System. Even if not, the subsequent search will be enough to fill us with bolter rounds."

The oversight of the Throne World has always been strict; trying to sneak in without professional means is as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Amidel and the others were quite perplexed by this plan. They cast questioning glances at Dio, but Dio merely smiled, indicating that everything was still according to plan:

"We won't arrive directly in the Solar System, but will operate in the surrounding areas. There are many opportunities to find good things there right now. My intelligence makes me very certain this will be an excellent period for activity."

"I'm still not entirely persuaded."

Lieutenant Vigan, who was already reluctant to have too much contact with the Imperium, remained highly skeptical: "Going to Holy Terra with so many things the Imperium cannot accept, I think we're just looking for trouble! Dio, what exactly do you want to do?!"

Dio retorted: "Lieutenant Vigan, do you know why the Adeptus Mechanicus doesn't have abominable intelligences?"

Vigan was startled: "Because the Imperium forbids it?"

"Wrong. It's because those automatons are all painted with the Imperial Aquila."

Lieutenant Vigan's eyes widened, and he began to ponder Dio's words carefully. Amidel, who had already understood something, finally agreed to the plan to go to Holy Terra.

Dio gave the felynes the order to head to Holy Terra. Although there was no navigator on this ship, Holy Terra's location is the location of the Astronomican. Using the Adeptus Mechanicus' warp observation equipment to head directly to Terra was not difficult.

The black dragon deliberately weakened the warp storm and guided Dio's ship out of the storm. But for self-preservation, he was unwilling to completely stop the warp storm, which meant Dio and his companions would take a little longer to reach their destination.

Amidel and Dio stood side by side on the bridge. The warp engine tore open a warp rift in real space. Looking at the turbulent and ever-changing warp currents inside, Amidel, who had been away from the stars for a long time, was not excited at this moment. Although he had agreed to go to Terra, he was still worried about the future of his battle-brothers that this decision might entail.

"I hope this adventurous decision is rewarded as it should be..." Amidel sighed, then he looked at Dio: "What else do we need to prepare before reaching Holy Terra?"

"There is something, actually." Dio took out a can of lemon-yellow paint he had prepared earlier, "Before reaching Holy Terra, you must remember to paint your power armor yellow."

"?"

'Yellow?'

Amidel stared at Dio with wide eyes. He stared for a long time, and only after confirming that Dio's expression remained utterly serious did he realize that Dio was not joking.

The spaceship struggled forward through the surging waves of the warp. Time on board also became erratic in the warp.

Dio and his companions on the spaceship did not know that during their warp journey, time in the real universe had quietly advanced to 544.M32. And Chapter Master Oriax Dantalion of the Imperial Fists Chapter, who was leading his entire Chapter on an expedition in the real universe, also did not know what misfortune he and his Chapter would suffer in the coming weeks.

Kurland often recalled their experiences on the Mountain Array several months ago. When Chapter Master Oriax Dantalion announced to them that they were embarking on an expedition that would only be a six-week journey, they never imagined they would fall into a desperate situation where their Chapter faced annihilation during this 'expedition.'

"An expedition only six weeks away? This doesn't even deserve to be called an expedition! This battle is destined to be without glory!"

At that time, Kurland was still questioning the Chapter Master's decision: "Those xenos could clearly be easily annihilated by the Imperium's regular armaments, yet now we have to deal with them independently? The High Lords' orders are clearly a blatant scheme and insult against us, I don't accept it!"

"But we must do it, brother."

Chapter Master Dantalion, who replied to Kurland, had led the Imperial Fists Chapter for over two hundred years. He was a fearless warrior, but also a thoughtful Chapter leader.

After the Horus Heresy, the High Lords of Terra, the Imperium's highest authority composed of twelve Mortals, took over the rule of the Imperium of Man from the Emperor on the Golden Throne. The remaining military forces of the Imperium had also almost cleared the universe within the light of the Astronomican. Within the vast Imperial territory, there were no longer any organized xenos enemies.

This was, of course, a good thing, but it also meant that certain specific military forces had no further use. As the Terra Guard, who had been guarding Terra since the late Great Crusade, the Imperial Fists had not encountered any enemies in the Sol System worth their deployment for a long time. This also made their situation on Terra increasingly delicate.

As the Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists, Dantalion had the right to attend the High Lords of Terra's meetings, but he found it difficult to truly influence the High Lords' decisions. In fact, in the Imperium's current state of arrogance, even whether the Imperial Fists were still necessary to guard Terra was questioned by the High Lords.

Chapter Master Dantalion knew the High Lords did not trust the Imperial Fists; those fragile Mortals feared any power beyond their control. But he would not let the Chapter be at the High Lords' beck and call, nor would he abandon the glorious mission of guarding Terra that the Emperor had once bestowed upon their Chapter. So he could only endure the High Lords' squeezing out and ostracism of the Imperial Fists Chapter.

And this 'expedition' of only six weeks was also one of the obstacles set by the High Lords.

Chrome, a multi-legged insect resembling a spider, were a xenos species with a hive mind. Although they had a simple social structure, their technology and physical strength were primitive, and they had never been considered a formal threat by the Imperium.

Although the data sent to the High Lords of Terra this time showed that tens of billions of Chrome had suddenly appeared on Ardamantua... ordinarily, this would still not be a problem. As long as the invincible Imperial Fleet conducted an orbital strike first, and then the Astra Militarum landed to establish beachheads, the Imperium's armies could kill as many of these primitive xenos as appeared.

But the problem lay only within the Imperium itself.

As one of the permanent High Lords of Terra, Lord Commander Lanson of the Imperial Navy was unwilling to "make a big fuss" for such minor xenos. Lord Commander Hayes of the Astra Militarum, who was willing to take action, also expressed with difficulty that the Astra Militarum could not land on a planet completely occupied by xenos without orbital support.

Seeing that the two supreme commanders of Imperial military might had no intention of acting, the ball, after making a round, was kicked to the Imperial Fists by Lord Commander Udin Mahdo Udo.

At Udo's suggestion, the High Lords unanimously agreed that an Adeptus astartes Chapter could land on Ardamantua without orbital fire support, and that only they could "achieve the greatest victory with the smallest consumption of resources."

No support fleet, no adequate Astra Militarum assistance, and the main force of the Imperial Fists to be moved away from Terra.

Dantalion knew the High Lords were ostracizing him, but he didn't care. He was determined to silence all the High Lords with a splendid victory, proving to everyone that the Imperial Fists could still bear the heavy responsibility of guarding the Throne World.

After using his prestige to appease Captain Kurland of the Second Company, he took almost all of the Imperial Fists and marched towards Ardamantua.

The early stages of the campaign went smoothly. The Imperial Fists deployed landing forces on Ardamantua. Although the Imperial Navy provided no ships, a few Adeptus astartes strike cruisers had already torn open a landing zone among the lightly defended Chrome.

Captain Kurland led his company to be the first to land on Ardamantua. They systematically constructed fortifications on the planet's surface and gradually swept away the xenos on the planet.

Because the xenos were so weak, the act of sweeping them away was more like a pure slaughter than a battle.

Captain Kurland, filled with resentment, did not notice the abnormality of these Chrome desperately attacking them. By the time he realized that these Chrome were more like fleeing something pursuing them than invading, it was already too late.

Gravity became abnormal, and the ground began to shake. The sudden extreme gravitational changes caught all Imperial forces on Ardamantua off guard. In the face of such terrifying natural disasters, even a Space Marine would not be stronger than a Mortal.

Almost half of the space marines, Astra Militarum, and Chrome were crushed into paste in this extreme geological disaster. And Kurland, who narrowly escaped, finally realized that the true enemy of this war was never the Chrome.

He looked up at the sky, barely believing his eyes.

A satellite, as large as the moon but hollowed out and heavily modified internally, suddenly appeared above Ardamantua!

On that moon, there were giant, distorted, grotesque ork totems clearly visible even to the naked eye from the ground.

Captain Kurland had fought orks before; he knew that larger totems represented larger ork tribes. But precisely because he knew, he couldn't even imagine the scale of the orks horde hidden beneath a planetary-sized ork totem.

Fortunately, that ork Battle Moon hadn't fully materialized. Although the gravitational fluctuations it generated upon appearing here had already caused devastating damage, it hadn't truly teleported over yet. This meant there was still some time before the orks truly arrived.

Realizing there was still some breathing room, Captain Kurland gathered the surviving warriors. He led the remnants of the Second Company, attempting to find Chapter Master Dantalion of the Imperial Fists on this already overturned Ardamantua.

However, the Chrome, who had previously fled into the Sol System to escape the orks' pursuit, seemed to know their doomsday was near. They no longer held back, launching a frantic assault on the remaining Imperial Fists and Astra Militarum.

The Imperial forces were few in number. They had previously achieved steady victories by relying on orbital strikes, heavy artillery, and the construction of fortifications. Now, they had lost all their advantages and were powerless to face the Chrome's desperate counterattack.

Captain Kurland finally found his Chapter Master, but when he did, a Chrome had already plunged its limb into Chapter Master Dantalion's chest.

Captain Kurland blew off the Chrome's head with a single bolt round. He lunged forward, supporting the falling Chapter Master Dantalion. He called for an Apothecary to treat Chapter Master Dantalion, only to find that blood no longer flowed from his Chapter Master's wound.

"I'm beyond saving, Captain Kurland," Chapter Master Dantalion already knew his end was near. "Perhaps you were right; this war has been a conspiracy from beginning to end..."

With his last ounce of strength, he gripped Captain Kurland's hand.

"Live, brother, and tell the entire Imperium the news from here. The Imperial Fists, the fate of Terra, I leave to you!"

Captain Kurland dejectedly laid down Chapter Master Dantalion's body. He walked outside and looked up. In the sky, the Battle Moon had finished teleporting, and countless asteroids carrying orks were trailing long plumes of fire, smashing into the ground of Ardamantua along with the crashing Imperial warships.

There was no longer any possibility of leaving Ardamantua.

Watching the wave of orks gradually spread from the horizon, Captain Kurland had a premonition about their impending fate.

The War of the Beast had begun.

It had been several months since Dio and his group embarked on their self-built "Hunter" for warp travel. Aside from the initial time spent breaking through the warp turbulence near Azure Star, the rest of the journey had been remarkably peaceful.

Except for Dio, who had to spend some time each day observing the warp to adjust their course, everyone else was idle.

Lacking entertainment, the astartes could only spar with each other daily in the ship's training ground to pass the time. And Dio was happy to watch these increasingly varied, burly men duel in the training ground.

After all, compared to a group of people using different weapons to deal damage to a monster acting as a training dummy, all-out brawls between Hunters were genuinely rare.

However, what surprised Dio was that during their sparring, the one-handed sword and the scrubbing dual blades had an unexpectedly high win rate. After much thought, Dio concluded that flexible weapons might have an advantage when facing non-monster enemies.

This gave him some ideas for future weapon configurations, but these ideas still required materials to be implemented.

He planned to acquire some materials once they reached the Sol System to continue crafting weapons, but the tides of the warp would not allow him to have his way.

Just as the Astronomican's light grew closer and closer to Dio and his group, the spaceship began to tremble, as if pulled by something.

"Gravitational wave readings abnormal! Gravity abnormal! Gellar Field abnormal!"

The Cogitator system, salvaged from a Space Hulk, shrieked. Magos Dio, who was covered in dust from working in the workshop, rushed to the bridge, and Amidel, who had realized something was wrong, had also arrived.

"The ship is shaking, what's wrong?" Amidel asked.

"I don't know." Dio took the Cogitator's report from Tom Cat, who was acting as helmsman. "I need to take a look..."

But there was no need for a detailed look; even Amidel, standing nearby, could tell the urgency of the situation from the overflowing red text on the report, let alone Dio.

Looking at the contents of the report, Dio's brows furrowed. He simply put down the report and asked the Cogitator system, "What other equipment do we have that's still functioning normally?"

The Cogitator's screen flickered, displaying 'air conditioning'.

"Alright," Dio shrugged. "At least we won't be sweating in panic."

"I admire that you still have the presence of mind to tell jokes at a time like this, Magos Dio. But I think before we joke, we need to figure out what we've encountered. If the Gellar Field is malfunctioning, should my brothers and I prepare for boarding action?"

"No, no need."

Magos Dio denied Amidel. He had already gleaned a clue from the string of warnings: "These warnings are actually not coming from inside the ship. There is a powerful gravitational source outside the ship pulling at our vessel. Our ship cannot withstand such pressure, which is why various problems have arisen."

Amidel breathed a sigh of relief: "So it's not a serious situation?"

"On the contrary, it's more serious. We can at least handle internal problems ourselves, but we have no say in what's happening externally."

Dio glanced at Amidel: "The reason I'm not telling you to prepare is simply because preparing for a counter-boarding action would be useless anyway. The moment the Gellar Field shatters, that powerful gravitational source will tear our small ship to shreds."

"..."

Dio watched Amidel, who was speechless, with satisfaction. After many years of transmigrating as a Tech-priest, he had gradually come to enjoy the pleasure of using knowledge to stump people.

However, no one wanted to be torn to shreds in the warp, and Magos Dio certainly didn't either. So the immediate priority was to deal with this emergency.

Dio tried to look out through the viewport, but the treacherous warp offered little visibility.

If only there was a navigator at this moment, but unfortunately, there couldn't be.

As one of the heads of the Imperial Aquila, the Adeptus Mechanicus, whose power was so great that it was almost independent of the Imperium, possessed warp navigation equipment completely independent of navigator families and detailed records of Mandeville Points suitable for safe jumps in every star system.

Relying on these two, Adeptus Mechanicus ships could undertake warp travel independently without any navigators. This was precisely the key to the Adeptus Mechanicus' ability to remain aloof.

As a Magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Dio naturally mastered this technology, which was his confidence in undertaking warp travel without a navigator.

But rigid equipment ultimately couldn't cope with sudden changes. Lacking a Psyker to observe and react flexibly, he couldn't directly know what was happening outside.

After ignoring a few demons clinging to the precarious Gellar Field, Dio could only verify the external situation through conjecture.

The data showed that the ship was affected by an external gravitational source, but how could that be?

This was the warp; the physical laws of the real universe didn't apply here. How could there be a possibility of a massive object gravitationally capturing their ship?

Unless it was at the intersection of the warp and the real universe, where the physical laws of the real universe had inversely permeated into the warp.

Theoretically, such a situation could only occur in the Eye of Terror, or in the rift where a warp engine tears open the veil between reality and the warp... Dio suddenly had an epiphany.

He clapped his hands and issued orders to the still bewildered felynes crew members.

"Everyone return to your posts! Broadcast a message to the entire ship; we are preparing to exit the warp!"

The felynes, finally finding their leader, sprang into action. Only Amidel showed unconcealed surprise. He didn't understand the intricacies of technology, but he knew that rashly entering and exiting the warp was suicide.

He expressed his doubts to Dio, who, busy assisting the Cogitator system with the calculations required to exit the warp, could only briefly answer his concerns:

"If we insist on proceeding to the Solar System as planned, we will only be torn apart by the gravitational source now!"

"Then wouldn't directly jumping out of the warp be the same? Even I know that casually opening a warp exit is suicide!"

"No, it won't, because something non-human has already opened a warp exit for us!"

Dio didn't offer further explanation. He ordered the felynes, "Shut down the warp engine, feed the Valstrax engine, and full speed ahead!"

The felynes carried all the ship's provisions and poured them into the Valstrax engine's biological interface.

Receiving a massive surge of bio-energy, the Valstrax engine suddenly spewed crimson exhaust flames. The acceleration confirmed to Dio that the ship had indeed merged with real space.

The Hunter struggled to move through the warp, its armor plating from bow to stern groaning under the immense gravitational pressure.

But the machine spirit, born from a Space Hulk and unwilling to become a Space Hulk again, desperately maintained the ship's overall stability, allowing those on board to still see the dawn of escaping the warp.

Before long, everyone on the ship saw the entrance to the real universe torn open in the warp. Although it had begun to heal, a 'wound' over three thousand kilometers long was still a behemoth for Dio's small ship.

Even though the entrance was large enough for their ship to pass through easily, Dio dared not relax for a moment. The instant the ship passed through this warp entrance, torn open by someone else, he sharply gave his second command:

"Keep the engines at full speed, hard to port! Let's get out of this gravity field!"

After entering the physical universe, the sensation of gravitational pull did not decrease but intensified. Even those on board clearly felt their bodies grow much heavier.

Fortunately, Dio's command was timely. The ship, adjusting its course in time, miraculously endured the ravages of gravity. Only after the oppressive feeling of gravity lessened did those on board have time to look back and see what the culprit behind all this was.

With just one glance, Amidel's mouth remained agape.

"By the imperial truth…"

He stared in disbelief at the planet slowly moving behind them: "What in the world is that?!"

It was an artificial satellite the size of a moon, with green tides surging across its surface, forming grinning ork totems.

Even a fleeting glimpse was enough to leave an indelible impression!

Amidel, of course, recognized what those green creatures and gigantic totems represented, but it was precisely because he knew that he found it unbelievable.

"Orks…" he murmured softly.

"To be precise, it's an ork Battle Moon," Dio, having maneuvered the ship out of danger, walked up to Amidel and overlooked this 'living' planet with him.

The Battle Moon's objective was clear. Having just arrived in orbit directly from the warp, it almost immediately entered the planet's orbit and launched an attack on the activities below.

Dio had a hunch ever since they encountered the abnormal gravitational fluctuations, and now he saw that it was indeed the case.

Even a Space Hulk made of a dozen battleships wouldn't have such a powerful gravitational wave. So, what else could be the culprit stirring up this gravitational wave besides a Battle Moon jumping face-first onto a planet from the warp?

However, Amidel's reaction was somewhat unexpected for Dio: "Didn't you see this thing during the Great Crusade?"

"I've seen ork Mork Gorillas, I've seen ork Super Heavy Bosses, I've even fought those behemoths," Amidel shook his head, "but I've never seen such a large, fully modified armed satellite… and this armed satellite can even travel through the warp! How long did they develop to possess such a massive creation?"

Dio generally understood.

As one of the orks' most powerful creations, the Battle Moon has always been a topic of relish for players who liked Greenskins before their transmigration. But in reality, this thing hasn't appeared that many times.

orks must constantly evolve in battle, unearthing the scientific knowledge hidden within their own genes, to construct more reasonable and massive creations based purely on 'Ere We Go.

During the Great Crusade Era, the earth-shattering Battle of Ullanor broke the back of the entire ork race, so much so that for a long time afterward, no ork race had the ability to rampage through several sectors again.

Of course, humans also suffered greatly, mainly because Warmaster Horus emerged from this battle. Horus, who ascended to the Warmaster's throne through this battle, also broke humanity's back decades later.

Humanity, with its back broken, gradually evolved into the current decrepit Imperium. The xenos, once repeatedly purged during the Great Crusade Era, now found fertile ground for growth and development again within the Imperium's vast territories and inefficient communication.

The orks, who had previously lost the ability to create Battle Moons, now flaunted their Battle Moon in everyone's faces, and current humanity seemed incapable of doing anything but taking a beating.

Dio was still contemplating the current situation, but as the bridge hatch opened, the astartes, who had been ordered to stay in the ship's hold during full-speed advancement, surged in.

They wanted to understand what had happened, but the Battle Moon that met their eyes plunged all of them into silence.

"Dio, we were heading towards the Sol System before, right?" After a moment of silence, Lieutenant Ebo confirmed with Dio.

"That is correct."

"Although we are not in the Solar System now, we should be near it?"

"Perhaps you have a talent for being a navigator, Lieutenant Ebo, but what exactly do you want to say?"

"Are you sure the current Imperium of Man is dominating the galaxy as you said before?"

Lieutenant Ebo pressed his face against the viewport, staring intently at the Battle Moon outside: "I've never heard of an empire dominating the galaxy that lets orks block them at their doorstep with their piled-up garbage!"

Dio shrugged: "You're right, but this is the Imperium."

What dominates the galaxy is not necessarily a nation, but it could also be a bloated corpse. The Imperium can crush most opponents with its sheer size, but it cannot prevent those enemies from feasting on its rotting flesh before they are crushed.

"This is an era completely different from the Great Crusade Era. Each of us must learn to adapt in such an era."

Dio made a brief summary, then ordered: "Stay away from this ork Battle Moon. We'll hide on the far side of the planet that the Battle Moon is orbiting."

This cobbled-together ship had no onboard weapons, and Dio wasn't foolish enough to engage in a head-on confrontation with orks who possessed a Battle Moon.

Thanks to the ship's extremely miniature size, the careless orks apparently didn't notice a small ship escaping from the warp rift they had just passed through, heading away from the Battle Moon.

The orks, already in a war frenzy, shouted "Waaagh!" as they boarded their hollowed-out megaliths and then slammed into the planet like meteors.

This crude and brutal landing method would undoubtedly kill many orks, but they clearly didn't care about that as they simultaneously activated the Battle Moon's gravity weapons upon landing.

Dio and Amidel stood on the bridge, watching the Battle Moon use gravity to pull the planet's surface. Countless rocks and underground mineral veins were siphoned by the Battle Moon, forming a bond of countless debris between the planet's surface and the Battle Moon.

As Dio and the others moved to the far side of the planet, the Battle Moon, which was extracting resources from the entire planet, vanished from everyone's sight. However, the tumultuous surface of the planet constantly reminded them of the catastrophe this planet was enduring. The occasional mushroom clouds also made them realize that there were still people on the ground resisting on this planet.

"Is it the Imperium's army?" Sergeant Arlo asked, "Should we rescue them?"

"Judging by the yield of the explosion, it is indeed a standard Imperial nuclear warhead… We definitely need to save them, but not now."

Dio searched the star chart on the cogitator. The Adeptus Mechanicus ships had quite detailed records of star charts, but the star chart on this Cogitator from M41 did not record the current planet, which implicitly declared that this planet was inevitably doomed to be destroyed in this battle.

He certainly needed to find out which planet was being attacked by the orks, but this question was not worth the risk of finding out now.

Dio would not make a guaranteed losing deal with the capital he had on hand.

In fact, he had originally planned to reach Terra and act opportunistically before the War of the Beast began, but the current Battle Moon clearly indicated that the War of the Beast had already started.

Given this, he had to plan even more carefully.

They drifted in orbit for three days, until the Battle Moon swaggered away from the planet it had drained. Only after confirming that there were no other active ships in orbit did Dio give the order to enter the planet.

The vessel breached the planet's gradually stripping atmosphere and finally hovered at an altitude of ten thousand meters.

The orks on the ground had cobbled together rudimentary anti-air weapons in just three days, and Dio dared not let his only ship descend too low.

After agreeing on a signal for the ship to pick him up with Lieutenant Ebo, who remained on board, he led a small, lightly equipped team to descend from orbit to the surface.

After Amidel, using his Katana, cut down a few orks who were making mushroom soup at their landing site, Dio issued their mission objective to the ten-man squad he, Amidel, and Sergeant Arlo led.

"Find any surviving Imperium of Man personnel, approach them as rescuers, and extract intelligence from them about the current situation of this war."

He gravely surveyed the ten warriors in yellow power armor before him, emphasizing once more:

"Remember your current identity. Each and every one of us is a Custodian stationed on Terra, the glorious descendant of the Seventh Legion, the conqueror of the Iron Warriors, the Imperium of Man's strongest spear—"

"We are the Imperial Fists!"

The space marines in yellow power armor cautiously advanced across the still-unstable terrain. The orks' gravity weapons had profoundly damaged the planet's landscape, making its topography utterly unpredictable.

Overflowing lava and ubiquitous ruins hindered their progress. Dio led the squad in a search for several hours, only advancing about seventy to eighty kilometers, and saw no surviving Imperium of Man forces.

This much progress on an entire planet was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"I feel we won't gain anything on this planet if we continue like this."

Sergeant Arlo sighed, "Perhaps we've come too late, and all resisting Imperium of Man forces on this planet have already been eliminated?"

Dio replied without looking back, "Don't rush. The Sons of Dorn should have no shortage of patience."

Sergeant Arlo and the others exchanged glances, and an awkward atmosphere spread among the warriors forced into yellow power armor. But Dio ignored it, hunkering behind a rock to carefully observe the orks in the distance.

"Besides, we're not without gains. Look."

Following Dio's direction, Amidel and Arlo saw a crashed strike cruiser in the distance.

Although many orks were currently surrounding the cruiser, and the ship's wreckage's paint scheme was indistinguishable, its presence indicated that at least space marines had been involved in the battle here.

Dio waited for Amidel and Arlo to understand on their own, but was met with their strange looks instead.

Dio paused, then remembered that during the Great Crusade Era, specialized rapid-strike fleets deploying astartes, such as battle barges and strike cruisers, were not yet in service.

Compared to conventional warships, these rapid-strike vessels were more like a reluctant substitute after the codex astartes stipulated that Adeptus Astartes Chapters should not possess warships solely dedicated to naval combat—though some Chapters might own official cruisers or battleships for special reasons, this was generally the case.

He explained these ship types, designed for the space marines of today, to them. But he was met with Amidel and Arlo's incomprehension.

"Why? Our physique is sufficient to load macro-cannon shells faster than Mortals or servitors. If there were models specifically for astartes, there should be two more macro-cannons to enhance firepower. Why reduce the number of macro-cannons instead?"

"If you could fire two more shots, it wouldn't just be the xenos who couldn't sleep; it would also be the High Lords of the Terra Council."

Amidel and Arlo exchanged glances. From Dio's answer, they sensed the astartes' awkward position within the Imperium of Man today.

However, this was not the time to dwell on it. Now that he knew astartes definitely existed on this planet, Dio planned to center his tactics around this discovery.

"Astartes are tough fighters. Even if the geological activity initially caught them off guard, it's impossible for them to be completely wiped out by the orks in just three days."

Dio explained his idea to everyone: "But staying on this planet would only be waiting for death. As long as they want to contact the outside world, they will inevitably need to acquire the ship's communication equipment."

"So we're going to attack the orks next to the ship to lure out the surviving astartes who are targeting the vessel?" Amidel understood. "Indeed, if there were no enemies left, these orks would inevitably fall into infighting until a final ork Boss emerged. But right now, there are only ork Boyz here, which means survivors must exist."

"Exactly. As soon as we act, they, seeing an opportunity, will inevitably follow. But remember your identity. You are now warriors of the Imperial Fists. If any surviving astartes appear, do not reveal any identity other than that of the Imperial Fists!"

Dio stood up. He fired a shot into the sky, first creating a commotion that would attract everyone nearby. Then he held aloft his recently crafted yellow banner embroidered with a white fist, roaring like a Commissar:

"By Dorn! For your glory and that of the Lord of Terra!"

The yellow-armored warriors lined up behind him. They held Dio's upgraded silver-white Phobos pattern bolter rifles, and massive bolter rounds precisely struck down the orks with ranged weapons from the ship's wreckage.

Bazelgeuse materials in Monster Hunter could originally be used to craft bows or ballistae. But unlike melee weapons, which retain their power in warhammer, ordinary bows are not popular here, and Dio has not yet found a way to better integrate ballistae into warhammer.

However, under Dio's 'Ere We Go, who had mastered forging techniques, Dio temporarily incorporated the Silver Rathalos materials into bolters, thinking, "Anyway, it's just firing bolter rounds to let them fight on their own, so it's no different from a ballista." This made these bolter rifles, which were already considered holy relics, even more powerful after incorporating the Silver Rathalos materials.

bolter rounds made from bazelgeuse's explosive glands plunged into the fuel tanks of the orks as if they had eyes, causing a massive sympathetic detonation in the vicinity.

Countless ork limbs and torsos were blown into the air, and the fierce fire incinerated the orks and their spores.

But such an attack did not scare the orks. On the contrary, seeing a fight after a long time excited them. They each raised their scrap metal weapons and launched a counter-charge against Dio and his team.

The yellow-armored warriors were unfazed. To conserve ammunition, after clearing the ranged enemies, they put down their bolters and picked up their various weapons, joining the close-quarters combat with the orks.

These orks, who had fallen onto the planet and almost regressed into feral orks due to lack of weapons, were no match for Amidel. Although they continued to surge forward one after another, they still couldn't stop Dio and his team's advance.

But the difficulty of fighting orks is never about how to attack, but how to defend against the tide of orks surging forward.

"Board this cruiser and block all entrances!"

Dio, breaking into the strike cruiser's ruins, cleaved an ork Boyz wrench-wielder who was dismantling metal on the ruins. These ork Boyz, specializing in the unique 'Waaagh-style technology' of the orks, made Dio realize that the upcoming defensive battle wouldn't be easy.

But facing the wave of orks attracted by the commotion of the battle in the distance, Dio still insisted on ordering:

"Hold for a while. Let's see if any surviving astartes arrive!"

"By Dorn... What's that noise?"

Kurland faintly heard their Imperial Fists' battle cry. His ears, not very sensitive after continuous battles, sought confirmation from the dozen or so remaining brothers around him, and all gave affirmative replies.

Indeed, someone was shouting their battle cry, and the direction it came from was precisely the crashed battle cruiser they were heading towards!

Clearly, other Imperial Fists survivors had thought of the same thing as them; they were not alone!

The battle cry of other survivors excited Kurland.

Three days had passed since the ork invasion. In the battles of these three days, they first lost Chapter Master Dantalion. Subsequently, the captain of the First Company and the captain of the Third Company, who had rendezvoused with them, also perished under the pincer attack of the Chrome and the orks. He led the remaining brothers to barely eliminate all the Chrome, but that was all.

Captain Kurland still remembered Chapter Master Dantalion's dying words, a final command to uncover the truth. But he had given up hope of them escaping this planet, which had become a prison.

He led the surviving Imperial Fists, searching and hiding among the greenskins that covered the mountains, but he did not find any other Imperial Fists.

Their range of activity also constantly shrank under the greenskins' repeated sweeps, leaving them almost no breathing room.

Kurland knew clearly that the Imperial Fists had reached the brink of destruction.

Their remaining numbers couldn't even organize an attack on the crashed strike cruiser, and even if they did, they didn't know if there was anything in the ruins of that strike cruiser that could help them escape the danger!

But he would not give up; the Sons of Dorn would not give up.

He still persisted on this planet, and now, the battle cries from other survivors were the best reward for his persistence. He no longer hid from the greenskins' eyes, instead drawing his power sword and staring intently at the remaining Imperial Fists: "Sons of Dorn, we will never let our brothers fight alone!"

"Imperial Fists!"

He issued what might be his last order, "Advance!"

The stoic Sons of Dorn roared, and despite being covered in wounds, they still, with bolters in hand, poured their ammunition onto the greenskins with seething rage, like lava erupting from a volcano after a moment of silence.

The greenskins, who were converging on the strike cruiser ruins, were caught off guard by this attack from behind. They were about to turn around when they were knocked to the ground by flying bolter rounds, then mercilessly trampled by the astartes' boots.

The echoing bolter fire naturally also attracted Dio's attention.

From the sound, he could distinguish that it was from the MK4 Phobos pattern bolter, widely used by Space Marine Chapters today, and he instantly realized that the sound was coming from the astartes survivors on this planet.

Dio shifted his gaze to the direction of the sound, vaguely seeing a group of yellow-armored warriors appearing on a distant mountaintop. From their movements, they were clearly making a fearless charge towards the strike cruiser ruins.

Wait, yellow armor?

Dio suddenly noticed something was amiss.

He glanced at the group of yellow-armored figures, then looked at Amidel beside him, whom he had painted in yellow armor. The similarity in color made him consider a strange possibility.

He gasped.

Oh no, did he pretend to be the big Boss to the real big Boss?

But it wasn't necessarily so; after all, many of the successor Chapters of the Imperial Fists split off during the Second Founding also wore yellow power armor, just replacing the fist with different colors... Dio's mind raced, but letting that group of warriors charging towards them be swallowed by the green tide was clearly not an option.

Unlike Dio's side, which was composed of veteran elites with special weapons, the astartes remnant, numbering in the dozens, was already tottering under the greenskin assault; their lives hung on Dio's decision.

"Amidel!" Dio, having made his decision, shouted loudly: "Save them!"

Amidel understood. The ten-man squad originally defending the strike cruiser ruins shifted into a wedge formation, with several space marines wielding heavy melee weapons clearing the way at the front, while those behind provided fire support with bolters. The sensible combination allowed them to deal with these orks as if slicing through melons, and they quickly approached the exhausted yellow-armored astartes.

The closer distance allowed Dio and his group to clearly see the markings on their armor, and the distinct Imperial Fists symbol on their shoulder pads made Dio sigh.

Things had gotten a bit complicated.

But it wasn't without a solution.

Regardless, saving this squad of Imperial Fists was the top priority. Dio could only approach them while deliberating on what nonsense he would say later.

However, Dio wasn't the only one thinking; on the opposite side, the Imperial Fists squad was also scrutinizing them with full of doubts.

Kurland swore he had never seen these warriors clad in Imperial Fists power armor.

Although other Chapters might have situations where long-campaigning companies return and don't recognize new recruits after Chapter replenishment, this certainly did not include the Imperial Fists, who were stationed above Terra year-round.

Moreover, all of them were wearing MK2 Crusade pattern power armor... Not to mention the strange, non-standard weapons in their hands, this type of power armor was a symbol of honor that only Imperial Fists honor veterans guarding the Imperial Palace walls were qualified to equip among the current Imperial Fists.

How did the other side manage to have one for each person?

And that Tech-Priest holding the Imperial Fists company banner... Although the main body of the banner was indeed embroidered with the Imperial Fists Chapter emblem, Kurland could not find any symbol on it representing the company to which the other side belonged.

This strange situation made the originally excited Kurland apprehensive. He slowed his pace, wanting to observe this group of strange warriors a bit more. But his brother's urgent call pulled him back to reality.

"Captain Kurland, watch out for the greenskins!"

While Kurland was intently observing the "Imperial Fists" on the opposite side, a greenskin, noticeably two sizes larger than the other orks, charged towards them savagely.

Unlike the other lads who simply wielded choppas or iron bars, this ork had learned to arm himself with tattered armor.

He held aloft a power hammer, snatched from who-knew-where, and in the blink of an eye, he hammered down two Imperial Fists warriors who tried to stop him. Charging in fiercely from the flank, his target was none other than Kurland, the commander!

Kurland, whose mind had wandered, couldn't dodge in time. He was knocked to the ground by the greenskin, who used his size advantage. Facing the fallen Kurland, the hammer-wielding ork grinned savagely and raised his hammer.

"WAAAGH! I'm da Boss o' da tin-can hummie! If I can rip yer skin off, I'll be da biggest, meanest Boss round 'ere, ya gitz!"

Too late to regret his earlier distraction, Kurland, barely holding his sword to block, had already braced himself to be severely wounded by this blow. His mind even began to calculate who should take over command if he was gravely injured.

But to his surprise, a shield, resembling an axe head, suddenly extended in front of him, actually blocking this powerful blow for him!

Kurland was stunned. He looked up and saw that those "Imperial Fists" with special weapons had already arrived. The astartes who had blocked the greenskin's hammer blow pushed forward with his shield, directly causing the greenskin to stumble.

The greenskin roared, striking the shield with a backhand. But the shield of this warrior, named Veneto, was like a flat, hard, unyielding steel plate, blocking all of the greenskin's attacks.

The shield now glowed faintly red, and Veneto did not hesitate. He actually merged the sword in his other hand into the shield, transforming the sword and shield into an axe, and then, with an unstoppable momentum, delivered a fierce axe strike at the greenskin!

"Shield-Axe, release!"

Amidst Veneto's furious roar, the irresistible axe blade, from top to bottom, vertically split the greenskin, who was about to advance to an ork Warboss, in half!

The greenskin's blood splattered on Kurland, who was still on the ground, but Kurland had no time to care. He stared intently at this "Imperial Fist" before him, his heart full of shock.

Such pure power...!

Kurland even felt that he saw in the other party the demeanor of Sigismund, the Imperial Fists' first champion, legendary for his bravery in battle.

But even such a powerful warrior was mercilessly reprimanded by another, who arrived in a hurry carrying a longsword and a single-handed shield:

"Couldn't you have just chopped him? Did you have to combine the shield and axe?"

"Reporting, Seargeant Arlo, I'll do it again next time!"

Kurland was filled with mixed emotions. He was both shocked by the other party's power, like a Chapter Champion, and wanted to thank this Imperial Fists brother he didn't know for saving his life, while also wanting to figure out their true identity.

Kurland was thinking so much that for a moment he forgot to stand up from the ground.

It wasn't until Dio offered him a hand that he got up from the ground, looking disheveled.

"I am Kurland, Second captain of the Imperial Fists. Thank you for your help." Kurland thanked him awkwardly, his gaze falling on Dio, who was holding the company banner: "But why is the Imperial Fists company banner with you, a Tech-Priest..."

Before Kurland could finish his question, Dio stepped forward, taking the initiative. He stared intently at Kurland, his eyes showing both regret and a hint of anticipation.

"Tell me, brother of the Imperial Fists," Kurland heard Dio ask him, enunciating each word carefully, "What is the situation on Terra?!"

"Terra…?" Kurland was a little bewildered.

Terra? Which Terra? What Terra?

The astartes modifications granted space marines swifter minds than Mortals, but even with that enhanced brain, Kurland couldn't quite grasp what the other party meant.

What is the situation on Terra? What, did the orks reach Terra in the short three days they had been attacked by them here?

Kurland was still mulling over Dio's words, but Dio didn't give him space to think. Seeing Kurland unable to answer immediately, Dio frowned and pressed on:

"Which Terra could it be? Of course, the Terra besieged by the traitor Horus! Don't you know the situation on Terra either?"

Kurland froze.

These words were like a thunderclap in his heart. But it wasn't just him; even amidst the fierce battle, all the surrounding surviving Imperial Fists warriors shifted their gaze.

They looked at Dio in disbelief, their shock making them overlook the equally stunned expressions on Amidel's and the others' faces.

"You…" Kurland opened his mouth to say something, but he suddenly realized his choice of words was disrespectful: "You are…?"

"I am Dio, a Bio-Magos of Underworld No. 8."

Dio pulled out his officially certified Tech-Priest Bio-Magos badge. This item, when scanned by Adeptus Mechanicus equipment, would display the exact date Dio truly became a Bio-Magos, but there was clearly no time for Kurland to verify it now:

"Our company, under the command of commander Yvande, broke through the encirclement of the Sons of Horus to deliver intelligence from Cthonia to Lord Rogal Dorn. This intelligence must be delivered personally into Lord Dorn's hands."

"So tell me, what is the situation on Terra? Are you still able to contact Lord Dorn?"

Both of Kurland's hearts pounded violently; even as a Space Marine, he felt a little breathless at this moment.

As the captain of the Imperial Fists' Second Company, Kurland naturally had the right to know some secrets that ordinary warriors did not.

All Imperial Fists warriors knew of their Primarch Rogal Dorn's great contributions during the Siege of Terra, but few knew that the heavy responsibility borne by the Imperial Fists during the Siege of Terra was not solely defense.

In fact, Rogal Dorn had dispatched an Imperial Fists force of about thirty thousand men to Cthonia before the traitors arrived in the Solar System.

This Imperial Fists force, led by commander Yvande Garius, aimed to destroy Cthonia, the homeworld of the Sons of Horus, and sever the planet's connection to the Heresy.

However, Cthonia was ultimately destroyed, and most of those thirty thousand Imperial Fists also went missing.

But what did Kurland see now?

An Imperial Fists company claiming to be from the time of the Siege of Terra appeared before him, and they were clearly warriors who had emerged from the battle on Cthonia!

The reason for their wearing MK2 Crusade power armor and carrying company banners he couldn't recognize was clearly this: they were not Imperial Fists of this era at all. To the current Imperial Fists, they were living legends!

When the current Imperial Fists were on the brink of annihilation, a group of legendary warriors who had traveled through time from the Heresy saved the Imperial Fists from dire straits… And he had previously doubted the identity of these warriors, doubted these Imperial Fists legends?

The remorseful Kurland had no mind to appreciate the grandeur of this legend; his heart was almost crushed by the self-reproach stemming from his earlier doubts.

Noticing Kurland's unusual state, Dio gave Amidel a look, signaling Amidel to step forward and calm Kurland. The twitching Amidel could only put on his helmet first, then questioned in a private communication channel:

"This wasn't in our previous plan!"

"Plans change," Dio presented the text in binary code within Amidel's helmet, reassuring him: "Since we've gotten this far, we have to go all out with the act."

"I don't know how to do it?!"

"It's fine, just do as I say."

Amidel, under his helmet, suppressed his almost shattered expression. He braced himself and walked up to Kurland, extending his hand to him.

"Continue to fight, brother, no matter the situation on Terra, at least we must first escape the clutches of these Xenos."

Kurland looked at Amidel. The other's heavily modified power armor, covered in fangs, had previously been the main object of his suspicion, but now this "heretical" attire was, in his eyes, proof of this warrior's glory.

Facing the friendly invitation from a legendary warrior, Kurland, realizing that he should indeed continue fighting, shook off his previous slump. He raised his power sword high and shouted:

"Sons of Dorn, continue to fight! The Imperial Fists will never be defeated by these green-skinned Xenos!"

"Because at this moment, we stand shoulder to shoulder with legends!"

His words gave all the surviving Imperial Fists the answers they wanted. They became excited, and even the warriors who had been severely wounded and knocked down by the ork boss struggled to their feet, attacking the orks with all their might. Their surging morale even suppressed the Waaagh of the orks for a time.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Dio raised his hand and fired a signal flare. Upon seeing the signal, the Hunter slowly descended to pick up Dio and his group.

However, the ship's design prevented it from hovering within the atmosphere, so, as Dio had previously arranged, several felynes led by Tom nimbly leaped out of the cabin.

Carrying crates, they activated their psychic shields and, with the help of parachutes, landed precisely beside Dio.

The fight against non-human entities made the Imperial Fists warriors somewhat sensitive to the felynes, but fortunately, Dio quickly calmed their emotions.

"These are indigenous creatures we modified on Cthonia. Personnel were scarce on Cthonia, so these modified creatures handle our logistical work. Their status is equivalent to the void-faring dogs of the navigator families."

Dio pried open the crate brought by the felynes. Inside were individual jetpacks that he had modified from the materials of a plasma engine after disassembling it: "Now, put on these jetpacks, and we'll fly to the ship!"

Amidel and Kurland led their forces to contract their formation. Everyone took turns donning the jetpacks, and the full gear change was quickly completed. The felynes seized the opportunity to deploy large bolter barrels within the defensive perimeter.

The moment the space marines soared into the air, they detonated the bolter barrels. The blast wave pushed back the surging orks, and the rising smoke also obstructed the orks' vision, allowing the space marines and felynes to escape successfully.

The rescue was completed smoothly, and with everyone on board, the Hunter wasted no more time. The Teostra engine suddenly accelerated, and before long, it sent the vessel into low-Earth orbit outside the exosphere, leaving the green-skins, who had not yet developed spacefaring capabilities, to sigh in despair as they watched the ship depart.

But the ork war would never cease. Still not having had their fill of fighting, they turned their bloodshot eyes on each other. As an unknown ork shouted, the hunt targeting the space marines instantly devolved into an ork civil war.

But all of this was irrelevant to Dio and the others who had left.

At least… temporarily irrelevant.

.....

Kurland still felt a little unreal.

Just over ten minutes ago, they were in a desperate situation, but now they were safely on board the ship… although this ship, it was a little bit off.

Leaving aside the wings and dragon head I saw when flying up, what exactly is the engine inside this thing?

The veterans of the Imperial Fists who flew up with them were all carrying a few green-skins, more or less. They didn't care if the green-skins inside were dead or alive; they just shoved them directly into a gaping maw on the ship. Some green-skins, still clinging to a sliver of life, tried to climb out, but an felynes supervising nearby knocked them back in with a hammer.

Chewing sounds came from the gaping maw, and the green-skins being stuffed inside were disappearing at a visible rate. The warlike green-skins could no longer let out their 'Waaagh!' battle cries at this moment, only watching in terror as their bodies were swallowed bit by bit.

This was the first time Captain Kurland had heard these bloodthirsty green-skins scream.

He never knew green-skins could make such sounds.

Such screams made Captain Kurland feel somewhat vindicated, but the process of devouring flesh and blood also sent shivers down his spine.

He personally saw that after the flesh and blood of these orks were devoured, the tail flame spewing from the wingtip of the spaceship suddenly increased in size. This change made him think of only one thing—

Daemon Engine.

Those were mad creations that bound Daemons to machinery; the combination of Daemon and machine meant that those half-machine, half-Daemon vehicles no longer required ordinary fuel. Only blood and souls could drive these dark creations of Chaos.

Although Captain Kurland did not sense the aura of death and hatred that Daemon Engines should possess from these machines, the operating principle felt wrong no matter how he looked at it.

He wanted to open his mouth to ask, but everyone here was an old senior from the Imperial Fists. They had already saved him and brought their group onto the spaceship, which was a kindness that saved the entire Imperial Fists. He wasn't sure if he should speak up.

The Legion has no secrets.

This is a lie.

Having reached the position of Second captain of the Imperial Fists, Captain Kurland naturally knew that the Legion could not be without its own little secrets. Even if he was curious about some things, he absolutely could not ask about them. Moreover, these people were his old seniors.

What if one of his questions inadvertently exposed a small secret that the old seniors had carried since the Legion era?

In the end, it was still an internal Imperial Fists issue. It was best to investigate such matters in secret after they were brought to their designated rest area... But to Captain Kurland's embarrassment, no one had paid them any attention since they boarded the ship. He could only lead the remaining Imperial Fists warriors to stand awkwardly in the corridor at the entrance of the cabin, watching the felynes come and go around them.

He didn't know that Amidel and the others were avoiding further contact because they couldn't keep up the act anymore.

Fortunately, their predicament was not entirely unnoticed. For instance, Magos Dio, the enthusiastic Tech-priest who hadn't been seen since boarding the ship, 'happened' to pass by at this moment.

"Why are you still here?" Dio asked, feigning surprise, "Why aren't you in the ready room?"

Captain Kurland was startled: "Can we go directly to the ready room?"

"We are all brothers of the Imperial Fists, why not... Oh, you don't know the way to the ready room, do you? I'll take you there. This ship is very small, you'll naturally remember it after one trip."

Dio waved his hand, indicating that Captain Kurland didn't need to thank him. He led the way first, but soon slowed his pace, walking side by side with Captain Kurland. Looking at the still somewhat uneasy Captain Kurland, he asked with a smile:

"How do you feel about this ship?"

"Uh..." Captain Kurland didn't expect Dio to bring up this topic: "I think this ship looks a bit too heretical."

His Astartes mind told him whether to avoid discussing a matter, but the single-mindedness inherited from Dorn meant that once he brought something up, there was no possibility of subtle expression:

"With all due respect, that engine that runs on ork flesh and blood seems to me like a Daemon Engine. Why would such heretical technology be used on an Imperial Fists warship?"

"You're right, because this was originally a ship possessed by Daemons," Dio candidly 'admitted'.

"A ship possessed by Daemons? I don't understand..."

"There's nothing to misunderstand, Captain Kurland."

Dio stared at him: "I don't particularly want to describe the cruelty of Cthonia, but the fact is that we were surrounded by the Sons of Horus with more than three times our number of warships, forced into a desperate, pincer-attack defense on the ground. And all of this was merely to prevent Cthonia, as the homeworld of the traitor Horus, from continuously supplying new recruits to his Legion."

"Lord Castellan Yvande entrusted our company to bring the secret war situation of Cthonia to Lord Dorn, but we no longer had any flyable ships."

"We could only manage to seize a small ship from the Sons of Horus whose machine spirit had already been corrupted by Chaos, and then hastily plunged into the chaotic warp storms... But don't worry, I have already presided over the purification ritual for this ship. Now you just need to treat that engine as a biomass-powered engine."

The highest realm of lies is half-truth, half-falsehood.

The first half of Dio's statement was not a lie, and Captain Kurland, who had only a few words of understanding about the truth of Cthonia, naturally believed the latter half. He nodded heavily, seemingly sensing the weighty significance of history from Dio's understated words.

Dio led this squad of Imperial Fists through the ship. Thanks to the ship's small size, they didn't take long to reach the ready room at the stern.

Dio opened the door to the ready room: "There isn't much space on this ship, I hope you don't mind squeezing in with your 'brothers'. I'll come later to check on your health and weapons. For now, just rest here."

"Once you're rested, we'll go find Lord Dorn. Our deployment orders are to rest on site after delivering the intelligence and participate in the defense of Terra. Perhaps we can become comrades later. Before that, you can get to know the people in our company here in the ready room."

Captain Kurland agreed, but when the ready room hatch was fully opened, a profound shock appeared on his face as he saw the situation inside.

What he saw was a group of space marines missing arms and legs. Unlike the ten elite warriors who rescued them on the surface of Ardamantua, who were impeccably clean, these warriors were unarmored, and many of the disabled warriors only had simple prosthetics.

Although none of them appeared to be in Mortal danger, most of them had clearly lost their combat capability.

But they were simply crowded silently and quietly in this ready room, assisting and manufacturing some parts as much as they could with the help of the felynes. The Imperial Fists company banner previously held by Dio was now being protected by these wounded soldiers, looking as good as new.

Recalling that his own company's banner had been lost somewhere in the previous chaos, Captain Kurland felt a lump in his throat.

Undoubtedly, the silent wounded soldiers, like himself, were all resilient Sons of Dorn.

Captain Kurland knew that a company during the Great Crusade Era, like a Chapter today, consisted of a thousand men. But he took a rough glance and found that this ready room, combined with the ten-man squad that had just been active, numbered no more than about a hundred people.

A thousand-man company, in order to deliver intelligence, had lost nine-tenths of its strength during the breakout, and even so, they had spared no effort to protect their proud company banner... Captain Kurland deeply felt that he had no right to doubt these veterans who had given their all during the Siege of Terra. At this moment, he cast aside all his doubts about these warriors.

He turned back, grabbed Dio who was about to leave, and said to him with difficulty:

"I know this might be hard to understand, but Magos Dio, I must tell you... the Battle of Terra ended a full millennium ago."

Hearing this, an expression of shock appeared on Dio's face at the appropriate moment.

He turned around, grabbed Captain Kurland, and asked hoarsely:

"What did you say? A millennium!"

The Chapter banner was sewn by Dio earlier, and the wounded were hastily gathered after returning to the ship.

But it doesn't matter; anything can be fake as long as the trust gained is real.

Dio, with Captain Kurland, who now fully trusted them, 'urgently' summoned all company commanders to the bridge.

On the bridge, Captain Kurland himself recounted the 'bad news' of the past millennium to everyone.

Although the faces of the space marines remained expressionless, Captain Kurland still keenly detected their 'shock' from the subtle twitches in their cheek muscles.

However, not one of them spoke, and the atmosphere became awkward in the silence after Captain Kurland finished speaking.

Dio pulled him aside: "Forgive them; you know the Sons of Dorn gradually close off their hearts during prolonged combat, becoming as stubborn as stone and taciturn in all matters except fighting… They have endured too many wars."

Captain Kurland nodded in understanding.

He was also a Son of Dorn and naturally understood many of the character flaws that came with the Dorn bloodline, so he had no doubts about these silent space marines.

But this was exactly what Dio needed; otherwise, if these space marines spoke, Captain Kurland would discover they weren't shocked but rather struggling to maintain their composure.

"I am a Magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus, but also the commander of this breakout operation. Lord Yvande himself has fully entrusted me with the external affairs of this force, so Captain Kurland, you only need to tell me the situation now."

Dio brought up the data slate on the bridge. The Hunter, which had been orbiting Ardamantua, displayed its rough scan results of the Ardamantua's surface on the data slate.

It showed that these green-skinned orks, who had fallen into civil war due to a lack of external enemies, were rapidly advancing their tech tree in the civil war, possibly less than a month away from building warp-capable spacecraft.

"We already know that the Battle of Terra was won a thousand years ago, but this news doesn't solve the problem we currently face. Let's talk about the orks, Captain Kurland."

Dio suppressed these reports, which were clearly displayed before everyone: "No matter how many years have passed… at least I am certain we are moving towards Terra. I believe this should be near the Sol System, and not far from Terra. But why do we see the rampage of orks even in this holy star system?"

"I don't know either. In fact, our Chapter received orders to eradicate an alien species called Chrome on Ardamantua."

Captain Kurland's face darkened, clearly lost in painful memories from before:

"But these orks, piloting a massive moon, suddenly appeared above Ardamantua! They used gravity weapons to destroy the surface of Ardamantua, and the Imperial Fists, who were all deployed on the ground, had no power to retaliate. We suffered devastating blows in an instant—that's all I know!"

Amidel asked, "The entire Imperial Fists?"

Chosen by the others to communicate, he tried his best to make his voice sound more shocked. Following the script Dio had prepared, he pressed on: "Are you saying an Imperial Fists force of one hundred thousand, including both troops and fleet, was completely wiped out on Ardamantua?"

"No, Lord Amidel."

Captain Kurland was full of respect for this 'Imperial Fists' company champion, but this topic clearly touched a raw nerve for him.

"It's all because of that ambitious Guilliman; now all Legions have been torn apart. The Imperial Fists are already a small Chapter of only a thousand space marines, a whole Chapter with the number of space marines of just one ordinary company under a Great Company from the former Legion!"

His face was filled with rage, and he slammed his fist hard on the table: "Our Primarch has gone missing, the Legion has been divided, and the High Lords who now dominate the Imperium's political landscape don't even allow us to have regular fleets and Mortal auxiliary forces; all heavy firepower has been cut!"

"Under such circumstances, they still demanded that the Imperial Fists come to eradicate over eighty billion Chrome aliens on Ardamantua!"

"The Imperial Fists, with only a thousand space marines remaining, had to go all out to complete this mission of eradicating the aliens. All of us were deployed on Ardamantua, and then, at that very moment, orks suddenly appeared from the sky! Lacking brothers and a fleet, we were completely unable to make any counterattack!"

"The destruction of the Imperial Fists was fundamentally caused by Guilliman and his codex astartes, which split all Legions! Secondly, it was those High Lords who only allowed the Imperial Fists to go deep into Ardamantua alone!"

"Those High Lords are the scum of the Imperial people! They call themselves High Lords merely because they achieved temporary victory in the power struggles of Mortals; they have been in the Imperium's highest leadership positions for hundreds of years, yet they have only learned how to eat with knives and forks!"

Captain Kurland took off his helmet; his face was flushed, and even his hands began to tremble.

"From the very beginning, the Imperial Fists were betrayed and deceived by the High Lords. This is a great betrayal of the Imperium and the Emperor! How can we fight under such circumstances? It's over, the Imperial Fists have been wiped out, but if the High Lords think the Imperial Fists will fall just like that, they are gravely mistaken!"

"I will eliminate these ork aliens, and then I will go to those High Lords and hold them accountable one by one! If I cannot do it, I would rather put a bolter round through my head!"

Amidel and the other space marines exchanged glances.

Putting themselves in his shoes, if they had watched an entire Chapter of brothers die before them, they would also harbor no less anger than Captain Kurland currently felt. However, his statements, upon closer scrutiny, bordered on rebellion.

The space marines of the Second Legion had little affection for the current Imperium, so these statements themselves would not put pressure on them.

But they were also unfamiliar with the current environment. Guided by Dio in every word and action, they didn't know how to react to Captain Kurland's shocking remarks.

Especially when Captain Kurland's expectant gaze fell upon Amidel, Amidel's pressure doubled.

"I believe the great Imperial Fists ancestors will lead us to accomplish all of this, right, Lord Amidel?"

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Amidel.

Amidel opened his mouth, unsure what to say.

The other party's words clearly implied handing over the leadership of the Imperial Fists, but... Magos Dio hadn't mentioned such a situation!

Why should I, a Company Champion of the Second Legion, become the Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists?

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Magos Dio, who had already figured out the current era from Captain Kurland's words, appeared in time to help Amidel out of the predicament.

"All traitors will pay with their own blood. They deceived the loyal defenders of humanity, and without defenders to protect them, they are bound to drown in the blood they spill. This was predestined the moment the orks appeared."

Magos Dio brought up the star map. He marked the location of Ardamantua on the map and the key star systems connected to it via warp routes. The destination of this trajectory was none other than Holy Terra.

"I believe the appearance of the orks is no coincidence. The ork boyz Battle Moon only stayed here for three days before leaving, so they must be heading to another place..."

"I don't know where they will pass through, but given the orks' characteristic of never stopping a fight, I dare to assert that the final battlefield will definitely be Holy Terra!"

Captain Kurland stared intently at the star map. Magos Dio's words brought forth a possibility he dreaded to consider but feared the most.

And Magos Dio's words continued.

"Regardless, the mission of the Imperial Fists is always to guard Terra. Whether it was the Siege of Terra a thousand years ago, or the current orks invasion... the High Lords will inevitably bleed under the orks' attack, but the Imperial Fists' mission to defend Terra will not change because of vermin like the High Lords on Terra."

"Now the orks are pressing on the gateway to the Sol System. To defend Terra under these circumstances, we will inevitably have to deal with the High Lords. And we neither understand the political situation nor are we clear about the current Chapter's organization. The responsibility of defending Terra cannot be independently borne by those of us who have just returned from the warp."

"The only person who can bear such a responsibility is you, Captain Kurland. Only you are the best candidate for the current Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists."

Magos Dio's words were like a heavy hammer striking Captain Kurland's heart. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, letting out a long sigh after a while.

"You are right, Magos Dio."

He softly acknowledged Magos Dio's statement: "I was blinded by rage... I only wanted to restore the past glory of the Imperial Fists under your leadership, but I forgot that our mission to defend Terra is above all honor and disgrace."

"Thank you, Magos Dio. You helped me regain my reason. I'm beginning to understand why Lord Castellian Yvande appointed you to command this Imperial Fists company."

"It's nothing."

Magos Dio smiled, accepting Captain Kurland's sincere gratitude: "Perhaps you already understand him better than he understands himself."

"?"

Captain Kurland was a little puzzled, but his firm resolve urged him to make a decision quickly regarding the fight against the orks. So he did not press further, merely announcing to everyone:

"I will temporarily assume the position of Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists until the threat of the orks to Terra is resolved. Before then, I hope that all of you esteemed sirs will work with me to jointly counter the orks' threat!"

Amidel and his group nodded in agreement, and the matter was finally put to rest.

Seeing the development return to its proper course, Magos Dio also breathed a sigh of relief.

He had long recognized what time period this was. As one of the few major events between the Heresy and the Indomitus Crusade launched by the "ambitious Guilliman" Captain Kurland spoke of, the prelude to the War of the Beast began with the Imperial Fists on an expedition being nearly wiped out by an attack from a Battle Moon.

However, in the original timeline, Captain Kurland should have been the sole survivor of the Imperial Fists.

But now, with Magos Dio's interference, they had instead unearthed a small squad of surviving Imperial Fists, including Captain Kurland, from the Imperial Fists' burial ground.

Heaven knows, Magos Dio originally just wanted to paint his space marines in the yellow armor of the Imperial Fists, and during this special period when the star systems around the Solar System were still unaware that the Imperial Fists were on the verge of annihilation, he planned to 'borrow' some necessary supplies under the name of the Imperial Fists.

After all, after the Second Legion disappeared, both the Seventh Legion Imperial Fists and the Thirteenth Legion Ultramarines had experienced abnormal increases in numbers. Historically and presently, these bloodlines of the Second Legion could be considered half direct descendants of the Imperial Fists. Using his stepfather's name to borrow some supplies, how could it not be considered "well-founded"?

Who could say it wasn't "justified"?

But these pretexts absolutely did not apply to directly running into the actual owner.

Especially when this owner wanted to cede the position of Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists to them?

He couldn't accept this responsibility. Even if he had gained the complete trust of Captain Kurland and the surviving Imperial Fists warriors, once he sat on the Mountain Array, who knew who might spot an issue?

With their limited manpower, how could they withstand the shifting political tides of Terra?

But as long as he didn't stand in the spotlight, there was plenty of room for maneuver.

Magos Dio, after much persuasion, finally got Captain Kurland to assume the Chapter Master position.

With Captain Kurland at the forefront, his leadership of Amidel and these 'Imperial Fists' veterans, who were highly respected by Captain Kurland, would undoubtedly offer more opportunities than the original plan of "looting and then taking these veterans to dig graves everywhere."

What he sought was to acquire more knowledge. This path of associating with the Imperial Fists carried greater risks, but the rewards were indeed high!

However, everything required caution and prudence, especially since the War of the Beast, unlike the well-documented Horus Heresy and Indomitus Crusade, had many stories described vaguely. Magos Dio's intelligence wouldn't have a significant advantage during this period.

Any plans would largely have to rely on on-the-spot judgment.

But as the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Just as he had just pushed the Chapter Master position back to Captain Kurland, Magos Dio was confident in his ability to handle this.

And just like Magos Dio, who was rapidly constructing new plans in his mind, Captain Kurland quickly settled into his role as Chapter Master.

He frowned, examining the star map, seemingly calculating what defensive plans to implement. Before long, he asked Magos Dio:

"Bio-Magos Dio, I can see you know a lot about this xenos, the orks. How do you think these orks will advance to Terra?"

"The orks? The orks are creatures that only know war. They will crush everything they encounter along the way until they are also crushed, which means the orks' advance will not be very fast."

Magos Dio individually marked the star systems along the warp jump route, from the Hive City planet Terminus, to the Exemplars of the Fist Chapter's homeworld Eidolica, and finally, he made a key mark on Sanctuary Port near Terra. That was one of the most important gateways to the Solar System, and many Imperial Navy ports and shipyards were also located there.

"Starting from Terminus, no world will be spared from the orks' Battle Moon. With all due respect, if the Imperial Fists guarding Terra are completely unprepared, then these worlds will likewise not be ready to face the ork Boyz. They will be directly and effortlessly destroyed by the ork Boyz. If we want to defend, our only hope is Sanctuary Port."

Captain Kurland's gaze followed Magos Dio's refer to to Sanctuary Port. He wasn't surprised that Magos Dio knew about Sanctuary Port, as it had been an important Imperial Navy fortress world since the Great Crusade. And he agreed with Magos Dio's idea:

"That's right, Sanctuary Port. Only there can an army capable of fighting the ork Boyz be hastily mobilized..."

"But we should not go directly to Sanctuary Port. I don't know the current situation, but I believe that only a big fist is the eternal truth. Our combined combat strength of just over twenty astartes will not even make a ripple in a chaotic Imperium. Even if we reach Sanctuary Port, we won't be able to lead the defensive war against the orks."

"So my target is here."

Magos Dio tapped the star map, marking a special planet — the Forge World Maximus.

This planet was not on the Battle Moon's inevitable path. Captain Kurland surveyed it, then cast a questioning glance at Magos Dio.

"We need the resources on this forge world to restore our combat strength. As you can see, we still have many wounded on our ship, but as long as they can receive the superhuman organs cultivated on a Forge World, they will immediately become extraordinary warriors again."

"By then, when over a hundred astartes go to Sanctuary Port, we can at least play a greater role in the defensive battle of Sanctuary Port. Although a hundred astartes are a drop in the bucket against the orks... if necessary, this force can also seize military command of Sanctuary Port."

Captain Kurland carefully examined forge world Maximus. He thought Magos Dio's words made a lot of sense, but more importantly, this Forge World was very close to the Abra Sector.

It was a sector important to all Sons of Dorn. It involved an ancient oath, spearheaded by Dorn himself, that concerned all Imperial Fists successor Chapters.

"So be it."

He made the final decision: "But how shall we travel to Maxim? On this ship, without a navigator?"

Within the range of the Astronomican, ships without a navigator could still travel through the warp, but they had to follow familiar warp routes.

Those present were clearly unfamiliar with how to reach Maxim, and even though this Forge World was close, the warp could turn an unknown distance into an insurmountable chasm.

But Dio, who knew the Adeptus Mechanicus' disposition well, remained calm and composed.

"No need to rush. Let's continue searching the surface of Ardamantua to see if there are any other survivors."

He wasn't at all worried about finding the way: "As for the Forge World..."

"Someone will naturally guide us when the time comes, I guarantee it."

It proved that Dio indeed understood the Adeptus Mechanicus well.

Within a week, an Adeptus Mechanicus survey ship bearing the insignia of Maxim had appeared above Ardamantua.

The ship was led by Bio-Magos Lifar, who had been dispatched by the Forge Director, Maxim's leader, to investigate this ork-ravaged planet.

The survey ship conducted a cursory scan of Ardamantua and found that there was nothing left on the planet except orks.

However, according to the Forge Director's orders, they still had to land on the planet to recover some ork samples and their technological artifacts. Ideally, they should also find two Imperial Fists bodies and bring them back for study.

"I really don't know what there is to investigate on this planet."

Magos Lifar, preparing to lead the team to the surface, grumbled to the Tech-Adept on board: "Just for some orks' scrap metal, they have to make us go to the surface to eat mushrooms?"

"But according to orders, we must ascertain the current level of development of these orks..."

The Tech-Adept replied cautiously. As an apprentice who had not yet graduated from under a Magos, he had to humbly consider the other party's feelings while also reminding him of the mission.

Such a thankless task was akin to exile. When Magos Lifar, who had made no progress on his own research for over a decade, was assigned this mission, the entire Forge World knew that he had been abandoned by the Forge Director.

Apprentices followed their Magos, and if a Magos failed a mission, the apprentices would likely never return to the Forge World in their lifetime.

"Level of development? What does it matter to us if they can build a pile of flying scrap metal tomorrow? We're not on the orks' shipping lanes."

Lifar scoffed: "In my opinion, this is most likely another mess from Mars that our Forge Director has taken on, and then he's just kicking the can down to us. What kind of future can this Forge Director have? He has no patience to support the projects I develop independently, and all he does all day is lick the boots of those academic cliques on Mars!"

The Tech-Adept stammered, not daring to speak. Lifar, feeling unamused, waved his hand dismissively, ending the topic.

"Prepare the landing craft. We're going to the surface."

The Tech-Adept, as if pardoned, quickly went to prepare the landing craft and the accompanying Adeptus Custodes. Before long, a small force was mobilized, carrying Lifar and his troops to the surface of Ardamantua.

Flowing magma, spewing from the torn plates, still flowed freely across the surface. The smoke from volcanoes and the fires on the ground dyed the entire planet's atmosphere crimson. But even so, some orks spores stubbornly took root wherever there was sunlight, and it wouldn't be long before they blossomed and bore fruit.

And the orks who had previously been air-dropped from the Battle Moon had also chosen their leader in a civil war. They no longer wandered aimlessly across the entire planet's surface as before, but consciously gathered near the previously crashed battleship, where they established their tribe.

Although the tribe was still chaotic, having banded together, they were clearly not as easy to deal with as before.

The largest tribe on this planet already had a motley crew of ork Boyz wearing yellow armor plates. They wielded massive dakka guns, patrolling the tribe in imitation of the Shrimp they had seen earlier, and even actively disciplining disorderly orks.

Gazing at this scene, Lifar found that the orks' development speed was somewhat beyond his imagination.

"It seems those Imperial Fists must have been wiped out by the orks... But these orks are developing so fast? Is it because they are a splinter thrown off by a larger tribe?"

Lifar pondered to himself, but whatever the reason, this orks tribe, which was already close to building its own battleship from the wreckage, was certainly not something his small Adeptus Custodes force could provoke.

The Forge Director's order was to bring back some ork specimens and technological artifacts, but he hadn't specified what level of ork technology to bring back. There was no need for him to run into trouble with this largest ork tribe.

The Adeptus Custodes were his hard-earned assets. With the Forge Director's meager monthly research budget, why should he risk his life?

"Change course!"

Lifar ordered without hesitation: "We're going to find the smallest ork tribe!"

The survey ship in orbit quickly located the smallest tribe, and Lifar hurried there with his Adeptus Custodes. He planned to just grab something to get the job done.

This kind of thinking was common in the Adeptus Mechanicus; unless some precious knowledge from the Dark Age of Technology was discovered, self-preservation was always the top priority in the logic processors of Adeptus Mechanicus members.

Lifar made a cautious choice, but Dio also understood the extent of these Mechanicus Magoss' cautiousness.

This understanding led him to set up traps targeting the Adeptus Mechanicus around the smallest ork tribe early on.

When Lifar arrived at the outskirts of the smallest tribe, his visual processor easily detected a pile of leaves and spiderwebs forming a trap on the ground, stained with some possibly poisonous biological fluid.

Since these traps were found near a orks tribe, Lifar guessed that they must have been set by the orks in this tribe.

For orks who usually only knew how to fight, eat mushrooms, and Waaagh!, being able to set traps was undoubtedly a sign of progress in their way of thinking. However, the trap before him was too crudely constructed. Lifar immediately judged that the ork tribe that set such a trap was probably still in the savage era, and he felt disdain.

"An ork tribe of this level probably can't even penetrate the armor of an Adeptus Custodes."

Lifar ordered: "Prepare your weapons. We'll attack this orks tribe!"

"But traps usually also serve as an alarm function."

The Tech-Adept beside him suggested softly: "Should we avoid the traps to prevent this orks tribe from being alerted prematurely?"

Lifar's cold gaze swept over the Tech-Adept, his eyes filled with displeasure.

"Are you questioning me?"

He said coldly.

The Tech-Adept shrank his neck, not daring to answer.

"What's there to avoid about an ork tribe of this level? I don't want to spend another ten minutes on this worthless planet just to bypass traps! All Adeptus Custodes, set your weapon power to maximum! I only need a few intact orks as specimens; the rest can die without a trace!"

Lifar issued instructions to all Adeptus Custodes, then was the first to step into the trap.

Crude ork biological toxins would, of course, have no effect on this group of half-human, half-machine beings.

But was it really biological toxin on the trap?

The sensation of electricity from under his feet made Lifar pause slightly the moment he stepped on the trap. He hadn't expected the trap to contain electricity instead of toxin.

The current's power was not small; if a regular creature stepped on it, it would surely suffer muscle paralysis and be unable to move due to the electrical stimulation. But he was a Bio-Magos, mechanically modified to be resistant to interference and radiation. Not to mention him, even the partially modified Adeptus Custodes behind him would not be affected by such a thing.

"However, an ork tribe capable of developing such a trap seems to have some value for keeping a few live ones for research..."

With this thought, the slightly surprised Magos Lifar wanted to continue forward.