Warhammer: Empire Reboot

Bayer also modified the soul structure of the new humans through some kind of technology.

The souls of the new humans were dimmed by Bayer, and their projection in the subspace was extremely weak, almost to the point of soul invisibility.

This gives the new humans an innate high resistance to the allure of chaos and the corruption of the warp.

One note in swarm intelligence is:

"Bayer's new human design is highly complementary to the cornerstone sequence in many aspects."

The advantages of the foundational sequence lie in the synergy of the bee colony and the enhancement of external equipment, while its disadvantage lies in the individual genetic quality.

The potential benefits of combining Bayer's gene enhancement technology with the systemic advantages of its foundational sequences are promising.

There was another sub-project in the intelligence that particularly caught Lawson's attention: the Glandular Hound.

This is one of the most famous variants of the new humans.

In Bayer's view, the Astartes were too expensive to produce, had too long a conversion cycle, were too few in number, and could not reproduce. They were an expedient measure by the Emperor ten thousand years ago, not the optimal solution.

Therefore, he specifically designed a new human variant to hunt down Space Marines.

The olfactory system of gland hounds has been modified to a pathological level of precision.

They can penetrate the sealing system of the power armor and accurately detect the characteristic biochemical odor emitted by the genetic seeds inside the Astartes.

They move in groups, usually forming hunting squads of twelve to twenty individuals.

The tactical mode is the classic wolf pack hunt.

One group draws the target's attention while another group attacks from the flanks and rear, using numerical superiority to create blind spots.

While each individual Space Marine is not as strong as an Astartes, a dozen of them together are enough to hold off or even kill a lone Space Marine.

After killing a Space Marine, the Gland Hounds would use specialized biological tools to extract gene seeds from the corpse and bring them back to Bayer's laboratory.

Bayer used these recovered genetically modified seeds as research material and then applied the analysis results to the design of the next generation of new humans.

The swarm intelligence network confirmed that Bayer had established new human tribes of varying sizes on at least seventy wasteland worlds.

These populations are not under the jurisdiction of the empire, nor are they loyal to Chaos; they live, reproduce, and evolve according to the instincts written into their genes.

Bayer would occasionally return to check the population's development data, collect samples, and then adjust the genetic blueprint for the next generation of new humans based on the data.

The total population of the dozens of independently developing new human populations cannot be accurately estimated at present, but conservative estimates range from tens of millions to hundreds of millions.

The final part of the intelligence concerned Bayer's own combat capabilities and survivability.

Bayer has never been lenient with his genetic modifications.

An ordinary space soldier undergoes nineteen genetic modification surgeries.

Bayer made so many dishes for himself that even he couldn't count them all.

Every time he makes a new research discovery, he tests it on himself first.

His skeleton was replaced with an ultra-tough bio-alloy, and his muscle fibers underwent multiple rounds of genetic recoding, enabling him to unleash the power to tear apart Terminator armor in an instant.

His nerve conduction speed was optimized in an extremely abnormal way. Records show that he was able to easily evade attacks from Imperial Guard-level forces.

In addition to physical modifications, Bayer also employs a large number of auxiliary methods.

He carries a bio-injector that allows him to adjust his physiological state in real time during combat, releasing an adrenaline storm, activating a backup heart, accelerating wound clotting, and even temporarily shutting down pain perception.

Overall assessment: Bayer's individual combat power has reached the level of a demigod, but of course he is not in the strongest tier. He cannot defeat the Primarch.

But that's not the most troublesome part for Bayer.

Bayer has stored a large number of his own clones in secret laboratories throughout the galaxy.

He had an extremely rare neural synaptic network implanted in his brain.

This network has only one function.

At the moment of death of the physical body currently in use by Bayer, all his consciousness, memories, and experiences are transferred through a subspace channel to the nearest available clone.

This means that if you kill Bayer in the Rhea region today, he will wake up in a cloning petri dish in a laboratory on the other side of the galaxy tomorrow, with all his memories from the moment he was killed.

He would then learn from his mistakes, adjust his strategies, and continue his research.

The Imperial Inquisition has killed Bayer at least seven times in the past ten thousand years.

The body was confirmed each time.

Each time, he would reappear in some corner of the galaxy a few months later.

Therefore, the note on the arrest warrant for Bayer reads: "The target is deemed to be practically indestructible."

After reviewing the information, Lawson seemed to be deep in thought.

To some extent, Bayer's shift in consciousness is similar to his distributed storage approach.

However, swarm intelligence conducted a deeper analysis and found that Bayer's consciousness was not stored in a distributed manner.

Distributed storage means that consciousness is copied simultaneously across multiple carriers, each of which is a complete backup, and the destruction of any one of them does not affect the operation of the other backups.

If Bayer's consciousness is distributed, then it is indeed very difficult to deal with. All clones in the entire galaxy must be destroyed at the same time; if even one is missed, he can be resurrected.

But Bayer's consciousness exists only in one body at any given moment, that is, the one he is currently using.

The clone is just an empty shell, stored in a petri dish, in a dormant state, and does not contain any consciousness data.

Only at the moment of the current physical death can consciousness transfer to the nearest clone through the neural synaptic network.

The transfer is unidirectional and one-time, requiring death as a trigger.

Lawson's smile deepened.

If it's a transference of consciousness, he's able to control it.

Swarm intelligence marked the coordinates of the Bayer base provided by Karaden on the star map.

The Rhea sector, on the southern edge of the Empire's dark side, is about three thousand light-years away from Agrippina.

First penetrate, then lock in.

The operation begins.

…………

Kassedur, the homeworld of the Brass Dragonflight.

This planet is located at the border between the Holy Side and the Dark Side of the Empire, and is a typical world of death.

The Earth's surface is covered with volcanic ash with high sulfur content, and the atmosphere is filled with acidic particles that are deadly to ordinary humans.

The Brass Dragon Chapter has established a homeworld fortress here for over two thousand years, using the planet's harsh environment as a natural selection mechanism for new recruits.

At this moment, a group of uninvited guests arrived from outside the planet.

They came to deliver gifts.

The Imperial Guard, Captain Teva of the Shield Guard, stood on the bridge of the Judgment, watching as Kasedur slowly grew larger in his field of vision.

Teva wore golden Oramit armor.

His weapon is a Guardian Spear, a three-meter-long double-headed spear with a custom-designed explosive gun module integrated into the tip.

Behind him stood twenty-four Imperial Guards and a fully staffed Silent Sisters squad.

The Silent Sisters are the Empire's anti-psychic living weapons. They are born with a blank gene that allows them to create psychic dead zones around them, weakening demons in their presence.

The combined force of the Silent Sisters and the Royal Guard is known as the Emperor's Claw, one of the highest levels of military force Terra can project.

Teva's original mission was simple: to escort a batch of newly trained Protocast Space Marine recruits to Casseldure and deliver them to the Brass Dragon Chapter.

The group of new recruits escorted by Taiwa numbered 320.

They were all young soldiers who had recently undergone implantation surgery, wearing brand-new original forged power armor, their eyes filled with the enthusiasm and nervousness unique to new recruits.

Their genetic seed origin is identified as the Third Founding, a branch of the bloodline of the Sons of the Emperor.

The Brass Dragons are one of the descendant chapters of the Third Founding.

Three hundred and twenty young lives are about to be delivered to their "brothers".

When the flagship entered the Casadur low Earth orbit, the communications officer received a response signal from the ground.

The signal's encryption format was incorrect, a detail that Teva noticed.

He instructed the communications officer to respond normally, while simultaneously ordering the fleet to enter a state of silent combat!

But he did not inform the new recruits.

The landing site for the brass dragon.

The shuttle from Teva landed on the main landing platform of the Brass Dragon Fortress.

Two rows of Space Marines, fully armed and standing in formation, stood on either side of the platform to welcome them.

The Chapter Master of the Brass Dragon, Sedorak, stepped out from the end of the line.

Sedorak was a burly Astartes standing at 2.4 meters tall, wearing custom-made Terminator armor, with the chapter insignia on his chest plate additionally inlaid with a ring of dark red gems.

"Commander of the Shield Guard, you must be tired from your journey."

Sedorak gave a standard Astartes salute.

"The Brass Dragon Legion welcomes the Emperor's envoy. We are ready to receive the new recruits..."

"Where are your third and seventh companies?" Taiwa interrupted him.

Sedorak did not expect that Taiwa would be subject to an inspection right from the start.

However, since the other party was the Imperial Guard, he could only answer honestly.

"The Third Company is conducting perimeter patrols, and the Seventh Company is..."

"Your landing site only has the unit designations of the First Company, the Fourth Company, and the Ninth Company."

Taiwa stared intently at Sedorak, pressing him: "Including the garrison troops inside the fortress, the total strength is about four hundred men. The full strength of the Brass Dragons is one thousand men. Where are the remaining six hundred men?"

Sedorak's smile stiffened slightly.

“Company Commander of the Shield Guard, this is just an internal troop deployment within the battle group. We’ve been dealing with some… border skirmishes recently, and a few companies have been sent out to carry out clearing missions. It’s nothing serious. Let’s proceed with the new recruit handover.”

Teva's gaze shifted from Sedorak's face to his Terminator armor.

The arrangement of the dark red gems on the breastplate... six gems, forming an irregular ring... has no corresponding meaning in the Empire's heraldic system.