The Astartes Family's Notebook

Not only did the imprisoned military leaders and nobles fail to understand, but the Astral Legion, which was being beaten, also felt wronged.

If you had just said so, we would have surrendered. At most, we would have fired a couple of symbolic shots. Why did you have to launch a surprise attack and shoot us to death without even giving us a chance to speak?

Because the Victory Balance's astronomical array was monitoring Omidas II's subspace energy parameters in real time, which were steadily increasing.

Motor Sich didn't have the time or enough manpower to investigate each case one by one.

Whether they've sided with Chaos or not, we'll only know after we fight them.

The subspace and the real universe are two sides of the same coin, so the corruption of chaos is everywhere.

As a taboo that cannot be recorded in writing, even within the Warband, only a very few battle-hardened veterans who have proven their loyalty and faith countless times are qualified to know the secret knowledge about the Chaos Gods.

That is, the interference of the four Chaos Gods in the real world is not arbitrary and without cost.

Before the veil of reality is completely torn apart, for the storm of the High Heavens to sweep across the real world, there must be clear and unambiguous anchor points in the real world.

The worship of the destroyer of the warp must be clear and unambiguous. Shouting "Blood sacrifice to Tzeentch, head offered to Slaanesh" will not make you the attention of three desired evil gods at the same time. On the contrary, you may be stuck as an ordinary cultist for life because of a wrong message format, and you will never receive any divine attention.

The empire has already taught you how to believe in God step by step, but unfortunately most people can't learn it.

The faith in the four Chaos Gods must be unwavering; only a very few heroes can attract the pursuit of multiple deities. For most mortals, receiving even a fleeting glimpse of a Chaos power is the pinnacle of their lives.

So if you want to know whether the Astral Army has been corrupted by Chaos, just fight them.

A simple rebel army wouldn't make any unnecessary moves, because these ordinary soldiers are only there to earn a living and hope for amnesty. Faced with the efficient killing by the Astartes of the Empire, their morale would quickly collapse and they would give up resistance.

The rebels who sided with the Chaos Gods had their minds burned by warp energy. Instead of surrendering to the attacks of the Astartes warriors, they would rush forward one after another, indulging in self-pity and hoping that their heroic fighting would win the favor of the Chaos Gods.

As for the rebels who run away when they can't win, if they have nothing to hide, why would they run away?

So when you're unsure, just take a shot and you'll find out.

Even though Motor Sich was placed in the succession order of the chapter by the chapter commander and had access to a lot of esoteric knowledge when he was the second company commander, he still could not form a sufficiently clear understanding of the warp.

Many of the responses were lessons learned by veterans through blood and tears, and many of them were either unclear in meaning or overly forceful.

The most valuable lesson Motor Sich learned during his more than two hundred years of service was to trust the wisdom of those who came before him.

The fact that the wisdom of our predecessors has been passed down proves that this wisdom has at least successfully dealt with the related crises.

If you make wild guesses and get them wrong, you could drag the entire company into an irreparable failure.

The deaths of a few ordinary people were not even within Motor Sich's considerations.

He is the Emperor's Angel of Death, first and foremost responsible to His Holy Majesty, then to the Empire's demigods, defending the Empire's interests, and finally, as the fourth company commander of the Desolate Wings Chapter, he must consider the fate of all his comrades in battle.

Finally, there are the empire's subjects.

The essence of Omidas II lies entirely in this hive city. The desolate surface outside the hive city is worthless except for the mining areas. The military leaders have concentrated almost all of their military forces inside the hive city.

Therefore, after the initial selection was completed, the combat brothers of the Fourth Company were given valuable rest time.

After the Inquisitors take over the reorganization and transformation of the local Astral Legion, the Nafar Regiments 1 through 130 will receive the supplies they most desire, and the reorganized local forces will form a defensive posture of interlocking and mutual checks and balances with the Nafar.

Odachi knew, of course, that mixing sand in would greatly destroy the troops' combat effectiveness.

But that's exactly what he wanted.

The four consecutive missions earned him merit, and the favors he had received earlier were repaid when the Victory Balance and the Pioneer Star leaped out of Mandeville Point.

Furthermore, this favor was given by his own teacher, and if the Inquisitor wants to deepen his relationship with the Wastewing Chapter, he needs to reciprocate.

Without weakening the ruling class's actual control over the Middle Nest Astral Legion and Planetary Defense Forces, how could the young Inquisitor obtain a list of assets that would bring a smile to his face for himself and Captain Motor Sich?

As for the several rebel groups that stubbornly resisted, they broke through the defense line and entered Xiachao from Zhongchao.

Let the locals in Omidas handle this little problem themselves.

Chapter 38 Insufficient High-Energy Gas

Production and construction are precisely what distinguish humans from animals.

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Beavers build dams, multiple species of animals build nests, monkeys and gorillas have mastered the use of stone tools, and corvids have generally mastered the use of tools.

The idea that humans are the most intelligent of all creatures because they can make and use tools is neither rigorous nor accurate.

Therefore, in academia, the terms "production" and "construction" have gradually become mainstream. Once you learn to define them, there's a vast world of possibilities.

Wait a minute, another clever little devil jumps out to refute this: termites (Berberis) and ants (Antidae) also build nests and cultivate fungi and aphids. Is this production?

Yes, brother, yes, you're right. It's not loyal enough to sit at the same table as ants.

How can we define humanity when we associate with such insects? We should cancel this supposedly brilliant person's status and prohibit any papers with his name from being published in the future.

The empire's hive cities are such magical things; some can hold a couple hundred million people, while others can hold tens of billions. Omidas Hive City, however, only supports three billion people—mediocre at best.

Whether one is close or not depends on social class. Terms like "nest top," "upper nest," "middle nest," "lower nest," and "bottom nest" are village rules created by the residents of the nest city based on their social class affiliations. The nest city maintenance manual clearly states that a nest city consists of only three parts: the nest top, the middle nest, and the nest bottom.

The top of the nest is a high-value-added industrial and garden living area, the middle nest is an industrial and residential area, and the bottom of the nest is a basic infrastructure and material recycling area.

But wherever there are people, there is a world of intrigue. If I don't don this robe, how will the world know that my golden sea has dried up and my worldly ties have been severed?

Therefore, the top of the nest was subdivided into the top nest and the upper nest by the lords. The middle nest, near the top, was moved to the upper nest by the lords who were not worthy of living in the top nest. Naturally, the lords in the middle nest wanted to reach for land at the bottom of the nest. So the gentry who were squeezed out by the lords at the bottom of the nest were designated as the lower nest. Only the bottom nest remained the bottom nest, a garbage dump, a cesspool, a place of exile and final destination for the lowly and the garbage collectors.

Even so, the hive dwellers living in the bottom hive can still stand tall with pride when facing the scavengers struggling to survive outside the hive.

The more detailed my understanding of the ecology of the nest city, the more I feel that the theory of humans being insects makes sense.

Is this a human being?

These are ants.

An ant nest is a nest, and a nest is also a nest; I'm almost forgetting the word "nest" anymore.

Outsiders want to come in, but the residents of the nest city don't want to go out. The need for safety and survival has always been a constant throughout the history of human evolution.

Even in Omidas Hive, where the Astartes were massacring the Astronauts, ordinary people still lived normal lives.

Especially for factory workers in Zhongchao, even if it means braving gunfire and traversing trenches and bunkers, they still have to get to work on time.

If I don't go to work, what will the whole family eat?

Corpse starch actually tastes pretty good.

At least compared to energy bars, liquid corpse starch paste, as an industrially produced pre-made food, with added sugar and salt, isn't much worse.

The empire, having mastered the C language, has no shortage of industrial sugar. Natural plant-derived sugars may fetch high prices, becoming the planet's calling card and flagship product. However, to smear the empire and discredit the Nest City, don't fabricate stories about not being able to afford sugar.

Because Omidas II had already been exterminated by a viral bomb according to the Empire's records, and the rebels and the sector government were truly enemies of the same origin, after paying tribute to the officials of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice did not move into the hive city, so there was no pressure of tithes. The living standards of the people in Omidas' hive city were actually quite good compared to other hive worlds.

Aside from the planet's water bodies being infected by a virus, the Water Purification Guild has to install additional purification equipment, which has increased the cost of water use. Omidas's Nest City industrial layout is almost the same as it was fifty years ago.

A small amount of machining, smelting of various ores, and most importantly, a promethium refinery.

Inquisitor Odach borrowed two Astral Legions to participate in this operation. After serving as overseers of the Nafar immigration, one remained in Top Nest as prison guards, while the other was transferred to the Promethium Refinery in Middle Nest to be responsible for guarding it.

The most important asset in the entire Hive City world is this Hive City Refinery.

The hive world is mostly pyramid-shaped or hemispherical.

Even the most basic materials science, which is beyond the comprehension of the empire, must follow the fundamental principles of materials mechanics.

Leaving aside whether designers without templates have the ability to design such bizarre structures, the question is, if a design failure occurs, how much money would one earn selling oneself as a machine servant be enough to compensate for the loss?

Therefore, the pyramid shape is still the safest option, with either a regular three-sided or four-sided shape being good choices. Theoretically, the hemispherical shape has a larger volume, but compared to the pyramid-shaped hive, expansion would require demolishing the outer walls and redecorating. So, apart from the ancient hives that survived from the Golden Age, few planetary governors during the human empire era were willing to be such suckers repeatedly drained by the Mechanicus.

Omidas Nest City is a classic quadrilateral pyramid structure.

The structure is layered and stacked, with each layer roughly having a square cross-section.

On most planets, hive worlds would place the initial processing of promethium outside the hive city. It's not that the governor thinks the pollution is too heavy or cares about the health of the cattle and horses, but rather that the location of the hive city is too precious. It would take up too much space to cram all the equipment inside the hive city, and no industry can make money as quickly as real estate.

But Omidas's hive is different; it gives the impression that the hive was built specifically for the entire refinery.

From the bottom nest to the middle nest, it spans 3,700 meters vertically and covers more than 20 nest layers, possessing a complete production line from raw material processing to finished product output.

It's a true crystallization of ancient technology.

Not to mention the engineers of the Victory Balance and the Pioneer Star, even the engineers of the Imperial Navy are submitting application reports, wanting to come down and conduct an on-site inspection.

It's okay if you don't understand or can't learn it. Just master the scanning and modeling. When you encounter promethium refining work in the future, it will be a great advantage to compete with your peers and steal business.

Moreover, Omidas suffered a disaster, and everyone died, but the city of Omidas was preserved intact.

So for those who came later, the entire nest was simply a paradise for tomb raiders, a promised land in the dreams of tomb raiders.

God knows how many treasures are hidden in this nest.

Kaz is only fifty years old, the prime age for being a fighter. He has no interest in managing a battle group or company, and just wants to have fun with BoomBoom, BiuBiu, ah-da~~ zi~ la~.

However, it's a warband tradition to use the best animals to the extreme. Even Company Commander Motor Sich couldn't escape the fate of being treated like an animal. With just one sentence from the warband commander, he was demoted from the second company commander to the fourth company commander. What can a little dummy like Kaz complain about?

Kaz was sent to be stationed at the plant after he asked about the daily output of the promethium refinery.

As a dual-use material for both military and civilian purposes, it is the most widely used fuel in the Empire. Even the Astartes cannot escape the fate of dealing with promethium throughout their lives.

Professional tasks should be handled by professionals. Katz's task was not to urge the employees to produce, but to protect the personal safety of these engineers and prevent them from fighting over academic exchanges, as well as to protect the property of the refinery and prevent the engineers from getting carried away with some dismantling and innovation.

Don't believe the Mechanics' nonsense like "how can something a scholar does be called stealing?" The little red-painted hands aren't exactly clean, Blood Raven is one example, and the Mechanics are even more so.

Before setting off, the company commander shut down the communication system, took off his helmet, turned on the electronic jamming device, and earnestly instructed Kaz that if he found an STC template, he should show no mercy. If any engineer dared to keep it, even if it was from his own battle group, he would be killed without mercy.

Chapter 39 The Mulch Has Been Deployed

A fine horse is easy to find, but a discerning eye to recognize its worth is rare.

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The so-called STC template is actually not important to most Imperials.

Because with the Empire's current education system, even if the STC template were placed in front of you, 99.99% of the Empire's citizens would not recognize it at all.

But that's not important. All you need to know is that the Cult of Mechanics is willing to go to great lengths to reclaim these STC templates.

But the Space Marines are different, especially the Astartes of the Desolation Wing.

Because path dependence has already been formed.

The company gave Kaz and his new recruits a detailed lesson on how to identify STC templates.

These are detailed aspects that they didn't have access to during their basic recruit training.

Since STC templates are not fragments of some kind of artifact, they cannot be distinguished by their materials. The STC template shapes that the Martian mechanics of Frankenstein III taught the new recruits to record were of no use in discovering new STC templates.

Looking beyond the surface, what STC actually is is not important at all; what matters is that it's a template.

After humanity entered the space age during the golden age, it faces the same dilemma that its descendants in today's era of conflict still cannot solve.

Technological discontinuity.

This story begins with a social science discovery in ancient Terra during the 1K era. It tells of a small island called Mastania, which, due to its isolation, could not sustain the scientific and cultural heritage brought by the initial immigrants. After several generations, the island gradually degenerated into primitive humans.

After summarizing this story, scholars named it the Mastani effect, also known as the theory of isolated civilizations.

So how did humanity in the Golden Age solve this problem?

The answer is simple: the solution already exists in real-time strategy games intended for entertainment.

The base vehicle in Red Alert, the SCV mech in StarCraft.

If the technology of the home planet is integrated into a universal template, then every time a new colony is established, as long as this template is followed, the Mastani effect will not occur.

The STC template is a product of this kind of thinking among ancient humans.

Essentially, this thing is a beginner's guide to building a nuclear warhead.

Once you understand this sentence, you'll understand what an STC template is.

It's the instruction manual for a foolproof tutorial, not the foolproof tutorial itself.

If you can't even understand the instruction manual, how can you expect to understand the tutorial itself?

Although this tutorial is written for idiots.

Furthermore, while STC templates are precious, they are not uncommon, because the Cult of Mechanics and the long-established, technologically advanced industrial world have the ability to replicate STC templates.

Unlike the ancient humans of the Golden Age who were eager to teach monkeys in trees how to solve calculus equations, the Mechanicus, even if it copied the STC template, would mostly load a self-destruct program, which would automatically destroy itself after the buyer used the template a certain number of times.

So Katz and his team were instructed that when they found any information carrier, if the information it contained tried to teach them something, they should not hesitate to grab it first, regardless of whether it was a real STC template or not!

A mural, a metal sphere, or even a vase—STC templates exist in countless forms, with no fixed shape.