The Astartes Family's Notebook

By relinquishing the takeover of the last frigate, Motor Sich facilitated a shady deal between the two inquisitors of the Exile Order and the Holy Hammer Order, allowing the Malicious Warriors to enter the fray and decisively extricating himself from the mess left behind in Anvisland.

After all, the malicious warrior is now clearly a weakened and wounded beast, capable of anything if provoked, and the fourth company commander didn't want to push things too far.

Although the Malicious Warriors Chapter was deeply rooted in Great Astartesism and disregarded the rights of the general public in the Empire, it also gained some rationality and flexibility after being fiercely attacked by the Star Ghosts.

Although previous interactions were not harmonious, there was still some semblance of kinship between them and the Wings of Desolation.

So, the malicious soldier kept his promise and packed up the nano incense burner and delivered it to the Fourth Company.

It wasn't that Motor Sich wanted to betray Odachi; Leothers's influence still held sway. However, compared to that female judge, the Fourth Company Commander understood perfectly well that Odachi couldn't outmaneuver her, and even his teacher might not be able to.

Because both Odachi and Leothers are true Terrans, they have deep connections.

However, this judge from the Anti-Foreign Religious Association entered the organization through the process of being granted amnesty, and his skills, temperament, and background are not the same as those two from the Beijing circle.

For negotiating the terms with her on behalf of Odachi, that old scoundrel Leothers should thank Mad Sich.

It should be noted that the court rarely recruits judges through special appointments, especially those who have been granted amnesty.

Generally, only those who successfully orchestrate a planetary rebellion, seize power, and manage to keep the entire empire in check are eligible to be included in the shortlist.

If this de facto planetary governor can continue to navigate the sub-sectors effectively, then the Inquisition will formally begin the process of granting him sanction, recruiting this exceptional talent for the Empire.

Therefore, every guy who went through the process of being granted amnesty and then becoming a judge was a truly ruthless character, the kind of protagonist who could easily rise to a high-ranking position in an ancient Terran political novel.

Odachi is too inexperienced; at best, he can only serve as a stepping stone on the road to legend, a supporting character responsible for showing off and being humiliated.

Having dealt with this mess, the entire Fourth Company left the star system without lingering and embarked on a new journey.

Chapter 86 Fleeing

In peacetime, what is the primary task of a soldier?

Standing guard and on duty.

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The biggest reason for Astartes' demise was probably encountering all sorts of monsters and demons in the Infernal Galaxy, resulting in various gate-opening and first-encounter kills.

The second major reason was that they were worn down by the intense and protracted war, and died in various frustrating ways.

It's important to understand that in the Battle of Anwislan, although the Orcs deployed Titan-level units like the Ancient Ones and the Golem King Kong, the battle was far from being an apocalyptic event.

Because the planetary governor of Anwislan valued his life, he put a lot of effort into the defenses of the hive. The rows of massive cannon towers on the outer walls of the hive, large enough for people to stand in, provided the best firepower support on the battlefield.

Furthermore, this planet implements a policy of supporting a hive city with the full resources of the world, and with the hive city as a strategic support, the Astronautical Army is fighting a war of considerable wealth.

If the Desolation Wings hadn't successfully seized air superiority from the Imperial Navy, and the Governor hadn't been forced by various pressures to disband hundreds of thousands of DPF troops and return them to the factory to work on screws, the Orcs wouldn't have made a dent in the water.

Objectively speaking, it was only of moderate intensity.

Even so, the Fourth Company still suffered one-tenth casualties.

If they change their equipment, they won't be as good as the Desolate Wings, and their training intensity won't be as high as that of the 4th Company's battle group; the casualties will only be higher.

As the company continued to fall, the remaining Astartes had to take on even heavier combat missions. When even basic personnel rotation could not be guaranteed, the casualty curve would naturally rise sharply.

Even an extraordinary beast like the Astartes needs rest.

Therefore, instead of responding to the urgent interstellar plea for help, Motor Sich chose to cruise and accept orders in a relatively prosperous star system.

If I had to go into detail about what I gained in Anvesland, aside from the large nano incense burner, the most valuable thing was the Star Language Choir that I got from the governor.

In the human empire, Astartes are merely consumables, and psionicists even more so.

Holy Terra and the Starfield Government monopolize the professional training of psionicists. It is very difficult to recruit legitimate psionicists without going through official channels.

There are many illegal psionicists, but the Astartes Chapter dares not use these temporary workers who are more terrifying than explosive packs.

While legitimate psychics are difficult to deal with, they are safe and stable.

Navigators are far more valuable than Astrologers. Holy Terra has a tight grip on the Navigator family, and only these members, described as having a third eye in their heads, are allowed to provide navigation services for ships' warp voyages.

Previously, navigators were used as substitutes for star communication workers because there was no other way. Now that there are full-time star communicators, navigators no longer need to do such high-risk work.

This damn purgatory galaxy—making psionic calls and sending psionic faxes really carries the risk of instant death.

With the help of professional Star Speakers, Motor Sich once again experienced the Empire's dire straits.

SOS, SOS, endless wide-area broadcasts, all of them are requests for support.

What's most annoying is that many planetary speakers or psionicists capable of broadcasting over a wide area are seriously incompetent. They don't leave their names, addresses, or contact information; they just spam public channels asking for help whenever someone comes along.

The question of who the enemy was and how many there were was not mentioned at all.

How can I save him? Ah, he can't be saved. Goodbye.

Mad Sich couldn't even tell whether the broadcasts received by the Star Speakers were echoes of the desperate cries of psionicists during the tragedy thousands of years ago, or a ghostly trap deliberately set by the forces of Chaos.

Therefore, all text messages with no official name, address, or contact information should be treated as fraudulent text messages.

Although the empire possesses a million worlds, not a single one is superfluous.

However, some planets are simply more important than others.

Holy Terra, please return to the referee's seat and do not disturb the other players' normal competition.

The capital world of the Pacific Sector is Hydrafar, which is also the headquarters of the Sector Fleet and the location of its largest shipyard.

A warband like the Desolate Wings, with its five main companies mostly at full strength, can always manage to get a few scraps from the Starfield Government if it wants to go to Hydrafor.

However, the consensus among almost all Astartes Chapters is to avoid going to provincial capitals unless absolutely necessary.

Anyone who has served in the military knows that small, remote units are the perfect place to slack off and relax – far from the emperor, with little to do and plenty of free time.

Besides the three common orders—the Holy Hammer Order, the Exile Order, and the Rebel Order—the Inquisition also has another branch of orders that all Astartes Chapters find tiresome: the Astartes Order.

If an inquisitor from another religious order were to obtain damaging information about the Astartes Chapter, their first thought would be whether they could exchange it for benefits, and their second thought would be to investigate and report it.

So the sole purpose of the inquisitors of this order is to destroy the Astartes Chapter.

From the moment the emperor sat on the golden throne, the human empire was already brain dead. The rigidity of the system was not even worth mentioning; the obsession with thought was what was truly fatal.

The pressure of KPIs is immense. The three major religious orders fight demons, aliens, and heretics, and naturally get promoted and made a fortune. What about our Order of Astartes? The pressure to meet performance targets is enormous.

After all, the empire is vast, heretics are everywhere, aliens are not hard to find, and demons spawn regularly. But there are only a little over a thousand Astartes in total. If you want a promotion and a raise, you have to seize every opportunity.

The Astartes Order has a small number of inquisitors, but it certainly has a star region capital.

While impartial judges do exist, given the Empire's overall madness, hoping to happen to encounter a reasonable Astartes judge is like hoping the lottery numbers won't change after rebirth.

Therefore, Motor Sich preferred to lead the Fourth Company to piecemeal resupply in the industrial worlds of various subsectors rather than make a trip to Sidravor.

Having cultivated the Taiping Starfield for over two thousand years, the title of "local strongman" is not given lightly. Often, the starfield government of the Taiping Starfield may not even have the same level of understanding as the Fourth Company Commander of the Desolate Wings regarding the various star sectors and sub-sectors within its jurisdiction.

After all, the Empire only needs to collect taxes, while the Astartes Chapter needs to conduct on-site visits and house-to-house investigations.

The conflict between the central and local powers has been an unsolvable problem from the ancient Terra in the 1K era to the human empire in the 41K era. Specifically, at the level of planetary governors, hiding things has become an instinct as natural as breathing.

Outsmarting the Department of Justice is a required course for every qualified planetary governor.

You've done an excellent job; the Empire will increase your taxes.

Therefore, crying poverty, complaining, and hiding production capacity are the specialties of every planet.

Only planets that have made a name for themselves on the path of industrialization and become sworn brothers with the sages of the Mechanicus will willingly expose their true resources in order to unlock higher technological privileges and political power.

Like Envision, which produces 300 Leman Russ units a year, is that production capacity commendable?

Of course not, that data is embarrassing, but an annual production of 300 units is the output that best serves the Governor's interests.

Existence is reasonable.

The next step is to embark on a miniature expedition between the various worlds carefully selected by Motor Sich, to handle some troubles for these worlds and collect some benefits.

The logic behind forming a warband and a gang is the same. When it comes to the company level, Motor Sich's miniature expedition can be described as extorting protection money by rioting.

Chapter 87 Imperial Shinrikyo

The Emperor is a fraud; He clearly stated that he was not a god!

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Kaz was really struggling to hold on; the first world he stopped in after four consecutive stops was in an area infested with cultists.

However, no matter how the Victory Balance's astrolabe scanned, all the data on subspace energy were normal.

This is very abnormal.

As is well known, when a planet is targeted by chaotic forces, the overflowing subspace energy will affect the observation and scanning of the Owls, and may even produce contradictory parameters.

This is also why the orbital fleet was unable to conduct artillery fire against the dust cloud mixed with Waaaaagh energy in Anwizland previously.

Unless you're indiscriminately whitewashing, a space bombardment, without a harbinger array to provide precise positioning, is just a flash of light and a bang.

But the readings of the bird divination array are all normal. Which cult is behind this?

Generally, there are five types of cultists. Believers in the four Chaos Gods each form their own group. There are also cultists who are brainwashed and manipulated by the original evil beings of the Warp. Basically, there are these five types of cultists. All four types have countermeasures summarized and passed down by the sages of the Wasteland for reference.

However, when the Astartes went into hiding in the city, they went deep among the people to collect and summarize intelligence.

Kaz completely lost his composure.

"Cultists who believe in the truth of the Empire?"

"Yes, this is no longer an ordinary cult; we must take strong measures!"

In the era of the M41...

Forget about M41. The truth of the Empire was already disproven after the Horus Rebellion, and it was purged as heresy by the Holy Terra when Gorgon van der Erd.

For over six thousand years, you've privately collected ancient books containing imperial truths, and the various government departments of the empire haven't bothered you, after all, they need to protect His Majesty the Emperor's reputation. But if you dare to openly discuss and proclaim imperial truths, the iron fist of the empire will surely strike you hard in the face.

Because what is the core essence of imperial truth?

There's only one principle: humanism. There are no monsters or demons in this world; humans can control their own destiny.

In the glorious era of the Great Expedition, the spirit of reason and exploration shone brightly, and the overall human thought was positive and progressive. Promoting the truth of the Empire was indeed able to unite people's hearts, and the common aspirations of hundreds of millions of people also effectively suppressed the power of the Four Gods to interfere with the real universe.

Unfortunately, the emperor ultimately failed, and his well-intentioned lie was exposed by the four Chaos Gods working together.

The Infernal Galaxy is not the neighboring Star World, and the Human Empire is not the Human Alliance. The Milky Way is connected to the subspace, and gods truly exist in this universe. This world is not a paradise for mortals, but a playground for the gods.

No matter how beautiful the future vision depicted by Imperial Truth may be, it is ultimately just a false scripture because its foundation is built on lies.

In this age where war is the only constant, pursuing imperial truths is the greatest harm to human empires.

Apart from Kars's natural affinity for Imperial Truth, the other members of the Fourth Company were quite dismissive.

His Majesty the Divine Emperor said he was not a god; that was merely a humble remark made in a way that was easy to approach.

It's one thing for His Holy Emperor to say it, but how can we, his subjects, take it seriously?

How come these cultists of the Imperial Truth Cult can seize upon His Majesty's casual remark and write an essay of millions of words? What is the local state religion doing? Why aren't they launching a holy war? What are they waiting for?

"..."

Katz had a thousand words to say, but he didn't know what to say.

I felt that both of my hearts were showing signs of arrhythmia.

This absurd yet real world is the greatest irony of itself.

The Emperor's angel of death is coming to suppress the cultists who believe in the Empire's truth.

The local state religion was overjoyed at the arrival of the Desolation Wings Chapter and held a grand welcoming ceremony.

This is Katz's first time participating in a military parade.

According to the bishop, when the emperor's angels walk on the earth, all heresies will inevitably crumble on their own.

How could there be no gods? His Majesty the God-Emperor is a god, and the Astartes are demigods. How could there be no gods? There must be gods!

For this awe-inspiring military parade, the Fourth Company has practically brought out all its resources.

In a brutal company-wide lottery, two unlucky recruits, a certain new recruit and Ingus, were selected to undergo driving training in the Centurion combat uniform.

Some crew members who had never left their spaceships set foot on the planet's surface for the first time.

Compared to the poorly armed local PDF forces, the armed sailors on the four ships were highly skilled and an elite force.

Two Stormhawks led the way, followed by twelve Thunderhawk gunboats in a V-formation. On the ground, Rand Raiders, Leman Rustanks, Rhinos, and Porcupine troop carriers also formed the parade formation.

However, the most visually stunning are the Astartes of the Desolate Wings.