The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 2647: Ekvoria

Standard Terra Calendar 41, Tempest Stars, Dark Fringe, Ekvoria System

"What's the situation now?"

An unprecedentedly powerful fleet visited the forge world Ekvoria, so much so that the Forge Master-General Prezemislo was caught completely off guard, especially upon learning that the visitor was none other than the famous Chapter Master of the Astral Knights, Solzhenitsyn Aleksye.

And it didn't stop there. Why was this Imperial hero mixed up with a "heretical-leaning" forge world like Uran Huda?

Why was he leading the White Templars Chapter instead of the Astral Knights? There had never been an instance of a Chapter Master leading another Chapter in the history of the Imperium!

Most importantly, what was he doing here??

This series of questions, after a secret conversation between him and the sages sent by Bangura, may or may not have been answered, but he no longer expressed any doubts.

Solzhenitsyn didn't care what Bangura had traded with the other party, or whether it was coercion or enticement. Since he had come, he would do what he wanted to do. He would manage the war here, and this forge world would become his sphere of influence. It was that simple—one could only do as much as their power allowed, a reality he had finally accepted after so many years of trials and tribulations.

"The situation is basically still under control."

The Forge Master-General, with eight arms, stood next to the massive holographic projector. Although his highly mechanized form was quite tall, he was still smaller than Solzhenitsyn.

Under the rapid manipulation of his mechanical arms, the planetary projection displayed numerous color blocks, and a large amount of information was marked: enemy-occupied areas, combat zones, controlled areas, and the locations of various Militarum Protectorate forces. Because it was a small forge world, they had no Titans to deploy, but they did have three Cybernetica Battle Automata Legions, which were the main force in curbing the Genestealer Cult.

"Coke Furnace City has completely fallen, and it is now the main gathering place for these aliens. The Travank City, east of Coke Furnace City, has had a third of its urban area invaded. The Steel Teeth Legion is fighting against them. This city is the most important industrial site of the forge world and is extremely important. Currently, the irradiated wasteland between Coke Furnace City and Travank City has been blocked by interception units composed of Rough Riders and Sandcrawlers. The skies are patrolled day and night by ornithopters. The possibility of the aliens in Coke Furnace City supporting their forces in Travank City from the ground has disappeared. The only concern now is the underground tunnels. North of Coke Furnace City is the Slag Mountain Range, which is also the commanding height overlooking the entire city. The Militarum Protectorate has been trying to control it, but the aliens are very cunning, digging a large number of caves and tunnels, using earthworks and guerrilla warfare to fight against us, resulting in very slow progress in the battle. West of Coke Furnace City is the No. 3 Holy Furnace Mining Area. Currently, about half of the area is controlled by the aliens. They have desecrated many mining machines as their war machines. Currently, the Black Flash Legion is engaged in battle with them. No enemy activity has been detected in the Acid Lake Swamp area south of Coke Furnace City. It is very unsuitable for life and can be judged as a natural obstacle."

Prezemislo finished speaking about the general battlefield situation in a very fluent tone, and then pulled out a series of forms and data.

"Currently, the planet's production efficiency has decreased by 43%. If the war continues for another three months, it will expand to 51%, and the subsequent seventy-year production plan will be affected. Mars may hold us accountable."

Solzhenitsyn did not respond to him immediately, but looked at the color patches on the planet, and the series of images that appeared next to it, all of which were scenes of the Militarum Protectorate fighting the Genestealers.

Nothing too special.

After a while, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he said:

"Director Prezemislo, does your side have any understanding of Genestealers?"

"Some alien biology priests have studied them, but perhaps not too deeply."

Solzhenitsyn tapped the console lightly with his hand. After a moment, the hatch opened, and two White Templars Terminators pushed in a huge rack, followed by a Tech-Priest wearing a red robe, with a pale and thin face, and one of his eyes replaced with a Mechanicus bionic eye.

The Forge Master-General turned to look and discovered that it was actually a purestrain Genestealer made into a specimen.

Solzhenitsyn slowly walked to the specimen, then patted the carapace of the Genestealer and said to the Tech-Priest beside him:

"Father Faya, please introduce it to Director Prezemislo."

This Tech-Priest was Faya, whom Solzhenitsyn had brought back to the Chapter when he found Savita. He later studied under the bio-priest Ford, and then went to Zhao Akkad to study, majoring in alien biology, especially Tyranid and Genestealers. All the mentors who had taught him praised him for being very talented. He had only recently finished his studies and returned to the Chapter. At this time, he had changed from a naive apprentice to a knowledgeable Tech-Priest full of enthusiasm for knowledge.

Because he would be involved in the operation against the Genestealers, Solzhenitsyn simply summoned him from Naysen IV, after all, it was not good to rely too much on the scholars of Uran Huda.

In a large group with an increasingly complex composition of interests and personnel, balance is very important.

Faya nodded, and three auxiliary arms with obvious biological textures resembling insect limbs unfolded behind him, then pointed to various parts of the Genestealer and began to explain:

"Director Prezemislo, the chitinous carapace of the Genestealer may not be very strong, but they are not afraid of heat and cold, and are very resistant to high pressure and corrosion. Normal acidic substances are like ordinary people taking a bath with clean water for them. In addition, their sensory organs are also very unique."

Soon, the exchange between the two Mechanicus priests changed from language to pure data. Solzhenitsyn was not in a hurry. After Faya finished speaking, he smiled and said:

"So your assumptions about the Acid Lake Swamp area are too optimistic. I can even assert that they have already established strongholds in it, just lurking and not coming out. When your forces are all used in the other three directions, they are likely to suddenly come out in full force and go straight to the city where you are. At that time, you will be in a desperate situation."

"This—this—yes."

Prezemislo finally admitted this point, because after his logic calculator added the series of conditions and data mentioned by Faya, he quickly came to the conclusion that what the other party said was a high-probability event.

Solzhenitsyn then walked back to the holographic projector. In fact, he had expected this situation. Mechanical sages are proficient in calculation and analysis, but they are often short on strategy and planning. This seems to be a somewhat contradictory statement, but it is very realistically reflected in the followers of the Mechanicus, perhaps because they are easily blinded by straightforward data and ignore the many variables outside the data.

This is also why the Militarum Protectorate is clearly very powerful, but often struggles to play a decisive role.