The Emperor’s Angel of Death

With the strong support of the Ecclesiarchy, the mortal forces of the Archdiocese can now be fully supported by the Faith Wardens. The auxiliary regiments of the Legion are no longer indispensable. Moreover, soon Zhao-Arkadia will begin mass production of the 520 tanks, a cheap and practical main battle tank that will greatly enhance the armored strength and offensive capabilities of the Faith Wardens.

Therefore, Sorshian finally decided to let the auxiliaries return home. After all, they had been fighting for nearly four years. Although serving in the Imperium is essentially a lifetime commitment in most cases, a break is still important for restoring and boosting morale.

Of course, the real key part is the personnel arrangement, for which Sorshian had a private meeting with Ustad.

"...The Archdiocese has permanently lost 7 star systems, including 2 Shrine Worlds, 9 agricultural worlds, 2 mining worlds, 2 new colonies, 3 feudal worlds, 1 primitive world, and 1 garden world... accounting for one-third of the Archdiocese's territory. Preliminary statistics show a loss of approximately 26 billion people, with about 14.7 billion refugees transferred in succession. To accommodate these surplus people, 11 new colonies have been established. Five of these new colonies will continue to engage in agriculture to ensure the Archdiocese's food supply, while another three are mining worlds, the property rights of which belong to Zhao-Arkadia. The work of the new immigrants will provide raw materials for the Forge World. One of the remaining three will become a Fortress World, replicating the well-established military-agricultural model of the Brakato star system, and the other two will serve as Shrine Worlds and industrial worlds. All immigrants will be allocated according to their age, family, ability, knowledge, property, and other factors. In addition, three space docks are under urgent construction. The first phase aims to be able to repair warships, and the second phase aims to be able to produce transport ships, merchant ships, and small warships independently. The docks of the Cardinal World have been expanded, and the shipyard is accelerating construction."

After listening to Ustad's report, Sorshian nodded slightly in his chair. To shorten the distance between them, this meeting was not held in a very large or formal location, but in a small reception room. There was little furniture inside, just two large chairs, a large table, a small projector on the table, several murals on the wall, and an incense burner in the corner, emitting faint smoke.

"It seems that you have completely mastered the situation of the Archdiocese. That's very good. It can be seen that you work very hard."

Receiving Sorshian's praise, Ustad, wearing a long robe, smiled slightly awkwardly.

"Lord Commander, you flatter me. Actually, I am not doing well. Many logistical problems have not been resolved."

Sorshian waved his left hand and smiled:

"These are not your fault. After all, the objective conditions are here. There is an old saying on Terra, 'A clever woman cannot cook without rice.' The Archdiocese is already weak. Maintaining the logistics of millions of troops and feeding so many unproductive priests is not easy at all."

Upon hearing this, Ustad put down the data slate and said very sincerely:

"Lord Commander, I still want to fight alongside my brothers. When I see those casualty figures, I feel ashamed because I am not standing with them."

Sorshian put away his smile and sighed:

"From the moment we become Space Marines, this moment is destined to come to each of us, sooner or later. Ustad, when I brought you out of the Obsidian Fortress, I once firmly believed that I could let you all live to see the Chapter, and even the Legion, restored. But the fact proves that I can't do it. Most people have sacrificed... You must learn to accept this and recognize what is truly difficult. I have high expectations for you."

Ustad lowered his head slightly.

"I have disappointed you, Lord Commander."

"Ha, you make me proud, how can I be disappointed? No one can do better than you, especially by Space Marine standards. You can already stand alone. Oh right, you should know about the Penitent's affairs, right?"

"I know, Lord Commander. How should this matter be handled?"

"I can't say for sure at the moment, but what is certain is that I must leave. Also, the Naiten system was also attacked by Chaos Space Marines before, you know that, right?"

"I already know."

"The stronger the Legion becomes, the more ill-intentioned people there will be in the dark. This time we were lucky that the Randle was there, but we can't guarantee that we will be so lucky every time. The Legion can no longer put everyone in remote war zones."

Ustad thought for a while, then tentatively asked:

"Does Lord Commander plan to leave some people behind and the rest return?"

"Yes, my idea is to leave the 2nd Company, 6th Company, 7th Company, 8th Company, and 10th Company. The White Templars will also leave 5 companies. The Legion will leave about 10 companies in the Archdiocese, stay for 2 years first, and then rotate or increase depending on the specific situation."

"I will follow Lord Commander's arrangements."

"I'll also give you a heads up here. You've seen the Ecclesiarchy presided over by Viletz. In the future, it will become the mainstream faith of the Archdiocese, and the Archdiocese will gradually become a part of the Legion. The future storms will be very fierce. The Tyranids may launch a larger-scale invasion, the power of Chaos is also stirring, and the Necrons among the alien enemies are also beginning to appear on a large scale. We need a more stable and larger territory to continuously provide the power of war."

Hearing Sorshian say this, Ustad nodded.

"I understand. Lord Commander's foresight is admirable."

Looking at Ustad, who had no doubts or questions, Sorshian suddenly felt a small stone fall from his heart.

"So you may not be able to leave the Archdiocese for the time being. Later, the military and political power here will be controlled by you. Just communicate with the Ecclesiarchy a little bit, and you don't need to pay special attention to their ideas. Of course, you can also command on the front lines, after all, it is not far away. Of course, it is best to delegate some front-line commanders, such as Oscar or Bakhram."

At this time, Ustad hesitated instead.

"Thank you for Lord Commander's trust, but I'm afraid... I'm afraid I will fail your expectations."

"Don't be afraid. You're not afraid of death, are you still afraid of these? In terms of government affairs, Viletz has managed the Deaconate well enough, and it can basically handle all administrative affairs and unconditionally execute your orders. In terms of military affairs, communicate more with the brothers, listen to their opinions, but be sure to have your own opinions. The Mourning Legion detachment of Zhao-Arkadia will also be stationed in the Archdiocese for a long time, and they will all follow your arrangements, but be careful when using these precious things. I plan to let the Knight families return home first. On the one hand, the number of Knight Titans damaged is still relatively large, and they need to be replenished and repaired in Ulanhuda. On the other hand, they also need to bring valuable combat experience and glory back to their families, but I will redeploy them after they have rested."