Gardinal, the Crown Jewel of Ferrus Manus's Conquests

After trading all the Overlord heads with Mortarion, Nimrod spoke.

"You have liberated Barbarus and brought New Life to this world."

"It's time to embrace a new challenge. You're coming with me to meet someone."

"Who goes there?" Mortarion asked in a deep voice.

"The Emperor, your gene weaver, he sent me to take you to him."

"The Emperor? Who is he?" Mortarion exclaimed in surprise. Someone actually had the ability to command a powerful outsider.

Although he had never fought Nimrod, he possessed abilities no less than his own, and the existence called the Emperor could actually command him.

The name "The Emperor" reminded him of Overlord enslaved humanity, Mortarion had no liking for him whatsoever.

"You'll find out. Come with me."

Mortarion watched Nimrod's retreating figure and then followed.

The Stormbird took to the skies, soaring through the toxic fog clouds, and landed on the deck of the Emperor flagship Bucephalus.

The Remembrancer, strongly supported by Malcador, recorded this glorious moment with cameras, Data Slate, or paper.

"854. M30, the King of Vostronia, acting on the Emperor's orders, traveled to the savage world of Barbarus in the Storm Sector to retrieve the Fourteenth Primarch, Mortalian, the fourteenth Primarch to return..."

Five days later, at the same moment the "Dusk Raiders" fleet arrived in Barbarus, Nimrod also ordered the ship to set sail and return to Vostonia.

The Shadow of the Throne, Primarch Office.

Nimrod listened to a report from Arsena Dunn.

"... After receiving new recruits three months ago, the Second Legion currently has 15,200 men..."

While listening to the Primarch's Attendants's squire's report, Nimrod pondered the war preparations for Gardinal.

Although he knew that the entire society of Gardinal was based on the caste system, he decided to use the mortals and the Beyonder as the decisive force, but he still needed the Astartes to intimidate them and buy time for his actions.

I remember that in the first phase of the Battle of Gardinal, the 13th Legion lost nearly a thousand Ultramarines, and the 500,000- Auxilia, mainly composed of the Marnian Army and the Saanic Infantry Regiment, along with half of the "Flame Pattern" Titan Legions, failed to achieve a decisive victory.

Afterwards, Ferrus Manus led 70,000 Iron Hands, 6 million Imperial Army and Skitarii, and several Titan Legions to a swift victory.

At least 100,000 Shadow of Order, a million Auxilia, and at least one Titan Legions would be needed to deter the ruling caste of Gardinal and buy time.

"Parts of the First, Second, Third, Sixth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Chapter were dispatched and assembled at Carium Gate in the last Sun Month of 855."

"..."

"Dispatch the 'Tiger Eye' Titan Legions, and the House Mordred and Veroni Family assemble."

After recording Nimrod's orders, the silver-haired Arsena asked curiously:

"My lord, do you have a powerful goal?"

The "Shadow of Order" Chapter are distributed across various fronts in the Segmentum Obscurus and the Ultima Segmentum. Most of the time, the enemies they encounter do not require large-scale mobilization. The last time was in the war against the Squats.

"That's right."

"Travelers of old called it the Astrid Necklace. Over five thousand years, the entire galaxy has a population exceeding one hundred billion."

"Gardinal will be a significant new addition to the Legion's map, a dazzling world."

Nimrod silently thought to himself: [Gardinal is the most dazzling jewel in the crown of the many Industrial World conquered by Manus.]

In December 855, Nimrod arrived in the "Nation of Disorder" and confirmed that the Dice of Prophecy were fully charged and ready for a new divination.

His mind raced through all the information he knew about Gardinal.

[Gardinal, Eastern Galaxy of the Galaxy]

The Gardinal system has eleven planets, ranging from the scorching fifth giant gas planet to the nitrogen-iceberg eleventh planet.

The galaxy also contains hundreds of satellites and thousands of large asteroids, making the entire galaxy extremely industrialized.

...]

Nimrod knew quite a lot about the Gardinal, the various castes, and the High Lord of the ruling class. After a few breaths, all the information flashed through his mind, and he silently recited it to himself.

[Star map of the Carium Gate leading to Gardinal.]

A star map leading from the Carium Gate to Gardinal.

...]

After silently reciting it eleven times, he reached out and threw the Dice of Prophecy in his hand.

After tumbling several times in the air, the triangular cone fell downwards, landing in Nimrod's outstretched hand. At that moment, a scene that seemed like a holographic projection unfolded before him.

In the first Sun Month of 856, William Wood, dressed in colorful, patchwork leather armor, trekked through mountains piled high with chemical waste.

Chemical waste comes from a variety of sources, but after reacting with each other, it turns brownish-brown overall.

William's boots were uneven, one too big for the other, and had been taken from the feet of different castes of slave laborers.

Fortunately, the two boots were originally for the left and right feet, and not both on the same side.

There aren't many creatures living in the wasteland, so William hunts dog-like creatures that have more meat.

William couldn't recall where he learned about dogs; there were no dogs in the factory where he was born.

An image of a red-furred, dog-like creature flashed through his mind, and he immediately began to hunt it, following the image in his mind.

With a gun in one hand and a dagger in the other, William skillfully navigated through the mud pits and the pile of scrap metal, throwing out the dagger he had crafted from scrap metal.

To avoid alerting others, he did not fire the gun.

The dagger whistled as it plunged into the red-haired dog's head.

William walked up to the red dog's carcass, drew his dagger, and skillfully began to dissect it.

He had just peeled off the fur when a scene suddenly flashed through his mind: bullets were being fired from behind.

[They're here to steal the loot again.]

Food is a scarce resource that everyone will fight tooth and nail for in the garbage mountain.

William rolled forward abruptly, raised his gun, and fired; the bullet struck the Ravagers precisely in the left eye.

He strode toward the corpse and began searching for the spoils.

William suddenly stopped moving, his mind suddenly clouded over.

Just like the space around Gardinal that was shrouded in clouds of toxic exhaust fumes.

William trembled; he didn't know what it was.

At the same time, the Ramillies-class Star Fortress was launched into the Gardinal system by the Carium Gate.

After the fourth pair of space stations were repaired, the travel time through the Carium Gate was further reduced.

In just five Sun cycles, the Ramillies-class Star Fortress and the "Shadow of Order" fleet were deployed from the northeastern part of the Segmentum Obscurus to the eastern part of the Ultima Segmentum.

Numerous orbital defense facilities for dozens of satellites and hundreds of asteroids sounded piercing alarms.

The defenders remained calm. Over the course of five thousand years, they had repelled countless attacks by Xenos and pirates, and in their long history, they had faced only one real threat.

The Gardinal people believe they can repel enemy attacks, just as they have in the past.

The forest of turrets turned around, aiming at the enormous object that suddenly appeared in the void.

The High Lord warned the intruders to leave Gardinal immediately.