Don't Bully a Poor Veteran!

"Well said. Sons of the Emperor should indeed handle everything personally, down to the smallest detail."

"But why do I feel like you're hiding something?"

Aqua's keen instincts as a swordswoman were often remarkably reliable.

Her sharp gaze fixed on Kasgar, leaving him hardly daring to breathe.

But gradually, her expression softened.

"Still, no matter what, I'm willing to trust your judgment."

"Thank you."

Kasgar replied with a smile.

"Whew."

"This is truly... torturous."

The crystals on Silent Star's surface were exceptionally hard.

Even with the Adeptus Mechanicus's heavy machinery, constructing Defensive Fortifications would take quite some time.

Coupled with the vast amounts of toxic gas on the surface, the airtight systems of their power armor could never be opened for ventilation.

Though the armor had internal air purification functions, the grueling construction work still made it feel stifling.

They could not breathe fresh air.

"Damn it! Why are we building useless Defensive Fortifications here?!"

"I want to fight the enemy! I want to be an Enemy of the Father!"

The elite First Company had grown increasingly resentful of Kasgar.

They were all noble Sons of the Emperor!

Their mission was to be Enemies of the Father.

Not to shovel their Father's ashes!

They were the Emperor's sharpest blades, the most magnificent and artistic Astartes!

Their destiny should have been to die on the battlefield or return in glory.

Not to build some futile Maginot Line in this godforsaken place!

When had these old Terran-born warriors ever suffered such humiliation?

Company Commander Caslon raised his head and looked toward the sky obscured by poisonous clouds.

The fierce Dalit Annihilation Battle had surely begun by now.

And he, Company Commander Julius Cassalon, if Horus had not transferred them to the rear just to accommodate that idiot Kasgar—

He would surely have led his men as usual in boarding the flagship of the strongest and most formidable alien enemy, Xhanabal Saber in hand, to engage their mightiest leader in a one-on-one duel!

"Come, coward! Draw your weapon!"

"Our duel shall be recorded in history from this day onward!"

And so, the valiant Caslon would turn the tide of battle by successfully beheading the enemy leader!

Upon returning victorious, he would be received and lavishly praised by the godlike Primarch Horus!

Then even Fulgrim would marvel at his overwhelming combat prowess and regret her own poor judgment for entrusting command to a worthless fool like Kasgar, a man with neither talent nor virtue.

Rather than to him, the talented and virtuous Company Commander!

And then, then, to reward his illustrious achievements—

Fulgrim would personally forge him a set of armor and weapons as perfect as Kasgar's!!!

Wow!

How amazing would that be?!

Hehehehehe.

When the time came, he would definitely wear that dazzling, magnificent armor and look down on that incompetent man named Kasgar to his heart's content!

Hmph!

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river!

Don't bully a poor veteran!

"Company Commander, your scheduled one Terran hour of rest has ended."

But unfortunately, Caslon never got to savor the sight of the other man's furious defeat.

It was all the Servitor beside him's fault, cutting him off at the crucial moment.

He shook his head and looked at the crude tents they had built around them.

The dream was over.

".I'll be right there."

Time to keep shoveling ash.

Sigh, why was Kasgar so awful?!

"Report!"

Before Caslon could curse a few more times in his heart, a mortal officer came running over from the distance.

The man was of normal human height and wore a standard-issue uniform brought from Chemos, looking rather upright and handsome.

The officers of the Third Legion's Auxilia had been selected by Fulgrim and Kasgar from Chemos's guard forces to join the expeditionary Auxilia.

"Lord Caslon."

"If needed, Commander Kasgar has sent us to assist with the construction of the Defensive Fortifications."

Unlike Space Marines like them, clad in power armor, this Auxilia sergeant major had only a gas mask capable of filtering the air.

Silent Star's climate was hot and humid, even at the poles.

Even from far away, Caslon could see that the man's undershirt had been soaked through with sweat.

"You?"

"Isn't the Auxilia also assigned to build the fortifications? Don't you have your own work?"

"Reporting, sir. The outermost Defensive Fortifications assigned to us have basically been completed."

"At Commander Kasgar's request, we will assist with the unfinished Defensive Fortifications within the encampment."

As he spoke, the man searched around for a moment before handing Caslon a pair of binoculars.

In the distance, countless mortals were still laboring around the heavy fortress at the center, forged from refined steel.

Judging from their progress, they would likely finish soon.

So quickly?

The battle-hardened Company Commander Caslon was somewhat surprised.

Truthfully, these overlooked Auxilia troops generally served as the first wave of cannon fodder for their Space Marines on the battlefield.

On one hand, they could probe the enemy's tactical deployments and advantages; on the other, they could preserve the precious Space Marines.

Moreover, the Great Crusade had connected so many Imperial worlds and Hive Cities that the number of soldiers available for recruitment was practically inexhaustible.

Thus, this cannon-fodder strategy was generally very effective.

But correspondingly, the Auxilia suffered extremely high casualty and rout rates, and their morale was very low.

They were cannon fodder. As long as they could be used, that was enough.

Under such circumstances, unless they were fanatical religious lunatics who had secretly converted to the underground Imperial Cult—

It was already considered a high-standard unit if these Auxilia troops did not slack off.

Not to mention men like these, who had completed their own tasks under such harsh environmental conditions and still came to help them continue construction.

Caslon felt somewhat ashamed when he thought of it.

The Auxilia, lacking the support of power armor, could still do this much, while he, a supposedly noble Son of the Emperor, disdained the work as beneath him and refused to act. It was truly embarrassing.

But why did the Auxilia possess such high morale?

Kasgar had probably brainwashed them!

Looking again at the Chemos-style clothing he wore, Caslon gradually found his answer.

Kasgar, you seemed a little un-Imperial Truth!

As a veteran of countless battles, he often encountered this sort of thing among the enemies of certain human Pocket Imperiums: religious fanatics like these.

They would shout about gods and emperors as they launched frenzied suicidal charges against them, offering everything they had to the gods they spoke of.

All so that after death, they could return to the side of their false god.

How laughable.

Unlike the Imperium of Man, where the Imperial Truth spread throughout the galaxy.

Such fanatical religious ideology could never survive under the Imperium of Man's rule.

".In the end, why do you obey that Kasgar fellow?"

"It's one thing for Lady Fulgrim to like him, but why are you willing to risk your lives for him to this extent?"

"Commander Caslon, on Chemos, almost everyone gets asked that question."

The Auxilia sergeant major smiled as though he had long expected the question.

"I think that when the aliens invade, our actions in battle may be more convincing than dry words."

"You truly believe aliens will invade here?"

Caslon pointed in confusion at the Warp Gate that had lain dormant for hundreds, thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of years.

"How could something like this possibly—"

Just as he angrily prepared to refute these Kasgar fanatics.

The Portal lit up.