Philus Wants to Lead the Charge

"Let's get ready to set off."

"Kasgar gave instructions to the captain of the Escort."

After the Pride of the Emperor and the other Escort were completely painted inside and out with Yriel's Bone-spirit Nanobots.

Kasgar then bid farewell to Fulgrim and, with his Sixth Company of Space Marine, headed to Gardinal to support Philus.

Fortunately, after fully satisfying her needs, she finally managed to remove the thing around her neck.

It wasn't easy.

It's really not easy.

Standing before the enormous observation window at the bow of the Escort, Kasgar recalled the intrusion of the Eldar who claimed to be Veil Walker.

"Is non-interference the right approach? Should we just let the world inevitably sink into the cesspool?"

Kasgar looked at the Pride of the Emperor, which was slowly disappearing into the surrounding scenery not far away.

Even if Kasgar were to remain as a tiny speck in the vast universe, he could still see Fulgrim standing at the bow window, waving goodbye to Kasgar.

What a beautiful yet fragile existence it was.

Should I abandon her just because of some vague prophecy?

"No."

"I will save you all."

"All those who deserve to be saved."

Kasgar silently recited this in his mind.

Together with the ship, they entered Mandeville Point.

Not long ago, a transport ship carrying thousands of new Space Marine recruits from Chemos and Terra arrived at Byzas, the planet where the Expeditionary Fleet was located.

Furthermore, Terra's War Council also provided Fulgrim with a large number of the Imperial Legion as support.

As for the resupply of weapons and equipment, she would need to personally travel to the various Adeptus Mechanicus Forge World and sign supply contracts with them.

With the addition of personnel, the Pride of the Emperor gradually became a Gloriana-class Battleship capable of standing on its own.

Instead of being an empty shell.

The military school currently under construction in Byzas will provide a continuous stream of new blood for the Emperor's Children Legion.

From then on, the Emperor's Children Legion, like those recovering from a serious illness, gradually became able to operate independently.

52nd Expeditionary Fleet.

Iron Fist.

As the vehicle of the Primarch of the Iron Hands the 10th Legion's Iron Hand, the Iron Fist is more like another "Iron" than another "Fist" within the Imperium of Man.

Produced by the Primarch Medusa, the warship's hull is made of jet-black, hard Medusan Iron, while nano-deposited Plasteel pillars support its entry into the void.

According to the Sage of the Adeptus Mechanicus of the Fifty-Second Expeditionary Fleet, the Steel Fist's Machine Spirit is impulsive and belligerent, filled with a constant desire to fight its enemies.

Just like the Primarch who controlled it, Philus Manus.

As for its interior, it is extremely cold.

The minimalist design is devoid of any decoration; the cabin, resembling a bare body, is illuminated only by a few long, narrow electric lights.

Primarch Philus believed that unnecessary enjoyment would only make people weak and lacking in fighting spirit.

Only an army that is constantly tempered in harsh environments is the most combat-effective army.

If it weren't for the need to distinguish which legion belonged to which legion, there's no doubt that Philus wouldn't even bother to paint the Power Armour of the Iron Hands.

They drove directly into the center of the battlefield in gray, displaying the ruthless and efficiency-first style of the Iron Hands.

[Forge Between]

This is the name of the conference room they are in.

"Gardinal's plea for help is interesting."

"I remember this star system; it was mentioned by the Kasgar from the Emperor's Children Legion."

"And you, Wizard, have you ever possessed such accurate Prophecy with the help of witchcraft?"

On the Iron Throne inside the flagship, Philus asked a question.

Sitting to the left was Amar, a Psychic Power Librarian member from the Thousand Sons Legion.

His skin was as withered and red as his Gene-father's.

"I'm so sorry, Lady Philus, I..."

"We have sent a message to the 28th Expeditionary Fleet as you instructed."

He chose to avoid the issue.

"The Sons of the Emperor's ship is already in contact with us. Once this little prophet arrives, our meeting will officially begin."

Fortunately, the Fifty -Number Two Expeditionary Fleet, where Philus was located, was not far from the location of the Pride of the Emperor flagship.

"Lady Philus, the Sons of the Emperor obeys your command."

Before long, a giant clad in magnificent purple-gold armor opened the heavy, massive gate of the Iron Fist.

Aqua Duna.

The Second Company Captain of the Sons of the Emperor, Sword Saint, and the Phoenix Eldest Daughter.

He is also the head of the exchange unit between the Iron Hands and the Sons of the Emperor.

Of the three legions in the current Imperium of Man that possess female Astartes, the Primarch of the Ninth Legion Grave Wardens Legion, the Ghoul Legion, the one with Angel wings, is currently studying in Horus's fleet.

Clearly, after excluding the Grave Wardens Legion that no one would like, the remaining two, namely the Sons of the Emperor and the Iron Hands Legion, are getting closer and closer.

After the Fulgrim joined the Great Crusade, they would occasionally send a small detachment to the other side's Expeditionary Fleet for exchange and learning.

The Tech Sergeant from the Iron Hands is still working on the Pride of the Emperor.

"Welcome, son of Fulgrim."

Please take a seat.

She wasn't in a good mood today.

The reason is quite simple.

Aqua has once again blasted Iron Hands apart in a simulation exercise.

It's still the kind of merciless, complete defeat.

If Aqua had even a little bit of emotional intelligence and gone easy on her, she wouldn't be so upset.

You're so useless!

Iron Hands!

In the Great Crusade, each legion possesses its own unique legion culture.

In the Iron Hands, Philus divided the Legion into six clans and encouraged competition and friction between them to improve the Legion's competitiveness.

As for the result, that is, of course—

It's completely useless.

He was easily defeated by Aqua alone.

Philus was also furious when she thought of this.

What happened? What happened?!

Despite having gone through countless bloody and fiery wars, their level was still unable to compete with the best of other legions!

This year's Iron Hands is simply the worst one she's ever led!

She gave the Iron Hands present a disapproving look.

"You make me feel ashamed."

When Philus rejected the proposal, they erupted in strong protests.

"No, Mother of Iron! We are not weak."

"We'll adapt, and we'll do better next time!"

"That's the key point, isn't it?"

Kasgar watched as Philus, sitting on the Iron Throne, gradually warmed up, and tried hard to keep his smile from showing.

Iron Hands, another legendary legion during the Great Crusade.

Of course, a large part of these extraordinary actions are also related to Philus's deliberate attempts to divide and balance the power.

As a socialite, Philus's belief in the supremacy of the legion, while it may have a certain motivating effect on the soldiers.

When Philus was around, things were fine; she could keep the competition within the legion confined to the level of competition itself.

But once she's confused...

The entire legion would then fall apart, unable to reach a unified command of action.

Even with the second-most advanced technology in the universe, the split Iron Hands still performed poorly during the Horus Heresy.

He hoped that in the upcoming Gardinar Campaign, he could resolve the internal conflicts within the Iron Hands Legion and prevent the tragedy from repeating itself.

Kasgar thought to himself.

"Iron Hands, you don't seem to be convinced, do you?"

Just then, Philus's gaze also fell on Kasgar.

That's why Kasgar came.

She invited Iron Hands from Kasgar because she saw his powerful ability to train new recruits.

They were able to train a group of soldiers who had never experienced large-scale warfare into soldiers capable of fighting against elite veterans on the front lines in a short period of time.

If some of the Iron Hands's clans were given to him to manage for a period of time, their competitiveness might increase significantly.

"Well, I do have a suggestion."

"This Chief Commander from the Sons of the Emperor, Kasgar Sherlock, will lead part of the Avini Clan of the First Company in the upcoming operations."

"Sir, we—"

"Losers have no right to speak."

Philus coldly interrupted the rebuttal from below, and after the room fell silent again, she turned to Kasgar.

"I hope that in the time to come, you can teach their steel brains some new things."

Philus

Don't let me down.

Judging from Philus's tone, she seemed to have given Kasgar no right to refuse.

"Yes, sir."

Kasgar could only secretly lament his misfortune.

Let me teach these lumps of iron normal human thinking patterns in the next few days?

Is it true or false?

"Next comes the main event we are about to face."

"Speak, Wizard of the Thousand Sons."

Seeing that neither Kasgar nor the First Company of the Iron Hands had any objections (forced to), Philus turned to look at the Thousand Sons Librarian beside her.

What challenges did you encounter in Gardinal?

The Gardinar System was originally the target of one of the Ultramarines' Expeditionary Fleet.

As a diplomat for the Ultramarines, this Librarian member from the Thousand Sons Legion failed in his negotiations with the opposing side, leading to war between the two sides.

"And so, this is your result?"

Philus's voice was trembling.

The silver, liquid-like arm gripped the handle of the Iron Throne tightly. If the throne had not been made of hard Medusa mineral, the armrest would most likely have turned to dust with that one grip.

"Five hundred thousand Imperial Army soldiers died on the battlefield, and thousands of Astartes are still missing!"

Countless resources were squandered by your incompetent and clumsy command!

"Not to mention the fact that half of the God Machine's legion was wiped out!!"

Phyllis emphasized this point in particular.

It seemed that in her eyes, devoid of any compassion, the latter was significantly more valuable than the former.

When faced with the remnants of the defeated army who came to plead for help, Gorgon bared her vicious fangs.

"We... we did not anticipate that the other side would use an oversaturation Nuclear Weapon attack."

The Ultramarines were initially in a position of advantage.

In an instant, a massive Nuclear Weapon attack from Gardinal destroyed the Ultramarines' position.

Moreover, nearby Satellite City will be affected by lethal levels of radiation over the next few decades.

This is the situation we least want to see in the Great Crusade.

The residual radiation will greatly increase the governance costs and time costs for the Imperium of Man.

The biggest challenges for the Great Crusade are time and cost.

"Unexpected! What an unexpected twist."

Philus held her head in annoyance.

She thought Iron Hands was already stubborn enough, but she never expected to encounter someone even more stubborn than them.

Perhaps the Ultramarines don't even need command in war.

From now on, you can spend your whole life carrying this universal military manual and fighting according to the rules in it!

Philus looked helplessly at Kasgar beside her.

His helmet was still painted bright red, which clashed with his purple-gold armor.

As one of humanity's Pocket Imperium, the Gardinar System possesses eleven planets and even preserves many advanced creations from humanity's Dark Age of Technology.

They were far more formidable than their Byzas friends.

Therefore, the Terra War Council requested that they retain as many facilities as possible on it to better serve the Great Crusade.

In other words, the Exterminatus cannot be ignored.

"Sir, I understand your anger."

Thousand Sons Librarian offered words of comfort, "But we don't need to take any risks. We just need to trap them in the Gardinar System and wait for other reinforcements."

"Lord Guilliman's reinforcements will arrive smoothly in just two weeks of Warp travel time."

Lord Guilliman is returning to provide assistance!

Good heavens, it's Lord Guilliman!

He's on his way!

Thankfully, the return trip lasted two weeks, not nine hours.

"Oh?"

Philus raised an eyebrow slightly. "You mean I should just stand here like a coward and wait until the great and wise Lord of Five Hundred Worlds comes and lets him decide on the next course of attack, right?"

"No! Lady Philus, that's not what I meant!"

"No? If not, you shouldn't have mentioned any proposals that have held the Iron Hands back."

Like her other siblings, Philus didn't like Guilliman.

Even disgust.

What's even more infuriating is that others actually believed that only Guilliman could handle the matter with the most appropriate methods.

"Two weeks, is it? Then let him get all this sorted out before he comes."

She turned her head and glared at the Iron Hands Terminator beside her.

"Go and get the legion ready."

"And another one. Kasgar, come with me."

Philus called him out alone.

"It's Amar! Amar's signal!"

"Our Thousand Sons Librarian has found the nearest reinforcements!"

On the Gardinal Prime, on that battlefield shrouded in smoke.

"He sent a signal back in Astral language, and we will have reinforcements coming to our aid soon!"

It must be our Primarch, Roboute Guilliman's Twelfth Fleet, right?!

Cicero, the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, was overjoyed.

At worst, they would be a formidable force of reinforcements, enough to help them hold out until the arrival of Lord Guilliman's 12th Expeditionary Fleet.

Once we get Lord Guilliman's support, everything will be alright!

"Neither?"

"What?! The fleet that's coming is Philus Manus's?!"

Click.

The walkie-talkie in his hand fell to the ground.

The Ultramarines Chapter's dusty face broke into a relieved smile at that moment.

Ha ha.

It's Iron Hand Philus!

We're doomed!

Actually, there was also a superhuman officer at this meeting.

He had just suffered a defeat and was even able to fall asleep while Senior Sister Fei was giving him a pep talk.

The Senior Sister was so angry she laughed.