Reorganization

Lycaeus, south of the High Tower

The miners swung their shovels, scooping sand from a nearby cart to cover the crimson-stained blood. Even after a full night had passed and the sand had been layered over, the thick stench of blood remained impossible to mask.

Through the haze of dust that filled the air, Korax could still see that the camp's total numbers had shrunk by nearly a tenth.

"The Eleventh Purge!!!" Korax stared at the scene before him, fury surging through him. He knew casualties were unavoidable, but what he saw still cut deep into the Primarch's sensitive heart.

"Korax, remember: mercy has no place in command. These sacrifices are nothing compared to the victory we've won." Giovanni set down the shovel he'd been wielding and offered comfort to the Primarch, who towered head and shoulders above him.

"I understand, but I cannot accept it," Korax said flatly.

"Prepare to relocate. Abandon these smaller camps. Keep only one or two large camps per district to deal with whatever retaliation the High Tower might throw at us next." Korax looked at the blood that had already turned a dark, dried crimson on the ground as he gave the order.

In that moment, Korax's role was beginning to shift toward that of a ruler. Before, he had mostly served as a liaison between the camps; now, he understood.

"Yes, Lord Korax." Giovanni's choice of address made his stance and support for the Primarch clear.

"You're practically my teacher. You don't need to call me that," Korax said with a bitter smile.

"Korax, any organization must have a clear chain of command. That's essential for healthy growth, and it doesn't bend to anyone's will." Giovanni once again drove home the lesson he had taught this gifted child time and again.

"I understand, teacher. Organize the brothers and sisters in the camps and begin the relocation." Korax vanished from the spot once more.

Over the following days, Korax moved as fast as he could, covering every miner camp around the High Tower's various districts and delivering his orders to camps both large and small.

Just as Sandman had predicted, Korax's proposal won the approval of everyone in the Lycaeus region.

In the time that followed, the miners balanced digging ore with moving camp. Two months later, Korax's plan was finally complete.

"The camps on Lycaeus have been consolidated. Now we can pull the able-bodied men from the camps and start building our army," Sandman said, looking at the new situation map hanging on the wall.

What had once been a patchwork of camps scattered like jagged teeth was now reduced to a few large strongholds and the still-chaotic region in the west.

Korax had no interest in concerning himself with the fate of those criminals from Giava—so long as they didn't raid the camps under his command.

It was easy to foresee that once the camps were consolidated, those criminals would soon find themselves cornered. Internal strife would inevitably erupt among them. The criminals in the west were now like a jar of venomous insects, cut off by the eastern, southern, and northern regions. To survive, they would have to see who was the strongest.

Cruel, but real.

No miner camp would ever accept people steeped in sin, even if the new resource exchange rates were enough to guarantee their bare minimum survival.

But Lycaeus had no room for idlers.

The fate of those criminals would be decided by whatever leader emerged from the western zone's final struggle. Life or death hung on that single choice.

Either lead the criminals to accept reorganization, or lead them to raid the miners who had moved into the large camps. The former offered a sliver of hope for survival; the latter would see Korax personally lead a force to utterly destroy that place, which had bred countless sins.

"We've got about half a year left. That should be enough. What do you think about having every camp keep only the ore they absolutely need and handing the rest over to the High Tower?" Sandman asked for Korax's opinion.

"It's enough. I've already mapped out the defensive layout for every key node in the High Tower. Once we have the weapons, we can launch the uprising at any time," Korax said.

The biggest problem facing the miners now was weapons. The forces they would face weren't just rabble-arming overseers—they included the regular Giava garrison stationed at the High Tower, as well as the Lord of the High Tower's personal army.

"Weapons are easy. We can just take them from the armed overseers by force. Armor, though—that's a problem we can't solve," Sandman said.

In the Warhammer Universe, the lethality of firearms was always excessive. Take the short-barreled Laser Guns commonly used on Lycaeus—they could easily tear through the armor of an ordinary Giava soldier.

Not to mention the neural-linked Power Armor used by the Astartes or the force-feedback Power Armor used by mortals—even the Solar Auxilia's Solar-pattern Void Armor was extremely rare.

The Solar Auxilia made up about 20% of the Imperium's total military forces. They were the most elite mortal troops in the Imperium of Man, capable of adapting to any battlefield and masters of void warfare. Their equipment was second only to that of the Space Marine Legions.

The Solar Auxilia attached to the Raven Guard were a powerful regiment known as the Beastmen Infantry Regiment.

But how could any of that be issued to ordinary Planetary Defense Forces? Even if Giava had the capacity to produce armor for the elite of elites like the Solar Auxilia—which it didn't—they wouldn't bother. This world had known peace for far too long.

Beyond armor, the miners also lacked firepower. An army wouldn't be armed with just Laser Guns. There were Frag Grenades, Melta Bombs, Plasma Weapons, and Heavy Logging Guns or Twin-linked Lascannons mounted on key Defense Nodes.

Without Boarding Shields or Astartes, a single burst from those killer weapons could clear an entire corridor of infantry.

"That's where Shadow Kill comes in," Sandman said with a smile. From the very beginning, that had been the purpose behind his training of the Shadow Kill.

Every Primarch pushed their own strengths to the absolute limit, and the planet Korax had landed on happened to be the perfect place for him to leverage his greatest talents.

Sandman had laid the groundwork early, and Korax's teachings made them even more exceptional at concealment, infiltration, and penetration. Some of the members who had awakened their psychic powers were especially absurd.

Among the entire human race, only a handful could surpass a Primarch in the application of psychic power. With a Primarch personally teaching them, passing the Imperium's psychic screening was the easiest thing in the world.