The Eleventh Legion, Blackwatch

Chapter 11: Blackwatch

Following the conclusion of the celebration, Hogg arrived aboard the flagship of the Eleventh Legion. During the ceremony, Hogg announced that the Eleventh Legion would be renamed the Blackwatch, and the flagship would be rechristened the Blacklight.

The Blacklight was a Gloriana Class warship, spanning 21 kilometers in length—roughly the size of a county from his previous life.

The vessel was draped in a grey-black livery with thin white trim tracing its lines, cradling the inhabitants within like a graceful, dignified matron sailing through the cosmos.

The Gloriana Class was equipped with firepower so immense that it could single-handedly defeat an entire fleet or bring a rebellious planet to its knees.

Consequently, these ships naturally became the flagships of every Astartes legion during the Great Crusade. These vessels would assist the Astartes in rapidly conquering newly discovered worlds and bringing them into Imperium, thereby facilitating the rule of the human empire.

Upon reaching the bridge, Hogg felt a stirring in his body, as if a strange consciousness were circling him; he could sense the ship's joy and affection.

The first thing Hogg did upon returning to his legion was to hold a meeting. In the main command center, the captains of the various companies were scattered about, and the acting Legion Master, Lyla Lynn, reported the current status of the Eleventh Legion to his Primarch.

"Father, the legion currently totals 10,372 Astartes. In addition to the Blacklight, we have 3 battleships, 6 frigates, and 7 transport ships. Our supplies and personnel are fully stocked, and we possess 6,214 sealed gene-seeds."

"Furthermore, compared to the seeds of other legions, our gene-seeds are entirely free of mutation and corruption, but..."

"But what, Lynn? I am your father. Perhaps I am young and have not seen as much of the fires of war as you have, but I deserve to know the internal affairs of the legion, do I not? My legion may speak freely."

Hearing the Primarch's gentle tone, Lynn was deeply moved and proceeded to reveal the truth.

"Father may not know this, but thanks to your great power, the warriors of the legion possess formidable regenerative abilities. As a result, we are often sent to the most brutal battlefields to spearhead assaults."

"Perhaps because we appear more flexible than other legions, an inexplicable urge drives us to scavenge the battlefield. It is inevitable that we end up picking up supplies belonging to other legions, and then... well, then..."

At this point, Lyla Lynn looked up to gauge Hogg's expression; his father was as handsome and beautiful as ever.

"Then we collected a great deal of xenos technology. This has resulted in our reputation not being particularly stellar; we are constantly called 'scavengers' and 'gnomes,' so the warriors within the legion have developed some rather... unique hobbies."

Huh? Hearing this, Hogg suddenly realized something was amiss. Logically, Astartes were superhuman warriors, standing at least 2.2 meters tall, yet looking around the room, few were taller than himself.

But he was only 2 meters tall, and Lyla Lynn, the tallest one here, was only 2.1 meters.

"What the hell do they know?"

(⊙_⊙)? Father, what did you say?

Hogg, lounging in a sofa (swiped from Emperor), spoke with dead seriousness:

"What do they know! What is the use of being so tall? To serve as a target? This is the interstellar age; use guns! In the corridors of a warship or inside a pipe, can they fit where we can? No!"

"Bullshit! They have to move two extra carts of dirt just to dig a trench; they'd work themselves to death."

"Father is right!!! We are the most standard Astartes." An officer, even shorter than the others at under 2 meters, chimed in.

Looking at the little potato before him, Hogg felt quite gratified.

"So what if we scavenge? We call this 'frugal housekeeping and waste utilization.' Besides, we enter the most dangerous battlefields; we didn't steal it, did we? Also, what is this xenos technology? Let me see." Hogg said dismissively.

"Father, look!"

The warriors, feeling greatly validated, began to pull out their prized possessions: blades emitting a green glow, daggers made from unknown bones, claws with living tissue flickering with purple disruption fields, a crystalline soul stone, and even a familiar-looking game console.

"(ˉ▽￣~) Pfft. Is that it? Who said this was xenos technology? You, yes you, find a bucket of paint and coat them in black. Slap the Imperial Aquila on them, and who would dare say this isn't Imperial technology?"

During his day aboard the Blacklight, Hogg finally understood why the Eleventh Legion's reputation was so poor.

In the storage bays, Hogg discovered all sorts of strange and bizarre items. Weapons, ammunition, and tanks bearing the insignias of other legions were merely the tip of the iceberg; there were countless pieces of xenos technology and even unidentified artifacts from the Dark Age of Technology.

His sons claimed they just took whatever felt useful, and they weren't afraid of anything exploding. Hogg quickly summoned Candice Laza to see if anything could be researched from them.

At the meeting, Hogg finalized the development plan for the next two years. First was the construction work, turning Alicia into a fortress world.

Second was recruitment. He would select new recruits here and, leveraging Candice Laza's connections, recruit a group of Tech-Priests to reverse-engineer this xenos technology.

As the Primarch's homeworld, Alicia enjoyed the highest-tier trade policies of Imperium. Hogg intended to use this place as his rear-guard base; at the very least, he had to achieve self-sufficiency.

With the news of the Primarch's return, a swarm of Rogue Traders flocked to the planet, and the local nobility of Alicia swore their allegiance to Hogg.

Perhaps due to the nature of Hogg's gene-seed, while possessing powerful physical forms, the Blackwatch also had no shortage of psykers, and their abilities were quite strange.

Compared to psykers who commune with the Warp, the Blackwatch psykers were more accurately described as "freeloaders." According to the veterans, the Warp entities they encountered during warp travel were extremely repulsed by them, and the probability of ship crew mutation was pitifully low.

During the Great Crusade, aside from spearheading assaults, the most common order the Blackwatch Astartes received was to escort supplies, which was the reason the legion was filthy rich.

One month later, Emperor returned to Terra. During this period, Hogg absorbed a massive amount of knowledge. At the final moment, Emperor bestowed upon him an item that was priceless even in the cosmos: a shard of the Void Dragon.

According to Emperor's research, the laws of the physical world were conducive to his growth.

Following the implantation of the shard, Hogg's body underwent a heaven-turning transformation. Silver-white patterns emerged across his skin, and sickly green lightning manifested from the void.

Perhaps due to his nature as a high-dimensional remnant, the absorption of the alien energy went smoothly. A weak consciousness attempted to influence Hogg, but it was devoured the moment it made contact.

Having consumed the Void Dragon shard, Hogg also mastered the use of dimensional lightning. Although its energy level was minuscule compared to a C'tan, it counted as an extraordinary ability.

For the people of Alicia, this period was one of extreme happiness. As the planet where the Primarch was discovered, the safety of the residents was greatly guaranteed. Over 7,000 Astartes swept the planet inside and out.

Chaotic gangs were either ┗(∧｀)┛ or executed by firing squad, unruly nobles had their assets confiscated, mutated creatures were wiped out, and the wilderness was reclaimed by the Blackwatch warriors—who had turned into construction workers—and the local planetary defense forces to establish settlements.

Thanks to Alicia's relatively excellent environment, the land was highly suitable for cultivation despite the civil war, and the dilapidated small hive cities were torn down.

The Titans and Knight suits in the Blackwatch's inventory performed their intended roles; scrap was recycled, metal was smelted, and transport ships sailed into the starport one after another.

Having studied for several months, Hogg, with the assistance of Candice Laza, used the characteristics of the C'tan as an anchor to write a secondary local area network. This simpler, more efficient operational method significantly increased production efficiency.

Some of Hogg's old friends chose to retire and take up farming, while others joined the Blackwatch auxiliary forces.

During the expansion phase, Blackwatch updated their paint scheme, outlining their grey-black coating with white edges. Based on the modular design of the Raider armor, the Legion's power armor was optimized with thicker plating and additional weapons platforms.

"Ms. Emilia, this is the sixth shipment of construction supplies. Please receive them." The communication from First Captain Rossmanderson appeared on Emilia's information terminal.

After receiving the Primarch's consent in the plaza that day, Emilia had joined Blackwatch to serve as the Primarch's Chief of Internal Affairs.

Having undergone years of aristocratic education, Emilia handled these tasks with ease, but what made her happiest was being able to see him every day and remain inseparable from him in plain sight.

After ensuring the base update, additional chapters will be released irregularly depending on the author's mood after dinner.