Cyrus: Tell the Chapter Master, I'm Not Going Back

Ozrax was entering a new era.

Governor Cisrain of the Gamma Planet Empire, a civilization far more advanced than theirs,

had injected new vitality into this poor, backward world.

He had led Ozrax out from beneath the shadow of xenos rule.

"Ozrax has always belonged to humanity, and to humanity alone. It was merely occupied by xenos in the course of history. Governor Cisrain of Gamma Planet saved us once again. Therefore, we carry gratitude in our hearts, as well as reverence for the planetary governor. Learn this knowledge, serve humanity in the future, restore humanity as the ruler of the world—humanity above all!"

"Humanity above all!"

"Humanity above all!!!"

"."

An educator from Gamma Planet spread these stirring slogans among the humans of Ozrax.

Beyond the school where they received their education stood enormous factories, ceaselessly mining and producing. Billowing black smoke poured from their chimneys as they churned out all the consumer goods Ozrax lacked.

On the ground, soldiers from Gamma Planet and the incorporated Astra Militarum maintained Ozrax's prosperity and stability. The former churches had also taken on new preaching roles and new doctrines.

Astartes clad in red power armor passed before the mortal soldiers. Their towering, imposing figures remained cold and unapproachable. Only the fresh xenos organs and undried blood on their armor showed that they had once again foiled an enemy scheme not long ago.

"Captain, it's been half a month. The stuff should be ready by now, right?"

"Let's be direct with that governor today."

Over the past half month, they had been helping Cisrain deal with the hidden dangers on this planet—such as remnants of Chaos in some area that had not been completely wiped out, a troublesome xenos hive in another, or a newly discovered ruin.

But these Astartes were not accustomed to such peaceful days.

They were the Emperor's blades. They should be walking the most dangerous corners of the Imperium.

The Imperium had more important matters for them to handle as well.

Cisrain had kept using the replacement of their old power armor with new alloy power armor as an excuse to make them deal with such trivial matters. It was a waste of their talents.

Moreover, the favors they had been doing these past few days had become smaller and smaller. They had even been reduced to helping drag wrecked ships. They were warriors who boarded enemy vessels to kill, fighters who never retreated—not transports, not beasts of burden. Unless something important was going on, they wanted to return to their Chapter as soon as possible.

Only yesterday had Cyrus learned that their ship had been dismantled by those scientists. Even the Librarium had been taken apart. They said they would return it once they had finished the reverse engineering.

Other Chapters said one should never encounter the Blood Raven Chapter, because if they passed through, they would paint even a dog red and claim they had obtained it through an exchange.

But after encountering Cisrain's scientists, they finally learned what a true sweep was.

If they had not refused, even these few Astartes might have been dragged into the laboratories for research.

"Lord Talon, this is a letter from a mortal for you."

A mortal postal worker handed Talon a recently received letter.

"A letter?"

"Yes, it was written by a girl from Ozrax. She said you once saved her and that you are her hero."

Talon looked doubtfully at the letter being offered, then noticed the captain's gaze.

He hurriedly explained, "Captain, I don't know any girl from Ozrax."

Then Talon quickly pushed the letter back. "I don't know any girl. Send the letter back. I don't have time to read letters either. I have more important duties."

Then Talon hurried after the captain and his squadmates, who had already walked ahead.

When they saw Talon catch up,

"Well, if it isn't our heroic brother?"

"Get lost, get lost, get lost."

"Captain, I really don't know any girl. When would I have time to think about that sort of thing? From the moment I took my oath, I had already made up my mind. For the Emperor, for my homeworld Cadia, I, Talon Barus—"

"Yeah, our heroic brother was recruited from Cadia. How could he possibly fancy a mortal girl?"

Listening to his squadmates' teasing,

Talon clenched his fists.

Just wait until I start giving you nicknames. I'll humiliate you properly then.

"Enough. Quiet down."

"Yes, Captain."

"Yes, Captain."

Hearing the low spirits of his squadmates, Cyrus sank into a certain memory.

His strictness was not because he had been born wanting to be some kind of killjoy.

It was because they needed strictness. Every mission these Space Marines carried out could lead to the entire team's destruction because of carelessness or weakness.

Other than loyalty, they did not need too many other complicated emotions.

Emotions—

were the most extravagant, and the most despairing, thing in this world.

Cyrus reined in the stirrings in his heart and buried his emotions completely. His face returned to its placid, unreadable state, as though he were a machine without feelings.

"My lords, the governor requests your presence."

The five men boarded a skiff. As the hatch began to close, the skiff started up and rose toward the orbital research station.

During this time,

the research station on Ozrax had been completed.

In half a month, nearly all construction had been finished.

Above ground and below it, everything now belonged to Gamma Planet.

The skiff came to a stop.

The hatch opened.

"My lords, please follow me. We have completed the upgrades to your equipment. For the new power armor, our scientists have used reverse engineering to add a harder Grade Three alloy to the original Ceramite. You may choose to replace yours. As for weapons, we are also working around the clock to equip you with reverse-engineered Gauss Rays."

Cyrus and the others headed toward the central control area.

On both sides of the laboratory stood engineers conducting experiments.

Every pane of transparent glass displayed a research project.

[Reverse Engineering: Gauss Ray]
[Reverse Engineering: Living Metal]
[Reverse Engineering: Soul Protocol.]

Bzzz

Inside the reverse engineering laboratory,

a green light shot out from the Gauss Ray laboratory.

The lights overhead in the research station suddenly flickered with a buzz. The entire station shook once, as though its operations had become unstable.

The researchers hurriedly apologized. "Sorry, sorry, my lords. The Synapse Condenser requires a tremendous amount of electricity. At present, Ozrax's research station is still too rudimentary. All available energy can only be supplied to the Synapse Condenser on the homeworld. Our current power generation facilities are not enough even for the laboratories. But you should be able to see that we have basically grasped the principles behind the Gauss Ray. Unfortunately, we are constrained by resources."

Cyrus frowned. "Are you severely lacking in resources?"