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Five people—four of them felt a chill rise in their hearts.
Eleven Chaos Beacons had been detected.
And a fleet suspected to be Chaos was lurking nearby.
They had enjoyed half a month of peace and thought they had dealt with the Chaos forces here. Now it seemed that the Chaos on Ozrax was only the beginning.
They had seen the Warp Daemons drawn by the Chaos Beacons. They had outnumbered the humans, and even Chaos Beasts capable of tearing a Dreadnought apart with their bare hands had appeared. Even Space Marines like them had been at a loss when facing a Hellbrute, let alone eleven Chaos Beacons. Who knew whether they would attract even stranger and more powerful Warp Daemons?
Cyrus could no longer contain his shock. He stepped forward, taking in the entire military star map.
He saw Gamma Planet, surrounded by Chaos markers, and the nearby Xenos Empire.
Years of combat experience had taught him that seemingly peaceful Gamma—Ozrax—was, in fact, surrounded on all sides and on the brink of collapse.
Unless Cisrain led humanity out of the Milky Way, expanding in any direction would inevitably bring them into conflict with these forces.
The Chaos Beacons on Ozrax had not been there for long, yet they had drawn in a large number of Chaos Space Marines, Servitors, Imperial Guard, and Hellbrutes.
And who knew how long these Chaos Beacons had been there? The Chaos Daemons they had attracted were likely to be even more powerful. Cisrain had only two choices: develop in place and wait for the enemy to assemble, or wipe them out first and strike fast.
But neither option seemed favorable to them.
Develop in place, and they had no resources.
Strike fast, and their fleet wasn't fast enough.
Still, this was the kind of challenge worthy of the Emperor's secret mission.
"Eleven. Chaos Beacons."
"A Chaos Fleet."
Cyrus had also noticed the two planets they had discovered: an Oceanic Planet and a Desert Planet. He remembered Chief Scientist Master Brown telling him that resources were what they lacked most right now.
Then he thought of the Gauss Ray they had created through reverse engineering.
If they had enough resources, their research might progress fast enough to turn these two planets into strongholds for Gamma—Ozrax, keeping the Chaos hordes and the Xenos at bay. If their forces moved fast enough, they might even be able to counterattack.
"Governor, if we can take these two planets..."
Cyrus pointed to the two planets on the star map and said, "Could we use their resources to speed up the scientists' research?"
"That's right. But you've been working of your own accord for half a month straight." Cisrain nodded, then added with concern, "You should get some rest."
Talon: "Wasn't this past half-month a vacation?"
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Clearing out those harmless Xenos really did feel like a vacation to them.
Cyrus glared at Talon. "Governor, we are Astartes. We don't need rest. We only need orders."
"But you're people, too." Cisrain looked Cyrus in the eye. "In my eyes, scientists and farmers, Astartes and ordinary people—all of you are people. You're all human, united by the same goal of driving out the aliens. Humanity comes first!"
"So when I say you need rest, you don't need to think about anything else. Just rest and leave the rest to me. That's your right."
In the Imperium,
these gene-enhanced warriors, remade from ordinary humans, held a very special status. They possessed tremendous combat power, yet because the Emperor had decreed that the Imperium must be ruled by humans, most of them were treated as tools. They fought bravely for the Imperium on the battlefield, while the High Lords kept them under constant suspicion and used them as pawns in their internal power struggles.
That was also why, during the 30K era, so many Chapters chose to wander the borders of the Milky Way rather than fight for the Imperium any longer.
Cisrain didn't have the Emperor's Thought Seal, which utterly disregarded feelings and cared only about humanity.
Giving the Astartes the status of human beings was also a way to unite everyone who could be united.
I'm the governor. If I say you're human, then you're human.
Who agrees?
Who objects?
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"Then what about the mission?"
"Rest for three days. The weapons being transported from the homeworld aboard the science ship won't arrive until then. Once you've completed this mission, I'll give you some time off."
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Time off?
They had never heard of such a thing.
Besides,
did this world even have anything called time off?
Cyrus led his squad out of the central control room. Cisrain turned back to the star map.
There was no harm in saying something nice.
Even if he really gave them time off, they probably wouldn't know what to do with it. Besides, this wasn't the time for a vacation.
For these three days, Cisrain would keep them firmly aboard his ship. The Blood Raven Chapter could forget about going back. They could stay here and work. He'd look after them.
The Soul Protocol had to be put on the agenda.
And the final manufacturing work on the Gauss Ray had to be completed, too.
He only had five cans of his own right now, and he needed them to handle all kinds of missions.
He had to give them some serious upgrades.
The Emperor was so stingy. He'd only sent him five cans. If he'd sent fifty thousand, things wouldn't be so difficult.
"Governor, Miss Mina, the Financial Minister, has sent you an email."
"Accept it!"
A woman with a golden high ponytail appeared above the star map. She wore administrative attire and black-rimmed glasses. "Governor, your recent spending has once again exceeded the budget. The Synapse Condenser cost a great deal. As your Chief Financial Minister, I must remind you that it's time to raise taxes on the colony. Seventy percent should temporarily ease the strain on our finances."
"."
My dear Financial Minister,
a seventy-percent tax—you're harsher than I am. This planet's only just getting started. If we tax people that heavily, how are we supposed to attract a population? I've only raised taxes on this planet to forty-five percent.
"Don't worry about the finances. We'll resolve that soon. We've found two planets suitable for colonization: an Oceanic Planet and a Desert Planet. I've sent you the star map. The science ship that went to the northern sector has returned. I need you to select another group of people, ready to quickly establish economic, cultural, and government institutions on these two planets once we occupy them. For now, redirect fifty percent of our funds to the port's construction. I need my spaceport built within six months, and I must have my space fleet assembled within a year."
He closed the interstellar email.
Cisrain finished dealing with all the documents.
With the Stellaris Template, he could directly adjust the development of the entire Imperium and monitor all its attributes. But being able to see something was one thing; possessing the necessary technology was another. He could see the enemy fleet his science ship had located, for example, but all he could do was watch as they gathered their forces. He couldn't launch a long-range strike, nor could he instantly teleport in front of them.
"Change the Synapse Condenser's research direction."
"Within three days."
"At all costs."
"Bring Gauss Ray research to one hundred percent, then switch the research direction to grid integration."
Bzzzt.
Darkness concealed the surroundings, but it couldn't hide Cisrain's ambition.
He was going to equip Cyrus's squad with this weapon.
The First Legion has no secrets.
The Second
Before you continue