On the Eve of a Technological Explosion, Building Factories on Tangle

Cisrain was showing his trust in them.

Surely...

They could understand the painstaking effort behind this.

Besides, only by taking those two fortress worlds could he trigger a massive technological boom.

He had so much technology in hand now, so many reverse-engineered projects, but without enough time, none of it could truly flourish.

Tangle Planet.

The massive research vessel hovered in orbit, just as it had above Ozrax.

It continuously airdropped factory deployment pods toward the ground.

Whoosh!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Propelled by gravity and reverse thrust.

One deployment pod after another crashed heavily onto the surface, gouging huge craters.

They then unfolded, connected, and assembled into bases.

Colossal machinery extended sky-reaching arms, while blazing furnaces roared from their bellies.

They did not have the time to recruit people and build factories manually.

They could only use these massive prefabricated factories, assembled along production lines, to piece together Gamma World's heavy industry and ore-smelting facilities on this planet as quickly as possible.

Enormous drilling machines, like worms in the desert.

They swallowed ten thousand tons of giant sand at a time as they bored into the world's hard crust.

Thick black smoke billowed from the factories like the breath of steel beasts.

Beneath Gamma World's human-supremacy banners, the immense forging presses gave off terrifying roars. In the haze, they resembled the incisors of crouching steel beasts, greedily tearing into this world, their chewing sounds carrying for thousands, even tens of thousands, of miles.

Once these industries began operating, they would also require a continuous supply of energy and raw materials to sustain them.

This planet possessed vast mineral resources, but it lacked large quantities of energy and raw materials for production. Only the nearby Oceanic Planet could meet those needs.

Boom!

Boom!

On the ground, Gamma World's scientist-soldiers were collecting wreckage, weapons, and equipment, clearing the battlefield. Even some xenos bodies were being taken away for dissection.

"An anti-gravity engine. Good stuff. Take it back for research."

"Never seen this kind of weapon before. Good stuff. Take it back for research."

"This battlesuit is good stuff. Take it back for research."

"This xenos is still alive? Never mind, take it back for research first."

"Ah!!!"

"..."

"This plasma gun is pretty good, but it's too small. I only stuck my hand in a little, and it broke apart."

Blue was basically a tank, and his power armor was even thicker. Holding a Tau Empire plasma gun was like an adult playing with a child's toy pistol. The moment he stuck his finger inside, it burst apart without him even needing to pull the trigger.

Still, its power was tremendous, and he liked it.

He wanted the scientists to modify it for him, mount six plasma guns on it, and turn it into a carbine machine gun.

Maglin had somehow gotten hold of a shield-mode Drone. Once Talon returned, he would see whether Talon could repair it for him.

Cyrus glanced at the red warhammer in Yalta's hand. "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, I picked it up while passing by. Nobody wanted it."

"...Forget it."

At least Talon was better. He did not pick up random things.

Cyrus glanced at the bolter in his hand, adorned with relics, purity seals, and an Imperial honor badge, then casually slung it onto himself.

Who had they all learned this from?

Yalta hurriedly changed the subject. "By the way, what did the governor say?"

At the mention of the governor, Cyrus's expression finally turned serious. "The governor said he would hold out until we returned. We must take the other Oceanic Planet, because the xenos have gone there and are occupying it."

"..." Yalta's smile at getting new equipment vanished, his face turning grave. The other teammates beside him silently turned to look at Cyrus. "He'll hold out until we return... What does the governor mean by that?"

"That's right. Just as you're thinking, the Chaos warband the Salamanders mentioned is heading for Ozrax."

Cyrus continued, "Given our schedule, there is no way we can return to Ozrax before the Chaos warband arrives. And after being driven back by us, that xenos fleet has gone to another planet we need to seize. The governor believes we must occupy both important fortress worlds, or all our efforts on Tangle Planet will have been for nothing."

"But there's an entire Chapter's worth of Chaos Space Marines there. Even if their numbers were exaggerated by half, five hundred Chaos Space Marines are not something the governor can handle. Ozrax is in great danger."

"So the governor said he would keep holding out until we returned, so we can take the two fortress worlds without worry."

What immense trust that was in them.

Perhaps the governor himself did not know whether he could hold on, but he believed they could accomplish the mission.

He had even downplayed the situation as much as possible so they could fight on the front lines without worry.

He made it sound easy, but that was a Chaos warband with the strength of an entire Chapter.

That was equivalent to two hundred squads like theirs.

Having mortal auxiliary troops hold Ozrax was almost impossible. No matter how loyal an army was, when the gap in strength became too overwhelming, despair would inevitably take root.

No matter how strong the governor was alone, how many armored monsters could he fight?

And how long would it take them to return?

The situation had suddenly become urgent.

Yalta gripped his warhammer.

"Captain, let's move out now and smash those xenos to pieces."

Couldn't these damned xenos just crawl back to wherever they came from?

They should be wiped out with exterminatus bombs.

Evil heretics had always been the Imperium's greatest enemy.

As for picking up more equipment?

The governor was still waiting for them on Ozrax.

How could they possibly still be in the mood to clear the battlefield and gather new equipment?

"We need to notify the Salamanders. We need their help now."

"Their company captain was injured. It doesn't look too serious, and Gamma World's technology should be able to heal him, but he probably won't be able to return to the battlefield anytime soon. We need to ask the Salamanders for help, but I don't know if they'll agree."

"..."

"Brothers." Before the Salamander arrived, his voice had already reached them. They had originally been escorting their company captain to the ICU, but during the post-battle inventory, they discovered that quite a few of their belongings were missing. That made them think of the Blood Raven Chapter. When they arrived and overheard the Blood Raven Chapter's conversation, he said, "Brothers, to repay you, we will help you."

The Salamander across from them wore a somewhat strange expression.

He kept staring at the warhammer in Yalta's hand.

And the weapon hanging from Cyrus's leg.

Yalta did not look the least bit guilty.

"..."

"Thank you very much."

Since the other side did not bring it up, these honest Salamanders were too embarrassed to mention it.

After all, not long ago, the others had supported them and saved both them and their company captain.

Two of their brothers, who had nearly died, now had a chance to survive because of their arrival.

And besides...

A Chaos warband.

Those were traitors who had once come from the Salamanders, enemies they had never managed to eliminate.

For no other reason.

Just for the chance to smash those traitors to pieces, the Salamanders were willing to stake the honor of their entire Chapter.

If the company captain learned that after dealing with the xenos, they would be going back to fight Chaos...

He would probably leap straight out of the ICU and run all the way back to Ozrax to crush those traitors.

"We don't have much time, brothers."