All Hawks, Establishing the Army: The First Expeditionary Force

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Everyone waited for Cisrain's reply.

Would they pull off something big?

Or would they cower at home and wait for death?

At the very least, those who had been selected had already made their choice with their own eyes.

The rest was just waiting for Cisrain to make the call.

"Then we act. Operation Corolla, mission objective: seize the STC Template world."

"Mina will calculate the fiscal expenditures and industrial mobilization. Koro, prepare the First Fleet of the Expeditionary Force. Brown, dispatch the research vessels to scout the path. All other departments will provide support. Within three days, have everything required fully prepared. Does anyone else have any questions?" Cisrain stood up and swept his gaze over those below.

"No, Governor!"

"No, Governor!"

"No, Governor!"

Across the dozen seats in the conference room and the dozens of departments represented, there was not a single dissenting vote. The plan for the external expedition was unified instantly.

To Vulkan the Salamander, this level of administrative efficiency was already remarkably high.

In the Empire, even a single operation could span months or even years. Of course, that was also due to the sheer scale of the Empire and the entanglement of various factions and interests. Gamma World was still a small government and easy to manage; he only hoped they could maintain this.

However.

An STC Template world.

Even if the Empire knew about it, they would stop at nothing to take it, right?

Unfortunately, this STC Template world lay in the Far East Frontier, separated from the Empire's main territories by Cadia and the Tau Empire.

Regardless.

It was human property to begin with; how could they let xenos occupy it? Especially those Tau Empire pests, as annoying as Nurgle Flies. This time, Vulkan would settle the score.

The news of Gamma World establishing an expeditionary force was like a drop of water in the ocean, the ripples spreading rapidly throughout Utopia.

"Did you hear? The Governor has announced the formation of an expeditionary force!"

"Really?"

"Could it be fake? My brother has already been drafted, and I'm preparing to enlist too."

"That's great! It seems the first expansion has been a success. Gamma World is going to rise. I'm going to enlist, follow the Governor, conquer territory for Gamma World, and become a high-ranking non-commissioned officer in the expeditionary force."

"A high-ranking NCO? Then you'd better salute when you see your future superior! Soldier, are you looking to get your butt kicked?"

"I'll kill you first!"

Cyrus's squad walked through the streets.

Listening to the chatter around them and watching a group of children chasing after the Salamanders, begging to ride on their shoulders, Yalta wore an expression of utter disgust.

"Only the Salamanders could be this bored, letting a bunch of mortal children ride on their shoulders. The shoulders of an Astartes are meant to carry the honor of the Empire."

"Uncle?"

A tiny, adorable toddler blocked Yalta's path, eyes wide with curiosity. "Uncle, you're so tall. Are you as tall as them?"

A little boy ran over, tugging at the girl, and said, "He's definitely not as tall as that black uncle!"

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"Nonsense!"

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"I told you, children are the most annoying things ever!!" Yalta grumbled, his face dark as he carried a child on his own shoulders.

A group of kids ran over, as if they had discovered a new continent.

"This big uncle is so tall. What did you eat to grow so big, big uncle?"

"Big uncle, you're almost as tall as the Governor!"

"My turn, my turn."

"Don't scribble on me!!"

"I'm going to get angry!!"

"The squad leader seems to be having a lot of fun with those kids."

"I never knew the squad leader liked children so much."

"Who isn't a child at heart?"

Cyrus's squad, driving a factory transport vehicle, emerged from a facility hauling something.

As of now, the entire Utopia was like a set of meshing gears, operating with extreme efficiency as it continuously requisitioned factories and supplies from all over, moving them toward the transport hub.

From the outside.

It looked like army ants converging on a nest, moving cargo in an orderly fashion through the ground transport ports.

Massive factories were constantly shrinking, packing themselves into shipping containers, and being loaded into the gravity machines at the transport ports.

On the production lines, Gauss Rifles were being replicated, calibrated, encoded, and bound to human genetic data.

Meanwhile, Drone units from the Tau Empire and other types of combat suits were being urgently repainted.

[Verification passed, bound]

[Verification passed, bound]

The resources being drained this time were enough to nearly consume a decade of Gamma World's foundation.

"Is this Gamma World's Utopia? What a beautiful Utopia! Brother Sidros, look, and the sky is like this. It looks like there's nothing up there. Did someone paint the deck with color? How many people would it take to paint the deck to get a color this nice!"

"Green, there's green. I've seen it on the middle decks of the nobility. What does it taste like? It doesn't look bad."

"That's grass, and the sky wasn't painted by anyone; it formed naturally. Never mind, you have two hours left for your tour. Of course, this is just for this visit; in the future, you might have the chance to earn permanent residency in Utopia, or you could build your own Utopia. As long as you work hard and create value, the Governor has always been enlightened."

Departments at every level and in every location were urgently preparing for the work ahead.

At the port, supplies from the surface world were being swallowed up continuously.

Hundreds of tons, thousands of tons, tens of thousands of tons.

They had brought out nearly ten years' worth of the planet's resources.

The fiscal deficit had punched a staggering hole in the most vulnerable part of Gamma World.

"Miss Mina, our finances can no longer support this operation. Is it really worth it to gamble the future of Gamma World on this one mission?"

Mina looked out at everything, sipping a mental stimulant drink known as Green Energy. "Does letting you live like human beings count?"