Shifting the Disaster Eastward

The three of them then discussed the situation in the remaining cities. After his first proper battle, Gray had gained a rough understanding of the strengths of the major gangs in the Underhive. The nearby cities were much the same as Totka.

Given the circumstances, taking a single city did not require so many Space Marines acting together. Moreover, the Navy and Defense Force needed the tempering of real combat before they could grow stronger.

The Space Marines could not possibly monopolize all the credit for themselves either. That would offend far too many people.

After the three discussed it, they decided that the Space Marines would continue hunting xenos creatures in the nearby Underhive, while the Navy and Defense Force would jointly assault the Underhive's cities.

Whenever the Navy and Defense Force encountered a powerful opponent, they would call upon the Space Marines to deal with it. That way, all three sides could gain real combat experience.

Once their discussion was over, the Space Marines mounted their heavy motorcycles and left Totka City to hunt powerful xenos creatures in the surrounding area.

Anrida left one Defense Force battalion in Totka City to manage the city and screen for cultists.

A Defense Force battalion had a thousand men, every one of them armed to the teeth. The battalion also had ten Apocalypse Tanks. That was more than enough to garrison a city with a population of four hundred thousand.

Even if the Defense Force attacked the hive city's planetary defense force now, it would be relatively easy. It was simply that the Art Student needed to develop steadily for the time being.

The Apocalypse Tank had been modified from Leman Russ Tanks that had once been the private collection of the planetary governor of the Teda II hive world. It stood six meters tall and twelve meters long, with a gun barrel caliber of five hundred millimeters.

It used heavy siege shells. Every tank carried two sets of small Void Shields and plasma energy systems, as well as a six-barreled rotary gun and a Heavy Ripper Rifle with a caliber of seventy-five millimeters. With such firepower, it could even contend with Imperial Knights.

The Apocalypse Tank's only weakness was close combat, but with the support of large numbers of infantry, its combat power was off the charts.

After leaving behind a battalion of troops, Anrida and Latus each led the remaining Navy and Defense Force personnel away.

A Navy battalion consisted of a thousand men and operated alongside one Defense Force regiment. A regiment had ten thousand men and one hundred Apocalypse Tanks.

The main force split up outside Totka City and launched campaigns in all directions. Under the Navy and Defense Force offensive, the many cities of the Underhive could not hold out for even an hour before being occupied.

In the Warp, an Imperial Wanderer-class merchant ship fled desperately ahead, pursued frantically by more than a dozen warships cobbled together from all kinds of scrap.

Though those warships looked ramshackle on the outside, the lances and macro cannons mounted upon them never stopped firing at the Wanderer-class merchant ship ahead.

Protected by its large Void Shields, the Wanderer-class merchant ship kept dodging through the Warp. Even when it failed to evade the lances and macro cannon fire from the pursuing ships, the Void Shields kept it safe for the moment.

Furthermore, the Warp was incomparably chaotic. Much of the fire launched by the pursuing warships was swept away by the turbulent Warp energies as soon as it was fired. The few attacks that struck the Wanderer-class merchant ship were displaced by its Void Shields, allowing the merchant ship to survive for now.

On the bridge of the Wanderer-class merchant ship, a lean, one-eyed man standing roughly two meters tall looked anxiously at the man and woman beside him.

The man was slender and wore a black hooded coat that concealed his entire body, giving him an air of mystery. He was the merchant ship's astropath.

The woman beside him had a graceful figure and fair skin. There was an extra eye on her forehead, and blue light shone from its pupil. She was the merchant ship's Navigator.

"Lord Dok, there are no Imperial military personnel nearby. The closest ones are half a month away. I've done all I can."

The astropath gave Dok Monde a slight bow and spoke helplessly.

Dok Monde was an Imperial Rogue Trader. During the Great Crusade Era, the Monde Family had supplied the Space Marines with materials and received rewards from the Imperium in return. They wielded considerable power within the Imperium.

This time, Dok had been transporting a large quantity of materials needed by the Imperium. It was supposed to be an ordinary delivery, but he had unexpectedly encountered Orks who had only just entered the Warp.

To the warlike Orks, finding prey was something incredibly Waaaaaagh. Since they had found prey, there was no way they would simply watch it escape, so they had kept chasing the merchant ship.

The convoy had been pursued by the Orks for three Terra hours. If they did not find a way to shake off the Orks behind them, this merchant ship would not last much longer.

"My lord, I've found guidance from the Astronomican. Do we need to leave the Warp?"

The Navigator closed the eye on her forehead and looked to Dok for instructions.

The anxious Dok had finally heard some good news and hurriedly asked.

"Where?"

The Navigator replied, "To the west, ten minutes away."

Dok looked at the floating Servo-skull beside him and asked, "Give me the information on that direction."

The Servo-skull floating in midair flickered its mechanical electronic eyes within its sockets continuously, as if searching through the information recorded in its wetware.

The Servo-skull's electronic eyes flashed for a full minute before it spat out a yellowed sheet of paper from its mouth. Dok took the paper and examined the information on it.

Dok muttered, "The Teda Galaxy. An ordinary Imperial hive system with three hive worlds. No Navy or Astra Militarum forces are stationed there."

After reading the information on the paper, Dok said helplessly, "It's just an ordinary hive system. It has no powerful forces capable of helping us. Going there would be useless."

Upon hearing Dok's words, the two psykers beside him fell silent as well. Without powerful forces, they could not help the convoy.

Facing an Ork fleet, even the Imperium would need to deploy the Astra Militarum and Space Marines to defeat the Ork horde with ease.

"Actually, they can help us."

After a long silence, the Navigator gave the reminder in an indifferent tone.

Hearing the Navigator's reminder, Dok thought for a moment and understood what she meant. He did not find anything wrong with her suggestion.

"Fine. We'll head to the Teda Galaxy first. Once the Orks shift their attention away from us, we'll return to the Warp from the Mandeville Point and continue our voyage."

Dok gave the order coldly, telling the crew to head for the Mandeville Point. They would leave the Warp first, then return through the Mandeville Point after the Orks' attention had been drawn to the Teda Galaxy.

As a member of a family that had endured within the Imperium for so long, Dok had a cold heart. He did not think he had done anything wrong by using the hive worlds of the Teda Galaxy to escape the Orks' pursuit.

Thanks to my generous benefactor for the support.