Preparing for Expansion, Who Agrees, Who Objects?

Galien arranged Odinson's quarters before leaving the modification chamber filled with satisfaction and awe.

Huron looked at Odinson, whose breathing had stabilized, and his thoughts drifted back to the memories concerning gene-seed progenoid glands.

Whether it was the neck gland maturing in five years or the chest gland maturing in ten, both could be extracted and implanted immediately upon maturation!

It was not like his past assumptions where the chest gland could only be harvested after a person died.

This meant that every five years, the Astral Claws Chapter could welcome a massive influx of new recruits, and the growth rate would accelerate every single year!

As for why most chapters remained in such a miserable state as if gene-seed was never enough, that was the result of multiple factors combined.

On one hand, the Codex Astartes restricted chapter size, and chapters without the capability dared not overproduce. Those with the capability—look at the Black Templars, for instance—participated in large-scale campaigns daily, and Space Marines died in droves, yet their numbers never dropped.

On the other hand, factors like the Adeptus Mechanicus gene-tithe, low success rates of recruit modification, and weak chapter logistics all played a role.

Rather than extracting the seed the moment it matured to create a nearly blank-slate recruit who might not even be worthy of power armor, it was better to leave the gene-seed inside the veteran to absorb and inherit more of the veteran's experience. That way, the manufactured recruits possessed much stronger combat capabilities.

After all, most chapters were dirt poor; while the three troubled brothers of the Maelstrom Wardens were poor enough, the galaxy held plenty of forces even worse off than them.

Coupled with the fact that most chapters positioned themselves as small-scale elites, mainly executing decapitation and assault missions, they naturally prioritized quality over quantity.

Yet in Huron's vision, Astartes were not some small-scale elite force, but rather destined to gradually replace mortal troops and become the foundational holding-line infantry of the battlefield.

If the opportunity arose in the future, Huron even intended to gradually universalize Astartes modification, transforming it from a specialized pure war machine alteration into a routine genetic enhancement surgery.

After all, the freaks and monsters of this galaxy were far too numerous; how could ordinary people survive in this wretched world without growing stronger?

The terrifying production capacity of the military factories could also support his ambitions. Twelve factories currently produced ten sets of basic Astartes equipment per day, not to mention that Huron subsequently planned to establish related Astartes equipment production lines in Badab to elevate that output further.

The enhancement of actual productive forces would, in turn, inversely increase the number of system factories. By then, stepping on his left foot with his right foot to make Astartes the foundational troop type would be more than effortless!

Just give me 100 years—no, 50—and I can churn out tens or even hundreds of thousands of Astartes!

Saying earlier that boarding the Blackstone Fortress was merely to pump himself up was true, but now seeing that the system's functions were this powerful, Huron genuinely felt that boarding the Blackstone Fortress was not impossible.

By the time of the Battle of Cadia, he estimated he could field hundreds of millions of Astartes or even more, enough to crush Abaddon sheerly under a mountain of bodies!

Yet pleasant daydreams were just daydreams; reaching that future still required solving problems with his feet firmly on the ground.

Among the most crucial tasks was further solidifying his own authority within the Astral Claws Chapter.

Huron had only been Chapter Master for a few years. Although his battle honors were numerous, he was previously just a Third Company Captain, meaning his prestige within the chapter was not the highest. Both the First Company Captain and those Dreadnought ancients held more prestige than he did.

This was also the reason he used the banner of the Emperor's blessing to have Galien perform the surgery; only thus could he reinforce his own authority and better reform the chapter's traditions and customs.

Although the traditional customs of the Astral Claws did not contain excessively perverted elements, they still treated mortal lives as utterly worthless.

Aside from those like Odinson who had labored long and achieved distinguished results, everyone else was viewed by the Astartes of the Astral Claws as mere meat-grinder fodder, to be replaced by grabbing a new batch whenever they died.

The chapter's recruitment process was likewise filled with various pure torture trials, designed entirely around working people to death.

This naturally conflicted with Huron's plans, as he intended to reference the Ultramarines model to mass-select reserves and Auxilia. Otherwise, it would be a joke to have gene-seed later without qualified reserves.

The next day, Galien informed Huron that Odinson had recovered consciousness, was fully mobile, and displayed no adverse reactions.

Huron immediately convened a high-level chapter meeting.

Inside the chapter meeting room, every company captain, the Chief Librarian, the Chief Apothecary, the Chief Techmarine, the Master of Sanctity, and all the chapter's high command gathered, gazing at Odinson who wore robes.

Huron did not beat around the bush, stating directly, "I have received the Emperor's revelation and blessing. To better combat the enemies of mankind, we need to revise certain recruitment rituals and rapidly expand our battle-brothers."

Chief Apothecary Galien nodded immediately in support, "Indeed, Brother Odinson is the finest proof of the Emperor's blessing."

The others looked at Galien's surgical report, then at Odinson who had already begun growing taller, and felt a stir of excitement. They all understood the hardships of the modification surgery, and Odinson truly was the ultimate proof of a miracle.

Ambition was something none of them lacked. Now that the Chapter Master had the Emperor's endorsement backed by actual miraculous protection, modifying the recruitment rituals slightly was acceptable.

However, Chief Techmarine Armenius still raised his doubts, "Chapter Master, we currently have over a thousand gene-seeds, but our equipment deficit is somewhat severe. If all of them succeed, I fear the new recruits won't even have power armor to go around."

Although the Maelstrom region possessed the Forge World of Angstrom, the relationship between the Maelstrom Wardens and the Council of High Lords was intensely strained, causing the Imperium to provide them with virtually no supplies.

Without high-level imperial orders, Angstrom—possessing extremely high independence and backed by old-school Forge Worlds like Ryza—completely ignored the Astral Claws Chapter.

Presently, the chapter only had about 400 spare sets of power armor. If all the new recruits were successfully modified, those 600-plus individuals without armor would only be fit to serve as smart Ogryns.

Furthermore, aside from power armor, the chapter did not possess an abundance of a thousand extra basic weapons like bolters and chainswords.

Consequently, Armenius was somewhat curious how the Chapter Master intended to resolve this issue, seeing as a Space Marine lacking equipment support would either die or be heavily crippled by a single lasgun blast.

Huron looked at the equipment already manufactured and stored in the warehouse, then waved his hand. Ten sets of power armor, ten bolters, and ten crates of bolts materialized inside the meeting room.

Gazing at that pristine, unpainted power armor that looked as though it had just rolled off the production line, everyone froze. Some even hoped Huron might wave his hands a couple more times to conjure up a bit more equipment.

Huron continued his pitch, "Aside from the recruit modification surgeries, the Emperor's blessing provides me with just as much equipment as this every single day."

He paused, then pressed on, "And as long as we practice the Emperor's Way and annihilate the enemies of mankind, the Emperor's blessing will grow even stronger, and the quantity of equipment provided will increase as well. Therefore, we must reform certain customs and rituals of the chapter to better serve the Emperor."

"I have finished speaking. Who agrees, who objects?"