(Thanks to Juna Pekape, daughter of Pasha, for the donation bonus chapter.)
Meanwhile, while the T'au focused all their attention on Li Qinwu and the movements of the fleet within the Asteroid Belt, they failed to notice that an extremely dangerous reconnaissance team had already infiltrated their planet!
This reconnaissance team consisted of three Astartes: Genpei, Yamashita Maru, and Little Andrew.
The nineteen enhancement surgeries for the Broken-Winged Angel Chapter that Li Qinwu had been raising were nearly complete. They had currently reached the seventeenth procedure, meningeal enhancement.
At this stage, Astartes recruits were not much different from fully enhanced Astartes. Their brain response speeds, strength, and every other aspect of their physical capabilities were roughly on par with those who had completed all nineteen procedures.
Logically speaking, once Astartes recruits reached this stage, they should carry out missions while making time to finish their remaining enhancement surgeries.
That was why Saint Raiser had been constantly urging Li Qinwu to find an opportunity to get these recruits into real combat. Only Astartes tempered through actual battle could become true Angels of Death!
As it happened, Li Qinwu had run into the situation on Sweet Star, so he simply selected the three best trainees, formed them into a standard Astartes mission squad, and sent them to carry out an infiltration mission.
Genpei, Yamashita Maru, and Little Andrew boarded a stealth Shuttle. While the T'au across the planet had all focused their attention on Li Qinwu, they quietly landed the stealth Shuttle in a stretch of primeval forest on the planet's surface.
After hiding the Shuttle, the three set off together to carry out their mission.
Their mission was simple in one sense, yet difficult in another.
With only three of them, Li Qinwu had no intention of assigning them anything too