Mobile Base Vehicle Deployed

Hill immediately went to summon the company sergeants and the accompanying mortal auxiliaries.

Space Marines not only had specialized combat servitors who could assist with carrying supplies and ammunition in war, but also more mortal auxiliaries responsible for the legion's operations.

They either built fortifications, helped repair power armor, or prepared food supplies for the Space Marines.

Although the primary food for the Adeptus Astartes was a high-calorie substance similar to porridge, mixed with essential trace elements and ceramite particles that strengthened bone structure, it didn't mean they only ate that.

Some Adeptus Astartes with hearty appetites, after finishing their own meals, wouldn't mind casually consuming the metal cutlery they had just used.

The material life of the Ultramarines legion was more abundant compared to their brother legions with ascetic tendencies.

Practicing physicians, repair technicians, and various specialists were assembled.

Soon, in less than twenty minutes, a fully organized Ultramarines company and its attached personnel had boarded the Red Alert, with Loci's old friend Nikanna and others among them.

Nikanna was still wearing the power armor Loci had gifted him. Despite the brutal fighting during Kaos, the armor remained free of shell craters or scratches, gleaming as if it had just rolled off the production line.

"Hill really envies my power armor. I told him I'd ask you to send him one too," Nikanna said with a smile, walking over and placing his right hand on Hill's shoulder pauldron.

"Hey! Don't say it so plainly!" Hill feigned annoyance, turning his head. "Of course, that is indeed my wish."

Loci watched the two bicker with a touch of bewilderment, unable to believe this was the usually stoic, even somewhat melancholic, Nikanna.

Was this Hill's charisma? Even the perpetually gloomy Raven Guard had become more cheerful.

No wonder Guilliman kept Hill by his side constantly after returning from Kaos, even reassigning Chapter Master Marius Gage to his post.

Hill was truly a golden social butterfly among the Ultramarines, and even Loci was very fond of warriors like Hill.

Guilliman was quite generous to send Hill to help out.

"The Adeptus Astartes' power armor is part of my improvement plan. Nikanna, don't get too smug yet. Once my new power armor is ready, your current set can be retired and scrapped."

In Loci's plans, power armor improvement was a high priority on his work schedule. In his opinion, the existing power armor models produced by the Imperium, whether the Mk II Crusade pattern, Mk III Iron pattern, or Mk IV Maximus pattern, were too crude.

While crudeness didn't mean they were ineffective, having better options could save more warriors' lives. Being able to crush opponents with superior equipment meant warriors wouldn't have to sacrifice themselves for victory.

Loci didn't advocate for equipment supremacy; he had witnessed the power of willpower at Kaos. However, he also didn't glorify suffering and sacrifice. He preferred warriors to crush their enemies directly and honorably.

The ceramite material commonly used in various equipment was already strong and durable enough, but in this universe teeming with all sorts of monstrous entities, it seemed any enemy had the means to breach ceramite.

Loci also understood that the Imperium wasn't lacking in superior materials, but once cost and time were factored in, the choice of ceramite became inevitable.

The Imperium of Man was too vast. Even a small difference in cost, when magnified across the Imperium, amounted to an astronomical sum.

"That much of a difference? My power armor practically crushed the Word Bearers," Nikanna said, disbelief coloring his tone.

During the battle against the Word Bearers at Kaos, he had been hit by enemy bolter rounds, but those rounds had been blocked by his armor.

His Shadowstep ability already made him elusive and difficult to hit, and now he fought with even more boldness, feeling like a fish in water.

"You'll see when you experience it."

"My lord, all personnel have boarded and await your command," Hill reported.

Loci glanced back at Macragge behind him. There was no time to explore this beautiful planet now; he would have to visit again when he had more time.

"Then let's depart. Target: Mustafa."

The starship's hangar doors closed, and the engine nozzles at the rear emitted a faint blue glow.

At the starship's speed, everyone felt as if they had only flown for a short while before reaching their destination.

Loci stood in the main control room, piloting the starship as it pierced the atmosphere and slowly descended to the surface.

Imperial warships, unless they crashed, generally did not land on the surface. This was because the immense gravitational effects would tear apart the hull structure, causing the ship to break apart.

These colossal vessels were themselves constructed in the microgravity environment of space shipyards.

However, the Red Alert had no such concerns. Even if it were thrown into the core of the sun, the hull structure would not be affected in the slightest.

Mustafa was a former mining world, and a death world.

In past ages, due to its proximity to Macragge, ancient settlers had colonized the planet and built extensive mining equipment.

The easily accessible shallow mineral deposits on the planet had long since been depleted. The surface atmosphere emitted toxic gases at dangerously high concentrations, and highly corrosive acid rain fell due to active atmospheric movements, forming acidic rivers on the surface.

The planet's overall desertification, caused by over-exploitation, left no trace of life on the surface. Sandstorms, whipped up by powerful winds, formed immense dust storms.

The watchtowers and mining equipment built by the colonists stood solitary amidst the dust, with no life capable of surviving in such extreme conditions.

And today, a massive starship broke through the planet's atmosphere, its anti-gravity engines supporting its immense mass as it slowly descended.

Before this colossal starship, even the storms had to cease. The Red Alert's released force field cleared a clean area around it, as if an invisible shield blocked the storms and acid rain, isolating them completely.

The starship crushed the rocks on the surface beneath its weight, and its hull landed, kicking up surface dust.

"I command: Initiate war protocol. Deploy MCV."

Loci stood before the AI. The ship's AI scanned his biological information. After verifying the genetic match, the ancient machine, which had slumbered in the warehouse for ten thousand years, began to awaken.

The colossal vehicle, thirty meters high and over eighty meters long, emerged from its dormant state. It glided out of the stasis field, its anti-gravity modules on the underside providing thrust, allowing the behemoth to hover about half a meter above the ground.

It exited the starship's hangar. The intelligent AI guided the massive base vehicle to an open area. As commands were issued, the MCV began a dazzling transformation.

"How did it do that? From a vehicle to an entire complex?"

"Thank goodness we don't have those grease monkeys here. In the Emperor's name, the priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus would go absolutely wild seeing this."

Hill's reaction was particularly exaggerated. Before him, a complex of buildings with a highly aesthetic, technological design quietly lit up. Metal proliferated and expanded wildly, special alloys smoothed over the surface dust, and energy conduits channeled power to various points.

In stark contrast to the rough, wild style of the Adeptus Mechanicus, there were no tall Gothic spires, no servo-skulls flying about, and no sluggish servitor slaves. Everything appeared clean, orderly, and well-arranged.

The Ultramarines had a fleeting thought: perhaps this was what technology was truly meant to be.