A Bold Idea (Seeking Subscriptions!)

"You're asking quite a lot of me."

Loci looked up at Guilliman. "I deal with technology, not sorcery. Even back in our day, ships didn't just pop out of the void at a snap of the fingers."

"Building warships requires massive orbital shipyards. For some truly colossal fortress-ships, you'd need to reshape an entire planet into a shipyard."

"Even with the help of an STC, you'd still need time for the STC to generate an orbital shipyard of sufficient size."

"Take your brother, the Primarch of the Imperial Fists, Rogal Dorn, and his ship, the Mount Array. That's a space fortress from the ancient era. I'm curious why only one such space fortress remains today. Perhaps the wars of the past were too devastating."

The Mount Array was a historical marvel from the Dark Age of Technology. To the Imperial Fists, it was an invincible warship, a void fortress, and a homeworld. Its sheer size was comparable to Terra's moon.

This vessel from the distant past had sustained extremely severe damage. Its wreckage remained in orbit around Rogal Dorn's homeworld, Inwit, until Rogal Dorn attempted its repair, breathing new life into it.

Guilliman realized his idea was a bit far-fetched. He had mythologized the power of the STC too much. STC templates were the crystallization of ancient technology, not wish-granting machines capable of making anything happen. They required time, resources, and the assistance of artificial intelligence.

"Then, can those mining ships in space be mass-produced? I think they're quite impressive too," Guilliman said. Although his first request hadn't been met, he decided to probe further with a 'might as well try' attitude.

"Those mining ships are all controlled by AI, and these little fellows don't have much defensive capability. If they're discovered, a single long-range attack could obliterate them," Loci said with a sigh.

"But at close range, they do possess considerable power. Their disruption fields are enough to tear through the armor of most warships. However, this tactic can only be used once. Once the enemy knows about it, it can't be used again."

"That's enough. A single surprise attack can decide the outcome of a battle," Auguston said, now clad in his adamantium armor. "The soldiers of the Five Hundred Worlds never fear death. We only fear meaningless death. If things truly escalate to that point, dying together in these ships wouldn't be a bad end."

News of the enemy's advancing forces arrived at the Primarch's office every day. Everyone knew a brutal war was imminent. The most pessimistic outlook suggested the Five Hundred Worlds might very well be crushed under the enemy's iron heel, but the Ultramarines didn't care.

The only way the Five Hundred Worlds could be destroyed was if every single Ultramarine died.

"I have received sufficient intelligence now. My disgraceful traitorous brother, Loka, has received the support of at least two warships known as Abyssal Fury-class battleships. He and Angron have launched a destructive operation called the Shadow Expedition. We cannot simply wait for doom."

The Five Hundred Worlds were prepared to spill their last drop of blood.

Whether it was their own or the enemy's.

"At least in this era, humanity has not lost its most noble virtue: courage."

Loci watched the scene unfold, his heart filled with emotion.

"Humanity's anthem is the anthem of courage. Even when wielding advanced weaponry, a cowardly person can still be killed by an enemy inferior to them. Conversely, a warrior with courage can defeat an enemy using inferior weapons."

"Actually, it's not entirely without a solution," Loci said. While he couldn't build those substantial warships in a short time, it didn't mean there was no way to deal with those troublesome targets.

The most dangerous aspect of the Word Bearers and World Eaters lay in their elite forces: two Gloriana-class battleships and at least two even more powerful Abyssal Fury-class battleships.

In terms of flagship-class vessels, the Ultramarines only had the Glory of Macragge, which was currently undergoing repairs.

"What's your plan?" Guilliman gazed at Loci, hoping for more good news.

"I can't build warships capable of destroying the enemy in a short time, but I can modify a moon or an asteroid and obliterate their fleet with absolute firepower."

"In terms of speed, modifying an existing celestial body is faster than building a warship from scratch."

Loci's concept was to use the gravity generators produced at the base to bind a suitable asteroid.

After making it as dense and sturdy as possible, he would place superweapons that could normally only be installed on a planet's surface.

He would equip the asteroid with Warp engines and sufficient thrusters to give it a degree of maneuverability. When the enemy fleet entered the star system and could not freely leave via Warp jump, the combat planet would harvest them.

The prototype for this weapon was an extremely stripped-down version of something called a [Neutron Star Battle Fortress] recorded in the data archives – a crude imitation.

The original prototype was a captured neutron star, harnessed by gravity technology to build engines within it, allowing it to attack enemies while being a celestial body with terrifying mass.

Whether by using the neutron star's pulsed radiation, directed gravitational tearing, or the most primitive method of collision, the Neutron Star Battle Fortress was a truly fearsome ultimate weapon.

While now it could only bind an asteroid at most, it was sufficient to deal with enemies of this caliber.

No matter how much firepower a warship possessed, it could not contend with a celestial body. However, planetary defense weapons could only be targeted by warships with air superiority using long-range attacks, but a mobile asteroid wouldn't have this problem.

If the weapon can't reach them, let the planet come to them!

Just bring the planet over!

By the time the enemy warships realized they couldn't escape the asteroid's gravity, it would be too late.

Being unable to escape via Warp engine jump meant the enemy would have to engage the asteroid in a direct firepower exchange. This would be the most straightforward slugfest.

"I understand. How long will it take to modify your combat planet? I'll have my forces cooperate with the combat planet to give the enemy a massive surprise."

Guilliman's mind had already conceived a complete strategy. They needed to find a way to lure the enemy fleet into a suitable star system. Once the enemy was completely trapped, the ambushing combat planet would Warp into the system, lock onto the enemy, and bring them the most terrifying destruction.

Roboute returned to Macragge with a ship full of equipment, along with a beautiful promise.

Loci guaranteed that within a month, he would transform an asteroid within Mustafa's gravity well into a combat planet with decisive power.

One month later, a combat planet would be added to Macragge's command roster.

To achieve this goal, even Loci had to begin working overtime at a high intensity.

Mustafa's factories initiated extensive gravity generator production sequences. From this point forward, every gravity generator had to be deployed onto the asteroid named [Virgin Star] in orbit within the specified timeframe.

A large number of mining ships transported the gravity generators to Virgin Star and, under the control of the AI, precisely placed them at every gravitational balance point on the asteroid.

According to the AI's calculations and simulations, at least a million gravity generators would be needed to exert enough force to compress the asteroid, allowing it to withstand the shock of Warp jumps.

Time ticked by, and everything proceeded according to plan.

Seeking subscriptions. Continuing the daily ten thousand word count today.