"Alexis!" Auguston raised his voice, trying to overpower the giant through sheer volume.
"You haven't even read our consolidated report. Are you always this arrogant, Imperial Fist?"
The battlefield commander pointed at the dense defensive lines spread across the sky, brimming with pride.
"Do you know that, after the betrayal at Calth, we have already learned more than enough lessons? We strengthened and reinforced the defenses throughout the system. There are outposts and orbital defense platforms everywhere, and we have reinforced the cities on the ground as well. As for the starports you mentioned, they are our highest priority."
The mortal officers nearby had long since retreated to a safe distance. They knew why Lord Auguston became so emotionally agitated whenever he faced an Imperial Fist.
Auguston had been one of the designers of those defensive systems. Despite his usual carefree, reckless manner, when it came to constructing defensive lines, Auguston was even more capable than Marius Gage, First Captain.
With Pollux dismissing his life's work outright, Auguston had been holding back a mouthful of anger.
The Imperial Fist's gaze remained calm. He failed to notice his cousin's fury and continued calmly explaining the flaw he had discovered.
"Yes, you have done very well." Pollux first praised the Ultramarines' deployment, but then continued, "However, from beginning to end, you never considered changing the nature of this planet. You are fortifying a capital world, not a fortress that must be held."
Macragge was the core world of the entire Five Hundred Worlds. It primarily bore the political functions of that vast entity, while its starports and orbital platforms provided it with supplies from across the Five Hundred Worlds.
As a capital world, Macragge naturally could not devote its precious land and population to agriculture. Though Lox's industrialized food-production lines were improving