"It seems... laying siege to Ovis Fortress is inevitable..." Levinie murmured.
"The Death Korps of Krieg can lead the assault. That's why you had me stay, isn't it, Inquisitor?" After several years of war, Hanks had grown into an outstanding Astra Militarum general.
He had become a man of few words, absolutely obedient to orders, merciless toward his enemies, and exacting with himself. His lone red eye seemed to have witnessed so much life and death that it had grown numb.
"On my end... I can still muster a company and a half. My Chapter has suffered heavy losses. That's the most troops I can offer," Rex said after a moment's thought.
He was considering his Chapter's survival and reconstruction. At the very least, he had to preserve a core of veterans to make rebuilding possible.
Levinie was deeply dissatisfied with the company and a half of Space Marines Rex had offered. By her estimate, if they included all the Space Marines whose injuries were not too serious, the Green Ring Guardians could still muster at least three and a half companies.
But... she could not openly express her dissatisfaction. As mentioned before, Space Marine Chapters enjoyed considerable autonomy. Even if they withdrew from the fighting now on the grounds that their Chapter had suffered excessive losses, Levinie could do nothing about it.
At most, Levinie could write a letter of complaint to the Departmento Munitorum after the war, hoping the High Lords would punish these demigods.
Putting those distant concerns aside, Levinie lowered her head to study the map. Even with only a company and a half, once she added the Space Marine Chapters coming to reinforce them... and counted the Grey Knights, they still had close to a thousand Space Marines.
A full-strength Chapter of Space Marines should