Chapter 406: Recent Situation in the Maelstrom
At this moment, there was nothing else in the galaxy.
Except for the cold and silent dark night.
The steel defense line of Badab was the most dazzling section of the magnificent Maelstrom Special Administrative Region, stretching for thousands of light-years, like a sea cliff across the eastern salient between the Ultima Segmentum and the Solar Segmentum.
Despite the intense psychic echoes brought by the endless wars with xenos and heretics gradually invading human territory, and the shadow of endless swarms interlocking in the warp, rendering countless unblessed psykers almost powerless, Badab remained very quiet at the central bastion of the steel defense line.
A darkness as deep and heavy as a storm shrouded the walls and the plains outside. As the starforts on the periphery of the planet blocked a large amount of sunlight, amidst the howling cold wind, the temperature gradually dropped below zero and continued to fall.
Frost gradually spread on the massive cannons and armor continuously sent to the transport fleet via the space elevator.
"Carcharodons main force standby at Maelstrom N3 warp rift area. Have the Ashen Claws companies assist the galactic core defense forces in intercepting the invasion of the Chaos Squats."
'Guardian of the Maelstrom' - Chapter Master of the Astral Claws - Lufgt Huron issued his orders in response to communications from friendly forces during his inspection.
Then he hurried past a unit of Astartes recruits.
Most of the warriors in this Astral Claws unit were Inductii, Legion soldiers quickly recruited and created through simplified screening processes and Astartes surgeries. There were many such soldiers used to supplement the military strength of the Maelstrom area, which was becoming increasingly stretched as the situation worsened.
Eight days ago, after several years of fully taking over the military defense of the Maelstrom, the direct appointment from Terra finally arrived.
Out of sincere respect for every grassroots civil servant of Terra after realizing what a cesspool Terra was, Huron symbolically handed this appointment to the accompanying Librarian and continued to stride along the wall.
"The sector routes are almost blockaded. I need you to stay here and assist us in building the defense line."
He also issued his invitation smoothly.
After many years, this Astartes, who had always looked down on mortals, changed his temper as he gradually saw more human diversity.
"Obeying your orders, Lord Guardian."
The somewhat hunched Imperial official replied gratefully, then was taken away by an Astartes engaged in secretarial duties.
"Always watch out for Chaos corruption."
Huron nodded and reminded again as he passed an adjutant.
This batch of reinforcements consisted of five hundred Astral Claws warriors and fifty thousand screened Auxilia soldiers under his command, not counting heavy vehicle operators and various technical support personnel.
They would travel via transport fleet to the Octarius area to support more than ten Chapters, including the White Scars, Fire Hawks, and Red Scorpions, who were engaged in a tug-of-war with Tyranid swarms and Ork hordes.
These troops continuously replenishing the front lines against xenos would gradually take over defense work, providing opportunities for the mobile units of various Chapters to invade the interior of the Octarius Sector and launch Exterminatus strikes on those areas where Tyranids and Orks were fighting each other.
Thanks to the cleansing led by the Lord of Knights and the Dark Angels in the early years, at least they now had a complete star map, so they wouldn't be unable to find the enemy's planets.
Huron took a breath.
These Inductii, whose wills had not been tempered, were not suitable for confronting Chaos, but they were sufficient to deal with threats from Orks and Tyranid swarms.
This was also a helpless expediency.
Chaos, Orks, Tyranids—each was a serious threat to the Imperium.
After taking over the Maelstrom and achieving his life goals, Huron didn't slack off. He had been responding to the Primarchs' policy of 'more births, better births' to deal with the future threats the Primarchs had been emphasizing. After all, the Dawnstar Sector reimbursed gene-seed.
But the problem was, this wasn't a single-choice question.
The Maelstrom is located in the galactic center. To the north is the territory of the Leagues of Votann (Chaos Squats), to the west it connects to the Solar Segmentum via Armageddon, to the south it borders Octarius, and most of the east is the warp rift belonging to the Maelstrom, a mini Eye of Terror.
Now the north faces invasion by Chaos Squats. The Armageddon area in the west is swept by a super-large Ork Empire suddenly rising under the leadership of Ghazghkull Thraka. In the south, Octarius and the Maelstrom area near the bottom border of the galaxy have seen a large number of sighting reports of Tyranid swarms, indiscriminately attacking Ork and human territories.
As for the Maelstrom warp rift itself, it has also entered an active phase. A large number of Chaos warbands and space pirates have begun to harass the Maelstrom Zone.
Thinking of this battle line that almost surrounded the Maelstrom in less than ten years, and the Orks and Tyranid swarms that were constantly strengthening like they were on steroids in this war, Huron couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle.
He thought expanding the Astral Claws to ten thousand in these decades was enough, but now it seemed this number wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between teeth.
The Maelstrom Zone gathered more than thirty Chapters, few of which followed the Codex Astartes, yet they were exhausted in this sudden attack from all directions.
Huron walked into the Heb Fortress in the center of the Badab military system. Inside this newly built complex fortress, duty officers were already in place.
Since the siege of the Maelstrom began, they had been staying here day and night.
"Initiate psychic link to the Dawnstar Sector!"
Huron ordered loudly as soon as he entered.
The Librarian behind him quickly ran to the Astropathic Choir, preparing to establish contact with the Dawnstar Sector relying on the psychic markers sent by the Carcharodons, followed by a fully armed squad to prevent the Librarian from needing forceful measures when using methods beyond the procedure.
An adjutant ran to him pulling a cable. Huron plugged the cable into the neural node at the back of his neck, and at the same time walked onto the command platform to start processing data.
"Access signal."
He shouted.
"None, my lord."
"Tyranids?"
The massive gathering of Tyranid Hive Fleets would directly cut off the psychic projection of other races, causing extremely serious impacts on various galactic races heavily reliant on the warp.
"Yes, my lord."
"Connect to regional outposts, recount statistics."
Huron said: "Have the Astropathic Choir increase communication depth and range, ten light-years."
"Ten light-years, yes sir."
"How is the status of the Octarius defense line recently?"
"Casualties are heavy. We have more than three hundred affected planets. Some Inquisitors suggest we abandon those planets and bomb a quarantine zone by exterminating organic life within, forcing the Tyranid swarms to choose the closer Ork-occupied area."
"Throw that Inquisitor to the front line for me. Is there a Salamanders company present?"
"Yes, my lord."
"The War Council will tally the importance of planets. Give me a list within a day. The Astropathic Choir maintains contact with the Salamanders, asking them to evacuate the population of non-key areas. Note that genetic monitoring equipment must be in place."
"Yes!"
"And..."
Orders were issued one by one, officers responding one by one. Huron stared at the image jumping constantly with data updates on the main screen.
The Guardian of the Maelstrom felt he heard breathing again, but it was just the crowd squeezed around him in the narrow space panting. This was a phobia facing pressure, constantly reminding him of the dark future he often dreamed of recently, oppressive and suffocating.
Chaos had been bewitching him. Recently, he executed many psykers attempting to bewitch him with prophecies.
As pressure gradually rose, fewer and fewer people were trustworthy.
The Maelstrom had almost lost contact with the outside world.
The blockade here was too severe. He hoped to draw wisdom from the lords, but from the Carcharodons, he also knew they were obviously in trouble too, and a large number of convenient psychic channels were cut off.
"Dawnstar Sector communication established."
An officer on duty at the Astropathic Choir stepped forward to report: "Signal incomplete, somewhat blurred."
Huron subconsciously thought it was a Chaos conspiracy.
He glanced at this officer. He was an Untouchable.
The five special zones managed Untouchables centrally to cultivate relevant talents more conveniently. From the Assassin Temples to the production lines of rift weapons on various Forge Worlds, over time, these Untouchables appeared in various departments with contact with the warp.
"Repeat received message."
The officer's face changed for a while, lips moving for a long time, finally repeating the language translated by the Librarian.
"...Can't let Old Man Gold sit on the toilet alone, have to—"
That's fine then.
"Quick, request access!"
Huron revealed a surprised expression.
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