This past month has been eventful for Alexander. Shortly after arriving in this world, he ordered four of the space marines to scout the surroundings while the rest went to the nearby village to gather information.
The villagers were quick to gather and kneel before these armor-clad giants, believing them to be the angels of god, which they weren't wrong, just not angels for the god they worship.
It seemed the Imperial faith had an influence on this world once he learned more from the villagers. Though the faith wasn't as strong or whole as a normal Imperial world due to the fact that this world had been forgotten by the Imperium for centuries, perhaps even millennia.
He was informed of the nearby villages and even the castle where the local lord resided, and of course, the lord was a tyrant. How typical. The villagers didn't have a map so he had to wait until his scouts returned with information.
Since his goal was to quickly take over this planet, he knew he had to act fast. Laying around and being lazy in a universe as dangerous as 40K was just asking to die.
The obvious plan was to storm the castle. He doubted medieval knights and armed peasants could do anything to a space marine, he wouldn't even need to use his bolter since it would be a waste of ammo. And once the scouts had returned with information on the surroundings as well as the castle, they began their march. Some of the peasants had even taken up arms, following their "Angels" in rebellion against their tyrant lord.
The castle wasn't grand, quite small and square like with four towers connected by walls surrounding the main citadel.
The siege ended as quickly as it began, starting with a space marine throwing themself at the gate, using their body as a battering ram and destroying the gate. Then came the carnage, even when their opponents wielded primitive weapons that could not harm them, the space marines showed no mercy.
Alexander had to get used to the sight of death, though it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would, he summed it up to the modifications made to his body and possibly mind since he was a proper space marine now. He had read up on the type of physical and mental fortitude they would go through. Fortunately for him, he didn't kill anyone yet, not like he had the chance to with how efficient the others were. He ordered that only combatants be targeted and those who surrendered are to be spared. He didn't want senseless death.
And just like that, within half an hour, mainly just checking the place for secret exits, the castle was now his. As for the lord, Alex just handed him over to the peasants who were quick to beat him up and hang him. He didn't question it, after all, he didn't know what these people had gone through under this lord.
Now, Alex stood inside his new office, his armor now removed and given over to the tech-priests who were doing maintenance on it. Now he was able to truly see the changes to his body. He examined every inch of his body, though found that there were no machine implants like a normal space marine would have, he even checked with the tech-priests who also confirmed it.
It didn't worry him that much, he just assumed it was something the goddess did.
Alex picked up some papers from the desk and read through them. This was the beginning of his nation that he would create, and the first step would be to gather the nearby villages under his banner.
This step was easy, since all he had to do was send a space marine as a diplomat and these people would quickly bow down. Luckily, the lord had a map of the region, listing all nearby villages, castles and cities.
The problem he was now facing was lack of any infrastructure other than dirt roads, primitive communications through letters, poor living conditions, rampant disease and mass malnutrition.
[System Quest]
[Establish A City]
[Establish a regional capital with basic infrastructure, population morale above 60%, and functioning governance]
[Time Limit: 90 Days]
[Rewards: 1000 Bellona Points | Random Tier 1 STC]
[Bonus Objective]
[Impress the goddess with a cultural landmark]
[Reward: 500 Bellona Points]
Alex looked at the quest prompted that appeared before him, his eyes narrowed. "90 days? That doesn't seem like much time to create a city."
He looked back at the reports on his desk.
'Well, this changes my plans. I wanted to take things slow, but now I have to increase my pace. Creating a city from scratch in 90 days isn't feasible with the current level of technology and manpower available. The best option would be to take a city and work from there.'
'Now, I have to start scouting the city, and prepare a siege. While the primitive soldiers here could do no harm to me or the space marines, there would be too much instability if the city were to change hands to someone no one knows anything about, and while they could not kill us, they very much can kill the normal humans under me who will possibly become quick targets'
'Also an STC as a reward? That's good but how good is a Tier 1 STC? I guess it's time to check out the system shop'
Opening the shop function, he was greeted with what looked like an online mall. Various sales and advertisements littered the front page. He even saw you can set up your own store here and sell to others for points.
He went to the search page that had a filter function. He simply typed in Tier 1 STC and got results instantly.
He scrolled through the options to get a better idea.
So Tier 1 STC's produce items that are around modern day technological level ranging from luxury goods, electronics and military equipment. The reward said it was random so I guess I'll get one of these STC's listed on here. Better than nothing I suppose, besides these STC are very expensive! Wouldn't it be cheaper to just set up my own factory? Are STC's that good or am I being scammed?'
'Anyway, I'll just send someone to scout the city and do some basic preparations. There isn't much to prepare given how small my forces are. I guess I'll check in on the tech-priests, they reported they were building a temporary workshop so I might as well pay a visit.'