Battle Merchant Ship, Star of Mourning.
"This is the 41st Millennium. For tens of thousands of years, the entire galaxy has been under the firm rule of the Imperium. Here, there is only war… Everyone, whether born a noble lord or the lowest indentured laborer, is dedicated to serving The Emperor of Mankind. Within the Imperium's vast fleets and boundless armies, from the conscripted Soldiers of the Astra Militarum to the elite Space Marine of the Adeptus Astartes, all strive to protect humanity from the threats of xenos and the depths of the universe.
And this war of mine is rather special… Our mission is led by the Imperium's most loyal Inquisitors. If they fail… if we fail… the Imperium will perish with us."
An aged and elegant woman slowly walked into the bridge. Inside, Navigators were confirming star charts, and Tech-Priests were lighting incense in the cabins, performing blessings.
Ogryn Servitors in the engine room lifted massive fuel tanks and inserted them into the engine's power source. Crewmen and Soldiers strapped themselves into safety harnesses… "Captain Brahms, madam, shall we begin the voyage?" The First Mate, having completed all preparations, looked at the woman on the bridge, who nodded.
"Attention! Ignite the engines! Begin Warp jump!"
As the Warp rift opened, all windows in the cabin sealed. The ship slowly sailed into the Warp anomaly, disappearing from the physical universe.
However, inside the ship, the cabins began to freeze. The machine spirit and Servitors started to emit painful howls. Unidentified illusions and tentacles stretched out from the ship's internal walls… (Chaos: I can't deal with Li Feng, but can't I deal with you all?)
Suddenly, a rift appeared in the Warp ahead, sucking the entire ship out. When they emerged from the Warp lane, they found themselves at the target star system, Frax, nearly three times faster than scheduled.
At this moment, Brahms looked at the First Mate beside her. The First Mate also looked bewildered and quickly walked towards the Navigator's station… However, the Navigator was slumped weakly in his chair… smoke rising from his head… As the window shields gradually opened, what appeared outside were the massive expeditionary fleets of Frax, and Planet Phalanx, like a wall of bronze and iron.
Planet Phalanx was now lifeless, covered in grey defensive fortifications and pillboxes. The next second, a massive fleet appeared from the distant starry sky.
And everyone noticed that when that fleet emerged from the Warp lane, it was enveloped by an almost transparent spatial bubble.
"Did you notice that, Inquisitor Grendyl?"
Brahms said, and at that moment, a headless wetware Servitor floated slowly over to the bridge… A holographic image soon appeared where its head should have been.
"I saw it… I will investigate this matter… I will ensure… that any Heretics will be given their destined death."
...Jungle.
A combat company was currently concealed in this vast, remote, forest-covered hills and mountains. Their Captain Commander was in a trench, looking at a map in his hand, constantly looking up to observe his surroundings.
All around were identical trees and hills. If not for the compass in his hand, he would have already lost his sense of direction.
"Our position is wrong…"
At that moment, in an adjacent trench, a Lieutenant with his automatic rifle slung over his back jumped over… And the Commander's first reaction was to say to him with a confused look:
"Our position is wrong."
And the Lieutenant said, "Sir, we are currently in an ambush position. We should wait patiently for the enemy to enter our kill zone…"
The Captain pointed in a direction: "They should be in that direction. Shall we charge over and take them out?"
"Sir! We have excellent defensive barriers here."
"Lieutenant Winters, deploy your brothers…"
Hearing this, the Lieutenant helplessly punched a nearby mound of earth: "Second Platoon! Advance! Tactical formation!"
The Soldiers looked puzzled: "What? What's Captain Sobel up to now?"
The Soldiers had no choice but to dismantle the heavy machine gun they had just set up, shoulder their rifles, and leave their trenches and cover, heading into the forest… They hadn't gone far when suddenly, a group of people emerged from the woods and from the ground, pointing their guns at them. Even on the nearby grass, a burly man wearing a headscarf and a vest directly got up and held a knife to Captain Sobel's neck.
At this moment, Li Feng walked over with a data-slate. He was wearing a fluorescent yellow vest and an armband on his arm with large characters written on it:
「Directorate」
"Captain, just now, you and over 95% of the Soldiers in your company were killed. Moreover, if you really encountered these Catachans in the jungle, I think your casualty rate should be 100%."
Hearing Li Feng's words, the ambushing Catachans all laughed. Li Feng heard the surrounding trees laughing.
Li Feng slowly walked to Captain Sobel's side, and the Catachan Soldier put away his knife and lay back down in the grass.
"Your unit designation?"
"506th Regiment, 2nd Battalion, E Company."
Li Feng was now recording on the data-slate, and at the same time, tore off a receipt and handed it to the other party.
"Captain, leave three injured Soldiers and take the receipt to report to the assembly point."
...Odeburn Jungle World, Frax System.
Li Feng now drove his jeep back to the training camp. Here, a large number of Astra Militarum recruits from nearby star systems were gathered.
The Department of Military Affairs was very concerned about the "Second Battle of Phalanx," adhering to the principle of "better too many than too few." A large number of PDF Defence Force and Astra Militarum recruits were also assigned here.
Now was the waiting period for the rest of the expeditionary fleet to arrive. Planet Phalanx had been subjected to continuous orbital bombardment for nearly a week.
Given the influx of so many new recruits and PDF, the supreme command of this campaign chose a nearby jungle world to have battle-hardened Astra Militarum veterans "re-process" these guys.
When Li Feng returned to the camp, the company Commander was severely drilling his troops. Although Captain Sobel's command ability was somewhat questionable, he was indeed an expert at training Soldiers.
In the entire camp, only their E Company would run 20 kilometers with full gear every night, without being allowed to drink water. After the run, he would also make the Soldiers pour all the water from their canteens onto the ground in front of each other.
At this moment, Li Feng parked his car, took off his small vest and threw it on the car, and took off his beret, tucking it into his epaulet.
He arrived at the officers' mess hall. The recently concluded training had clearly left many officers ravenously hungry, and Li Feng was no exception. Li Feng carried his tray and put several steaks, a few large spoonfuls of Catachan specialty fried rice, and a glass of soda water on his plate.
Today, the camp's cooks were Catachans. Li Feng only remembered those cooks each carrying a dagger and heading into the mountains… Then the entire camp had meat to eat today.
What Li Feng feared most now was seeing Kriegers enter the kitchen. The last time the duty cooks were Kriegers, many officers left, taking their guns to hunt in the jungle for BBQ.
And Li Feng, the naive young man, entered the mess hall and watched the Krieger chef, wearing a gas mask, ladle a spoonful of pink paste onto his plate… Li Feng knew this stuff was made of corpse starch… There was nothing he could do; at the time, he was the only non-Krieger in the mess hall… Under the gaze of a group of masked figures who looked terrifying, Li Feng finished that plate of paste.
The taste was decent, somewhat like eating lotus root starch. Li Feng even sprinkled some white granulated sugar into it, which made it taste even better.
The Battle of Phalanx was about to begin in a few days. As an officer, Li Feng had received various intelligence reports indicating that this so-called "Second Battle of Phalanx," despite involving more participants and even having an overwhelming advantage in numbers and equipment over the rebels.
However, it would not be much easier than the Siege of Frax in the original timeline, and the Siege of Frax was one of the most brutal and bloody wars in the 40K universe.
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