The Creators: From Night City

Page 478

Although I don't know what the other party is after, it's definitely not just about observing and learning.

This is the true value of being a "master of all changes".

The great sage hurriedly departed to inspect his magnificent work, leaving only the members of the killing squad on the spacious control panel.

"I don't care what questions you have, you can't get answers from me. All you can know and all you can do right now is to help us reclaim this fallen planet."

"Or, you can go wherever you want, as long as you don't interfere with our operations," Jiang Bing said, striking first and showing no intention of falling into a self-proving trap.

As for status, if you have enough power, even the most learned scholars will defend you.

"We will continue to serve the Emperor with our loyalty, Your Excellency Sabur, and destroy all his enemies."

The commander's words were pointed.

His idea was simple: if he couldn't determine the other party's identity for the time being, he would put that issue aside and focus on the task at hand.

After all, no matter what, evil heretics need to be eliminated.

Keep in mind that this planet is still embroiled in war, and demons are still rampaging everywhere.

"Very good, you have been temporarily recruited by [Anti-Entropy]."

Chapter 969 Where Did This Poor Relative Come From?

The Astartes Codex explicitly states that in times of crisis, a chapter can summon members of other Astartes chapters to form a temporary unit to defend against external enemies.

However, whether or not this provision is adopted generally depends on the wishes of the parties involved.

The members of the killing squad had no objections for the time being.

Mark VIII's heavy power boots pounded on the floor, striking out a neat musical score, while the exhaust vents of his nuclear-powered backpack silently radiated heat.

Originally the seventh war reserve warehouse of the Mechanical Temple, now Anti-Entropy's temporary 'armory'.

The Astartes allowed two oddly shaped trash can robots to push open the brass door and stride confidently into the warehouse.

There were no mechanics, no incense, no greasy smell of holy oil, and no inhuman mechanical priests.

Similarly, there was no expected power armor, weapons, or ammunition.

There was only a huge, exquisite door frame, seemingly a work of art by the Eldar, with dense, tangled roots of some kind of plant wrapped around it.

Apart from that, it's incredibly clean.

“This doesn’t look like an armory; it looks more like a meditation room,” said Tech Sergeant Galian.

They accepted the temporary conscription of [Anti-Entropy] to replenish their supplies and ammunition.

The previous battles had already depleted their ammunition reserves, since the amount of ammunition a single soldier can carry is not much.

Soft lights suddenly illuminated the scene, and an Edosian figure emerged from the corner and stood before the Astartes.

“Fellow Astartes, welcome to the temporary armory. The Black King has granted you Level 7 resource allocation authority.” The data panel that had been held in the other person’s arms was handed out.

However, the standard data board was clearly not suitable for the Astartes' large hands, so the Edos-like man could only awkwardly put it back and instead used nano-elements to condense a projector in his palm, projecting the supply list directly onto a light screen and displaying it in front of everyone.

"Are you the quartermaster here?" Commander Cassius Valkan asked.

"Yes, I'm temporarily serving as the quartermaster of this temporary armory."

"What about the equipment and supplies?" the commander asked uncertainly, looking around the empty warehouse.

The quartermaster gestured for them to check the supply list first.

Even though the killing squad had just been recruited, Jiang Bing generously granted them relatively high authority over resource allocation.

After all, if you want a horse to run, you have to feed it well.

The killing squad's next missions all seemed to require risking their lives, and Jiang Bing couldn't bring himself to make people risk their lives without paying them.

Considering that these Astartes are all veterans of a century, and in accordance with the principle of making the best use of resources, Jiang Bing unprecedentedly granted them Level 7 material supply permissions.

In the resource allocation system of [Reverse Entropy], the quality and quantity of supplies received differ greatly depending on the level of authority.

An ordinary soldier's supply authority is generally around level three, while level seven is considered to be on par with the reforged 'Apostles'.

As for what Level 7 supply permissions include, let's put it this way: after the Sage of Stroica's database was taken over by the Jiang family, most of the standard equipment of the Human Empire can be found in it.

“Jetpack assembly!” Galian exclaimed.

The others were also speechless with astonishment at the abundance of the supplies list.

The Great Sage of Stroica possessed a vast amount of knowledge.

The Mark VII power armor, including its most widely deployed variants, the 'Eagle Helmet' and 'Raven Feather', is readily available; the standard assault gear, the Sacred Jump Pack, provides short-range flight and rapid assault capabilities, along with an upgraded jetpack; and a wide variety of mainstream firearms, including various types of explosive weapons, plasma weapons, melting weapons, electroplated weapons, flamethrower weapons, and laser weapons.

It's important to understand that even in the world of forging, the focus is usually on producing only a few specific types of equipment, and most legions will try to reduce the variety of firearms when deploying them in large quantities, in order to reduce logistical pressure.

If they were to produce a 'mixed bag' of ammunition, the pressure of ammunition supply alone would break the empire's already precarious supply lines.

None of the members of the killing squad had ever seen such a comprehensive arms inventory as the list in front of them.

The powered weapons alone include common power swords, power claws, power axes, and power hammers, and even the rarer Thunder Hammer.

The 'Iron Halo,' a personal energy shield generator that is so precious that it is usually only issued to officers of the rank of company commander and above, is not even limited in quantity here.

Even more outrageous is that Tytus also saw 'Storm Assault Shield' on the list.

This item is considered a highly prized 'relic' even in the early stages of the warband, a rare item on par with the Terminator armor. Only the company's sword champion, Terminator veterans, honor guard members, or combat heroes are qualified to possess it.

A large warband with a thousand Astartes might only have a few dozen Stormshields.

Forty-one millennia ago, the Empire’s enemies generally possessed highly advanced weapons, all of which were extremely lethal. The heavy terracotta power armor was as fragile as a piece of paper in the face of some of these terrifying weapons.

Take, for example, the Gauss weapon that Space Necromancer is known for.

Gauss weapons differ fundamentally from traditional thermal or energy weapons. They do not kill targets through chemical explosions, kinetic energy impacts, or thermal energy. Instead, they use highly directional gravitational fields to peel off the atoms from the target's surface layer by layer and reconstitute them.

Simply put, Gauss weapons do not "shatter" or "burn through" targets in the usual sense, but rather "disassemble" or "decompose" the material composition of targets from the essence of their material structure.

Under such an attack that directly affects the atomic level of matter, even a shield made of pure adamantite is useless. As long as the power of the Gauss weapon is high enough, it will peel away layer by layer whether it is terracotta, adamantite, or plastic steel, rendering the toughness of physical armor meaningless.

The 'Storm Assault Shield' is the Empire's solution for dealing with such situations.

Although it looks like a shield, it is actually a handheld energy field generator that can generate a powerful and stable local energy field on the surface of the shield to deflect, absorb or even disintegrate any incoming attack.

It's essentially a small, handheld 'void shield'.

The core technology of Stormshield originated from the glorious achievements of mankind in the Dark Age of Technology. In the 41st millennium, relevant design and manufacturing blueprints are preserved on Mars, but no one in the entire Mechanicus can fully grasp the basic scientific principles behind Stormshield.

The technological gap has made it impossible to 'manufacture' the Storm Shield. The current 'manufacturing' process is more like a ritualistic copying and assembly based on an ancient blueprint, with an extremely high defect rate.

As the guardian sage of this unremarkable industrial planet, the Great Sage of Stroika could not possibly be wealthy enough to possess the complete manufacturing process for the 'Storm Shield'.

However, as a great sage, he did possess several physical 'Storm Shields' to equip his Guardian Legion and for 'scientific research'.

With the Mechanical Temple being taken over by [Anti-Entropy], these 'Storm Shields' naturally passed through Jiang Bing's hands.

It's no exaggeration to say that Jiang Bing could create even an Emperor-level Titan without any difficulty, just by looking at it, touching it, and burning it with flames.

To date, the only creation that has stumped Jiang Bing, this 'craftsman', is the 'Eye of Anu'.

Compared to it, the 'Storm Shield' is a toy of a lower class; don't even try to get close to it.

"We want this," the commander said without hesitation, selecting the shield.

The next second, the quartermaster's answer made everyone gasp. It's no exaggeration to say that Astartes' powerful lung capacity almost sucked the surroundings into a vacuum.

How many sides do you want?

The quartermaster, without even looking up, asked calmly as he recorded on the data board.

Chapter 970 Serving as an Emperor's Soldier: Endless Blessings

"How many sides can you give me?" The commander's voice trembled slightly.

The quartermaster reassessed the other party's authorization level and replied, "How many do you need?"

The spacious room fell silent for a moment, since this Edos-like person did not have the same powers as Jiang Bing and could not hear the frantic communications within this killing squad.

The commander of "Nine Faces" tentatively said.

The quartermaster gestured "recorded" with his finger, as decisively as if he had promised nine cabbages.

"What else do you need?"

"Three sets of Terminator power armor?" the commander asked tentatively, clearly not yet fully aware of Anti-Entropy's immense wealth.

"Hmm," the quartermaster finished checking the box and looked up to signal again.

The commander was starting to sweat a little.

Three members of the killing squad had their armor damaged to varying degrees in the previous battle, which is why the commander tentatively made his request, but the other party did not seem to care at all.

After this battle, the commander's appetite gradually increased.

"Two suppressor rifles, one raging spear, two multi-barreled molten guns, three power swords, three storm bomb guns, three plasma pistols, two power claws mounted on the Terminator armor, and 15 base loads of ammunition and throwables."

The commander's supposedly outrageous demands didn't even elicit the slightest change in the quartermaster's expression.

"Already recorded"

After confirming everything was correct, the quartermaster was finally able to transmit the supply request to the 'Heiml's' logistics base.

Less than two minutes later, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the mysterious door suddenly began to shimmer with light, clearly charging up.

Under the watchful eyes of the nine Astartes country bumpkins, a deep spatial rift was torn open, and several Palicoes pushed a Monster Hunter-style cart with an Imperial 'relic' feel, dumping a large amount of weapons and equipment onto the ground, which soon piled up into a small mountain.

What surprised and baffled the Astartes the most was a self-armoring platform that resembled a massive shrine.

The Astartes' power armor weighs several tons and consists of dozens of integrated components. Under normal circumstances, the Astartes must rely on the assistance of Mechanicus and servants to put on, take off, and change their armor.

The entire disarming ceremony also involves burning incense, applying holy oil, and the mechanical priests singing binary hymns and praying loudly to appease any possible machine spirits, making it exceptionally cumbersome and manpower-intensive.

Boss Jiang certainly wouldn't tolerate this bad habit, so he designed and developed a self-changing armor platform in front of everyone, based on the armor-wearing inspiration he got from Dead Space.

No additional personnel are required; the entire process of donning and doffing is automated. It has its own navigation function and can even navigate to the caller's side via teleportation, flight, or gliding if needed, making it convenient to replace damaged armor or don armor in real time.

Very humane!

But for the Astartes, who believed in the principle of "the armor remains even after the person dies, and one armor is passed down for three generations," such an extravagant design concept was difficult to understand.

Fortunately, they don't need to understand. Anything made by Boss Jiang is bound to be of high quality. This thing is completely foolproof.

Urged on by the quartermaster, Space Wolf, whose armor was severely damaged from frequent close combat, was ultimately chosen as the first guinea pig.

The heavy hatch opened silently, and the sophisticated adaptive mechanical tentacles inside, coordinated by sensors, rapidly adjusted to create a space suitable for the Astartes to stand in.

"I hope this thing doesn't cut me?" Egil Irontooth was very unsure.

The hatch slammed shut, merging the other person's words into the hissing of the machinery.

Dozens of mechanical tentacles emerged from the corner like snakes, rapidly twisting the screws on the power armor, unlocking the internal locks, removing the thick, heavy armor plates, and unloading the equally heavy power backpack.

The dazzling maneuver took less than a minute, and the armor on the Space Wolf was removed, revealing a black inner armor.

Amidst the hum of machinery, in less than two minutes, the hatch reopened, and a burly steel warrior stepped out.

The heavy Terminator armor is engraved with the emblem of Anti-Entropy on the front and sides, and is also plated with a layer of adamantite. Only the Space Wolf emblem, belonging to the opponent, is sprayed on the sides of the shoulder armor as is customary, indicating the original affiliation of this warrior.

Someone had already made a prototype, and the Terminator armor was actually worn, so it must be real. The atmosphere in the armory immediately became excited.

The Astartes began a major overhaul.

........................

The two most important steps to seize and control a planet are to block external communications and to control the planet's 'ports'.

Therefore, within hours of the demon invasion, orbital starports and naval bases were the first to be captured by the demons. Large communication arrays in planetary synchronous orbits, capable of sending high-intensity signals into deep space, were directly destroyed by surface anti-aircraft fire. Along with them, near-Earth orbit defense platforms were also occupied by the demons and their corrupted followers.

The demons' intentions were quite clear: they had no intention of engaging the Empire in a 'naval war' within the space sphere; they were determined to be cowards.

The Star Speakers, along with the Star Speakers Hall, were corrupted, and warp communication was also banned.

The command center within the planetary governor's mansion has been captured; it is the brain and nerve center of the planet.

At the same time, several major information relay stations within the hive were destroyed, and the main energy hubs were also destroyed by the demons. The collapse of the energy network became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

At this moment, not only is long-distance communication between planets blocked, but communication within planets and even between hives is also severely damaged.

Without communication to connect, the entire PDF was undoubtedly torn apart and scattered throughout this vast city.

Therefore, the most urgent task in this war is to restore the ground communication network, connect the scattered PDFs, gather forces, and launch a major counter-offensive on the surface.