Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 29: New Framework

Facts proved that the rumor was indeed true: as their bodies atrophied, the venerable ones inside the Dreadnoughts could not remain active for long periods of time.

Soshyan expended a great deal of effort to move the slumbering Brother Zayd out of the secret chamber and had other battle-brothers carry him to the fortress's armory, which was normally managed by a Techmarine.

But now Soshyan faced a severe shortage of manpower.

In the Battle of the World Engine, the Chapter could be said to have been completely wiped out. Not only were all the veterans and elites buried, but even the technical personnel, including Apothecaries, Chaplains, the Forge Master, Librarians, and so forth, were all lost.

It could be said that the Astral Knights Chapter could not even maintain the most basic Codex structure right now.

Institutions like the Armory, Apothecarion Guild, Chapter Monastery, and so on were all sitting vacant, meaning there was no way to go about many tasks.

Left with no choice, Soshyan could only review the existing personnel roster. If he hadn't looked, he wouldn't have known, but upon looking, he discovered that there seemed to be a subtle underlying logic to the personnel left behind by Chapter Master Amulad.

Surprising as it was, among these thirty-three recruits, there happened to be exactly one Techmarine-in-training, one apprentice Apothecary, and one apprentice Chaplain, with Librarians being the sole exception.

And according to what Brother Zayd said, the Eleventh Legion didn't have a Librarian establishment to begin with.

Soshyan immediately summoned that Techmarine apprentice.Liko Rogelis had formally begun service ten years ago. Due to his sensitivity to machinery, he was handpicked by the Chapter's Forge Master to become a Techmarine-in-training. He was also gifted a servo-skull crafted personally by the Forge Master.

"Chapter Master, you asked for me."

Soshyan met with this Techmarine-in-training in the Chapter Master's private meeting room.

This was a young man full of vitality and enthusiasm. The crimson power armor fit him perfectly. As a Techmarine, he naturally carried a heavy servo-arm and a large amount of repair equipment on his back, but this did not affect his steady stride.

The evaluation left by the previous Forge Master was that this was a young man with immense potential, possessing his own unique insights regarding mechanical modification.

"Yes."

Soshyan, seated behind the desk, picked up a dataslate and said,

"How much heavy machinery is still in working condition in the armory right now?"

"Uh... the previous Chapter Master took the vast majority of our munitions. Currently, the armory only has one Land Raider, one Stormraven gunship, one Thunderhawk undergoing repairs, and two Attack Bikes."

"What about small arms reserves?"

"We still have one hundred and thirty base units of bolt rounds, nineteen spare bolters, twenty chainswords, ten power swords, one plasma pistol, two melta guns, two flamers, two heavy bolters, nine armor-piercing rockets, and ten crates of various grenades."

Soshyan rubbed his head. These numbers looked okay, but in reality, they wouldn't last through a few battles.

"Why are the small arms reserves so low too?"

"Because we happened to be in an equipment resupply period. Barring any accidents, the next batch of resupply materials will arrive in one standard Terran month..."

One standard Terran month.

Soshyan wasn't sure if he still had that much time.

"I understand, Rogelis. You should also be aware of the Chapter's situation. For now, the armory can only rely on you alone. Are you confident?"

"I—"

Rogelis hesitated for a moment.

"There are still many things I haven't learned. If I operate them recklessly, I'm afraid it will cause severe consequences."

Soshyan knew he wasn't just being modest. To become a qualified Techmarine, there is one mandatory process—traveling in person to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars to study for a period of time.

There, they would learn how to properly pacify machine spirits and serve the Omnissiah. Until then, they could only be considered laymen.

Rogelis hadn't reached that step yet, so his concern was inevitable.

"But currently, there is no spare manpower to take over your duties. We can only try. When there's a chance in the future, I will definitely let you go to Mars to study the ways of the Omnissiah. Times are hard, and we can only prioritize the Chapter's future."

The Techmarine's legs snapped together forcefully as he said loudly,

"While one breath remains! The Chapter lives!"

"Excellent. Go deal with Brother Zayd's dormancy first, then inventory the stock again and report promptly if anything happens."

After the Techmarine left, Soshyan summoned the apprentice Apothecary, Nasim Balitaem.

"How much gene-seed stock is left in the Chapter right now."

Nasim Balitaem was an old acquaintance of Soshyan. They had started service in the same batch, so he understood this capable man very well. After meeting, there were no pleasantries, going straight to the point.

"After paying the tithe, the Chapter's gene-seed vault had 22 seeds remaining. Plus the 27 you brought back, Chapter Master, it's 49 in total."

"Relying on the existing gene-seed, how long will it take to return to normal scale."

The apprentice Apothecary clad in white armor sighed softly and answered helplessly,

"Chapter Master, frankly speaking, relying solely on the existing gene-seed, it will be very difficult for us to recover to our past scale even in ten centuries."

Then, before Soshyan could speak, he added one more sentence.

"Moreover, because I haven't fully mastered the procedures and steps of the augmentation surgeries yet, the surgical success rate might only be a third of what it originally was. This is a very realistic situation, and I have to make it clear."

"I understand. Then your current task is to carefully look after those gene-seeds."

"Received."

The third to be summoned was the new Chapter Chaplain, Yazdan Shahinian.

He had also only served for ten years, but this seemingly reticent man possessed a certain imperceptible zeal. In their brief contacts in the past, Soshyan had noticed that he harbored an incomparably resolute faith.

It was also exactly this faith that caught the eye of the former Chapter Chaplain.

During the meetings, Soshyan also noticed that no matter how well the previous two hid it, he could still perceive them harboring a certain unease and sense of loss.

Only Yazdan didn't show the slighest trace of this from start to finish. The fire in his heart had not been extinguished; compared to before, it burned even fiercer. The Chapter's crisis spurred him to set higher goals and demands for himself.

Such a person was undoubtedly an excellent helper for Soshyan to clean up the Chapter's mess under the current circumstances.

He immediately shared his views on the low morale within the Chapter with the other, and Yazdan also stated that he would do his utmost to boost everyone's morale.

After concluding the day's meetings, Soshyan sat behind his desk. Listening to the ticking of the cogitator, his mind would consider the Chapter's future one moment, and then be dragged into those bizarre, far-fetched ancient secrets the next.

Secrets—sometimes it's not the more you know, the better. Soshyan realized this very profoundly.

Those horrifying secrets were like a torture, tormenting his mind.

Great Crusade

Emperor

Webway

Eleventh Legion

Primarch

Soshyan had never imagined that such distant affairs would one day have a direct connection with him. He leaned back exhaustedly, resting the back of his head on the chair.

He decided temporarily not to explain their true identities and stance to the recruits, including the path they would have to take in the future. He wasn't sure if saying these things now would be beneficial. He could only wait for the right time, or first absorb a few core members to form a secret society similar to the one formed by Brother Zayd.

It could be foreseen that for a very long time, they would have to operate under the name of their original Chapter.

Regardless, the only way he could go now was forward.