"Those bugs?"
Sabina frowned.
She immediately thought of an alien species, suspected to be a tyranids branch, that had emerged in nearby star systems in recent years.
Just a few months ago, when the orks first invaded Macaria, she had incidentally heard that such alien creatures seemed to have appeared in the wilderness on the other side of the planet.
Under normal circumstances, Sabina, as the Sister Superior, would naturally not let any suspicious signs go unnoticed and would have led her Battle Sisters to eliminate them on the spot.
However, due to the fierce offensive of the orks, she had no choice but to give up.
She never expected that she and the Crusaders would one day be inadvertently saved by those aliens.
As they spoke, the distant wave of orks had stalled.
Most of the orks began to turn around and charge towards their rear.
"Restore communications, search and rescue nearby survivors."
Taking advantage of the hard-won respite, the Cardinal immediately gave the order.
As for Sabina, she also received a new command.
Lead a squad to monitor the battle between the orks and the other group of aliens.
This would allow the Crusaders to regain their combat effectiveness for as long as possible.
Only Sabina and the other Battle Sisters could dimensional travel the dangerous ork-occupied territory to complete this mission.
Several hours later.
Sabina was leading several Battle Sisters to a towering church spire.
Along the way, they had also engaged in several skirmishes with the orks.
The only thing worth celebrating was that there were no casualties among the squad members.
This showed that almost all the orks' attention had been drawn to the newly appeared aliens.
From their vantage point, Sabina and the Battle Sisters could clearly see that throughout the breached Hive City, the orks were roaring and engaging in bloody melees with the Primal Zerg.
Massive numbers of Ravasaurs and Pyropods were locked in close-quarters combat with the orks in the narrow alleys of the Hive City.
The sky was filled with numerous small Primal Locusts, some of which were filled with corrosive liquid, essentially flying suicide bombers.
Any Ork aircraft that dared to fly into the sky were instantly dissolved by strong acid.
"Roar!"
A deafening sound came, and Sabina looked.
She saw several massive Tyrannosaurus Beasts, their bodies covered in explosive muscles and spines on their backs, besieging an Ork Gorkanaut.
The Tyrannosaurus Beasts coordinated closely, constantly using their massive arm blades to cut through the Gorkanaut's external armor.
Under the siege, even though the Gorkanaut was larger than the Tyrannosaurus Beasts, it was eventually torn to shreds by the Tyrannosaurus Beasts.
"These alien bugs—"
Looking at the chaotic battlefield and the Primal Zerg, who were subtly able to contend with the orks, Sabina's brows furrowed.
The threat of these newly appeared aliens far exceeded her previous expectations.
Suppressing the urge to go down and burn all the aliens to ashes, Sabina's squad began to set up a makeshift communication station on the spot, transmitting real-time battlefield information back to the Crusader's position.
Judging by the situation, the main force of the orks had been completely bogged down, giving the Crusaders a considerable amount of time to search for survivors and weapons and ammunition, and then regroup.
The battle between the Primal Zerg and the orks was bloody and brutal.
All the dead Primal Zerg and orks' bodies were recycled, and outside the Hive City, hundreds of tall Primal War Nests had already been established.
These War Nests continuously devoured biomass to hatch more Primal Zerg.
And in the sky, there were still continuous Ork drop pods falling, from which more screaming Ork Boyz emerged.
Without external intervention, this would be a protracted war.
"Boom—"
A dull sound came from the sky.
Sabina, with her keen senses, looked up.
But she saw a sight that astonished everyone.
A small Orc Scrap Ship was engulfed in flames, falling from the sky.
"Aliens? Or reinforcements?"
Sabina immediately reported what she saw to the rear.
In fact, even without reporting, the Crusaders gathered beneath the Macarius Monument could also see the falling Orc Scrap Ship.
The few local defense ships of Macaria had all been destroyed by the Ork fleet a month ago.
At this moment, only alien ships, Chaos ships, or arriving Imperial reinforcements could destroy an Orc Scrap Ship.
"Boom!!!"
The Scrap Ship crashed into the surface at this moment, causing a violent explosion comparable to a nuclear blast.
Dust filled the air, accompanied by a roaring shockwave, instantly sweeping across the entire Hive City.
"Prepare for battle."
Sabina said in a deep voice.
Although she didn't know the situation in the void outside Macaria, she knew that things were changing.
The Battle Sisters chambered their Bolters, reactivated their power swords, and vigilantly watched for any movement around them.
Indeed, as Sabina expected.
The falling Orc Scrap Ship was just the prelude.
Slowly, more and more flashes of light began to descend from the sky.
Although from a long distance, Sabina was sure that those were drop pods, and not the crudely made Ork drop pods.
Moreover, Sabina did not feel the evil power of Chaos lingering in the air.
Other aliens? Or reinforcements?
Just as Sabina and the Battle Sisters were wondering.
A valkyrie gunboat descended from the sky and hovered beside the church spire where Sabina and her group were located.
Upon seeing that the descending aircraft was a valkyrie gunboat, the previously vigilant Battle Sisters immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
The valkyrie gunboat's belly hatch opened, and several tall soldiers in CMC armor leaped out, landing on the spire.
"Who are you?"
Sabina asked, puzzled.
"I—"
The soldiers lowered their helmet visors, and the squad leader spoke.
"We are from the Recidious Star System and have come to support Macaria."
"The Recidious Star System?"
Sabina knew this was a remote star system located south of Macaria. Her biggest impression of it was that about eight or nine years ago, the Emperor's son had personally visited there.
The situation was urgent, so Sabina did not ask too many questions.
As long as the other party was not a minion of Chaos or aliens, they were now Macaria's allies.
In the void outside Macaria.
The Ork fleet, which had been recklessly conducting orbital drops to the ground, was now under a sudden attack.
Numerous sharp shells, accelerated by magnetic forces, continuously bombarded the Orc Scrap Ships, eroding their void shields.
Not only that, but a large number of intelligent missiles also flew towards the Orc Scrap Ships.
These missiles could decelerate before hitting the void shields, allowing them to pass through and directly attack the Scrap Ships' hulls.
In a short while, several small Scrap Ships had completely become floating lumps of space junk.
After five years of rapid development, the Universal Union's military scale had further expanded.
The equipment from different worlds that Marcus had previously extracted had been thoroughly researched and had long since entered mass production.
Especially in terms of space power, the Unyielding-class Heavy Frigates from the Halo world, as well as the Olympus Mons from the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare world, had both achieved mass production.
the Universal Union now possessed a formidable space fleet.
There were as many as forty Unyielding-class Heavy Frigates, and a full ten Olympus Mons-class Space Carriers.
In terms of sheer numbers, it had reached the level of a conventional Imperial Sector.
Furthermore, because they were not equipped with Warp engines, these warships were far superior to Imperial warships in terms of maneuverability and safety. And now, the Universal Union's First Fleet, commanded by Dugall, was en route to reinforce the Shrine World of Macaria.
It consisted of twenty Unyielding-class Heavy Frigates and three Olympus Mons-class Space Carriers.
There were also numerous small assault ships, about a hundred meters long, capable of carrying assault boarding parties.
At this very moment, on one of the space carriers serving as the flagship,
Dugall was methodically commanding each warship, using various segmented tactics to attack the ork fleet entrenched in Macaria's orbit:
As early as several months ago, when the orks fleet first attacked Macaria, the Universal Union was already aware.
The reason for waiting until now was to first let Macaria's defenders wear down a portion of the ork' effective strength.
Although not a Fortress World, Macaria, as a well-known Shrine World in the Pacific Star Region, also possessed a considerable number of orbital defense facilities.
These defense facilities, equipped with giant laser cannons, had been resisting the ork fleet's attacks for the past few months.
Even if they were all eventually destroyed, these facilities still inflicted considerable losses on the orks.
This gave the Universal Union an opportune moment to severely damage the ork fleet, which had just achieved victory, was regrouping, and couldn't react in time. Under Dugall's brilliant command,
Each Unyielding-class Heavy Frigate fully utilized its advantages.
Using high-maneuverability long-range harassment tactics, they continuously kited the Orc Scrap Ships.
A Halberd-class Frigate, only half a kilometer long, was less than half the size of even the smallest ork Ram Ship.
But the firepower it carried was no less than that of a typical Imperium of Man conventional frigate.
The magnetic accelerator cannon located at the bow of the ship could continuously fire hundreds of tons of sharp shells in a short period. Although its power could not penetrate void shields, it could play a very good role in attrition.
Most importantly, this continuous long-range harassment quickly caused some Orc Scrap Ships to break away from the main force and pursue individually.
This allowed the remaining Halberd-class Frigates to adopt a tactic of segmented encirclement, annihilating them one by one.
Seeing that the number of ork had been further weakened, Dugall immediately gave the order.
"Release the boarding parties."
Hundreds of small assault ships rushed towards the ork fleet at super-fast speeds.
"All ships begin providing covering fire."
All Alliance warships began to unleash their true firepower to cover the assault of the boarding parties.
A large number of shells and missiles blasted towards the ork fleet.
Among them were also the immensely powerful particle cannons fired by the three Olympus Mons-class Carriers."Waaagh!!!"
After the initial chaos, the Warboss leading this ork fleet immediately roared an order, telling all the Scrap Ships to charge at these 'shrimp' ships that were attacking them.
Relying on their thick void shields, these Orc Scrap Ships actually endured the terrifying firepower of the Universal Union fleet and launched a charge.
Ork cannons continuously fired, unleashing a dense rain of shells towards the Universal Union fleet.
"Evasive maneuvers!"
As soon as the ork warships were detected firing, Dugall immediately issued an evasion order.
Unlike the Imperium of Man, Alliance warships had fewer crew members and were highly intelligent, capable of performing various maneuvers at lightning speed.
After a round of firing, the poorly aimed cannons on the Orc Scrap Ships failed to hit any Alliance warship.
Taking advantage of the gap while the Orc Scrap Ships were reloading ammunition, a large number of assault ships, under the cover of the Universal Union warships' attacks, finally reached the Orc Scrap Ships.
After slowing down and passing through the void shields,
These assault ships used their top missile launchers to directly blast large holes in the surface of the Orc Scrap Ships, then plunged straight in.
Large numbers of boarding parties poured out from the assault ships and began attacking all ork inside the Scrap Ships.
The Universal Union naturally would not waste human lives on boarding operations.
Therefore, the ones carrying out this boarding operation were still the Tyrants and Pursuers.
There were also numerous tactical robots.
These boarding parties had only one mission.
That was to create enough chaos to disrupt the Orc Scrap Ships' movement and attack capabilities.
So that they could be sunk by the Universal Union warships.
In fact, the Universal Union could have completely destroyed these Orc Scrap Ships directly with smart nuclear missiles.
The reason they didn't do so was, firstly, the consideration that detonating the Warp engines on the Orc Scrap Ships could lead to unpredictable consequences.
Secondly, once these Orc Scrap Ships were cleaned out, after smelting, they would become excellent shipbuilding materials, which could be used to build more warships.
As expected, under the harassment and destruction of the boarding parties, all Orc Scrap Ships that were successfully boarded began to fall into chaos.
Consequently, their charging speed and attack rhythm slowed down.
Cooperating with the attacks of the Universal Union warships, a large number of Orc Scrap Ships were soon successfully sunk.
Frustration.
This was the thought of all ork in the ork fleet at this moment.
If it were in the past, the Imperium of Man's fleet would have stood their ground and exchanged fire with them; that was truly an exciting, 'Waaagh!' kind of war.
But now, the Orc Scrap Ships were completely being led by the nose by the Universal Union warships.
The ork cannons could barely successfully hit the agile Unyielding-class Heavy Frigates.
As for the long-range macro cannons, they occasionally managed to hit their targets, but the result was that they were blocked by the energy shields, and most of their power was dissipated.
As for the ork carrier-borne aircraft, they had long been deployed to the surface of Macaria to participate in the siege of the Hive City.
They were now entangled with the Primal Zerg on the surface.
There were as many as thirty Orc Scrap Ships that initially invaded the star system where Macaria was located, and some were lost during the attack on Macaria.
And after a successful invasion, some other Orc Scrap Ships immediately rushed to other nearby star systems to participate in battles.
So at this time, the number of Orc Scrap Ships the Universal Union faced was not many to begin with.
Soon, these Orc Scrap Ships were sunk one by one.
The Universal Union officially achieved victory in the space battle.
"Begin large-scale deployment of ground troops."
After clearing all the Orc Scrap Ships entrenched in Macaria's orbit, Dugall immediately gave the order.
During the battle with the Ork fleet, the Universal Union had already dispatched a small vanguard force to ascertain the situation on Macaria's surface.
Now, based on the incoming data, Dugall had begun to focus on commanding the ground forces.
A large number of drop pods were deployed, and various small and medium-sized transport aircraft began carrying troops into the atmosphere.
It is worth mentioning that these troops did not include units like Tyrants, Tactical Robots, or XV8s, which did not appear particularly "loyal."
Instead, there were a large number of former Avarax PDF, now Alliance soldiers, wearing CMC300 armor, which is the starcraft Marine armor.
And 5-4 type armor, which is the starcraft Marauder armor.
As well as a small number of Goliath Armed Robots.
Additionally, there were a very small number of elite Pilots piloting small Ion Titans from the titanfall world.
Most of these airborne troops landed on the outskirts of the Hive City, beginning to clear the Primal Zerg from the rear.
However, rather than clearing them, it was more like "acting."
To ensure the Primal Zerg on Macaria cooperated with the Universal Union's operations, Dugall had specifically brought Yagdra.
At this time, Yagdra had already infiltrated underground, leading the Primal Zerg.
Thus, under the guise of an act between the Universal Union and the Primal Zerg, a "great battle" unfolded between the two sides outside the Hive City.
The Primal Zerg were clearly the side with no power to retaliate.
A large number of low-level Primal Zerg, such as Hydralisks and Infested Terrans, were cleared out.
Other high-level Primal Zerg began to retreat in another direction under Yagdra's command.
At the same time, a small number of Primal Zerg were left inside the Hive City, continuing to fight with the orks, buying time for the Universal Union.
Alliance soldiers then began to advance into the Hive City, starting to clear out the remaining orks and a small number of Primal Zerg.
"When did Avarax get such strong military power?"
From the cathedral spires, Sister Superior Sabina looked at the Universal Union forces, who had fought their way in from outside the Hive City, with a bewildered expression.
According to her observations, even the most basic Avarax soldiers wore power armor that could be described as "excellent."
Their shoulder armor's defense was sufficient to withstand Ork shoota attacks, surpassing the typical Astra Militarum carapace armor.
The weapons they used could easily pierce through the bodies of Ork Boyz.
Their individual combat capabilities were far superior to those of ordinary Astra Militarum forces.
However, Sabina did not dwell on this point too much.
She had already confirmed that the other party was indeed human and did not possess any heretical aura.
These two points alone were enough to confirm that these people were allies.
"Sister Sabina, we hope you can help us make contact with the survivors of Macaria."
An Alliance soldier beside her suddenly spoke.
"Of course."
Sabina had no reason to refuse.
The remaining orks in the Hive City were being rapidly cleared, and her mission was indeed no longer necessary.
Putting away her communication device, Sabina, along with the other Battle Sisters and Alliance soldiers, boarded the valkyrie gunboat hovering nearby and flew towards the magnificent Monument to Macarius in the center of the Hive City.
During this time, many aircraft that even Sister Superior Sabina had never seen before flew alongside the valkyrie gunboat.
They used missiles and autocannons to clear out the remaining Ork aircraft.
Those were the Universal Union's Viking Fighters.
Under the escort of the Viking Fighters, it only took a few minutes for Sabina to return to the plaza where the Monument to Macarius was located.
At this moment, the Crusaders had already discovered that the orks were being cleared by Alliance forces.
Many were overjoyed.
Although they had all prepared to return to the Golden Throne, no one truly wanted to die at the hands of xenos after all.
As soon as Sabina landed and exited the cabin, many Alliance ships followed suit, landing in the plaza.
Alliance soldiers unloaded large quantities of food, clean drinking water, and most importantly, medical supplies.
Due to the orks' invasion having lasted for several months, Macaria had long since entered a state of material scarcity.
A large number of residents had already died not at the hands of the orks, but from hunger, thirst, disease, and even from fighting over resources.
Although this was the Warhammer world, where magical powers existed.
Faith still couldn't fill people's stomachs, nor could it truly protect them from disease.
Perhaps those Living Saints whose faith was fervent enough and who had names could achieve the above two points.
But at least, the ordinary residents of Macaria could not.
Looking at the Universal Union soldiers distributing supplies and the Universal Union medical personnel performing emergency surgeries on seriously wounded Crusaders, Sabina offered a heartfelt thank you.
"Thank you very much."
"It's what we should do."
A figure suddenly walked up beside her; it was Isaac.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Isaac, captain of the Avarax Special Operations Squad."
"I am Sabina, Sister Superior of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, stationed on Macaria."
As the two were conversing, the Cardinal responsible for leading this Crusader force suddenly appeared, surrounded by people.
"Who are you?"
This Cardinal exhibited most of the typical characteristics of high-ranking Ecclesiarchy officials: arrogant and disdainful.
If the Universal Union hadn't just rescued him, it's likely this Cardinal wouldn't have even given Isaac a proper look.
"We are from Avarax, we received a distress signal, and we are here to help Macaria."
Isaac reiterated.
At the same time, he secretly categorized this Cardinal in his mind.
"Avarax? Is that the remote Hive World?"
The Cardinal did not dwell on these minor matters.
Instead, he spoke in a half-commanding tone.
"Macaria is now ravaged by vile xenos, and all Planetary Governors in the Pacific Star Region should contribute to rebuilding this pilgrimage site."
"Good heavens, are you trying to morally blackmail me?"
Isaac secretly grumbled to himself.
Although there was no superior-subordinate relationship between Planetary Governors and the Ecclesiarchy, most Planetary Governors would still, out of respect for the Cardinal, genuinely agree to help aid and rebuild Macaria.
But clearly, the Universal Union would indeed aid Macaria, but not because of this Cardinal's moral blackmail.
the Universal Union expended so much effort to defeat the orks fleet, not to pave the way for others.
Seeing that Isaac had not agreed to his demands for so long, the Cardinal frowned, his expression displeased.
He was about to say something.
The next second, a muffled sound came from beneath the ground.
"Boom!"
The massive Yagdra burrowed through the thick steel barrier and swallowed the Cardinal whole.
The Cardinal, who had just been arrogant, was instantly melted by the high-temperature strong acid from Yagdra's mouth before he could even let out a scream.
Sabina, who had just reacted, immediately pulled out her Meltagun, ready to fire at Yagdra.
But before she could pull the trigger, Yagdra immediately burrowed back underground, vanishing without a trace.
"Alien!!!"
Sabina roared, rushing to the edge of the deep pit, ready to leap down.
"Sabina, wait!"
Isaac directly pulled her back, stopping her action.
"Leave the task of pursuing that alien to us. The survivors of Macaria still need someone to lead them."
Standing still, she scanned the Crusaders, who were somewhat flustered by Yagdra's sudden attack and the Cardinal's death.
Sabina was silent for a moment before lowering her weapon.
Macaria had only this one Hive City, and after the Hive City was breached, only that one Cardinal remained from the original Cardinalate.
Sabina, as the Sister Superior, had now transformed into the highest-ranking person currently on Macaria.
She indeed had the responsibility to lead the remaining survivors. "Macaria is now under our control, Commander."
The Commander in charge of the ground forces was reporting to Dugall.
A week had passed since the Universal Union defeated the orks fleet and cleared the Primal Zerg and orks remnants from the surface.
During this time, the Universal Union had gathered all the survivors on Macaria.
After an initial count, the nearly 100 billion people originally gathered on Macaria were now reduced to only a few billion.
If not for the Universal Union's intervention, Macaria would probably have completely fallen into orks occupation.
"As planned, begin deploying the wormhole. Position it in the southern part of the Hive City."
"Yes!"
Indeed, after five full years of research, the Universal Union had finally mastered the Precursor Civilization's wormhole technology.
If they had started research from scratch, the Universal Union naturally couldn't have achieved such speed.
But in reality, the now-destroyed Precursor Civilization, which the Universal Union had annihilated, had actually been researching wormhole technology for a long time.
They were only one step away from creating a wormhole, and the Universal Union, having taken over all of the Precursor Civilization's research data, was naturally able to make a breakthrough in a short period.
The creation and stabilization of a wormhole were extremely complex, and Dugall, as a high-ranking Alliance official, only had a superficial understanding.
To put it in simple terms, a wormhole is essentially a fixed and perpetual warp device.
Upon receiving Dugall's order,
several Unyielding-class Heavy Frigates broke through the atmosphere and hovered over the barren land outside the Hive City.
Numerous Hex automatic construction robots crawled out of the ship's hold and began to rapidly construct a large complex of buildings.
This complex, composed of many energy reactors, had only one purpose: to provide the energy needed to sustain the wormhole.
About half a month later, the wormhole on Macaria was finally completed.
The wormhole, with a diameter of about a hundred meters, stood directly on the barren land south of the Hive City.
Around it, hundreds of giant energy reactors were situated, directly powering the wormhole.
Engineers and researchers began the final debugging, connecting this wormhole to another wormhole far away on Avarax.
Finally, a blue-white lightning appeared at the edge of the wormhole, the result of a massive convergence of energy.
This also meant that the wormhole had finally successfully activated.
Several Goliath robots entered the wormhole first.
A few minutes later, a massive convoy drove out of the wormhole.
This convoy brought more relief supplies to help Macaria restore order.
At the same time, they had another mission: to incorporate Macaria into the Universal Union's territory.
As the convoy was steadily moving, a rumbling sound came from deep underground.
Yagdra, like a long snake, burrowed out of the ground.
"Roar! Humans, make way for me and my Tyranid."
Yagdra let out a muffled roar, and then, a large number of Primal Zerg also emerged from the underground tunnels.
the Universal Union convoy quickly made way.
Led by Yagdra, these Primal Zerg rushed towards the wormhole.
These Primal Zerg were good fighting forces, so it was impossible for them to remain idly on Macaria, which no longer had orks.
Many planets in the Pacific Star Region were still being invaded by orks; the Primal Zerg had plenty of places to show their prowess.
"Are we just going to let it leave like that?"
On a dune far from the wormhole, Gill asked his captain, Isaac.
"How will we explain this to Sabina?"
During this time, their team, besides helping to restore order on Macaria, mostly pretended to pursue Yagdra on the surface.
Sabina was still thinking about Yagdra, who had killed the Cardinal.
Isaac pointed to the wormhole.
"Don't worry, look, isn't the solution here?"
Just then, several large trucks slowly drove out of the wormhole.
And on the trucks lay a corpse that looked almost identical to Yagdra.
"Let's go."
Isaac said, then used Psionics to rise into the air and flew towards the wormhole.
Upon landing, Isaac immediately found the person in charge of transporting the corpse.
After some maneuvering, Isaac took possession of the corpse.
Looking at the corpse, Gill asked,
"This is?"
Isaac casually said,
"This is something the research department created using the Precursor Civilization's bioweapon manufacturing technology, plus the genetic fragments provided by Yagdra."
At this point, Isaac pulled out his focus gun and asked Gill and himself to add a few more wounds to the corpse.
"Boom!"
An invisible shockwave blasted out, instantly tearing the corpse's skin and flesh.
"Of course, this thing only looks the part; its combat power certainly can't compare to the original, but it's enough to fool Sabina and ordinary people."
"Roar! Little bug, you should call me Lord Yagdra."
Yagdra swaggered past Isaac, disdainfully adding a few more wounds to this identical replica with his giant claw.
Seeing that it was almost done, Isaac put down his weapon.
"Let's go, it's time to report back."
The two followed the large convoy towards the distant Hive City.
"How are we going to incorporate Macaria into the Universal Union?"
Along the way, Gill asked, puzzled.
Macaria, as a Holy World, was completely different from the Hive Worlds the Universal Union had previously reclaimed from the orks.
Its inhabitants were all fanatically devoted to the God-Emperor.
It would be difficult to bring these people into the Universal Union's fold through ordinary means.
"You should have seen what kind of lives the ordinary people of this world lead."
Isaac pointed to the distant, grand, and magnificent Hive City.
He said in a deep voice.
"Those buildings look incredibly beautiful, with a group of lavishly dressed Ecclesiarchy priests and Cardinals coming and going, praising holy icons all day long.
Wealthy merchants, a little lower in status, donate large sums of money and jewels, praying for the Ecclesiarchy to protect their souls after death.
As for the ordinary Hive City workers and commoners, at the very bottom, they bear heavy labor and can only eat rotten, foul-smelling food and water.
The only motivation supporting them to live is their so-called "faith."
I don't know if that faith truly brings them protection or happiness after death.
But what the Universal Union needs to ensure is that these people can live with dignity before they die.
Moreover, the Universal Union will not sever their faith; it will only modify it slightly to make it beneficial to the Universal Union."
No one could refuse a life of being well-fed, well-clothed, and no longer arbitrarily exploited by nobles or Ecclesiarchy lords, except for mad ascetics or penitents who believed themselves to be sinners.
Long before the Universal Union, the T'au Empire on the eastern edge of the Ultramar Sector had already proven the feasibility of this method of rule.
What's more, the Universal Union is predominantly human, so this method would naturally be even more effective. Soon, the Universal Union convoy drove into the Hive City.
The lower levels of the Hive City had been breached by orks too early, and almost all of its residents had been massacred.
Only ruins were left here.
Currently, the billions of survivors in the Hive City are all crammed into the upper levels of the Hive City.
Via a giant lift platform, the Universal Union convoy slowly began to ascend.
It took several hours for the lift platform to reach the upper levels of the Hive City.
The arrival of the massive convoy immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding residents.
Especially the huge Yagdra, which startled some residents into retreating in terror.
Soon, Sabina arrived with a group of people and saw the Universal Union convoy distributing supplies on the spot.
Her gaze was instantly drawn to Yagdra's body.
"You have not failed your mission, Sabina."
Isaac was about to step forward and say something else.
The next second, a series of Bolter rounds struck the corpse, tearing its flesh apart.
Watching the Battle Sister's desecration of the corpse, Isaac silently stood aside to avoid being hit by stray bullets.
Only after releasing the accumulated anger in her heart for failing to protect the Cardinal did Shabina approach Isaac and inquire about the Universal Union convoy.
"The remaining supplies in the Hive City will eventually run out, and Macaria must restore its production capacity as soon as possible."
Isaac explained.
"And before that, we will continue to provide living supplies."
As soon as he finished speaking, a Battle Sister raised an objection.
"This is a sacred world for venerating the God-Emperor; how can it be polluted by factories and smoke!"
In the eyes of many, factories were synonymous with the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Evidently, as a Shrine World, all of Macaria's residents' living supplies relied on trade from other parts of the Pacific Star Region.
"You should know that orks are rampaging throughout the entire Pacific Star Region, and Macaria clearly can no longer rely entirely on external supply lines."
Isaac spread his hands.
"The devout faithful of Macaria should not die of hunger. Only with full stomachs can they fight back against the xenos."
"You!"
Shabina stopped the Battle Sister who was about to speak in anger, then agreed to the proposal to build factories on Macaria.
Avarax, Central Hive.
In an office that had undergone extensive modernization and efficiency upgrades.
Before a detailed holographic star map, the Universal Union high command was once again holding a meeting via video call.
"Macaria has been successfully recovered. Currently, our star sector has been completely unified by the Universal Union."
Leveraging the Precursor Civilization's wormhole technology, as well as the convenient superluminal engines of the Olympus-class Space Carriers and Unyielding-class Heavy Frigates.
the Universal Union's expansion rate has been incredibly rapid in recent years.
The star sector where Avarax is located has a total of twenty star systems, with forty-four life-bearing planets.
This number sounds small.
But if compared horizontally, before Guilliman's return and the restoration of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar's administrative structure.
The Ultramarines, as the most famous Chapter in the entire galaxy, only ruled one sub-sector, eight star systems.
If compared again to the T'au, before the expansion of the Great Rift, the entire T'au Empire's territory was less than five sectors.
Therefore, the Universal Union's sphere of influence in the Pacific Star Region is actually quite considerable now.
Gazing at the Universal Union's territory displayed on the star map, as well as the ork empire region entrenched above the Universal Union's territory, Marcus pondered briefly before speaking.
"Temporarily halt expansion to the north, east, and south. We now need to consolidate our defenses."
In these past few years, the scale of the ork empire to the north of the Universal Union has grown increasingly large.
According to the garbled astropathic signals received by various planets, more and more planets are being invaded by orks.
"Begin establishing the Primal Zerg Quarantine Zone."
The Primal Zerg Quarantine Zone, this was a plan Marcus proposed not long ago.
The goal is to spread all the Primal Zerg currently in the star sector northward, allowing the Primal Zerg to occupy various planets, forming a Primal Zerg Quarantine Zone to resist the orks' invasion.
The orks start wars for no deep reason; they simply seek a fight.
And the Primal Zerg can attract all orks spreading southward from the ork empire region.
Further buying time for the Universal Union.
"How is the situation in the Wandering Earth World?"
Marcus looked up at Alex.
She had been in the Wandering Earth World for the past few years, coordinating the progress of planetary engine construction with various worlds.
"A total of fifteen thousand planetary engines have been completed, and Wandering Earth officially set sail a week ago."
Following Alex's report, Marcus's system panel, after a long absence, displayed a mission completion notification.
However, Marcus was not in a hurry to check it.
"Then assign new missions to all worlds, instructing them to enter the Warhammer World and build planetary engines for the planets on the edge of the star sector."
"Yes."
Planetary engines possess extremely high strategic value.
As long as planetary engines can be built on some small moons, armed, and moved to specific locations.
A robust defensive system can be constructed, centered around the core planet in the star system.
Furthermore, the planetary engine itself is a weapon of immense power.
The beam it ejects at maximum power is enough to destroy any class of warship.
Wandering Earth World.
Due to the Universal Union's intervention, The Wandering Earth had officially set sail decades ahead of schedule.
Furthermore, the number of planetary engines built had increased from 10,000 to 15,000.
The number of matching underground cities also naturally surged.
All residents globally relocated to the nearest underground cities and began new lives.
Inside one of the underground cities, a video conference initiated by Alex was underway.
Representatives of the UEG were once again gathered.
Alex first explained the general situation of the Warhammer World to the representatives.
"What a terrifying world."
Although the time was short, all representatives could hear from the lines that it was a cruel and dark world.
Some representatives had not yet caught up, not knowing why Alex suddenly spoke to them about other worlds.
Other representatives had already come to their senses and fallen silent.
"the Universal Union has already helped your The Wandering Earth escape the hydrogen flash crisis and extended your civilization, and now, it is time for you to fulfill your duties as members of the Universal Union."
Alex said calmly.
Silence spread through the meeting.
Looking at the various UEG representatives.
Alex didn't waste words and directly sent a simplified plan to everyone.
"Every Alliance member has an obligation to carry out the war missions assigned by the Universal Union.
You can rest assured, the Universal Union will not make all of you soldiers to fight the terrifying enemies of that world.
Your mission is simply to build planetary engines on certain planets, and nothing more."
Although Alex spoke lightly, the UEG representatives knew that if people were actually sent to that world to carry out the mission, there would definitely be casualties.
But they knew even more clearly that the UEG could not refuse the Universal Union's war mission.
Even now, many Alliance spaceships were still hovering over The Wandering Earth.
"Our side accepts the mission."
Zhou Zhezhi was the first to break the silence.
Since the Universal Union had helped their The Wandering Earth and extended the lives of billions of people on The Wandering Earth, the UEG should respond to the Universal Union's mission.
With Zhou Zhezhi's example, the other representatives also expressed their acceptance.
All of this was naturally within Alex's expectations.
"Prepare according to the plan within one week. At that time, the Universal Union's spaceships will take your people to that world."
With that, Alex unilaterally cut off contact.
One week passed quickly.
A massive construction team of several hundred thousand people was urgently assembled and transported to Antarctica.
This icy continent remained the same as before, covered in white snow, and had not changed at all due to The Wandering Earth's departure.
"They're here, the Universal Union's spaceships."
Amidst the exclamations of the people on the ground, several Olympus-class space carriers descended from the sky, accompanied by a large number of small and medium-sized transport ships.
The strong winds, carrying snow, made it almost impossible for the UEG personnel on the ground to open their eyes for a time.
"Maintain order, line up and board the ships."
A large number of Tactical Robots rappelled to the ground and began to maintain order at the scene.
In the crowd, Liu Peiqiang looked up at the spaceships in the sky, feeling emotional, never expecting to have another opportunity to board an Alliance spaceship.
Although the Universal Union had said it would equip the construction team with soldiers for protection, the UEG representatives still sent out a considerable number of combat personnel.
Liu Peiqiang was one of them.
"This mission will last a total of twelve months. Your duty is to protect your compatriots from any hostile harm!"
Recalling the mobilization order he heard before departure, Liu Peiqiang subconsciously tightened his grip on the gun in his hand.
Just as Liu Peiqiang was passing through security gates with the crowd, an Alliance staff member suddenly recognized him.
"You are the astronaut who refused the Universal Union's invitation?"
"Uh—"
Liu Peiqiang was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.
Five years ago, when Liu Peiqiang was returning to The Wandering Earth aboard the Courage, the Universal Union had indeed extended an olive branch to him, but he had refused it.
The reason was simple: Liu Peiqiang did not want to leave his familiar The Wandering Earth.
What he didn't know, however, was that this refusal had attracted the attention of many people in the Universal Union.
After all, most people simply couldn't refuse the Universal Union's invitation, and Liu Peiqiang had also been a key person of interest marked by the Universal Union.
"Combat personnel, line up over there. You will receive an additional period of training."
Seeing Liu Peiqiang still standing there in a daze, the Universal Union staff member reminded him.
"Okay, thank you."
Liu Peiqiang, having reacted, immediately quickened his pace and ran in the direction the other party pointed.
The place the staff member pointed to was directly beneath an Olympus-class space carrier.
Combat personnel carrying weapons, like Liu Peiqiang, were lining up for inspection and information collection.
After these procedures, Liu Peiqiang and the others boarded the transport planes and flew towards the space carrier above.
Upon boarding the spaceship, they were greeted by several Alliance veterans with rich combat experience, especially against orks.
"For the next half month, all of you will undergo new training to adapt to the situations you will face in your future missions."
Listening to the veterans' instructions, Liu Peiqiang and the others were puzzled.
They still didn't know what kind of creatures they would be facing. "Follow me."
A veteran spoke, then led the crowd further into the ship's interior.
Passing through layers of checkpoints and heavy blast doors, the group arrived before a closed iron curtain.
"These are the enemies you might encounter."
As his words fell, the iron curtain opened.
An ork, nearly three meters tall and powerfully built, suddenly appeared before everyone.
"Waaagh!"
Clearly, the imprisoned ork was in a state of rage, constantly pounding on the surrounding alloy walls.
Everyone could hear distinct rumbling sounds.
"Deploy test robots."
A veteran pressed a button, and two fully armed Tactical Robots immediately rose in the room.
After locking onto the ork, the Tactical Robots immediately raised their guns and fired.
Numerous full-power bullets struck the ork, but only caused splashes of blood, completely unable to inflict much damage.
"Waaagh!"
The ork, finally having something to destroy, immediately charged, enduring the bullet fire, and in a matter of seconds, tore the two Tactical Robots into a pile of broken parts.
Even so, the ork, still not satisfied, continued to roar, smashing these broken parts even further into smithereens. "What is that!?"
Someone asked in fear.
Clearly, the existence of the ork had exceeded their imagination.
"Orks, a race born for war."