Chapter 281: Cassian Vaughn

Ninglu sat upon his throne, watching the green-armored Warrior walk into the hall; his right shoulder was painted with the yellow-patterned letters XVIII.

On his left shoulder was the Legion emblem, a pair of black metal horns curving downward.

The Legion Commander of the XVIII Battle Group, Cassian Vaughn, removed his helmet and tucked it under his left arm.

Ninglu watched Vaughn, remembering that the Warrior before him was not only the Legion Commander of the XVIII Battle Group now, but would even survive the brutal "Istvaan V" in the future, becoming the founder and spiritual leader of the "Flame Disciples".

"How is the state of the XVIII Battle Group?"

Before meeting Vulkan, the XVIII Battle Group was once known as the "Dragon Warriors", but that is no longer mentioned now.

They, along with the Sixth and Twentieth Legions, were the "Clover", and Huang Laohan carried out a series of cover-ups for them.

"My Lord, the XVIII Battle Group suffered heavy losses during the 'Storm Corridor' campaign in the 'Unification War', with numbers dropping from twenty-six thousand to one thousand."

"We have now recovered from the previous losses and currently possess fifteen thousand Warriors."

Ninglu nodded slightly; he remembered that when Vulkan reunited with his Legion, the XVIII Battle Group had nineteen thousand men.

After Vulkan returned in the year 832, he did not immediately take command of his Legion; he only took command after studying under Huang Laohan for several years, so the numbers Vaughn spoke of were not far from his own estimations.

【"Emperor's Children", "Thousand Sons", and "Salamanders" could compete for the title of the smallest Legion during different stages of the "Great Crusade"; I, however, have commanded two of them.】

"I will dispatch a squad to be stationed within the XVIII Battle Group to improve the understanding between our two Legions, so as to facilitate future cooperation."

Because of their sparse numbers, the XVIII Battle Group had never been responsible for major combat operations since the beginning of the "Great Crusade".

They were deployed in scattered units to deal with threats appearing in the rear, such as space hulks or Eldar pirates.

Precisely because of this, the XVIII Battle Group also had things worth learning in terms of dealing with guerrilla warfare and space hulks.

"As you wish."

Vaughn left the palace with a squad of Order Shadow; he looked at the shield that shrouded the entire city, flickering with dazzling light, and asked curiously.

"What is that?"

"The technology for this energy shield is known as the 'Fortress-class Energy Shield', which can ensure the safety of the entire city," Lucas, a member of the Honor Guard from the Eleventh Chapter of "Order Shadow", introduced proudly.

"This is a technology the Arbiter Lord discovered on Vigilance Star."

Vaughn stared at the shield, his eyes shining, and exclaimed: "A miraculous technology."

Two days later, the fleet of the Fourteenth Legion arrived at Sepra Mundi, and Ninglu met the First Captain Barasin and Seventh Captain Tesuss of the "Dusk Raiders" in the palace.

They wore unpainted gray power armor, with their right arms and both shoulders painted deep red, which symbolized that they were the cold right hand of the Emperor.

The emblem on their right shoulder consisted of a skull on one half, and a composition of spikes, a semicircle, and a hemisphere on the other.

After the two Captains saluted, Barasin, as the Chief Captain, said to Ninglu.

"My Lord, by the Emperor's command, the Unbroken report to you."

Ninglu knew that although Huang Laohan had granted the Fourteenth Legion the name Dusk Raiders, the Terra-born Warriors had always called themselves the Unbroken, even after Mortarion returned to the Legion.

This was because they all came from the warlike and tenacious tribes of Albia.

"Fourteenth Legion, how many Unbroken are there now?" Ninglu asked.

"My Lord, the Legion currently has a total of thirty-seven thousand Unbroken."

Barasin's answer was not much different from what Ninglu knew; before the Great Birthday began, the total strength of the "Death Guard" was about ninety-five thousand, making it one of the smaller Legions.

After inquiring about the status of the Legion, Ninglu issued an order:

"Five days from now, the three Legions will depart for the Stifuniji System."

"My Lord, the Unbroken will make preparations." Barasin accepted the order.

"I will dispatch two squads of Order Shadow to fight alongside you and deepen our mutual understanding."

The "Dusk Raiders'" use of heavy infantry, as well as their grasp of the timing of twilight, is also worth learning from.

The Eighth Chapter of "Order Shadow" and the fleets of the Fourteenth and XVIII Battle Groups arrived at the Stifuniji System in the year 824.

The fleet immediately joined the void war.

The Bridge of the XVIII Battle Group's flagship.

Cassian Vaughn stared into the void; after the "Order Shadow" fleet arrived at the Stifuniji System, it immediately coordinated with the Second Chapter to launch an attack on the Xenos fleet.

He recalled that "Reaper" force from the "Unification War" era and sighed: "You are different now."

"The return of the Gene-Father reshaped the Legion," said Lucas, the Captain of the squad stationed with the XVIII Battle Group.

Vaughn's eyes flickered; although he had always tried his best, the XVIII Battle Group had never been able to restore its glory.

His Legion and the Fourteenth Legion combined barely exceeded half the strength of the Eleventh Legion, and this was even after they had gone through the bitter fighting of the "Wheel of Fire" and suffered great attrition.

【The systems under the governance of the Eleventh Legion already exceed seventy, and they are developing steadily under the administration of Order Shadow.

This laid the foundation for the development of the Eleventh Legion; no one could have imagined that the "Reapers", who only knew how to slaughter, would transform into the operationally adept Order Shadow after the return of Lord Ninglu.】

After sighing, Vaughn ordered the warships to join the battle.

Lucas stared at the video screen; he saw the Second and Eighth Chapters, with their Relic-class Warships as the center, using their range advantage to strike the Xenos warships.

Dense points of light smashed row after row into the enemy ships, which were flashing with red runes.

The red points of light fired from Andres's fleet, however, did not touch any of the Imperial warships shining with green light.

After the shining red light bloomed, it vanished in an instant.

After repeating this several times, the red-marked enemy ships scattered to evade like a panicked school of fish.

Lucas glanced at the video screen, and after checking the enemy ship readings fed back by the identification runes, he said to Vaughn.

"The Xenos ships are smaller and more agile."

【Then, what will the XVIII Battle Group do?】

Vaughn's gauntlet traced a route on the holographic projection.

Lucas noticed that it was a route that charged straight toward the center of the Xenos fleet's escape path.

He said: "As you said, the Xenos fleet is more maneuverable and agile."

"One cannot win a victory by circling around them."

"Break into the center of the Xenos, and the firepower advantages of the prow and both broadsides can be fully utilized."

Lucas did not speak; the 14th Legion and the 18th Legion did not have Relic-class Warships, so utilizing the armor and firepower advantages of Imperium warships was the most suitable tactic.

The warships of the 18th Legion, with the flagship as the center, formed an arrow formation and assaulted the Xenos fleet.

All the video screens were filled with red and green light dots; Lucas stood with his feet apart, steadying his body.

Violent tremors swept through the Bridge bulkheads; he saw that at the moment of impact, the Void Shield suffered countless attacks, and alarm runes flickered repeatedly.

After frequent rune flickering, the B-2 Void Shield rune on the starboard side of the flagship turned completely red.

The Void Shield shattered, and then with the next wave of attacks, violent tremors swept through the Bridge bulkheads.

A console operated by a servitor lost its power supply due to internal cable breakage; sparks flew twice, and the servitor's work stopped.

Lucas had long prepared to deal with the impact; his body only swayed slightly before he maintained his Balance.

He could not help but think in his mind: 【The time to restart the Void Shield is too long; if it could automatically recharge and restart, that would be great.

Hmm, the Legion discovered this technology on Medusa; in the future, it should be popularized on our Legion's warships.】

Lucas reined in his thoughts and refocused on the battle; he saw that although the 18th Legion's warships had suffered certain losses, the damage caused to the Xenos was even greater.

The Lance at the prow tore open the narrow warships of the Xenos.

The cannons on both broadsides hit their marks without fail, smashing into enemy ships that lacked Void Shields.

Vaughn's rigid voice rang out: "Xenos pirates have no honor and lack courage; they are collapsing."

After the Imperium fleet cleared the Xenos warships, they began to conduct landing operations according to Ninglu's orders.

After the 18th Legion conducted orbital bombardment on Planet III, they launched a landing operation.

(End of this chapter)