Chapter 78: Reaper

Ninglu walked out of the luxury suite and looked at the two Reapers wearing red armor, with a sickle branded on their breastplates.

They both had neat short hair and deep black eyes; the two Reapers had crimson helmets slung over their left arms, revealing the smooth, yellow skin of their necks.

They looked just like miniature versions of himself.

Neither of them was equipped with a Bolter; instead, they used a Chainsword and a Bolt Pistol.

【Reaver.】

As Ninglu sized the two up, the gene-sons also looked at their father.

The moment they saw the face of their Gene-Father, it was as if they were seeing a god descended to the world, and their minds fell into a brief blankness.

They subconsciously loosened their grip on the weapons they had been clutching tightly in their right hands, and their thirst for slaughter temporarily calmed down.

Unlike when they met Horus and could only feel the power of the Primarch, they felt something more from their father.

They did not yet know how to describe this feeling; after they came back to their senses, they subconsciously gripped the weapons at their waists.

Finding strength in that, the two Reapers then walked toward Ninglu.

Ascending to the viewing gallery, Horus, who was reporting back to the Emperor, turned his head; he was faintly expecting something to happen.

A moment later, he saw the two lower their heads and kneel on one knee at the feet of their Gene-Father.

"Father, I am Saisake, Reaper Lord of the First Company."

"Father, I am Sanchez, Reaper Lord of the Seventh Company."

"They offered their loyalty to their Gene-Father without a second thought," Horus said. "I even expected them to have more resistance; they are very proud."

"When I handed them over to you, your sons were no different."

The Emperor said, his golden eyes watching the encounter unfolding below.

"Come in with me."

Ninglu said to the two sons who had risen, then led them into the dining room.

Howard and the others put down the wine glasses they had barely sipped from and rose from the dining table.

They looked at the two Terrans, and the Reapers also looked at the Vostonians.

The mutual sizing up and assessment lasted for a moment; a flash of disdain crossed Saisake's eyes, and he said to Ninglu.

"Father, your sons are waiting for you; they hope you can head to the Sawtooth to meet with them."

Ninglu looked upward, and Huang Laohan said with a smile.

"They have waited too long; you should meet with them immediately."

"When your ship arrives, I will summon you again."

"As you command, my Lord."

After Ninglu finished speaking, he left with the two Reapers and his entourage.

In the transport ship, Ninglu looked at the two sons opposite him and spoke.

"Tell me about the current state of the Eleventh Legion."

Saisake was prepared, and he spoke immediately.

"The Legion currently has 11,433 Reapers in total, all gathered in the 33rd Expeditionary Fleet."

Ninglu nodded slightly, feeling satisfied with this number.

Generally speaking, during the era of the "Great Crusade," there were two nodes in the changes to a Legion's size.

One node was the Emperor's conquest of the Moon.

Since the "Dark Age of Technology," the Moon had been the center of human genetic research.

After the battle that gave the "Luna Wolves" their name, the Emperor occupied the research facilities of the "Selena Gene Cult," and Space Marines could be manufactured on a large scale.

Most Legions grew from a scale of several hundred to a scale of ten thousand.

Of course, there was also the "Selena Gene Cult" exacting revenge by poisoning the "Emperor's Children" gene-seed, and the Third Legion nearly perished.

The other node was the Legion meeting its Primarch.

On one hand, apothecaries could extract genetic material from the Primarch.

It was precisely because the "Emperor's Children" reunited with Fulgrim that they were able to obtain pure gene-seed and avoid the fate of extinction.

On the other hand, the world where the Primarch fell would become the Legion's homeworld, the place for recruiting new warriors.

With both a source of new recruits and a sufficient quantity of gene-seed, most Legions would see their numbers grow steadily, reaching over a hundred thousand, or even over two hundred thousand.

At present, the Eleventh Legion was at least not one of those Legions with sparse numbers.

While Ninglu was deep in thought, Saisake continued.

"We initially served as the Emperor's blade, delivering devastating blows to the enemy. At that time, we strictly followed the Codex Astartes, which established the foundation for the organizational structure of the Space Marines."

"Later, when Horus returned to the Imperium, we were assigned to the command of the Sixteenth Legion's Primarch; he still strictly implemented the organizational form of the Administratum, so the Legion's organizational form did not undergo major changes."

"The biggest change is that, influenced by the Luna Wolves, we further developed the application of Tactical Squads, and Reaver Squads account for more than half."

Upon hearing this, Ninglu understood why Horus knew the Reapers so well; his core tactical philosophy, namely the application of Reaver Squads, had permeated the Eleventh Legion, and he also understood why both of them used Bolt Pistols and Chainswords.

Sanchez, who had been silent, did not know if Ninglu, who had just returned to the Imperium, had read the Codex Astartes, so he spoke to his Gene-Father.

"The organizational structure of the 'Luna Wolves' has two layers: companies and squads."

"The number of men in a 'Luna Wolves' company ranges from dozens to hundreds, and each squad is composed of 10 or 20 men."

"The organization of the 'Reapers' is fixed: one thousand men per company, and 10 men per squad."

Saisake suddenly spoke up, "Currently, the Eleventh Legion has 12 companies in total; we lost hundreds of Reapers in a previous battle against insectoid Xenos named Tagala."

Ninglu nodded slightly; he knew that the "Luna Wolves," including the subsequent "Sons of Horus," unlike other Legions that set up a three-layer command structure as their numbers grew, had always maintained a two-layer organizational structure.

In certain campaigns, he would organize companies and independent units according to the requirements of the mission and appoint temporary commanders—High Captains.

Saisake cast his gaze toward Sanchez, and the Reaper Lord understood; he spoke.

"Among the Solar Auxilia fighting in coordination with the Eleventh Legion, there are the 11th Regiment, 33rd Regiment, 111th Regiment, and 333rd Regiment, a total of four regiments."

Saisake let Sanchez answer the mortal he did not care about, before he spoke.

"The 33rd Expeditionary Fleet is composed of one Emperor-class Battleship, the Sawtooth, four Retribution-class Battleships, ten cruisers of various classes, and twenty-three frigates."

Just as the Reaper Lord finished his introduction, the transport ship approached the Sawtooth, and Ninglu cast his gaze toward the scarlet Emperor-class Battleship.

He could already sense thousands of gene-sons waiting expectantly below.

A moment later, Ninglu landed in the docking bay of the Sawtooth.

He saw the surroundings packed with Reapers clad in red armor, each of them looking excitedly at him, their Gene-Father.

Surrounded by the crowd, Ninglu arrived at the strategic conference room on the Bridge, where eleven Company Captains and thirty-one Lieutenants knelt on one knee to swear fealty to their Gene-Father.

"Father, I am James, Reaper Lord of the Second Company."

"..."

The Codex Astartes stipulates that each company has three Lieutenants, each leading three squads; the organization of the "Reapers" is the same.

In previous wars of conquest, the "Reapers" had a total of one Company Captain and five Lieutenants killed in action.

Ninglu looked around at everyone and said with a smile.

"We still have plenty of time to spend together, there is no need to rush."

"You should prepare your briefings first; I will speak with you one by one later."

"For now, I need to make arrangements for the Vostonians who came with me."

23:23, there will be another scheduled update for a chapter.

PS: The Codex Astartes was not created by Guilliman; it is not the "Codex Astartes" (of the Imperium).

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(End of this chapter)