Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 653

Chapter 651, Strange Road

September, 10242, Chitralu. Over two years had passed since the great victory at Aramita.

Battle-Priest Sidov was currently on Chitralu VI, fighting to eliminate the last significant infested stronghold.

He commanded the Aramita Legion, the 147th Army, and the 301st Mechanic Division.

To be honest, Sidov was unfamiliar with this regimental organization.

The Alfonian Order hadn’t organized its forces this way before. The Alfonian Order

‘s ground forces, with their strong religious legionary character, often incorporated many beautiful prefixes and suffixes, then compiled in a binary mechanical language to create a so-called mechanical aesthetic.

Within the Mechanicum, these “mechanically aesthetic” characters were used to refer to each other and mobilize troops. Externally, they used translated regimental names, such as the “High Precision Worm Cavalry Regiment” and the “Glory Gear Corps of the God of All Machines.”

Such a confusing system of names, but so what? It was an external command system, after all. It was normal for the Mechanicum’s forces to be unable to command them. If command isn’t smooth, then it’s not smooth. Who gave you the right to command? As long as the Mechanicus can operate smoothly,

that’s all that matters. However, given the current situation, that approach no longer works.

How could the Alliance tolerate the local forces of the Aramita Cult, which they had single-handedly nurtured, being so disobedient and difficult to command?

Taking advantage of the internal rebellion in Aramita, the Alliance’s Military and Political Department dispatched a large number of military and political commissars, and many officers from the Army were transferred to the newly formed Skitarii Corps. They adopted the Alliance Army’s organization, essentially abandoning the Mechanicus’s original system.

This actually sparked much resentment within the Aramita Cult.

We, the Mechanicus, have always been equals. Isn’t one of the heads of the Imperial double-headed eagle symbol our Mechanicus? How could the Skitarii Corps be reorganized according to your Army’s model?

However, while they may think so, they only talk about it. Their bodies still obediently follow the Alliance’s plan.

Seedorf used to be like that too.

After all, the Alliance’s home base is far from the Alfonzo Sector, separated by two star regions. A trip there would take at least four months. A little trade would be good enough, but could the Alliance even dream of direct rule over the entire sector?

Wouldn’t it ultimately be up to us?

However, these thoughts were drastically altered after Seedorf participated in a training session organized by the Alliance’s Military and Political Department.

He began to reflect on faith, the future, his people, technological development, and his personal aspirations…

These thoughts swirled in his mind, and ultimately, while pondering the question, “What future should we move towards?” he experienced a profound enlightenment.

He should follow the Alliance and Gu Hang!

That would be the best expression of his faith in the God of All Machines!

After this realization, Seedorf even felt as if many previously puzzling concepts had suddenly become coherent.

Previously, his position in Aramita was a “Battle Priest,” on the same level as the Mechanicus.

While the Mechanicus were certainly not kind, displaying cruelty was not the same as being adept at fighting. In fact, they generally disliked personally participating in combat and warfare, typically issuing orders indifferently, leaving their Skitarii and followers to resolve issues.

Sidov, for example, was relatively more interested in combat and war command—at least more so than his colleagues.

He was indeed one of the few within the Mechanicus willing to join the military and command operations.

However, he had to admit that he still couldn’t compare to a true general.

However, it was after participating in training at the Alliance’s Military and Political Department that he suddenly felt something click within his mind. Even the Machine Spirit within his internal logic chip was cheering with joy. He quickly grasped much of the military command knowledge he had previously struggled with.

Thank you, God of All Machines, and Governor Gu.

From then on, he became a staunch supporter of the Alliance within the Aramita Cult.

This status also led to his rapid promotion.

With the right stance, in such a special moment, one can make a huge difference.

He was quickly promoted to division commander and granted the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Alliance, commanding a Skitarii unit and dispatched to Chitlu VI to participate in the battle.

This planet was quite close to the Forge World of Feng’ao. After Feng’ao was destroyed by the Extermination Order, the uninfected loyalists on Chitlu VI finally gave up their hesitation and, using every possible means, overcame obstacles and established contact with the Alliance.

The newly formed Skitarii Corps, to which Sidov belonged, was sent to assist the local planet in the battle.

Chitlu VI was not a large or rich planet. It was a resource planet, boasting numerous power plants that collected stellar light, converted it into electricity, and then transformed it into energy crystals.

The energy plants were Chitlu VI’s largest industry, and everything else was built around them.

The planet’s total population was only around 700 million.

Three Alliance armies and two Aramita Skitarii army groups, totaling 46 million troops, were deployed there. With orbital support from a destroyer, they helped the local survivors over the course of two years and turned the tide.

The war situation has now largely stabilized.

Although the number of infected is estimated to be at least 300 million, the liberated survivors have armed an army of tens of millions. Those infected lack sufficient equipment or the strength of their individual mutations. Mere numbers mean little, and their fate will inevitably be annihilated by the Alliance Army and the Skitarii.

There are still over 200 million survivors. In addition to recruiting a large number of troops, the remaining people have begun restarting energy plants, gradually rebuilding the planet and restoring production.

If this situation continues, the threat will gradually diminish, and peace will eventually return to Chitralu VI.

Seedorf has experienced this firsthand over the past two years, and

he feels proud of it.

Since his training at the Alliance Military and Political Department, which changed his mind, he now feels he is on the path to putting his ideals into practice. This brings him great satisfaction, and has deepened his conviction and devotion.

But since this morning, he has felt a sense of unease, as if something major is about to happen.

He is paranoid.

He and his troops are on a mission to enter an occupied factory area and clear out all the infected people there.

He had carried out this kind of mission many times over the past two years. It was risky and challenging, often facing an enemy force many times their own… but their equipment and training were far superior to those of the infected. They always managed to defeat the enemy with fewer troops.

That wasn’t even a victory worth boasting about.

Could there be a surprise this time?

Was the intelligence wrong? Were the enemy’s numbers greater than the ‘no more than 150,000’ stated in the data? Or were there a significant number of advanced infected among them? Or were they equipped with superior equipment?

With his heart racing, he naturally needed to be cautious in carrying out the mission.

He ordered his troops to slow down their march and actively deployed numerous reconnaissance companies, either in reconnaissance vehicles or on foot, extending their forces far out to ensure they wouldn’t be ambushed. They also had to scout the target area and report back continuously. In the event of an unexpected and formidable enemy, they had to be prepared and prepared.

Yet, nothing happened. It

was so quiet that it was almost eerie.

Not even a scattered infected person was sighted along the main force’s route.

The intelligence sent back by the reconnaissance company also claimed they had seen nothing. This

was incredibly unusual.

Logically, in an area with a concentration of around 150,000 infected, there would surely be a large number of scattered infected people along the way; it was unlikely to remain so quiet.

What had gone wrong?

He ordered the troops to slow down even further, even requiring two infantry regiments to set up a defensive line on the spot to ensure a stable retreat.

Just then, the reconnaissance company, the one that had rushed forward the most, sent back intelligence that horrified Sidoff.

The scouts said they had finally sighted the enemy in the target factory area.

Their numbers were surprisingly large, yet surprisingly small.

The so-called small number was because there were only about 10,000 or 20,000 infected people serving as guards in the surrounding area.

The scouts managed to bypass them and saw at least 200,000 infected people gathered together. They swarmed densely, methodically, jumping into one makeshift “water puddle” after another.

These puddles were murky, a mixture of thick green and red liquids. The “people” who jumped in, bobbing for a moment, were silently dissolved and vanished. The dissolved biological fluids were then carried along the peristaltic pipes to an unidentified location. That direction was the hive district with the largest and most densely populated infected population on Chitlu VI.

What were these infected doing?

Sidov was no stranger to knowledge. As a Mechanic Priest, he possessed considerable knowledge. Back in the days of the Alfonzo Cult, the most popular and widely held lore throughout the sect was that of the Void Zerg.

He had little interest in this, but he had learned a great deal from observation.

The answer to this current phenomenon was clear: the infected, summoned by their genes, were actively being digested. That thick liquid must be what’s known as biomass.

Through pipes, it was being concentrated in the core area of the central hive.

As for what these Infested would do with such a vast amount of biomass?

Sidov couldn’t come up with the answer.

What use was biomass? As far as he knew, the Infested couldn’t utilize biomass directly; they could only transform themselves into it. Only Zerg with the ability to incubate could use biomass to construct biological weapons.

But Sidov had fought on Chitra VI for two years without encountering a single real Void Zerg. According to intelligence, there shouldn’t be any Void Zerg on this planet.

In that case, why would the Infested transform themselves into biomass?

While reporting his reconnaissance intelligence to his superiors, he pondered carefully for a moment before making a decision.

Whatever the enemy intended, they

simply had to stop them. Biomass was easier to deal with than the Infested. Even the Infested, no matter how weak, still needed a bullet, and the enemy might have a few broken guns, so their side would likely suffer casualties. As for biomass? It was just a mass of organic liquid. Once burned, the high temperature would render a large area inert.

While the enemy is densely packed and the defenders are few in number, why not bombard them and sever the biomass transmission channel?

The artillery deployed, launching a ferocious bombardment of the factory area. The artillery regiment and its affiliated artillery companies were fully mobilized, over a thousand cannons of various calibers pounding the factory area.

The massive steel and concrete structures, though sturdy, would inevitably suffer damage and collapse under the intense bombardment.

Every collapsed one meant the destruction of a digester.

Meanwhile, infantrymen in armored vehicles advanced rapidly, under cover of artillery fire, to eliminate the defenders and eventually demolish the buildings one by one, or enter them and kill the unarmed infected waiting to be digested, before destroying the digesters.

Meanwhile, the reconnaissance company, which had arrived earlier, also requested action.

As the battle began and intensified, these hidden scouts severed the buried pipelines that transported biomass to the distant central hive.

The battle went smoothly. They wiped out the enemy without much effort.

However, Seedorf wasn’t happy.

Instead, he felt a bit anxious.

New orders from his superiors arrived quickly.

His unit’s scheduled rest period after the mission was canceled. He was ordered to continue forward, once again targeting a digester.

For the next 72 hours, Seedorf’s 301st Mechanized Division barely rested. Regiments and companies only took a few hours’ rest, while several logistics battalions were scrambling to keep the frontline troops supplied.

They had already captured numerous digesters, large and small.

Furthermore, they encountered other friendly units engaged in similar operations.

The battle was easy, but rushed and exhausting, resulting in unnecessary casualties. Some commanders, dissatisfied and confused, suggested allowing the troops to rest.

However, given the urgent orders and Seedorf’s own sense of aversion, he suppressed these concerns.

Facts have proven that he was right.

When he was personally leading the divisional guards in another combat offensive, Seedorf heard a series of muffled noises coming from the distant center of the infection.

The earth shook slightly.

Seedorf found a high place and looked over there. He saw one biological ship after another rising from the ground and flying towards the dim sky!

————

I am guilty… I finished writing last night and thought I would take a break before continuing, but I fell asleep…

I will write another chapter later to make up for yesterday’s broken promise.

(End of this chapter)