As the Pectaro and its accompanying transport vessels returned to the orbit of Vorchad III, the manufactorums upon the planet's surface stirred like awakening behemoths, their deafening roars echoing once more across the landscape.
Colossal cargo bays, resembling meteorites falling from the heavens, were dropped in entire sections directly onto the surface. Floating Eight-Legs, working in concert with heavy machinery and automata, began hauling crate after crate of materiel into the industrial zones. Shattered mechanical husks were cast into the furnaces, awaiting the fires of total reconstruction. Other units, bearing the scars of battle and missing components, were dismantled and refitted with pristine parts. In a mere two days, the entire host had completed the restoration cycle.
Forming into disciplined ranks, the cohorts began their march back into the ship's cargo holds. Great gravity wells then reclaimed the bays from the surface, locking them securely back into the vessel's superstructure.
Having overseen the refit, Axion immediately re-established vox-link with Frontline Command.
Any force, whether it be the Astra Militarum or the Adeptus Astartes, requires a period of rest and reconstitution after a major engagement. The brutality of war invariably brings staggering attrition and soul-crushing casualties. Typically, an Astra Militarum regiment requires at least a week of respite after a battle; if the losses are severe, it might take weeks or even months to await reinforcements.
Yet, these mortal failings were non-existent within the Iron Men's machine legions.
The mechanical forms knew no morale, required no rest, and were incapable of mutiny or betrayal. The outcome of a conflict was reflected in precise calculations. For mortals, the tide of war is ever unpredictable; for the Iron Men, victory or defeat was a forecastable metric. Every loss was a simple exchange of integers. Their standard of victory was the reduction of the enemy's numbers to zero.
The Iron Men lacked even the concept of prisoners of war. During the Federation's Age of Expansion, once the Iron Men were unleashed, the only outcome for the opposition was total extinction. Save for the Aeldari of that era, countless xenos species were ruthlessly erased from existence.
Receiving Axion's request for a new mission, Lord Solar Leontus's expression was one of barely suppressed excitement. Reports of Tyranid anomalies had been flooding in from the front; many splinter fleets had contracted their offensives, and a shift in the Hive Mind's behavior was evident.
Leontus now regarded the Iron Men's forces as a pragmatic and potent asset. However, with the current status of the Tyranid bio-fleets unknown, he hesitated to blindly hurl this effective weapon into another system without intelligence. Should they fall into a Tyranid ambush as they had before, the loss would be catastrophic.
"Iron Man Axion, I wish to know if your forces can be divided for deployment. Are there operational risks in splitting your strength?"
Axion harbored no objections to fragmenting his forces to open multiple theaters of war.
"Dividing the host requires specific independent data-transmission units for long-range communication. Combat efficiency may experience a marginal decline, with a maximum projected variance of 5%."
Leontus dismissed such a negligible drop. What he required were sufficient reinforcements to bolster planets not yet fallen, to purge the bio-horrors, and to fortify the defensive lines against the inevitable counter-attack.
"Into how many groups can you be divided?"
"The current force can be partitioned into eighteen incomplete regiments, each comprising 16,000 combat units," Axion replied almost instantaneously.
"Why 'incomplete'?" Leontus asked, surprised.
"Resource scarcity and inadequate facilities. The current planet is incapable of constructing a standardized Automated Regiment."
Upon hearing of "resource scarcity," Leontus quietly abandoned further inquiry. Eighteen powerful reinforcements, he mused.
He took up a data-slate, selecting a sequence of seven different planets across three star systems. Each was a primary front where Imperial forces were locked in a desperate struggle for orbital and terrestrial dominance, and where the ground wars were showing signs of imminent collapse. These worlds were the critical linchpins of their respective systems.
The intelligence and combat briefs for these seven worlds were promptly transmitted to the Pectaro.
"The data and briefs have been sent. What vessels do you require for transport?"
Axion, who was already rapidly analyzing the tactical data and calculating optimal force ratios, asked a curious question: "My forces are to be transported by Imperial vessels?"
"Is there a problem?" Leontus asked. Axion only possessed two ships; supporting seven planets simultaneously was impossible. As the war intensified, countless ships carrying supplies and tithes arrived daily; Imperial transports were currently the one resource in abundance.
"Notify the Tech-Priests aboard all transport vessels: they are to suppress their curiosity and remain distant from my units. I will hold the relevant authorities accountable for any 'accidents' occurring during transit."
The Lord Solar suddenly realized the gravity of the concern and nodded. "That is... a necessary precaution."
Though Leontus agreed, he privately offered a prayer to the Emperor. Everyone in the Imperium knew the avarice and unquenchable curiosity the "cog-heads" held for any scrap of technology. He wasn't entirely certain the Tech-Priests would obey even a Lord Solar's command when such a prize was dangled before them; he could only hope they would prioritize the greater survival of the sub-sector.
The vox-link disconnected. Nine transport ships soon made their first approach to the glittering world below.
The vitrified surface of the planet and the mountains of scrap metal reflected the brilliant glare of the fleet's engines. The bizarre starport structures filled the transport captains and their crews with profound curiosity.
Due to the incompatibility of their systems, they soon experienced the "physical guidance mode" of the Federation era. Massive, strangely shaped docking struts extended from the station; the transports were ordered to cut power, and grav-beams hauled the ships laterally onto the supports. They were clamped tight and dragged into the docks.
Axion's own carriers opened their bays in the void, and dropships began transferring the massive cargo crates directly into the Imperial holds. In the weightless environment, the transfer was seamless.
Because they were deploying to separate warzones, each ship was additionally stocked with a contingent of automata and supplies to meet the units' maintenance requirements. To facilitate deployment, Axion was forced to pack his own heavy dropships into the cargo bays of the Imperial vessels. Without the gravity-well technology of the Iron Men's carriers, these massive crates could not be recovered by Imperial Thunderhawks once they hit the surface unless specialized transfer platforms were used.