32 took Gutierrez and his Kill Team, and also brought along Titus's team.
Under Alex's specific instructions, they also brought Sea Hare.
The group boarded Mai Mai and Twilight's Gabbro, quietly departing the front lines for the Star Sector Capital.
Their departure had almost no impact on the battlefield situation, as it was only two Space Marine teams and a light warship, and the front line currently had no shortage of such combat power.
The true storm continued to rage on Helson III—ever since Alex ordered the ancient ruins, which had Kroak frozen within, to be pulled from the surface, the greenskins became enraged as if their ancestral graves had been desecrated, launching wave after wave of frenzied assaults on the Imperial Army positions.
The Ork offensive was extremely fierce, and the entire front line was under immense pressure.
However, Alex was well-prepared—he kept the War Master-Class Titan continuously stationed on the defensive line, relying on its overwhelming firepower and shields to forcefully block the greenskin tide.
As long as the Orks could not deploy a stronger Stompa, the Imperial Army's defense would not collapse for the time being.
But the higher-ups of the Adeptus Mechanicus were almost driven mad.
This War Master-Class Titan was an invaluable treasure to them, especially since it could perform psychic teleportation! This was nothing short of a miracle in the eyes of the Adeptus Mechanicus!
Such a precious technological creation should have been carefully enshrined and studied in a Forge Temple, but now it was forced to fight the filthy greenskins on the battlefield!
"This is blasphemy against the omnissiah!" the Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priests roared in fury.
The high-ranking Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus were almost in a state of delirium, their data streams constantly bombarding Alex's communication terminal every minute.
These fanatical binary curses, mixed with threatening mechanical code, stirred up an electronic storm in the data space.
As for the fate of the mortal soldiers on Helson III?
In the eyes of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the value of these flesh-and-blood bodies was not even comparable to a spare part of a Titan.
Even if the entire Star District's Imperial Army turned to ash, these red-robed mechanical believers would not shed a single drop of oil for it.
But if that precious War Master-Class Titan suffered even the slightest damage… this thought caused a temporary malfunction in the logical circuits of all the Tech-Priests.
Even sacrificing the Imperial Army of an entire star system would not compensate for such a significant loss!
Faced with this hysterical data bombardment, Alex's reaction was remarkably cold.
He casually marked all Adeptus Mechanicus communications as junk information, letting the servitor skull filter these noisy binary sounds to a secondary processor.
When he had no choice but to respond, his reply was brief and cold: "Instead of wasting energy complaining, expedite the installation of the teleportation device."
This cold reply, when transmitted back to the Adeptus Mechanicus Forge Ark, caused a disturbance no less than a minor data disaster.
In Alex's view, as long as the Adeptus Mechanicus could complete the planetary-scale teleportation as quickly as possible and directly hurl the greenskin-infested planet onto the Necrons' throne world, all problems would be solved.
The cooling systems of several high-ranking Tech-Priests instantly overloaded, and their servo motors hummed under the strain.
Some even activated their forge axes, and if they hadn't been restrained by their more rational colleagues with mechanical tentacles, they probably would have piloted shuttles to "reason" with Alex.
Ultimately, they could only release a series of ear-splitting binary shrieks through full-spectrum broadcast, a sound so unpleasant that even the servitor skull voluntarily cut off its audio receiver.
At the same time, Kroak's fate also underwent a subtle change.
This ancient, ice-bound threat was not thrown into a star but was secretly transferred to the deepest part of the Black Ship.
There, a special cell constructed of blackstone was ready, surrounded by the merciless gaze of the Sisters of Silences.
Alex's unexpected decision left everyone puzzled; only he knew the potential role this dangerous trophy might play in his future plans.
The Adeptus Mechanicus, intimidated by Alex's unyielding attitude, ultimately chose to compromise, although their data streams still flickered with dissatisfied binary curses.
In the near-orbit of Helson III, a group of Tech-Priests brought their respective Forge Arks.
These massive vessels slowly adjusted their positions, aiming their cannons at the planet's surface, ready to provide orbital support to ground forces at any moment.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the Tech-Priests were setting up teleportation devices with almost insane efficiency, the clatter of gears and the hum of plasma cutters echoing across the entire landing zone.
Through the observation window, one could see organized Skitarii units being thrown into the battle without hesitation.
These expensive elite troops were being consumed like cheap cannon fodder, with dozens of mechanical bodies turning into scrap metal in explosions every second.
Inside the command bridge, red-robed Tech-Priests watched it all with indifference.
Their mechanical eyes constantly zoomed in and out, precisely calculating casualty ratios and advance speeds, yet no ripple of compassion appeared in their logical circuits.
For the Adeptus Mechanicus, as long as their sacred machines were safe, any price was acceptable—even if it meant sacrificing the entire Star District's Skitarii.
Even more insane, the high-ranking Tech-Priests even attempted to mobilize the Rust Blade Legion, a Titan Legion.
Fortunately, Alex intercepted their orders in time; he directly cut off the Adeptus Mechanicus's data link with the Rust Blade Legion, ensuring that this powerful Titan Legion remained on the Kharkov front lines, preventing any destabilization of the defensive line.
He knew all too well what reckless foolishness these Adeptus Mechanicus fanatics were capable of to "protect" their so-called sacred machines.
Although the fighting there was nearing its end, with Imperial Army forces clearing out remaining rebels, rashly withdrawing a Titan Legion could still lead to vulnerabilities in the defensive line.
Even though the conflict in Kharkov seemed to be winding down and a Titan Legion might not be critically needed to hold the line there, the battle on Kherson was not yet so dire as to require a Titan Legion's deployment.
After several rounds of intense data confrontation between various factions, the final compromise reached was: apart from the Rust Blade Legion continuing to hold its original defensive line, several other Titans, including Cawl's mysterious autonomous war machine and Alex's own Warhounds, were permitted to reinforce the Kherson battlefield.
This decision grudgingly satisfied the Adeptus Mechanicus, although their binary prayers still contained questions about the logic of Alex's decisions.
However, Alex was too lazy to explain to them, or rather, he knew such explanations would be futile.
Unless he withdrew the War Master-Class Titan from combat, the Adeptus Mechanicus would inevitably disagree with him.
In a situation where their fundamental principles were in conflict, instead of wasting time explaining, it was better to find a way to solve the problem first.
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