With the credibility established over the past six months and a sufficient pool of manpower, the first Underhive census proceeded relatively smoothly.
However, nothing ever goes perfectly.
Soon, a report reached Huron’s desk.
When the report arrived, Huron was discussing the design of exoskeletons for the boarding teams with Chief Tech-Sergeant Amannus.
Huron tapped the report and skimmed it, finding that the issue involved the Ecclesiarchy.
Certain followers of the Imperial Creed claimed that specific local areas were holy ground and strictly forbade outsiders from entering, let alone conducting a population census.
The registration teams had even clashed with some of the faithful.
Fortunately, the registrars had all received at least two doses of gene-enhancement stims and were armed, so they didn’t suffer any losses.
Nevertheless, the census work had reached a stalemate.
These Ecclesiarchy territories were not small; some even blocked access to further passages, leaving a significant area uncounted.
Huron’s brow furrowed and then relaxed as he dictated a reply: “Abandon the census mission for those areas.
Blockade the surrounding roads, designate the territory as part of the Sump, and wait for future processing.”
They were refusing the carrot, so they would get the stick.
The Ecclesiarchy on Badab was merely a minor faction with no powerful backers.
They were getting ahead of themselves.
Most of the high-ranking members of these religious factions had escaped the Decimation by pure luck; for now, let them have their moment.
Once he had a free hand, he would have the Auxilia and the Astartes conduct a purge, followed by public trials.
Then, the Chaplains of the Chapter Reclusiam would reorganize the local faith according to the new doctrines he had planned.
Even when comparing faiths of equal fervor, those without a material foundation rarely won against those who did.
Furthermore, the “New Creed” Huron intended to implement was far more sophisticated than the local Badab version.
Besides, he was a “Living Saint” truly watched by the Emperor.
If necessary, he could simply trigger a global manifestation event.
Huron’s philosophy was simple: let them act out now, for they would all be held to account later.
Having handled that minor annoyance, Huron returned to his discussion with Amannus regarding the exoskeleton design.
To improve the overall effectiveness of the boarding teams, Huron naturally wanted to provide them with superior equipment.
Exoskeletons were a key part of that strategy.
Servo-harnesses were too expensive, and they lacked the blueprints for other gear like the Solar Auxilia’s void-sealed power armor.
Thus, they had to design a serviceable set of equipment themselves.
Fortunately, the technology was mature.
It was simply a matter of integrating the relevant systems while keeping an eye on performance benchmarks.
In Huron’s vision, this exoskeleton didn’t need to be fancy.
It only needed to not hinder the wearer’s mobility, allow for the mounting of ceramite ballistic plates, have a battery life of over a week, and enable the wearer to handle a bolter with ease.
The rest would be handled by sheer numerical superiority and specialized armor-piercing bolts.
Boarding teams didn’t need to fight prolonged, large-scale wars; they only needed to provide an explosive burst of combat power for short durations.
With fleet support, logistics weren’t a major concern.
Compared to the “flashlight” lasguns, bolters were far more effective.
However, as a Tech-Sergeant trained for years on Mars, Amannus still wanted to push the exoskeleton’s performance as far as possible.
But after Huron explained the specific combat environment of the boarding teams, Amannus relented and began designing the exoskeleton according to Huron’s requirements.
The system was designated the MA-1 “Sapper” Exoskeleton System.
It had a total weight of 32kg and a maximum payload capacity of 120kg.
It was adjustable for heights between 160cm and 210cm, with a continuous operational battery life of 168 hours.
It provided a maximum auxiliary thrust of approximately 80kg.
A proficient user could don the suit in three minutes, while a novice took eight.
The frame was constructed from ceramite and carbon-silicon composite fibers.
Protection was primarily provided by external ceramite plates.
Standard interfaces were pre-installed on the shoulders, torso, and legs of the frame, allowing for the rapid attachment of armor.
It offered excellent protection against lasguns and autoguns, and could even withstand a single hit from a standard bolter.
The frame utilized a biomimetic design, transferring most of the load directly to the ground.
This reduced the burden on the wearer while using auxiliary thrust to enhance mobility.
Power was supplied by hydrogen fuel cells, featuring a solid-state hydrogen storage tank (metal hydride) and a fuel cell stack on the back.
Hydrogen could be stored stably at room temperature and pressure, released via electrical heating during use.
The modular design meant that the power pack could be quickly replaced if damaged or depleted.
Since the primary combat environment was ship-to-ship, logistical pressure was minimal.
The waist featured magnetic and fixed ammo pouches, capable of carrying six magazines totaling 120 bolts.
The core technology of the “Sapper,” however, was the recoil compensation system.
Amannus used multiple methods to allow ordinary humans to operate bolters with relative flexibility.
The right shoulder featured a retractable stock slot that created a rigid connection between the bolter and the exoskeleton.
This ensured that the recoil was absorbed primarily by the exoskeleton’s frame rather than the human body.
The hips were equipped with gyroscopic sensors.
Upon firing, they would detect the direction of the recoil and activate opposing flywheel stabilizers to generate a counter-torque, neutralizing muzzle climb.
The total reaction time was 0.02 seconds, vastly reducing the impact of recoil on the wearer.
The arms were equipped with auxiliary servos.
During firing, motors in the shoulders and elbows provided continuous support to dampen kickback.
In non-combat states, they reduced arm fatigue when holding the weapon at the ready, maintaining combat readiness.
Control was achieved through a dual system of electromyographic (EMG) signals and Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), with a total latency of about 50 milliseconds—negligible for a human.
Additionally, the “Sapper” was equipped with a rudimentary machine spirit as a control system, which could learn the wearer’s habits and adapt quickly.
Within a week, even a completely green recruit could use the exoskeleton as if it were an extension of their own body.
In addition to the exoskeleton, Amannus—referencing Kraken penetrator rounds—designed a specialized armor-piercing bolt for the boarding teams.
The explosive payload was increased, the core was replaced with a Diamond-core, and the detonation logic of the propellant was modified.
The propellant would only detonate after the Diamond-tip shattered against the target, accelerating the internal Diamond-core to punch through enemy armor.
The resulting diamond shards from the process could also cause horrific internal damage to flesh.
This was effective against heavy infantry and light vehicles; even a Space Marine hit by one would find their combat effectiveness severely diminished.
Most importantly, the planet Badab possessed the industrial capacity to produce both the exoskeletons and the armor-piercing bolts without relying on the system’s military factories.
This meant Huron could equip hundreds of thousands of boarding troops with these weapons.
Even without the help of Space Marines, the boarding teams could use “ant-swarm” tactics to bring down almost any enemy in the cramped corridors of a starship.
Furthermore, with slight modifications, the exoskeleton could serve as an auxiliary tool for laborers—a true dual-use military and civilian technology.
This was the reason Huron had named it the “Sapper.”