718.M41, Maelstrom Zone, Badab Primaris, Fortress-Monastery of the Astral Claws.
Huron stared at the Aquila carved into the bulkhead.
He sincerely hoped he was dreaming.
One second he was at home playing Hearts of Iron 4, typing manpower and instant_wargoal into the console, painting the map.
The next second, he became Lufgt Huron.
Chapter Master of the Astral Claws.
Future Tyrant of Badab.
Future Lord of the Red Corsairs.
An ambitious bastard who wanted to carve out his own kingdom, only to get dogpiled by a dozen Chapters less than 200 years later and forced to flee screaming into the Maelstrom.
The problem was, this bastard had ALREADY started.
He had quelled the rebellion on Badab Primaris in 712.M41.
He had declared himself Lord of Badab.
He was already taxing the trade routes, withholding gene-seed tithe, building his private army.
The rebellion hadn’t fired a shot yet, but the fuse was already lit.
Thinking of the original owner’s memories and his own knowledge of the future, Huron’s vision went dark.
Even if he became loyal now, the Great Rift would open in 300 years.
The Maelstrom is the second largest warp rift in the Imperium.
When Cadia falls, Chaos will pour out of here like a flood.
Not to mention his two brothers in the Maelstrom Warders.
The Lamenters and the Mantis Warriors were so poor they were sharing armor.
By the time Terra sent reinforcements, the three of them would be corpses.
Faced with wolves in front, tigers behind, and a T-Rex called Abaddon if he was unlucky…
Huron could only sigh.
“Emperor, if you’re going to isekai me, at least give me cheats?”
“I needed cheats to win HOI4, you think I can handle THIS?”
“Give me cheats, give me cheats…”
He muttered, slumped in the command throne.
He looked for all the world like a man touched by Chaos.
The original Huron was at least a genius void commander.
He made Orks and Corsairs scream in terror.
He, on the other hand, was a noob who only knew F2+A.
Without cheats, suicide was the most loyal thing he could do.
As if the warp heard him, his eyes flickered.
A semi-transparent panel appeared.
[Astral Claws Chapter Management System]
Political Power: 200
Focus Slot: 1
Decisions: None
Civilian Factories: 13
Military Factories: 12
Dockyards: 3
Stability: 62% | War Support: 85% | Manpower: 700
Huron skimmed it and understood.
This was like HOI4, but without the research tree.
He couldn’t just click to invent tech.
Blueprints had to be developed by his Techmarines or bought from Forge Worlds.
But the factories were real.
Virtual STC Constructor-Units that didn’t need serfs.
Abstract representations of his hidden production capacity.
“Not bad.
At least I didn’t transmigrate with nothing.”
Huron breathed a sigh of relief and opened the production tab.
Everything else could wait.
Military industry was his lifeline.
Fortunately, as a Second Founding Chapter, the Astral Claws had deep vaults.
They had four marks of Power Armour:
MK V Heresy, MK VI Corvus, MK VII Aquila, and MK VIII Errant.
Basically all the producible patterns after the Heresy.
For weapons, they had Godwyn Bolters, Bolt Pistols, Meltaguns, Chainswords, Power Swords.
They even had a partial STC for Indomitus-pattern Terminator Armour!
Unfortunately, despite the blueprints, the Chapter lacked a true homeworld.
They used the orbital station Palace of Thorns as a monastery and were thus impoverished.
And the defeat in 715.M41 against the Orks, where Chapter Master Amhrad was slain by Warboss Garstompa, had reduced the Chapter to around 700 battle-brothers even after three years of recovery.
Looking at the blueprints, Huron didn’t hesitate.
He allocated 10 factories to MK VII Aquila armour.
Each Unit could complete one Aquila suit every 11 days.
Ten factories meant almost a suit a day.
Enough to slowly rebuild the reserve.
The remaining two factories he gave to Godwyn Bolters and bolt shells.
10 rifles and 3000 rounds per day.
Looking at the numbers, Huron finally smiled.
Now there would be no shortage.
There might even be surplus to bribe the Lamenters and Mantis Warriors.
Especially the Mantis Warriors.
According to his memory, they were so poor their armour was held together with prayers and scrap.
Relics from M36.
They even rationed bolt shells.
However, seeing the “MK III Badab-pattern Bolter” in the list made Huron nervous.
This was the Chapter’s own improved pattern from the original Badab War timeline.
And Huron had only been Chapter Master for three years, yet the prototype was already in the vault.
It just proved that Huron and the Astral Claws were not without ambition.
Which was a good thing.
It meant the Chapter had Artificers capable of independent research, instead of relying solely on Mars.
After settling the military industry, Huron opened the Focus interface.
There was no sprawling tree.
Only a single slot, generated based on his needs.
The system offered:
[Ease Relations with High Lords]
[Deepen Cooperation with Mechanicus]
[Reaffirm Maelstrom Warders Leadership]
[Seek Contact with Eldar]
Huron scoffed.
Cooperate?
Become a lackey?
He wanted to strengthen himself.
He selected:
[Strengthen the Chapter’s Power]
[Strengthen the Chapter’s Power (450/450) – COMPLETE]
Description: The defeat against the Ork Warlord proved the Codex Astartes alone cannot save us in the Maelstrom.
To better fight humanity’s enemies, we need a more powerful way of war.
Effect: +100 Political Power, unlocks new Decisions.
Huron felt the power surge.
The first step of the Tyrant had been taken.