105: Chapter 105 Heinrich says the Empire can defend the Limit Sector without the Allied Forces.

The orbital shipyards at Griffin IV Anchorage have not ceased operations since the dissolution of the Coalition.

Engineers from the Third Assault Fleet worked in three shifts, writing the reverse-compiled data from the local mode firmware of the Universal Void Shield Coordinator line by line into the Imperial Navy's own fire-control algorithms.

Sebastian stood guard on the perimeter of the shipyard with the Terminator Assault Platoon. Their power armor had been fully swapped back to standard Imperial ceramite, and the decommissioned Universal Armor Plates of the Coalition were packed into crates, each sealed with a strip signed by Arbiter of the Adeptus Arbites Hasseldorf—the seal bore only one line of text: "Historical Artifact, Not Current Equipment."

Heinrich von Strauheim stood on the bridge of the Shield of the Emperor, the holographic projection before him scrolling with real-time defense data for all Imperial anchorages in the Ultima Segmentum.

Duty cycles had been completely switched to quantum-encrypted random scheduling, supply chain routes were replanned according to daily dynamic allocation, and a random jitter layer was embedded into the Void Shield recharge cycles.

The design prototype for this independent combat system came from the vulnerabilities in the Imperial Fleet exposed during The Swarm's infiltration of Griffin IV Anchorage. All eighteen rectifications from the vulnerability scan report were added to the fleet's overhaul agenda, with the seventh item, "unprotected energy bus exhaust vent," having been sealed off with triple-layered adamantium isolation mesh at all anchorages.

"All ships in the Imperial Navy's Ultima Segmentum warzone have completed the refit for the independent combat system."

Heinrich's voice was hoarse, but every word felt like it was being driven into steel plate by a rivet gun: "All sixteen Strike Cruisers of the Third Assault Fleet have been integrated into the quantum-encrypted random scheduling system, the independent fire-control algorithms for Void Shield recharging have been compiled, and the Macro-cannon arrays have finished recalibration. The Leviathan Battle Group remains parked in low orbit over Metallis, and the Void-class core signal of the Titan-Eater is flickering steadily at the base of the Talasta Void Gate. The Swarm has launched no follow-up attacks—they are merely watching."

Marcus Aurelian stood in the briefing room of the Emperors Hammer, his right hand pressed against the edge of the star map.

He reviewed the defense data for all Imperial anchorages in the Ultima Segmentum one by one, then looked up at Bern in the holographic projection.

The Grey Knights' psionic early warning array had completed multi-layered deployment around Griffin IV Anchorage, utilizing the remaining nodes of the Living Psionic Network left behind during the Coalition era for passive monitoring.

Bern stated that while these nodes could not actively synchronize with the Hive Mind of The Swarm, they could detect the living neural network activity of the Leviathan Battle Group—as long as The Swarm's fleet mobilized on a large scale, the early warning array would be able to capture the signal.

"What is our current defense depth?" Marcus asked.

Heinrich zoomed the star map out to the entire Ultima Segmentum.

With Griffin IV Anchorage at the core, sixteen Imperial anchorages were distributed along the Gravity Reef Channel, and every one of them had completed the refit to the independent combat system.

Although the Void Shield coordination latency had increased compared to the Coalition era, the randomized scheduling prevented The Swarm from using the anchorage coordinates accumulated during the observer-access period to make precise predictions.

The dynamic allocation algorithm for the supply chain ensured that if any route was cut off, a backup route could be automatically generated in a short time.

The independent combat capability of the Imperial Fleet in the Ultima Segmentum had returned to pre-Star of Judgment campaign levels, with some metrics even exceeding them.

"Enough." Marcus straightened up and activated the War Council—not the Coalition War Council, but the holographic projection of the Imperial Military Reconstruction Committee.

"The Empire has completed the transition from the Coalition system to the independent combat system internally. Now we need to assess two things: The Swarm's next direction of expansion, and the Empire's long-term strategic goals in the Ultima Segmentum."

Bern projected an analysis report submitted by a Librarian of the Grey Knights onto the main screen.

After the dissolution of the Coalition, The Swarm did not pursue the Imperial Fleet, did not attack Griffin IV Anchorage, and did not cut off supply lines.

It had withdrawn all its military forces to the inner side of the Blackstone Defense Line, the Void-class core signal of the Titan-Eater was stable at the base of the Talasta Void Gate, and the leviathan mothership battle group maintained a defensive formation in low orbit over Metallis.

The Librarian's conclusion was that The Swarm was reconfiguring its strategic resources, and its next direction of expansion might be the assembly area of the Tyranid Remnants on the edge of The Galaxy.

A note at the end of the report indicated that the Aeldari Web of Prophecy had also captured anomalous assembly signals of the Tyranid Remnants on the edge of The Galaxy.

The Swarm's next war might not be against the Empire, but against the Tyranids.

But the Empire could not gamble, because if The Swarm gained more gene-devouring samples on the Tyranid battlefield, its evolutionary speed would increase again, and the next time The Swarm returned, it would be stronger than it was during the Coalition era.

Sebastian said that if The Swarm went to fight the Tyranids, the Empire could seize the opportunity to consolidate all anchorages in the Ultima Segmentum before The Swarm returned, complete the physical construction of the first phase of the Psionic Beacon, and stockpile sufficient strategic supplies.

He said that the most important lesson the Empire learned during the Coalition era was—never expose fixed patterns in front of The Swarm.

Marcus compiled all the resolutions of the Military Reconstruction Committee and sent a complete report on the Imperial Fleet's independent combat system in the Ultima Segmentum to the High Lords of Terra.

The report concluded: "The Swarm's next direction of expansion is not in the Imperial defense zone, but the Empire does not use The Swarm's movements as the sole basis for decision-making. The Imperial Fleet has completed the construction of the independent combat system, and all anchorages in the Ultima Segmentum will maintain the highest state of alert while continuing to consolidate defenses, while simultaneously advancing the physical construction of the first phase of the Psionic Beacon. Additionally, Arbiter of the Adeptus Arbites Hasseldorf has been instructed to incorporate the decommissioning procedures for the Coalition's Universal Armor Plates into the Departmento Munitorum standard operating manuals."