The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Although the Inquisition did not have a clear hierarchical structure, there were always some particularly prestigious Grand Inquisitors in a star system. Their collective opinions essentially represented the Inquisition's policies and attitudes in that star system. Therefore, when Sorkhyan heard that the Inquisition of the Storm Peaks advocated abandoning Orpheus, he was indeed disappointed, not only with the Inquisition system but also with their inability to overcome their limitations.

This was also what Sorkhyan disliked about the Inquisition. They truly demonstrated the extremes and duality of humanity. Extreme fanaticism could easily turn into extreme defeatism, and many Exterminatus orders were issued under the influence of this defeatist sentiment.

However, since Sorkhyan had already taken control of the sector, although the Inquisitors felt it was inappropriate, they couldn't find any grounds to object, and more importantly, they recognized the power Sorkhyan displayed.

This led most of the Inquisitors of Orpheus to become a force supporting Sorkhyan.

The Inquisitors who witnessed the Battle of Amara unanimously believed that almost no one except him could have won that battle. Although this Chapter Master had exhibited many transgressions and violations of the Codex Astartes, in the dark fringes of the Storm Peaks, rules were precisely the most useless things. The Inquisitors who had been operating here for many years knew better than anyone that even within the Inquisition itself, there were advantages based on proximity. The closer one was to the Emperor's ruling core or areas of intense focus, the easier it was for their actions to be known and spread. Conversely, the more one was in the periphery, the more dangerous it was, and the harder it was to accomplish anything. Even if something was achieved, it was difficult for others to know. Although the Inquisitors all claimed to be uninterested in fame and fortune, they were still mortals, especially since their duties required prestige. Obscurity meant becoming just another face in the crowd.

If the Imperium withdrew from the Orpheus Sector, these Inquisitors who had been deeply rooted in the sector for decades would lose everything, becoming insignificant figures in other sectors, even having to take orders from more famous Inquisitors. This was not an exaggeration; the merging of Inquisitors' forces and influence was not uncommon, perhaps for a valuable follower, a hidden relic, or simply a seemingly decent stronghold. The secret wars between Inquisitors often involved the most direct interests.

At this moment, Sorkhyan not only ensured the survival of Orpheus with a great victory but also made it a hot war zone. Especially when Sorkhyan announced the launch of an expedition, they, as Inquisitors, would also receive many additional benefits, such as the right to supervise the expedition, as well as more resources and personnel to mobilize. More importantly, their territory was secured.

As long as the base was still there, they could play a role, especially in investigating and tracking the relatively unfamiliar enemy, the Necrons, providing valuable information to the Inquisition of Terra. They might even one day go to Terra to receive awards and honors, becoming a prestigious Grand Inquisitor, even gaining a seat in the Inquisition headquarters or the High Lords of Terra—

As the Ecclesiarchy commented on the Inquisition, every Inquisitor was a cold-blooded, ruthless, and ambitious power monster. They never relied on faith in their actions but on the power of life and death, which determined that they would instinctively pursue higher power.

Of course, to give these Inquisitors something to do, so they wouldn't just be watching him from behind, Sorkhyan generously gave each of them a frigate and a group of veterans as followers, inviting them to establish forward outposts in the fallen areas of Orpheus, both to scout for alien movements and to find alien nests.

After the aliens 'retreated,' the Inquisitors couldn't refuse such a request, after all, they hadn't done anything before.

With the problems resolved, Sorkhyan implemented his usual three-pronged approach to the new management area: religious reform, currency reform, and military reform.

There was not much to say about the first two, as he was already very familiar with them. The Holy Flame Order would appear as a new sect in the Amara star system in a short time, and then gradually expand to other star systems in Orpheus. Compared to the strong religious atmosphere of the Great Diocese, the speed of evangelism in Orpheus would be much slower, but this was not a very urgent matter.

On the contrary, currency reform was much easier in Orpheus than in the Great Diocese, mainly due to the difference in economic and industrial levels between the two. Orpheus had a very mature commercial and trade system, and the implementation of a unified currency was not difficult and took effect quickly. In the first tax quarter, the Amara Governor's financial department received nearly the total amount of tax revenue from the past year, which showed how inefficient the previous tax system was—not only inefficient but also extremely wasteful. The people's burden was not reduced at all, but the highest authority could not receive much.

It was precisely relying on an efficient currency and tax system that military reform could be smoothly advanced.

Since Orpheus had entered a state of expedition, the original defense force system naturally could not meet the needs. The sector needed a more powerful expeditionary force, or field army, and this newly established force would be named after the Orpheus Death Corps, which had sacrificed greatly in the Battle of Amara.

The newly formed Orpheus Death Corps was a replica of the Legion Auxiliary Army, with the same structure and equipment, just with a different name. And because it was a force organized to meet the needs of the expedition, their direct agency was the Orpheus Expeditionary Force Headquarters rather than the Amara Governor's Office, which meant that they were loyal to Sorkhyan rather than the sector governor, which was also a side of Sorkhyan's 'ingenious use' of the rules.

The entire military reform plan was divided into several stages. The first stage was to establish a framework. Sorkhyan planned to form 300 million Death Corps soldiers within fifteen years. This number was very large and difficult to achieve. At the same time, he might face enemy counterattacks at any time in these fifteen years, so he chose a very unique method under the Imperial system.

Sorkhyan divided the Orpheus Death Corps into three categories. The first category was full-strength elite regiments, whose officers and soldiers were all surviving soldiers who had participated in boarding actions and officers and soldiers who fought on the main planet of Amara. Their number was about 30 million and they were troops that could be pulled out at any time for expeditions or mobile deployments.

The second category was understrength regiments, whose establishment was 45-50% of the full establishment. The source of troops mainly came from the best of the Orpheus Guard, and the officers came from veteran soldiers and junior officers who had participated in the war. They were the priority replenishment targets for new recruits.

The third category was skeleton regiments, whose establishment might only maintain 5-40% of the full establishment, focusing on maintaining the command structure at the company level and above. They would only start to replenish new recruits when the understrength regiments were replenished, and if they encountered emergency wars, or even a stalemate, these skeleton regiments would quickly fill up by means of rapid conscription (grabbing strong men), and invest in the cruel war with the minimum combat power, as cannon fodder to fill the lines—this may not sound good, but it was something Sorkhyan had to consider.