Alex naturally couldn't let the Ash Knights leave, so he very naturally chose to have them stationed on Rostov II for fifty years.
This way, Rostov II legitimately had Space Marines guarding it.
To welcome the arrival of these Space Marines, Alex held a grand welcoming banquet for them, and all factions on Rostov II were invited.
Facing the arrival of the Space Marines, the reactions of the various factions differed.
The local nobles of Rostov II naturally showed all sorts of worship and flattery towards the Space Marines, which was no different from nobles on other Imperial Worlds.
If there was any difference, it was that the nobles of Rostov II, having undergone Alex's previous purge and influenced by their own martial spirit, actively expressed to Sergeant Yarn, who led the Ash Knights, their hope that the Ash Knights could select new recruits from among their offspring.
For any Imperial noble, if a family's offspring could become an Astartes, the Emperor's Angels of Death, a demigod of the Imperium, then it would be an immense honor for the entire family.
Of course, generally speaking, Space Marine Chapters would not recruit so casually.
Chapters usually conducted new recruit recruitment on specialized recruitment worlds, and the requirements to become a Space Marine recruit were not simply the offspring sent by these nobles.
"The recruitment standards for new recruits vary among different Chapters, but generally, they need to undergo trials of life and death to become a candidate," Sergeant Yarn looked at the nobles before him and simply explained a few sentences: "Although the Ash Knights' requirements do not go so far as to make candidates climb snowy mountains, cross ice fields and deserts bare-handed, they do require them to survive a training camp with a death rate as high as two-thirds.
If you don't mind the death of your offspring, then I can conduct a new recruit selection for the Chapter on this planet."
Under normal circumstances, Space Marine Chapters would certainly not recruit casually on Imperial Worlds, nor would they recruit arbitrarily.
Because generally speaking, to ensure the Chapter's cultural heritage and the quality of new recruits, Space Marine Chapters usually only recruited new recruits on specific planets.
And these planets were usually wild worlds with harsh natural environments, and those recruited were usually strong tribal youths.
Although it wasn't impossible for people from civilized worlds or Hive Worlds to be selected, for Space Marine Chapters, they still preferred groups like Hive gangs members or wasteland nomads who had been tempered by harsh environments.
As for the offspring of Imperial nobles... it wasn't impossible; for example, there were cases of Ultramarines recruiting noble offspring when selecting new recruits, and the Imperial Fists also had similar records.
But generally speaking, noble offspring were not high-quality recruits for Space Marines.
However, for Alex, as long as these nobles were willing to send their own offspring to be new recruits, he didn't mind recruiting new Astartes on his planet.
After all, in addition to the noble offspring, General Grigory of the Defense Force also hoped that the excellent young men in the Defense Force would also get this valuable opportunity.
Alex was very satisfied with his Defense Force.
Especially the elite Alien Hunters, they were ruthless characters capable of hunting Flayers, possessing sufficient qualifications to become Space Marines.
However, while the Defense Force and nobles showed enthusiasm for this, the Ecclesiarchy and Adeptus Mechanicus, in addition to offering polite welcome to the Ash Knights' arrival, showed no extra treatment.
They even subtly showed vigilance and repulsion towards the Ash Knights' arrival.
This was easy to understand; the interests on Rostov II affected both parties, and the situation on this planet was already complicated enough; they did not wish for another force to disrupt the hard-won balance on Rostov II.
Especially since the Battle Sisters now existed as an elite fighting force under Alex, the Ecclesiarchy was planning to expand the scale of the Battle Sisters to gain more say on this planet.
If Space Marines were to join, it would undoubtedly affect the Battle Sisters' status under Alex.
Of course, due to the Space Marines' transcendent status and the Ash Knights only stating their temporary fifty-year stationing, the Ecclesiarchy did not express any dissatisfaction at the banquet itself.
As for the Adeptus Mechanicus, because they only cared about alien technology issues and had no conflict of interest with the Space Marines, Donia merely spoke some perfunctory words on behalf of the Adeptus Mechanicus, acting as if it had nothing to do with them.
Only a few officers from the Imperial Navy stationed on Rostov II expressed an unreserved welcome.
After all, for the Imperial Navy, Astartes were just large boarding parties, and the two sides generally did not interfere with each other.
In this somewhat chaotic atmosphere, the welcoming banquet finally ended smoothly, and the Ash Knights also settled down on this planet.
—
Shortly after the banquet ended, Alex had Rachel and General Grigory preside over the selection activities.
The offspring selected from various noble families, as well as qualified and aspiring individuals from the Defense Force, were gathered together and then received three months of short-term training.
During this period, those who failed to meet the requirements or were incompatible with the Space Marine requirements would be eliminated.
This step was set up by Alex because he did not want too many casualties among these trainees.
Although the Ash Knights' new recruit selection would not cause too many casualties, Alex did not deliberately restrict it.
It was impossible for no one to die, but if fewer people could die, there was no need to force them to their deaths.
Those who could participate in the Space Marine new recruit selection could be considered talents, and it would be a bit wasteful to let these people die directly due to elimination.
After one-third of these people were eliminated, the Ash Knights would then begin the true selection, at which point another third would be eliminated, and the remainder would be qualified new recruits.
And in the true selection process, elimination largely meant death.
However, these matters had little to do with Alex; after he handed the affairs over to Sergeant Yarn, Rachel, and General Grigory, he himself boarded a Thunderhawk Transporter and quietly left Rostov II.
Although nominally he was going to inspect the mineral extraction on Hot Dog Star, Alex actually went to Rostov IV to inspect his secret base and the other half company of Primaris Space Marines.
They had already moved in and begun training new recruits after completing the construction of the Fortress Monastery at 32.
If nothing unexpected happened, they would begin new recruit training simultaneously with Sergeant Yarn and his group.
Alex had higher expectations and placed more importance on their side, so he naturally had to come and see the situation personally.
----------------------------------------
If you'd like to follow the story earlier than the public release, come join my Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/TripleCrown07
There, you can read up to 40 chapters in advance, enjoy exclusive content, and help support me to keep releasing chapters more regularly.
Thank you so much for your support and for being part of this journey! ❤️