“Rebirth?” Gu Hang frowned, quite puzzled.
After completing their behind-enemy-lines raid mission, Matins, the battle group leader, had come looking for him.
Originally, Gu Hang thought it was just a simple debriefing; he wondered why there wasn’t a written report sent over and why there was a need for a face-to-face discussion.
To his surprise, Matins mentioned a special circumstance.
He explained the unusual occurrence that had taken place in Anat to Gu Hang.
“Yes,” Martins Salas began to explain in detail, “‘Rebirth’ is… a characteristic of ours, the Phoenix. We have a long history, almost established right after… after the Age of Rebellion, as one of the first battle groups. Our progenitor, the Phoenix Legion, carries the blood of the Phoenix. But over the long span of time, our gene-seed… has undergone some strange mutations.”
Since the relationship between them had progressed to this point, there was nothing Martins couldn’t discuss with the governor.
Martins continued his narrative: “It seems we have lost some of the talents of the Sons of the Phoenix, we no longer have the same love for art, our combat style has lost its love for flamboyance, and we’ve lost our sharp swordsmanship. Our way of fighting has become plain and simple… However, in exchange, we seem to have become more resilient and even stronger.”
“The so-called ‘Rebirth’ is an even more intense change that occurs on top of those ordinary changes, appearing in only a select few. They may miraculously recover from grievous wounds, even near death, and possess strength, agility, and combat awareness even greater than normal. We refer to this condition as ‘Rebirth’.”
Gu Hang listened thoughtfully.
Star Warriors generally look quite similar, but in reality, when the Human Emperor created these superhuman warriors, he designed a variety of genetic templates. Different legions were formed using different templates.
These were the initial founding legions.
They were largely consistent, but some differences in the details would result in Star Warriors ‘produced’ from different gene-seeds having innate physiological differences. This would manifest in each type of Star Warrior having different talents and strengths.
The subsequent Star Warrior Battle Groups were all established after the Age of Rebellion, breaking down the larger legion organizations into battle groups of no more than a thousand warriors, as mandated by the Star Warrior Codex. All the battle groups were split off from these initial founding legions.
Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire
Despite the split, many battle groups would not forget their ‘roots.’ Often, the battle groups have a close connection to their progenitor legion. In fact, they originally carried the same blood, the same gene-seed.
Just as the Phoenix Battle Group was divided from the Second Legion Phoenix Legion. All descendants of the Phoenix Legion were called ‘Sons of the Phoenix,’ some staying closely unified with the progenitor legion, while others were more independent and distant.
But their genetic origins were the same.
From this perspective, the incident occurred within the Phoenix was quite special.
Gu Hang spoke, “Is it caused by a mutation in the gene-seed? That’s one possibility, but it’s not very likely…”
At this point, Gu Hang studied Martins’ expression, not seeing any change.
So he plainly stated, “A more likely possibility is that the Phoenix’s gene-seed repository has been ‘contaminated’ during the inheritance process… Please forgive my use of the term, but the characteristics you’re describing resemble those reportedly possessed by the Blood Angels in battle – not when they are dying, but during intense combat.
Nonetheless, this shouldn’t be something characteristic of the Sons of the Phoenix.”
Martins sighed and said with a wry smile, “Now I am utterly convinced that the gene-seed you’ve discovered truly belongs to the Phoenix, possessing even the unique genetic abilities of the Phoenix. Who could argue otherwise?”
Gu Hang smiled, “That should never have been in question.”
“But there will be trouble,” Martins solemnly said, “The battle group has already concluded its redemption mission, and by rights, we should be paying our gene-seed tithe.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Hang remembered there indeed was such an issue.
Star Warrior Battle Groups also have to pay taxes. However, their taxes are a bit different: they don’t pay in material goods, but in gene-seed.
The amount required is a tenth of the battle group’s collected gene-seed over a certain period.
These gene-seeds are sent to the capital, Holy Terra, and Mars.
They serve two main purposes:
First, to inspect the state of the battle group’s gene-seed, preventing contamination and corruption, ensuring they do not become traitors or join the chaos forces.
This situation, although not publicly reported, actually happens quite frequently. After the Great Rebellion, with the exception of the Thirteenth Legion – Infinite Legion, almost every legion had traitors. The Tenth Legion, once known as the Cangyue Guards and now as the Chaos Sword, almost completely defected.
The Chaotic Starry Warriors Gang is always a significant enemy of the Empire and a central force of chaos.
Over the centuries since the Great Rebellion, there have also been numerous instances of battle groups becoming corrupted and joining chaos. The Empire is very vigilant about this, and regular inspection and control of the battle groups’ gene-seed is naturally a top priority.
As for the second purpose, naturally, it is to collect enough gene-seed to establish new battle groups.
From this point of view, the mutation in the Phoenix’s gene-seed is a very concerning matter.
“How did you deal with the gene-seed tithe in the past?” Gu Hang asked.
“We…” Martins fell into reminiscence, “When the battle group still had a Pharmacist, we would examine each gene-seed, selecting the ones that seemed most like the Phoenix to submit. And we’ve always kept in touch with the progenitor legion, explaining the situation to them. The progenitor legion understands our predicament and would help explain to Terra and Mars.
However, they too have become increasingly puzzled by the changes occurring within us…”
Pausing, Martins pursed his lips and added another piece of information: “Once we had a battle group leader who even tried to contact the Blood Angels to conduct a thorough comparative experiment between our gene-seed, to clarify the specifics… but the Blood Angels refused.”