just stared and scanned the shi-no, calling that thing a ship was a disservice, that Behemoth's exterior as I watched a literal army of pinpricks crawling everywhere on and in it. Even with my suit's magnification at maximum and through a set of high powered binoculars I could only just make out the faint forms of the tech priests and their assistants performing all sorts of activities. Despite the the enormity of the ship and its apparent completeness, it was not, not yet. I could see several areas of the ship which were still opened to the void or had entire hordes of tech priests in their red robes moving around frantically.
So, before I could take that ship for myself I would need to wait for it to be completed as even with my super fast crafting capabilities it would still take me forever to repair something the size of a mini death star. Plus trying to pilot that thing without a crew.
I glanced down at the AI core in her holster, maybe she could pilot it? That was a big if, the ship might not be designed for full or even partial automation, so I needed a crew.
Problem is the only people that might be qualified or even on the planet are tech priests and their servants. People who might be after me if they are aware of my tech raid on Golgotha. Then again, there was really no real way to identify me, the Ad Mech do not really employ psykers so I should be safe enough.
Huh, would my tech and deception related skills be high enough to disguise myself as a tech priest?
I open up my skill list and take a second look.
Hmmmm, I didn't want to replace my body parts with cybernetics....would they even work or take? Or would my body just reject it with new flesh? Eh best not to risk it, still squeamish about surgery despite the amount of self mutilation I put myself through. I could just make some fake cybernetic coverings to look like functional cybernetics visibly and to scans. I checked my crafting screen, yes I had sufficient resources, skill levels, and relevant related blueprints to create fake cybernetics.
Ok so looks were taken care of, but how about interactions. I pull out the copy of the hard drive containing all the tech priest data I raided and quickly sorted through it with my technopathy in under a minute. Yep, I had a full copy of their teachings and protocols, I could probably pass off as another normal tech priest with these while my technopathy would grant me any normal cybernetic communications especially since I was fluent in machine language. So that was knowledge, behavior, and speech taken care of as well. Only just one thing left, making sure I know all of this by heart.
'Guess I have some studying to do.' I thought to myself as I sat down and began studying all the Adeptus Mechanicus materials I had available to me.
Darn it, even in the far future, I still had homework. This was truly a grim dark galaxy.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
AN: Short chapter this time, might do some interludes instead, maybe not, let's see where my muse goes.
357The sounds of machines grinding away all across the Forge City of Root echoed all among the towering buildings and factories of the city as the sun crested the horizon. The red glow of the main sequence star illuminating the sides of the gray plascrete buildings while casting dark shadows on all those behind it. All across the city were the various activities that made up the typical lifeblood of a forge world.
Vast tower chimneys of the various manufactorums belched out towering columns of smoke and smog into the atmosphere while vast sluices opened up to release torrential floods of industrial wastes and sludge into purpose built canals that lead to advanced treatment plants to recycle it all. Swarms of servo skulls departed towering spires in swarms, some carrying messages, others packages. Vast aerial fleets flying high above them as they delivered either raw materials from distant mining sites or the transferring of components for one project or another. The various buildings poured out hordes of red robed individuals as they rotated between work and rest cycles. From one of the smaller buildings the main doors opened letting out a group of young looking men and women who walked around slightly dazed with some being immediately led away by more senior red robed priests.
Initiate Omicron-Gamma-4532584-84-10 rubbed the back of his head where he could feel the cold steel of his implant cables entering his skull. He like the hundreds of other Initiates were chosen from the menial population for induction into the Mechanicum's priesthood to learn the Holy ways of the Machine God. As of new procedure, all incoming Initiates were blessed with a noosphere access implant in addition to a memory implant that would grant them total recall and improve processing speeds to better learn the mysteries of the Path of Knowledge. Normally such blessings were unheard of until one was a formally ordained priest, but the new Fabricator General that came into power the last decade had made several drastic changes to both procedures and protocol.
His thoughts were suddenly cut short when he heard glorious 12 tone chant echo across the general communications layer of the noosphere with a priority ID tag authority attached to it. He scanned the area and quickly made his way to his teacher who was visibly excited along with all the other tech priests.
"Teacher Delta-Gamma-15456-42-08 what was the message that was sent?" He asked as there was no message attached to the 12 tone chant.
"Ah Initiate Omicron-Gamma-4532584-84-10 it seems your implants were installed successfully praise the Omnissiah. That announcement was a message from our Fabricator General indicating that he will be returning once more from the depths of the planet with more Holy STCs." His teacher explained with awe audible despite his mechanically replaced voice box.
"The Fabricator General personally goes searching for STCs? I do not understand teacher, what exactly is a STC that it is Holy, who exactly is the Fabricator General, and why does he have to announce that he is coming back?" He asked as he was only granted a basic education given to all talented menials which did not exactly include the personal information of the priests or their goals.
His teacher started walking away beckoning him to follow as he explained via encrypted transmissions sent to his noosphere implant.
"First let us start with the Holy STC also known as the Standard Template Construct. According to the tenants of our order all knowledge is sacred. All knowledge comes from the Machine God as it is the source of all knowledge and technology. So all knowledge and technology are blessings of the Machine God, which makes any machines and machines that store knowledge as Holy artifacts. STCs are the creation of humanity during the Dark Age of Technology the period when Humanity was at its technological peak of its power. STCs are databases which contain the sum total of all Human knowledge. These were granted to the Human colonies to allow them to develop the technology required to colonize their planet no matter the circumstances. Contrary to what it implies, the label STC does not refer to a single type of item, but more of a broad array of items. First there are STC fragments which are as named fragments of a complete STC template, fragmented either from damage or corruption from time. Typically these require entire teams of dedicated priests to have even a chance to obtain any of the damaged or corrupted data or if extremely lucky restoring the fragment. Then we have templates which are full intact blueprints or designs stored either in physical or digital format. These are of course very rare but they contain not only the production process of the item, but also the information relating to the theory behind the science behind the technology and the entire infrastructure needed to set up the industry or tools needed to create the constructor for the item." Teacher explained in a burst of binary as he made his way through the surging crowd of red robes towards a distant walkway overlooking the main throughway leading to the main starport.
"After that we have Standard Template Constructors which are production machines created using STC templates that will automatically produce the item it was designed for once the required raw materials are deposited. Needless to say they are very important discoveries even if damaged and we do not know the knowledge behind their inner workings. Lastly, we have the most important and Holy of the STCs. A STC Database. These are as named full databases, the ones granted to the colonies of Humanities. This is the Holy Grail of the Mechanicum, what every priest of the Mechanicum searches for during their life time. None of these are easy to discover. In the past 5000 years since Holy Mars sent out the exploration fleets to colonize and scour the galaxy only a dozen STCs were found and that was on Mars before the fleets were sent out. No new STCs have yet to been discovered the last we heard. Perhaps they have discovered more after our expeditionary fleet left and colonized this world, but we have yet to reconnect with Holy Mars." His teacher continued to explain as they reached the railing, the other less senior tech priests making way for his teacher.
"This last point is what makes our Fabricator General so important. Within the last decade from when he was just a Initiate like yourself, he rose from his position to a full magos when he first discovered a STC template for a far more efficient mining drill on a dig site he was assigned and continued to ascend the ranks as he found more and more STC templates and fragments buried deep in the surface in hidden locations. In addition, instead of just depending on his finds to grant him his position he learned and study all that he could from every field and then proceeded to prove his mastery of the Mysteries of the Machine God surpassed all others by outperforming every other archmagos in their respective fields granting him the never before given title of Archmagos Errant. An Errant is a magos that focuses in many fields instead of specializing in just one, which makes it virtually impossible to become an Archmagos of that Discipline, which made the feat of our current Fabricator General even more outstanding considering he did all of that in under a decade when an archmagos typically achieved their position after decades or centuries of effort. Even more so, other than his skills, every machine that has been observed within his presence has been shown to operate beyond their operation capabilities. Weapons lasted longer, were more powerful, armors were tougher, machine spirits more efficient and obedient. That was clearly the sign of the Machine God's favor. With his proven skills and obvious blessing he easily took the place of the former Fabricator General Hasten Alpha. Once he became the Fabricator General he recruited 12 Initiates as direct disciples and 1000 skitarii as personal guards. Each one receiving the blessings of the Machine God greater than any have seen before by the personal efforts of the Fabricator General. But STILL! Even after reaching the height of status and with Disciples to send in his stead; he still remained faithful to the Quest for Knowledge and personally leads expeditions down into the depths to search for more STCs and returns without fail every time, while still simultaneously running the entirety of this forge world with cogwork precision."
"Look and gaze upon the works of the Chosen of the Omnissiah Initiate and learn! Behold the Fabricator General Tri2, his 12 Disciples, and his personal retinue, The Seekers of Knowledge." Teacher Delta-Gamma-15456-42-08 said gesturing at the procession descending a massive loading ramp from a equally massive landing craft. A thousand giant red figures led by 9 individuals with 3 in front of them with the Fabricator General all the way in the front and behind all of them last to leave was an enormous walker that he had never seen before all marched down the thoroughfare towards a large intersection where a platform consisting of a giant Mechanicum symbol was raised.
Spoiler: Fabricator General Tri2
Initiate Omicron-Gamma-4532584-84-10 looked carefully at the highest ranking priest on the planet and was...disappointed. Compared to most tech priests and even his companions, his gear and cybernetics looked unrefined and crude. As if sensing his thoughts, his teacher sent a message without moving his head.
"Do not be deceived Initiate, despite their looks each and every one of the Fabricator General's gear is built to the highest possible standard. Each one functioning at least 314% better than its contemporary artisan made counterpart, with many more technology hidden inside his body hidden from detection by more advanced means. The secrets of the Omnissiah on the Quest for Knowledge is not so easily gleaned Initiate." said with a warning tone.
Feeling suitably embarrassed, chided, and humbled he looked at the rest of the procession.
Spoiler: The First Disciple: Hygieia The Mistress of Life
A beautiful woman with hair of gold wearing a suit of white gold trimmed armor with wings and an advanced staff was the first he noticed.
"That is the first disciple, Hygieia the Mistress of Life, there is no better Archmagos Genetor than her on the planet other than the Fabricator General. I once witnessed her restore an entire hab blocks worth of menials to perfect health in under an hour and create replacement limbs and organs on par or greater in effectiveness than their cybernetic equivalent. She has truly earned her title."
Spoiler: The 2nd Disciple: Mettaton the Star of Steel
The second was a strange individual wearing a strange style of armor and walking strangely. He was waving at all of the cheering crowds while doing the occasional pose, nothing like any other respectable tech priest he had ever seen before. Again his teacher seemed to have read his mind as he said "That is Magos Errant Mettaton the Star of Steel. We are not quite sure where he came from but he was personally recruited by the Fabricator General at some point and despite his appearances is quite well versed in the Mysteries of the Machine Cult. He seeks to make everything in his own words 'Absolutely Fabulous!' It is only because of his obsession with aesthetics that he has yet to surpass the other magos in their own fields as he keeps introducing inefficiencies in his designs or else he might well be on his way to become a second Archmagos Errant as his mind is quite impressive. Still do not underestimate him, despite his looks his main focus in combat and is quite a fearsome opponent as the testing ground's cratered condition can attest."
Spoiler: The 3rd Disciple: Jeremiah the Knight of Loyalty
The third person looked a lot more as expected from a normal menial than a techpriest if a bit more fancily dressed, but basic pattern recognition kicked in and he did not assume that the man was any lesser that his fellows. Something his teacher noted with a pleased tone. "Ah, yes, that man is especially blessed and honored despite his lack of obvious augmetics. He is the princeps of that god-machine you see behind them. God-engines are the greatest physical manifestation of the Machine God's favor. These god-machines have the power to destroy armies and conquer worlds. You will learn more about titans as your training progresses. Our planet did not have any of the STC templates required to build these holy machines but the Fabricator General discovered this particular blueprint during one of his expeditions. What makes this god-machine even more unique is that typically a god-machine requires more than one person to pilot it, but this design requires only one even if it requires the pilot to be of extraordinary willpower. Titan Princeps Jeremiah the Knight of Loyalty, is the only person so far to have been found with the sufficient capability to pilot that holy god-engine. which grants him honor and respect greater than that of most magos even if he was only a simple menial when he was found." His teacher finished explaining with a strange emotion in his voice as he finished explaining about the man below them.
Spoiler: The 4th-12th Disciples
"It seems that your curiosity knows no bound which is good but make sure it is tempered as there are some thing which should not be discovered as I list them out later. The procession is about to end so I will explain the rest succinctly so listen closely."
"From left to right you have Pyunma - The Unceasing an advanced combat cyborg capable of entering any environmental condition and function indefinitely within without resupply with advanced stealth capabilities. Then you have Sir - The Stranger, a extremely unusual cyborg in which the Fabricator General granted the ability to somehow shapeshift into other forms, organic or otherwise, no one knows just how he accomplishes this feat, but many are still trying to decipher the inner workings of his ability. Third you have Chang - The Devouring Flame, he has the ability to breath flames hotter than that of our greatest plasma forges and even use the flames to dig and move underground at high speeds. After that there is Jet - The Sky Knight, the only cyborg capable of flight, he is able to reach speeds beyond that of any fighter known to the Mechanicus and even enter space with no issue. The one in the middle could be considered the unofficial leader of the 4th through 12th disciples, he is Joe - The Hurricane, a cyborg that is the most advanced of his fellow disciples in the sheer scope of cybernetics implanted in his body. He essentially can do almost everything his other compatriots can do with the addition of a speed reflex booster that allows him to essentially slow down time for himself making him into a nigh invisible blur for everyone else. Then you have Ivan - The Enlightened One, as a mere baby he was discovered to have the psyker gene, the witch gene as it is known to you menials, instead of immediately killing him as was standard the Fabricator General decided to take him in himself. He granted Ivan intelligence enhanced implants that made Ivan the equal of any magos and allowed him to reliably control his psyker powers. The same is true for the woman next to him. Francoise - The Oracle she was also saved by the Fabricator General and granted augmetics in the form of advanced sensory suites and psyker control implants, now combined she can see and hear things from incredible ranges surpassing that of most land based augur arrays and ignores all forms of jamming used against her. Next in the line we have Geronimo - The Adamant, his cybernetics are relatively straight forward but powerful. His grant him extraordinary strength and durability. He has been seen tested against main battle tanks and energy weapons without suffering even minor wounds while being shown to be able to lift and toss the same enemies across entire fields. Many many magos are eager to figure out just what technology the Fabricator General used to create such a impressive cyborg as if that strength and durability could be applied to all our skitarii there would be very little we could not defeat in battle. Finally we have the last of the disciple, Albert - The Arsenal, unlike the rest he has the most obvious changes to his body via augmetics. Every single part of his body has been converted into a weapon. His body carries the equivalent firepower of an entire regiment of skitarii in the forms of missiles, explosives, projectile, and energy weapons with seemingly the ability to produce more in the field."
Spoiler: The Seekers of Knowledge
"And then we have the Seekers of Knowledge, or just The Seekers. 1000 skitarii troops upgraded by the Fabricator General personally. Each one a nigh unstoppable force of nature on the battlefield as their strength, speed, and durability have been improved by several degrees in addition to the wargear that they carry. Each one of them have been tested to be able to defeat entire squads of skitarii and battle automata with minimal damage, with their combat effectiveness only growing higher that more of them are deployed on the same battlefield." His teacher finished explaining just as the procession stopped at the platform and the Fabricator General stepped on top of it, facing everyone in the crowd via holographic screens projected from the platform. Everyone quited down as they waited with eagerness at what the Fabricator General managed to recover this time.
"I HAVE RETURNED! AND THE LAST PIECE OF THE ARK MECHANICUS HAS BEEN OBTAINED! BEGIN OPERATION RECALL! FOR IN 12 DAYS TIME, THE SPERANZA SHALL RISE!" The Fabricator General shouted/broadcasted to everyone.
The entire world seemed to have gone silent except for the sounds of the forges operating without pause before suddenly erupting into a cacophony of binary and cheers.
"Teacher what did the Fabricator General mean? What is the Speranza?" He asked as what seemed the like the entire planet was cheering, seemingly shaking the very foundation of the planet.
"It means, that we are about to witness a Miracle."
__________________________________________________________________________
AN: Originally wanted this longer, but seemed like a good place to end this. Enjoy!
Last edited: Nov 2, 2020
374