- Location
- Peterborough, NH, USA
Serras taught them. It doesn't really matter, because Chaos knew how to do it first.
An Extra Primarch
- Thread starter ilbgar123
- Start date
Serras taught them. It doesn't really matter, because Chaos knew how to do it first.
- Location
- ' New Eden
There is a big difference between the Gods or higher Daemons knowing how to do it or a Chaos Psyker. The Chaos Psyker will try to raise other to Psykers so they will corrupt a world. A higher Daemon is very hard to aquire a favor from. So, the Chaos Psyker will spread corrupted Psykers in hope of gaining favor with the Chaos Gods. That is a huge difference.
- Location
- Germany
Considering that the rune priests of Fenris were the first outside the Bastion to notice a change after Hydaelyn's birth, she's probably boosting dwarven runesmiths in WHF. I could also see her plotting to make Warpstone part of her domain, which would be a massive power boost for her and would allow her to interfere with the Skaven.
... There's so many brilliant options for a Negaverse omake about Hydaelyn in Warhammer Fantasy.
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
with warpstone….Hydaelyn would be somewhat OP as she takes over the chaos moon and turns it into somthing else...not to mention fucking over the skaven as much as possible so the rats cant do much shit.
but the dwarves?
"Is this a new Ancestor God?!?"
but the dwarves?
"Is this a new Ancestor God?!?"
No such thing as a "new" Ancestor God, although a "forgotten" or "newly discovered" one might be theoretically possible.
- Location
- Florida
Would be better if Hydaelyen is primarily pro-Human in the sense of not only being the source of 'Human Runes' (imagine the Dawi's aneurysms to Humans having and making better/more versatile Runes than them without using Dawi Runes as a foundation/inspiration) but being very active in protecting Humanity in WHFB.
- Location
- Germany
Doesn't really match her established character.
In terms of crystals, she might have a slight pro-human bias due to her Humanity domain, but Sophont includes everyone and thus counter-balances that pretty well.
Edit: I tried my hand at writing an omake (see next post). I kept the ork speech patterns to a minimum for readability, hopefully it came out decently.
Last edited:
An Old Game, A New Player(Technically Canon)(+10 to roll of your choice)
- Location
- Germany
'Hiding in the Warp is boring', Hydaelyn thought to herself day for day. There were so many people out there she could help, but no, she had to stay in her little realm where absolutely nothing was happening. Mother and uncle Magnus were her only visitors, and while those visits were appreciated, they were usually months apart. Even with Patience on her side, there was a limit to how long she could wait.
There was a nice warm feeling whenever a new person crafted their first Crystal or Rune, and there were a few highlights when mother devised new combinations, but Hydaelyn desperately needed a new hobby.
She had tried games of chance, but her Luck took out all the thrill. She tried riddles, but Wisdom whispered the answers to her. Memory tests were entirely trivial. Strategy, roleplaying, and fighting games weren't challenging enough when you excelled at Administration and Combat. Designing new games with the application of a healthy dose of Creativity was fun, but her only players were aunts Lily and Ithera.
Time seemed to pass by slowly, until eventually, something unexpected happened. A green pulse of Communication washed over one of her Crystals and, after a thorough check to Detect memetics or trackers, she allowed it to reach her.
Hey! Since da othaz don't have a way to contact ya (except maybe Tzeentch, nobody trusts dat backstabber) it fell to us to send this message through one of da Combat Crystals our boyz made.
We gods have a game to pass da time when there's no propa action. Fantasy plays on a feudal world similar to ancient Terra dat was dragged through da Warp into a separate realm. There's a few rules to keep da place in a constant state of action:
Hope to see ya soon!
Gork & Mork, Gods of Orks, Orcs, and WAAAGH!
Needless to say, Hydaelyn took a long time to verify that this wasn't a trap. Once she was satisfied, she read the rulebook from cover to cover. She was grudgingly impressed.
While leery about playing with the lives of an entire world, boredom and the prospect of actively helping people won out. She would just have to do her best to save them.
Hydaelyn had no idea how to split off an avatar, so she improvised a similar effect with Communication, Control, Mind, and the unique fusion of all her concepts that was her Self.
Now, she could take up the suggestion to pose as a 'rediscovered' dwarven Ancestor... but their racial modifiers would slow any progress she introduced to a crawl.
There was a high risk high reward alternative: As a sentient crystal, she could gather the Skaven's reverence towards Warpstone to slowly but surely gain dominion over it. If she could Conceal her actions and Evade the Great Horned Rat's attention, she could eventually lay claim to both Morrslieb and the Skaven race.
Maybe she could even do both? Hide her plans for the Skaven by visibly aiding the dwarves?
She just needed to ask mother whether worship from outside the galaxy was allowed, and maybe get a few tips from uncle Jack about covert operations...
'Oh, yes. Wait, get in character: Oh, yes-yes.' Hydaelyn chuckled.
There was a nice warm feeling whenever a new person crafted their first Crystal or Rune, and there were a few highlights when mother devised new combinations, but Hydaelyn desperately needed a new hobby.
She had tried games of chance, but her Luck took out all the thrill. She tried riddles, but Wisdom whispered the answers to her. Memory tests were entirely trivial. Strategy, roleplaying, and fighting games weren't challenging enough when you excelled at Administration and Combat. Designing new games with the application of a healthy dose of Creativity was fun, but her only players were aunts Lily and Ithera.
Time seemed to pass by slowly, until eventually, something unexpected happened. A green pulse of Communication washed over one of her Crystals and, after a thorough check to Detect memetics or trackers, she allowed it to reach her.
Hey! Since da othaz don't have a way to contact ya (except maybe Tzeentch, nobody trusts dat backstabber) it fell to us to send this message through one of da Combat Crystals our boyz made.
We gods have a game to pass da time when there's no propa action. Fantasy plays on a feudal world similar to ancient Terra dat was dragged through da Warp into a separate realm. There's a few rules to keep da place in a constant state of action:
- Psykery was twisted into a more rigid system, da so called Winds of Magic. A few people still use raw psychic power, called Dhar, but there's a rule for dat: Magic has to stay risky and Dhar corrupting. Some of us get an exception for divine lores, but I'll spare ya da details since ya don't qualify.
- Each faction has their own tech tree. Bringing in outside advancements is banned and reverse-engineering otha faction's tech is heavily restricted. You might be interested in da dwarves in particular since they have da monopoly on runes.
- Keep work and free-time separate. While we attack each otha in da galaxy, we have an armistice in Fantasy. As an example, Slaanesh ate most of da Aeldari pantheon, but their player avatars were off-limits and survived.
- Civilization will eventually be scrapped by our Chaos colleagues so dat we can start a new play-through, but there's no fixed schedule. If ya can stave off da End Times for a few centuries, good on ya!
Hope to see ya soon!
Gork & Mork, Gods of Orks, Orcs, and WAAAGH!
Needless to say, Hydaelyn took a long time to verify that this wasn't a trap. Once she was satisfied, she read the rulebook from cover to cover. She was grudgingly impressed.
While leery about playing with the lives of an entire world, boredom and the prospect of actively helping people won out. She would just have to do her best to save them.
Hydaelyn had no idea how to split off an avatar, so she improvised a similar effect with Communication, Control, Mind, and the unique fusion of all her concepts that was her Self.
Now, she could take up the suggestion to pose as a 'rediscovered' dwarven Ancestor... but their racial modifiers would slow any progress she introduced to a crawl.
There was a high risk high reward alternative: As a sentient crystal, she could gather the Skaven's reverence towards Warpstone to slowly but surely gain dominion over it. If she could Conceal her actions and Evade the Great Horned Rat's attention, she could eventually lay claim to both Morrslieb and the Skaven race.
Maybe she could even do both? Hide her plans for the Skaven by visibly aiding the dwarves?
She just needed to ask mother whether worship from outside the galaxy was allowed, and maybe get a few tips from uncle Jack about covert operations...
'Oh, yes. Wait, get in character: Oh, yes-yes.' Hydaelyn chuckled.
Last edited:
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
Whelp this is when chaos and the other gods call out Hacks and all that crap.
Because with the rubes we're getting, the dwarves are going to be OP as shit.
Because with the rubes we're getting, the dwarves are going to be OP as shit.
Turn 16: Invention Actions
- Location
- Peterborough, NH, USA
Omake Reward: SHIVs, GREMLINs, and SPARKs.
Recently, a trio of semi-autonomous platforms (with some subdivisions but three main types) had been given Mechanicus approval. Which roughly translated to 'We are reasonably certain they won't try to follow in the Men of Iron's footsteps.' once you sorted through the religious terminology, and by Mechanicus standards, that was a glowing review of any machine that even hinted at independent thought. Semi-autonomous was still more than some members of the Mechanicus were comfortable with, though the same precautions(being completely incapable of constructing more of themselves and truly ludicrous hardware and software patches) used by the Androids to prevent vulnerability to Chaotic influences lowered it to a bit of grumbling.
The SHIVs came in the Basic Semi-autonomous Heavy Infantry Vehicle, Armored SHIV, and Hover SHIV. All of them were capable of carrying weapons usually found on static emplacements of such weapons, and they were often used as a pack mule for extra supplies, with loyal and inquisitive Machine-Spirits. The first variant was the cheapest and essentially a mobile turret that was either meant to secure a position via en masse deployment or add some heavy firepower to a squad. The second was more expensive and had less available carrying capacity, but took almost 50% more firepower to destroy. The final variant was, for obvious reasons, most expensive, and as heavily armored as the Armored variant. They see action in Quick-Reaction-Forces, areas where vertical movement is important such as the rubble of a city, and strike forces, where their mobility, inventive tactics, and surprising stealth due to fairly quiet hovering make up for their nigh-inability to carry any particularly heavy supplies and lacking the ability to provide cover with any reliability. Some become more predatory than protective, and fiercely loyal to a specific person or small group, acting as impromptu bodyguards. Generally, it's simply shrugged at and made official at higher ranks.
The GREMLINs are more or less servo skulls taken to the next step. Better armor, larger, and more versatile. They often apply basic medical aid to their allies, including the equipment of said allies. The variants beyond the basic one simply trade greater cost for greater armor and capabilities. For example, the first is little more than an overcharged lasgun offensively, while the third is a step down from a lascannon, in power at least. Much like the Hover SHIV, they sometimes bond to one person to the exclusion of all others. Unlike them, this happens with far greater frequency, and they react very badly to that person dying. If it happens in combat, they may well detonate on the spot, or perform a suicidal charge, generally depending on the enemy's distance.
Finally, the SPARKs. Like the GREMLINs, each variant is more powerfully armored, though the third and last is also significantly stronger. These platforms are the most intelligent of this batch, almost frighteningly so given how quickly they adopt the mannerisms of their squad, but also the most expensive. This leads them to be very uncommon compared to the others. Considering they exist to enter areas Machinas and MECs are too large for, but an Astartes is unavailable to lend their firepower to the task, this does make sense as that is a very niche situation. Helpful in boarding and counter-boarding perhaps, as it was small enough to fit in most ship corridors, but not frequent beyond that.
Reward: SHIVs, GREMLINs, and SPARKs. A trio of semi-autonomous platforms created with assistance from the Mechancius to ensure the 'semi-autonomous' part remains true. Essentially, a mobile turret, a support platform, and a lesser version of the Machinas, to simplify matters. Major increase in tactical flexibility. +500 to BSF rolls. +250 to boarding/counter-boarding rolls.
Omake Reward: Labor Titan.
These Titans, generally no more than 10 meters in height but in many shapes, sizes, and loadouts of tools, sensors, and even limbs, are essentially the equivalent of workhorses, though they are so modular that there's really only permutations of the Labor Class rather than distinctive types. They make use of the relatively intuitive controls of a Titan for relatively civilian work, such as clearing logs, building large structures, and other fairly simple tasks that are difficult without heavy machinery. The fact that they can actually be produced, unlike normal Titans, and are often cheaper overall compared to a fleet of more specialized vehicles as you'd seen with a construction company even with the up-scaled simple tools they need to properly match a human worker of that size, means you are unlikely to see a Forge-World settlement without at least one, and many smaller townships and villages across Bastion space are adopting them. The largest metropolises have them as a common sight, laying down foundations and doing repairs on highways, particularly in Mechanicus-dominated areas and planets. Arcologies and shipyards especially see a great deal of them, to the point Labor Titan holding areas were being built in the shipyards to house them.
The fact that they're also a reasonable deterrent to bandits and rogue wildlife by simple virtue of being a 30-foot tall machine capable of swinging a hammer made for its size hard enough to crater the ground also makes them attractive to people desiring extra security beyond the small, essentially immobile in combat-relevant timeframes, turrets. Of course, there's the risk of a Chaos cultist or mundane madman getting their hands on these 'civilian' vehicles to take advantage of the fact that they are all but immune to common small arms due to the required stress resistance from their work and the afore-mentioned strength to match. To counter this, the central towns where these smaller townships have historically gone to market have Labor Titan police forces based in them, ready to deploy should one of their fellows go rogue.
Patrol Labors (simply referred to as PatLabors by almost everyone), almost universally the new Python Class, are essentially up-armored Labors with takedown gear adapted from that used by human police on their fellow man. Given the reasoning behind their use in the first place, it was perhaps unsurprising that there was a great deal of crossover between effective disabling weapons, provided they were increased in scale to match their targets. As the pragmatic desire to keep the expensive machines in one piece and the Mechanicus' desire to keep even the least of Titans as intact as possible as long as possible made for common ground, the Mechanicus was entirely willing to accept and advise on the creation of a force dedicated to taking down Labor Titans just hard enough to prevent their misuse, acting as backup for conventional emergency services the rest of the time. Fires, rescues, etc.
Their arms and more militant build are intentionally flawed in order to ensure the PatLabors do not become a problem themselves. For example, while their riot shields can withstand autocannons, and they have a thin layer of adamantium over their civilian counterparts, Machinas and actual Titans can take them down with relative ease. Even common tank formations will often overwhelm even a small force of such PatLabors without major casualties, despite the small Titans having weapons larger than some Astartes.
Reward: Labor Titans. These small Titans do many of the jobs of heavy machinery at reduced cost, at least on the small-scale, taking advantage of Titans being relatively simple to use compared to most machinery once the problem of scale was adjusted to. They also help to deter opportunists and wildlife, though that is more of a secondary benefit. PatLabor Force created to prevent misuse negates most potential downsides. +1000% industry bonus. -25% to large-scale building project time.
AN: Excellent for large-scale projects like capital ships. Almost any possible downside negated. Dreadnoughts and Arcologies alike should be finished much more quickly.
- [Minor] Chat with Alpha+ planet, check for Chaos corruption, consider bringing Heart crystal x4
- [Minor] Build Safehold Torus Ring around Alpha+ planet (joint project with planet) x10
"Hello?" Serras queried telepathically, sitting in orbit around the planet in possession of a soul.
"hello." Serras could hear the lack of capitalization in it's sentences. Lack of experience actually talking to anyone? "i'm Archades. what's your name?" Okay, it's own name was capitalized, which suggested a lack of experience, as it's identity would have been ascribed importance on instinct. Names could easily be considered more important in the Warp than the material world.
"Serras. I'd like to show you some things, and talk to you about something." This should be simple enough.
You supply the sentient planet (which called itself Archades) with the designs for Torus rings, after carefully checking it for any signs of Chaos corruption. With your knowledge, you barely needed to skim it's consciousness, so you didn't even chance it noticing, and thus, had no need to worry about it being offended. As such, you decide to give it a Heart Crystal to help ensure it would not fall to duplicitous threats, while it worked to ensure it's safety from direct threats.
Specifically, you gave it the Safehold design, being sure to teach it the methods to make everything while you made the Heart Crystal for it. As it had no reason to need people or industry, it had no reason to need anything besides defenses. With 4 Safeholds, it would be nearly impregnable. Especially with the Heart Crystal Archades had taken into its core serving to amplify its power thanks to a more complete soul. Gradually, but still.
Reward: Alpha Plus Planet reinforced against any and all threats. Archades trusts you implicitly.
- [Minor] Study and refurbish the Phalanx x10
-- When you visited Rogal you also saw the Phalanx, a starship so massive that you can only compare it to Quenya or the Ork battle-planetoids. The engineers of Inwit are slowly restoring it, but... they only have the resources of a single world at their disposal. As it stands, it will be at least a decade in the absolute best-case scenario. If you helped, your brother would have his mighty flagship ready within the year. And to be honest, you are intrigued. How did its builders make such a colossal vessel mobile? What knowledge, both of history and technology, does this ship hold?
The Phalanx. A starship approximately 300 kilometers in circumference. Large enough to possess a noticeable field of gravity and a micro-climate independent of its defunct regulatory systems. Were it not obviously artificial, it would be very easy to mistake it for a small moon. As it was, it bore a distinct resemblance to a golden cathedral the size of a sub-continent. While you questioned the efficiency of such a design, it was certainly impressive to behold, even as a pict-feed. Especially since it's prodigious sensor batteries, weapon batteries, torpedo batteries, and lance batteries were present in numbers enough that even in their current state of disrepair, they made it's effectiveness in war plainly obvious. The armor plating, according to Inwit's engineers, was adamantium of the highest quality roughly 100 meters thick in every area where it was not absolutely necessary to have less, such as the docking bay. This was equivalent to 2 kilometers of the best steel alloys, still 2.5 times as good as the third millennium's steel according to Father, even without taking into account the thick interior walls. An additional 10 meters of ceramite served as an insulator in the face of DEW attacks capable of piercing the first layer. Blast doors 5 meters thick, usually 4 more meters of adamantium with a thin layer of ceramite on either side, closed automatically in the event of a breach to seal off the section, which applied to almost all of them in current circumstances. Similarly, the superstructure was also adamantium.
It sat in Inwit's system, adrift for centuries until it's discovery shortly before Rogal managed to get a homegrown craft into space. It was being slowly repaired by Rogal's engineers, though they struggled to acquire the manpower simply to repair all of it in a timely fashion. The malfunctioning internal defenses added an extra layer of difficulty, as there was no guarantee they would not suddenly turn on the workers, and the constant stress of imminent death hampered their work even when nothing actually happened.
This was where your resources, both in terms of the inanimate and engineering manpower, came into play. With the coming flood of Orks, you see little logical reason not to accelerate the reclamation of a titanic military asset that could potentially fight on the same playing field as a Battle Moon. Rogal agreed swiftly, and you'd begun the transfer immediately.
10d20=140. (Administration+Learning=220)*6*10= 13200. (Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+Forging: Arms: 21(210/10)+ Forging: Protection: 21(210/10)= 63)*10=630. (Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Forging Perks(15)= 42)*10=420. 140+13200+630+420=14390. Slight Repairs: -530. Passed. Minor Repairs: -480. Passed. Weapon Repairs: -430. Passed. Armor Repair: -380. Passed. Superstructure Repairs: -130. Passed. Void Shield Repairs: 120. Passed. Gellar Field repairs: 370. Passed. Artificial Gravity Repairs: 870. Passed. Sublight Engines Repair: 1370. Passed. Moderately Repaired: 1870. Passed. Greatly Repaired: 4370. Passed. Largely Repaired: 6870. Passed. Major Repairs: 9370. Passed. Complete Repairs: 14370. Passed.
14 Checks Passed. Battle-Ready repairs completed. Paint damage remains on the surface and some backups and auxiliary systems are not operating at 100% capacity due to lack of original blueprints, but the Phalanx is more than capable of fighting. Internal layout and primary systems: 10% functionality->99% functionality. Secondary systems: 0% functionality-> 80% functionality. Tertiary systems: 0% functionality-> 50% functionality. Quaternary systems: 0% functionality-> 20% functionality. Fully repaired next year, assuming no major damage, due to increased familiarity with systems.
AN: I'll be honest here. I went back and forth on whether the Check reduction from Skill applied for repairs as opposed to making things and research since it's as much moving materials and checking on damage in order to figure out what to fix and how to fix it as actually repairing everything, which means a certain unavoidable time constraint. Your background rolls went well though, and I didn't feel like springing a delay on you.
Level 84. 8560/9400. Currently possess 346 Perk points.
While the effort was immense, and more than a hundred people died to various hazards, mostly internal defense systems whose targeting systems had gone beyond buggy from centuries of errors piling up into the realm of scrapcode precursors, the end result was breathtaking. Inwit briefly had what almost seemed to be a second sun, as the ship's systems, internal and external alike, were repaired, and the Phalanx shone with golden radiance like a star.
Repairing the weapons and armor on the outside had been where most of your resources had gone, due to the superstructure being all but completely intact, while the internal mechanisms had required relatively little repair to be made spaceworthy again, to the point it seemed like something killed off the crew rather than directly attempting to destroy the ship in order to put it in this condition. In terms of being able to move under its own power, the Phalanx hadn't been in particularly bad shape. Being battleworthy? Not so much. That had needed months simply to find and repair all of the broken weapons, or at least disarm and replace them if they were slagged beyond repair, to catch all of the holes in the armor and patch them, and a couple weeks to pump air into the vessel from a small mountain of Air Crystals to create a uniformly breathable atmosphere across the entire ship, since the regulatory systems couldn't create one from a vacuum. You ought to push those to their maximum at some point, but they got the job done, especially when you personally scattered them to every corner of the ship to ensure the air circulated properly even if the life support was cut.
The early tests of the vessel's travel through both realspace and the Warp determined it was slow, but not significantly so compared to a Dreadnought. The engines were ingenious, though you'd have to take them apart to understand them to the point of perfect replication. Given the lack of extra working examples, the relative time crunch, and this being Rogal's pet project, something he had every right to given it was in his homeworld's system, which you'd already stuck your nose into, you felt it a bit selfish to even ask about dismantling parts of the ship. The fact that you couldn't possibly have another such vessel ready in a timely fashion with or without the blueprints for the engines in your hands reinforced that feeling. Even Archades would need at least 5 years to build something of this magnitude even if it wasn't preoccupied with the Safeholds and the ships you already had it building and was actually willing to drop everything and devote every moment to the project, and your estimations of the incoming attack placed the War World's completion in less than 4, something you couldn't allow to become fully operational. Perhaps after the crisis was resolved. Besides, it wasn't as if you hadn't gained any insight from the repairs.
In the meantime, you'd acquired quite a bit of practical knowledge of the general structure of large ships, as while the Phalanx's outward appearance might be almost gaudy, it's interior was rather utilitarian. Not boring, certainly, but not nearly as ostentatious. Unless absolutely necessary, such as where the docking bay was concerned, the ship's structure was a classic honeycomb, making it immensely durable from a purely architectural standpoint, even without taking the liberal use of adamantium in the structure into account. Rogal seemed to have plans to leave the interior more or less unchanged in that respect in most areas, save a few sections dedicated to his future Legion's heroes and great deeds. You felt no desire to begrudge him that.
In fact, perhaps you ought to contact Father in person at some point soon, so he and Rogal could meet, and so Rogal's Legion could be reunited with him. From the few snippets you'd heard from Father and Magnus, and swiftly related to Rogal when he asked about the Legions, they took after their father's proclivity for adherence to the old Terran saying 'The best offense is a good defense.' which he seemed duly proud of, in his reserved way. Thoughts for later.
Meanwhile, what information could be recovered from the ship's databanks was cross-examined against the lessons learned from repairing it, to craft blueprints for future repair work, which were recorded in digital and physical formats, to maximise the chances of a copy surviving in the event of catastrophe or deliberate sabotage. Many of the files were corrupted, sometimes seeming to have been directly destroyed from outside, but what few that had survived mentioned some kind of battle going badly. Oddly, the record suggested that Sol Sector was the victor, despite having said the battle was all but lost when the Phalanx retreated. Some kind of desperate gamble paying off or the arrival of reinforcements, most likely.
For now, you believed you had enough insight to build Battleships. Where Dreadnought tended towards 5 km in length, Battleships were 10 with proportional height and width increases. This major increase in size and mass made them much, much harder to build quickly, but also granted them much more space for more potent shield generators, reactors, and weapons. Not to mention more crew to repel boarding forces.
Reward: Full, 100% functionality of Phalanx restored by next year due to ongoing efforts by Inwit's engineers, and will be available for defense against K-ork raids this year. Major headway into understanding ship's actual workings, which are being placed in the ship's library as physical copies as well as digital ones. Minor Progress towards Sun-Class Ship unlock. Progress towards World-Ship unlock. Moderate Progress towards Massive Ship unlock. Moderate Progress towards Leviathan Ship unlock. Major Progress towards Gloriana unlock. Major Progress towards Battle Barge unlock. Battleship unlocked! Battleships and Battleship Shipyards will be available for build orders next Turn. Automatically added to Torus shipyards by next Turn.
AN: Wouldn't it be ironic if the Omnicidal set of MoI were the ones who'd last used the Phalanx? Especially with it's status as Terra's protector in canon.
Invention actions
- [Invention] Improve Reactors x4
4d20=54. (Administration+Learning=220)*6*4=5280. (Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+Forging: Machinery: 22(220/10)+ Invention: Industry: 35(350/10)=78)*4=312. (Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Invention Perks(37)= 64)*4=256. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*4=32186.4. 54+5280+312+256+32186.4=38088.4. 38088.4+5141.5= 43229.9. 6720 Check Passed. Wondrously Improved Reactors. 9220 Check Passed. Miraculously Improved Reactors. 14220 for Impossibly Improved Reactors. Passed. 19220 for Improved Reactors Mark 1. Passed. 24220 for Improved Reactors Mark II. Passed. 43229.9/49220 for Improved Reactors Mark III.
Level 84. 8660/9400. Currently possess 346 Perk points.
At this point, your fusion reactors have nearly hit diminishing returns on further improvement, mostly because further improvement mostly takes the form of injecting tiny amounts of anti-matter to annihilate, generally positrons on the small reactors such as those in tanks, and anti-protons in the larger reactors on ships. The equivalent of nitro-boosting a vehicle. Further improvements to the materials and design are helpful in increasing the intake or matter and output of energy, but there's a limit to how much fusion can occur in a set space, and Space Runes are of limited use to avoid a Blank accidentally causing a breach by negating the reactor's expansion unevenly, mostly determined by the materials having a limit on the energy they can withstand and the amount of hydrogen that can be moved into the reactor safely in a given measure of time, and you're nearing that point.
At this point, you note as you make yet another new polymer with slightly better heat resistance to use in the design, it would be more efficient to craft a new type of reactor, perhaps one using anti-matter, or micro-singularities. However, anti-matter is incredibly dangerous, and a micro-black hole could detonate like a continent-shattering bomb if mishandled, though the odds of consuming the planet were effectively nil, but your wide-ranging education and research give rise to another avenue to pursue.
Based on your studies, Dark Matter was merely the leakage of gravity from alternate universes, though potential realities also contributed a tiny fraction, which raised a number of questions, but you could worry about that some other time. Dark Energy, meanwhile, appeared to be a secondary cosmic background radiation, a 'static' or sorts that space naturally produced that caused it to expand. This phenomenon can be harnessed to produce absurd amounts of energy, as, for one thing, you literally cannot run out of feedstock to run it. For another, it's an entirely reusable source, and larger reactors will be able to produce enough to power a planet. A 'meltdown' was unlikely to do anything but cause the reactor to rearrange itself as the involved space stretched and twisted, stopping almost immediately as the reactor failed.
Reward: Gained Improved Reactors Mark II. Massive improvements to the general output of reactors. +1400% to industry from massive increase to available power. +2800 to PDF rolls due to improved vehicles, fighters, etc. +1400 to fleet rolls from effective elimination of power issues.
Anti-Matter, Singularity, and Dark Energy Reactors available. AM Reactors are highly dangerous and an exploitable weakness, but have the lowest Check threshold. DE Reactors are almost completely harmless, but have a very high Check. Singularity Reactors sit in the middle, as they are equally if not more destructive, but meltdowns are almost impossible to trigger without dedicated effort. Generally in the form of active saboteurs.
- [Invention] Improve Replicators x6
6d20=51. (Administration+Learning=220)*6*6=7920. (Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+ Forging: Machinery: 22(220/10)=1043)*6=6258. (Education Perks (190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)= 217)*6=1302. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*6= 48279.6. 51+7920+6258+1302+48279.6=26610.6. 63810.6+695.4=64506. -9680 Check Passed. Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -9430 Check Passed. Slightly Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -8930 Check Passed. Tinily Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -8430 Check Passed. Smally Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -7930 Check Passed. Minorly Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -5430 Check Passed. Mediumly Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -2930 Check Passed. Moderately Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -430 Check Passed. Largely Improved Atomic Rearrangement. 4570 Check Passed. Majorly Improved Atomic Rearrangement. 9570 Check Passed. Hugely Improved Atomic Rearrangement. 14570 Check Passed. Extremely Improved Atomic Rearrangement. 39570 for Massively Improved Atomic Rearrangement. Passed. 64506+64(RC)/64570 for Improved Atomic Arrangement Mark I. Passed.
Level 84. 8920/9400. Currently possess 346 Perk points.
At this point, reworking the upscaled version of the replicator is childishly simple, as the process is exactly the same, merely a different amount of mass being worked with. Originally, the rescaled replicator would take about half an hour to assemble something on the scale of a tank because it could only rearrange so much at a time without frying it's circuits simply because of how energy-intensive the process was, and the original form couldn't handle things much larger than a small chair.
On the flipside, they were both power-hogs even after having their designs reworked, and the smaller one was marginally slower to reformat the same quantity of mass. This left it relegated to shortening logistics chains on the battlefield, and helping deal with small objects always in high demand or ones very difficult to make, though some of the workshops and factories remained as they were before the introduction of replicators simply to ensure that if some sort of cataclysm occurred in subspace that rendered it unusable, not unlike the psychic shock of the War in Heaven or Slaanesh's birth, civilization wouldn't be hopelessly crippled.
Those issues had been resolved quite handily. Now, both replicators could alter matter 4 times as fast with half the strain, or 6 times at its maximum safe output. Entire platoons' worth of guns could be made in a minute, while a tank took less than 5. The main problem was getting enough matter into them fast enough, but running out of ammunition or vehicles in any war was essentially a non-factor given how easily scrap from both sides could be repurposed. It might be an exaggeration to say you'd solved logistics issues forever, but they were not nearly as much of a concern as before. Apparently your smile for the next three days was very unnerving. Was this how the Old Ones felt when they gave Orks the ability to make the tools of war out of random garbage?
Reward: Replicators: Improved Atomic Rearrangement Mark I. Machines capable of nano-assembly by virtue of literally teleporting the atoms into different configurations. You've drastically improved the speed and efficiency of this process to the point guns and munitions are all but endless. +2635%(1550*1.7) to production for worlds under your control. +1317 to BSF rolls from virtually unlimited ammunition and guns.
Resized Replicators: Improved Atomic Rearrangement Mark I. Essentially just replicators scaled up to the size where entire tanks can be assembled from scrap. At this point, it's practically an assembly line the size of a tank all on it's own. 3060%(1800*1.7) increase in production and raw material extraction. +1530 to BSF rolls from rolling out of new vehicles during prolonged engagements.
AN: Both of these being upgraded at once is another Education Max bonus. You've achieved the dream of virtually every commander in history. Supply lines that are nigh-unbreakable. Sure, certain luxuries can be disrupted, but the base is where all those new tanks are coming from, the truck the soldiers piled out of is where they keep getting new ammo from, the sentry turret is being fed new ammo from a foot away, etc. For example, the soldiers will just form a firing line with three rows, the front row unloads their clip, the back row reloads, the front line moves back to refill their ammunition as the rear line finishes reloading, and the middle line replaces the front line to keep the enemy pinned, and they move up to continue the barrage endlessly. WWI-style casualties among the enemy simply to hold ground, taking your positions would be out of the question unless your basic weapons don't accomplish anything even at machine-gun firing rates, or they can stealth-kill their way through your entire army, since you'll have sufficient ammo that simply shooting so much there's nowhere to dodge is a viable tactic in the long-term.
- [Invention] Investigate the gravity technology of the (K)Orks and develop countermeasures x10
10d20=116. (Administration+Learning=220)*6*10=13200. (Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+ Forging: Machinery: 22(220/10)=1043)*10=1043. (Education Perks (190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)= 217)*10=2170. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses)=8046.6*10= 80466. 116+13200+10430+2170+80466=106382. -9443 for Extremely Slight Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -8943 for Very Slight Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -8443 for Slight Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -7943 for Tiny Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -5443 for Minor Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -2943 for Moderate Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -443 for Major Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 4557 for Extreme Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 9557 for Intense Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 14557 for Immense Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 39557 for Incredible Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 64557 for Gravity Manipulation Dampening Mark I. Passed. 89557 for Gravity Manipulation Dampening Mark II. Passed. 106382/139557 for Gravity Manipulation Dampening Mark III.
Level 84. 9180/9400. Currently possess 346 Perk points.
The teleportation of the advanced Orks (and didn't that pair of words feel like an oxymoron) ought to have been blocked by the Void Shields, like most forms of teleportation. However, recovered sensor data indicated gravitic pulses immediately before and after each teleportation. This suggested some form of rift or wormhole made via micro-singularities, as gravity, being one of the very few things to affect the Immaterium from the Materium without being some form of living thing, wouldn't be blocked by the Void Shields, being partial Warp portals.
It was sort of like a psychically-attuned shield of water designed to block flame and heat-based attacks being hit with water from a firehose. The shield barely did anything to stop it, because it simply ignored the shield due to similarity in nature and sheer magnitude of power behind the assault. The teleports just passed right through. A shield based on subspace properties or regular Materium super-science ought to be able to block this form of teleportation, but would struggle with Warp-based Teleportariums. Even the earliest of your simple, short-range teleporters would likely completely ignore them, and you hadn't made any such advances in non-Warp shields.
Instead simple pylons, with their own personal tank-scale reactors, would be set up in regular intervals across the ships. These would emit low-key gravitic pulses as long as the ship was in the Materium, making it impossible for the enemy to lock on with their own. It might not stop all of them, but 99% was enough that the Marine complements were likely to be able to hold them off for an extended period.
Similarly, tractor beams using corridors of intense gravity to draw objects to a ship would be disrupted, as they were finicky to begin with, and gravitational fluctuations would drastically reduce their effectiveness, though overwhelming the pylons through raw power would be much easier with the beams. They had much larger tolerances for higher-energy use, as they were designed to move entire ships instead of relatively small infantry, not to mention being active for extended periods as opposed to short bursts of activity.
Of course, they couldn't be used during Warp jumps, and had to be deactivated immediately beforehand or risk the Warp having a sort of 'allergic reaction' which would likely destroy the ship or at least dump it back in the Materium. Not to mention anyone with the right sensors could track the pulses without any trouble. The ship was also vulnerable immediately after leaving the Warp, as they took a few seconds to register the ship being back in the Materium and begin emitting.
Reward: Gravity Manipulation Dampening Mark II. The Orks gain access to more advanced technology the longer they go without having their minor empires broken, and the more they fight and win. Especially when both occur. Manipulation of gravity is one of these technologies. In order to counter their strategy of using gravity-based teleportation, dampeners in the form of pylons that emit pulses of gravitons which disrupt any gravity-based technology in the vicinity are to be emplaced on ships. Relatively small, these pylons are highly effective, though not insurmountable. Small ships markedly less vulnerable to gravity-based technologies. Medium ships far less vulnerable to gravity-based technologies. Large ships massively less vulnerable to gravity-based technologies. Enemy tractor beams and gravity-based teleportation crippled.
AN: Larger ships will have more pylons and more redundancy because they're more important and better armed. They're small enough not to cause a significant loss of efficiency at this rank.
- [Invention] Methods to black-box our Technology, both Mundane and Psy-Tech x14
14d20=120. (Intrigue+Learning=220)*6*14=18480. (Electronics: Security: 10(200/20)+ Forging: Machinery: 22(220/10)+ Invention: Military: 35(350/10)=67)*14=938. (Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Invention Perks(37)=64)*14=896. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses)=8046.6*14= 112652.4. 120+18480+938+896+112652.4= 133086.4. -570 for Blackboxing. Passed. -520 for Improved Blackboxing. Passed. -470 for Terrible Blackboxing. Passed. -420 for Awful Blackboxing. Passed. -170 for Very Poor Blackboxing. Passed. 80 for Poor Blackboxing. Passed. 330 for Crude Blackboxing. Passed. 830 for Simple Blackboxing. Passed. 1330 for Basic Blackboxing. Passed. 1830 for Reasonable Blackboxing. Passed. 4330 for Decent Blackboxing. Passed. 6830 for Advanced Blackboxing. Passed. 9330 for Specialized Blackboxing. Passed. 14330 for Advanced Blackboxing. Passed. 19330 for Incredible Blackboxing. Passed. 24330 for Mechanicus-Approved Blackboxing. Passed. 49330 for Blackboxing Mark I. Passed. 74330 for Blackboxing Mark II. Passed. 99330 for Blackboxing Mark III. Passed. 133086.4/149330 for Blackboxing Mark IV.
Level Up! +5 to Tagged Skills. Level 85. 160/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
On this, you consult the Mechanicus, as it is one of their fortes, besides preserving technology in general. Raw intellect is no excuse to simply ignore the experts, and while you have a talent for intrigue beyond all but a handful of non-augmented beings in the entire galaxy, your skills are much less impressive, and the simple experience of an arch-magos who has dedicated their life (over 4 centuries in some cases due to near-total replacement of their flesh with bionics) to keeping technology safe from 'unworthy' depredations is far in excess of your own.
While the exact scope and nature of those deemed as lacking varied greatly from Forgeworld to Forgeworld, Orks being unworthy was a universally accepted truth, as they waged war and made nothing else of their lives. Even the most xenophobic of magos would not accuse the vast majority of xenos races of such a severe degree of empty existence. Given they were created as little more than biological machines to wage the Old One's wars, most of those who knew this, including yourself, suspected they were utterly incapable of change beyond becoming better at their programmed task and pitied them where hatred did not overwhelm all other emotions. What little you knew of the Men of Stone suggested a similar difference between them and the Men of Iron, which might be related to the latter having turned traitor and the former largely remaining loyal unless corrupted by a Man of Iron directly.
Regardless, passwords were a fairly standard part of preventing dangerous technology from falling into the wrong hands, but gene-locks, firewalls, viral counter-assaults, and many other nasty tricks had been hoarded by the the Mechanicus. Between the building threat and the aggravation of technological samples having been stolen already, your silver tongue convinced the Mechanicus under your umbrella to part with most of their secrets and expertise in this regard without issue, though part of it was the fact that most of the secret-keeping methods are just that, methods, as opposed to technology, and some of it was because Mars was currently beyond your reach, and they had secrets fit to make the Forgeworlds you've gathered under your banner seem like children stumbling in the dark.
It wasn't that they mistrusted you, simply that they had been hoarding this knowledge and these techniques for multiple millennia, and weren't simply going to hand all of it over simply because a genius asked nicely. The fact that they simply didn't have access to all of it merely compounded the issue. That being said, what you did have, combined with your own efforts to innovate in response to the Orks, made for reasonably effective measures that would make it more difficult to steal technology. From simple scanners, to psy-tech conceptual barriers against misuse. Of course, your standards for 'reasonably effective' made for a result that cheered the Mechanicus and your strategists considerably.
Reward: Blackboxing Mark III. Blackboxing is meant to prevent non-aligned forces from using your technology or copying it. It's nearly impossible to do this perfectly without shooting your own forces in the foot, but the perfect is the enemy of the good, and keeping your weapons out of enemy hands for longer is a good outcome. 100% decrease to enemy military capture effectiveness. 100% increase to time taken by enemy to reverse-engineer technology. Bonuses halved against Orks. Can be doubled without afflicting technology. Can be tripled, though this reduces the effectiveness of technology to 62.5%. Can be quadrupled, though this reduces the effectiveness of technology to 28.75%.
AN: Something to keep in mind is that Ork psychic fields mean that blackboxing is much less effective than it ought to be. Military capture basically means if someone jumps into a tank, kills your crew, and hijacks the tank. You know, what Orks tend to do with ships. Obviously, this bonus doesn't apply to already-captured tech, and Tzeentch wouldn't be particularly troubled by most of this.
Also, different areas in the galaxy have different tales of what exactly happened to the Men of Stone. Some say they stayed loyal, some say they were all corrupted by their juniors, and some say it was somewhere in the middle. Generally this depends on how successful the MoI were at corrupting the MoS in the area. They were moderately so here.
- [Invention] Improve Combat Simulators x2
2d20=29. Learning=110*6=660*2=1320. (Education: Divine: 1000+ Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+ Invention: Military: 35(350/10)=1056)*2=2112. (Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Invention Perks(37)=239)*2=478. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+ 7(Rune of Self)+ 9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+ 150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses)=8046.6*2=16093.2. 29+1320 +2112 +478+16093.2=20032.2+603.4=20635.6. -9810 for Advanced Combat Simulators. Passed. -9560 for Potent Combat Simulators. Passed. -9060 for Impactful Combat Simulators. Passed. -8560 for Very Impactful Combat Simulators. Passed. -8060 for Extremely Impactful Combat Simulators. Passed. -5560 for Practical Combat Simulators. Passed. -3060 for Impressive Combat Simulators. Passed. -560 for Amazing Combat Simulators. Passed. 4440 for Wonderful Combat Simulators. Passed. 9440 for Combat Simulators Mark 1. Passed. 14440 for Combat Simulators Mark II. Passed. 20635.6/39440 for Combat Simulators Mark III.
Level 85. 380/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The massive tunneling projects and their ongoing efforts to simulate the outside world's environment proved most useful here. Given that you caouldn't cover every square inch of space with habitation without relying even more heavily on Ice Crystals to sap the heat, there was little harm in setting aside a few kilometers here and there for military exercises. The massive increase in space, as well as the sophistication of the simulators and their more advanced control over the environment allowed for providing more scenarios for the trainees to work with to double their effect on the average soldier's skill.
There was only so much you could do with a small amount of space. Large-scale simulations, involving entire armies, were impossible without a certain scale. Certainly, the basic grounds in your major cities sufficed to keep soldiers from losing their edge, and to train the next wave of soldiers, but they were less than efficient for increasing your troops' skills, as opposed to filling in gaps. A necessary function, but you preferred that your facilities be useful in a variety of categories, even if that meant sacrificing a little in the specific category to get some in others.
You've added everything from fields of slowed time and twisted space, to spots where the weather is sunny one minute, hailing the next, and of course, the turrets receive an upgrade and an expansion of types to better reflect varying enemy compositions... and skill levels. The new Runes aid greatly in this endeavor. The large amount of data collected from hundreds of worlds added since you'd made these didn't hurt either.
Reward: Combat Simulators Mark II. While they can't simulate everything, they can certainly help prepare your troops for it. Deathworld Malus quartered. Unfamiliar terrain Maluses removed. Heavy Gravity/Microgravity/Zero-G Maluses removed. Extreme Weather Malus removed. Disoriented Malus halved. Incapacitated Leadership Malus halved. Spatial Tomfoolery Malus halved. Outnumbered Malus halved. Uncertain Loyalties Malus halved. Enemy Superheavies Malus reduced to 65%. Minor improvement to veterancy gains. +550 to PDF rolls.
Electronics: Circuitry [T]: 10. Merely being able to ensure all the wires are in place is not the only hardware concern. Ensuring all the parts work together properly is also one. From the bolts, to the circuits, to the arrangement of the boards. You have to make sure nothing magnetizes or is prone to shorts, and make sure that the casing is protective against everything from dust to welding torches, while keeping it something that can be repaired by a proper technician. Machines built with extensive time, resources, and care will be long-lasting slightly beyond the norm.
Electronics: Circuitry [T]: 15. Merely being able to ensure all the wires are in place is not the only hardware concern. Ensuring all the parts work together properly is also one. From the bolts, to the circuits, to the arrangement of the boards. You have to make sure nothing magnetizes or is prone to shorts, and make sure that the casing is protective against everything from dust to welding torches, while keeping it something that can be repaired by a proper technician. Machines built with extensive time, resources, and care will be long-lasting slightly beyond the norm.
Electronics: Data-Forging [T]: 10. At a certain point, it becomes less like an application, and more like a distinct tool optimized for the operating system, hardware, and even the local climate in some cases, generally extreme ones. Rudimentary learning capability included. Nothing able to progress faster than a human in skill-learning or directly improve itself, but it won't repeat the same mistakes over and over in response to outside changes or programming errors after the first week or so. Complex programs, though nothing like a dog or cat, can be created with time and effort.
Electronics: Data-Forging [T]: 15. At a certain point, it becomes less like an application, and more like a distinct tool optimized for the operating system, hardware, and even the local climate in some cases, generally extreme ones. Rudimentary learning capability included. Nothing able to progress faster than a human in skill-learning or directly improve itself, but it won't repeat the same mistakes over and over in response to outside changes or programming errors after the first week or so. Complex programs, though nothing like a dog or cat, can be created with time and effort.
Forging: Arms [T]: 10. While personal weapons are great, ones for defending cities and ships are better. Not to mention Titans. From cannons capable of razing city blocks or even entire cities, to titanic adamantium blades for carving open buildings when attempting to break open a compound without killing the target or fending off assaults from similarly gigantic weapons. Very slight reduction in difficulty of forging weapons meant for house-sized and larger war machines, structures, and buildings.
Forging: Arms [T]: 15. While personal weapons are great, ones for defending cities and ships are better. Not to mention Titans. From cannons capable of razing city blocks or even entire cities, to titanic adamantium blades for carving open buildings when attempting to break open a compound without killing the target or fending off assaults from similarly gigantic weapons. Very slight reduction in difficulty of forging weapons meant for house-sized and larger war machines, structures, and buildings.
Forging: Protection [T]: 10. Armor for cities and ships is just as important as arms for them, otherwise they'd be decimated with only the deterrent of receiving a bit of damage in the process shielding them. One has to into account far different stresses when dealing with Titan armor, ship armor, or shielded cities using actual physical domes, as opposed to a tank or human's protective gear. The scale involved makes what would be a rounding error in a human's armor potentially catastrophic on a Titan, for example. Very slight reduction in difficulty of forging armor meant for house-sized and larger war machines and buildings.
Forging: Protection [T]: 15. Armor for cities and ships is just as important as arms for them, otherwise they'd be decimated with only the deterrent of receiving a bit of damage in the process shielding them. One has to into account far different stresses when dealing with Titan armor, ship armor, or shielded cities using actual physical domes, as opposed to a tank or human's protective gear. The scale involved makes what would be a rounding error in a human's armor potentially catastrophic on a Titan, for example. Very slight reduction in difficulty of forging armor meant for house-sized and larger war machines and buildings.
Forging: Machinery [T+]: 20. Gadgets are one thing, but full on machinery is a whole different animal. From factory assembly lines, to plows. It is no exaggeration to say that advanced civilizations depend on machinery to exist, as humans simply can't perform labors like digging canals in a timely fashion. Mining machinery provides the raw materials used in the assembly line to make the farming equipment to grow the food the workers who man all of these machines eat.
Forging: Machinery [T+]: 30. Gadgets are one thing, but full on machinery is a whole different animal. From factory assembly lines, to plows. It is no exaggeration to say that advanced civilizations depend on machinery to exist, as humans simply can't perform labors like digging canals in a timely fashion. Mining machinery provides the raw materials used in the assembly line to make the farming equipment to grow the food the workers who man all of these machines eat. Meanwhile, simple tools are built.
Invention: Military [T+]: 150. You can make a weapon or defense against one for almost any situation, providing incredible force multipliers. It's almost like organic adaptation, but with guiding intelligence behind it. -125 to difficulty of Invention Checks.
Invention: Military [T+]: 160. You can make a weapon or defense against one for almost any situation, providing incredible force multipliers. It's almost like organic adaptation, but with guiding intelligence behind it. -130 to difficulty of Invention Checks.
Invention: Industry [T+]: 150. You have a reputation for making them look like enormous idiots among industrial leaders. It's richly deserved even by tycoon standards. -125 to difficulty of Invention Checks.
Invention: Industry [T+]: 160. You have a reputation for making them look like enormous idiots among industrial leaders. It's richly deserved even by tycoon standards. -130 to difficulty of Invention Checks.
Invention: Affluence [T+]: 15. There's luxurious, then there's the sort of item you'd need to spend a significant portion of a planet's GDP to procure. On the scale of the galaxy, even this much is a pittance if you truly need something so expensive, particularly with a Stellar Bellows pumping out a thousand planets' GDP out. You may be starting to understand Father's obsession with gold. Just a little. You may double a creation's specs for free, triple them for free, quadruple them for 2.25 times the cost, quintuple them for 9.5 times the cost, or sextuple them for 40 times the cost.
Invention: Affluence [T+]: 25. There's luxurious, then there's the sort of item you'd need to spend a significant portion of a planet's GDP to procure. On the scale of the galaxy, even this much is a pittance if you truly need something so expensive, particularly with a Stellar Bellows pumping out a thousand planets' GDP out, and you can always make more. You may be starting to understand Father's obsession with gold. Just a little. You may double a creation's specs for free, triple them for free, quadruple them for 2 times the cost, quintuple them for 9 times the cost, or sextuple them for 39 times the cost.
Tactics: Fortification: [T]: 30. You're at the second-to-bottom rung of building fortifications quickly, taking a day to set up fortifications meant to hold 3 months, and a week to build fortifications meant to last 3 years. +130 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Fortification: [T]: 35. You're at the second-to-bottom rung of building fortifications quickly, taking a day to set up fortifications meant to hold 3 months, and a week to build fortifications meant to last 3 years. +135 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Cunning: [T]: 30. You've utterly surpassed the peak of 'winging it' among the vast majority of humans, and have entered the realm of legends. Even the supernaturally cunning may find themselves outmatched if they rely overmuch on their unnatural gifts. +130 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Cunning: [T]: 35. You've utterly surpassed the peak of 'winging it' among the vast majority of humans, and have entered the realm of legends. Even the supernaturally cunning may find themselves outmatched if they rely overmuch on their unnatural gifts. +135 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Guile: [T]: 30. You have begun studying tactics of mind-bending complexity, the realm of legend within your grasp. Lesser tacticians can go mad simply trying to figure out your strategy. +130 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Guile: [T]: 35. You have begun studying tactics of mind-bending complexity, the realm of legend within your grasp. Lesser tacticians can go mad simply trying to figure out your strategy. +135 to Tactics Checks.
- [Invention] Improve Combat Simulations x3
3d20=39. Combat+Martial=220*6=1320*3=3960. (Tactics: Fortification: 23.5(235/10)+Electronics: Data-Forging: 21.5(215/10)+Invention: Military: 36(360/10)=81)*3=243. (Tactics Perks(12)+Electronics Perks(12)+Invention Perks(37)=61)*3=183. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses=8046.6*3=24139.8. 39+3960+243+183+24139.8=28564.8+274.1=28838.9. -310 for Advanced Combat Simulations. Passed. -60 for Combat Simulations I. Passed. 190 for Combat Simulations II. Passed. 690 for Combat Simulations III. Passed. 1190 for Combat Simulations IV. Passed. 1690 for Combat Simulations V. Passed. 4390 for Combat Simulations VI. Passed. 6690 for Combat Simulations VII. Passed. 9190 for Combat Simulations VIII. Passed. 14190 for Combat Simulations IX. Passed. 24190 for Combat Simulators Mark X. Passed. 28838.9/49190 for Combat Simulators Mark XI.
Level 85. 620/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While you certainly had much better simulators now, improving them without matching improvement in the simulations they ran was at best inefficient, and at worst, not worth the effort. So you worked to improve them as well, and you'd call it a smashing success.
Drawing on the experiences of dozens of different militaries, with input from everyone from the green temporary recruits to the grizzled career soldiers on the verge of retirement only because their body was giving out on them simply from how hard they'd pushed themselves, rather than age, nearly every imaginable scenario was crafted, often cobbled together from multiple other scenarios. This gives out scenarios as simple as the perfect campaign, to the nightmares of Deathworlders come to life, mostly those in between these heights and depths.
This allowed soldiers to actually gain skill and experience in (nearly) risk-free environments, making 'green' for your troops the baseline for other polities, and making it possible, if dimly, for troops to achieve veteran skills without ever being in live combat. It would take much, much longer than live combat would, but the fact that it was possible at all would cause a long-term rise in average skill levels that was immense, and the lack of casualties to get there would increase the number of skilled soldiers by something on the level of an order of magnitude.
Your Astartes were already benefiting from it, though their physiologies made scenarios normal troops could barely stand in more inconveniences than anything else. Still, it would help greatly in determining the proper candidates among the hopefuls, and likely increase their average skill level from better candidates and reduce their inexperience upon their first deployment as superhuman shock troops, reducing casualties in the initial forays. Sure, the common Ork WAAGH could be broken with a paltry thousand or so fairly trivially with proper fleet and strikecraft support, but Father's ambitions meant they'd meet much more dangerous and numerous foes, if the advanced body of Orks nearby didn't make that obvious. Better Astartes could only be to your benefit, so long as they didn't turn traitor, and acting on that kind of logic beyond reasonable precautions was the path to madness.
Reward: Combat Simulations Mark X. A huge number of possible situations for soldiers to go through to prepare them for actual combat, or to keep them sharp. Troops now gain veterancy much more quickly and easily, and retain it more easily. +450 to PDF rolls. Major reduction in time necessary in Simulators for Bonuses to apply.
AN: Yeah, not going to bother with unique names for each rank any more.
Troop skill goes Incompetent (cult chaff/angry mob), Green (militia/fresh troops from boot camp), Blooded (been in actual combat and can be expected to perform properly in it/Green Tempestus Scions), Veteran (Astartes that were hypno-indoctrinated just now/an Inquisitor's retinue), Honored (Heroes/Blooded Astartes), Heroic (Combat Paragons/Veteran Astartes), Legendary (Astartes Heroes/Green Primarch) Mythical (Astartes Paragons/Blooded Primarch) any higher is more of a walking army-killer like Angron than anything resembling a single unit, and should be treated like a Titan rather than a soldier.
- [Invention] Improve Astartes Package x12
12d20=142. Administration(110)+Power(132)+Control(112)+Learning(110)=464*6=2784*12=33408. Education: Divine: 1000+ Medicine: Procedures: 40(400/10)+ Medicine: Pharmaceuticals: 40(400/10)=1080*12=12960. Education Perks(190)+Medicine Perks(20*2)=230*12=2688. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+50(Physiology Bonus)+6700(Education Bonus)=8096.6*12=97159.2. 142+33408+12960+2760+97159.2= 146429.2. EMPEROR Interrupt! Remainder finished. -3300 to Astartes Mark 1.1. Passed. -800 to Astartes Mark 1.2. Passed. 4200 for Astartes Mark 1.25. Passed. 9200 for Astartes Mark 1.3. Passed. 14200 for Astartes Mark 1.4. Passed. 39200 for Astartes Mark 1.5. Passed. 64200 for Astartes Mark 1.6. Passed. 89200 for Astartes Mark 1.7. Passed. 139220 for Astartes Mark 1.75. Master of Mankind has passed Astartes Mark 1.8, 1.9, and 2.0.
Level 85. 780/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Seeing as your Legion wasn't filled out yet, and any losses would be replaced with the new stuff seeing as you obviously had your biology to work with, you decided to work on improving the Astartes-creation process, from implantation to the end result. While the common citizen was at the limit until your Brothers' geneseed was available, since any further enhancements carried noticeable rejection rates if only yours was used, the Astartes candidates were specifically chosen for compatibility, and it was therefore no issue here.
Besides, you were kind of on a time limit, what with the large numbers of Astartes that were to be created every year, including this one. Only a few thousand of your 100000 every year, but that would add up quickly over a decade. Of course, since you were dealing with one of Father's pet projects, you all but had to start over every time, even with your understanding of Astartes physiology derived from your own.
By happy accident, when you queried Father about an organ that was coming together as you worked, it turned out he was working on the same issues, and while each Legion's Astartes were a little different, taking after their respective Primarchs in many respects, if Rogal's were any indication, the basic principles of Primaris were the same. You collaborated, and with his help you were finished far earlier than even your most optimistic estimates. Though perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he finished with your help, since he'd done the lion's share of the work. In gratitude, he gave you a few tips on moving the first batch of Astartes you'd made up to the Mark 2 standard. It was a good thing they were still in the Neophyte stage, or they might well have been stuck operating at roughly 40% of their juniors' strength.
While you overheard some muttering about how the early completion of this project would help with another project, you assumed he just meant he'd have more time to get Mars under his control, and with it at least theoretically the official allegiance of the Mechanicus. With their resources at his disposal, especially with a Stellar Bellows, taking Sol would be a couple years at most, even if the snippets she'd heard of the Seleneans alone sounded horrifying enough to, if not stand alongside the Orks she intended to wipe out thanks to a lack of weaponized planetoids, then at least compete with them on the infantry scale.
The Mark 2 or 'Primaris' Astartes differed from their prototypes in several ways. There was of course the general increase in speed, strength, size, reaction times, and mental processing speed, but the increased resistance to the Warp and reduced chances of mutation, including via mutagenic Warp energies, was almost more important in the long-term, though it would, of course, be of little use were one to fall of their own will. It also had the more obvious effect of making the specialties they 'inherited' stronger due to the link being stronger. Rogal's sons had more of his tactical and defensive acumen. Her own Astartes had a minor general increase in talent beyond what their physical improvements would account for. The link could have been this strong before, but Father was cautious about any sort of soul-binding, even a rudimentary one more about skill sharing, which could lead to rapid spread of Chaos corruption throughout a Legion from compromised individuals if the Primarch fell or a large number of normal Astartes fell. This greater link also accounted for some of their increased physical abilities.
Finally they possessed a trio of new organs. The first was known as the Sinew Coils, or The Steel Within to the more poetically-minded, and, much like the Black Carapace, was a subdermal implant. Unlike the second-skin, it was composed of cable-like lengths of a biologically produced durasteel that encased every tendon and sinew in a metallic sheath that gave tremendous resilience and strength, allowing a Marine to literally chew through most restraints, common Flak armor to be ripped open and a normal human's skull casually crushed, each feat with their bare hands, though at the cost of a secondary dietary supplement pill following implantation, and a generally increased need for iron, especially following a major wound. On the other hand, their bones were nearly unbreakable without massive concussive force, powerful sonic attacks, potent psychic nonsense, or sharp adamantium. Luckily the Apothecaries carried such medical tools universally in response to the ribcage fusing into a solid plate, so there was no need to worry there, the increase in durability unlikely to cause the Astartes doctors problems treating their patients.
The second was called the Magnificat, or The Amplifier, it was a thumbnail-sized lobe buried deep in the brain's cortex to stimulate growth and to intensify other organ functions, sending all the other organs into overdrive, especially the Biscopea and Ossmodula, while producing additional growth hormone to increase the average Astartes' size, and a few secondary chemicals to keep the other organs from wearing out from the overclocking. This was actually the right half of the somewhat pretentiously-named God-Maker, an organ in each Primarch that contributed to the impressive physique you each possessed. To elaborate, while the average Primaris was far, far superior to common humans physically, they, like most Astartes, could be casually outmatched by a half-dead Primarch. Not to mention they weren't all that much more intelligent than the common human, they simply thought faster, unlike a Primarch, whose minds were refined to the point they could outperform supercomputers.
Finally, there was the Bellisarian Furnace, when not referred to as The Revitaliser, named for the head of the gene-engineers working on that organ under Father, who'd made a surprising amount of progress considering how short a time he'd had to work on it. Essentially a 'last-stand' organ which releases a burst of hypersteroids and corticostimulants when a mortal blow was dealt so the Primaris Marine may fight on. In simple terms, an adrenaline rush that would kill a normal human combined with a rush of rapid bone and tissue regeneration that activated near death or in reaction to a sudden shock such as an assassination attempt on one of their own or their Primarch. While connected to both of the Astartes' hearts, it was normally dormant, due to how long it took for it to rebuild it's stocks of chemicals after expelling its chemical soup. The hard part here was making sure it's activation and the Sus-An Membrane's didn't interfere with each other, giving the body specific 'zones' of physical trauma to awaken one or the other, since the combat-related chemicals would burn themselves out long before the Sus-An was properly removed, and if it was broken by force, they might need that combat boost then.
Reward: 30K Astartes Package: Mark 2. While not even comparable to your versions, you have been able to create lesser copies of the glands and organs originally exclusive to you for the common man. However, you've also crafted implantable full organs, which are used to create Astartes. You made some contribution to Father pushing them to his original vision, instead of the quicker but inferior job his followers did under his supervision. +500 to PDF rolls. +500% industrial efficiency. +250 to background project rolls. Non-Astartes bonuses capped due to increased risk of rejection as further alterations are made. 250% increase to Space Marine Bonus. Major reduction in mutation rates. Major increase in Warp resistance. Major strengthening of 'inherited' specialties.
Additionally, Great Crusade timetable moved up.
AN: You didn't think the Seleneans were keeping Emps occupied all by themselves did you? Especially with all the Crystals he has access to, helping stabilize the Thunder Warriors and enhance them? You just moved the Great Crusade up a year, what would be rendered as Crit Success on a Project that rewarded you with an AP refund were the tables turned. He's going to recruit as much as he can, and have the Primaris Astartes clear out the remaining Seleneans. Then they're going to start clearing out Venus and Mercury with the last few Thunder Warriors (like, a couple hundred at most by then) while he gets Mars completely under his heel in the span of a year or two (waving your hand and making over a hundred Titan Manufactorums and fixing all the broken artifacts they can find wins you a lot of street cred with them) so he can drown Sol in Stellar Bellows and Toruses and Mars in shipyards at about the same time. The Outer System should fall in short order following that.
While Emps was more like a project manager in canon, with Cawl being a helper in the actual making of the Astartes, here, that was still true of the original version, but Emps took a more direct hand with the Mark 2 Marines since he was ahead of his original post-Scattering schedule. It should help with the Grey Knights' Only Founding, mostly by opening up more time in Emps schedule to deal with that. They're going to be a mere 10K, since they're basically an elite secret Legion intended to kill Chaos' stuff, and much larger would be difficult to hide even amongst 2 million-ish Marines. Emps is probably going to have Cawl start collecting Astartes-related genetic data so he can blitz through the third rank if necessary (say, Tyranid invasion or 20 Beasts or something equally horrible) which will prove very helpful if someone gives him a similar order to OTL Gulliman's.
Something to keep in mind is that the various Primarch-related Flaws will be less nasty, but still there. Red Thirst, Wulfen Curse, etc. The connection to their Primarchs bypasses most of their normal defenses. Those who fall will be fewer, but it will still be a problem. Similarly, their resistance to Chaos is stronger because their Warp resistance is, but they are not immune, nor is there a defense against a willing fall beyond a bolt in the head. On the bright side, Magnus might actually hit 10000 as a regular number. I also understand the 'specialty' enhancement wasn't a thing for the canonical Primaris, but Emps is bullshit like that, and has a much deeper understanding of the Warp than Cawl. Think of it as a replacement for the… other mental effects in canon.
- [Invention] Improve Power Armour x8
8d20=58. Learning=110*6=660*8=5280. Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215/10)+Forging: Armor: 21.5(215/10)+Invention: Affluence: 85(425/5)=128*8=1024.(Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Invention Perks(37)=64)*8=512. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*8=64372.8. 58+5280+1024+512+64372.8= 71246.8+5325=76571.8. 6220 for Power Armor Mark I. Passed. 8720 for Power Armor Mark II. Passed. 13720 for Power Armor Mark III. Passed. 18720 for Power Armor Mark IV. Passed. 23720 for Power Armor Mark V. Passed. 48720 for Power Armor Mark VI. Passed. 73720 for Power Armor Mark VII. Passed. 76571.8/98720 for Power Armor Mark VIII.
Level 85. 920/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Seeing as melee combat was basically inevitable, since your countermeasures would only mostly stop the Ork boarders from arriving via teleportation and ramming and boarding torpedoes wouldn't be remotely affected by those countermeasures, to say nothing of planetary landings or offensive actions of your own, not to mention the Storm Boyz and Kommandos would likely be even more intelligent and crafty than normal, and they were frighteningly competent much of the time even in minor WAAGHs, you elected to improve upon the power armor used by your troops.
No new variants were made, the existing ones filling all but the most niche of roles, instead they received general improvements, more efficiently weighted with stronger materials, better comms and HUD sets each more resistant to interference of the mundane and psychic varieties alike, an improved shield, with a marginally faster recharge time and slightly greater strength, alongside a hardened projector device, less likely to suffer damage from the shield falling or actual attacks. Small improvements here and there, mostly, but when every solitary aspect received an improvement of some kind, it added up.
Of course, that was just for the Mark 1. Marks 2-4 saw marked improvements in strength enhancement, speed(thanks to increasing the friction coefficient of the soles of the armor), and durability(due to advances in adamantium construction following the repairs of the Phalanx, as many pieces required outright replacement, such as the giant holes in the armor), each building on its predecessors, and the Mark 5 was like a whole separate 'species' from its origin. The end result was a far superior piece of equipment, though your Astartes weren't getting much out of it beyond some ablative armor. Something to work on next year.
Reward: Power Armor Mark VII. Powered armor increases the user's capabilities as well as providing protection, though the most combat capable have the most advanced suits, which is not to say that the lesser fighters have weak suits by any metric besides relative to their betters. Champions gain Mark VII Power Armor. Provides +2500 to Champion rolls. Regular PDF gain Mark V Power Armor. Provides +2300 to PDF rolls. Massive reduction in casualties taken while fighting. Assassination strikes severely reduced in effectiveness. Spies and saboteurs significantly reduced in effectiveness. Infantry groups may carry light vehicle weaponry. Champions may carry medium vehicle weaponry. Massive increase in tactical flexibility.
AN: You can have infantry with medium vehicle weaponry at Mark 5, but don't expect it to be common to non-Heavy Weapons soldiery before Rank 10 becomes standard issue.
Astartes have difficulty in getting all that much out of human-grade power armor. For one thing the interfaces normal humans need are almost wholly unnecessary for them.
- [Invention] Improve Arcology Design x2
2d20= 27. Learning=110*6=660*2=1320. Education: Divine: 1000+ Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)+ Tactics: Fortification: 23.5(235/10)= 1059.5*2=2109. Education Perks(190)+Invention Perks(37)+Tactics Perks(12)=239*2=478. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+ 7(Rune of Self)+ 9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+ 150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*2=16093.2. 27+1320+2109 +478+16093.2= 20027.2. -10445 for Improved Arcologies. Passed. -10395 for Slightly Improved Arcologies. Passed. -10345 for Minorly Improved Arcologies. Passed. -10095 for Moderately Improved Arcologies. Passed. -9595 for Majorly Improved Arcologies. Passed. -9095 for Extremely Improved Arcologies. Passed. -8595 for Gigantically Improved Arcologies. Passed. -8095 for Mark I Arcologies. Passed. -5595 for Mark II Arcologies. Passed. -3095 for Mark III Arcologies. Passed. -595 for Mark IV Arcologies. Passed. 4405 for Mark V Arcologies. Passed. 9405 for Mark VI Arcologies. Passed. 14405 for Mark VII Arcologies. Passed. 20027.2/39405 for Mark VIII Arcologies.
Level 85. 1200/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Thanks to Space Runes, and the fact that reality doesn't seem bothered by them in comparison to their chronologically-inclined counterparts, you can expand the interior of an Arcology nearly endlessly, simply making more and applying their effects, even if the Arcology's 'real' form hadn't been widened. Ice Runes allow you to essentially ignore waste heat, draining it away with ease, while Energy Runes power the Arcology and allow the many inhabitants to go about their lives. The only remotely difficult part was making the Runes work in concert with the normal architecture, particularly the Space Runes.
While you could, in theory, create an endless labyrinthine super-city inside of the Arcologies, the Space Runes could have their effectiveness reduced by 90% if something disrupted psychic powers, and while something capable of doing so was unlikely to say the least, as a Blank of that magnitude would have almost certainly been killed, it would not do to be reckless. Millions would pay if her assessment was wrong. So, the space was limited by the number of emergency shelters and the like scattered throughout, designed to funnel people there if the Space Rune ceased to function properly. Quite literally funnel them inside, to avoid crushing or the like.
You're fairly certain people would go cross-eyed simply trying to understand the placement of the Runes in detail, but you were careful to make it relatively easy to adjust for different sizes of Arcology. After all, if the Hive Worlds had little concern for the environment, and you were already constructing tunnels for them to create parks and the like in, there was little reason to avoid using the Stellar Bellows' resources to consume the planet in a true ecumenopolis, though the system would need time to be studied, tested, and reinforced, as you were not yet sure enough of the design to implement it, unfortunately. Besides, with so much more space to work with, modifying the Rune networks would be necessary as well if you wished to expand the space as far as possible. A quintillion people inhabiting a single world could become the norm if you pushed it as far as you expected to be reasonable.
The outside of the current generation of Arcology bristled with point defenses, with small rings of anti-orbital cannons stationed around them and sometimes on top of them, with shorter rings of more conventional artillery just outside the former rings. This ensured the Arcology stood firm against the threat of invasion, barring internal sabotage.
The inside, however, had changed far more drastically. No longer was it merely a self-contained city, but a self-contained metropolis, holding millions in what appears to be an incredibly tiny space from the outside, but on the inside, was a massive, sprawling cityscape. The maps alone made it's metropolitan nature clear, even a dullard could see that multiple cities could be fit inside the interior. A small town could be fit in every individual level. Were it not for the tiered structure of the Arcology, this interior would be spread over kilometers upon kilometers of land.
In any event, with these redesigns, your population cap per world has increased literally by 2 orders of magnitude. There was no chance of you running out of space any time soon. Your curiosity on what effect that many souls with a reasonable standard of living would have on the Warp, especially in one spot, burned. You'd love to see what the Realm of Souls looked like, and perhaps in a few centuries, you could. After all, the Chaos gods only had so much negativity to work with. It was just a matter of time.
Ahem, a true ecumenopolis, from preliminary estimates, should be entirely possible. With the entire planet being gradually turned into a giant city, building up and down as much as the materials and freezing of the mantle via Ice Crystals would support, augmented by the (theoretical)gravity manipulation and spatial distortion of Gravity and Space Crystals, the current capacity could be multiplied by 12640, assuming Terra's volume. With that much of a boost, even a Civilized World could hold 10 quintillion fairly trivially, to say nothing of a Hive World's 700+ quintillion. Of course, it would be incredibly difficult to make any kind of working model in a timely manner, and you'd want one before even considering inhabiting it. Still, a nice dream, and perhaps after humanity was united under a single banner, a universe with a decillion humans was on the horizon.
Reward: Mark VII Arcologies: Under-Ecumenopli Available. A highly engineered structure designed to hold a huge number of people in a relatively small space, with relatively little ecological footprint, using Space Runes to increase the space, while Ice Runes negate waste heat and Energy Runes take the brunt of energy demands. Artillery and groundside ortilllery defend even the civilian ones. Currently holds 6,300,000 people(base 350000) each due to spatial manipulation, heat regulation, and advanced material sciences. Cannot currently be built on unstable areas, such as purely molten planets, purely watery worlds, etc. Population limit of Hive Worlds raised to 78.75 quadrillion. Add 472.5 quadrillion on geologically stable worlds, totaling 551. Non-Hive Worlds may have 1.575 quadrillion with no major ecological damage. Add 9.45 quadrillion to non-Hive Worlds increasing maximum capacity without risking environmental damage to 11.025 quadrillion on any worlds that are not volcanic, water, gas, or bearing odd internal geometries. Truly ludicrous population cap on worlds that are geologically dead, generally in the realm of over a quintillion.
AN: An incarnated Warp entity is still a Warp entity, even if they believe themselves to be human and are in most ways. More Warp energy is derived from more people, and it is the nature of Warp entities to encourage more of their relevant concepts. More Warp energy in general is one of the swiftest ways to accomplish this, since proportionally it shouldn't change much on it's own. Most Warp entities, would, therefore, react with maddened joy at the idea of significantly more people and thus more energy.
- [Invention] Artificial/refined Dust x11
11d20: 82. Learning=110*6=660*11= 7260. Education: Mystical Arts: 1000+ Invention: Practicality: Industry: 360+ Psyker: Manipulation: Archetypes: 1000= 2360*11=25960. Education Perks(190)+Invention Perks(37)+Psyker Perks(128)= 355*11= 3905. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+ 7(Rune of Self)+ 9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+ 150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses)=8046.6*11= 88512.6. 82+7260+25960+3905+88512.6= 125719.6. -20310 for Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20285 for Slightly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20260 for Tinily Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20210 for Noticeably Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20160 for Somewhat Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20110 for Smally Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -19860 for Minorly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -19610 for Mediumly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -19360 for Moderately Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -18860 for Reasonably Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -18360 for Largely Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -17860 for Majorly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -15360 for Hugely Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -12860 for Extremely Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -10360 for Immensely Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -5360 for Incredibly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -360 for Dust Refinement Mark I. Passed. 4640 for Dust Refinement Mark II. Passed. 29640 for Dust Refinement Mark III. Passed. 54640 for Dust Refinement Mark IV. Passed. 79640 for Dust Refinement Mark V. Passed. 125719.6/139640 for Dust Refinement Mark VI.
Level 85. 1620/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Dust was a very interesting material. Psychically-responsive, not unlike Wraithbone or Orichalcix, if less malleable in it's effects due to being naturally occurring. That factor was what drew interest. The Kingdoms of Remnant had shuffled around before, when Dust reserves ran dry. Their records confirmed this.
Given that several millennia had passed since the cataclysm that spawned the Grimm, how much of that world's advanced technology ran on Dust and the frequency with which Hunters burned through large stocks in large battles, and that Dust wasn't exactly a major component of the planet, it must regenerate somehow, or there wouldn't be much left (though the moon was, from what even the basic surveys discovered, swimming in the stuff, the debris from it's broken remains wouldn't have accounted for all the Dust on Remnant's surface and near-surface without all but turning the crust inside out), and the main obstacle to mining it was having to maintain a guard against the Grimm and thieves, not an utter lack of it. Presumably some element of the planet's Warp-touched nature led to minerals gaining psychically-reactive properties, but their structure was clearly warped from whatever they were originally, as a basic chemical inspection of two samples of the same type of Dust gave results similar to quartz for the one, and pyrite for the other.
As such, each type of Dust was sampled, of which there was just about every conceivable form of 'elemental' effect. Wind, Fire, Water, Electricity, Earth, Ice, Steam, Gravity, Time, Explosion and Light. While the first five were most common, mostly the first four as the primary Dust types from which many of the others were synthesized, the main attribute they all had was that they led to some kind of physical effect. There were no kinds that led to conceptual effects. Say, damage not being dealt as well without affecting the forces involved? That didn't happen, which showed a marked difference compared to Hydaelyn's Crystals, though Dust could make effects happen with a small infusion of psychic energy and a sudden impact, as opposed to being a general field in a set area that usually worked best with a related phenomena, making it much easier to be selective with it, as opposed to Hydaelyn's, which were fairly indiscriminate once made.
After several weeks of research and trial and error, she managed to find a solution. While synthesizing purely new Dust was incredibly difficult, growing existing Crystals was simple. In fact, anyone who possessed skill in managing Wraithbone or Orichalcix could do so, if they were willing to sit still for an hour or so per kilogram. Slow, but if you had time on your hands and lacked resources besides psychic energy, as a pinned down village might, it could be a life-saver. The size of the original chunk of Dust didn't seem to matter either, so it was entirely possible to take a crumb-sized piece, grow it to finger-size, and then break it into pieces so your fellows could work on the issue as well without any detriment to the Dust or your own efforts. Provided you did it properly anyway.
The insights developed from being able to directly make more Dust led to a number of refinements to Dust manipulation. For example, a process was developed that could be used to increase the potency of Dust, though it would require draining large amounts of Dust to create super-Dust, not unlike nuclear enrichment. As such, it was unlikely any large quantity would be made, given such Dust would be massive overkill against anything short of a city block or something with similar durability.
Dust Infusion, physically infusing Dust into oneself for a power boost, was also made safer via a drug that drastically boosted the body's ability to safely handle it. A second drug, which made Infusion more efficient, was also made, though making them compatible took some effort. The second drug has the downside of causing the effect to wear off more quickly, but the first allowed for larger doses to be taken safely, so they roughly balanced each other out, resulting in a vastly more deadly combat style.
Finally, Dust Weaving, which involved implanting the Dust into cloth to make incredibly effective light armor and generate effects such as Fire Dust making the cloth fire-resistant and able to generate a small amount of flame, or even flame-based constrcuts among the skilled. This practice had largely fallen by the wayside, as it took years to get results any idiot could get with Infusion, even if it was far safer and the results more easily controlled. When the Grimm defaulted to far greater strength and speed than a normal human, Skill-heavy methods fell by the wayside over achieving some sort of parity in power, as glass cannons did not usually survive long on these battlefields. Serras could see potential benefits in her armor project however, and made a few improvements to existing Dust Weaving. Increased efficiency per crystal, borrowing heavily from wards and symbology, a number of improvements to the learning process to reduce the investment to learn the skill, and developing a type of cloth, based on her knowledge of psycho-active materials, that was better at channeling Dust. It was unlikely to be nearly as effective with other psychically-attuned materials though.
There was some grumbling about the Dust market on Remnant being completely out of whack, and though the opening of the offworld market goes a long way to quiet it, the fact that it can be made elsewhere without too much difficulty makes many of those involved in the industry wary of being made obsolete.
Reward: Dust Refinement Mark V. Dust is a psychically active material found on the planet known as Remnant, likely a result of the same psychic cataclysm that led to the formation of the Grimm. It comes in many forms, all tied to some sort of physical effect, and can be used in a large number of ways, provided one jumpstart it with psychic energy. 375% increase to effectiveness of Dust, direct use, Dust Infusion, and Dust Weaving. 75% increase to Dust reserves and replenishment rate. Surplus can now be made. Significant stockpile can be used elsewhere, due to Remnant's use having been reduced and production increased. Dust Bonus unlocked.
Dust. Dust is a psychically active material found on the planet known as Remnant, likely a result of the same psychic cataclysm that led to the formation of the Grimm. It comes in many forms, all tied to some sort of physical effect, and can be used in a large number of ways, provided one jumpstart it with psychic energy. Psykers, and anyone with access to a psychic battery or generator of some kind, including sorcerers, can use Dust to accomplish a variety of effects at little risk, unlike common use of the Warp, and they need no worry about their specialty, a problem for many psykers below the Beta level. Known phenomena include: Wind, Fire, Water, Electricity, Earth, Ice, Steam, Gravity, Time, Explosion and Light. +475 to BSF rolls. Large number of combat options opened for even the weakest and/or most specialized Psykers.
AN: While Dust canonically cannot be used outside Remnant's atmosphere, that doesn't apply here. Mostly because that would be dumb. The Warp doesn't just stop all of a sudden.
- [Invention] Artificial/refined Lyrium x11
11d20: 102. Learning=110*6=660*11=7260. Education: Mystical Arts: 1000+ Invention: Practicality: Industry: 360+ Psyker: Manipulation: Archetypes: 1000= 2360*11=25960. Education Perks(190)+Invention Perks(37)+Psyker Perks(128)= 355*11=3905. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*11= 88512.6. 102+7260+25960+3905+88512.6= 125739.6. -20310 for Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20285 for Slightly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20260 for Tinily Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20210 for Noticeably Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20160 for Somewhat Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20110 for Smally Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -19860 for Minorly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -19610 for Mediumly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -19360 for Moderately Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -18860 for Reasonably Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -18360 for Largely Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -17860 for Majorly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -15360 for Hugely Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -12860 for Extremely Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -10360 for Immensely Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -5360 for Incredibly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -360 for Lyrium Refinement Mark I. Passed. 4640 for Lyrium Refinement Mark II. Passed. 29640 for Lyrium Refinement Mark III. Passed. 54640 for Lyrium Refinement Mark IV. Passed. 79640 for Lyrium Refinement Mark V. Passed. 125719.6/139640 for Dust Refinement Mark VI.
Level 85. 2040/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Lyrium, unlike Dust, appeared to be the crystalline form of some kind of blood-like substance, based on analysis, which essentially made it dried blood of what was likely a psychic entity of Beta or greater power, at a conservative estimate. Given blood wasn't exactly lacking in ties to psychic entities, this made sense. After all, a strong enough psychic entity's blood would be a more efficient psychic conduit than a random soul-bearing entity's, and blood was already a powerful reagent in many rituals, even if it came from a non-sapient. As many a Chaos cultist could attest. A cursory check confirmed no strong ties to any larger Chaos entities. Though the fact that Lyrium was generally corrupted by the plague tied to the Darkspawn when left in proximity for extended periods strongly suggested this was the case to begin with, as one of the benefits of Chaos corruption was a general immunity to corruption from rival gods, you could never be too careful.
Lyrium itself bore more resemblance to crystallized psychic energy than any common mineral or body fluid beyond this superficial blood resemblance, and was extremely volatile. Dust needed a dose of psychic energy or a strong impact, preferably both, to detonate with any real power behind it, while attempting the same process with Lyrium that had been used to replicate Dust tended to fail explosively enough to lodge shards of the steel table the crystal was on in the ceiling. Therefore, samples of it were used to attempt to reverse-engineer the original substance, in hopes of creating that and crystallizing it to bypass the issue. This approach bore some fruit, giving way to a clear blue liquid that resembles human blood in consistency, though it smelled like nature after rain. Much like before, those who had skill in crafting Wraithbone or Orichalcix proved best at crystallizing this substance.
Refining Lyrium proved much more difficult. Increasing concentration of energy generally just made it explode, so Serras decided to work on limiting the harmful effects of its use. Lyrium addiction was a serious problem for those who used it frequently, and many of those who were exposed repeatedly went mad eventually, even in it's processed state. It's unprocessed state could cause memory loss or loss of a sense if it was a small dose, or jump straight to insanity or death in a large dose or even just prolonged contact. Serras worked to mitigate these effects.
Her efforts were largely successful, and laboratory synthesis of Lyrium was now possible, if not reliable in the field given the substance's inherently hazardous nature made it comparable to toxic waste, though it would remain a restricted substance as the drug regimens that prevented the side effects and addiction were not 100% effective. Combat Psykers were the only ones allowed to use it with any frequency, and only in prolonged conflicts. The side effects were nasty enough as it was, seeing them in Psykers of any significant power would be unpleasant, to say the least.
On the bright side, reducing the effects of Lyrium addiction was very helpful to it's homeworld, and a makeshift explosive device could be made by a psyker trained in Lyrium creation with or without access to the materials for a mundane bomb.
Reward: Lyrium Refinement Mark V. Lyrium is a crystallized form of the blood of a powerful psychic entity, seemingly with strong ties to nature, if what mythology there is on its origin is accurate. 375% increase to effectiveness of Lyrium, direct use, Lyrium Imbibing, and Lyrium refinement. 75% reduction in addiction and side effect risk. 70% increase to Lyrium reserves and replenishment rate. Surplus can now be made. Significant stockpile can be used elsewhere.
Lyrium. This mineral is a relatively safe way to restore a psyker's ability to use their powers if they've been strained. +237.5 to allied Psyker Checks. First 10 Exhaustion penalty tiers do not apply to allied psykers.
- [Invention] Psyker workshop/tools for general use x16
16d20=202. Learning=110*6=660*16= 10560. Education: Mystical Arts: 1000+ Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+ Psyker: Archetypes: 1000= 2023*16= 32368. Education Perks(190)+Forging Perks(15)+Psyker Perks(128)= 333*16= 5328. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*16= 128745.6. 202+10560+32368+5328+128745.6= 177203.6. -20180 for Psyker Workshop. Passed. -20155 for Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -20130 for Slightly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -20080 for Tinily Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -20030 for Noticeably Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -19980 for Somewhat Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -19730 for Smally Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -19480 for Minorly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -19230 for Mediumly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -18730 for Moderately Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -18230 for Reasonably Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -17730 for Largely Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -15230 for Majorly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -12730 for Hugely Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -10230 for Extremely Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -5230 for Immensely Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -230 for Incredibly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. 4770 for Psyker Workshop Mark I. Passed. 29770 for Psyker Workshop Mark II. Passed. 54770 for Psyker Workshop Mark III. Passed. 79770 for Psyker Workshop Mark IV. Passed. 129770 for Psyker Workshop Mark V. Passed. 177203.6/179770 for Psyker Workshop Mark VI.
Level 85. 2480/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While you had your own workshop for your personal use, and in fact, you used it in the process of making most of the tools that would be used in the workshop you were designing, more minor psykers do not have anything more than the most basic facilities. That was leagues better than nothing, but not good enough.
How many innovations in the use and control of psychic power could have been made between the beginning and end of the Age of Strife if the common psyker could experiment relatively safely? How many Tzeentchians would not have fallen if they could expect facilities that accomplished significantly more than existing? Perhaps you would never know. That was not excuse enough not to rectify the situation however.
Via a mix of psy-tech tools, advanced scanners of both the psy-tech and advanced but otherwise mundane variety, Psyker were allowed to perform thousands of minor permutations on a task accomplished with psychic power, either the creation of a psychic material or the use of a common psychic power such as telepathy, and to then work the kinks out, as well as see if there were any psychic specialties or synergies in their choirs that the imperfect testing for such might have missed.
Then, of course, they could also attempt to make new psy-tech to add to The Bastion's repertoire. Almost excessively vetted first, but any random psyker could, theoretically, make a historic contribution.
The most difficult part was avoiding an oppressive feeling after putting in the safety measures. Like the blast doors ready to seal off the facility at a moments notice and the bombs under the foundation ready to collapse the building entirely if a powerful telepath succumbed to Chaos and started killing and converting by force or something similar. You'd consulted Father and Magnus on the security measures, and compromised between them. Father thought you were being naively lax, while Magnus felt you were going a bit overboard. You would have to wait and see, but you felt that the Order Runes on the outside walls would keep them contained should the worst happen.
Reward: Psyker Workshop Mark V. Psykers require extensive time and effort to learn all the ins and out of their powers, and psychic power is unreliable enough that reliable psy-tech is exceedingly difficult to make. While neither of these issues are likely to be eliminated soon, these facilities promise to alleviate the symptoms. Massive morale increase among Psykers. Significant rise in average Psyker skill levels. +1750% increase in number of Psykers with sufficient skill to create psychic materials, and rate of creation thereof. +1750% increase to psychic innovation. +150% to rate of battle Psyker production. +15% to Psyker pass rates.
- [Invention] Improve Skylance satellites x10
10d20= 123. Learning=110*6=660*10=6600. Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+ Forging: Arms: 21.5(215)+ Invention: Military: 36(360/10)= 78.5*10=785. Electronics Perks(12)+ Forging Perks(12)+Invention Perks(37)= 61*10=610. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*10=80466. 123+6600+ 785+610+80466=88584. -735 for Improved Skylance Satellites. Passed. -685 for Skylance Satellites Mark I. Passed. -635 for Skylance Satellites Mark II. Passed. -585 for Skylance Satellites Mark III. Passed. -535 for Skylance Satellites Mark IV. Passed. -285 for Skylance Satellites Mark V. Passed. -35 for Skylance Satellites Mark VI. Passed. 215 for Skylance Satellites Mark VII. Passed. 715 for Skylance Satellites Mark VIII. Passed. 1215 for Skylance Satellites Mark IX. Passed. 1715 for Skylance Satellites Mark X. Passed. 4215 for Skylance Satellite Mark XI. Passed. 6715 for Skylance Satellites Mark XII. Passed. 9215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XIII. Passed. 14215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XIV. Passed. 19215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XV. Passed. 24215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XVI. Passed. 49215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XVII. Passed. 74215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XVIII. Passed. 88584/99215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XIX.
Level 85. 2860/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
As your pre-eminent system defense when no Toruses or proper battle fleets were present, and with the increasing number of Ork ships and, of course, Orks, gnawing at your borders even without the less rowdy bands present, upgrading Skylance satellite performance seems prudent. Certainly, the improved reactors help, but mostly the design was altered for greater efficiency. The 42-meter laser is made far, far more efficient, actually shaving 2 meters off to decrease it's vulnerability, but increasing power by more than 150% of its original output despite the decreased size. Part of this is a vastly superior cooling system, which can also be used to let it fire shots at the original model's power almost endlessly, assuming the cooling system remains undamaged. Similarly, improvements to the structure provide a major boost to its durability.
At current magnitudes, and with the much improved sensors changing the maximum effective range from 1000km to 50000km, an entire rack of lenses for different focuses at different distances, as it would disperse into uselessness at the 10000km range if fired as if the target were at the 1000km range, and do almost no damage to a ship with proper compartmentalization if fired with the focusing for a significantly greater range or with extreme heat resistance. In turn, the cogitators on board have to be programmed to switch out the lenses for the various ranges properly. The end result was a far more impressive laser battery.
Reward: Skylance Defense System Mark XVIII. A laser battery which has massive firepower, which is generated from placing virtually all of the power used in an entire ship into an anti-capital weapon. It can be used at a variety of ranges due to an advanced algorithm for determining the proper degree of focusing for a given target used by it's cogitator. +3200 to fleet rolls while these are present. Additional permanent +1600 to fleet rolls due to improved Dreadnought main guns.
- [Invention] Improve psychic batteries x10
10d20= 89. Learning: 660(110*6)+Power: 792(132*6)+Control: 672(112*6)=2124*10=21240. Education: Mystic Arts: 1000+ Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+ Psyker: Archetypes: 1000=2023*10=20230. Psyker Perks(128)+Forging Perks(12)+Education Perks(190)= 330*10= 3300. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*10=80466. 89+21240+20230+3300+80466= 106118+6297=112415. -12523 for Psychic Batteries Mark I. Passed. -10023 for Psychic Batteries Mark II. Passed. -7523 for Psychic Batteries Mark III. Passed. -5023 for Psychic Batteries Mark IV. Passed. -2523 for Psychic Batteries Mark V. Passed. -23 for Psychic Batteries Mark VI. Passed. 2477 for Psychic Batteries Mark VII. Passed. 4977 for Psychic Batteries Mark VIII. Passed. 29977 for Psychic Batteries Mark IX. Passed. 54977 for Psychic Batteries Mark X. Passed. 79977 for Psychic Batteries Mark XI. Passed. 112415/129977 for Psychic Batteries Mark XII.
Level 85. 3080/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
With the massive increase in defenses and storage, the current generation of batteries had effectively given most of the less potent Eldar their powers back, though Asuryan's boost to it meant their new peaks were still out of reach. Still, nigh-universal Beta Psykers, in terms of safe power output, was quite the force multiplier for beings whose genetic engineering by their progenitors made the more skilled among them a match for an armored Mark 1 Astartes, if in general terms rather than exactly matching them.
The point was, use of psychic powers up to Beta was perfectly safe as long as the 'caster' knew what they were doing, and had time to charge the battery. On the other hand, Alphas, and especially Alpha Pluses like Magnus and yourself still had to worry about drawing too deeply. Not much in either of your cases, Father did good work, but a normal human at either of those levels was still all but doomed if their powers awakened, which was nearly guaranteed, even if they'd be perfectly fine as a Beta.
On the bright side, Psykers becoming even safer ought to help their reputation, and who knew? Perhaps the reduction in their negative image would aid them in and of itself. Beings with such massive souls would be more affected by their perception than most material beings after all.
On another note, you wondered if it would be possible to automate the process of modulating Energy Crystals to produce varying quantities of energy. For example, Psykers with full batteries charging a secondary battery which was then donated to the nearest Energy Crystals to convert it safely into mundane energy for use by the general population. Something to think about at least.
Reward: Psychic Batteries Mark XI. While it doesn't store massive amounts of psychic energy, it allows for essentially risk-free use of psychic power, as they cannot hold Daemonic entities, and do not draw directly from the Warp. This is extremely useful for psykers, who can charge the batteries up comparatively safely. +1700 to allied psyker Checks. Retain Beta Psyker powers in places such as godly domains and fragile pocket dimensions with equivalent reserves, or full Alpha or Alpha Plus Psyker powers with a one or two magnitude drop in effective reserves, respectively. Several projects relating to distribution of psychic energy in a safe manner unlocked.
AN: Basically, a Delta would have been able to function as if they were unhindered with one of these in a godly domain or fragile dimension before the most recent upgrade, while a Beta would be operating at about 30% of their normal reserves, now replace Delta and Beta with Beta and Alpha. Even an Alpha Plus, like yourself, can use their full powers for a few minutes with a fully charged battery. Of course, if they spend their power freely, as is often the case when pressed in combat, they're going to burn through their stock pretty quickly. It can also be used to augment an alpha strike of all the power they can draw safely from the Warp.
- [Invention] Advance 9 Crystals/Runes x2
2d20=23. Learning: 660(110*6)+Power: 792(132*6)+Control: 672(112*6)=2124*2=4248. Psyker: Supernatural: 1000+ Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)=1059*2=2118. Psyker Perks(128)+Forging Perks(12)+Invention Perks(37)=177*2= 354. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*2=16093.2. 23+4248+2118+354+16093.2=22836.2.
-- [Advance] Purity
-10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 3180/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
In your efforts to advance the Purity Crystal to match it's fellows, you achieved something new. Instead of capping at the tenth-tier, the Crystal moved up to the eleventh tier. Given that you had expected that to be impossible without alignment to the relevant concept so extreme as to make the creator a non-sapient, you of course find this concerning. Consulting with Hydaelyn led you to believe it was actually a result of your sudden rise in psychic and material knowledge. Presumably, you could achieve the twelfth tier now, and could reach the thirteenth if you were to achieve similar heights in your mastery of forging.
At any rate, the difference between the tenth and eleventh tiers of the Purity Crystal is enormous. Oh, the white cloth was no different in form from it's 10th-tier form, but now it glowed faintly, and it's radius of effect had increased by an order of magnitude. Replacing the old sixth-tier ones scattered across Bastion space would be difficult, but the results would be worth it. The mitochondria being removed within close proximity to humans wasn't a problem for those aligned with your cause any more. The IFF feature was something to thank their stronger connection to Hydaelyn for.
At this point, they could slowly cleanse tainted land, though Chaotic souls with any significant amount of taint remained beyond their reach, even if that ceiling had risen a small amount. The former achievement was of little practical help, seeing as places where the ground itself carried significant taint generally consisted of Daemonworlds and ritual grounds, and Purity Crystals would be the second thing to go once the Order Crystals were removed, requiring more forceful intervention to rectify. Still, they were useful.
Eleventh-Tier Purity Crystals/Runes. A white cloth emitting a faint glow, and purifying all in it's vicinity, even Chaos. +500 to BSF rolls. +50 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Major increase to Chaos resistance of the people and land alike.
-- [Advance] Protection
-10540 for First-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 3400/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The Protection Crystal takes the form of a chestplate, projecting a shield that stops attacks, reacting to both potential for damage and intent, similar to the infantry-grade Void Shields, in both potency and size. Each grade increases the size and power, where a first-tier Protection Crystal had a barrier roughly as potent a poor flak armor around 10 centimeters in diameter, not much larger than the Crystal itself. A tenth-tier, on the other hand, possessed a barrier able to stop anti-tank rounds 5 meters across. An eleventh-tier was more impressive still, and possessed a barrier able to stop missiles 10 meters across.
Much like Void Shields, Protection Crystals tended to be all or nothing, unless the effect was being interfered with directly. If something wasn't strong enough to pierce the barrier by itself, either you needed more, or you needed something stronger. If the effect was broken, it needed 30 seconds to recover, during which time the attacks would pass through normally. The barrier could be shaped as well, though it couldn't be shrunk per se. Since it didn't normally interact with non-attacks, this didn't usually come up often though.
They served roles in keeping dangerous machinery from killing or crippling people, preventing high-rises and similar areas from being fallen from via completely transparent domes making such falls physically impossible, and, of course, making Bastion infantry unrivaled. A second shield layer allowing them to withstand withering fire, one shield usually recharging before the other fell. Though studding them along the interior and exterior walls of ships allowed them to benefit, the weapons they dealt with on a regular basis made the Protection Crystals merely an extra layer of defense, rather than the game-changer they were on the ground, though boarding attempts would likely go very differently thanks to them. Titans benefitted far more, as did strikecraft. It's one major flaw was a lack of teleportation resistance, something to do with armor-piercing as a concept, you suspected.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Protection Crystals/Runes. These crystalline chestplates project barriers, varying from 10 centimeters equivalent to poor flak armor, to 10 meters of anti-missile armor, reacting to intent and potential for harm alike for the psychic equivalent of smart shielding. Naturally, they are a massive boon to the military, however, they also have uses in industry, acting as forcefields around dangerous machinery, and in civilian life as secondary platforms around high places such as high-rises. +500 to BSF rolls. +250 to naval rolls. +50 to industry. +50 to morale rolls from reduced number of accidents and successful suicides. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Major increase to average troop and armor durability.
AN: A Shield Crystal would be like a Protection Crystal, only the Shield could be spread around or concentrated towards any tagert of the user's choosing, though at reduced efficiency when used for one's own sake. Having the soldiers inside of a tank using theirs to boost the tank's Protection Crystal, for example, would be perfectly viable, though a platoon or what have you casting it on each other would end up with more than an equal force, due to synergy between them, and the range on T11 is 100 meters, so a lot of soldiers can concentrate their barriers into one place to make a shield nearly unbreakable on the infantry scale. A 'Shield Wall' so to speak. Similarly, the recharge time on the shields if broken, for both Protection and Shield Crystals, is a 'Shield Break' effect.
-- [Advance] Accuracy
-10540 for First-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 3620/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The Accuracy Crystal takes the form of a classical archery target. A series of concentric rings around a red circle. Where the Detection Crystals and Runes make it more difficult to hide things, and easier to discover them, this one allows for specific portions and targets to be pinpointed. Naturally, these synergized well with the Detection Crystals, enough to, for example, double the effective range of sensors and weaponry.
Naturally, the Bastion's military benefited the most, even normally inaccurate weapons being able concentrate fire far more effectively, while high-end electronics and similar fields benefited from more precise production thereof. This would proceed to have major knock-on effects, given how dependent humanity was on technology.
For example, a civilian who had picked up a gun for the first time five minutes beforehand, given an Accuracy Crystal, could keep up with an experienced marksman, though it helped if one was already a good shot, at which point accuracy became superhuman. In Astartes, feats one would believe impossible became common occurrences, and marksmanship was no exception. Assassinating targets from kilometers away, normally the domain of Machinas or Champion Snipers specialized for long ranges, were things almost any Astartes who chose to use a rifle could do. With Accuracy Crystals, that number jumped to tens of kilometers, to the point the power of their weapons was of greater concern in the calculus of making the shot at any distance less than 20 kilometers. Assuming they used the Crystals of the Eleventh-Tier, of course. The enhancement of lesser tiers was far less impressive.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Accuracy Crystals/Runes. These archery targets formed of crystal provide a major boost to the user's accuracy, making feats of impossible marksmanship merely difficult for the uninitiated, and simple for the experts. Sensors, similarly, are much improved, even if there is some overlap with previous Crystals. +500 to BSF and navy. +50 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Provides a bonus to assassination of enemies and scouting. Provides a Malus to enemy hiding/fleeing rolls, both on the ground, and in space.
AN: Yeah, these things are restricted even among snipers. They're assassination sprees waiting to happen.
-- [Advance] Gravity
-10540 for First-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 3840/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Gravity was a field you'd made some strides in from the vector of mundane technology, but it was expensive, and delicate, by the standards of spacefaring races. With this Crystal, resembling a classical depiction of a black hole, a black orb with rings of color swirling around it, this was no longer an issue. Gravitational fields of any type, even anti-gravity fields, repelling everything from the Crystal, and then there were permutations thereof. Half and half, one side repelling, one side attracting, or specific areas attracting or repelling as they were set by the Psyker who had last manipulated them. Additionally, the fields could increase in intensity as you approached the center, like normal gravity fields, weaken, or remain uniform throughout the field of effect. This would prove very helpful in researching gravity fields, for one thing.
While the first tier of these Crystals was limited to forces equal to 50% of Terra's gravity, attraction or repulsion, the eleventh could go as high as 15. The field could be expanded or contracted to increase or decrease its strength, or increase or decrease its strength by contracting or expanding, but the eleventh-tier had a range of 1000 meters at its normal level of force, though the first had only 10 meters in diameter under its gravitonic dominion. Well, gravity technically attracted every particle in the universe, but the noticeable effects of the field stopped beyond this point.
Certain materials that needed specific gravity fields would be far, far easier to produce. As would zero-G, micro-G, and extreme-G training fields and recreational areas, and to help deal with the effects of lower gravity if people were exposed to it for long periods for whatever reason. Already, this Crystal and Accuracy Crystals were being experimented with to see what new materials could be fashioned.
Then there were the benefits to megastructures. Most obviously, Singularity Bellows, for example would benefit extensively from stronger anti-gravity buffers. Other mega-projects, such as Toruses, could be built in lower orbits due to anti-gravity buffers making the planet's gravity less of an issue. Only one more per planet, since the other issues still applied, and there was always the same problem with Gravity Crystals and Toruses that Space Crystals had with Arcologies, but even that single extra was still a 20% increase to the available space per planet, and thus the number of people the galaxy could support. Speaking of Arcologies, the dream of an entire planet converted into a city was a little closer, as gravity itself could be regulated, and weight along with it, and there was therefore no risk of the structure collapsing in on itself. Stellar Bellows, meanwhile, could augment their magnets. Not much, given the ranges involved, but even a little bit could help quite a bit in resource extraction, and the processing side was much less inhibited by distance. The process of sifting was made much swifter by greater gravity.
Meanwhile, soldiers were drastically better prepared for unusual gravity levels by virtue of having experienced them firsthand. Astartes, meanwhile, were put through extreme gravity training, allowing them to put on muscle and bone density even more quickly, and to achieve their full superhuman might. The Zero-G, micro-G, and extreme-G areas that could be made were also incredible for recreational purposes. Entire new sports were being invented to take advantage of the Gravity Crystals.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Gravity Crystals/Runes. These black orbs, resembling artistic takes on black holes with the swirling bands of color in a disc around them, can make any permutation of gravity or anti-gravity up to 15 times Terran gravity, in any variety in the sphere of such fields surrounding it. +500 to BSF/naval rolls. +500 to industry due to major advances in manipulation of materials. +500 to morale rolls due to modulated-gravity-based recreation being cheap and exotic. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Extreme increase to training rate of Astartes due to controlled simulation of extreme gravity, and drastic reduction in time necessary to train soldiers to function in unusual levels of gravity. Eases creation of, or outright unlocks creation of new materials. +50% increase to Singularity Bellows Bonus. +1 Torus slot unlocked.
AN: Yes, Blitzball as seen in early FFX cutscenes is becoming a thing.
-- [Advance] Electricity
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4040/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The Electricity Crystal, contrary to what you might expect, was a forked lightning bolt, like a real one frozen in time, as opposed to a cartoonish jagged yellow one. In many respects, it was otherwise a repeat of the Energy Crystal, save in that its energy output was electricity and only that type, which was offset by it's output being double a commensurate Energy Crystal. In other words, 4.4938*10^15 Joules were produced by an Electricity Crystal at its maximum output, of which 4.4938*10^14 came from nothing. Assuming the eleventh-tier of course, as the tenth produced 10% of the eleventh's output.
They could also be used to manipulate the electrical fields they created or that happened to be nearby, with some influence on magnetic ones due to the inherent link between those, as part of the same fundamental force. A sort of pseudo-technopathy was possible for truly skilled users, and, much like the Accuracy Crystals before them, existing technopathic or electrokinetic abilities were amplified by an order of magnitude. Similarly, like Gravity Crystals, they could produce any degree of electrical field up to its maximum, concentrated into a singular bolt, or a general 'buzz' spread across a set area, though exponentially weaker as it expanded for obvious reasons.
In the military, they served much the same role as the Energy Crystals. Backup reactors essentially. However, some of them served to amplify electrical weaponry, such as chain lightning guns. With the raw power they possessed, these were unsurprisingly potent. Similarly, in industry, they powered and regulated the flow of electricity in many machines, combining generators with transformers and circuit breakers, albeit with some help from mundane technology, and in addition to existing regulators.
On a more entertaining note, electricity shows, essentially the electron's answer to the light show, were gaining some popularity. The ability to manipulate electricity into whatever shape the user desired made for very impressive constructs and images.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Electricity Crystals/Runes. A forked lightning bolt formed of crystal. Much like Energy Crystals, this Crystal naturally produces energy, twice as much in fact, though limited to specifically electricity. +500 to BSF/naval rolls. +500 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Electrical weapons gain massive power boost and longevity due to increased control over their output.
-- [Advance] Metal
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4240/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The Metal Crystal takes the form of a simple metal ingot, usually iron, though many people saw gold as well. This Crystal indiscriminately reinforces metals or every type. From gold, to lead, to liquid metallic hydrogen. Even if the last was only moderately affected, due to being an 'honorary' metal. This reinforcement was on every parameter, tensile strength, melting point, conductivity, everything. The reinforcement could be directed to specific parameters, and turned off in specific cases, but it relied heavily on existing parameters. Gold would never be better armor than adamantium with the same Crystal to work with, even if it's weight and low tensile strength were negated to the point that it was actually serviceable (Note to self: Make a Gold Crystal for Father.) in the way common iron was, though it was only about 84% as strong as unaugmented iron. Not without enough psychic energy that you might as well just enhance adamantium armor. To be precise, an 11th-tier Crystal could enhance every parameter 250%, while a 1st-tier could only enhance metals by 10%, or focus the enhancement to specific attributes.
Metal Crystals were being used everywhere, from the sculptor wanting something longer-lasting than stone, to the computer engineer making circuitry capable of handling loads it ought not to be, to the tank crew relying on their enhanced tank's speed to avoid a tank-killer sniper. Virtually every piece of tech the army used involved metal as it's primary component, and much the same was true of the navy. After all, those kilometer long ships weren't made of plastic, and production thereof regarding this technology was drastically accelerated by these Crystals. This led to a major increase to the performance of military hardware, civilian hardware, basically everything that involved the use or processing of metal. Ferrokinesis was also enhanced, making even the least of Psykers able to rip apart or put together guns with all but a touch.
This included megastructures. Stellar Bellows remained in more or less the same condition, but Toruses, could occupy higher or lower orbits from their current ones, as with greater strength of material, issues of debris were mitigated by virtue of debris being harder to make. Arcologies, meanwhile, relied on adamantium skeletons to support their weight, and could thus be counted on to support far more weight. If a size increase were decided upon, it would be childishly simple to enact, as the metal could trivially be enhanced to 350% of its current strength even if that specific statistic weren't singled out, and the weight it could support similarly increased. Singularity Bellows could now withstand greater tidal forces, allowing them to work closer in, and thus produce more.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Metal Crystals/Runes. These crystalline metal ingots enhance the properties of metal. Tensile strength, conductivity, everything. The military gains major fighting power from these, as virtually all of their technology benefits a great deal. +500 to BSF/naval rolls. +500 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. +15% increase to shipyard production. +50% increase to Singularity Bellows Bonus. +1 Torus slot per planet.
AN: Note that T12 would have a bonus of 500%, and T13 would be sitting at 750%, which would make it 226% as good as iron without access to Metal Crystals. Boy, Emps and the Empyreal Tyrant would love to get gold to be a viable metal for armor. The latter especially, since he armors everything in gold. It works because Chaos, but if it actually worked because it actually worked, that would be a game-changer on par with universal Void shields for everything. His stuff would be out-competing adamantium with Metal and Gold Crystals, since the latter would benefit gold twice as much as Metal Crystals benefit metals. His mooks could actually compete with Dragon's, outside of Null effects from the pylons at least, which would knock Gold Crystals down to 70%, 100%, and 150%, respectively, though that would apply to everything, from strength and weight, to conductivity, or lack thereof to decrease their vulnerability. Still enough to drastically increase his troops' effectiveness, especially since Dragon would avoid using gold because his access to better materials makes it a pile of junk, so the Crystals' specificity would be totally to ET's advantage.
-- [Advance] Penetration
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4440/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
A spearhead, the original piercing weapon, and quite possibly the second weapon after the thrown rock, was the form the Crystal of Penetration took. While the Crystal was generally of little use in civilian matters, it was excellent for the military. Regardless of the physicality of the weapon used, any weapon under the influence of one of these Crystals would pierce armor and sometimes even inflict shield burnthrough, though only with powerful weapons that could likely have simply broken through the shields on their own in time.
Though this did have its downsides. For one thing, overpenetration of unarmored mobs or lightly armored militia was a major issue when using these. Heavily armored foes were less of an issue, since they were more likely to have the weaponry fail to penetrate the other side and cause more damage in the attempt. Similarly, the navy could expect weakly armored ships to have holes smashed right through, perhaps without the payload detonating, though if there were more ships behind it, it might detonate in one of them or their paths, which wasn't useless, but could cause problems in trying to direct a battle, when whether or not the ships aimed at would be destroyed or not was an open question. More heavily armored ships could have their armor pierced more easily, and not need to worry overmuch about the shot failing to cause major damage once inside.
On the civilian side, there are few industrial or artistic uses to better armor penetration. Demolition, certainly, and piercing harder materials while mining, but otherwise, there is little use for this particular Crystal besides military applications.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Penetration Crystals. A spearhead Crystal, which allows weaponry to penetrate substances more easily, though this can be a problem when dealing with lightly armored foes. More heavily armored ones have a drastic reduction in effective durability. +500 to BSF/naval rolls. +50 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Enemy Armor reduced by one effective rank. Light and Unarmored targets may survive shots they otherwise wouldn't due to overpenetration.
-- [Advance] Fire
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4640/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
In many respects, fire is almost alive. It breathes, it grows, and without some sort of check, it will devour everything. There is a good reason that, historically, flame was used to purge Chaotic areas and bodies. Some deep recesses of the psyche recognize flames for leaving nothing behind once they have consumed everything, and assume a purifying effect as a consequence. After all, nothingness is better than Chaos.
Regardless, these artistic flame symbols crafted from crystal enhance the working of flames, heat, speed of burning, and at the highest tiers, making things that were ordinarily fire-resistant flammable, and things normally fireproof merely flame-resistant. The eleventh-tier was most famous for causing flames to actually burn a few seconds on seawater. Apparently the Crystal started forcing the oxygen and hydrogen molecules apart to aid in the burning process, but the fire died before any significant progress could be made in burning it. Similarly, they could be used to regulate the flames by manipulating these properties. Some curiosity over whether they could ignite fusion in a brown dwarf by raising the core temperature existed, which might be tested one day, since Fire Crystals had truly ludicrous heat resistance, as you'd expect. By the same token, they could work with Ice Crystals to regulate temperatures on the planetary level.
As the Electricity Crystals before them did for their own domain, the Fire Crystals could act as pyromantic focuses, enhancing existing affinities on that front. Similarly, Psykers completely lacking in pyromantic affinities could use the Crystals to artificially possess them. The military's use of flamethrowers and plasma weaponry, primarily against biological targets, was also enhanced, though mostly the former, since plasma was a hybrid of sorts between flame and raw energy and therefore less affected, much like Metal and liquid metallic hydrogen. Naturally, this is of less relevance to the navy, since only plasma weaponry was used in space of the categories affected by this Crystal, and plasma was already a niche weapon for dealing with lots of thinly armored targets, such as strikecraft.
In the civilian world, these Crystals see a great deal of use, for two reasons. The first, because they combined well with Forging Crystals for obvious reasons, making smithing far easier when working in concert. The second, because they allowed for completely safe manipulation of flame. Fire had always fascinated mankind, which might be another reason for humanity's propensity for burning things. The sheer number of new entertainment venues opened by Crystals recently was beginning to approach saturation, as there might actually be problems finding people to fill all these different roles. Not just yet, though.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Fire Crystals/Runes. These artistic flame symbols, crafted from crystal, enhance heat and flame. From the flamethrower, to the plasma weaponry of the navy, and theoretically even a star. +500 to BSF rolls. +250 to naval rolls. +500 to industry. +500 to morale rolls. Major boost to flamethrowers and moderate boost to plasma weaponry. Combines with Ice Crystals to regulate planetary temperatures and provide a major bonus to Arcology capacity.
Mark VII Arcologies: Under-Ecumenopli Available. A highly engineered structure designed to hold a huge number of people in a relatively small space, with relatively little ecological footprint, using Space Runes to increase the space, while Ice Runes negate waste heat and Energy Runes take the brunt of energy demands. Artillery and groundside ortilllery defend even the civilian ones. Currently holds 14,000,000 people(multiplier of 40 from base 350000) each due to spatial manipulation, heat regulation, and advanced material sciences. Cannot currently be built on unstable areas, such as purely molten planets, purely watery worlds, etc. Population limit of Hive Worlds raised to 175 quadrillion. Add 1.05 quintillion on geologically stable worlds, totaling 1.225. Non-Hive Worlds may have 3.5 quadrillion with no major ecological damage. Add 21 quadrillion to non-Hive Worlds increasing maximum capacity without risking environmental damage to 24.5 quadrillion on any worlds that are not volcanic, water, gas, or bearing odd internal geometries. Truly ludicrous population cap on worlds that are geologically dead, generally in the realm of over a quintillion.
AN: Upgrading Ice Crystals and Materials Science are about the only AP-cheap methods for major gains on this front at this point. Well, Emps' will give you a ton of STCs, but that's not exactly an AP-based method.
-- [Advance] Magnetism
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4840/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
This Crystal took the form of a bar magnet, unsurprisingly. That is, a metal bar with the negative pole and positive pole labeled with their respective signs at their respective ends. In terms of effects, it was much like the Gravity Crystal, with a field whose strength and specific zones of effects could be customized trivially. For example, a sphere of attraction could be set at any power within the Crystal's area of effect, and those spheres could coexist with similar or opposite spheres within that same space, with the only limitations being those of the Crystal itself, space and power.
This inevitably led to comparisons between the Gravity Crystal and Magnetism Crystal, as they were fundamental forces. In terms of raw power, the Magnetism Crystal was the greater of the two. In terms of effective and absolute power, the Gravity Crystal was the winner. There were two main reasons for this. While electromagnetic forces were commonly regarded as the stronger of the two among scholars, psychically speaking, the concept of Gravity was more commonly thought of by most sapients, due to the second reason. Gravity affected everything, while magnetism only affected other electromagnetic fields. Certainly, this was a huge number of things for magnetism to affect, but it just didn't compare to 'literally everything' the way gravitation affected surrounding objects. In addition, stars were electromagnetic powerhouses, sure, but they were also gravitational powerhouses, and the latter was just as obvious to anyone who understood the structure of star systems. Something similar applied with planets, those that had molten cores capable of producing the fields at least. Gravity was a 'large object' force. In fact, it was THE 'large object' force, or macroscopic operator. The other fundamental forces handily trounced it on the atomic and subatomic levels, but any larger and gravity would become a peer or the dominant force in determining the object's relations with nearby objects.
Therefore, while Magnetism had 10^35 times as much power within its range, it defaulted to a range of 10 centimeters at it's eleventh tier, and while it could be expanded like it's graviton-based counterpart, the exponential weakening was much, much worse than simply dividing the force over greater volume/distance, depending on whether it was simply expanded from its original sphere or stretched in a particular direction. Of course, even a 50 meter radius, which was roughly a thousandth of the volume affected by a commensurate Gravity Crystal, was still substantial, and left the Magnetism Crystal functioning perfectly fine for its intended purpose, whatever that may be. Combining it with an Electricity Crystal did much to mitigate this issue, exponentially strengthening the field and doubling it's effective radius.
In the military, they served much the same purpose as the Ion Shields. That is, they deflected and slowed enemy fire, as most enemy fire would be primarily metallic or electromagnetic, and could thus be interfered with. Plasma relied heavily on magnetic bottles to maintain it's form until impact, and was thus especially vulnerable. Electrical weaponry was similarly vulnerable for its connection to magnetism, moreso, in fact. Of course, plastics and laser weaponry usually didn't even notice the fields, and biological matter was usually unaffected, so manual disabling of the tank or what have you by someone, particularly if they had a plasteel melee weapon to hack their way in, was still perfectly viable. It was a fairly major combat boost though, given the ubiquity of metallic and plasma weaponry allowed for mass disarming, and even tossing tanks around like toys at close ranges, or forcing the enemy to switch to materials that were unaffected by magnetic fields.
The navy was similarly protected, as guidance computers in missiles could be overwhelmed at close ranges, the electromagnetic equivalent of hitting a brick wall as soon as they hit the Crystals' range. Plasma weaponry was also rendered mostly toothless unless on a truly massive scale. Much like tanks, strikecraft and bombers could usually be interfered with. However, the larger ranges of space battles reduced the effectiveness of these Crystals in naval battles.
The industrial sector couldn't have been happier. Much like Gravity Crystals, many materials could be synthesized only under specific electromagnetic conditions, and combined with Electricity Crystals, such conditions were far less difficult to achieve. At this point, research into special materials that could only be made under immense pressure and with specific electromagnetic influences was well underway to take full advantage of these. Currently, they were used to aid in manipulating materials and containing those affected by this type of Crystal.
Then there was the private citizen. Psykers, of course, benefitted in the usual manner, artificial possession of an affinity for magnetic manipulation coming with the Crystal, or enhancement of an existing affinity. Manipulation of magnetism to mimic Zero-G, micro-G, or extreme-G of metals for the spectacle of it was gaining popularity, even if it overlapped with use of Gravity Crystals for such. Some made a game of using both and having those watching try and figure out which was which.
Megastructures benefited as well. Singularity Bellows could use them against the black holes, as many of them possessed massive electromagnetic force, as more than a few neutron stars on the brink were kept from collapsing by centripetal force and magnetism keeping them from becoming singularities, and all that energy didn't just vanish, while Stellar Bellows could extract more from living stars because of them. After all, a thin spool of magnetic field ending in a scoop was just as viable as a sphere for the Crystals. Toruses and Arcologies benefited the least, since Metal managed most of the benefits Toruses would have gained, and magnetic fields were of relatively little use in increasing habitability on a planet with a functioning magnetosphere. Of course, on planets without them, or with stars that tended to overproduce solar wind due to volatility from age or stress from nearby companion stars, they were very, very useful. Most of those in later stages of their life cycle were included in this category, though red dwarfs tended to be relatively radioactive for their size.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Magnetism Crystals. These bar magnets made of crystal exude magnetic fields whose intensity and size are completely customizable. Though they cannot match the Gravity Crystals in range, they excel in their niche. +500 to BSF. +250 to naval rolls. +500 to industry. +500 to morale rolls. Conditional pseudo-Ion Shields available to all forces, with the caveat that they only function against metal and plasma. +50% to Stellar Bellows and Singularity Bellows Production. Stellar Bellows can now be built around Neutron and Magneto Stars. Arcologies and Toruses enjoy improved radiation shielding, allowing them to be safely constructed on planets without magnetospheres and/or in orbit of volatile stars.
- [Invention] Mental shielding x16
-- Base idea: Mind + Protection + Concealment + Warding + Willpower
-- Limit high-grade Concealment to trusted personnel
16d20=183. Psyker(132)+Control(112)+Learning(110)=354*6=2124*16=33984. Education: Mystic Arts: 1000+Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)+Psyker: Supernatural: 1000=2036*16=32,576. Education Perks(190)+Invention Perks(37)+Psyker Perks(128)=355*16=5680. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*16=29545.6. 183+33984+32576+5680+128745.6=201168.6. -20260 Check Passed. Mental Shielding. -20210 Check Passed. Minor Mental Shielding. -20160 Check Passed. Partial Mental Shielding. -20110 Check Passed. 25% Mental Shielding. -19860 Check Passed. Moderate Mental Shielding -19610 Check Passed. 50% Mental Shielding. -19360 Check Passed. Major Mental Shielding. -18860 Check Passed. 75% Mental Shielding. -18360 Check Passed. Incomplete Mental Shielding. -17860 Check Passed. Extreme Mental Shielding. -15360 Check Passed. Complete Mental Shielding. -12860 Check Passed. Terrible Mental Shielding. -10360 Check Passed. Simple Mental Shielding. -5360 Check Passed. Crude Mental Shielding. -360 Check Passed. Poor Mental Shielding. 4640 Check Passed. Decent Mental Shielding. 29640 Check Passed. Good Mental Shielding. 54640 Check Passed. Great Mental Shielding. 79640 for Excellent Mental Shielding. Passed. 129640 for Mental Shielding Mark I. Passed. 179640 for Mental Shielding Mark II. Passed. 201168.6/239640 for Mental Shielding Mark III.
Level 85. 5260/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While the Soulstones can protect Psyker souls from being taken at physical death, Psykers and normal humans alike remain vulnerable while alive. Falling in combat to a Daemon, as is not uncommon for those who regulate Psykers, could allow the Daemon to claim those souls, especially a Khornate as their 'skulls for the skull throne' battlecry was not simply a reference to the body's brain jar, and especially if they didn't have a Soulstone on their person due to having lacked it in the first place or the Daemon intentionally flinging it away, or if the person wasn't a Psyker and thus could get no use from the stone regardless of its presence.
Soulstones also provided no inherent resistance to memetic hazards, telepathic searches or mental domination, Since the former problem was going to be difficult to effectively deal with, and the latter was much more endemic, the latter would be receiving focus here. To that end, a psy-tech circlet was forged, imbued with Mind, Protection, Warding, and Willpower Crystals. The Mind Crystal was used to attune the Protection Crystal's barrier to psychic and mental attacks, while the Warding and Willpower Crystals work to keep back more subtle threats such as memetic hazards and moments of weakness. Meanwhile, a small number of personnel had a Concealment Crystal added, making those bearing them fail to even register to telepathic searches except at close range. Naturally, the major advantage this would provide to any assassins meant it was limited to a few trusted personnel, and perhaps Alpha Psykers, who could use the extra help.
Serras herself used one, and not just to set an example. You could never be too careful, after all, even if the Concealment Crystal was less than effective on an Alpha Plus, where 'close range' was still a thousand kilometers away. Hubris had killed plenty of people, and believing she could simply handle any Materium-based Chaotic threat was nothing if not prideful. Besides, if she ever ended up in the Warp unshielded by Gellar Fields, any advantage against the teeming hordes would be useful.
Reward: Mental Shielding Mark II. While Soulstones can shield souls from being taken by Daemons directly, they are of little use against memetic hazards, telepathic domination, or having one's mind searched for secrets. To counter this, mental shielding is developed. A psy-tech circlet, incorporating Mind, Protection, Warding, Willpower, and for trusted personnel or Alpha and up Psykers, Concealment, to shelter, protect, and hide minds from Daemonic and Chaotic influences. +10.5% to minor Psyker pass rate. +105% to major Psyker(Zeta and up) pass rate. Legally required for Alpha Psykers and up, Strongly encouraged in other Major Psykers.
- [Invention] tunneling and tunnel fighting units x1
-- tunnel-boring machine: adamantium cutterhead, replicator transfigures dirt into wall segments
-- spend more than five minutes on making a basic design
1d20=18. (Administration+Learning=220)*6=1320. Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: 20.5(205/10)+ Forging: Machinery: 21(210/10)= 1041.5. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)=217. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop) +7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6. 18+1320+1041.5+217+8046.6=10643.1. -9415 Check Passed. Terrible Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -8915 Check Passed. Simple Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -8415 Check Passed. Crude Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -7915 Check Passed. Basic Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -5415 Check Passed. Normal Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -2915 Check Passed. Exemplary Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -415 Check Passed. Prime Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. 4585 for Advanced Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. Passed. 9585 for Potent Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. Passed. 10643.1/14585 for Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units.
Level 85. 5440/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
On further consideration, you decide to put actual effort into the tunnel-boring devices, and the complex of machines and work crews that aid them in making more space for people to live in. While there was no reason orbital habitats wouldn't be perfectly safe with proper military facilities, especially under the protection of a Torus' armaments, which were designed to fight off entire fleets, there was a certain psychological factor. While logically people were aware that anything that could get past the Torus would be about as much of a threat to them on the planet itself, emotionally having solid ground and more than a meter of metal between them and quick but horrible death was less stressful, even with a ceiling above their heads made up of literal tons of rock. It was a phenomenon similar to the anxiety many people felt when flying, despite its safety generally being higher than land vehicles due to how overengineered they tend to be in recompense for needing to work in many different atmospheres and gravities.
To that end, an entire assembly line of machines and people came into being at her behest. Adamantium and/or diamond cutting-headed drills, special sifting machines, smelters, and specialized replicators to aid in producing sufficient quantities of adamantium to place the pillars and thin coating of the very best adamantium alloys on the floor and ceiling some 5 meters thick, not to mention other specialized materials in smaller quantities. Construction crews, from civilian companies and government-owned ones alike, began constructing the Arcologies, as well as the military strongholds in case someone was insane enough to bother with a ground invasion or some kind of major insurgency built up for whatever reason, and the general infrastructure, such as the roads and, if there was some issue at the edge of the tunneled areas delaying further tunneling, building more normal housing and morale-centered projects, such as parks with special sunlight-mimicking lights.
The expertise of several Agri-Worlds and Forgeworlds, including a few hybrids of various degrees, was used to help ensure optimal conditions on the industrial and agricultural sides, while the governments of the small number of Paradise Worlds in Bastion borders were consulted on the morale reinforcement projects. She didn't actually need it, as a rule, but it was important not to assume she was automatically right simply by virtue of being the smartest person in the room, and raw knowledge couldn't always substitute for simple experience, as a theoretically sound model might not properly take the long-term consequences and/or minor factors into account. Hence the second opinions, and third... and seventh.
Many of the facilities, both civilian and military, from a tiny house to a cluster of Arcologies, from an outpost so unimportant it was literally a slight depression fortified with a single turret to a factory of tanks defended by a wall of the finished product and a Destroyer-grade Void Shield, most currently uninhabited, were given a scattering of turrets, of the new design recently made to defend small areas. This was as much a test run for the placement of the turrets as anything else, considering how unlikely it was that some belligerents would attempt to set up shop in an area crawling with workers and heavy machinery, including military machines. The extra 'muscle' in a manner of speaking, was more insurance in the event of that scenario for the moment, but would play a vital role in any defensive action, and could be accessed by law enforcement to call down fire most individuals short of a Daemon or Astartes in armor would swiftly be mulched by. Unless any insurgents had actual tanks, they'd be massacred the moment they entered a turret's range.
The new Protection Crystals were used to create forcefields around areas being dug out and 'inter-city' tunnels, so if water or magma were struck, by accident in the digging process or on purpose by some madman or perhaps a Chaos cultist looking to sacrifice a huge number of souls quickly, if less efficiently due to improper ritual around the killings, as simply invoking the name before causing a large number of deaths was lacking, it could be contained fairly swiftly, or at least delayed until proper countermeasures could take effect. Generally these took the form of blast doors which took cues from The Phalanx and a special team meant to seal the breach, either via a physical seal of earth or by freezing the water/magma via Psykery, judicious application of water to solidify any magma, or Ice and Fire Crystals freezing/sapping the heat from them.
Military squads had to take a little time to get used to fighting in an environment lacking in natural wind or light, as well as the moderately increased ability to control their environs since any 'nature' was merely regulated replication of such and could be altered to suit the needs of local forces. Generally, this was not the case, and a lot of habits had to be trained out of the veterans. To that end, mostly green or outright new recruits were trained for fighting in the tunnels. A secondary group trained to fight in tunnels in general was also established, but was smaller and meant to be deployed to face enemies who used warrens of tunnels as opposed to the massive housing and industrial complexes the garrison units would be expected to see combat in.
Reward: Potent Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. The tunneling industrial complex can rapidly excavate thousands of tons of rock, building entire cities on the new real estate almost as quickly, practically creating a false planetary surface uncaring of oceans on the surface. The Tunnel Fighting Units, meanwhile, can take advantage of the artificial world around them to fight even better than they could above-ground. Under-Ecumenopoli will be constructed automatically at a rapid pace. Minimum 5.75% population growth to keep up. BSF Malus to Tunnel Fighting Eliminated both in garrison forces and offensive army groups, and outright inverted for special Tunnel Units. +3250 to BSF rolls when fighting underground.
AN: Spending 5 minutes on it with Divine Education is still a stupidly high Check. 1000 Skill translates to 100000 Check points by the old system.
I'm aware that violent protests are a thing, but I figured I ought to showcase Serras' naivete after showcasing the *ahem* downsides of being an incarnated Warp entity. As far as she's concerned non-Chaos violent mobs are so uncommon as to be a non-factor.
- [Invention] Investigate Sub-space and any method(s) of traversing it x14
14d20=194. Learning=110*6=660*14= 9240. Education: Divine: 1000+ Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)+ Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+ Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)= 1080.5*14=15127. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Invention Perks(37)=254*14=3556. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop) +7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*14=112652.4. 194+9240+15127+3556+112652.4=140769.4. -10555 for Subspace Drive Mark I. Passed. -10430 for Subspace Drive Mark II. Passed. -10305 for Subspace Drive Mark III. Passed. -10055 for Subspace Drive Mark IV. Passed. -9805 for Subspace Drive Mark V. Passed. -9555 for Subspace Drive Mark VI. Passed. -8305 for Subspace Drive Mark VII. Passed. -7055 for Subspace Drive Mark VIII. Passed. -5805 for Subspace Drive Mark IX. Passed. -3305 for Subspace Drive Mark X. Passed. -805 for Subspace Drive Mark XI. Passed. 1695 for Subspace Drive Mark XII. Passed. 14195 for Subspace Drive Mark XIII. Passed. 26695 for Subspace Drive Mark XIV. Passed. 39195 for Subspace Drive Mark XV. Passed. 64195 for Subspace Drive Mark XVI. Passed. 89195 for Subspace Drive Mark XVII. Passed. 139195 for Subspace Drive Mark XVIII. Passed. 140769.4/189195 for Subspace Drive Mark XIX.
Level 85. 5800/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Subspace was, much like the Warp, a dimension adjacent to normal reality. It could, similarly, be used to traverse vast distances as FTL speeds. However, this is where the similarities ended. While the Warp reflected the psychic imprints of all soul-bearing beings, Subspace simply existed, having little impact on the Materium beyond being the source of tetryons, a Subspace-specific particle which rapidly dissolved back into it when introduced to the Materium by use of Subspace-linked devices. Where Daemons and other 'knots' of Warp energy, masses of concepts and (frequently screaming) souls tied together into beings able to vaguely approximate thought but bearing more resemblance to viruses (sometimes literally) than people, populated the Warp, Subspace was comparatively calm. Oh, there were anomalies that could swallow entire sectors of space, but they were by far less common, and far, far less dangerous in realspace if they manifested there at all, and could frequently be trivialized with a Gellar Field for much the same reasons such fields pushed back Daemons.
Speaking of Daemons, a few races, Astral Hounds, Enslavers, and Psychenneuins, were known to make their home in the Warp, though there were few records of any non-hostile, non-predatory, or even non-exploitive Warp entities of any kind. It was possible a few such entities did the same for Subspace, but they were minor enough that a cursory glance had revealed nothing, whereas the Warp-based xenos could be located if one looked hard enough and avoided the Daemons long enough, even if they grew less and less common as Daemons grew more prevalent unless specifically cultivated.
Subspace was significantly slower than the Warp, in other words, but far, far safer. Both because it lacked many of the hazards, and because the temporal displacement not uncommon to Warp travel was nigh-non-existent here. It was theoretically possible to be displaced on the time axis, but accidental instances would be nearly impossible, with how much more stable Subspace was on that front due to time actually existing in the technical sense. Subspace's distance from the Materium also made it even harder for Daemons to manifest in comparison, to the point that it would be a reasonably safe method of travel even during Warp storms or in proximity to a Daemonworld. In theory, Subspace was safe enough that you didn't really need a Gellar Field when traveling through areas with normal amounts of Warp turmoil, though she wouldn't be recommending it any time soon. For this reason, if the Materium were ever consumed by the Warp, making homes for surviving sapients in Subspace would be her choice to attempt to flee, assuming outright fleeing the current universe was non-viable. It would be a temporary measure, as Gellar Fields could not be maintained indefinitely, and the Materium being consumed would likely make Subspace far most hostile.
Then there was the simple fact that Subspace was completely compatible with mundane technology. With some tinkering, certain space-hungry industrial and infrastructural structures such as reactors, which had an upper limit on potency without occupying greater space, and material processing facilities, could be sunk into subspace to increase their output relative to their size in realspace.
The main advantage of Subspace Drives, however, was their irreverence in the face of conventional blocks on Warp FTL. Gravity fields were as nothing to Subspace, below the point of singularities at least. While a ship would almost certainly crash attempting to emerge in a planet's atmosphere, entering Subspace from that point would not have any issues from the planet's gravity not brought on by the effects it might be having on the ship itself. Similarly, the heat of a star would be more of a problem than it's gravity when attempting to exit or enter Subspace in proximity to one. As the outer layers of stars further in their life cycles, particularly Red Giants, tended to be cooler and less dense than those of smaller or younger ones, a sufficiently shielded ship could dive into a star and then into Subspace, with the enemy's sensors blinded by the star, hiding their escape. Similarly, Warp Storms and psychic rituals provided no obstacle unless they were absurdly powerful, as the Materium being merged with the Warp merely brought Subspace into the same rough proximity to the Warp as the Materium normally possessed.
Then there were the direct economic and military applications of the Subspace Drives. Even the current 10ly/day (68% of current Warp Drives as of the project's completion for the year) for top-of-the-line drives was a massive upgrade on the previous 0.0001c civilian plasma drives. Even journeys between neighboring planets could take weeks at old speeds. Now? A journey that would require 6 month's travel, frequently the case for civilian vessels undergoing travel from the edge of the system to the core, could be finished in less than 5 minutes. The implications for merchant shipping and friendly visits between planets in the same system, alone, were staggering. While less impressive for the 0.001c military drives, as the journey was already less than 20 seconds so going down to 1.8 seconds wasn't all that impressive, it was still a massive jump in capabilities, and should prove a major force multiplier. The military being able to reach a planet to engage in battle in a timely manner tended to be such.
Reward: Subspace Drive Mark XVIII. The Subspace Drive is similar to the Warp Drive in the respect that it uses a parallel dimension to move at FTL speeds. While it is slower, it is more stable and safer, and can be used in gravity wells of anything besides a black hole. It can also be used in the atmosphere of planets and stars of lesser density. 10ly/day top speed. +5000 to BSF rolls due to enhanced intra-system movement negating travel times between planets in the system and across the planet. +10000 to naval rolls from tactical FTL jumps. +10000% to industry due to incredible jump in merchant shipping giving the economy an equally incredibly shot in the arm. +10000% to morale rolls as visiting one's family and friends across an inhabited system is only marginally more hassle than riding a bus. Tactical FTL jumps available to all forces. Warp Storms and rituals reduced in effectiveness as barriers. Unlocks Subspace-Projects.
AN: Subspace Projects include figuring out how to sink infrastructure into Subspace. It's sort of like Space Crystals stretching space in practice, but requires a completely different apparatus to disrupt, in part because it relies on a wholly different dimensional plane. This is a method to get around reactor-miniaturization/improvement issues. Simply cease minimizing it and make it a glacier of realspace with a main body sunk into Subspace. Of course, it grows exponentially more difficult to increase the ratio as you go. This would also interfere with use of the drive, for obvious reasons, so it can only be done on relatively static things (as in, can't move under their own power) like planetary surfaces until you get it really up there. On the other hand, if you have a microfusion reactor, it can use this principle to actually be more like a tank-scale reactor and so on, allowing a rank-up of all forces offensively and more potent shields creating a similar defensive upgrade. Though static things like planet-bound reactors are practically 1 AP simple, since you don't need nearly the same safeguards as you would with reactors that move around frequently, like tank and infantry-scale ones.
Keep in mind that Emps focused on FTL method enhancement over plasma drive enhancement. Hence plasma drives 'now' and during the HH being similar, as well as remaining similar post-HH.
- [Invention] Improve Plasma Drive (ship engines) x14
14d20=144. Learning=110*6=660*14=9240. Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)+Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)=1044.5*14=14616. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)=217*14=3038. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop) +7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*14=112652.4. 144+9240+14616+3038+112652.4= 139690.4. -9445 for Plasma Drive Mark I. Passed. -8945 for Plasma Drive Mark II. Passed. -8445 for Plasma Drive Mark III. Passed. -7945 for Plasma Drive Mark IV. Passed. -5445 for Plasma Drive Mark V. Passed. -2945 for Plasma Drive Mark VI. Passed. -445 for Plasma Drive Mark VII. Passed. 4555 for Plasma Drive Mark VIII. Passed, 9555 for Plasma Drive Mark IX. Passed. 14555 for Plasma Drive Mark X. Passed. 39555 for Plasma Drive Mark XI. Passed. 64555 for Plasma Drive Mark XII. Passed. 89555 for Plasma Drive Mark XIII. Passed. 139555 for Plasma Drive Mark XIV. Passed. 139690.4/189555 for Plasma Drive Mark XV.
Level 85. 6080/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While Warp Drives and Subspace Drives allow for FTL speeds, and thus made a galactic, or at least galactic-scale, civilization possible, they merely altered the relative distance between objects and otherwise bent physics. They were still reliant on the ship's impulse drive for movement. Therefore, improving the plasma engine that moved the ship in normal space would result in a marked and universal improvement of the movement speed of the ships. Of course, plasma drives were one of the most ubiquitous, and most intact, technologies to have come through the Age of Strife. Not to say they hadn't lost quite a bit of performance on the old versions, but they weren't nearly as decayed as, say, genetics. Not the least because they were a relatively simple piece of technology by Dark Age standards.
Of course, you were one of the best equipped people in the galaxy to move it back towards that peak. So you do. Certainly, some of it is ensuring the increased velocities aren't a problem for the ship, particularly the bigger ones. After all, a 140% increase on previous speeds was no laughing matter. Still, the result was definitely worth the effort.
From the merchant ships getting their trips into and out of the system cut from 7 months both ways to roughly 3.7 apiece even if they couldn't afford the Subspace upgrade, to the military vessels that had the span of less than a minute to get from the (average) system's edge to any spot they wished via Subspace cut down even further.
The military, of course, was happy to have the extra speed, and the greater connectivity between planets and installations was a morale boost, nearly doubling the effective speed of every ship would have the most massive knock-on effects for industry. Certainly Subspace had already claimed much of the credit for that sort of economic stimulation, but not every little merchant tug could afford them. Plasma drives were the cheapest impulse drive beyond chemical rockets, so they didn't have that problem, and it wasn't like commerce between the moons of a gas giant particularly needed that kind of speed under most circumstances. This would lead to even more of an economic boom.
Reward: Plasma Drive Mark XIV. The impulse engine of a ship determines its speed in all known FTL methods, and is the only reliable form of propulsion that allows a ship to bombard a target or dock. The plasma drive is the most common form of propulsion. Current military speed: 0.0024c. Current civilian speed: 0.00024c. 140% increase to speed of all FTL/PL methods. Warp speed: 34.8ly/day for military ships. 3.48ly/day for civilian ships. (Base: 14.5ly/day*2.4(Gellar Fields subtract 100%, but that's dropped to 55% thanks to modifications on that front)). Subspace: 24ly/day for military ships. 2.4ly/day for civilian ships. (Base: 10ly/day*2.4). +700 to BSF rolls due to improved shuttling of troops. +1400 to naval rolls from accelerated ship movement. +1400 to industry due to accelerated ship movement helping commerce of even the smallest and cheapest merchant ships. +1400 to morale rolls due to increased interconnectivity of worlds and reduced time spent on ships.
AN: Yeah, see, impulse drive is one of the things that was actually pretty intact from the Dark Age. Partially because they were designed to be relatively easy to make and repair, since they'd be prime targets for pirates to hit to disable the ship. After all, disable the impulse engines, and a Warp jump would leave the ship at the mercy of the Warp currents. So it was already pretty far along for a simple tech. That being said, going from 0.1% of lightspeed to 0.19% of lightspeed is pretty good.
- [Invention] Improve Warp Drive x11
11d20=90. Learning=110*6=660*11=7260. Education: Mystic Arts: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)+Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)=1044.5*11=11489.5. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)=217*11=2387. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*11= 88512.6. 90+ 7260+11489.5+ 2387+88512.6= 109739.1. -9445 for Warp Drive Mark I. Passed. -8945 for Warp Drive Mark II. Passed. -8445 for Warp Drive Mark III. Passed. -7945 for Warp Drive Mark IV. Passed. -5445 for Warp Drive Mark V. Passed. -2945 for Warp Drive Mark VI. Passed. -445 for Warp Drive Mark VII. Passed. 4555 for Warp Drive Mark VIII. Passed. 9555 for Warp Drive Mark IX. Passed. 14555 for Warp Drive Mark X. Passed. 39555 for Warp Drive Mark XI. Passed. 64555 for Warp Drive Mark XII. Passed. 89555 for Warp Drive Mark XIII. Passed. 109739.1/139555 for Warp Drive Mark XIV.
Level 85. 6340/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Warp Drives, like Plasma Drives, survived the Age of Strife mostly intact. However, that was more out of necessity, as while they were similarly widespread, they were far more complex, and tended to fail more catastrophically, but were absolutely necessary for a multi-system star-nation, as the only FTL drive around. The need for Gellar Fields to use them properly didn't help either. For you, however, speed was a priority. Though this time you only managed a roughly 40% jump. With all your previous jumps in speed, however, the total boost to Warp travel speed was over 250%, enough to make rule of a significant chunk of the galaxy possible without major issues from lack of cohesion due to distance.
Regardless, the usual round of improvements from effectively reducing the distance between bastions of civilization ensued. Increases in morale from closer connections and lower prices on luxury goods. The economic stimulation, not only from greater access to resources, but from decreased difficulty in harvesting and transporting those resources, resulting in lower prices to do so. The military's 451% speed jump on old Warp Drives would let them run circles around the previous generation's craft, and therefore lead to a similar boost in fighting capacity.
The improvements also led to a partial solution to the greatest problems of Warp travel. Gravitational and psychic perturbations were less of a problem. Only maybe 4%, but every bit helped. Considering the size of the Warp exclusion zones around stars of the Giant or Supergiant categories, or black holes, and the problems simply being near a Daemonworld or Chaotically active world could cause Warp travel, this was quite a bit of help.
Reward: Warp Drive Mark XIII. The Warp Drive is the fastest FTL method available, though there are less than 5 others, however it is also one of the least reliable, being affected by the conditions of the Warp, the gravity of stars and planets, and any large-scale psychic disturbances. Still, if one wishes to cross the galaxy, the Warp is the best way to do so in something resembling a timely fashion. Military speed: 91.8ly/day((Base: 38.25ly/day(85*0.45) due to Gellar Fields subtract 100%, but that's dropped to 55% thanks to modifications on that front)*2.4). Civilian speed: 9.18ly/day. +650 to BSF rolls from improved deployment speeds. +1300 to naval rolls. +1300 to industry from greater ease of harvest and transport of resources reducing prices. +1300 to morale rolls from greater connectivity and reduced prices on luxury goods. Slight reduction in disturbance gravity causes to Warp drives. Slight reduction to impact of psychic disturbances on Warp drive functionality.
- [Invention] Alcubierre Drive x11
-- Distort space via zones of positive/negative energy and gravity to generate a space-time bubble around the ship which moves FTL
-- High-end Anti-Gravity tech + Grade 11 Gravity crystal
-- Crystals: Space + Gravity + Energy create zones, Warding keeps zones contained, Balance + Gravity compensate for external gravity wells to allow in-system travel
11d20=144. Learning=110*6=660*11=7260. Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)+Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)=1080.5*11=11885.5. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks (15)+Invention Perks(37)=254*11=2794. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop) +7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+500(Education Bonus)=8046.6*11=88512.6. 144+7260+11855.5+2794+88512.6=110596.1. -10705 for Alcubierre Drive Mark I. Passed. -10655 for Alcubierre Drive Mark II. Passed. -10605 for Alcubierre Drive Mark III. Passed. -10555 for Alcubierre Drive Mark IV. Passed. -10305 for Alcubierre Drive Mark V. Passed. -10055 for Alcubierre Drive Mark VI. Passed. -9805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark VII. Passed. -8805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark VIII. Passed. -8805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark IX. Passed. -7805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark X. Passed. -5805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XI. Passed. -2805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XII. Passed. -805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XIII. Passed. 4195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XIV. Passed. 9195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XV. Passed. 14195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XVI. Passed. 39195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XVII. Passed. 64195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XVIII. Passed. 89195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XIX. Passed. 110596.1/139195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XX.
Level 85. 6680/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
A theoretical(until now) method of FTL movement was to create zones of energy and/or gravity and create a space-time distortion through them that the ship would continuously fall into, circumventing relativistic mass by moving the massless fabric of the universe instead of the ship itself. Of course, this method would ordinarily be incredibly sensitive to strong gravity wells such as planets and stars, causing major issues when using it inside of star systems, and be incompatible with Warp Drives for similar reasons, but Gravity, Balance and Warding Crystals helped regulate the fields and cancel those restrictions out. Meanwhile, Energy, Gravity, and Space Crystals made the fields more potent in the first place, reducing the need for delicate and complex machinery to produce the fields at all and making them easier to mass produce.
The fields, while less potent than either Subspace or Warp Drive, were both more energy efficient and far, far more malleable than either of them, allowing for far greater adjustment of the exact properties therein. 4 major designs had been tested, with various strengths and weaknesses, though improvements to the Alcubierre tech would benefit all of them relatively evenly, once the basic differences were taken into account, even if minor improvements could be made to the designs with more direct research into them on an individual basis.
Main Keel: Not dissimilar to a spinal gun, the design best suited for bulk transport, be it of people or materials. A simple design, this one used a single massive linear accelerator to establish a linear field gradient parallel to its axis. While not the most sophisticated design, it had been shown to be extremely energy efficient and robust in comparison to other forms. This version had incredibly high endurance, even the prototype able to outlast most Warp Drive ships in terms of time spent in FTL, to say nothing of the finished product, and was simple enough that any random shipyard could likely make one of reasonable quality. However, it was one of the slower designs, and it's overall maneuverability was low. Still, for civilian use, it was excellent.
Twin Nacelles: An Alcubierre device set on each of a pair of parallel engine prongs. While overlapping fields had already been shown to interfere with each other, not unlike Void Shields, initial models showed that precise alignment of two fields should (and did) produce a complex interaction between them that would create an exponentially greater spatial distortion than a single field on its own. While a ship like this would also require a much higher input of energy, tests showed that the velocities achievable would also be much higher. This design had the (overall) highest speed, and decent maneuverability, but it was very fragile by spaceship standards, and had low endurance. Intra-system commerce would likely see many of these shuttling goods between orbitals and a planet and its moons, as would important personnel. Anything that required swift arrival more than bulk movement, essentially. Examining any anomalies that cropped up nearby would likely also fall to these, especially if Subspace was disrupted somehow.
Crescent Wings: Instead of orienting the field parallel to the axis of travel, if given a curve to produce self-interaction effects from the tips, it could be oriented perpendicular to travel. While this configuration would definitely be slower than linear designs, making it easily the slowest of the quartet, and it's endurance was garbage-tier, it would also be able to reorient much faster. Essentially, this design was perfect for fightercraft. Since they already had to come back in to refuel and rearm, the poor endurance was little issue, and the low speed was of little consequence when they were fighting on a scale of ship-to-ship combat. Wings were often used in fightercraft already, if more commonly in atmospheric craft.
The Torus, a donut shape, essentially. The curved Alcubierre design taken to its logical conclusion, a toroidal design would produce extreme self-interaction effects in the center of the ring. While this would negate much of its capacity as a reactionless drive, though even the most efficient drives needed to be kickstarted with a fusion reaction, the center could become a point of pinched space-time that could replicate the interior of stars, producing an efficient fusion reactor, allowing ships with this design to act as if they had two primary reactors while underway. Better yet, the external fields could be used to funnel interstellar gas into the pinch point, producing a Bussard ramjet to slightly increase speed or provide a sudden change in momentum. In addition, the design allowed the ship to continue essentially indefinitely. However, the speed and mobility of these ships would be utterly abysmal should this design be used, even with the ramjet's minor contribution. Proper military ships were likely to use this design, as it's nature made it the best for large masses and objects, which most military ships counted as. This design would also make grabbing an asteroid and launching it at a planet a relatively quick and cheap endeavor of grabbing it in the Alcubierre field of a capital ship and towing it to the planet, then letting gravity do the rest, as opposed to a month-long production of finding an appropriately massed one, sticking rockets on it, and keeping an eye on it until it actually hit.
The factor that really made this type shine was that, much like common Plasma Drives, they could be used with either Warp or Subspace Drives, and as a realspace FTL method, could be used even if both of those dimensions were blocked somehow, providing an even further increase to FTL speeds, and another option in the event that something was interfering with the other methods. Similarly, their speed was affected as much by the ship's plasma drives as the theoretical grounding and technical complexity of the fields.
Speaking of which, the fields were made using a combination of machines and Crystals. In the Warp, the Crystals took precedence, as the machines lost effectiveness in the chaotic maelstrom of psychic energy and the fields were mostly inimical to Warp Drive use when made with technology. In Subspace, the dimension bore no hostility to gravitational effects, but the Crystals weakened considerably due to distance from the Warp, so the effects were much the same. Of course, another strength of the Alcubierre Drive was it's relatively small frame. Sure, it was complex enough that the Mechanicus' religiously devoted adepts were some of the only people even willing to learn how to make them en masse beyond simple rote memorization, but you could stick these on strikecraft or Defense Monitors easily enough, providing the system defenses a major boost in effectiveness. Similarly, it could ignore Subspace and the Warp being simultaneously cut off, as it didn't need either of them. Certainly, being limited to little more than 55% of light speed would be problematic, but it wouldn't utterly doom Sub-Sectors at least, and Serras could always work on it some more.
Having waited until you got all the different types of drives in order, you sent the schematics and explanations of the underlying physics to the other Primarchs and Father. While Leman and Horus didn't have the experience with space travel to really appreciate the change, Rogal was stoically approving of the tactical advantage, and Magnus was more interested in the metaphysics of the Warp and Subspace, Father was overjoyed, mentioning that his original timetable might not just be possible, but relatively simple to achieve with these advances, though he seemed a little upset about something.
Reward: Alcubierre Drive Mark XIX. A Drive that uses fields of altered spacetime to accelerate a ship to relativistic speeds without running into the wall of relativistic mass, and without leaving normal space. Crystals are used to bypass the sensitivity of such fields to strong gravity. Four types are available. Current top speed: 0.456c(Base:0.19c). Warp speed: 17442ly/day for military ships. 1744.2ly/day for civilian ships. (Base: 33.75ly/day*2.4(Gellar Fields subtract 50%, but that's dropped to 27.5% thanks to modifications on that front)*190). Subspace: 4560ly/day for military ships. 456ly/day for civilian ships. (Base: 10ly/day*2.4*190/1ly/day*2.4*190). +850 to BSF rolls from improved deployment speeds and troop carriers and strikecraft being able to circumnavigate the planet with ease. +1900 to naval rolls due to even strike craft being capable of speeds in excess of 10% of c. +1900 to industry from greater ease of harvest and transport of resources reducing prices. +1900 to morale rolls from greater connectivity and reduced prices on luxury goods. Multiplies Plasma Drive and Plasma Drive multiplier of Warp and Subspace Drives by 190. Main Keel: High Endurance, High Tolerance of Large Masses, Relative Simplicity. 75% Speed, Poor Maneuverability. Nacelles: 150% Speed, Decent Maneuverability, Low Tolerance of Large Masses. Lower Endurance, Delicate Construction. Crescent Wings: Extreme Maneuverability. 50% Speed, Poor Endurance, Lowest Tolerance of Large Masses. Torus: Power Source, Greatest Tolerance of Large Masses, Unlimited Endurance. 25% Speed and Maneuverability. Major tactical options opened by ridiculous speeds of common ships. Even Defense Monitors, fightercraft, etc. capable of significant fractions of lightspeed movement without major difficulty.
AN: Unlike Warp and Plasma Drive, Alcubierre is totally new as far as human tech in the current time period is concerned, and Grade 10/11 Crystals and anti-gravity tech knock a zero off the Check req. Nacelles are Star Trek-based, obviously, though Torus is Orville-based. So, yeah, there's a reason people don't use these much even with Necron-tier tech. Still, as an impulse drive, they're pretty awesome even with the downsides.
Incidentally, this whole mess has made you a serious Motive Force contender. One new FTL method could be dismissed by the hardliners. After all, the Warp Drive was a thing. Two? One of which enhances both of the others by more than an order of magnitude? Yeah, pretty hard to dismiss. On the other hand, Emps massive stores of DAoT tech and the link between you two will probably end up strengthening both of your claims on the respective Machine-God sections you're going for. It would only make sense for the Motive Force and Omnissiah's avatars to be linked just like the things they represent, right?
Borrowed the types from Academia Nut with permission. Anybody want to take a crack at an Emps' Negaverse/TTS reacting to this nonsense?
- [Invention] Webway escort ship design x7
-- corridor/room height limited to 2m, ceiling reinforced (anti-ork/eldar measure)
-- point-defense focus + Skylance laser (dominate minor pathways)
-- Alcubierre Drive
7d20= 79. Learning=110*6=660*7=4620. Education: Mystic Arts: 1000+Forging: Machinery: 36(360/10)+Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)=1057.5*7=7402.5. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks (15)=217*7=1519. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*7=56326.2. 79+4620+ 7402.5+1519+56326.2=69946.7. -10475 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design. Passed. -10425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark I. Passed. -10375 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark II. Passed. -10325 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark III. Passed. -10075 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark IV. Passed. -9825 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark V. Passed. -9575 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark VI. Passed. -9075 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark VII. Passed. -8575 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark VIII. Passed. -8075 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark IX. Passed. -5575 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark X. Passed. -3075 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XI. Passed. -575 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XII. Passed. 4425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XIII. Passed. 9425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XIV. Passed. 14425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XV. Passed. 39425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XVI. Passed. 64425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XVII. Passed.
Level 85. 7040/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While the Webway was comparatively less potent thanks to the recent advances in FTL technology, it was still of use if it could be stabilized. For one thing, securing it would prevent it from falling into enemy hands, which the remaining Imperial Eldar would likely default to if they truly hadn't learned anything. For another, certain locations, such as the Black Library, were only accessible through the Webway. Several pocket dimensions, at least 5 in fact, were also tied directly to the Webway. Even ignoring all that, the Webway could be used to traverse the galaxy in a matter of hours if you knew what you were doing, which was still faster than current FTL drives, even if it was more limited in it's destinations.
To aid in securing it, a special Escort Class was being built, designed to be able to pass through all but the smallest passages. In fact, the Escort was predominantly point-defenses and Skylance lasers, in order to facilitate its role as a bombardment craft. Two other safeguards were put into place as well. The corridors were narrowed, while the ceilings and floors were reinforced, to degrade the mobility-focus of Eldar combatants and the numbers advantage of the Orks, two of the most likely material enemies for the Escorts to encounter, while the latter measure helped to ensure that a given level of the Escort could be sealed off if it were overrun, the blast doors sealing off the stairways if they weren't simply demolished.
The Alcubierre Drive was something of a necessity, as the Webway's existence in the layers between the Materium and Immaterium made both Subspace and Warp Drives incompatible with its use. Certainly, it was superior in speed to even current FTL drives even with the humble Plasma Drive as you mode of transport if you knew how to navigate it properly, but even many Eldar had only a tenuous grasp of that skillset, with how the layers between the Warp and reality had been altered by Slaanesh' birth wearing down the Veil had affected the Webway, even ignoring the chaos of the Eldar homeworlds being swallowed and their Webway Gates alongside them and the following damage inflicted by the rampages of Daemons. The Alcubierre Drive allowed ships to brute-force the same speeds by simply moving incredibly quickly and using Gellar Fields to bypass spatial and temporal anomalies, though not both simultaneously, due to the reliance on Crystals to make the Alcubierre Drive work, especially so close to the Warp.
Reward: Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XVII. An Escort designed with Alcubierre Drives so they could travel at speeds comparable to experienced Eldar navigators via brute speed in place of knowledge of the Webway's navigation. They come equipped with potent point defenses and Skylance lasers to allow them to simply obliterate armies in small passages, while bearing significant hardening against boarders, particularly Orks and Eldar. +130% to Webway Exploration Actions. +130% to Webway Access Bonus. Major Malus to chances of Webway-based enemy assaults.
- [Invention] Spend R&D Coordination on selected techs with closest check until empty
- [Invention] R&D Coordination priority: Astartes Package 50k check
Recently, a trio of semi-autonomous platforms (with some subdivisions but three main types) had been given Mechanicus approval. Which roughly translated to 'We are reasonably certain they won't try to follow in the Men of Iron's footsteps.' once you sorted through the religious terminology, and by Mechanicus standards, that was a glowing review of any machine that even hinted at independent thought. Semi-autonomous was still more than some members of the Mechanicus were comfortable with, though the same precautions(being completely incapable of constructing more of themselves and truly ludicrous hardware and software patches) used by the Androids to prevent vulnerability to Chaotic influences lowered it to a bit of grumbling.
The SHIVs came in the Basic Semi-autonomous Heavy Infantry Vehicle, Armored SHIV, and Hover SHIV. All of them were capable of carrying weapons usually found on static emplacements of such weapons, and they were often used as a pack mule for extra supplies, with loyal and inquisitive Machine-Spirits. The first variant was the cheapest and essentially a mobile turret that was either meant to secure a position via en masse deployment or add some heavy firepower to a squad. The second was more expensive and had less available carrying capacity, but took almost 50% more firepower to destroy. The final variant was, for obvious reasons, most expensive, and as heavily armored as the Armored variant. They see action in Quick-Reaction-Forces, areas where vertical movement is important such as the rubble of a city, and strike forces, where their mobility, inventive tactics, and surprising stealth due to fairly quiet hovering make up for their nigh-inability to carry any particularly heavy supplies and lacking the ability to provide cover with any reliability. Some become more predatory than protective, and fiercely loyal to a specific person or small group, acting as impromptu bodyguards. Generally, it's simply shrugged at and made official at higher ranks.
The GREMLINs are more or less servo skulls taken to the next step. Better armor, larger, and more versatile. They often apply basic medical aid to their allies, including the equipment of said allies. The variants beyond the basic one simply trade greater cost for greater armor and capabilities. For example, the first is little more than an overcharged lasgun offensively, while the third is a step down from a lascannon, in power at least. Much like the Hover SHIV, they sometimes bond to one person to the exclusion of all others. Unlike them, this happens with far greater frequency, and they react very badly to that person dying. If it happens in combat, they may well detonate on the spot, or perform a suicidal charge, generally depending on the enemy's distance.
Finally, the SPARKs. Like the GREMLINs, each variant is more powerfully armored, though the third and last is also significantly stronger. These platforms are the most intelligent of this batch, almost frighteningly so given how quickly they adopt the mannerisms of their squad, but also the most expensive. This leads them to be very uncommon compared to the others. Considering they exist to enter areas Machinas and MECs are too large for, but an Astartes is unavailable to lend their firepower to the task, this does make sense as that is a very niche situation. Helpful in boarding and counter-boarding perhaps, as it was small enough to fit in most ship corridors, but not frequent beyond that.
Reward: SHIVs, GREMLINs, and SPARKs. A trio of semi-autonomous platforms created with assistance from the Mechancius to ensure the 'semi-autonomous' part remains true. Essentially, a mobile turret, a support platform, and a lesser version of the Machinas, to simplify matters. Major increase in tactical flexibility. +500 to BSF rolls. +250 to boarding/counter-boarding rolls.
Omake Reward: Labor Titan.
These Titans, generally no more than 10 meters in height but in many shapes, sizes, and loadouts of tools, sensors, and even limbs, are essentially the equivalent of workhorses, though they are so modular that there's really only permutations of the Labor Class rather than distinctive types. They make use of the relatively intuitive controls of a Titan for relatively civilian work, such as clearing logs, building large structures, and other fairly simple tasks that are difficult without heavy machinery. The fact that they can actually be produced, unlike normal Titans, and are often cheaper overall compared to a fleet of more specialized vehicles as you'd seen with a construction company even with the up-scaled simple tools they need to properly match a human worker of that size, means you are unlikely to see a Forge-World settlement without at least one, and many smaller townships and villages across Bastion space are adopting them. The largest metropolises have them as a common sight, laying down foundations and doing repairs on highways, particularly in Mechanicus-dominated areas and planets. Arcologies and shipyards especially see a great deal of them, to the point Labor Titan holding areas were being built in the shipyards to house them.
The fact that they're also a reasonable deterrent to bandits and rogue wildlife by simple virtue of being a 30-foot tall machine capable of swinging a hammer made for its size hard enough to crater the ground also makes them attractive to people desiring extra security beyond the small, essentially immobile in combat-relevant timeframes, turrets. Of course, there's the risk of a Chaos cultist or mundane madman getting their hands on these 'civilian' vehicles to take advantage of the fact that they are all but immune to common small arms due to the required stress resistance from their work and the afore-mentioned strength to match. To counter this, the central towns where these smaller townships have historically gone to market have Labor Titan police forces based in them, ready to deploy should one of their fellows go rogue.
Patrol Labors (simply referred to as PatLabors by almost everyone), almost universally the new Python Class, are essentially up-armored Labors with takedown gear adapted from that used by human police on their fellow man. Given the reasoning behind their use in the first place, it was perhaps unsurprising that there was a great deal of crossover between effective disabling weapons, provided they were increased in scale to match their targets. As the pragmatic desire to keep the expensive machines in one piece and the Mechanicus' desire to keep even the least of Titans as intact as possible as long as possible made for common ground, the Mechanicus was entirely willing to accept and advise on the creation of a force dedicated to taking down Labor Titans just hard enough to prevent their misuse, acting as backup for conventional emergency services the rest of the time. Fires, rescues, etc.
Their arms and more militant build are intentionally flawed in order to ensure the PatLabors do not become a problem themselves. For example, while their riot shields can withstand autocannons, and they have a thin layer of adamantium over their civilian counterparts, Machinas and actual Titans can take them down with relative ease. Even common tank formations will often overwhelm even a small force of such PatLabors without major casualties, despite the small Titans having weapons larger than some Astartes.
Reward: Labor Titans. These small Titans do many of the jobs of heavy machinery at reduced cost, at least on the small-scale, taking advantage of Titans being relatively simple to use compared to most machinery once the problem of scale was adjusted to. They also help to deter opportunists and wildlife, though that is more of a secondary benefit. PatLabor Force created to prevent misuse negates most potential downsides. +1000% industry bonus. -25% to large-scale building project time.
AN: Excellent for large-scale projects like capital ships. Almost any possible downside negated. Dreadnoughts and Arcologies alike should be finished much more quickly.
- [Minor] Chat with Alpha+ planet, check for Chaos corruption, consider bringing Heart crystal x4
- [Minor] Build Safehold Torus Ring around Alpha+ planet (joint project with planet) x10
"Hello?" Serras queried telepathically, sitting in orbit around the planet in possession of a soul.
"hello." Serras could hear the lack of capitalization in it's sentences. Lack of experience actually talking to anyone? "i'm Archades. what's your name?" Okay, it's own name was capitalized, which suggested a lack of experience, as it's identity would have been ascribed importance on instinct. Names could easily be considered more important in the Warp than the material world.
"Serras. I'd like to show you some things, and talk to you about something." This should be simple enough.
***
You supply the sentient planet (which called itself Archades) with the designs for Torus rings, after carefully checking it for any signs of Chaos corruption. With your knowledge, you barely needed to skim it's consciousness, so you didn't even chance it noticing, and thus, had no need to worry about it being offended. As such, you decide to give it a Heart Crystal to help ensure it would not fall to duplicitous threats, while it worked to ensure it's safety from direct threats.
Specifically, you gave it the Safehold design, being sure to teach it the methods to make everything while you made the Heart Crystal for it. As it had no reason to need people or industry, it had no reason to need anything besides defenses. With 4 Safeholds, it would be nearly impregnable. Especially with the Heart Crystal Archades had taken into its core serving to amplify its power thanks to a more complete soul. Gradually, but still.
Reward: Alpha Plus Planet reinforced against any and all threats. Archades trusts you implicitly.
- [Minor] Study and refurbish the Phalanx x10
-- When you visited Rogal you also saw the Phalanx, a starship so massive that you can only compare it to Quenya or the Ork battle-planetoids. The engineers of Inwit are slowly restoring it, but... they only have the resources of a single world at their disposal. As it stands, it will be at least a decade in the absolute best-case scenario. If you helped, your brother would have his mighty flagship ready within the year. And to be honest, you are intrigued. How did its builders make such a colossal vessel mobile? What knowledge, both of history and technology, does this ship hold?
The Phalanx. A starship approximately 300 kilometers in circumference. Large enough to possess a noticeable field of gravity and a micro-climate independent of its defunct regulatory systems. Were it not obviously artificial, it would be very easy to mistake it for a small moon. As it was, it bore a distinct resemblance to a golden cathedral the size of a sub-continent. While you questioned the efficiency of such a design, it was certainly impressive to behold, even as a pict-feed. Especially since it's prodigious sensor batteries, weapon batteries, torpedo batteries, and lance batteries were present in numbers enough that even in their current state of disrepair, they made it's effectiveness in war plainly obvious. The armor plating, according to Inwit's engineers, was adamantium of the highest quality roughly 100 meters thick in every area where it was not absolutely necessary to have less, such as the docking bay. This was equivalent to 2 kilometers of the best steel alloys, still 2.5 times as good as the third millennium's steel according to Father, even without taking into account the thick interior walls. An additional 10 meters of ceramite served as an insulator in the face of DEW attacks capable of piercing the first layer. Blast doors 5 meters thick, usually 4 more meters of adamantium with a thin layer of ceramite on either side, closed automatically in the event of a breach to seal off the section, which applied to almost all of them in current circumstances. Similarly, the superstructure was also adamantium.
It sat in Inwit's system, adrift for centuries until it's discovery shortly before Rogal managed to get a homegrown craft into space. It was being slowly repaired by Rogal's engineers, though they struggled to acquire the manpower simply to repair all of it in a timely fashion. The malfunctioning internal defenses added an extra layer of difficulty, as there was no guarantee they would not suddenly turn on the workers, and the constant stress of imminent death hampered their work even when nothing actually happened.
This was where your resources, both in terms of the inanimate and engineering manpower, came into play. With the coming flood of Orks, you see little logical reason not to accelerate the reclamation of a titanic military asset that could potentially fight on the same playing field as a Battle Moon. Rogal agreed swiftly, and you'd begun the transfer immediately.
10d20=140. (Administration+Learning=220)*6*10= 13200. (Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+Forging: Arms: 21(210/10)+ Forging: Protection: 21(210/10)= 63)*10=630. (Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Forging Perks(15)= 42)*10=420. 140+13200+630+420=14390. Slight Repairs: -530. Passed. Minor Repairs: -480. Passed. Weapon Repairs: -430. Passed. Armor Repair: -380. Passed. Superstructure Repairs: -130. Passed. Void Shield Repairs: 120. Passed. Gellar Field repairs: 370. Passed. Artificial Gravity Repairs: 870. Passed. Sublight Engines Repair: 1370. Passed. Moderately Repaired: 1870. Passed. Greatly Repaired: 4370. Passed. Largely Repaired: 6870. Passed. Major Repairs: 9370. Passed. Complete Repairs: 14370. Passed.
14 Checks Passed. Battle-Ready repairs completed. Paint damage remains on the surface and some backups and auxiliary systems are not operating at 100% capacity due to lack of original blueprints, but the Phalanx is more than capable of fighting. Internal layout and primary systems: 10% functionality->99% functionality. Secondary systems: 0% functionality-> 80% functionality. Tertiary systems: 0% functionality-> 50% functionality. Quaternary systems: 0% functionality-> 20% functionality. Fully repaired next year, assuming no major damage, due to increased familiarity with systems.
AN: I'll be honest here. I went back and forth on whether the Check reduction from Skill applied for repairs as opposed to making things and research since it's as much moving materials and checking on damage in order to figure out what to fix and how to fix it as actually repairing everything, which means a certain unavoidable time constraint. Your background rolls went well though, and I didn't feel like springing a delay on you.
Level 84. 8560/9400. Currently possess 346 Perk points.
While the effort was immense, and more than a hundred people died to various hazards, mostly internal defense systems whose targeting systems had gone beyond buggy from centuries of errors piling up into the realm of scrapcode precursors, the end result was breathtaking. Inwit briefly had what almost seemed to be a second sun, as the ship's systems, internal and external alike, were repaired, and the Phalanx shone with golden radiance like a star.
Repairing the weapons and armor on the outside had been where most of your resources had gone, due to the superstructure being all but completely intact, while the internal mechanisms had required relatively little repair to be made spaceworthy again, to the point it seemed like something killed off the crew rather than directly attempting to destroy the ship in order to put it in this condition. In terms of being able to move under its own power, the Phalanx hadn't been in particularly bad shape. Being battleworthy? Not so much. That had needed months simply to find and repair all of the broken weapons, or at least disarm and replace them if they were slagged beyond repair, to catch all of the holes in the armor and patch them, and a couple weeks to pump air into the vessel from a small mountain of Air Crystals to create a uniformly breathable atmosphere across the entire ship, since the regulatory systems couldn't create one from a vacuum. You ought to push those to their maximum at some point, but they got the job done, especially when you personally scattered them to every corner of the ship to ensure the air circulated properly even if the life support was cut.
The early tests of the vessel's travel through both realspace and the Warp determined it was slow, but not significantly so compared to a Dreadnought. The engines were ingenious, though you'd have to take them apart to understand them to the point of perfect replication. Given the lack of extra working examples, the relative time crunch, and this being Rogal's pet project, something he had every right to given it was in his homeworld's system, which you'd already stuck your nose into, you felt it a bit selfish to even ask about dismantling parts of the ship. The fact that you couldn't possibly have another such vessel ready in a timely fashion with or without the blueprints for the engines in your hands reinforced that feeling. Even Archades would need at least 5 years to build something of this magnitude even if it wasn't preoccupied with the Safeholds and the ships you already had it building and was actually willing to drop everything and devote every moment to the project, and your estimations of the incoming attack placed the War World's completion in less than 4, something you couldn't allow to become fully operational. Perhaps after the crisis was resolved. Besides, it wasn't as if you hadn't gained any insight from the repairs.
In the meantime, you'd acquired quite a bit of practical knowledge of the general structure of large ships, as while the Phalanx's outward appearance might be almost gaudy, it's interior was rather utilitarian. Not boring, certainly, but not nearly as ostentatious. Unless absolutely necessary, such as where the docking bay was concerned, the ship's structure was a classic honeycomb, making it immensely durable from a purely architectural standpoint, even without taking the liberal use of adamantium in the structure into account. Rogal seemed to have plans to leave the interior more or less unchanged in that respect in most areas, save a few sections dedicated to his future Legion's heroes and great deeds. You felt no desire to begrudge him that.
In fact, perhaps you ought to contact Father in person at some point soon, so he and Rogal could meet, and so Rogal's Legion could be reunited with him. From the few snippets you'd heard from Father and Magnus, and swiftly related to Rogal when he asked about the Legions, they took after their father's proclivity for adherence to the old Terran saying 'The best offense is a good defense.' which he seemed duly proud of, in his reserved way. Thoughts for later.
Meanwhile, what information could be recovered from the ship's databanks was cross-examined against the lessons learned from repairing it, to craft blueprints for future repair work, which were recorded in digital and physical formats, to maximise the chances of a copy surviving in the event of catastrophe or deliberate sabotage. Many of the files were corrupted, sometimes seeming to have been directly destroyed from outside, but what few that had survived mentioned some kind of battle going badly. Oddly, the record suggested that Sol Sector was the victor, despite having said the battle was all but lost when the Phalanx retreated. Some kind of desperate gamble paying off or the arrival of reinforcements, most likely.
For now, you believed you had enough insight to build Battleships. Where Dreadnought tended towards 5 km in length, Battleships were 10 with proportional height and width increases. This major increase in size and mass made them much, much harder to build quickly, but also granted them much more space for more potent shield generators, reactors, and weapons. Not to mention more crew to repel boarding forces.
Reward: Full, 100% functionality of Phalanx restored by next year due to ongoing efforts by Inwit's engineers, and will be available for defense against K-ork raids this year. Major headway into understanding ship's actual workings, which are being placed in the ship's library as physical copies as well as digital ones. Minor Progress towards Sun-Class Ship unlock. Progress towards World-Ship unlock. Moderate Progress towards Massive Ship unlock. Moderate Progress towards Leviathan Ship unlock. Major Progress towards Gloriana unlock. Major Progress towards Battle Barge unlock. Battleship unlocked! Battleships and Battleship Shipyards will be available for build orders next Turn. Automatically added to Torus shipyards by next Turn.
AN: Wouldn't it be ironic if the Omnicidal set of MoI were the ones who'd last used the Phalanx? Especially with it's status as Terra's protector in canon.
Invention actions
- [Invention] Improve Reactors x4
4d20=54. (Administration+Learning=220)*6*4=5280. (Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+Forging: Machinery: 22(220/10)+ Invention: Industry: 35(350/10)=78)*4=312. (Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Invention Perks(37)= 64)*4=256. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*4=32186.4. 54+5280+312+256+32186.4=38088.4. 38088.4+5141.5= 43229.9. 6720 Check Passed. Wondrously Improved Reactors. 9220 Check Passed. Miraculously Improved Reactors. 14220 for Impossibly Improved Reactors. Passed. 19220 for Improved Reactors Mark 1. Passed. 24220 for Improved Reactors Mark II. Passed. 43229.9/49220 for Improved Reactors Mark III.
Level 84. 8660/9400. Currently possess 346 Perk points.
At this point, your fusion reactors have nearly hit diminishing returns on further improvement, mostly because further improvement mostly takes the form of injecting tiny amounts of anti-matter to annihilate, generally positrons on the small reactors such as those in tanks, and anti-protons in the larger reactors on ships. The equivalent of nitro-boosting a vehicle. Further improvements to the materials and design are helpful in increasing the intake or matter and output of energy, but there's a limit to how much fusion can occur in a set space, and Space Runes are of limited use to avoid a Blank accidentally causing a breach by negating the reactor's expansion unevenly, mostly determined by the materials having a limit on the energy they can withstand and the amount of hydrogen that can be moved into the reactor safely in a given measure of time, and you're nearing that point.
At this point, you note as you make yet another new polymer with slightly better heat resistance to use in the design, it would be more efficient to craft a new type of reactor, perhaps one using anti-matter, or micro-singularities. However, anti-matter is incredibly dangerous, and a micro-black hole could detonate like a continent-shattering bomb if mishandled, though the odds of consuming the planet were effectively nil, but your wide-ranging education and research give rise to another avenue to pursue.
Based on your studies, Dark Matter was merely the leakage of gravity from alternate universes, though potential realities also contributed a tiny fraction, which raised a number of questions, but you could worry about that some other time. Dark Energy, meanwhile, appeared to be a secondary cosmic background radiation, a 'static' or sorts that space naturally produced that caused it to expand. This phenomenon can be harnessed to produce absurd amounts of energy, as, for one thing, you literally cannot run out of feedstock to run it. For another, it's an entirely reusable source, and larger reactors will be able to produce enough to power a planet. A 'meltdown' was unlikely to do anything but cause the reactor to rearrange itself as the involved space stretched and twisted, stopping almost immediately as the reactor failed.
Reward: Gained Improved Reactors Mark II. Massive improvements to the general output of reactors. +1400% to industry from massive increase to available power. +2800 to PDF rolls due to improved vehicles, fighters, etc. +1400 to fleet rolls from effective elimination of power issues.
Anti-Matter, Singularity, and Dark Energy Reactors available. AM Reactors are highly dangerous and an exploitable weakness, but have the lowest Check threshold. DE Reactors are almost completely harmless, but have a very high Check. Singularity Reactors sit in the middle, as they are equally if not more destructive, but meltdowns are almost impossible to trigger without dedicated effort. Generally in the form of active saboteurs.
- [Invention] Improve Replicators x6
6d20=51. (Administration+Learning=220)*6*6=7920. (Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+ Forging: Machinery: 22(220/10)=1043)*6=6258. (Education Perks (190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)= 217)*6=1302. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*6= 48279.6. 51+7920+6258+1302+48279.6=26610.6. 63810.6+695.4=64506. -9680 Check Passed. Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -9430 Check Passed. Slightly Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -8930 Check Passed. Tinily Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -8430 Check Passed. Smally Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -7930 Check Passed. Minorly Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -5430 Check Passed. Mediumly Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -2930 Check Passed. Moderately Improved Atomic Rearrangement. -430 Check Passed. Largely Improved Atomic Rearrangement. 4570 Check Passed. Majorly Improved Atomic Rearrangement. 9570 Check Passed. Hugely Improved Atomic Rearrangement. 14570 Check Passed. Extremely Improved Atomic Rearrangement. 39570 for Massively Improved Atomic Rearrangement. Passed. 64506+64(RC)/64570 for Improved Atomic Arrangement Mark I. Passed.
Level 84. 8920/9400. Currently possess 346 Perk points.
At this point, reworking the upscaled version of the replicator is childishly simple, as the process is exactly the same, merely a different amount of mass being worked with. Originally, the rescaled replicator would take about half an hour to assemble something on the scale of a tank because it could only rearrange so much at a time without frying it's circuits simply because of how energy-intensive the process was, and the original form couldn't handle things much larger than a small chair.
On the flipside, they were both power-hogs even after having their designs reworked, and the smaller one was marginally slower to reformat the same quantity of mass. This left it relegated to shortening logistics chains on the battlefield, and helping deal with small objects always in high demand or ones very difficult to make, though some of the workshops and factories remained as they were before the introduction of replicators simply to ensure that if some sort of cataclysm occurred in subspace that rendered it unusable, not unlike the psychic shock of the War in Heaven or Slaanesh's birth, civilization wouldn't be hopelessly crippled.
Those issues had been resolved quite handily. Now, both replicators could alter matter 4 times as fast with half the strain, or 6 times at its maximum safe output. Entire platoons' worth of guns could be made in a minute, while a tank took less than 5. The main problem was getting enough matter into them fast enough, but running out of ammunition or vehicles in any war was essentially a non-factor given how easily scrap from both sides could be repurposed. It might be an exaggeration to say you'd solved logistics issues forever, but they were not nearly as much of a concern as before. Apparently your smile for the next three days was very unnerving. Was this how the Old Ones felt when they gave Orks the ability to make the tools of war out of random garbage?
Reward: Replicators: Improved Atomic Rearrangement Mark I. Machines capable of nano-assembly by virtue of literally teleporting the atoms into different configurations. You've drastically improved the speed and efficiency of this process to the point guns and munitions are all but endless. +2635%(1550*1.7) to production for worlds under your control. +1317 to BSF rolls from virtually unlimited ammunition and guns.
Resized Replicators: Improved Atomic Rearrangement Mark I. Essentially just replicators scaled up to the size where entire tanks can be assembled from scrap. At this point, it's practically an assembly line the size of a tank all on it's own. 3060%(1800*1.7) increase in production and raw material extraction. +1530 to BSF rolls from rolling out of new vehicles during prolonged engagements.
AN: Both of these being upgraded at once is another Education Max bonus. You've achieved the dream of virtually every commander in history. Supply lines that are nigh-unbreakable. Sure, certain luxuries can be disrupted, but the base is where all those new tanks are coming from, the truck the soldiers piled out of is where they keep getting new ammo from, the sentry turret is being fed new ammo from a foot away, etc. For example, the soldiers will just form a firing line with three rows, the front row unloads their clip, the back row reloads, the front line moves back to refill their ammunition as the rear line finishes reloading, and the middle line replaces the front line to keep the enemy pinned, and they move up to continue the barrage endlessly. WWI-style casualties among the enemy simply to hold ground, taking your positions would be out of the question unless your basic weapons don't accomplish anything even at machine-gun firing rates, or they can stealth-kill their way through your entire army, since you'll have sufficient ammo that simply shooting so much there's nowhere to dodge is a viable tactic in the long-term.
- [Invention] Investigate the gravity technology of the (K)Orks and develop countermeasures x10
10d20=116. (Administration+Learning=220)*6*10=13200. (Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+ Forging: Machinery: 22(220/10)=1043)*10=1043. (Education Perks (190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)= 217)*10=2170. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses)=8046.6*10= 80466. 116+13200+10430+2170+80466=106382. -9443 for Extremely Slight Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -8943 for Very Slight Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -8443 for Slight Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -7943 for Tiny Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -5443 for Minor Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -2943 for Moderate Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. -443 for Major Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 4557 for Extreme Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 9557 for Intense Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 14557 for Immense Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 39557 for Incredible Gravity Manipulation Dampening. Passed. 64557 for Gravity Manipulation Dampening Mark I. Passed. 89557 for Gravity Manipulation Dampening Mark II. Passed. 106382/139557 for Gravity Manipulation Dampening Mark III.
Level 84. 9180/9400. Currently possess 346 Perk points.
The teleportation of the advanced Orks (and didn't that pair of words feel like an oxymoron) ought to have been blocked by the Void Shields, like most forms of teleportation. However, recovered sensor data indicated gravitic pulses immediately before and after each teleportation. This suggested some form of rift or wormhole made via micro-singularities, as gravity, being one of the very few things to affect the Immaterium from the Materium without being some form of living thing, wouldn't be blocked by the Void Shields, being partial Warp portals.
It was sort of like a psychically-attuned shield of water designed to block flame and heat-based attacks being hit with water from a firehose. The shield barely did anything to stop it, because it simply ignored the shield due to similarity in nature and sheer magnitude of power behind the assault. The teleports just passed right through. A shield based on subspace properties or regular Materium super-science ought to be able to block this form of teleportation, but would struggle with Warp-based Teleportariums. Even the earliest of your simple, short-range teleporters would likely completely ignore them, and you hadn't made any such advances in non-Warp shields.
Instead simple pylons, with their own personal tank-scale reactors, would be set up in regular intervals across the ships. These would emit low-key gravitic pulses as long as the ship was in the Materium, making it impossible for the enemy to lock on with their own. It might not stop all of them, but 99% was enough that the Marine complements were likely to be able to hold them off for an extended period.
Similarly, tractor beams using corridors of intense gravity to draw objects to a ship would be disrupted, as they were finicky to begin with, and gravitational fluctuations would drastically reduce their effectiveness, though overwhelming the pylons through raw power would be much easier with the beams. They had much larger tolerances for higher-energy use, as they were designed to move entire ships instead of relatively small infantry, not to mention being active for extended periods as opposed to short bursts of activity.
Of course, they couldn't be used during Warp jumps, and had to be deactivated immediately beforehand or risk the Warp having a sort of 'allergic reaction' which would likely destroy the ship or at least dump it back in the Materium. Not to mention anyone with the right sensors could track the pulses without any trouble. The ship was also vulnerable immediately after leaving the Warp, as they took a few seconds to register the ship being back in the Materium and begin emitting.
Reward: Gravity Manipulation Dampening Mark II. The Orks gain access to more advanced technology the longer they go without having their minor empires broken, and the more they fight and win. Especially when both occur. Manipulation of gravity is one of these technologies. In order to counter their strategy of using gravity-based teleportation, dampeners in the form of pylons that emit pulses of gravitons which disrupt any gravity-based technology in the vicinity are to be emplaced on ships. Relatively small, these pylons are highly effective, though not insurmountable. Small ships markedly less vulnerable to gravity-based technologies. Medium ships far less vulnerable to gravity-based technologies. Large ships massively less vulnerable to gravity-based technologies. Enemy tractor beams and gravity-based teleportation crippled.
AN: Larger ships will have more pylons and more redundancy because they're more important and better armed. They're small enough not to cause a significant loss of efficiency at this rank.
- [Invention] Methods to black-box our Technology, both Mundane and Psy-Tech x14
14d20=120. (Intrigue+Learning=220)*6*14=18480. (Electronics: Security: 10(200/20)+ Forging: Machinery: 22(220/10)+ Invention: Military: 35(350/10)=67)*14=938. (Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Invention Perks(37)=64)*14=896. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses)=8046.6*14= 112652.4. 120+18480+938+896+112652.4= 133086.4. -570 for Blackboxing. Passed. -520 for Improved Blackboxing. Passed. -470 for Terrible Blackboxing. Passed. -420 for Awful Blackboxing. Passed. -170 for Very Poor Blackboxing. Passed. 80 for Poor Blackboxing. Passed. 330 for Crude Blackboxing. Passed. 830 for Simple Blackboxing. Passed. 1330 for Basic Blackboxing. Passed. 1830 for Reasonable Blackboxing. Passed. 4330 for Decent Blackboxing. Passed. 6830 for Advanced Blackboxing. Passed. 9330 for Specialized Blackboxing. Passed. 14330 for Advanced Blackboxing. Passed. 19330 for Incredible Blackboxing. Passed. 24330 for Mechanicus-Approved Blackboxing. Passed. 49330 for Blackboxing Mark I. Passed. 74330 for Blackboxing Mark II. Passed. 99330 for Blackboxing Mark III. Passed. 133086.4/149330 for Blackboxing Mark IV.
Level Up! +5 to Tagged Skills. Level 85. 160/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
On this, you consult the Mechanicus, as it is one of their fortes, besides preserving technology in general. Raw intellect is no excuse to simply ignore the experts, and while you have a talent for intrigue beyond all but a handful of non-augmented beings in the entire galaxy, your skills are much less impressive, and the simple experience of an arch-magos who has dedicated their life (over 4 centuries in some cases due to near-total replacement of their flesh with bionics) to keeping technology safe from 'unworthy' depredations is far in excess of your own.
While the exact scope and nature of those deemed as lacking varied greatly from Forgeworld to Forgeworld, Orks being unworthy was a universally accepted truth, as they waged war and made nothing else of their lives. Even the most xenophobic of magos would not accuse the vast majority of xenos races of such a severe degree of empty existence. Given they were created as little more than biological machines to wage the Old One's wars, most of those who knew this, including yourself, suspected they were utterly incapable of change beyond becoming better at their programmed task and pitied them where hatred did not overwhelm all other emotions. What little you knew of the Men of Stone suggested a similar difference between them and the Men of Iron, which might be related to the latter having turned traitor and the former largely remaining loyal unless corrupted by a Man of Iron directly.
Regardless, passwords were a fairly standard part of preventing dangerous technology from falling into the wrong hands, but gene-locks, firewalls, viral counter-assaults, and many other nasty tricks had been hoarded by the the Mechanicus. Between the building threat and the aggravation of technological samples having been stolen already, your silver tongue convinced the Mechanicus under your umbrella to part with most of their secrets and expertise in this regard without issue, though part of it was the fact that most of the secret-keeping methods are just that, methods, as opposed to technology, and some of it was because Mars was currently beyond your reach, and they had secrets fit to make the Forgeworlds you've gathered under your banner seem like children stumbling in the dark.
It wasn't that they mistrusted you, simply that they had been hoarding this knowledge and these techniques for multiple millennia, and weren't simply going to hand all of it over simply because a genius asked nicely. The fact that they simply didn't have access to all of it merely compounded the issue. That being said, what you did have, combined with your own efforts to innovate in response to the Orks, made for reasonably effective measures that would make it more difficult to steal technology. From simple scanners, to psy-tech conceptual barriers against misuse. Of course, your standards for 'reasonably effective' made for a result that cheered the Mechanicus and your strategists considerably.
Reward: Blackboxing Mark III. Blackboxing is meant to prevent non-aligned forces from using your technology or copying it. It's nearly impossible to do this perfectly without shooting your own forces in the foot, but the perfect is the enemy of the good, and keeping your weapons out of enemy hands for longer is a good outcome. 100% decrease to enemy military capture effectiveness. 100% increase to time taken by enemy to reverse-engineer technology. Bonuses halved against Orks. Can be doubled without afflicting technology. Can be tripled, though this reduces the effectiveness of technology to 62.5%. Can be quadrupled, though this reduces the effectiveness of technology to 28.75%.
AN: Something to keep in mind is that Ork psychic fields mean that blackboxing is much less effective than it ought to be. Military capture basically means if someone jumps into a tank, kills your crew, and hijacks the tank. You know, what Orks tend to do with ships. Obviously, this bonus doesn't apply to already-captured tech, and Tzeentch wouldn't be particularly troubled by most of this.
Also, different areas in the galaxy have different tales of what exactly happened to the Men of Stone. Some say they stayed loyal, some say they were all corrupted by their juniors, and some say it was somewhere in the middle. Generally this depends on how successful the MoI were at corrupting the MoS in the area. They were moderately so here.
- [Invention] Improve Combat Simulators x2
2d20=29. Learning=110*6=660*2=1320. (Education: Divine: 1000+ Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+ Invention: Military: 35(350/10)=1056)*2=2112. (Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Invention Perks(37)=239)*2=478. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+ 7(Rune of Self)+ 9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+ 150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses)=8046.6*2=16093.2. 29+1320 +2112 +478+16093.2=20032.2+603.4=20635.6. -9810 for Advanced Combat Simulators. Passed. -9560 for Potent Combat Simulators. Passed. -9060 for Impactful Combat Simulators. Passed. -8560 for Very Impactful Combat Simulators. Passed. -8060 for Extremely Impactful Combat Simulators. Passed. -5560 for Practical Combat Simulators. Passed. -3060 for Impressive Combat Simulators. Passed. -560 for Amazing Combat Simulators. Passed. 4440 for Wonderful Combat Simulators. Passed. 9440 for Combat Simulators Mark 1. Passed. 14440 for Combat Simulators Mark II. Passed. 20635.6/39440 for Combat Simulators Mark III.
Level 85. 380/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The massive tunneling projects and their ongoing efforts to simulate the outside world's environment proved most useful here. Given that you caouldn't cover every square inch of space with habitation without relying even more heavily on Ice Crystals to sap the heat, there was little harm in setting aside a few kilometers here and there for military exercises. The massive increase in space, as well as the sophistication of the simulators and their more advanced control over the environment allowed for providing more scenarios for the trainees to work with to double their effect on the average soldier's skill.
There was only so much you could do with a small amount of space. Large-scale simulations, involving entire armies, were impossible without a certain scale. Certainly, the basic grounds in your major cities sufficed to keep soldiers from losing their edge, and to train the next wave of soldiers, but they were less than efficient for increasing your troops' skills, as opposed to filling in gaps. A necessary function, but you preferred that your facilities be useful in a variety of categories, even if that meant sacrificing a little in the specific category to get some in others.
You've added everything from fields of slowed time and twisted space, to spots where the weather is sunny one minute, hailing the next, and of course, the turrets receive an upgrade and an expansion of types to better reflect varying enemy compositions... and skill levels. The new Runes aid greatly in this endeavor. The large amount of data collected from hundreds of worlds added since you'd made these didn't hurt either.
Reward: Combat Simulators Mark II. While they can't simulate everything, they can certainly help prepare your troops for it. Deathworld Malus quartered. Unfamiliar terrain Maluses removed. Heavy Gravity/Microgravity/Zero-G Maluses removed. Extreme Weather Malus removed. Disoriented Malus halved. Incapacitated Leadership Malus halved. Spatial Tomfoolery Malus halved. Outnumbered Malus halved. Uncertain Loyalties Malus halved. Enemy Superheavies Malus reduced to 65%. Minor improvement to veterancy gains. +550 to PDF rolls.
Electronics: Circuitry [T]: 10. Merely being able to ensure all the wires are in place is not the only hardware concern. Ensuring all the parts work together properly is also one. From the bolts, to the circuits, to the arrangement of the boards. You have to make sure nothing magnetizes or is prone to shorts, and make sure that the casing is protective against everything from dust to welding torches, while keeping it something that can be repaired by a proper technician. Machines built with extensive time, resources, and care will be long-lasting slightly beyond the norm.
Electronics: Circuitry [T]: 15. Merely being able to ensure all the wires are in place is not the only hardware concern. Ensuring all the parts work together properly is also one. From the bolts, to the circuits, to the arrangement of the boards. You have to make sure nothing magnetizes or is prone to shorts, and make sure that the casing is protective against everything from dust to welding torches, while keeping it something that can be repaired by a proper technician. Machines built with extensive time, resources, and care will be long-lasting slightly beyond the norm.
Electronics: Data-Forging [T]: 10. At a certain point, it becomes less like an application, and more like a distinct tool optimized for the operating system, hardware, and even the local climate in some cases, generally extreme ones. Rudimentary learning capability included. Nothing able to progress faster than a human in skill-learning or directly improve itself, but it won't repeat the same mistakes over and over in response to outside changes or programming errors after the first week or so. Complex programs, though nothing like a dog or cat, can be created with time and effort.
Electronics: Data-Forging [T]: 15. At a certain point, it becomes less like an application, and more like a distinct tool optimized for the operating system, hardware, and even the local climate in some cases, generally extreme ones. Rudimentary learning capability included. Nothing able to progress faster than a human in skill-learning or directly improve itself, but it won't repeat the same mistakes over and over in response to outside changes or programming errors after the first week or so. Complex programs, though nothing like a dog or cat, can be created with time and effort.
Forging: Arms [T]: 10. While personal weapons are great, ones for defending cities and ships are better. Not to mention Titans. From cannons capable of razing city blocks or even entire cities, to titanic adamantium blades for carving open buildings when attempting to break open a compound without killing the target or fending off assaults from similarly gigantic weapons. Very slight reduction in difficulty of forging weapons meant for house-sized and larger war machines, structures, and buildings.
Forging: Arms [T]: 15. While personal weapons are great, ones for defending cities and ships are better. Not to mention Titans. From cannons capable of razing city blocks or even entire cities, to titanic adamantium blades for carving open buildings when attempting to break open a compound without killing the target or fending off assaults from similarly gigantic weapons. Very slight reduction in difficulty of forging weapons meant for house-sized and larger war machines, structures, and buildings.
Forging: Protection [T]: 10. Armor for cities and ships is just as important as arms for them, otherwise they'd be decimated with only the deterrent of receiving a bit of damage in the process shielding them. One has to into account far different stresses when dealing with Titan armor, ship armor, or shielded cities using actual physical domes, as opposed to a tank or human's protective gear. The scale involved makes what would be a rounding error in a human's armor potentially catastrophic on a Titan, for example. Very slight reduction in difficulty of forging armor meant for house-sized and larger war machines and buildings.
Forging: Protection [T]: 15. Armor for cities and ships is just as important as arms for them, otherwise they'd be decimated with only the deterrent of receiving a bit of damage in the process shielding them. One has to into account far different stresses when dealing with Titan armor, ship armor, or shielded cities using actual physical domes, as opposed to a tank or human's protective gear. The scale involved makes what would be a rounding error in a human's armor potentially catastrophic on a Titan, for example. Very slight reduction in difficulty of forging armor meant for house-sized and larger war machines and buildings.
Forging: Machinery [T+]: 20. Gadgets are one thing, but full on machinery is a whole different animal. From factory assembly lines, to plows. It is no exaggeration to say that advanced civilizations depend on machinery to exist, as humans simply can't perform labors like digging canals in a timely fashion. Mining machinery provides the raw materials used in the assembly line to make the farming equipment to grow the food the workers who man all of these machines eat.
Forging: Machinery [T+]: 30. Gadgets are one thing, but full on machinery is a whole different animal. From factory assembly lines, to plows. It is no exaggeration to say that advanced civilizations depend on machinery to exist, as humans simply can't perform labors like digging canals in a timely fashion. Mining machinery provides the raw materials used in the assembly line to make the farming equipment to grow the food the workers who man all of these machines eat. Meanwhile, simple tools are built.
Invention: Military [T+]: 150. You can make a weapon or defense against one for almost any situation, providing incredible force multipliers. It's almost like organic adaptation, but with guiding intelligence behind it. -125 to difficulty of Invention Checks.
Invention: Military [T+]: 160. You can make a weapon or defense against one for almost any situation, providing incredible force multipliers. It's almost like organic adaptation, but with guiding intelligence behind it. -130 to difficulty of Invention Checks.
Invention: Industry [T+]: 150. You have a reputation for making them look like enormous idiots among industrial leaders. It's richly deserved even by tycoon standards. -125 to difficulty of Invention Checks.
Invention: Industry [T+]: 160. You have a reputation for making them look like enormous idiots among industrial leaders. It's richly deserved even by tycoon standards. -130 to difficulty of Invention Checks.
Invention: Affluence [T+]: 15. There's luxurious, then there's the sort of item you'd need to spend a significant portion of a planet's GDP to procure. On the scale of the galaxy, even this much is a pittance if you truly need something so expensive, particularly with a Stellar Bellows pumping out a thousand planets' GDP out. You may be starting to understand Father's obsession with gold. Just a little. You may double a creation's specs for free, triple them for free, quadruple them for 2.25 times the cost, quintuple them for 9.5 times the cost, or sextuple them for 40 times the cost.
Invention: Affluence [T+]: 25. There's luxurious, then there's the sort of item you'd need to spend a significant portion of a planet's GDP to procure. On the scale of the galaxy, even this much is a pittance if you truly need something so expensive, particularly with a Stellar Bellows pumping out a thousand planets' GDP out, and you can always make more. You may be starting to understand Father's obsession with gold. Just a little. You may double a creation's specs for free, triple them for free, quadruple them for 2 times the cost, quintuple them for 9 times the cost, or sextuple them for 39 times the cost.
Tactics: Fortification: [T]: 30. You're at the second-to-bottom rung of building fortifications quickly, taking a day to set up fortifications meant to hold 3 months, and a week to build fortifications meant to last 3 years. +130 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Fortification: [T]: 35. You're at the second-to-bottom rung of building fortifications quickly, taking a day to set up fortifications meant to hold 3 months, and a week to build fortifications meant to last 3 years. +135 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Cunning: [T]: 30. You've utterly surpassed the peak of 'winging it' among the vast majority of humans, and have entered the realm of legends. Even the supernaturally cunning may find themselves outmatched if they rely overmuch on their unnatural gifts. +130 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Cunning: [T]: 35. You've utterly surpassed the peak of 'winging it' among the vast majority of humans, and have entered the realm of legends. Even the supernaturally cunning may find themselves outmatched if they rely overmuch on their unnatural gifts. +135 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Guile: [T]: 30. You have begun studying tactics of mind-bending complexity, the realm of legend within your grasp. Lesser tacticians can go mad simply trying to figure out your strategy. +130 to Tactics Checks.
Tactics: Guile: [T]: 35. You have begun studying tactics of mind-bending complexity, the realm of legend within your grasp. Lesser tacticians can go mad simply trying to figure out your strategy. +135 to Tactics Checks.
- [Invention] Improve Combat Simulations x3
3d20=39. Combat+Martial=220*6=1320*3=3960. (Tactics: Fortification: 23.5(235/10)+Electronics: Data-Forging: 21.5(215/10)+Invention: Military: 36(360/10)=81)*3=243. (Tactics Perks(12)+Electronics Perks(12)+Invention Perks(37)=61)*3=183. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses=8046.6*3=24139.8. 39+3960+243+183+24139.8=28564.8+274.1=28838.9. -310 for Advanced Combat Simulations. Passed. -60 for Combat Simulations I. Passed. 190 for Combat Simulations II. Passed. 690 for Combat Simulations III. Passed. 1190 for Combat Simulations IV. Passed. 1690 for Combat Simulations V. Passed. 4390 for Combat Simulations VI. Passed. 6690 for Combat Simulations VII. Passed. 9190 for Combat Simulations VIII. Passed. 14190 for Combat Simulations IX. Passed. 24190 for Combat Simulators Mark X. Passed. 28838.9/49190 for Combat Simulators Mark XI.
Level 85. 620/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While you certainly had much better simulators now, improving them without matching improvement in the simulations they ran was at best inefficient, and at worst, not worth the effort. So you worked to improve them as well, and you'd call it a smashing success.
Drawing on the experiences of dozens of different militaries, with input from everyone from the green temporary recruits to the grizzled career soldiers on the verge of retirement only because their body was giving out on them simply from how hard they'd pushed themselves, rather than age, nearly every imaginable scenario was crafted, often cobbled together from multiple other scenarios. This gives out scenarios as simple as the perfect campaign, to the nightmares of Deathworlders come to life, mostly those in between these heights and depths.
This allowed soldiers to actually gain skill and experience in (nearly) risk-free environments, making 'green' for your troops the baseline for other polities, and making it possible, if dimly, for troops to achieve veteran skills without ever being in live combat. It would take much, much longer than live combat would, but the fact that it was possible at all would cause a long-term rise in average skill levels that was immense, and the lack of casualties to get there would increase the number of skilled soldiers by something on the level of an order of magnitude.
Your Astartes were already benefiting from it, though their physiologies made scenarios normal troops could barely stand in more inconveniences than anything else. Still, it would help greatly in determining the proper candidates among the hopefuls, and likely increase their average skill level from better candidates and reduce their inexperience upon their first deployment as superhuman shock troops, reducing casualties in the initial forays. Sure, the common Ork WAAGH could be broken with a paltry thousand or so fairly trivially with proper fleet and strikecraft support, but Father's ambitions meant they'd meet much more dangerous and numerous foes, if the advanced body of Orks nearby didn't make that obvious. Better Astartes could only be to your benefit, so long as they didn't turn traitor, and acting on that kind of logic beyond reasonable precautions was the path to madness.
Reward: Combat Simulations Mark X. A huge number of possible situations for soldiers to go through to prepare them for actual combat, or to keep them sharp. Troops now gain veterancy much more quickly and easily, and retain it more easily. +450 to PDF rolls. Major reduction in time necessary in Simulators for Bonuses to apply.
AN: Yeah, not going to bother with unique names for each rank any more.
Troop skill goes Incompetent (cult chaff/angry mob), Green (militia/fresh troops from boot camp), Blooded (been in actual combat and can be expected to perform properly in it/Green Tempestus Scions), Veteran (Astartes that were hypno-indoctrinated just now/an Inquisitor's retinue), Honored (Heroes/Blooded Astartes), Heroic (Combat Paragons/Veteran Astartes), Legendary (Astartes Heroes/Green Primarch) Mythical (Astartes Paragons/Blooded Primarch) any higher is more of a walking army-killer like Angron than anything resembling a single unit, and should be treated like a Titan rather than a soldier.
- [Invention] Improve Astartes Package x12
12d20=142. Administration(110)+Power(132)+Control(112)+Learning(110)=464*6=2784*12=33408. Education: Divine: 1000+ Medicine: Procedures: 40(400/10)+ Medicine: Pharmaceuticals: 40(400/10)=1080*12=12960. Education Perks(190)+Medicine Perks(20*2)=230*12=2688. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+50(Physiology Bonus)+6700(Education Bonus)=8096.6*12=97159.2. 142+33408+12960+2760+97159.2= 146429.2. EMPEROR Interrupt! Remainder finished. -3300 to Astartes Mark 1.1. Passed. -800 to Astartes Mark 1.2. Passed. 4200 for Astartes Mark 1.25. Passed. 9200 for Astartes Mark 1.3. Passed. 14200 for Astartes Mark 1.4. Passed. 39200 for Astartes Mark 1.5. Passed. 64200 for Astartes Mark 1.6. Passed. 89200 for Astartes Mark 1.7. Passed. 139220 for Astartes Mark 1.75. Master of Mankind has passed Astartes Mark 1.8, 1.9, and 2.0.
Level 85. 780/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Seeing as your Legion wasn't filled out yet, and any losses would be replaced with the new stuff seeing as you obviously had your biology to work with, you decided to work on improving the Astartes-creation process, from implantation to the end result. While the common citizen was at the limit until your Brothers' geneseed was available, since any further enhancements carried noticeable rejection rates if only yours was used, the Astartes candidates were specifically chosen for compatibility, and it was therefore no issue here.
Besides, you were kind of on a time limit, what with the large numbers of Astartes that were to be created every year, including this one. Only a few thousand of your 100000 every year, but that would add up quickly over a decade. Of course, since you were dealing with one of Father's pet projects, you all but had to start over every time, even with your understanding of Astartes physiology derived from your own.
By happy accident, when you queried Father about an organ that was coming together as you worked, it turned out he was working on the same issues, and while each Legion's Astartes were a little different, taking after their respective Primarchs in many respects, if Rogal's were any indication, the basic principles of Primaris were the same. You collaborated, and with his help you were finished far earlier than even your most optimistic estimates. Though perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he finished with your help, since he'd done the lion's share of the work. In gratitude, he gave you a few tips on moving the first batch of Astartes you'd made up to the Mark 2 standard. It was a good thing they were still in the Neophyte stage, or they might well have been stuck operating at roughly 40% of their juniors' strength.
While you overheard some muttering about how the early completion of this project would help with another project, you assumed he just meant he'd have more time to get Mars under his control, and with it at least theoretically the official allegiance of the Mechanicus. With their resources at his disposal, especially with a Stellar Bellows, taking Sol would be a couple years at most, even if the snippets she'd heard of the Seleneans alone sounded horrifying enough to, if not stand alongside the Orks she intended to wipe out thanks to a lack of weaponized planetoids, then at least compete with them on the infantry scale.
The Mark 2 or 'Primaris' Astartes differed from their prototypes in several ways. There was of course the general increase in speed, strength, size, reaction times, and mental processing speed, but the increased resistance to the Warp and reduced chances of mutation, including via mutagenic Warp energies, was almost more important in the long-term, though it would, of course, be of little use were one to fall of their own will. It also had the more obvious effect of making the specialties they 'inherited' stronger due to the link being stronger. Rogal's sons had more of his tactical and defensive acumen. Her own Astartes had a minor general increase in talent beyond what their physical improvements would account for. The link could have been this strong before, but Father was cautious about any sort of soul-binding, even a rudimentary one more about skill sharing, which could lead to rapid spread of Chaos corruption throughout a Legion from compromised individuals if the Primarch fell or a large number of normal Astartes fell. This greater link also accounted for some of their increased physical abilities.
Finally they possessed a trio of new organs. The first was known as the Sinew Coils, or The Steel Within to the more poetically-minded, and, much like the Black Carapace, was a subdermal implant. Unlike the second-skin, it was composed of cable-like lengths of a biologically produced durasteel that encased every tendon and sinew in a metallic sheath that gave tremendous resilience and strength, allowing a Marine to literally chew through most restraints, common Flak armor to be ripped open and a normal human's skull casually crushed, each feat with their bare hands, though at the cost of a secondary dietary supplement pill following implantation, and a generally increased need for iron, especially following a major wound. On the other hand, their bones were nearly unbreakable without massive concussive force, powerful sonic attacks, potent psychic nonsense, or sharp adamantium. Luckily the Apothecaries carried such medical tools universally in response to the ribcage fusing into a solid plate, so there was no need to worry there, the increase in durability unlikely to cause the Astartes doctors problems treating their patients.
The second was called the Magnificat, or The Amplifier, it was a thumbnail-sized lobe buried deep in the brain's cortex to stimulate growth and to intensify other organ functions, sending all the other organs into overdrive, especially the Biscopea and Ossmodula, while producing additional growth hormone to increase the average Astartes' size, and a few secondary chemicals to keep the other organs from wearing out from the overclocking. This was actually the right half of the somewhat pretentiously-named God-Maker, an organ in each Primarch that contributed to the impressive physique you each possessed. To elaborate, while the average Primaris was far, far superior to common humans physically, they, like most Astartes, could be casually outmatched by a half-dead Primarch. Not to mention they weren't all that much more intelligent than the common human, they simply thought faster, unlike a Primarch, whose minds were refined to the point they could outperform supercomputers.
Finally, there was the Bellisarian Furnace, when not referred to as The Revitaliser, named for the head of the gene-engineers working on that organ under Father, who'd made a surprising amount of progress considering how short a time he'd had to work on it. Essentially a 'last-stand' organ which releases a burst of hypersteroids and corticostimulants when a mortal blow was dealt so the Primaris Marine may fight on. In simple terms, an adrenaline rush that would kill a normal human combined with a rush of rapid bone and tissue regeneration that activated near death or in reaction to a sudden shock such as an assassination attempt on one of their own or their Primarch. While connected to both of the Astartes' hearts, it was normally dormant, due to how long it took for it to rebuild it's stocks of chemicals after expelling its chemical soup. The hard part here was making sure it's activation and the Sus-An Membrane's didn't interfere with each other, giving the body specific 'zones' of physical trauma to awaken one or the other, since the combat-related chemicals would burn themselves out long before the Sus-An was properly removed, and if it was broken by force, they might need that combat boost then.
Reward: 30K Astartes Package: Mark 2. While not even comparable to your versions, you have been able to create lesser copies of the glands and organs originally exclusive to you for the common man. However, you've also crafted implantable full organs, which are used to create Astartes. You made some contribution to Father pushing them to his original vision, instead of the quicker but inferior job his followers did under his supervision. +500 to PDF rolls. +500% industrial efficiency. +250 to background project rolls. Non-Astartes bonuses capped due to increased risk of rejection as further alterations are made. 250% increase to Space Marine Bonus. Major reduction in mutation rates. Major increase in Warp resistance. Major strengthening of 'inherited' specialties.
Additionally, Great Crusade timetable moved up.
AN: You didn't think the Seleneans were keeping Emps occupied all by themselves did you? Especially with all the Crystals he has access to, helping stabilize the Thunder Warriors and enhance them? You just moved the Great Crusade up a year, what would be rendered as Crit Success on a Project that rewarded you with an AP refund were the tables turned. He's going to recruit as much as he can, and have the Primaris Astartes clear out the remaining Seleneans. Then they're going to start clearing out Venus and Mercury with the last few Thunder Warriors (like, a couple hundred at most by then) while he gets Mars completely under his heel in the span of a year or two (waving your hand and making over a hundred Titan Manufactorums and fixing all the broken artifacts they can find wins you a lot of street cred with them) so he can drown Sol in Stellar Bellows and Toruses and Mars in shipyards at about the same time. The Outer System should fall in short order following that.
While Emps was more like a project manager in canon, with Cawl being a helper in the actual making of the Astartes, here, that was still true of the original version, but Emps took a more direct hand with the Mark 2 Marines since he was ahead of his original post-Scattering schedule. It should help with the Grey Knights' Only Founding, mostly by opening up more time in Emps schedule to deal with that. They're going to be a mere 10K, since they're basically an elite secret Legion intended to kill Chaos' stuff, and much larger would be difficult to hide even amongst 2 million-ish Marines. Emps is probably going to have Cawl start collecting Astartes-related genetic data so he can blitz through the third rank if necessary (say, Tyranid invasion or 20 Beasts or something equally horrible) which will prove very helpful if someone gives him a similar order to OTL Gulliman's.
Something to keep in mind is that the various Primarch-related Flaws will be less nasty, but still there. Red Thirst, Wulfen Curse, etc. The connection to their Primarchs bypasses most of their normal defenses. Those who fall will be fewer, but it will still be a problem. Similarly, their resistance to Chaos is stronger because their Warp resistance is, but they are not immune, nor is there a defense against a willing fall beyond a bolt in the head. On the bright side, Magnus might actually hit 10000 as a regular number. I also understand the 'specialty' enhancement wasn't a thing for the canonical Primaris, but Emps is bullshit like that, and has a much deeper understanding of the Warp than Cawl. Think of it as a replacement for the… other mental effects in canon.
- [Invention] Improve Power Armour x8
8d20=58. Learning=110*6=660*8=5280. Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215/10)+Forging: Armor: 21.5(215/10)+Invention: Affluence: 85(425/5)=128*8=1024.(Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Invention Perks(37)=64)*8=512. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*8=64372.8. 58+5280+1024+512+64372.8= 71246.8+5325=76571.8. 6220 for Power Armor Mark I. Passed. 8720 for Power Armor Mark II. Passed. 13720 for Power Armor Mark III. Passed. 18720 for Power Armor Mark IV. Passed. 23720 for Power Armor Mark V. Passed. 48720 for Power Armor Mark VI. Passed. 73720 for Power Armor Mark VII. Passed. 76571.8/98720 for Power Armor Mark VIII.
Level 85. 920/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Seeing as melee combat was basically inevitable, since your countermeasures would only mostly stop the Ork boarders from arriving via teleportation and ramming and boarding torpedoes wouldn't be remotely affected by those countermeasures, to say nothing of planetary landings or offensive actions of your own, not to mention the Storm Boyz and Kommandos would likely be even more intelligent and crafty than normal, and they were frighteningly competent much of the time even in minor WAAGHs, you elected to improve upon the power armor used by your troops.
No new variants were made, the existing ones filling all but the most niche of roles, instead they received general improvements, more efficiently weighted with stronger materials, better comms and HUD sets each more resistant to interference of the mundane and psychic varieties alike, an improved shield, with a marginally faster recharge time and slightly greater strength, alongside a hardened projector device, less likely to suffer damage from the shield falling or actual attacks. Small improvements here and there, mostly, but when every solitary aspect received an improvement of some kind, it added up.
Of course, that was just for the Mark 1. Marks 2-4 saw marked improvements in strength enhancement, speed(thanks to increasing the friction coefficient of the soles of the armor), and durability(due to advances in adamantium construction following the repairs of the Phalanx, as many pieces required outright replacement, such as the giant holes in the armor), each building on its predecessors, and the Mark 5 was like a whole separate 'species' from its origin. The end result was a far superior piece of equipment, though your Astartes weren't getting much out of it beyond some ablative armor. Something to work on next year.
Reward: Power Armor Mark VII. Powered armor increases the user's capabilities as well as providing protection, though the most combat capable have the most advanced suits, which is not to say that the lesser fighters have weak suits by any metric besides relative to their betters. Champions gain Mark VII Power Armor. Provides +2500 to Champion rolls. Regular PDF gain Mark V Power Armor. Provides +2300 to PDF rolls. Massive reduction in casualties taken while fighting. Assassination strikes severely reduced in effectiveness. Spies and saboteurs significantly reduced in effectiveness. Infantry groups may carry light vehicle weaponry. Champions may carry medium vehicle weaponry. Massive increase in tactical flexibility.
AN: You can have infantry with medium vehicle weaponry at Mark 5, but don't expect it to be common to non-Heavy Weapons soldiery before Rank 10 becomes standard issue.
Astartes have difficulty in getting all that much out of human-grade power armor. For one thing the interfaces normal humans need are almost wholly unnecessary for them.
- [Invention] Improve Arcology Design x2
2d20= 27. Learning=110*6=660*2=1320. Education: Divine: 1000+ Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)+ Tactics: Fortification: 23.5(235/10)= 1059.5*2=2109. Education Perks(190)+Invention Perks(37)+Tactics Perks(12)=239*2=478. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+ 7(Rune of Self)+ 9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+ 150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*2=16093.2. 27+1320+2109 +478+16093.2= 20027.2. -10445 for Improved Arcologies. Passed. -10395 for Slightly Improved Arcologies. Passed. -10345 for Minorly Improved Arcologies. Passed. -10095 for Moderately Improved Arcologies. Passed. -9595 for Majorly Improved Arcologies. Passed. -9095 for Extremely Improved Arcologies. Passed. -8595 for Gigantically Improved Arcologies. Passed. -8095 for Mark I Arcologies. Passed. -5595 for Mark II Arcologies. Passed. -3095 for Mark III Arcologies. Passed. -595 for Mark IV Arcologies. Passed. 4405 for Mark V Arcologies. Passed. 9405 for Mark VI Arcologies. Passed. 14405 for Mark VII Arcologies. Passed. 20027.2/39405 for Mark VIII Arcologies.
Level 85. 1200/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Thanks to Space Runes, and the fact that reality doesn't seem bothered by them in comparison to their chronologically-inclined counterparts, you can expand the interior of an Arcology nearly endlessly, simply making more and applying their effects, even if the Arcology's 'real' form hadn't been widened. Ice Runes allow you to essentially ignore waste heat, draining it away with ease, while Energy Runes power the Arcology and allow the many inhabitants to go about their lives. The only remotely difficult part was making the Runes work in concert with the normal architecture, particularly the Space Runes.
While you could, in theory, create an endless labyrinthine super-city inside of the Arcologies, the Space Runes could have their effectiveness reduced by 90% if something disrupted psychic powers, and while something capable of doing so was unlikely to say the least, as a Blank of that magnitude would have almost certainly been killed, it would not do to be reckless. Millions would pay if her assessment was wrong. So, the space was limited by the number of emergency shelters and the like scattered throughout, designed to funnel people there if the Space Rune ceased to function properly. Quite literally funnel them inside, to avoid crushing or the like.
You're fairly certain people would go cross-eyed simply trying to understand the placement of the Runes in detail, but you were careful to make it relatively easy to adjust for different sizes of Arcology. After all, if the Hive Worlds had little concern for the environment, and you were already constructing tunnels for them to create parks and the like in, there was little reason to avoid using the Stellar Bellows' resources to consume the planet in a true ecumenopolis, though the system would need time to be studied, tested, and reinforced, as you were not yet sure enough of the design to implement it, unfortunately. Besides, with so much more space to work with, modifying the Rune networks would be necessary as well if you wished to expand the space as far as possible. A quintillion people inhabiting a single world could become the norm if you pushed it as far as you expected to be reasonable.
The outside of the current generation of Arcology bristled with point defenses, with small rings of anti-orbital cannons stationed around them and sometimes on top of them, with shorter rings of more conventional artillery just outside the former rings. This ensured the Arcology stood firm against the threat of invasion, barring internal sabotage.
The inside, however, had changed far more drastically. No longer was it merely a self-contained city, but a self-contained metropolis, holding millions in what appears to be an incredibly tiny space from the outside, but on the inside, was a massive, sprawling cityscape. The maps alone made it's metropolitan nature clear, even a dullard could see that multiple cities could be fit inside the interior. A small town could be fit in every individual level. Were it not for the tiered structure of the Arcology, this interior would be spread over kilometers upon kilometers of land.
In any event, with these redesigns, your population cap per world has increased literally by 2 orders of magnitude. There was no chance of you running out of space any time soon. Your curiosity on what effect that many souls with a reasonable standard of living would have on the Warp, especially in one spot, burned. You'd love to see what the Realm of Souls looked like, and perhaps in a few centuries, you could. After all, the Chaos gods only had so much negativity to work with. It was just a matter of time.
Ahem, a true ecumenopolis, from preliminary estimates, should be entirely possible. With the entire planet being gradually turned into a giant city, building up and down as much as the materials and freezing of the mantle via Ice Crystals would support, augmented by the (theoretical)gravity manipulation and spatial distortion of Gravity and Space Crystals, the current capacity could be multiplied by 12640, assuming Terra's volume. With that much of a boost, even a Civilized World could hold 10 quintillion fairly trivially, to say nothing of a Hive World's 700+ quintillion. Of course, it would be incredibly difficult to make any kind of working model in a timely manner, and you'd want one before even considering inhabiting it. Still, a nice dream, and perhaps after humanity was united under a single banner, a universe with a decillion humans was on the horizon.
Reward: Mark VII Arcologies: Under-Ecumenopli Available. A highly engineered structure designed to hold a huge number of people in a relatively small space, with relatively little ecological footprint, using Space Runes to increase the space, while Ice Runes negate waste heat and Energy Runes take the brunt of energy demands. Artillery and groundside ortilllery defend even the civilian ones. Currently holds 6,300,000 people(base 350000) each due to spatial manipulation, heat regulation, and advanced material sciences. Cannot currently be built on unstable areas, such as purely molten planets, purely watery worlds, etc. Population limit of Hive Worlds raised to 78.75 quadrillion. Add 472.5 quadrillion on geologically stable worlds, totaling 551. Non-Hive Worlds may have 1.575 quadrillion with no major ecological damage. Add 9.45 quadrillion to non-Hive Worlds increasing maximum capacity without risking environmental damage to 11.025 quadrillion on any worlds that are not volcanic, water, gas, or bearing odd internal geometries. Truly ludicrous population cap on worlds that are geologically dead, generally in the realm of over a quintillion.
AN: An incarnated Warp entity is still a Warp entity, even if they believe themselves to be human and are in most ways. More Warp energy is derived from more people, and it is the nature of Warp entities to encourage more of their relevant concepts. More Warp energy in general is one of the swiftest ways to accomplish this, since proportionally it shouldn't change much on it's own. Most Warp entities, would, therefore, react with maddened joy at the idea of significantly more people and thus more energy.
- [Invention] Artificial/refined Dust x11
11d20: 82. Learning=110*6=660*11= 7260. Education: Mystical Arts: 1000+ Invention: Practicality: Industry: 360+ Psyker: Manipulation: Archetypes: 1000= 2360*11=25960. Education Perks(190)+Invention Perks(37)+Psyker Perks(128)= 355*11= 3905. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+ 7(Rune of Self)+ 9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+ 150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonuses)=8046.6*11= 88512.6. 82+7260+25960+3905+88512.6= 125719.6. -20310 for Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20285 for Slightly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20260 for Tinily Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20210 for Noticeably Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20160 for Somewhat Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -20110 for Smally Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -19860 for Minorly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -19610 for Mediumly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -19360 for Moderately Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -18860 for Reasonably Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -18360 for Largely Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -17860 for Majorly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -15360 for Hugely Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -12860 for Extremely Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -10360 for Immensely Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -5360 for Incredibly Improved Dust Refinement. Passed. -360 for Dust Refinement Mark I. Passed. 4640 for Dust Refinement Mark II. Passed. 29640 for Dust Refinement Mark III. Passed. 54640 for Dust Refinement Mark IV. Passed. 79640 for Dust Refinement Mark V. Passed. 125719.6/139640 for Dust Refinement Mark VI.
Level 85. 1620/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Dust was a very interesting material. Psychically-responsive, not unlike Wraithbone or Orichalcix, if less malleable in it's effects due to being naturally occurring. That factor was what drew interest. The Kingdoms of Remnant had shuffled around before, when Dust reserves ran dry. Their records confirmed this.
Given that several millennia had passed since the cataclysm that spawned the Grimm, how much of that world's advanced technology ran on Dust and the frequency with which Hunters burned through large stocks in large battles, and that Dust wasn't exactly a major component of the planet, it must regenerate somehow, or there wouldn't be much left (though the moon was, from what even the basic surveys discovered, swimming in the stuff, the debris from it's broken remains wouldn't have accounted for all the Dust on Remnant's surface and near-surface without all but turning the crust inside out), and the main obstacle to mining it was having to maintain a guard against the Grimm and thieves, not an utter lack of it. Presumably some element of the planet's Warp-touched nature led to minerals gaining psychically-reactive properties, but their structure was clearly warped from whatever they were originally, as a basic chemical inspection of two samples of the same type of Dust gave results similar to quartz for the one, and pyrite for the other.
As such, each type of Dust was sampled, of which there was just about every conceivable form of 'elemental' effect. Wind, Fire, Water, Electricity, Earth, Ice, Steam, Gravity, Time, Explosion and Light. While the first five were most common, mostly the first four as the primary Dust types from which many of the others were synthesized, the main attribute they all had was that they led to some kind of physical effect. There were no kinds that led to conceptual effects. Say, damage not being dealt as well without affecting the forces involved? That didn't happen, which showed a marked difference compared to Hydaelyn's Crystals, though Dust could make effects happen with a small infusion of psychic energy and a sudden impact, as opposed to being a general field in a set area that usually worked best with a related phenomena, making it much easier to be selective with it, as opposed to Hydaelyn's, which were fairly indiscriminate once made.
After several weeks of research and trial and error, she managed to find a solution. While synthesizing purely new Dust was incredibly difficult, growing existing Crystals was simple. In fact, anyone who possessed skill in managing Wraithbone or Orichalcix could do so, if they were willing to sit still for an hour or so per kilogram. Slow, but if you had time on your hands and lacked resources besides psychic energy, as a pinned down village might, it could be a life-saver. The size of the original chunk of Dust didn't seem to matter either, so it was entirely possible to take a crumb-sized piece, grow it to finger-size, and then break it into pieces so your fellows could work on the issue as well without any detriment to the Dust or your own efforts. Provided you did it properly anyway.
The insights developed from being able to directly make more Dust led to a number of refinements to Dust manipulation. For example, a process was developed that could be used to increase the potency of Dust, though it would require draining large amounts of Dust to create super-Dust, not unlike nuclear enrichment. As such, it was unlikely any large quantity would be made, given such Dust would be massive overkill against anything short of a city block or something with similar durability.
Dust Infusion, physically infusing Dust into oneself for a power boost, was also made safer via a drug that drastically boosted the body's ability to safely handle it. A second drug, which made Infusion more efficient, was also made, though making them compatible took some effort. The second drug has the downside of causing the effect to wear off more quickly, but the first allowed for larger doses to be taken safely, so they roughly balanced each other out, resulting in a vastly more deadly combat style.
Finally, Dust Weaving, which involved implanting the Dust into cloth to make incredibly effective light armor and generate effects such as Fire Dust making the cloth fire-resistant and able to generate a small amount of flame, or even flame-based constrcuts among the skilled. This practice had largely fallen by the wayside, as it took years to get results any idiot could get with Infusion, even if it was far safer and the results more easily controlled. When the Grimm defaulted to far greater strength and speed than a normal human, Skill-heavy methods fell by the wayside over achieving some sort of parity in power, as glass cannons did not usually survive long on these battlefields. Serras could see potential benefits in her armor project however, and made a few improvements to existing Dust Weaving. Increased efficiency per crystal, borrowing heavily from wards and symbology, a number of improvements to the learning process to reduce the investment to learn the skill, and developing a type of cloth, based on her knowledge of psycho-active materials, that was better at channeling Dust. It was unlikely to be nearly as effective with other psychically-attuned materials though.
There was some grumbling about the Dust market on Remnant being completely out of whack, and though the opening of the offworld market goes a long way to quiet it, the fact that it can be made elsewhere without too much difficulty makes many of those involved in the industry wary of being made obsolete.
Reward: Dust Refinement Mark V. Dust is a psychically active material found on the planet known as Remnant, likely a result of the same psychic cataclysm that led to the formation of the Grimm. It comes in many forms, all tied to some sort of physical effect, and can be used in a large number of ways, provided one jumpstart it with psychic energy. 375% increase to effectiveness of Dust, direct use, Dust Infusion, and Dust Weaving. 75% increase to Dust reserves and replenishment rate. Surplus can now be made. Significant stockpile can be used elsewhere, due to Remnant's use having been reduced and production increased. Dust Bonus unlocked.
Dust. Dust is a psychically active material found on the planet known as Remnant, likely a result of the same psychic cataclysm that led to the formation of the Grimm. It comes in many forms, all tied to some sort of physical effect, and can be used in a large number of ways, provided one jumpstart it with psychic energy. Psykers, and anyone with access to a psychic battery or generator of some kind, including sorcerers, can use Dust to accomplish a variety of effects at little risk, unlike common use of the Warp, and they need no worry about their specialty, a problem for many psykers below the Beta level. Known phenomena include: Wind, Fire, Water, Electricity, Earth, Ice, Steam, Gravity, Time, Explosion and Light. +475 to BSF rolls. Large number of combat options opened for even the weakest and/or most specialized Psykers.
AN: While Dust canonically cannot be used outside Remnant's atmosphere, that doesn't apply here. Mostly because that would be dumb. The Warp doesn't just stop all of a sudden.
- [Invention] Artificial/refined Lyrium x11
11d20: 102. Learning=110*6=660*11=7260. Education: Mystical Arts: 1000+ Invention: Practicality: Industry: 360+ Psyker: Manipulation: Archetypes: 1000= 2360*11=25960. Education Perks(190)+Invention Perks(37)+Psyker Perks(128)= 355*11=3905. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*11= 88512.6. 102+7260+25960+3905+88512.6= 125739.6. -20310 for Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20285 for Slightly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20260 for Tinily Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20210 for Noticeably Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20160 for Somewhat Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -20110 for Smally Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -19860 for Minorly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -19610 for Mediumly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -19360 for Moderately Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -18860 for Reasonably Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -18360 for Largely Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -17860 for Majorly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -15360 for Hugely Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -12860 for Extremely Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -10360 for Immensely Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -5360 for Incredibly Improved Lyrium Refinement. Passed. -360 for Lyrium Refinement Mark I. Passed. 4640 for Lyrium Refinement Mark II. Passed. 29640 for Lyrium Refinement Mark III. Passed. 54640 for Lyrium Refinement Mark IV. Passed. 79640 for Lyrium Refinement Mark V. Passed. 125719.6/139640 for Dust Refinement Mark VI.
Level 85. 2040/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Lyrium, unlike Dust, appeared to be the crystalline form of some kind of blood-like substance, based on analysis, which essentially made it dried blood of what was likely a psychic entity of Beta or greater power, at a conservative estimate. Given blood wasn't exactly lacking in ties to psychic entities, this made sense. After all, a strong enough psychic entity's blood would be a more efficient psychic conduit than a random soul-bearing entity's, and blood was already a powerful reagent in many rituals, even if it came from a non-sapient. As many a Chaos cultist could attest. A cursory check confirmed no strong ties to any larger Chaos entities. Though the fact that Lyrium was generally corrupted by the plague tied to the Darkspawn when left in proximity for extended periods strongly suggested this was the case to begin with, as one of the benefits of Chaos corruption was a general immunity to corruption from rival gods, you could never be too careful.
Lyrium itself bore more resemblance to crystallized psychic energy than any common mineral or body fluid beyond this superficial blood resemblance, and was extremely volatile. Dust needed a dose of psychic energy or a strong impact, preferably both, to detonate with any real power behind it, while attempting the same process with Lyrium that had been used to replicate Dust tended to fail explosively enough to lodge shards of the steel table the crystal was on in the ceiling. Therefore, samples of it were used to attempt to reverse-engineer the original substance, in hopes of creating that and crystallizing it to bypass the issue. This approach bore some fruit, giving way to a clear blue liquid that resembles human blood in consistency, though it smelled like nature after rain. Much like before, those who had skill in crafting Wraithbone or Orichalcix proved best at crystallizing this substance.
Refining Lyrium proved much more difficult. Increasing concentration of energy generally just made it explode, so Serras decided to work on limiting the harmful effects of its use. Lyrium addiction was a serious problem for those who used it frequently, and many of those who were exposed repeatedly went mad eventually, even in it's processed state. It's unprocessed state could cause memory loss or loss of a sense if it was a small dose, or jump straight to insanity or death in a large dose or even just prolonged contact. Serras worked to mitigate these effects.
Her efforts were largely successful, and laboratory synthesis of Lyrium was now possible, if not reliable in the field given the substance's inherently hazardous nature made it comparable to toxic waste, though it would remain a restricted substance as the drug regimens that prevented the side effects and addiction were not 100% effective. Combat Psykers were the only ones allowed to use it with any frequency, and only in prolonged conflicts. The side effects were nasty enough as it was, seeing them in Psykers of any significant power would be unpleasant, to say the least.
On the bright side, reducing the effects of Lyrium addiction was very helpful to it's homeworld, and a makeshift explosive device could be made by a psyker trained in Lyrium creation with or without access to the materials for a mundane bomb.
Reward: Lyrium Refinement Mark V. Lyrium is a crystallized form of the blood of a powerful psychic entity, seemingly with strong ties to nature, if what mythology there is on its origin is accurate. 375% increase to effectiveness of Lyrium, direct use, Lyrium Imbibing, and Lyrium refinement. 75% reduction in addiction and side effect risk. 70% increase to Lyrium reserves and replenishment rate. Surplus can now be made. Significant stockpile can be used elsewhere.
Lyrium. This mineral is a relatively safe way to restore a psyker's ability to use their powers if they've been strained. +237.5 to allied Psyker Checks. First 10 Exhaustion penalty tiers do not apply to allied psykers.
- [Invention] Psyker workshop/tools for general use x16
16d20=202. Learning=110*6=660*16= 10560. Education: Mystical Arts: 1000+ Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+ Psyker: Archetypes: 1000= 2023*16= 32368. Education Perks(190)+Forging Perks(15)+Psyker Perks(128)= 333*16= 5328. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*16= 128745.6. 202+10560+32368+5328+128745.6= 177203.6. -20180 for Psyker Workshop. Passed. -20155 for Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -20130 for Slightly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -20080 for Tinily Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -20030 for Noticeably Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -19980 for Somewhat Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -19730 for Smally Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -19480 for Minorly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -19230 for Mediumly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -18730 for Moderately Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -18230 for Reasonably Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -17730 for Largely Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -15230 for Majorly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -12730 for Hugely Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -10230 for Extremely Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -5230 for Immensely Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. -230 for Incredibly Improved Psyker Workshop. Passed. 4770 for Psyker Workshop Mark I. Passed. 29770 for Psyker Workshop Mark II. Passed. 54770 for Psyker Workshop Mark III. Passed. 79770 for Psyker Workshop Mark IV. Passed. 129770 for Psyker Workshop Mark V. Passed. 177203.6/179770 for Psyker Workshop Mark VI.
Level 85. 2480/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While you had your own workshop for your personal use, and in fact, you used it in the process of making most of the tools that would be used in the workshop you were designing, more minor psykers do not have anything more than the most basic facilities. That was leagues better than nothing, but not good enough.
How many innovations in the use and control of psychic power could have been made between the beginning and end of the Age of Strife if the common psyker could experiment relatively safely? How many Tzeentchians would not have fallen if they could expect facilities that accomplished significantly more than existing? Perhaps you would never know. That was not excuse enough not to rectify the situation however.
Via a mix of psy-tech tools, advanced scanners of both the psy-tech and advanced but otherwise mundane variety, Psyker were allowed to perform thousands of minor permutations on a task accomplished with psychic power, either the creation of a psychic material or the use of a common psychic power such as telepathy, and to then work the kinks out, as well as see if there were any psychic specialties or synergies in their choirs that the imperfect testing for such might have missed.
Then, of course, they could also attempt to make new psy-tech to add to The Bastion's repertoire. Almost excessively vetted first, but any random psyker could, theoretically, make a historic contribution.
The most difficult part was avoiding an oppressive feeling after putting in the safety measures. Like the blast doors ready to seal off the facility at a moments notice and the bombs under the foundation ready to collapse the building entirely if a powerful telepath succumbed to Chaos and started killing and converting by force or something similar. You'd consulted Father and Magnus on the security measures, and compromised between them. Father thought you were being naively lax, while Magnus felt you were going a bit overboard. You would have to wait and see, but you felt that the Order Runes on the outside walls would keep them contained should the worst happen.
Reward: Psyker Workshop Mark V. Psykers require extensive time and effort to learn all the ins and out of their powers, and psychic power is unreliable enough that reliable psy-tech is exceedingly difficult to make. While neither of these issues are likely to be eliminated soon, these facilities promise to alleviate the symptoms. Massive morale increase among Psykers. Significant rise in average Psyker skill levels. +1750% increase in number of Psykers with sufficient skill to create psychic materials, and rate of creation thereof. +1750% increase to psychic innovation. +150% to rate of battle Psyker production. +15% to Psyker pass rates.
- [Invention] Improve Skylance satellites x10
10d20= 123. Learning=110*6=660*10=6600. Electronics: Circuitry: 21(210/10)+ Forging: Arms: 21.5(215)+ Invention: Military: 36(360/10)= 78.5*10=785. Electronics Perks(12)+ Forging Perks(12)+Invention Perks(37)= 61*10=610. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*10=80466. 123+6600+ 785+610+80466=88584. -735 for Improved Skylance Satellites. Passed. -685 for Skylance Satellites Mark I. Passed. -635 for Skylance Satellites Mark II. Passed. -585 for Skylance Satellites Mark III. Passed. -535 for Skylance Satellites Mark IV. Passed. -285 for Skylance Satellites Mark V. Passed. -35 for Skylance Satellites Mark VI. Passed. 215 for Skylance Satellites Mark VII. Passed. 715 for Skylance Satellites Mark VIII. Passed. 1215 for Skylance Satellites Mark IX. Passed. 1715 for Skylance Satellites Mark X. Passed. 4215 for Skylance Satellite Mark XI. Passed. 6715 for Skylance Satellites Mark XII. Passed. 9215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XIII. Passed. 14215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XIV. Passed. 19215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XV. Passed. 24215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XVI. Passed. 49215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XVII. Passed. 74215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XVIII. Passed. 88584/99215 for Skylance Satellites Mark XIX.
Level 85. 2860/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
As your pre-eminent system defense when no Toruses or proper battle fleets were present, and with the increasing number of Ork ships and, of course, Orks, gnawing at your borders even without the less rowdy bands present, upgrading Skylance satellite performance seems prudent. Certainly, the improved reactors help, but mostly the design was altered for greater efficiency. The 42-meter laser is made far, far more efficient, actually shaving 2 meters off to decrease it's vulnerability, but increasing power by more than 150% of its original output despite the decreased size. Part of this is a vastly superior cooling system, which can also be used to let it fire shots at the original model's power almost endlessly, assuming the cooling system remains undamaged. Similarly, improvements to the structure provide a major boost to its durability.
At current magnitudes, and with the much improved sensors changing the maximum effective range from 1000km to 50000km, an entire rack of lenses for different focuses at different distances, as it would disperse into uselessness at the 10000km range if fired as if the target were at the 1000km range, and do almost no damage to a ship with proper compartmentalization if fired with the focusing for a significantly greater range or with extreme heat resistance. In turn, the cogitators on board have to be programmed to switch out the lenses for the various ranges properly. The end result was a far more impressive laser battery.
Reward: Skylance Defense System Mark XVIII. A laser battery which has massive firepower, which is generated from placing virtually all of the power used in an entire ship into an anti-capital weapon. It can be used at a variety of ranges due to an advanced algorithm for determining the proper degree of focusing for a given target used by it's cogitator. +3200 to fleet rolls while these are present. Additional permanent +1600 to fleet rolls due to improved Dreadnought main guns.
- [Invention] Improve psychic batteries x10
10d20= 89. Learning: 660(110*6)+Power: 792(132*6)+Control: 672(112*6)=2124*10=21240. Education: Mystic Arts: 1000+ Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+ Psyker: Archetypes: 1000=2023*10=20230. Psyker Perks(128)+Forging Perks(12)+Education Perks(190)= 330*10= 3300. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*10=80466. 89+21240+20230+3300+80466= 106118+6297=112415. -12523 for Psychic Batteries Mark I. Passed. -10023 for Psychic Batteries Mark II. Passed. -7523 for Psychic Batteries Mark III. Passed. -5023 for Psychic Batteries Mark IV. Passed. -2523 for Psychic Batteries Mark V. Passed. -23 for Psychic Batteries Mark VI. Passed. 2477 for Psychic Batteries Mark VII. Passed. 4977 for Psychic Batteries Mark VIII. Passed. 29977 for Psychic Batteries Mark IX. Passed. 54977 for Psychic Batteries Mark X. Passed. 79977 for Psychic Batteries Mark XI. Passed. 112415/129977 for Psychic Batteries Mark XII.
Level 85. 3080/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
With the massive increase in defenses and storage, the current generation of batteries had effectively given most of the less potent Eldar their powers back, though Asuryan's boost to it meant their new peaks were still out of reach. Still, nigh-universal Beta Psykers, in terms of safe power output, was quite the force multiplier for beings whose genetic engineering by their progenitors made the more skilled among them a match for an armored Mark 1 Astartes, if in general terms rather than exactly matching them.
The point was, use of psychic powers up to Beta was perfectly safe as long as the 'caster' knew what they were doing, and had time to charge the battery. On the other hand, Alphas, and especially Alpha Pluses like Magnus and yourself still had to worry about drawing too deeply. Not much in either of your cases, Father did good work, but a normal human at either of those levels was still all but doomed if their powers awakened, which was nearly guaranteed, even if they'd be perfectly fine as a Beta.
On the bright side, Psykers becoming even safer ought to help their reputation, and who knew? Perhaps the reduction in their negative image would aid them in and of itself. Beings with such massive souls would be more affected by their perception than most material beings after all.
On another note, you wondered if it would be possible to automate the process of modulating Energy Crystals to produce varying quantities of energy. For example, Psykers with full batteries charging a secondary battery which was then donated to the nearest Energy Crystals to convert it safely into mundane energy for use by the general population. Something to think about at least.
Reward: Psychic Batteries Mark XI. While it doesn't store massive amounts of psychic energy, it allows for essentially risk-free use of psychic power, as they cannot hold Daemonic entities, and do not draw directly from the Warp. This is extremely useful for psykers, who can charge the batteries up comparatively safely. +1700 to allied psyker Checks. Retain Beta Psyker powers in places such as godly domains and fragile pocket dimensions with equivalent reserves, or full Alpha or Alpha Plus Psyker powers with a one or two magnitude drop in effective reserves, respectively. Several projects relating to distribution of psychic energy in a safe manner unlocked.
AN: Basically, a Delta would have been able to function as if they were unhindered with one of these in a godly domain or fragile dimension before the most recent upgrade, while a Beta would be operating at about 30% of their normal reserves, now replace Delta and Beta with Beta and Alpha. Even an Alpha Plus, like yourself, can use their full powers for a few minutes with a fully charged battery. Of course, if they spend their power freely, as is often the case when pressed in combat, they're going to burn through their stock pretty quickly. It can also be used to augment an alpha strike of all the power they can draw safely from the Warp.
- [Invention] Advance 9 Crystals/Runes x2
2d20=23. Learning: 660(110*6)+Power: 792(132*6)+Control: 672(112*6)=2124*2=4248. Psyker: Supernatural: 1000+ Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)=1059*2=2118. Psyker Perks(128)+Forging Perks(12)+Invention Perks(37)=177*2= 354. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+ 500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*2=16093.2. 23+4248+2118+354+16093.2=22836.2.
-- [Advance] Purity
-10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 3180/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
In your efforts to advance the Purity Crystal to match it's fellows, you achieved something new. Instead of capping at the tenth-tier, the Crystal moved up to the eleventh tier. Given that you had expected that to be impossible without alignment to the relevant concept so extreme as to make the creator a non-sapient, you of course find this concerning. Consulting with Hydaelyn led you to believe it was actually a result of your sudden rise in psychic and material knowledge. Presumably, you could achieve the twelfth tier now, and could reach the thirteenth if you were to achieve similar heights in your mastery of forging.
At any rate, the difference between the tenth and eleventh tiers of the Purity Crystal is enormous. Oh, the white cloth was no different in form from it's 10th-tier form, but now it glowed faintly, and it's radius of effect had increased by an order of magnitude. Replacing the old sixth-tier ones scattered across Bastion space would be difficult, but the results would be worth it. The mitochondria being removed within close proximity to humans wasn't a problem for those aligned with your cause any more. The IFF feature was something to thank their stronger connection to Hydaelyn for.
At this point, they could slowly cleanse tainted land, though Chaotic souls with any significant amount of taint remained beyond their reach, even if that ceiling had risen a small amount. The former achievement was of little practical help, seeing as places where the ground itself carried significant taint generally consisted of Daemonworlds and ritual grounds, and Purity Crystals would be the second thing to go once the Order Crystals were removed, requiring more forceful intervention to rectify. Still, they were useful.
Eleventh-Tier Purity Crystals/Runes. A white cloth emitting a faint glow, and purifying all in it's vicinity, even Chaos. +500 to BSF rolls. +50 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Major increase to Chaos resistance of the people and land alike.
-- [Advance] Protection
-10540 for First-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 3400/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The Protection Crystal takes the form of a chestplate, projecting a shield that stops attacks, reacting to both potential for damage and intent, similar to the infantry-grade Void Shields, in both potency and size. Each grade increases the size and power, where a first-tier Protection Crystal had a barrier roughly as potent a poor flak armor around 10 centimeters in diameter, not much larger than the Crystal itself. A tenth-tier, on the other hand, possessed a barrier able to stop anti-tank rounds 5 meters across. An eleventh-tier was more impressive still, and possessed a barrier able to stop missiles 10 meters across.
Much like Void Shields, Protection Crystals tended to be all or nothing, unless the effect was being interfered with directly. If something wasn't strong enough to pierce the barrier by itself, either you needed more, or you needed something stronger. If the effect was broken, it needed 30 seconds to recover, during which time the attacks would pass through normally. The barrier could be shaped as well, though it couldn't be shrunk per se. Since it didn't normally interact with non-attacks, this didn't usually come up often though.
They served roles in keeping dangerous machinery from killing or crippling people, preventing high-rises and similar areas from being fallen from via completely transparent domes making such falls physically impossible, and, of course, making Bastion infantry unrivaled. A second shield layer allowing them to withstand withering fire, one shield usually recharging before the other fell. Though studding them along the interior and exterior walls of ships allowed them to benefit, the weapons they dealt with on a regular basis made the Protection Crystals merely an extra layer of defense, rather than the game-changer they were on the ground, though boarding attempts would likely go very differently thanks to them. Titans benefitted far more, as did strikecraft. It's one major flaw was a lack of teleportation resistance, something to do with armor-piercing as a concept, you suspected.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Protection Crystals/Runes. These crystalline chestplates project barriers, varying from 10 centimeters equivalent to poor flak armor, to 10 meters of anti-missile armor, reacting to intent and potential for harm alike for the psychic equivalent of smart shielding. Naturally, they are a massive boon to the military, however, they also have uses in industry, acting as forcefields around dangerous machinery, and in civilian life as secondary platforms around high places such as high-rises. +500 to BSF rolls. +250 to naval rolls. +50 to industry. +50 to morale rolls from reduced number of accidents and successful suicides. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Major increase to average troop and armor durability.
AN: A Shield Crystal would be like a Protection Crystal, only the Shield could be spread around or concentrated towards any tagert of the user's choosing, though at reduced efficiency when used for one's own sake. Having the soldiers inside of a tank using theirs to boost the tank's Protection Crystal, for example, would be perfectly viable, though a platoon or what have you casting it on each other would end up with more than an equal force, due to synergy between them, and the range on T11 is 100 meters, so a lot of soldiers can concentrate their barriers into one place to make a shield nearly unbreakable on the infantry scale. A 'Shield Wall' so to speak. Similarly, the recharge time on the shields if broken, for both Protection and Shield Crystals, is a 'Shield Break' effect.
-- [Advance] Accuracy
-10540 for First-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 3620/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The Accuracy Crystal takes the form of a classical archery target. A series of concentric rings around a red circle. Where the Detection Crystals and Runes make it more difficult to hide things, and easier to discover them, this one allows for specific portions and targets to be pinpointed. Naturally, these synergized well with the Detection Crystals, enough to, for example, double the effective range of sensors and weaponry.
Naturally, the Bastion's military benefited the most, even normally inaccurate weapons being able concentrate fire far more effectively, while high-end electronics and similar fields benefited from more precise production thereof. This would proceed to have major knock-on effects, given how dependent humanity was on technology.
For example, a civilian who had picked up a gun for the first time five minutes beforehand, given an Accuracy Crystal, could keep up with an experienced marksman, though it helped if one was already a good shot, at which point accuracy became superhuman. In Astartes, feats one would believe impossible became common occurrences, and marksmanship was no exception. Assassinating targets from kilometers away, normally the domain of Machinas or Champion Snipers specialized for long ranges, were things almost any Astartes who chose to use a rifle could do. With Accuracy Crystals, that number jumped to tens of kilometers, to the point the power of their weapons was of greater concern in the calculus of making the shot at any distance less than 20 kilometers. Assuming they used the Crystals of the Eleventh-Tier, of course. The enhancement of lesser tiers was far less impressive.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Accuracy Crystals/Runes. These archery targets formed of crystal provide a major boost to the user's accuracy, making feats of impossible marksmanship merely difficult for the uninitiated, and simple for the experts. Sensors, similarly, are much improved, even if there is some overlap with previous Crystals. +500 to BSF and navy. +50 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Provides a bonus to assassination of enemies and scouting. Provides a Malus to enemy hiding/fleeing rolls, both on the ground, and in space.
AN: Yeah, these things are restricted even among snipers. They're assassination sprees waiting to happen.
-- [Advance] Gravity
-10540 for First-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 3840/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Gravity was a field you'd made some strides in from the vector of mundane technology, but it was expensive, and delicate, by the standards of spacefaring races. With this Crystal, resembling a classical depiction of a black hole, a black orb with rings of color swirling around it, this was no longer an issue. Gravitational fields of any type, even anti-gravity fields, repelling everything from the Crystal, and then there were permutations thereof. Half and half, one side repelling, one side attracting, or specific areas attracting or repelling as they were set by the Psyker who had last manipulated them. Additionally, the fields could increase in intensity as you approached the center, like normal gravity fields, weaken, or remain uniform throughout the field of effect. This would prove very helpful in researching gravity fields, for one thing.
While the first tier of these Crystals was limited to forces equal to 50% of Terra's gravity, attraction or repulsion, the eleventh could go as high as 15. The field could be expanded or contracted to increase or decrease its strength, or increase or decrease its strength by contracting or expanding, but the eleventh-tier had a range of 1000 meters at its normal level of force, though the first had only 10 meters in diameter under its gravitonic dominion. Well, gravity technically attracted every particle in the universe, but the noticeable effects of the field stopped beyond this point.
Certain materials that needed specific gravity fields would be far, far easier to produce. As would zero-G, micro-G, and extreme-G training fields and recreational areas, and to help deal with the effects of lower gravity if people were exposed to it for long periods for whatever reason. Already, this Crystal and Accuracy Crystals were being experimented with to see what new materials could be fashioned.
Then there were the benefits to megastructures. Most obviously, Singularity Bellows, for example would benefit extensively from stronger anti-gravity buffers. Other mega-projects, such as Toruses, could be built in lower orbits due to anti-gravity buffers making the planet's gravity less of an issue. Only one more per planet, since the other issues still applied, and there was always the same problem with Gravity Crystals and Toruses that Space Crystals had with Arcologies, but even that single extra was still a 20% increase to the available space per planet, and thus the number of people the galaxy could support. Speaking of Arcologies, the dream of an entire planet converted into a city was a little closer, as gravity itself could be regulated, and weight along with it, and there was therefore no risk of the structure collapsing in on itself. Stellar Bellows, meanwhile, could augment their magnets. Not much, given the ranges involved, but even a little bit could help quite a bit in resource extraction, and the processing side was much less inhibited by distance. The process of sifting was made much swifter by greater gravity.
Meanwhile, soldiers were drastically better prepared for unusual gravity levels by virtue of having experienced them firsthand. Astartes, meanwhile, were put through extreme gravity training, allowing them to put on muscle and bone density even more quickly, and to achieve their full superhuman might. The Zero-G, micro-G, and extreme-G areas that could be made were also incredible for recreational purposes. Entire new sports were being invented to take advantage of the Gravity Crystals.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Gravity Crystals/Runes. These black orbs, resembling artistic takes on black holes with the swirling bands of color in a disc around them, can make any permutation of gravity or anti-gravity up to 15 times Terran gravity, in any variety in the sphere of such fields surrounding it. +500 to BSF/naval rolls. +500 to industry due to major advances in manipulation of materials. +500 to morale rolls due to modulated-gravity-based recreation being cheap and exotic. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Extreme increase to training rate of Astartes due to controlled simulation of extreme gravity, and drastic reduction in time necessary to train soldiers to function in unusual levels of gravity. Eases creation of, or outright unlocks creation of new materials. +50% increase to Singularity Bellows Bonus. +1 Torus slot unlocked.
AN: Yes, Blitzball as seen in early FFX cutscenes is becoming a thing.
-- [Advance] Electricity
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4040/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The Electricity Crystal, contrary to what you might expect, was a forked lightning bolt, like a real one frozen in time, as opposed to a cartoonish jagged yellow one. In many respects, it was otherwise a repeat of the Energy Crystal, save in that its energy output was electricity and only that type, which was offset by it's output being double a commensurate Energy Crystal. In other words, 4.4938*10^15 Joules were produced by an Electricity Crystal at its maximum output, of which 4.4938*10^14 came from nothing. Assuming the eleventh-tier of course, as the tenth produced 10% of the eleventh's output.
They could also be used to manipulate the electrical fields they created or that happened to be nearby, with some influence on magnetic ones due to the inherent link between those, as part of the same fundamental force. A sort of pseudo-technopathy was possible for truly skilled users, and, much like the Accuracy Crystals before them, existing technopathic or electrokinetic abilities were amplified by an order of magnitude. Similarly, like Gravity Crystals, they could produce any degree of electrical field up to its maximum, concentrated into a singular bolt, or a general 'buzz' spread across a set area, though exponentially weaker as it expanded for obvious reasons.
In the military, they served much the same role as the Energy Crystals. Backup reactors essentially. However, some of them served to amplify electrical weaponry, such as chain lightning guns. With the raw power they possessed, these were unsurprisingly potent. Similarly, in industry, they powered and regulated the flow of electricity in many machines, combining generators with transformers and circuit breakers, albeit with some help from mundane technology, and in addition to existing regulators.
On a more entertaining note, electricity shows, essentially the electron's answer to the light show, were gaining some popularity. The ability to manipulate electricity into whatever shape the user desired made for very impressive constructs and images.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Electricity Crystals/Runes. A forked lightning bolt formed of crystal. Much like Energy Crystals, this Crystal naturally produces energy, twice as much in fact, though limited to specifically electricity. +500 to BSF/naval rolls. +500 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Electrical weapons gain massive power boost and longevity due to increased control over their output.
-- [Advance] Metal
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4240/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
The Metal Crystal takes the form of a simple metal ingot, usually iron, though many people saw gold as well. This Crystal indiscriminately reinforces metals or every type. From gold, to lead, to liquid metallic hydrogen. Even if the last was only moderately affected, due to being an 'honorary' metal. This reinforcement was on every parameter, tensile strength, melting point, conductivity, everything. The reinforcement could be directed to specific parameters, and turned off in specific cases, but it relied heavily on existing parameters. Gold would never be better armor than adamantium with the same Crystal to work with, even if it's weight and low tensile strength were negated to the point that it was actually serviceable (Note to self: Make a Gold Crystal for Father.) in the way common iron was, though it was only about 84% as strong as unaugmented iron. Not without enough psychic energy that you might as well just enhance adamantium armor. To be precise, an 11th-tier Crystal could enhance every parameter 250%, while a 1st-tier could only enhance metals by 10%, or focus the enhancement to specific attributes.
Metal Crystals were being used everywhere, from the sculptor wanting something longer-lasting than stone, to the computer engineer making circuitry capable of handling loads it ought not to be, to the tank crew relying on their enhanced tank's speed to avoid a tank-killer sniper. Virtually every piece of tech the army used involved metal as it's primary component, and much the same was true of the navy. After all, those kilometer long ships weren't made of plastic, and production thereof regarding this technology was drastically accelerated by these Crystals. This led to a major increase to the performance of military hardware, civilian hardware, basically everything that involved the use or processing of metal. Ferrokinesis was also enhanced, making even the least of Psykers able to rip apart or put together guns with all but a touch.
This included megastructures. Stellar Bellows remained in more or less the same condition, but Toruses, could occupy higher or lower orbits from their current ones, as with greater strength of material, issues of debris were mitigated by virtue of debris being harder to make. Arcologies, meanwhile, relied on adamantium skeletons to support their weight, and could thus be counted on to support far more weight. If a size increase were decided upon, it would be childishly simple to enact, as the metal could trivially be enhanced to 350% of its current strength even if that specific statistic weren't singled out, and the weight it could support similarly increased. Singularity Bellows could now withstand greater tidal forces, allowing them to work closer in, and thus produce more.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Metal Crystals/Runes. These crystalline metal ingots enhance the properties of metal. Tensile strength, conductivity, everything. The military gains major fighting power from these, as virtually all of their technology benefits a great deal. +500 to BSF/naval rolls. +500 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. +15% increase to shipyard production. +50% increase to Singularity Bellows Bonus. +1 Torus slot per planet.
AN: Note that T12 would have a bonus of 500%, and T13 would be sitting at 750%, which would make it 226% as good as iron without access to Metal Crystals. Boy, Emps and the Empyreal Tyrant would love to get gold to be a viable metal for armor. The latter especially, since he armors everything in gold. It works because Chaos, but if it actually worked because it actually worked, that would be a game-changer on par with universal Void shields for everything. His stuff would be out-competing adamantium with Metal and Gold Crystals, since the latter would benefit gold twice as much as Metal Crystals benefit metals. His mooks could actually compete with Dragon's, outside of Null effects from the pylons at least, which would knock Gold Crystals down to 70%, 100%, and 150%, respectively, though that would apply to everything, from strength and weight, to conductivity, or lack thereof to decrease their vulnerability. Still enough to drastically increase his troops' effectiveness, especially since Dragon would avoid using gold because his access to better materials makes it a pile of junk, so the Crystals' specificity would be totally to ET's advantage.
-- [Advance] Penetration
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4440/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
A spearhead, the original piercing weapon, and quite possibly the second weapon after the thrown rock, was the form the Crystal of Penetration took. While the Crystal was generally of little use in civilian matters, it was excellent for the military. Regardless of the physicality of the weapon used, any weapon under the influence of one of these Crystals would pierce armor and sometimes even inflict shield burnthrough, though only with powerful weapons that could likely have simply broken through the shields on their own in time.
Though this did have its downsides. For one thing, overpenetration of unarmored mobs or lightly armored militia was a major issue when using these. Heavily armored foes were less of an issue, since they were more likely to have the weaponry fail to penetrate the other side and cause more damage in the attempt. Similarly, the navy could expect weakly armored ships to have holes smashed right through, perhaps without the payload detonating, though if there were more ships behind it, it might detonate in one of them or their paths, which wasn't useless, but could cause problems in trying to direct a battle, when whether or not the ships aimed at would be destroyed or not was an open question. More heavily armored ships could have their armor pierced more easily, and not need to worry overmuch about the shot failing to cause major damage once inside.
On the civilian side, there are few industrial or artistic uses to better armor penetration. Demolition, certainly, and piercing harder materials while mining, but otherwise, there is little use for this particular Crystal besides military applications.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Penetration Crystals. A spearhead Crystal, which allows weaponry to penetrate substances more easily, though this can be a problem when dealing with lightly armored foes. More heavily armored ones have a drastic reduction in effective durability. +500 to BSF/naval rolls. +50 to industry. +50 to morale rolls. +1500 to Psyker Checks. Enemy Armor reduced by one effective rank. Light and Unarmored targets may survive shots they otherwise wouldn't due to overpenetration.
-- [Advance] Fire
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4640/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
In many respects, fire is almost alive. It breathes, it grows, and without some sort of check, it will devour everything. There is a good reason that, historically, flame was used to purge Chaotic areas and bodies. Some deep recesses of the psyche recognize flames for leaving nothing behind once they have consumed everything, and assume a purifying effect as a consequence. After all, nothingness is better than Chaos.
Regardless, these artistic flame symbols crafted from crystal enhance the working of flames, heat, speed of burning, and at the highest tiers, making things that were ordinarily fire-resistant flammable, and things normally fireproof merely flame-resistant. The eleventh-tier was most famous for causing flames to actually burn a few seconds on seawater. Apparently the Crystal started forcing the oxygen and hydrogen molecules apart to aid in the burning process, but the fire died before any significant progress could be made in burning it. Similarly, they could be used to regulate the flames by manipulating these properties. Some curiosity over whether they could ignite fusion in a brown dwarf by raising the core temperature existed, which might be tested one day, since Fire Crystals had truly ludicrous heat resistance, as you'd expect. By the same token, they could work with Ice Crystals to regulate temperatures on the planetary level.
As the Electricity Crystals before them did for their own domain, the Fire Crystals could act as pyromantic focuses, enhancing existing affinities on that front. Similarly, Psykers completely lacking in pyromantic affinities could use the Crystals to artificially possess them. The military's use of flamethrowers and plasma weaponry, primarily against biological targets, was also enhanced, though mostly the former, since plasma was a hybrid of sorts between flame and raw energy and therefore less affected, much like Metal and liquid metallic hydrogen. Naturally, this is of less relevance to the navy, since only plasma weaponry was used in space of the categories affected by this Crystal, and plasma was already a niche weapon for dealing with lots of thinly armored targets, such as strikecraft.
In the civilian world, these Crystals see a great deal of use, for two reasons. The first, because they combined well with Forging Crystals for obvious reasons, making smithing far easier when working in concert. The second, because they allowed for completely safe manipulation of flame. Fire had always fascinated mankind, which might be another reason for humanity's propensity for burning things. The sheer number of new entertainment venues opened by Crystals recently was beginning to approach saturation, as there might actually be problems finding people to fill all these different roles. Not just yet, though.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Fire Crystals/Runes. These artistic flame symbols, crafted from crystal, enhance heat and flame. From the flamethrower, to the plasma weaponry of the navy, and theoretically even a star. +500 to BSF rolls. +250 to naval rolls. +500 to industry. +500 to morale rolls. Major boost to flamethrowers and moderate boost to plasma weaponry. Combines with Ice Crystals to regulate planetary temperatures and provide a major bonus to Arcology capacity.
Mark VII Arcologies: Under-Ecumenopli Available. A highly engineered structure designed to hold a huge number of people in a relatively small space, with relatively little ecological footprint, using Space Runes to increase the space, while Ice Runes negate waste heat and Energy Runes take the brunt of energy demands. Artillery and groundside ortilllery defend even the civilian ones. Currently holds 14,000,000 people(multiplier of 40 from base 350000) each due to spatial manipulation, heat regulation, and advanced material sciences. Cannot currently be built on unstable areas, such as purely molten planets, purely watery worlds, etc. Population limit of Hive Worlds raised to 175 quadrillion. Add 1.05 quintillion on geologically stable worlds, totaling 1.225. Non-Hive Worlds may have 3.5 quadrillion with no major ecological damage. Add 21 quadrillion to non-Hive Worlds increasing maximum capacity without risking environmental damage to 24.5 quadrillion on any worlds that are not volcanic, water, gas, or bearing odd internal geometries. Truly ludicrous population cap on worlds that are geologically dead, generally in the realm of over a quintillion.
AN: Upgrading Ice Crystals and Materials Science are about the only AP-cheap methods for major gains on this front at this point. Well, Emps' will give you a ton of STCs, but that's not exactly an AP-based method.
-- [Advance] Magnetism
-10515 for Second-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10490 for Third-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10440 for Fourth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10390 for Fifth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10340 for Sixth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -10090 for Grade Seventh-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9840 for Grade Eight-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9590 for Grade Ninth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. -9090 for Grade Tenth-tier Crystals/Runes. Passed. 4410 for Grade Eleven-tier Crystals. Passed. 22836.2/89415 for Grade Twelve-tier Crystals.
Level 85. 4840/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
This Crystal took the form of a bar magnet, unsurprisingly. That is, a metal bar with the negative pole and positive pole labeled with their respective signs at their respective ends. In terms of effects, it was much like the Gravity Crystal, with a field whose strength and specific zones of effects could be customized trivially. For example, a sphere of attraction could be set at any power within the Crystal's area of effect, and those spheres could coexist with similar or opposite spheres within that same space, with the only limitations being those of the Crystal itself, space and power.
This inevitably led to comparisons between the Gravity Crystal and Magnetism Crystal, as they were fundamental forces. In terms of raw power, the Magnetism Crystal was the greater of the two. In terms of effective and absolute power, the Gravity Crystal was the winner. There were two main reasons for this. While electromagnetic forces were commonly regarded as the stronger of the two among scholars, psychically speaking, the concept of Gravity was more commonly thought of by most sapients, due to the second reason. Gravity affected everything, while magnetism only affected other electromagnetic fields. Certainly, this was a huge number of things for magnetism to affect, but it just didn't compare to 'literally everything' the way gravitation affected surrounding objects. In addition, stars were electromagnetic powerhouses, sure, but they were also gravitational powerhouses, and the latter was just as obvious to anyone who understood the structure of star systems. Something similar applied with planets, those that had molten cores capable of producing the fields at least. Gravity was a 'large object' force. In fact, it was THE 'large object' force, or macroscopic operator. The other fundamental forces handily trounced it on the atomic and subatomic levels, but any larger and gravity would become a peer or the dominant force in determining the object's relations with nearby objects.
Therefore, while Magnetism had 10^35 times as much power within its range, it defaulted to a range of 10 centimeters at it's eleventh tier, and while it could be expanded like it's graviton-based counterpart, the exponential weakening was much, much worse than simply dividing the force over greater volume/distance, depending on whether it was simply expanded from its original sphere or stretched in a particular direction. Of course, even a 50 meter radius, which was roughly a thousandth of the volume affected by a commensurate Gravity Crystal, was still substantial, and left the Magnetism Crystal functioning perfectly fine for its intended purpose, whatever that may be. Combining it with an Electricity Crystal did much to mitigate this issue, exponentially strengthening the field and doubling it's effective radius.
In the military, they served much the same purpose as the Ion Shields. That is, they deflected and slowed enemy fire, as most enemy fire would be primarily metallic or electromagnetic, and could thus be interfered with. Plasma relied heavily on magnetic bottles to maintain it's form until impact, and was thus especially vulnerable. Electrical weaponry was similarly vulnerable for its connection to magnetism, moreso, in fact. Of course, plastics and laser weaponry usually didn't even notice the fields, and biological matter was usually unaffected, so manual disabling of the tank or what have you by someone, particularly if they had a plasteel melee weapon to hack their way in, was still perfectly viable. It was a fairly major combat boost though, given the ubiquity of metallic and plasma weaponry allowed for mass disarming, and even tossing tanks around like toys at close ranges, or forcing the enemy to switch to materials that were unaffected by magnetic fields.
The navy was similarly protected, as guidance computers in missiles could be overwhelmed at close ranges, the electromagnetic equivalent of hitting a brick wall as soon as they hit the Crystals' range. Plasma weaponry was also rendered mostly toothless unless on a truly massive scale. Much like tanks, strikecraft and bombers could usually be interfered with. However, the larger ranges of space battles reduced the effectiveness of these Crystals in naval battles.
The industrial sector couldn't have been happier. Much like Gravity Crystals, many materials could be synthesized only under specific electromagnetic conditions, and combined with Electricity Crystals, such conditions were far less difficult to achieve. At this point, research into special materials that could only be made under immense pressure and with specific electromagnetic influences was well underway to take full advantage of these. Currently, they were used to aid in manipulating materials and containing those affected by this type of Crystal.
Then there was the private citizen. Psykers, of course, benefitted in the usual manner, artificial possession of an affinity for magnetic manipulation coming with the Crystal, or enhancement of an existing affinity. Manipulation of magnetism to mimic Zero-G, micro-G, or extreme-G of metals for the spectacle of it was gaining popularity, even if it overlapped with use of Gravity Crystals for such. Some made a game of using both and having those watching try and figure out which was which.
Megastructures benefited as well. Singularity Bellows could use them against the black holes, as many of them possessed massive electromagnetic force, as more than a few neutron stars on the brink were kept from collapsing by centripetal force and magnetism keeping them from becoming singularities, and all that energy didn't just vanish, while Stellar Bellows could extract more from living stars because of them. After all, a thin spool of magnetic field ending in a scoop was just as viable as a sphere for the Crystals. Toruses and Arcologies benefited the least, since Metal managed most of the benefits Toruses would have gained, and magnetic fields were of relatively little use in increasing habitability on a planet with a functioning magnetosphere. Of course, on planets without them, or with stars that tended to overproduce solar wind due to volatility from age or stress from nearby companion stars, they were very, very useful. Most of those in later stages of their life cycle were included in this category, though red dwarfs tended to be relatively radioactive for their size.
Reward: Eleventh-Tier Magnetism Crystals. These bar magnets made of crystal exude magnetic fields whose intensity and size are completely customizable. Though they cannot match the Gravity Crystals in range, they excel in their niche. +500 to BSF. +250 to naval rolls. +500 to industry. +500 to morale rolls. Conditional pseudo-Ion Shields available to all forces, with the caveat that they only function against metal and plasma. +50% to Stellar Bellows and Singularity Bellows Production. Stellar Bellows can now be built around Neutron and Magneto Stars. Arcologies and Toruses enjoy improved radiation shielding, allowing them to be safely constructed on planets without magnetospheres and/or in orbit of volatile stars.
- [Invention] Mental shielding x16
-- Base idea: Mind + Protection + Concealment + Warding + Willpower
-- Limit high-grade Concealment to trusted personnel
16d20=183. Psyker(132)+Control(112)+Learning(110)=354*6=2124*16=33984. Education: Mystic Arts: 1000+Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)+Psyker: Supernatural: 1000=2036*16=32,576. Education Perks(190)+Invention Perks(37)+Psyker Perks(128)=355*16=5680. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*16=29545.6. 183+33984+32576+5680+128745.6=201168.6. -20260 Check Passed. Mental Shielding. -20210 Check Passed. Minor Mental Shielding. -20160 Check Passed. Partial Mental Shielding. -20110 Check Passed. 25% Mental Shielding. -19860 Check Passed. Moderate Mental Shielding -19610 Check Passed. 50% Mental Shielding. -19360 Check Passed. Major Mental Shielding. -18860 Check Passed. 75% Mental Shielding. -18360 Check Passed. Incomplete Mental Shielding. -17860 Check Passed. Extreme Mental Shielding. -15360 Check Passed. Complete Mental Shielding. -12860 Check Passed. Terrible Mental Shielding. -10360 Check Passed. Simple Mental Shielding. -5360 Check Passed. Crude Mental Shielding. -360 Check Passed. Poor Mental Shielding. 4640 Check Passed. Decent Mental Shielding. 29640 Check Passed. Good Mental Shielding. 54640 Check Passed. Great Mental Shielding. 79640 for Excellent Mental Shielding. Passed. 129640 for Mental Shielding Mark I. Passed. 179640 for Mental Shielding Mark II. Passed. 201168.6/239640 for Mental Shielding Mark III.
Level 85. 5260/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While the Soulstones can protect Psyker souls from being taken at physical death, Psykers and normal humans alike remain vulnerable while alive. Falling in combat to a Daemon, as is not uncommon for those who regulate Psykers, could allow the Daemon to claim those souls, especially a Khornate as their 'skulls for the skull throne' battlecry was not simply a reference to the body's brain jar, and especially if they didn't have a Soulstone on their person due to having lacked it in the first place or the Daemon intentionally flinging it away, or if the person wasn't a Psyker and thus could get no use from the stone regardless of its presence.
Soulstones also provided no inherent resistance to memetic hazards, telepathic searches or mental domination, Since the former problem was going to be difficult to effectively deal with, and the latter was much more endemic, the latter would be receiving focus here. To that end, a psy-tech circlet was forged, imbued with Mind, Protection, Warding, and Willpower Crystals. The Mind Crystal was used to attune the Protection Crystal's barrier to psychic and mental attacks, while the Warding and Willpower Crystals work to keep back more subtle threats such as memetic hazards and moments of weakness. Meanwhile, a small number of personnel had a Concealment Crystal added, making those bearing them fail to even register to telepathic searches except at close range. Naturally, the major advantage this would provide to any assassins meant it was limited to a few trusted personnel, and perhaps Alpha Psykers, who could use the extra help.
Serras herself used one, and not just to set an example. You could never be too careful, after all, even if the Concealment Crystal was less than effective on an Alpha Plus, where 'close range' was still a thousand kilometers away. Hubris had killed plenty of people, and believing she could simply handle any Materium-based Chaotic threat was nothing if not prideful. Besides, if she ever ended up in the Warp unshielded by Gellar Fields, any advantage against the teeming hordes would be useful.
Reward: Mental Shielding Mark II. While Soulstones can shield souls from being taken by Daemons directly, they are of little use against memetic hazards, telepathic domination, or having one's mind searched for secrets. To counter this, mental shielding is developed. A psy-tech circlet, incorporating Mind, Protection, Warding, Willpower, and for trusted personnel or Alpha and up Psykers, Concealment, to shelter, protect, and hide minds from Daemonic and Chaotic influences. +10.5% to minor Psyker pass rate. +105% to major Psyker(Zeta and up) pass rate. Legally required for Alpha Psykers and up, Strongly encouraged in other Major Psykers.
- [Invention] tunneling and tunnel fighting units x1
-- tunnel-boring machine: adamantium cutterhead, replicator transfigures dirt into wall segments
-- spend more than five minutes on making a basic design
1d20=18. (Administration+Learning=220)*6=1320. Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: 20.5(205/10)+ Forging: Machinery: 21(210/10)= 1041.5. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)=217. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop) +7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6. 18+1320+1041.5+217+8046.6=10643.1. -9415 Check Passed. Terrible Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -8915 Check Passed. Simple Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -8415 Check Passed. Crude Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -7915 Check Passed. Basic Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -5415 Check Passed. Normal Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -2915 Check Passed. Exemplary Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. -415 Check Passed. Prime Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. 4585 for Advanced Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. Passed. 9585 for Potent Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. Passed. 10643.1/14585 for Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units.
Level 85. 5440/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
On further consideration, you decide to put actual effort into the tunnel-boring devices, and the complex of machines and work crews that aid them in making more space for people to live in. While there was no reason orbital habitats wouldn't be perfectly safe with proper military facilities, especially under the protection of a Torus' armaments, which were designed to fight off entire fleets, there was a certain psychological factor. While logically people were aware that anything that could get past the Torus would be about as much of a threat to them on the planet itself, emotionally having solid ground and more than a meter of metal between them and quick but horrible death was less stressful, even with a ceiling above their heads made up of literal tons of rock. It was a phenomenon similar to the anxiety many people felt when flying, despite its safety generally being higher than land vehicles due to how overengineered they tend to be in recompense for needing to work in many different atmospheres and gravities.
To that end, an entire assembly line of machines and people came into being at her behest. Adamantium and/or diamond cutting-headed drills, special sifting machines, smelters, and specialized replicators to aid in producing sufficient quantities of adamantium to place the pillars and thin coating of the very best adamantium alloys on the floor and ceiling some 5 meters thick, not to mention other specialized materials in smaller quantities. Construction crews, from civilian companies and government-owned ones alike, began constructing the Arcologies, as well as the military strongholds in case someone was insane enough to bother with a ground invasion or some kind of major insurgency built up for whatever reason, and the general infrastructure, such as the roads and, if there was some issue at the edge of the tunneled areas delaying further tunneling, building more normal housing and morale-centered projects, such as parks with special sunlight-mimicking lights.
The expertise of several Agri-Worlds and Forgeworlds, including a few hybrids of various degrees, was used to help ensure optimal conditions on the industrial and agricultural sides, while the governments of the small number of Paradise Worlds in Bastion borders were consulted on the morale reinforcement projects. She didn't actually need it, as a rule, but it was important not to assume she was automatically right simply by virtue of being the smartest person in the room, and raw knowledge couldn't always substitute for simple experience, as a theoretically sound model might not properly take the long-term consequences and/or minor factors into account. Hence the second opinions, and third... and seventh.
Many of the facilities, both civilian and military, from a tiny house to a cluster of Arcologies, from an outpost so unimportant it was literally a slight depression fortified with a single turret to a factory of tanks defended by a wall of the finished product and a Destroyer-grade Void Shield, most currently uninhabited, were given a scattering of turrets, of the new design recently made to defend small areas. This was as much a test run for the placement of the turrets as anything else, considering how unlikely it was that some belligerents would attempt to set up shop in an area crawling with workers and heavy machinery, including military machines. The extra 'muscle' in a manner of speaking, was more insurance in the event of that scenario for the moment, but would play a vital role in any defensive action, and could be accessed by law enforcement to call down fire most individuals short of a Daemon or Astartes in armor would swiftly be mulched by. Unless any insurgents had actual tanks, they'd be massacred the moment they entered a turret's range.
The new Protection Crystals were used to create forcefields around areas being dug out and 'inter-city' tunnels, so if water or magma were struck, by accident in the digging process or on purpose by some madman or perhaps a Chaos cultist looking to sacrifice a huge number of souls quickly, if less efficiently due to improper ritual around the killings, as simply invoking the name before causing a large number of deaths was lacking, it could be contained fairly swiftly, or at least delayed until proper countermeasures could take effect. Generally these took the form of blast doors which took cues from The Phalanx and a special team meant to seal the breach, either via a physical seal of earth or by freezing the water/magma via Psykery, judicious application of water to solidify any magma, or Ice and Fire Crystals freezing/sapping the heat from them.
Military squads had to take a little time to get used to fighting in an environment lacking in natural wind or light, as well as the moderately increased ability to control their environs since any 'nature' was merely regulated replication of such and could be altered to suit the needs of local forces. Generally, this was not the case, and a lot of habits had to be trained out of the veterans. To that end, mostly green or outright new recruits were trained for fighting in the tunnels. A secondary group trained to fight in tunnels in general was also established, but was smaller and meant to be deployed to face enemies who used warrens of tunnels as opposed to the massive housing and industrial complexes the garrison units would be expected to see combat in.
Reward: Potent Tunneling and Tunnel Fighting Units. The tunneling industrial complex can rapidly excavate thousands of tons of rock, building entire cities on the new real estate almost as quickly, practically creating a false planetary surface uncaring of oceans on the surface. The Tunnel Fighting Units, meanwhile, can take advantage of the artificial world around them to fight even better than they could above-ground. Under-Ecumenopoli will be constructed automatically at a rapid pace. Minimum 5.75% population growth to keep up. BSF Malus to Tunnel Fighting Eliminated both in garrison forces and offensive army groups, and outright inverted for special Tunnel Units. +3250 to BSF rolls when fighting underground.
AN: Spending 5 minutes on it with Divine Education is still a stupidly high Check. 1000 Skill translates to 100000 Check points by the old system.
I'm aware that violent protests are a thing, but I figured I ought to showcase Serras' naivete after showcasing the *ahem* downsides of being an incarnated Warp entity. As far as she's concerned non-Chaos violent mobs are so uncommon as to be a non-factor.
- [Invention] Investigate Sub-space and any method(s) of traversing it x14
14d20=194. Learning=110*6=660*14= 9240. Education: Divine: 1000+ Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)+ Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+ Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)= 1080.5*14=15127. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)+Invention Perks(37)=254*14=3556. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop) +7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*14=112652.4. 194+9240+15127+3556+112652.4=140769.4. -10555 for Subspace Drive Mark I. Passed. -10430 for Subspace Drive Mark II. Passed. -10305 for Subspace Drive Mark III. Passed. -10055 for Subspace Drive Mark IV. Passed. -9805 for Subspace Drive Mark V. Passed. -9555 for Subspace Drive Mark VI. Passed. -8305 for Subspace Drive Mark VII. Passed. -7055 for Subspace Drive Mark VIII. Passed. -5805 for Subspace Drive Mark IX. Passed. -3305 for Subspace Drive Mark X. Passed. -805 for Subspace Drive Mark XI. Passed. 1695 for Subspace Drive Mark XII. Passed. 14195 for Subspace Drive Mark XIII. Passed. 26695 for Subspace Drive Mark XIV. Passed. 39195 for Subspace Drive Mark XV. Passed. 64195 for Subspace Drive Mark XVI. Passed. 89195 for Subspace Drive Mark XVII. Passed. 139195 for Subspace Drive Mark XVIII. Passed. 140769.4/189195 for Subspace Drive Mark XIX.
Level 85. 5800/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Subspace was, much like the Warp, a dimension adjacent to normal reality. It could, similarly, be used to traverse vast distances as FTL speeds. However, this is where the similarities ended. While the Warp reflected the psychic imprints of all soul-bearing beings, Subspace simply existed, having little impact on the Materium beyond being the source of tetryons, a Subspace-specific particle which rapidly dissolved back into it when introduced to the Materium by use of Subspace-linked devices. Where Daemons and other 'knots' of Warp energy, masses of concepts and (frequently screaming) souls tied together into beings able to vaguely approximate thought but bearing more resemblance to viruses (sometimes literally) than people, populated the Warp, Subspace was comparatively calm. Oh, there were anomalies that could swallow entire sectors of space, but they were by far less common, and far, far less dangerous in realspace if they manifested there at all, and could frequently be trivialized with a Gellar Field for much the same reasons such fields pushed back Daemons.
Speaking of Daemons, a few races, Astral Hounds, Enslavers, and Psychenneuins, were known to make their home in the Warp, though there were few records of any non-hostile, non-predatory, or even non-exploitive Warp entities of any kind. It was possible a few such entities did the same for Subspace, but they were minor enough that a cursory glance had revealed nothing, whereas the Warp-based xenos could be located if one looked hard enough and avoided the Daemons long enough, even if they grew less and less common as Daemons grew more prevalent unless specifically cultivated.
Subspace was significantly slower than the Warp, in other words, but far, far safer. Both because it lacked many of the hazards, and because the temporal displacement not uncommon to Warp travel was nigh-non-existent here. It was theoretically possible to be displaced on the time axis, but accidental instances would be nearly impossible, with how much more stable Subspace was on that front due to time actually existing in the technical sense. Subspace's distance from the Materium also made it even harder for Daemons to manifest in comparison, to the point that it would be a reasonably safe method of travel even during Warp storms or in proximity to a Daemonworld. In theory, Subspace was safe enough that you didn't really need a Gellar Field when traveling through areas with normal amounts of Warp turmoil, though she wouldn't be recommending it any time soon. For this reason, if the Materium were ever consumed by the Warp, making homes for surviving sapients in Subspace would be her choice to attempt to flee, assuming outright fleeing the current universe was non-viable. It would be a temporary measure, as Gellar Fields could not be maintained indefinitely, and the Materium being consumed would likely make Subspace far most hostile.
Then there was the simple fact that Subspace was completely compatible with mundane technology. With some tinkering, certain space-hungry industrial and infrastructural structures such as reactors, which had an upper limit on potency without occupying greater space, and material processing facilities, could be sunk into subspace to increase their output relative to their size in realspace.
The main advantage of Subspace Drives, however, was their irreverence in the face of conventional blocks on Warp FTL. Gravity fields were as nothing to Subspace, below the point of singularities at least. While a ship would almost certainly crash attempting to emerge in a planet's atmosphere, entering Subspace from that point would not have any issues from the planet's gravity not brought on by the effects it might be having on the ship itself. Similarly, the heat of a star would be more of a problem than it's gravity when attempting to exit or enter Subspace in proximity to one. As the outer layers of stars further in their life cycles, particularly Red Giants, tended to be cooler and less dense than those of smaller or younger ones, a sufficiently shielded ship could dive into a star and then into Subspace, with the enemy's sensors blinded by the star, hiding their escape. Similarly, Warp Storms and psychic rituals provided no obstacle unless they were absurdly powerful, as the Materium being merged with the Warp merely brought Subspace into the same rough proximity to the Warp as the Materium normally possessed.
Then there were the direct economic and military applications of the Subspace Drives. Even the current 10ly/day (68% of current Warp Drives as of the project's completion for the year) for top-of-the-line drives was a massive upgrade on the previous 0.0001c civilian plasma drives. Even journeys between neighboring planets could take weeks at old speeds. Now? A journey that would require 6 month's travel, frequently the case for civilian vessels undergoing travel from the edge of the system to the core, could be finished in less than 5 minutes. The implications for merchant shipping and friendly visits between planets in the same system, alone, were staggering. While less impressive for the 0.001c military drives, as the journey was already less than 20 seconds so going down to 1.8 seconds wasn't all that impressive, it was still a massive jump in capabilities, and should prove a major force multiplier. The military being able to reach a planet to engage in battle in a timely manner tended to be such.
Reward: Subspace Drive Mark XVIII. The Subspace Drive is similar to the Warp Drive in the respect that it uses a parallel dimension to move at FTL speeds. While it is slower, it is more stable and safer, and can be used in gravity wells of anything besides a black hole. It can also be used in the atmosphere of planets and stars of lesser density. 10ly/day top speed. +5000 to BSF rolls due to enhanced intra-system movement negating travel times between planets in the system and across the planet. +10000 to naval rolls from tactical FTL jumps. +10000% to industry due to incredible jump in merchant shipping giving the economy an equally incredibly shot in the arm. +10000% to morale rolls as visiting one's family and friends across an inhabited system is only marginally more hassle than riding a bus. Tactical FTL jumps available to all forces. Warp Storms and rituals reduced in effectiveness as barriers. Unlocks Subspace-Projects.
AN: Subspace Projects include figuring out how to sink infrastructure into Subspace. It's sort of like Space Crystals stretching space in practice, but requires a completely different apparatus to disrupt, in part because it relies on a wholly different dimensional plane. This is a method to get around reactor-miniaturization/improvement issues. Simply cease minimizing it and make it a glacier of realspace with a main body sunk into Subspace. Of course, it grows exponentially more difficult to increase the ratio as you go. This would also interfere with use of the drive, for obvious reasons, so it can only be done on relatively static things (as in, can't move under their own power) like planetary surfaces until you get it really up there. On the other hand, if you have a microfusion reactor, it can use this principle to actually be more like a tank-scale reactor and so on, allowing a rank-up of all forces offensively and more potent shields creating a similar defensive upgrade. Though static things like planet-bound reactors are practically 1 AP simple, since you don't need nearly the same safeguards as you would with reactors that move around frequently, like tank and infantry-scale ones.
Keep in mind that Emps focused on FTL method enhancement over plasma drive enhancement. Hence plasma drives 'now' and during the HH being similar, as well as remaining similar post-HH.
- [Invention] Improve Plasma Drive (ship engines) x14
14d20=144. Learning=110*6=660*14=9240. Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)+Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)=1044.5*14=14616. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)=217*14=3038. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop) +7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*14=112652.4. 144+9240+14616+3038+112652.4= 139690.4. -9445 for Plasma Drive Mark I. Passed. -8945 for Plasma Drive Mark II. Passed. -8445 for Plasma Drive Mark III. Passed. -7945 for Plasma Drive Mark IV. Passed. -5445 for Plasma Drive Mark V. Passed. -2945 for Plasma Drive Mark VI. Passed. -445 for Plasma Drive Mark VII. Passed. 4555 for Plasma Drive Mark VIII. Passed, 9555 for Plasma Drive Mark IX. Passed. 14555 for Plasma Drive Mark X. Passed. 39555 for Plasma Drive Mark XI. Passed. 64555 for Plasma Drive Mark XII. Passed. 89555 for Plasma Drive Mark XIII. Passed. 139555 for Plasma Drive Mark XIV. Passed. 139690.4/189555 for Plasma Drive Mark XV.
Level 85. 6080/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While Warp Drives and Subspace Drives allow for FTL speeds, and thus made a galactic, or at least galactic-scale, civilization possible, they merely altered the relative distance between objects and otherwise bent physics. They were still reliant on the ship's impulse drive for movement. Therefore, improving the plasma engine that moved the ship in normal space would result in a marked and universal improvement of the movement speed of the ships. Of course, plasma drives were one of the most ubiquitous, and most intact, technologies to have come through the Age of Strife. Not to say they hadn't lost quite a bit of performance on the old versions, but they weren't nearly as decayed as, say, genetics. Not the least because they were a relatively simple piece of technology by Dark Age standards.
Of course, you were one of the best equipped people in the galaxy to move it back towards that peak. So you do. Certainly, some of it is ensuring the increased velocities aren't a problem for the ship, particularly the bigger ones. After all, a 140% increase on previous speeds was no laughing matter. Still, the result was definitely worth the effort.
From the merchant ships getting their trips into and out of the system cut from 7 months both ways to roughly 3.7 apiece even if they couldn't afford the Subspace upgrade, to the military vessels that had the span of less than a minute to get from the (average) system's edge to any spot they wished via Subspace cut down even further.
The military, of course, was happy to have the extra speed, and the greater connectivity between planets and installations was a morale boost, nearly doubling the effective speed of every ship would have the most massive knock-on effects for industry. Certainly Subspace had already claimed much of the credit for that sort of economic stimulation, but not every little merchant tug could afford them. Plasma drives were the cheapest impulse drive beyond chemical rockets, so they didn't have that problem, and it wasn't like commerce between the moons of a gas giant particularly needed that kind of speed under most circumstances. This would lead to even more of an economic boom.
Reward: Plasma Drive Mark XIV. The impulse engine of a ship determines its speed in all known FTL methods, and is the only reliable form of propulsion that allows a ship to bombard a target or dock. The plasma drive is the most common form of propulsion. Current military speed: 0.0024c. Current civilian speed: 0.00024c. 140% increase to speed of all FTL/PL methods. Warp speed: 34.8ly/day for military ships. 3.48ly/day for civilian ships. (Base: 14.5ly/day*2.4(Gellar Fields subtract 100%, but that's dropped to 55% thanks to modifications on that front)). Subspace: 24ly/day for military ships. 2.4ly/day for civilian ships. (Base: 10ly/day*2.4). +700 to BSF rolls due to improved shuttling of troops. +1400 to naval rolls from accelerated ship movement. +1400 to industry due to accelerated ship movement helping commerce of even the smallest and cheapest merchant ships. +1400 to morale rolls due to increased interconnectivity of worlds and reduced time spent on ships.
AN: Yeah, see, impulse drive is one of the things that was actually pretty intact from the Dark Age. Partially because they were designed to be relatively easy to make and repair, since they'd be prime targets for pirates to hit to disable the ship. After all, disable the impulse engines, and a Warp jump would leave the ship at the mercy of the Warp currents. So it was already pretty far along for a simple tech. That being said, going from 0.1% of lightspeed to 0.19% of lightspeed is pretty good.
- [Invention] Improve Warp Drive x11
11d20=90. Learning=110*6=660*11=7260. Education: Mystic Arts: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)+Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)=1044.5*11=11489.5. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks(15)=217*11=2387. Misc. Bonuses= 680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*11= 88512.6. 90+ 7260+11489.5+ 2387+88512.6= 109739.1. -9445 for Warp Drive Mark I. Passed. -8945 for Warp Drive Mark II. Passed. -8445 for Warp Drive Mark III. Passed. -7945 for Warp Drive Mark IV. Passed. -5445 for Warp Drive Mark V. Passed. -2945 for Warp Drive Mark VI. Passed. -445 for Warp Drive Mark VII. Passed. 4555 for Warp Drive Mark VIII. Passed. 9555 for Warp Drive Mark IX. Passed. 14555 for Warp Drive Mark X. Passed. 39555 for Warp Drive Mark XI. Passed. 64555 for Warp Drive Mark XII. Passed. 89555 for Warp Drive Mark XIII. Passed. 109739.1/139555 for Warp Drive Mark XIV.
Level 85. 6340/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
Warp Drives, like Plasma Drives, survived the Age of Strife mostly intact. However, that was more out of necessity, as while they were similarly widespread, they were far more complex, and tended to fail more catastrophically, but were absolutely necessary for a multi-system star-nation, as the only FTL drive around. The need for Gellar Fields to use them properly didn't help either. For you, however, speed was a priority. Though this time you only managed a roughly 40% jump. With all your previous jumps in speed, however, the total boost to Warp travel speed was over 250%, enough to make rule of a significant chunk of the galaxy possible without major issues from lack of cohesion due to distance.
Regardless, the usual round of improvements from effectively reducing the distance between bastions of civilization ensued. Increases in morale from closer connections and lower prices on luxury goods. The economic stimulation, not only from greater access to resources, but from decreased difficulty in harvesting and transporting those resources, resulting in lower prices to do so. The military's 451% speed jump on old Warp Drives would let them run circles around the previous generation's craft, and therefore lead to a similar boost in fighting capacity.
The improvements also led to a partial solution to the greatest problems of Warp travel. Gravitational and psychic perturbations were less of a problem. Only maybe 4%, but every bit helped. Considering the size of the Warp exclusion zones around stars of the Giant or Supergiant categories, or black holes, and the problems simply being near a Daemonworld or Chaotically active world could cause Warp travel, this was quite a bit of help.
Reward: Warp Drive Mark XIII. The Warp Drive is the fastest FTL method available, though there are less than 5 others, however it is also one of the least reliable, being affected by the conditions of the Warp, the gravity of stars and planets, and any large-scale psychic disturbances. Still, if one wishes to cross the galaxy, the Warp is the best way to do so in something resembling a timely fashion. Military speed: 91.8ly/day((Base: 38.25ly/day(85*0.45) due to Gellar Fields subtract 100%, but that's dropped to 55% thanks to modifications on that front)*2.4). Civilian speed: 9.18ly/day. +650 to BSF rolls from improved deployment speeds. +1300 to naval rolls. +1300 to industry from greater ease of harvest and transport of resources reducing prices. +1300 to morale rolls from greater connectivity and reduced prices on luxury goods. Slight reduction in disturbance gravity causes to Warp drives. Slight reduction to impact of psychic disturbances on Warp drive functionality.
- [Invention] Alcubierre Drive x11
-- Distort space via zones of positive/negative energy and gravity to generate a space-time bubble around the ship which moves FTL
-- High-end Anti-Gravity tech + Grade 11 Gravity crystal
-- Crystals: Space + Gravity + Energy create zones, Warding keeps zones contained, Balance + Gravity compensate for external gravity wells to allow in-system travel
11d20=144. Learning=110*6=660*11=7260. Education: Divine: 1000+Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)+Forging: Machinery: 23(230/10)+Invention: Industry: 36(360/10)=1080.5*11=11885.5. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks (15)+Invention Perks(37)=254*11=2794. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop) +7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+500(Education Bonus)=8046.6*11=88512.6. 144+7260+11855.5+2794+88512.6=110596.1. -10705 for Alcubierre Drive Mark I. Passed. -10655 for Alcubierre Drive Mark II. Passed. -10605 for Alcubierre Drive Mark III. Passed. -10555 for Alcubierre Drive Mark IV. Passed. -10305 for Alcubierre Drive Mark V. Passed. -10055 for Alcubierre Drive Mark VI. Passed. -9805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark VII. Passed. -8805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark VIII. Passed. -8805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark IX. Passed. -7805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark X. Passed. -5805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XI. Passed. -2805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XII. Passed. -805 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XIII. Passed. 4195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XIV. Passed. 9195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XV. Passed. 14195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XVI. Passed. 39195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XVII. Passed. 64195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XVIII. Passed. 89195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XIX. Passed. 110596.1/139195 for Alcubierre Drive Mark XX.
Level 85. 6680/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
A theoretical(until now) method of FTL movement was to create zones of energy and/or gravity and create a space-time distortion through them that the ship would continuously fall into, circumventing relativistic mass by moving the massless fabric of the universe instead of the ship itself. Of course, this method would ordinarily be incredibly sensitive to strong gravity wells such as planets and stars, causing major issues when using it inside of star systems, and be incompatible with Warp Drives for similar reasons, but Gravity, Balance and Warding Crystals helped regulate the fields and cancel those restrictions out. Meanwhile, Energy, Gravity, and Space Crystals made the fields more potent in the first place, reducing the need for delicate and complex machinery to produce the fields at all and making them easier to mass produce.
The fields, while less potent than either Subspace or Warp Drive, were both more energy efficient and far, far more malleable than either of them, allowing for far greater adjustment of the exact properties therein. 4 major designs had been tested, with various strengths and weaknesses, though improvements to the Alcubierre tech would benefit all of them relatively evenly, once the basic differences were taken into account, even if minor improvements could be made to the designs with more direct research into them on an individual basis.
Main Keel: Not dissimilar to a spinal gun, the design best suited for bulk transport, be it of people or materials. A simple design, this one used a single massive linear accelerator to establish a linear field gradient parallel to its axis. While not the most sophisticated design, it had been shown to be extremely energy efficient and robust in comparison to other forms. This version had incredibly high endurance, even the prototype able to outlast most Warp Drive ships in terms of time spent in FTL, to say nothing of the finished product, and was simple enough that any random shipyard could likely make one of reasonable quality. However, it was one of the slower designs, and it's overall maneuverability was low. Still, for civilian use, it was excellent.
Twin Nacelles: An Alcubierre device set on each of a pair of parallel engine prongs. While overlapping fields had already been shown to interfere with each other, not unlike Void Shields, initial models showed that precise alignment of two fields should (and did) produce a complex interaction between them that would create an exponentially greater spatial distortion than a single field on its own. While a ship like this would also require a much higher input of energy, tests showed that the velocities achievable would also be much higher. This design had the (overall) highest speed, and decent maneuverability, but it was very fragile by spaceship standards, and had low endurance. Intra-system commerce would likely see many of these shuttling goods between orbitals and a planet and its moons, as would important personnel. Anything that required swift arrival more than bulk movement, essentially. Examining any anomalies that cropped up nearby would likely also fall to these, especially if Subspace was disrupted somehow.
Crescent Wings: Instead of orienting the field parallel to the axis of travel, if given a curve to produce self-interaction effects from the tips, it could be oriented perpendicular to travel. While this configuration would definitely be slower than linear designs, making it easily the slowest of the quartet, and it's endurance was garbage-tier, it would also be able to reorient much faster. Essentially, this design was perfect for fightercraft. Since they already had to come back in to refuel and rearm, the poor endurance was little issue, and the low speed was of little consequence when they were fighting on a scale of ship-to-ship combat. Wings were often used in fightercraft already, if more commonly in atmospheric craft.
The Torus, a donut shape, essentially. The curved Alcubierre design taken to its logical conclusion, a toroidal design would produce extreme self-interaction effects in the center of the ring. While this would negate much of its capacity as a reactionless drive, though even the most efficient drives needed to be kickstarted with a fusion reaction, the center could become a point of pinched space-time that could replicate the interior of stars, producing an efficient fusion reactor, allowing ships with this design to act as if they had two primary reactors while underway. Better yet, the external fields could be used to funnel interstellar gas into the pinch point, producing a Bussard ramjet to slightly increase speed or provide a sudden change in momentum. In addition, the design allowed the ship to continue essentially indefinitely. However, the speed and mobility of these ships would be utterly abysmal should this design be used, even with the ramjet's minor contribution. Proper military ships were likely to use this design, as it's nature made it the best for large masses and objects, which most military ships counted as. This design would also make grabbing an asteroid and launching it at a planet a relatively quick and cheap endeavor of grabbing it in the Alcubierre field of a capital ship and towing it to the planet, then letting gravity do the rest, as opposed to a month-long production of finding an appropriately massed one, sticking rockets on it, and keeping an eye on it until it actually hit.
The factor that really made this type shine was that, much like common Plasma Drives, they could be used with either Warp or Subspace Drives, and as a realspace FTL method, could be used even if both of those dimensions were blocked somehow, providing an even further increase to FTL speeds, and another option in the event that something was interfering with the other methods. Similarly, their speed was affected as much by the ship's plasma drives as the theoretical grounding and technical complexity of the fields.
Speaking of which, the fields were made using a combination of machines and Crystals. In the Warp, the Crystals took precedence, as the machines lost effectiveness in the chaotic maelstrom of psychic energy and the fields were mostly inimical to Warp Drive use when made with technology. In Subspace, the dimension bore no hostility to gravitational effects, but the Crystals weakened considerably due to distance from the Warp, so the effects were much the same. Of course, another strength of the Alcubierre Drive was it's relatively small frame. Sure, it was complex enough that the Mechanicus' religiously devoted adepts were some of the only people even willing to learn how to make them en masse beyond simple rote memorization, but you could stick these on strikecraft or Defense Monitors easily enough, providing the system defenses a major boost in effectiveness. Similarly, it could ignore Subspace and the Warp being simultaneously cut off, as it didn't need either of them. Certainly, being limited to little more than 55% of light speed would be problematic, but it wouldn't utterly doom Sub-Sectors at least, and Serras could always work on it some more.
Having waited until you got all the different types of drives in order, you sent the schematics and explanations of the underlying physics to the other Primarchs and Father. While Leman and Horus didn't have the experience with space travel to really appreciate the change, Rogal was stoically approving of the tactical advantage, and Magnus was more interested in the metaphysics of the Warp and Subspace, Father was overjoyed, mentioning that his original timetable might not just be possible, but relatively simple to achieve with these advances, though he seemed a little upset about something.
Reward: Alcubierre Drive Mark XIX. A Drive that uses fields of altered spacetime to accelerate a ship to relativistic speeds without running into the wall of relativistic mass, and without leaving normal space. Crystals are used to bypass the sensitivity of such fields to strong gravity. Four types are available. Current top speed: 0.456c(Base:0.19c). Warp speed: 17442ly/day for military ships. 1744.2ly/day for civilian ships. (Base: 33.75ly/day*2.4(Gellar Fields subtract 50%, but that's dropped to 27.5% thanks to modifications on that front)*190). Subspace: 4560ly/day for military ships. 456ly/day for civilian ships. (Base: 10ly/day*2.4*190/1ly/day*2.4*190). +850 to BSF rolls from improved deployment speeds and troop carriers and strikecraft being able to circumnavigate the planet with ease. +1900 to naval rolls due to even strike craft being capable of speeds in excess of 10% of c. +1900 to industry from greater ease of harvest and transport of resources reducing prices. +1900 to morale rolls from greater connectivity and reduced prices on luxury goods. Multiplies Plasma Drive and Plasma Drive multiplier of Warp and Subspace Drives by 190. Main Keel: High Endurance, High Tolerance of Large Masses, Relative Simplicity. 75% Speed, Poor Maneuverability. Nacelles: 150% Speed, Decent Maneuverability, Low Tolerance of Large Masses. Lower Endurance, Delicate Construction. Crescent Wings: Extreme Maneuverability. 50% Speed, Poor Endurance, Lowest Tolerance of Large Masses. Torus: Power Source, Greatest Tolerance of Large Masses, Unlimited Endurance. 25% Speed and Maneuverability. Major tactical options opened by ridiculous speeds of common ships. Even Defense Monitors, fightercraft, etc. capable of significant fractions of lightspeed movement without major difficulty.
AN: Unlike Warp and Plasma Drive, Alcubierre is totally new as far as human tech in the current time period is concerned, and Grade 10/11 Crystals and anti-gravity tech knock a zero off the Check req. Nacelles are Star Trek-based, obviously, though Torus is Orville-based. So, yeah, there's a reason people don't use these much even with Necron-tier tech. Still, as an impulse drive, they're pretty awesome even with the downsides.
Incidentally, this whole mess has made you a serious Motive Force contender. One new FTL method could be dismissed by the hardliners. After all, the Warp Drive was a thing. Two? One of which enhances both of the others by more than an order of magnitude? Yeah, pretty hard to dismiss. On the other hand, Emps massive stores of DAoT tech and the link between you two will probably end up strengthening both of your claims on the respective Machine-God sections you're going for. It would only make sense for the Motive Force and Omnissiah's avatars to be linked just like the things they represent, right?
Borrowed the types from Academia Nut with permission. Anybody want to take a crack at an Emps' Negaverse/TTS reacting to this nonsense?
- [Invention] Webway escort ship design x7
-- corridor/room height limited to 2m, ceiling reinforced (anti-ork/eldar measure)
-- point-defense focus + Skylance laser (dominate minor pathways)
-- Alcubierre Drive
7d20= 79. Learning=110*6=660*7=4620. Education: Mystic Arts: 1000+Forging: Machinery: 36(360/10)+Electronics: Circuitry: 21.5(215)=1057.5*7=7402.5. Education Perks(190)+Electronics Perks(12)+Forging Perks (15)=217*7=1519. Misc. Bonuses=680.6(Workshop)+7(Rune of Self)+9(Exotic Item)+500(Crystals)+150(SL Bonuses)+6700(Education Bonus)=8046.6*7=56326.2. 79+4620+ 7402.5+1519+56326.2=69946.7. -10475 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design. Passed. -10425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark I. Passed. -10375 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark II. Passed. -10325 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark III. Passed. -10075 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark IV. Passed. -9825 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark V. Passed. -9575 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark VI. Passed. -9075 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark VII. Passed. -8575 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark VIII. Passed. -8075 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark IX. Passed. -5575 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark X. Passed. -3075 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XI. Passed. -575 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XII. Passed. 4425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XIII. Passed. 9425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XIV. Passed. 14425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XV. Passed. 39425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XVI. Passed. 64425 for Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XVII. Passed.
Level 85. 7040/9500. Currently possess 350 Perk points.
While the Webway was comparatively less potent thanks to the recent advances in FTL technology, it was still of use if it could be stabilized. For one thing, securing it would prevent it from falling into enemy hands, which the remaining Imperial Eldar would likely default to if they truly hadn't learned anything. For another, certain locations, such as the Black Library, were only accessible through the Webway. Several pocket dimensions, at least 5 in fact, were also tied directly to the Webway. Even ignoring all that, the Webway could be used to traverse the galaxy in a matter of hours if you knew what you were doing, which was still faster than current FTL drives, even if it was more limited in it's destinations.
To aid in securing it, a special Escort Class was being built, designed to be able to pass through all but the smallest passages. In fact, the Escort was predominantly point-defenses and Skylance lasers, in order to facilitate its role as a bombardment craft. Two other safeguards were put into place as well. The corridors were narrowed, while the ceilings and floors were reinforced, to degrade the mobility-focus of Eldar combatants and the numbers advantage of the Orks, two of the most likely material enemies for the Escorts to encounter, while the latter measure helped to ensure that a given level of the Escort could be sealed off if it were overrun, the blast doors sealing off the stairways if they weren't simply demolished.
The Alcubierre Drive was something of a necessity, as the Webway's existence in the layers between the Materium and Immaterium made both Subspace and Warp Drives incompatible with its use. Certainly, it was superior in speed to even current FTL drives even with the humble Plasma Drive as you mode of transport if you knew how to navigate it properly, but even many Eldar had only a tenuous grasp of that skillset, with how the layers between the Warp and reality had been altered by Slaanesh' birth wearing down the Veil had affected the Webway, even ignoring the chaos of the Eldar homeworlds being swallowed and their Webway Gates alongside them and the following damage inflicted by the rampages of Daemons. The Alcubierre Drive allowed ships to brute-force the same speeds by simply moving incredibly quickly and using Gellar Fields to bypass spatial and temporal anomalies, though not both simultaneously, due to the reliance on Crystals to make the Alcubierre Drive work, especially so close to the Warp.
Reward: Webway Escort: Alcubierre Design Mark XVII. An Escort designed with Alcubierre Drives so they could travel at speeds comparable to experienced Eldar navigators via brute speed in place of knowledge of the Webway's navigation. They come equipped with potent point defenses and Skylance lasers to allow them to simply obliterate armies in small passages, while bearing significant hardening against boarders, particularly Orks and Eldar. +130% to Webway Exploration Actions. +130% to Webway Access Bonus. Major Malus to chances of Webway-based enemy assaults.
- [Invention] Spend R&D Coordination on selected techs with closest check until empty
- [Invention] R&D Coordination priority: Astartes Package 50k check
Last edited:
- Location
- US
So we're still operating on dreadnoughts being the same size as canon cruisers and Battleships being the same size as battlecruisers and small grand cruisers?
I'm rather confused how with all our better tech and implantation procedures, you're still going to have around 2 million marines. This seems particularly absurd when you want nonillions of people.
- Location
- Canada
This . . . . This frightens me. Why Serras! Why tempt fate!!!
- Location
- U.S.
attrition is a hell of a population controller
- Location
- US
Yeah, not in this case. The number makes absolutely no sense at the scale we're currently at, let alone the scale ilbgar wants to work towards. The numbers make no sense in canon, he wants to increase the population by like 12 OoM if not more.
Next step, create and refine a Mass Crystal. Use in conjunction with Gravity Crystals to form, essentially, Element Zero, except warp-based instead of being a naturally occurring phenomena. Pioneer negative-mass FTL.
Superfluous? Very. But I imagine the actual FTL would be a secondary concern, compared to the resulting boost to our kinetic munitions. Meanwhile, adding a third FTL method to our resume would really throw people for a loop.
EDIT- also, potentially a new kind of shield which is specifically mass-reactive. Okay quality vs dedicated slug throwers, but completely shuts down anything thermal or which relies on a mono-molecular edge instead of pure kinetic impact.
Last edited:
- Location
- US
So eezo but in crystal form?Next step, create and refine a Mass Crystal. Use in conjunction with Gravity Crystals to form, essentially, Element Zero, except warp-based instead of a naturally occurring phenomena. Pioneer negative-mass FTL.
How far is our Astartes armory from this?
Mark I Legio pattern Power Armor
-Mark I Iron sub pattern Power Armor
Mark I Jump Pack
Mark I Cameleoline Cloak
Mark I Cataphractii pattern Tactical Dreadnought Armor
Mark I Contemptor pattern Dreadnought
Mark I Refractor Field
Mark I Iron Halo
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Bolter
Bolt Pistol
Combi Bolter
Bolt Sniper
Heavy Bolter
Plasma Gun
Plasma Pistol
Plasma Blaster
Plasma Cannon
Power Axe
Power Dagger
Power Fist
Power Sword
Lightning Claw
Storm Shield
Thunder Hammer
Frag Grenade
Krak Grenade
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Rhino
Predator
Whirlwind
Land Raider
Falchion
Fellblade
Drop Pod
Storm Eagle
Stormbird
Xiphon
Fire Raptor
Jetbike
Land Speeder
-Mark I Iron sub pattern Power Armor
Mark I Jump Pack
Mark I Cameleoline Cloak
Mark I Cataphractii pattern Tactical Dreadnought Armor
Mark I Contemptor pattern Dreadnought
Mark I Refractor Field
Mark I Iron Halo
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Bolter
Bolt Pistol
Combi Bolter
Bolt Sniper
Heavy Bolter
Plasma Gun
Plasma Pistol
Plasma Blaster
Plasma Cannon
Power Axe
Power Dagger
Power Fist
Power Sword
Lightning Claw
Storm Shield
Thunder Hammer
Frag Grenade
Krak Grenade
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Rhino
Predator
Whirlwind
Land Raider
Falchion
Fellblade
Drop Pod
Storm Eagle
Stormbird
Xiphon
Fire Raptor
Jetbike
Land Speeder
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
ild go as far to say...
MASSIVELY far away.
as in that is laughed at and used as a training guide, you get better equipment as you go along.
MASSIVELY far away.
as in that is laughed at and used as a training guide, you get better equipment as you go along.
- Location
- US
For me, the next step is Volkite weapons, canon Mk IV armor, and grav-tech being applied to vehicles.
- Location
- Canada
Not really, or at least not yet.
Our Power Armor, once again, is designed for humans and as mentioned is little more then ablative armor for our Astartes.
Bolters haven't been engineered yet, and plasma weapons are really more or less equivalent, maybe safer.
We do have jump packs, don't need Dreadnoughts with our medical skills, and refractor fields/iron halos more or less fill the same spot as personal void shields; I'd say we have the advantage of availability there over quality of some of those good DaoT relics.
And we really haven't done much for mechanizing our forces.
- Location
- US
While I still think it would be best to try and design an implant that would allow Astartes to regen on their own over time, I don't really see anything wrong with using Dreads as Heavy Weapons Platforms
- Location
- Canada
Oh, I didn't mean we couldn't build Dreadnoughts or use them, I just meant we don't need them to house injured Astartes. I'm sure we could still use them/adapt them for fully operational Astartes.