It isn't impossible. Especially considering that their was an STC for the Iron men of all things.
Strange Aeons: A 40k Xeno Governor Quest
- Thread starter Leon12431
- Start date
I find it rather unlikely. Any STC we forge will receive an unholy amount of scrutiny by individuals who will know far more about them than we ever will. That's just the nature of rare and valuable holy relics appearing in unexpected locations. Nevermind one found close to the Eye of Terror, which is bound to raise scrutiny. Plus, the rewards for finding one would likely break the game.
- Location
- Israel
Reminds me of this question I asked on another thread's Discord:
1) How much shock would it be for the Mechanicus to learn about the mere fact someone had made a fake Blueprint good enough to fool them?
1. Not that much
It's happened in the past
If they catch the person
They tend to live a Long, Long time
1. as a flagellant servitor
1. if they are lucky
1) How much shock would it be for the Mechanicus to learn about the mere fact someone had made a fake Blueprint good enough to fool them?
1. Not that much
It's happened in the past
If they catch the person
They tend to live a Long, Long time
1. as a flagellant servitor
1. if they are lucky
- Location
- USA
just posting an update to ensure that people do not believe I have left this quest. I have been writing the next update and its almost done only one action left and has reached ~19k or so words and I expect it to breach 20k words without counting various voting options for the update.
- Location
- USA
I am not forcing it to grow, in all honestly I had wanted this update to be ~6k or so, but one action just exploded to 12k in and of itself and the others are varying between 1k and 3k. I am writing just what feels right so I am not forcing myself to write long form updates.
Well as long as you have no problems with it, then its fine, do you know when it will be done?
- Location
- USA
Hopefully by this weekend at the latest. I am not confident to give a firm time frame due to having to write the hardest action and do a bit of action clean up and reorganization.
Turn 2: Progress Continues
- Location
- USA
From what I could find, his rule of pure insanity was only halted when he had a Magos of a manufactorum executed over the course of a week for the crime of teaching several menials the concept of mathematics and the applications thereof in maximizing productivity. Yet, even in this my predecessor refused to be sensible and had made the whole thing into a hideous display of cruelty, on par with some of the acts that the very early Exatari committed upon ourselves.
I found the augments that he had torn out of the Magos with rusty tools and by fingers arrayed in a loved display room behind windows of pure diamond with plaques denoting what precisely the ruined remains were once. After the body had been ravaged in this defilement, he had the still living Magos burned alive in promethium in front of a parade in the capital, proclaiming that this was to be the rightful punishment to any that broke his laws as commanded by the Emperor's Holy Will.
Even though I should not be surprised, but I was for I had learned much of the Imperium over the decades, the Arbites had collectively rebelled against his rule at that point with the church excommunicating him as a Heretic of the highest order at the same time. Not a single Department aligned with his insanity and a minor civil war began, between his private forces and the people of Shogi. The war from the records immediately turned upon him, with the Legio Orus siding against him and crushing his private army into dust within the first month of battle.
There was no drawn out battles, even the infrastructure of the world remained intact, but I could see why Urma had to do what she did. My predecessor did more than just shatter the economy, he had lost sight of all his responsibilities to the point of almost shattering the prestige of Shogi entirely. If he had been left alone, I have no doubt that Shogi would have fallen from its heights to a mundane world, from the top to one of the countless thousands.
With this information, it was easy enough to understand why Urma had hidden everything from me. My direct predecessor had used my same position to almost undo thousands of years of history all in the name of personal gratification. The breach in trust inherent to such a pattern of behavior would leave long scars in an Exatari, and the same is almost certainly true for a human.
I can feel the rage within my heart aching to recover the soul of the one that hd so succumbed to insanity to recover and interrogate for why they had betrayed all so gratuitously. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for him, human souls disintegrated post death. The crackling of frost coud be heard in every corner of the palace, as I walked through the halls that had once been host to such hedonistic activities.
Without a doubt, I would have to look more into giving aid to Urma for she had done an impossible job with what was at hand. The tithe was back to near original levels, and we had enough in the stockpile to slowly but surely recover if no disasters befall the world.
"Lord Atraxas, I see you have discovered the actions of your predecessor." I let myself lower towards the ground as I turn towards Urma, having heard the creak of her augments a few minutes ago. "You remind me of the one before Him, an idealistic individual if one with the skill to back up their foolishness." She said as she walked around the room, radiating disgust as she peered at the statues in disgust, "Shogi has had many planetary governors, many have been useless and many others have been visionaries. Yet, the world has been lucky to have had a relative paucity of the truly awful, but the Emperor tested the world with Him and I have hope in that we passed the test provided. Lord Atraxas, I hope in time that you will prove to be one of the better lords of this world."
"Shogi has suffered under my predecessor no doubt, and I promise to do my best to recreate what was lost before moving beyond to improve the world as a whole. I can not promise to never misstep nor to flounder or to make incorrect commands, but my principles shall remain steadfast." She can not know the truth, but my principles were forged through trials that would shatter almost all humans, I have lived for several millennia and stand firm. I reject the insanity surrounding me now and I will do so forevermore, never will I succumb to the lure of self gratification over my duties.
I might be an infiltrator for the Homeworld, but I am now a planetary governor of the Imperium. Until the day I am removed from my position, I will fulfill my duties to the best of my ability, anything less would be against the trinity and my principles. Already, I have plans for grand monuments to touch the sky and defenses for space in mind for the future, but the damage must be repaired such that the foundation is strong once more.
Urma turned towards the window facing out over the parade ground, where Harkar was forming the core of my private army. "Why create such a force for your own personal usage? There are few noble uses for such things; do you perhaps feel constrained by the laws of the world and wish to remake it in your image as your direct predecessor did once?" Her words were biting and true in the bulk of her point, there were in truth far too few noble uses for private armies the memories of the early times showed such clearly, but noble did not mean monstrous either.
"It is a simple way to provide a supplemental income source for Shogi and yes an army for use in actions that the bulk of our forces would be unsuited to handle. You should know, however, that while the chain of command grants me the sole authority to deploy them offworld, Commander Harkar has equal jurisdiction over them so long as they stay on Shogi."
With a sigh, Urma seemed to wilt as she left the room, leaving me alone with the relics of insanity, but thankfully I had a meeting to attend with the Mechanicus. With a thought I stored a reminder to have this purged from the palace once I had a moment to spare, but I made my way to the roof to take to the sky to fly to the meeting.
Ascending to the stratosphere reminded me of how there was a strange metallic particulate in the faint air at these heights. The material whatever it was did not obey typical gradient concentrations with the vast majority being closer to space than the ground, and as far as I knew there was no source of this material on the ground. It was for this reason that the Adeptus Mechancius had fought to control Shogi for centuries, due to their belief that it had been terraformed by ancient humans in a forgotten age.
I had doubts about the validity of that theory, but it was theoretically possible, we had alloys that inverted gravity afterall and I could not discount such things being invented by another race. Yet, the world bore little signs of being transformed in any other manner, I shook myself free of the musings as I angled myself towards the meeting place.
Others had told me that the Mechanicus had no sense of drama or theatrics, but building their meeting place into the heart of a dormant volcano said otherwise in my opinion. The Omnissiah Temple of Shogi was a vast construction of adamantine walls, raising high into the sky and below I knew, the great walls gilded slightly and the rest left unadorned save for a coat of black paint with red sigils of the cult mechancius upon the fortress. As I came in, I saw the golden metal for the first time as it flickered in the new dawn light, radiantly pure and even from here I knew that it was of an unknown metal.
The metal was of a curiosity, its spectral lines matched no alloy or metal I knew of and that made this trip worth it in and of itself. So many things could be made possible depending on what the properties of this metal were, but that would have to wait until after the meeting, for I was not the one in command, but the supplicant here. I had requested a meeting and the Mechancius had accepted my request, but that did not change the balance of power both martially and politically was against me here.
Arcing downward towards the open doors, I slowed my speed from my flight speed to a more sedate landing speed such that no anti air craft weapons would accidentally target me. I doubt anything would be able to penetrate my phase shields, but no one became a Forge Scholar by taking unneeded risks.
Following the information provided, I found myself landing on a platform made from the strange golden material. Its durability was beyond even that of the imperial adamantine by a significant margin, I could tell the moment I touched it and something about it called to me. It was no doubt that one of the issues of my job was the difficulty of securing the proper nutrients for my biology, but even if I could, steel and uranium were not particularly enjoyable meals when covered in lead for the latter or rock in the former. Adamantine was chewy and flavorless, making it extremely unpalatable and I had tested it and found that even though it did have viable biological uses in my body, it would act akin to a carcinogen to a human in the long term.
Yet, this metal, something deep within me wanted to dig into it and eat until I could not eat anymore. For the first time since I had celebrated my ascension to Forge Scholar by tasting the Primordial Metal, I felt true desire to consume a metal. It was a bizarre feeling, for it to come so quick, especially when I had thought I lost the interest in eating novel materials since that singular taste of the Primordial Metal. All metals were bland and somewhat lackluster since that day, but this called to me.
It was a truly mighty effort, but I held myself to a higher standard and resisted the urge if far less cleanly than I had wished. I would have to investigate this metal and determine just why this strange golden metal called to me in such a fashion.
The clatter of machinery against metal alerted me to the arrival of another person, standing over shadowed by the great doors, was a figure I recognized even if it has been two decades since the last time I saw her. The nameless tech adept that had risked her future to speak with me while nothing had been known stood in the doorway bearing augments that I recognized as derived from the designs I had left her.
"Lord Atraxas, follow me to the meeting, please ensure that you do not stray from me for the Omnissiah Temple can be confusing to those uninitiated." I could see that she was nervous and holding to formality as a defense against her nervousness. "There is no need for such formality here, I am the same person as the one that answered your questions a mere two decades ago." I said with a faint hum indicating my amusement in the only way possible for me, but I walked slowly aligning myself to her speed.
She fiddled with the augments that covered her limbs, I could tell from how they moved and laced across her body that they were more akin to armor than replacements. "But..you are the planetary governor and I badgered you for stupid questions. How can I act like nothing happened? You were far too kind to not seek retribution, let alone provide me with technology beyond my standard. I still haven't understood your designs, these crude systems the best I can make." Fear, anger, hope and depression warred for dominance in her voice as she scowled down at the floor as we passed many hallways and walked through cavernous forges.
"Seeking to understand what was given to you is only proper, never should one trust another unconditionally. Research the designs, discover the secrets within and move beyond what was given, become better than what I offered. That is the proper way of things, seek to create in all things and it should never lead you astray. To accept and never seek to understand would be failure indeed, but working to learn is a success instead." I answered, it diverted away from the bulk of her question, but it would give her pointers in how to try to appease me if she felt she had a reason to do so.
As she heard my last word, she seems to consider for a moment before nodding, "That's right... The Sixth Mystery of the Cult Mechanicus: Understanding is the True Path to Comprehension. Thank you for your help, Lord Atraxas. I hope some day I can do you a favor in return." The statement clearly relating to a tenet of her religion was interesting, but diverged from the sensible to the insensible. Comprehension alone would never suffice for a creator to achieve anything of note, I had known many hatchlings in my Forge Nexus that had understood all there was to know about a field of study and yet consistently miss the truth before them.
It would be difficult due to not knowing the other tenets, but it would be unthinkable to not offer my view of the world at hand. For only by expanding ones' mind did one become able to truly create new ideas and thus innovate upon new designs. "Perhaps, comprehension is a worthy goal no doubt, but is it all that there is to existence? One can comprehend, without understanding, one can understand, without knowing and one can know without action. Yet, would it not stand to reason that comprehension alone can not suffice for one that seeks to create above what was provided. Would not the greatest individual, be one that knows what they know and knows how to truly use that knowledge to leave their mark upon the world unique from all others?"
"Ah, I'm sorry, I've forgotten you aren't familiar with the Cult's teachings. Comprehension by our definition is an Intellect which encompasses all Knowledge. Omniscience is a similar concept you may know about. I'd recommend asking the Archmagi when you meet them. I don't think it would be polite to make them wait because a Tech Adept tried to explain our theology to you. Besides, they could do it better than me anyway." Her reply said much more than she probably intended, although the concept of omniscient was something we had long ago disregarded as incongruent with the principle of creation.
To know everything was to be incapable of acting with such knowledge, it would inevitably condemn the one that held the knowledge to inaction. To know all would render the art of creation impossible, and more than that it would render the intrinsic ability of a sapient mind to shape the world impossible. It would be the greatest curse to befall one possible to imagine, and it indicated that the Mechanicus suffered from rot of a different sort than I had expected.
"Very well, I can understand your wording better now. Yet, in turn for the information provided, I offer a simple question for you to ponder. What limits would befall one that knew all that there was to know? I wish to know what you make of this question, it has brought many insightful concepts to me over the decades. Do not give me an answer now, come to me when you feel that you have found your answer in truth." The question was one that was given to those that had joined the Forge Nexus, many times the young hatchlings fresh from childhood offered simplistic answers of anything or everything, but the wiser offered more detailed ones realizing some of the inherent limits that knowing all would present.
I had never given a human the question before and I would wait until the day she returned to me with an answer. I could tell that the question had made her somewhat uncomfortable, but some discomfort was required for growth, yet there was no gain in cruelty either. With an easy action I quickly sketched out her armor designs and detailed a few simplistic pathways to improve them. She would have to discover the methods behind the paths I offered, but in so doing it would expand her skills and encourage her mind to grow.
Eventually we came to a grand door, gilded with more of that strange metal that glinted so distractingly in the light of the plasma conduits that cover the celling. It was truly a grand door that would enter into the meeting room proper, "It was nice to meet you once again, Lord Atraxas, but I must take my leave now." The final words of my guide were almost whispered as the doors slide open, large enough to admit a Living Mausoleum in full.
The meeting room was truly massive with twenty five thrones of adamantine, gilded with a red metal that called to me all the same as the gold outside. As I peered closer I could tell that it was the same metal, only the color had been changed to that of the red worn by the tech priests I had met.
Of the twenty five thrones, only five had occupants and one of them was different from the others. I could feel his soul in the air, it pushed against the world and the world bent to its will. It was a sensation that normally I felt only around those of potent mental might, but his soul alone was enough to weigh upon the world in a manner akin to my own. Beyond such weight, the body was wrong to my perception, too many muscles stapled into a human form, bulging pockets of skin concealing unnatural organs and more. Yet, if a human looked upon him, they would see only a human of normal form.
The other four were similar to the other tech priests if with far cleaner and more sophisticated augments, otherwise they all looked more or less the same to my eyes.
"I believe that this means that I won our little bet, Quirana." The person that was a patchwork of flesh spoke up as I reached the center of the bottom of the amphitheater and noted that their thrones were above my eye level, a primitive intimidation method but one that could be effective.
"Humph, enjoy the extra servitor time Sincratus, for our next bet will go to me." One of the other spoke up as she leaned back in the throne, seeming to glare at the one that had spoken originally. "That is what you always say, but by my count the tally is ten to three in my favor, are you sure that your cybernetic calculation engines are not malfunctioning." If I could I would have blinked, for my experience with the other tech priests had shown that although not emotionless they tended to be very subdued unless extremely uncomfortable with a given situation.
"According to my calculations, it would be beneficial if Mentor Quirana and Archmagos Sincratus would engage in certain reproductive actions to reduce tension within the working environment." A figure from the side of Quirana spoke up, and it did not need the sense of an Exatari to note just how uncomfortable both of the two speakers had become at that statement.
"Really? I did not need to hear that and I doubt the Planetary Governor did either, when Mentor Quirana slated you for the title of hyper rationalist, you didn't have to eradicate your understanding of social cues, Archmagos Irnimalver." The other female spoke up now, clearly discomforted by her colleagues inelegant statement.
"To be fair, our overly rational colleague does have a point. Those two have been staring at each other for decades, frankly we should probably lock them into Magos Ebias' factory for a decade to see if that helps them. Even Magos Balkavus has figured out that something is going on between them and everyone knows that he is about as socially aware as an ork trying to woo an eldar." The as of yet unnamed male spoke next.
"That is true, but Mentor Quirana and Archmagos Sincratus do spend an awfully large amount of time together in their labs, how do we not know that they aren't linking together already. Perhaps we should test this possibility before we try to get them some privacy in a factory together, Archmagos Remon." The female I still didnt know responded and named her other male companion in the process.
"As amusing as this is to those with emotions, it would be prudent to transfer our attention over to Planetary Governor Atraxas, Archmagos Mirnier." The emotionless individual spoke up and for once I could welcome such blankness of thought for even if this wasn't embarrassing as it would be for a human, it was still irritating.
"Yes, lets please attend to the purpose of our being here instead of continuing upon this tangent that has no basis in fact." Archmagos Quirana spoke up next, her synthetic voice displaying undertones of embarrassment and from how the other three perked up, I could tell that they also heard it and didn't believe her denial.
"As much as this is a truly delightful conversation, and I would welcome to continue the discussion on if I and the truly lovely Quirana are in a relationship, it would be prudent to continue such behind closed doors. Although, Quirana my lab is always open for you and I have recently upgraded my personal noosphere net, if you wish to try it out." Sincratus spoke up next, his voice layering several emotions over his words in a manner impossible with unaltered human vocal systems, but clearly he was relishing the discomfort of his colleague, although it was entirely possible that they actually were in a relationship of some sort. I could not understand why the last words caused Quirana to fall back into her throne, seeming to wish to vanish from this place outright.
Yet, she gathered herself and shivered as she turned to look down upon me, "Planetary Governor Atraxas, please do not assume that we are all like these four. Your message only indicated that you sought to learn more of the cult mechannicus and to be given the secrets of the machine spirits. Normally, the latter would not be something one not of the cult could be given, but Magos Ebias has informed us of the manner in which the machine spirits reacted to your presence and as such we have decided to consider you one of us for this topic." Quirana continued as she seemed to beg the others to not drag the conversation back into the molasses of her relationship status.
I bowed to her and the others, "Yes, I seek to learn more about the machine spirits and the tenets of the cult mechancius. Before we get to those questions can I please know the name of the metal that was used to gilded the adamantine walls and furniture of this Omnissiah Temple?" It was a risk to be sure, but the metal called to me and I had a pressing need to know more about it than was reasonable.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas, the topic you seek information on is a maximum security topic, refrain from investigating it in the future." Irnimalver stated without inflection, but none of the others seemed to disagree with their statement and so I simply nodded as I knew there were other ways to gather the same information.
"Now, now, it was a reasonable question and there was no signage indicating that it was verboten information to seek. Regardless, Governor Atraxas, what are your questions regarding the Cult Mechanicus." Sincratus interjected staring down at Irnimalver before turning to me.
Crossing my legs and lowering my bulk slightly, I pondered what I sought from this meeting. I had learned more about the upper echelons already, I had thought them more akin to Ebias or Balkavus than not in terms of emotions than unaltered humans, but they seem to be more typical. The primary would be the tenets and doctrine of the religion indubitably, but their political standing would be something to confirm regardless.
"Archmagi, I seek to understand the core tenets and doctrine of the Cult Mechanicus, of tertiary importance is the political situation that exists surrounding the Adeptus Mechanicus, the second order topic I seek to understand is machine spirits. Those are the subjects I wish to be enlightened on."
As I give my request I could see the confusion or something similar to confusion form in the bodies of three of them, while Quirana and Remon both seem self satisfied. "Interesting, I had expected you to be of the cult but have left or a reason in the past seeking to return to our ranks after time apart, but it seems that my expectations proved incorrect here. Quirana I think this nulls the previous bet and makes the tally 10 to four in my favor." Sincratus stated as he leaned back into his throne, face betraying little of his inner thoughts, but he seemed uncomfortable about something.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas, before we can continue, we seek your indulgence for a time. We have been alerted to your ability to interface with machinery from Magos Ebias and would appreciate it if you would join us in the noosphere of this chamber" The sudden shift in tone and demeanor was obvious, in fact it was too obvious, it would alert the target no matter how clueless, but they all seemed to agree with the method.
Reaching out with my more nebulous methods of interfacing, I soon found the info web that they must be speaking of. It was a strange construction, laying between the layers of reality in a manner akin to where we labored upon the metaphysical particles. Yet, it was of a different directionality in a directionless location, and thrummed with information rather than weight. I froze for a moment as I pondered it, there was no possible way that it was that simple was it? We had been using the meta field of weight for millennia and had never looked outside of it, but surely we would have discovered a congruent field of information, yet it seemed to not be the case.
Interlacing my systems for ranged connection to the data web was tricky, the systems I used drew upon the significant weight of my existence to bend reality such that I could connect at range drawing from the presence of the ability to connect via my biology. Yet, this system relied on informational transfer and interaction, it was of a different base architecture from my normal systems and there were several thousand pitfalls I could tell from this basic understanding that I had.
However, I was a Forge Scholar and almost as important for this my soul was of far greater weight than a a normal human's and with a slight overcharge of my phase reactors and feeding the resulting surge of power into the phase connectors I wangled a connection. Information flooded my mind as I connected to the system and realized that it was the same place as I found previously in Ebias' factory with the machine spirit.
I could feel the data thrumming throughout this false plane, it was unique indeed. A world revealed itself to me, brining confusion. The five I had been speaking too were arrayed before me, yet they wore armor fashioned of dead Iron and Stone, gilded with the echoes of Gold, hammered together with the influence of Emotion and the weight of Code. Weapons crafted from Void and Death filled their hands, as blazing fires danced behind them wrought from Code.
So be it, if they though me easy prey to be slaughtered in this place they would be vastly mistaken. Rearing up I slammed my legs into the bedrock of information, writing into its bones the secrets of my technology as I flash forged my armaments of the past. Plates of gravity, time and void anchored with the Invoked Laws of durability and the Abyssal Law of Death covered my form as my weapons erupted from the ground of information, spears of annihilation forged in the primordial pools, tools that had seen the forging of countless atrocities in the past returning to my need for weapons, in moments I stood ready.
The five of them looked at each other then at me, although to be fair I was only half paying them any attention. My armor had been forged as a contest for durability, it might not win any contests for combative prowess, but it could easily absorb damage until the end of time, allowing me the far more interesting option to simply examine this strange place.
It was known that there was nothing within the meta field that we used for our technology beyond the meta particles that controlled everything. Through those particles we could use the power of the soul to reinvigorate the mind or body, restore youth, turn what was innate beyond the confines of the body, revive the recently dead if the soul had remained present, awaken the hidden power of the mind and more. Yet, it was only ever that, there was no realm of weight to be found, there was no grand meeting place to be had.
Nothing like this majestic place, information flowed without end, able to store near infinite data within even the smallest of the fractal webs that formed the bedrock of this place. It was in truth not a natural formation, but a technological creation from something deeper, reaching down into the deep point of this place, I could feel what I expected. A new Library awaited, it was beyond my reach, beyond my ability, but it was there and it had been used to craft this truly majestic device. "A truly majestic creation, just how did you manage to capture and isolate the informational meta particle Library to create a self sustaining fractal data storage and wireless transfer hub interwoven between the layers of reality?" My words broke the silence that had covered this place as the five of them looked at the other and then back to me.
I was confused again, oh right, I was a novice here not a Forge Scholar, asking such would be a major insult. "I apologize for the rudeness of my question and will work to understand your work fully before asking again." Turning back to studying the fractals of data. "Does anyone else feel very foolish right about now?" Sincratus asked as the code weapons faded from his hands, staring around at the other four with him. "Same here, I knew I should've laughed when you sent the warning to me." Remon muttered from his point on the end of the line and Irnimalver nodded faintly as they looked over towards me, and the other two shifted uncomfortably.
"I admit that it was a very impressive display of control over a particle Library, the five of you are clearly worthy of your titles from what I could tell. I admit that I am the inferior compared to you when it comes to the meta informational particles, but it should only take a century or two for me to unearth the Library of information. I hope that when I achieve that we can talk on the principles in open discourse." I shrugged as I let my armaments dissolve back into potential energy and carefully removed the traces of the designs from the info web. They were afterall xeno tech, and the five before me would be more than capable of finding the designs if I did not take care to remove them.
"But, if you just wanted to showcase your skills regarding the Library, there was no need for this whole display, you could have just projected them into reality after-all. Although, I do guess that being inside this informational existence would make it more visible in a manner that would be more representative of your true power." I continued as I carefully rebalanced the flows of information, along the principles I knew for the weight particles, there was afterall some over lap of course in nature.
It wouldn't be perfect but there might be a percent or two of improvement, a fair exchange I feel. Turning towards the five, I could only tell that all of them were staring at me like they had never seen me before, normally I never got uncomfortable, but this was strange enough to piece even my self confidence. "Why do I have the feeling that everyone here is extremely confused?"
"Ah, Planetary Governor Atraxas, could you explain where you learned how to manipulate the Noosphere in this way?" Sincratus asked as he watched what I was doing, hmm, the question of how to reply was intriguing.
I was a novice in this technology compared to them, did he want me to explain it as a hatchling or as a Forge Scholar. The difference in how to respond between the two was an interesting conundrum, the former would be expected to respond in depth, while the latter would be allowed to make use of summaries of details that would be known to the person asking.
Erring on the side of caution would be prudent, I was the supplicate here afterall, and this was their technology not mine. In this field they were the Forge Scholar and I was but the hatchling. But conversely, I could not explain everything due to my species, so how could I explain what was needed without running the risk of destroying my cover as a human.
I might not know that much of imperial politics, but I did know that the world I had been sent to infiltrate was similar to a Hive world, in that it had an extreme population with ruins scattered across it. Perhaps, I could make the case that I learned these principles from scattered remains of someone else's work, although that would be going against the honor of what it meant to be a Forge Scholar, it would be better to give an understandable story to them.
"My homeworld had several ancient ruins and I was an explorer in my youth, in one of them I found several data slates with theorems and designs for weapons and armor, along with what I now know to be a noosphere. It took me several decades, but I was eventually able to enter this smaller noosphere web and learn how to produce those designs in this place. The principles behind the designs was enough to inspire me to continue the work and create more refined devices using them, like the one that I made for Magos Ebias to ensure his survival."
"Atraxas, you expect us to believe that you found relics of the past that you could understand and expand upon within a matter of decades? The odds of such a feat would be near zero for a Fabricator General." Irnimalver interjected as they turned to stare at me with emotionless intent. They were the weirdest of the group, if not the strangest tech priest I had met, perhaps others would be intimidated by them, but I had known far more threatening individuals.
"I am willing to submit to tests of skill if that is required, if you have gotten reports from Magos Ebias you would be aware of my passing familiarity with plasma physics, which is in turn a subset of my more general expertise in particle and metaphysical principles. Although, I doubt any test would be valid if conducted in this noosphere even if it would make it pass by faster than in the normal plane." I shrugged with the reply, for it only makes sense to test one on their claims and I would ask for confirmation if a hatchling tried to claim that they had truly understood a subject matter.
Many tried to pass off phase shields as proof of their understanding, but they often failed to truly understand the principles behind the advancement of the designs. They could understand what they knew, but not how to move forward from that place and if the Mechanicus had anything akin to our methods, then this would fall into much the same situation.
"Atraxas, what fields do you claim mastery of?" Mirnier asked for once, breaking her silence at last. Gently crossing my legs I pondered on what to give, for I was not in fact truly aware of what was normal for a human to know, but if anything underselling would be in my best interest here. "Archmagos Mirnier, I would consider myself an expert in antimatter production and containment, force field physics, plasma physics, various forms of what I think would be classed as warp technology, vehicular design although in a divergent principle set, and gravitic technology."
The five of them peered up at me and then at each other again, "Uh, is that a joke? Seriously, are you joking because this is a serious question?" Remon erupted as he seemed to glare up at me, I crossed another pair of legs wondering what I accidentally did this time. Ah, right, they were archmagi of course, so only a handful of reasonably simplistic fields wouldnt be impressive to them at all. Afterall, any hatchling would be able to claim mastery of plasma, gravity and antimatter, it was unfortunate that I couldn't truly explain the mastery of phase technology I had.
What could I expand on that wouldn't break my cover, why did this have to be so confusing. I am working in the dark here, and I have no idea what is impressive to them. Wait, humans have limited lifespans on average, granted these five probably are immortal. If I examine things from what I think a human could do, I can begin to see the edges of their confusion. Perhaps, the issue wasn't underselling too much but not enough. Regardless, I can not retract the stated fields now, but I could dig for more clarity on the subject.
"I am unaware of anyone making light of the situation at hand. I gave an honest answer to the question of the fields I would consider myself a master in and that I would be willing to be tested on." The five of them just shook their heads before Quirana stepped forward. "Okay, before we answer any of your questions about our religion and political standing or history, we are going to give you tests regarding those fields. I hope that you can prove your words to be true and not false." She seemed overly tired for some reason, I could detect no energy flux from her systems though that would explain the sensation permeating this realm.
"Archmagos Quirana, are you fully energized I am noting a energy lull in your systems and was wondering if it was due to an unknown malfunction?" A groan filled the space as everyone just stared at me before with a wave of her hand the connection destabilized, releasing us back to the mundane plane.
To no longer be in a realm of information was a relief in some ways for no longer did I have to worry about being discovered due to letting secrets drift free of my mind and into the ethereal realm. However, even if I am discovered if I can get this information back to the Homeworld, it would be the greatest victory an infiltrator had ever achieved, surpassing even the one where Caxadaris managed to bring back a wrecked Imperator titan frame.
Such a view was in the long term self defeating if I measured against my colleagues for we all worked for the greater whole of the Homeworld and the Exatari, but this was something that had more connection to my field than that discovery. A new Meta Library would lead to a revolution in versatility, new theories could be made and new designs created and if there is another Library that we missed who could say if there were others that we did not know of. The very heart of Exatari technology is the Meta Library, but now a new chapter has been added, new particles to discover and master.
Such a wondrous event to find, yet it could all be for naught if I was discovered here and now. The archmagi conferred with each other before Irnimalver stepped forward, "In light of your statements we have chosen to test your self proclaimed skills. You will be provided with scrap metal and be expected to make passable designs in all five of the fields you claim mastery of. This metal will be of poor quality and you will have a singular week to produce an item. We will judge based on quality, use cases and novelty, Archmagos Mirnier will be your guide to the workplace set aside for you." Their statements were concise as expected, but seemed oddly simplistic due to having no limits on what I could do with my phase cybernetics.
As I followed Mirnier, I wondered if I should ensure that they were aware of my molecular forges, but it wouldn't truly matter since I would need to build some regardless afterall, so it would come out in the end.
Being a planetary governor was a time consuming job to be sure and breaks were few, of course I could handle the stress without issue, but it was nice to be able to indulge in more enjoyable pursuits from time to time. I do hope that the fact that I had to build a matter realignment forge wont count against me since I technically didn't use the materials provided to build the items that will be tested.
The workshop that I had spent the last seven days in was small compared to what I had back on the Homeworld, but it was more than sufficient, and in the center the forge stood as tall as I was at the apex of my legs and as wide as my diameter. It was not the best construction, but it would be more than sufficient to transmute a few hundred tons of scrap metal into high quality alloys per hour, with a bit of upgrading it could probably do a thousand or so tons per hour interval. Regardless, it was of little interest to why I was here.
I was not being tested on my mastery of molecular forging or alteration, but instead on antimatter containment and production, plasma, forcefields, gravity and vehicular design. I had chosen simple options to go with due to limited time and resources even with the forge, a basic antimatter reactor that would produce only a few hundred petawatts I think in human terms per hour with an integrated antimatter production system via particle spin inversion, nothing overly fancy to be seen. Antimatter was afterall a very basic power source and only useful in weapons of mass annihilation.
The plasma was different, I had already showcased a safe plasma rifle design, but that would just be copying my previous work. Instead of a rifle, I decided on a precision lance design, it would have a slow fire rate of one shot per minute roughly, but in turn it would have a range of nearly two kilometers and be able to core out most heavy armor I was aware of even at maximum range.
The forcefield was a simple electromagnetic repulsion field, it was extremely basic but would suffice for reflecting most incoming assaults for a time. It was the most overly primitive item I had to offer sadly, but I had to make do without using phase technology in its construction preventing it from being on par with my other designs. Even so it would serve as a potent defensive upgrade to unshielded vehicles and the smaller personal versions for the infantry as well.
The final was for two at once due to having no good idea for what to do for either alone. I knew enough of war to know that getting the soldiers to the front in numbers safety could be a monumental challenge and from what little I knew of imperial designs, I had little hope in sanity being present in them. Resulting in a vehicle that could transport five Exatari Warriors, or roughly one hundred humans in full armor with a significant cargo capacity. The armor was angled at the precise degrees to reduce impact the most and the alloy was specially formulated to disperse energetic impacts as much as possible. In addition to the armor was a micro fusion reactor to power the antigravity systems which enable true flight when at half maximum load and can hover slightly at maximum, along with a fragile shield.
It would hopefully be a reasonable upgrade for the imperial military if it got approved, but it was entirely possible that it was overly weak compared to the more standard designs that the Imperium must already use. Yet, there was no more time to build for I could hear the door sliding open as the five archmagi walked into the workshop and ground to a halt, before turning to each other and seeming to wilt.
"I give up, sense has gone out the airlock." Quirana raged as she looked around the room at the trinkets I had managed to cobble together in the week provided. "Did I underdeliver? Should I have kept the gravitic and vehicular items independently of each other for the test? I admit that this work is fairly crude and I only got it done by cobbling together a small molecular forge, which now that i think on it might have invalidated the test. Give me another week and I will do what I can with scrap metal without refinement if you desire a proper test of my abilities with poor quality supplies."
"Uh, Atraxas, we expected you to maybe have a single design document ready or at most have made a handful of parts for a single design. How did you manage this in such a short timeframe?" Sincratus stepped forward resting a hand on Quirana's shoulder as he peered at my designs.
"Ah, right I simply used some of the metal provided as feed stock for my integrated matter phase adjustors, which are well suited for small amounts of atomic rearrangement. From them I gathered enough metal to make a larger forge which you can see in the center of the room, with it I was able to quickly refine the materials provided from junk to passable alloys and above. Then I was able to use it to quickly flash forge the components I needed, it took longer to make the forge than it did to make the items in the end. Although, I am pretty sure that if you threw the things out of a spaceship the things would be consumed by reentry heat so that should be factored into my grade as a negative, a proper design should be able to survive nuclear detonations at close range."
"Atraxas, you stated that you learned your methods from notes left behind in ruins, are your standards derived from those notes?" Irnimalver asked a strange question, but it would be answered anyway, "Yes, the source of my understanding indicated that these were the bare acceptable standards for a passable engineer."
"Moving on from this insanity, Atraxas what did you somehow make for us to judge." Remon broke the sullen silence first as he seemed to be confused on where to look for the items. Assuming that there was no particular order that they wished to see the items in, but just the presence of them, I figured that I might as well start with the mundane and move to the complex.
"The first thing I have to offer is a plasma lance. A design intended for extreme range high priority targets, it has a thin beam width making it ineffective against infantry, but effective against armor up to what I believe would count as a heavy classification. However, I am not well versed in imperial alloys, so I based my calculations on penetration of ten centimeters of adamantine at maximum range. it has a fire rate of roughly once per minute due to the requirement to charge the capacitors and generate enough plasma to reach maximum range, it can fire once per ten seconds at the fastest fire rate possible for a range of only three hundred and thirty hundred meters approximately and scales almost linearly to the maximum of two kilometers. I am unsure of the penetration aspect when fired at below the designed fire rate, as I have not had time to test that aspect of the weapon system. However, I have designed several different versions of the weapon for different uses, I have made one that has no external connections but it weighs in at 40kg instead of the combined weight of 30kg for weapon and battery for the normal one, another design that removes the safety features I have installed which reduce the weight down to 20kg and finally a vehicle model that has increased range, rate of fire and penetration statistics due to being powered by a larger reactor core."
I explained as I brought forth the lance I made, it was a fairly bulky weapon but it was designed for the human physiological structure so it would be well balanced and able to be used even if it might require a tripod support.
As I put away the lance I noted that the five of them looked at each other before sighing once more as I brought out the antimatter reactor. It was a simple device in truth a few coils of superconductors to form the magnetic containment unit and a micro force field unit to contain the entire system. It would not be enough to handle the power in case of a failure, but it would reduce failure chance significantly.
"This is the smallest antimatter reactor I can build with the materials I aware that the imperium possesses. It should be sufficient to power a typical Manufactorum on Shogi without issue and would be self sustaining due to particle spin inverters linked into the system. Compared to the plasma lance it is a simplistic design and is fairly basic." The system was fairly small compared to me, but it towered over humans and would be a significant upgrade in power production but was also unthinkably dangerous to use. Antimatter had been used for only a short time before phase reactors were invented, because even though phase reactors had far less energy production in most cases they were infinite ceaseless power that was inherently unchanging.
The next item I brought out was the infantry armored vehicle, "This is my offering for both the vehicular design and gravitic technological mastery tests. It is an infantry transport vessel capable of orbital insertion due to its anti gravity drive systems and simple electromagnetic shielding both powered by a micro fusion reactor surrounded by several centimeters of adamantine and ceramite. The hull and armor of the design is formed from a forged alloy of adamantine and ceramite incorporating the positives of both substances on the atomic level and as can be seen the armor is shaped to further reduce kinetic impacts and energetic impacts to further increase durability. Unfortunately, its grav lift is only rated for half of a maximum load preventing it from being a viable orbital drop ship without upgrading the reactor."
"The final basic item is an electromagnetic shield similar to the one I built into the vehicle, but this one is overall stronger for its size and general power draw due to having variable scale. With its maximum size being approximately enough I expect for a machine gun nest to be covered, being roughly as durable as the one for the vehicle, while the smallest should be able to attenuate the impact of the plasma lance to a degree, but would require the operator to know the target and adjust the field to focused against the lance. I am unsure if the shield will push against people strong enough to prevent push through from happening, but metal compounds should be countered along with non phonetic or gravity energetic weapons."
I continue, moving from the vehicle to the shield I had made, the only thing of note was that it was able to be worn by a normal human, but that was nothing overly impressive. I was not entirely sure why personal shields seemed to be uncommon among humans, but the things were in truth not that hard to make, although perhaps the Imperium's shield technology was not electromagnetic in nature which could skew their systems.
Regardless of hypotheticals on the issue of shielding for the imperium, I had one final thing to showcase here. It was also the only thing of note for me as well and frankly it was an insult for me to have constructed such a crude design for use in this critical manner. Regardless, once I was free the design would be sent back to the Homeworld for improvement.
"This device measures the level of meta particles in the vicinity and maps them to graphs and identifies known forms. Unfortunately, I only know of a couple such particles and have installed the little I do know into the system beforehand. Currently it is reading a significant upswing in certain classes of unknown particles that I believe are related to the presence of the Noosphere web in this temple."
"Is he serious?" Remon asked the others in an audible fashion, "Archmagos Remon, why would I not be serious?" I ensured the proper amount of confusion would lace my tone as I asked for this was a fairly critical point, if they didnt consider me skilled enough I would not be allowed to learn their secrets, maybe I should have showed a bit more of my skills.
"The majority of the adeptus mechancius could not produce an antimatter reactor, provided a significant fraction of a planetary budget. The number expected would be closer to less than one hundred in the entire imperium that could build a stable reactor of that scale." Irnimalver reported, in an almost sullen voice as he stared at the reactor humming against the wall.
Then the words reached me and I processed them, oh by the Witness I truly screwed this over didn't I. The glint of the strange metal almost distracted me for a moment before I shook away the minor distraction trying to figure out damage control. "Archmagos Irnimalver understates the impossibility of your actions. You made an antimatter reactor that is self sustaining, a novel plasma weapon although admittedly there are several million archmagi that could design a comparable system, a personal shield that is closer to xenotech than that of imperial standards, an entirely novel system using principles I am pretty sure only the Ommnissiah knew of, a new infantry armored vehicle for rapid orbital insertions via an antigravity drive, and to cap it all off to build this all you made a molecular forge capable of bulk matter reforging. I would go as far as to say that there might be a grand total of less than twenty humans in the galaxy that could achieve comparable feats in the time given." Sincratus interrupted as he dryly spoke his indictment of my failure to understand anything of the situation. What a shameful event this was, I should have ensured that I knew more than I had going into this, but I had clearly assigned too many Exatari values to them.
Damage control was needed immediately, and I knew enough to be able to maybe weave something together, but considering this massive disaster that I had made for myself, it was not certain by any means anymore.
"I was never part of the Adeptus Mechanicus as you are aware and my only information to use came from the data that I discovered in the ruins during my youth. The records indicated that it was expected for a prospective engineer to know at minimum three fields to a level of mastery and a potential senior engineer to have a mastery in at minimum ten fields. I based my view of the adeptus mechancius on this assumption that appears to have been in error from the foundational level. I had desired to join your organization, but due to my belief that to join one needed mastery of several fields I never felt comfortable asking for admittance."
This was entirely nonsensical on the face of it, but maybe the insanity of the imperium was contagious and they would fall for it or at least give me enough leeway to gain the answers I sought from this meeting in the first place.
The five of them stared at me and then at each other again, "Atraxas, please describe these data storage units." Remon broke the silence, and I froze once more. Why in the whole of creation were they actually listening to my rambling nonsensical damage control. Regardless this was a great opportunity to maybe get myself free from this pit I had accidentally dug for myself.
"They were a group of several cubes about a meter on each side, with holographic lettering showing up when I touched them. It took me a few days to figure out how to make the letters shift, but after that it was fairly intuitive to navigate the systems. I think the greater system was broken, the units had been left undisturbed for several centuries before I found them at the very least, but after a few months I was able to get them to show videos of engineering and physics, past that point it was fairly easy to learn more from them. Unfortunately, they ended up dying on my several years past that point and I could no longer access them."
A barren description inline with what I think a human would or could provide from something that had occurred decades ago, a distinctly different design from the Imperium due to the Imperium clearly not having this kind of technology as standard fare. Hopefully it would be enough to make my statements slightly less insane sounding.
"Atraxas, could you provide your homeworld to us? We have interest to inquire about these ruins you have mentioned." I wish I could blink for this should not be going this well, they should be trying to figure out my lies and discovering I am a xeno. Not just accepting my words as a possibility, sure there are or were ancient ruins on that world, but they were picked clean and I checked. But, in the end I transferred over the data to Remon who in turn handed it over to Mirnier.
"Ok, now that this madness is over can we please just do what we were meant to have done seven days ago." Quirana groused as she just walked around the room glaring at the devices I had built, at least before Sincratus put a hand on her shoulder seemingly calming her down.
"That would be appreciated." I bow as I speak to her, as with a huff she lead the way from the temporary workshop, "I am unsure how the Adeptus Mechanicus handles ownership of designs, but nothing I have built in these last seven days is important to me and as such I offer the designs to be used as the Adeptus Mechanicus sees fit." My statement caused our procession to stutter for a moment before Sincratus looked towards me, "Is that because nothing in there reaches your approval or because you are trying to bribe us?"
I vibrate as I ponder the answer before turning to truth, "A mixture of both, I could easily produce better designs with a dedicated timeslot for such work, but if it improves our relationship I consider it an easy cost to pay." All of them shook their heads for a moment before seeming to just give up on the matter as we eventually reached the meeting hall we had met for the first time in.
Back in the original setting, I settled onto the floor resting my body after several days of nonstop action. I might not need sleep or rest like a human, but my form can become strained in a similar manner and there were few places in the Imperium that could fit my bulk comfortably.
"Atraxas, you came to us to learn more about the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Cult Mechanicus. It is clear that there is no technological test we can present that you will have a non plausible chance of solving due to your shown abilities, as such we will dispense with the restrictions initiates are typically subject too. Mentor Quirana will be our primary voice for this discussion, however Archmago Sincratus will lend support or clarification when needed." Irnimalver opened the meeting as everyone took their throne and I began to codify my questions, I had learned some but not enough from my misadventures through this week and I would need to ensure that this would never happen again.
"Archmagos Quirana, what is required for one to be initiated into the Adeptus Mechanicus and then become a Magos and Archmagos later on?" This question was fairly neutral, it had little direct pressure on the religious side of things and it would fit with my cover story of desiring admission but being too unconfident in my skills to make the cut.
"I will take this question if you don't mind, Quirana." Sincratus interjected, "Not at all, you would be able to explain this topic better than I could." Quirana answered as she leaned back in her throne and attention shifted to Sincratus from her.
"A person can become an initiate through several means, but the reason I took this question is because I was born outside the Mechanicus but was seen as a valuable mind and inducted at an young age. There is no overall standards for admittance, but there is a standard for progression and for one to remain as a Tech Adept. One becomes a Magos when one can showcase sufficient skill in a given field of study and religious understanding, and an Archmagos is simply an evolution of what it means to be a magos. I am an Archmagos of the Genetor branch due to having a skill surpassing most of my peers in the field of xenobiology. In short, even as a child if you had even a fraction of your current skills the Mechanicus would have welcomed you into our ranks."
He finished and everything made sense at last, I had oversold my ablities from the start, not a single time had I managed to make myself seem reasonable. I claimed mastery of several fields of which at least one seemed to be complex in the minds of the archmagi.
Turning back to Quirana, I considered how to state this question before deciding that it was simply best to ask it bluntly and completely, "What are the tenets of the Cult Mechanicus? I am aware that it involves something called the Omnissiah, but beyond that I am in the dark."
The five of them hissed at my words before Quirana leaned forward adopting a pose conveying thought. "Normally, the tenets are taught over a course of years to decades to ensure proper understanding, but such is not possible in this situation. In light of this I will explain the sixteen universal laws, the principles of tech heresy. Let us begin with the principles of tech heresy, you should be familiar with the term from that particularly annoying gnat of a magos that you have as an advisor.
In practice, it is heretical for innovation to be committed by non trusted individuals and a harsh punishment must be levied upon those that commit this sin. However, there are some fields more heretical than others, primarily the debasement of the human genome..."A cough came from Sincratus and Quirana glared at him before continuing, "the construction of a silica animus and studying the warp. There are individuals that have been given permission to study and investigate genetic engineering on humanity and studying the warp but the silica animus can never be allowed to exist. Your designs showcased today and in front of Magos Ebias are examples of potential tech heresy, but the innovation appears to simply be in the usage of known principles. However, consider future actions to be subject to greater scrutiny on this matter." She fell silent for a moment as if pondering something.
"Now moving to the Universal Laws, there are sixteen of them and they each inform an aspect of the Cult Mechanicus. The laws are in order for the first to sixteenth:
1. Life is Directed Motion
2. The Spirit is the Spark of Life
3. Sentience is the ability to learn the Value of Knowledge
4. Intellect is the Understanding of Knowledge
5. Sentience is the Basest Form of Intellect
6. Understanding is the True Path to Comprehension.
7. Comprehension is the Key to all Things
8. The Omnissiah knows All, comprehends All
9. The Alien Mechanism is a Perversion of the True Path
10. The Soul is the Conscience of Sentience
11. A Soul can be bestowed only by the Omnissiah
12. The Soulless Sentience is the Enemy of All
13. The Knowledge of the Ancients stands Beyond Question
14. The Machine Spirit guards the Knowledge of the Ancients
15. Flesh is Fallible, but Ritual Honors the Machine Spirit
16. To Break with Ritual is to Break with Faith.
These are the universal laws that we recognize as the guiding principles of our lives in the cult Mechanicus. Explaining my personal view of the laws and their impact would not be useful at the moment, but due to your unusual circumstances I am willing to discuss more on the theology behind the laws now if you consider it to be of importance." As Quirana fell silent after listing the laws, I was somewhat confused by them for they bore a distinct resemblance to some of the tenets that we had among the Forge Scholars, of course there were major differences, but the first four laws had a sizable amount of overlap with the principle of the trinity and creation.
Although the seventh and eighth law were incredibly distasteful due to their glorification of omniscience and when those were mentioned I was unable to hide my loathing as well as I should have. The others I can understand, with the possible exception of the ninth, and the last two laws.
The ninth is strange, because there is no inherent difference between species technology barring the inherent neurological differences that shape the final form and what is prioritized. Human technology is perfectly understandable to us as proven by our break down of various samples and from them gathering more knowledge on the workings of the universe, and I had no reason to assume that this would be different for humans.
The last two laws were strange on the other hand, I could understand the inherent implication to carefully repeat actions, but at the same time they halted the growth of knowledge and the ability to create. "Archmagos Quirana, could you explain more of the ninth, fifteenth and sixteenth laws? I understand part of them, but the deeper secrets fail to resonate." Unlike most cases I had no need to artificially influence my tone for this question for the confusion was self evident.
"Easily, the ninth law simply states that the technology of the xeno is a perversion of the true path because it is not sourced from humanity." She glared at Irnimalver for a moment seeming to dare them to say something before turning back to me, "Let me expand on that, its the law that is most often ignored of the warning and prohibition laws. For most cases its a law that is more impactful for the magos and the tech adept than one that we as archmagi observe in full. Everyone barring the blind, understand that xenotech is part of the Omnissiah and as such is part of our preview, along with the understanding that even though xenotech is a perversion it is a perversion of the Omnissiah's designs.
As for the fifteenth and sixteenth, they revolve more around the acknowledgment that the ancients innovated to reach their point, but we do not have their skills and understanding so we must use rituals to understand the relics that are left from them and to diverge from the known rituals can lead to catastrophe and only those that are more metal than flesh may be trusted to innovate on their own initiative and judgment." I nodded along to her statements, for they were more reasonable than I had expected and made sense with what I had come to understand of the Mechanicus from this misadventure.
With my understanding of their religion improved, the other side of the coin was important to explore to ensure I would not produce a near disaster with ignorance of it. "Archmagos Quirana, could you provide an overview of the history of the Adeptus Mechanicus along with your position within the Imperium?"
The five of them seemed to shift strangely in their seat before Mirnier leaned forward, "I apologize, Mentor Quirana, but this is one of my expertises." Her seriousness of the topic was concerning for with Remon she had been one of the more laidback of the five individuals. I noted that Quirana seemed to want to ask something but decide against it before nodding her consent to the change in speaker.
"Our history begins before the Imperium had even left its cradle guided by the incarnation of the Omnissiah. During the great disaster that brought low the Ancients, the Mechanicus formed on Holy Mars and we sent grand fleets out across the stars to build civilization anew in the image of Mars, these became the Forge Worlds that dot the galaxy today.
For thousands of years, Mars was alone in the solar system fending off attacks from hostile forces and recovering technology on Terra from the perversions of techno-barbarians and worse. Perhaps some of our groups were overly zealous in their pursuit of technology, but to leave it to rot in the hands of the fools that ruled at the time would have been unthinkable.
Then the galaxy began to clear of impediments to expansion once more and more fleets were sent forth to found new Forge Worlds in the name of the Omnissiah and on Terra a warlord of a different stripe emerged. At the time we gave it little thought, but within a matter of centuries Terra was unified under the banner of the Imperium and soon Luna followed suit. Then He descended upon Mars and the weapons of the Ancients bowed before him recognizing him as the Omnissiah's living avatar and the last of the Ancients to walk the galaxy.
Soon thereafter the Treaty of Mars was struck by the Fabricator General and the Omnissiah's Avatar, binding us of the Mechanicus to the side of the Imperium for all of eternity. For two centuries did our alliance stand firm, but in the heresy that sparked the civil war we were not exempt from the horrors as tech adepts to even venerable archmagos turned on the Omnissiah and took up arms against the rightful lord.
For a century the ultimate war raged on as Mars almost fell for the singular time, but the Fabricator General in the end gave his life to expunge the contamination from its holy surface and as the Omnissiah's Avatar fell in battle to be forever entombed we stood with our allies once more.
Millennia have passed and heretics have tried to break the Treaty and yet by the grace of the Omnissiah their efforts have failed without exception and we stand ever vigilant against such threats to our alliance. Yet at the same time, we never forget that we are apart from the Imperium, we are not the Imperium for we are an Ally to the Imperium and that is what we shall forever remain."
With my understanding of their religion improved, the other side of the coin was important to explore to ensure I would not produce a near disaster with ignorance of it. "Archmagos Quirana, could you provide an overview of the history of the Adeptus Mechanicus along with your position within the Imperium?"
The five of them seemed to shift strangely in their seat before Mirnier leaned forward, "I apologize, Mentor Quirana, but this is one of my expertises." Her seriousness of the topic was concerning for with Remon she had been one of the more laidback of the five individuals. I noted that Quirana seemed to want to ask something but decide against it before nodding her consent to the change in speaker.
"Our history begins before the Imperium had even left its cradle guided by the incarnation of the Omnissiah. During the great disaster that brought low the Ancients, the Mechanicus formed on Holy Mars and we sent grand fleets out across the stars to build civilization anew in the image of Mars, these became the Forge Worlds that dot the galaxy today.
For thousands of years, Mars was alone in the solar system fending off attacks from hostile forces and recovering technology on Terra from the perversions of techno-barbarians and worse. Perhaps some of our groups were overly zealous in their pursuit of technology, but to leave it to rot in the hands of the fools that ruled at the time would have been unthinkable.
Then the galaxy began to clear of impediments to expansion once more and more fleets were sent forth to found new Forge Worlds in the name of the Omnissiah and on Terra a warlord of a different stripe emerged. At the time we gave it little thought, but within a matter of centuries Terra was unified under the banner of the Imperium and soon Luna followed suit. Then He descended upon Mars and the weapons of the Ancients bowed before him recognizing him as the Omnissiah's living avatar and the last of the Ancients to walk the galaxy.
Soon thereafter the Treaty of Mars was struck by the Fabricator General and the Omnissiah's Avatar, binding us of the Mechanicus to the side of the Imperium for all of eternity. For two centuries did our alliance stand firm, but in the heresy that sparked the civil war we were not exempt from the horrors as tech adepts to even venerable archmagos turned on the Omnissiah and took up arms against the rightful lord.
For a century the ultimate war raged on as Mars almost fell for the singular time, but the Fabricator General in the end gave his life to expunge the contamination from its holy surface and as the Omnissiah's Avatar fell in battle to be forever entombed we stood with our allies once more.
Millennia have passed and heretics have tried to break the Treaty and yet by the grace of the Omnissiah their efforts have failed without exception and we stand ever vigilant against such threats to our alliance. Yet at the same time, we never forget that we are apart from the Imperium, we are not the Imperium for we are an Ally to the Imperium and that is what we shall forever remain."
It was clear that it was not the entire history, but that would have been unreasonable to expect in this context and it would give enough to go on for the major points until I could get a more detailed view overtime. Within the decade I would be fully versed in the history since this was only the start of the project to learn all that I could on the matter.
Yet, I eased myself up to my full height as I nodded towards the five of them,"I appreciate the time you have invested in ensuring that I understand the basics of the Adeptus Mechanicus and shall take my leave for now." I bow once more and leave through the doors I entered through seven days ago.
It was quite for a change in this Omnissiah Temple and now that I knew more of the truth, I found that I could no longer truly appreciate its majesty. A monument to the ideal of omniscience was something that I could not tolerate personally, but I would have to hold my true feelings close to my heart least they discover the truth of my nature. But if I could, I would tear this defilement against creation down and raise in its place a Forge Nexus in all its glory.
Perhaps, they did not truly understand the horror inherent to such a state of being, but I could not inform them of the mistake for it is part of their religion, and that is something I could never touch. It was a miserable journey through the grand halls of this temple, if only it had been raised in worship of a different force than I could have easily appreciated the wondrous technology on display, but the taint was everywhere. I could see prayers to knowledge and comprehension on the noosphere wrapping around all within, I could hear rituals being conducted without understanding and more.
I had made plans in the first decade to build a place for innovation, but they have become more critical now that I know the truth. I will rise a Forge Nexus to bring the principles of Creation to Shogi to balance out the horror of this temple and usher in a new age.
Yet, as I took to the sky above as my systems divested me of the bonds of gravity I could only feel pity in my heart for those that labored under the delusion of the glory of omniscience. There had been a point where we had sought it fervently as well, its a truly tantalizing dream for anyone that prizes knowledge and understanding for what is a better culmination of such a path than to know all that could ever be.
Yet, in that lies the trap, and what hides much like a parasite within the flesh. True omniscience was a horror few things could compare too, yet practical omniscient remains as our goal. One need not suffer the fate prescribed by true omniscience to gain the same level of knowledge. There are a manifold of ways to gather Information from the past and future and present, it is but a matter of time before such measures grow in scale to illuminate all of history to one that puts forth the effort.
The future however, is veiled there is never a truly perfect prediction and thus it forces even the greatest of technological means and other methods to view through the lens of possibility and thus negate the risk of true omniscience. In the end the point of destination is similar but infinitely different and as my rage cools I feel only pity for the Adeptus Mechanicus.
However, I have other duties to attend to for now and such will consume much of my time for most of the decade before my meeting with Nameria and Balkavus regarding the Imperial Cult and the history of my world respectively. Later on I will have to check in with Urma on the expansion of the mines and Harkar for the progress of my personal army.
Right now, my focus is needed on the more pressing diplomatic issues at hand, I had scheduled a meeting with the Mining Worlds within close proximity to Shogi to hopefully fill the massive hole in the budget with their resources, unfortunately I am unsure of what I can use to pay them at this moment in time.
It was a large procession of diplomates that arrived, nine individuals walked through my door into the conference room I had set aside for this meeting. Five of the number were clearly wealthier than the others with crispier robes and embroidered gold filigree as typical of the wealthy in the Imperium. Yet, one of them wore a prismatical chocker of some sort of gleaming stone that tugged at my mind in the same fashion as the gold in the Omnissiah Temple did, but without the stress of a much more dangerous meeting I could push it out of mind.
The other four wore small links of odd metals that clearly were to show their planet's wealth, instead of the more self orientated design of the one with the strange stone. A difference of intent, these were metals to be sold and offered, while the stone was simply to be known and considered but not offered to others.
"It seems that the so called wealthiest person in the sector has finally come crawling to us for resources. Well, I can tell you right now Planetary Governor that the Mining World Valvadus will only supply resources if you promise in perpetuity the complete transfer of the orbital shipyards to our control and meaningful assistance in reclassifying Valvadus as a Forge World outside of the Mechanicus' control. Only with that will we consider providing Shogi with roughly five standard units of resources per century. This is our offer, and you will take it or we will blackball you from other sources." The man wearing the choker dictated and I could only barely hold in my laughter at his demands, not even Terra or Mars could make a world accept such a lopsided offer and he thought a mining world could force such a thing through? "It is clear that the Mining World Valvadus has an irreconcilable difference of view and as such I would like you to leave this meeting as I can promise that your deal will not be accepted."
I wanted to say more, but I needed to be polite even in the face of such insanity. "Typical noble, you think that I listen to you. No, you will sign this deal now or I will leave and Valvadus will declare war on Shogi and the entire sector will force you to capitulate to our demands. We are the primary world that fuels the forge worlds, the Adeptus Mechanicus will fight along side us, the astartes chapters will follow our commands, and you will be skewered and excommunicated for heresy. Of course this can all be avoided if you simply sign this agreement wherein we will graciously allow Shogi to remain as a backwater world compared to our rising star in His Imperium."
I stared down at the man and then over at the other emissaries and I could see confusion coloring them all, there was no sense of unity with these proclamations from the others in my room and the mere fact that we were in my room gave the lie to their claims. "Shogi has recently suffered economic downturns and issues with resource gathering since the loss of Nouria, but we have not fallen so far as to be incapable of fighting against a mining world and the world retains its classification as a Fortress Forge. The Imperial Navy and the Adeptus Mechanicus will not support Valvadus in a war against Shogi, I can promise that." My tone was civil but it was also firm and I could feel my soul beginning to rage under my control as my emotions began to be roused, which was concerning, emotional instability was rare for us and when it did happen it was a rare event to be watched with concern, but it has been occurring with far more regularity since I found myself in this job.
I would need to ensure that my emotional state was not overly compromising my abilities to act in a rational manner, but for now I had a human that had just gained the title of the most insane human I had ever met. "We know that your economic downturn can not be stopped and as such we are offering to take the issue off of your hands. Is it not better to surrender what is costing you everything than to try to recover?"
"Shogi is not so far lost as to be incapable of recovery, it is for that reason that I called this meeting. However, I will be extending a hand to the Astartes regarding your conduct and your statements that you commend their forces once this meeting is completed. However, you will not be present, I asked you to leave, but now I hereby ban you and Valvadus from this meeting." I spoke as I opened the door with a button and a contingent of guards filed into the room and somewhat gleefully dragged the emissary out. "Do not harm him, we do not need such problems, simply remove him from the palace and back to his transport." I ordered as they left the room with the door sealing behind them.
Two more individuals stood up from their chairs and marched out of the room, apparently deciding that their orders or planets were not going to find any success with me in charge. "Ah, what a wonderful sight those assholes getting what they deserve finally. Those three worlds are part of an unofficial alliance trying to become subsector, sector and segementum capital respectively and have tried to bully every other world into line. Shogi has always been one of the few worlds that just laughed them away, but your predecessor was funding their ambitions so they got overly bold from that." A woman wearing cuff links of a rare metal smirked as she saw them leaving and her voice left no confusion to her true feelings regarding them.
"How much truth was there to his statements of influence?" She shrugged, "More than you would think, but far less than what they implied. They have some draw on the Mechanicus by providing rare metals in bulk, but not much draw on any of the major chapters, I think they might have bought the loyalty of some of the minor chapters in this sector, but that is currently unconfirmed." The others nodded with her, but none of them offered any more information unfortunately.
"I apologize for this breach of normality, but they were correct in stating that Shogi is currently suffering from an economic downturn brought about from a lack of basic resources. As such, I can not provide the typical trade goods for trade deals, instead I can only reasonably offer access to the currently unused production capacity of Shogi. Any of your worlds that will only consider trading for direct trade goods, I am unfortunately unable to enact a trade route with you currently due to these issues." I stated the situation clearly to head off long term negotiations only for the issue to become apparent halfway through and causing a possible downturn in relations between the mining world and Shogi.
Three of the remaining six stood up from their chairs, one of whom was clearly enraged by my statements and stormed out of the chamber without speaking. The other two fidgeted for a moment before the woman bowed, "Planetary Governor, I thank you for your candor regarding the present situation on your world, and will inform my governor of your forthrightness on this topic. However, I apologize for Konkolla is currently unable to make use of such access and as such I am afraid that I must decline your offer forthwith." She stated clearly and calmly, earning her some of my respect compared to the others that had acted so insecure and filled with unwarranted arrogance.
As she left the conference room, the man that had stood with her stepped forward now, "Lord Atraxas, I must apologize for Sidao is similarly unable to make use of production capacity as a viable trade avenue. Once you have trade goods to send, do not hesitate to contact us for we always desire new trade lines to assist all under His aegis." He bowed once more and then strode to the exit and nodded to the guards as he left, leaving only three remaining.
The door slide open as one of the guards stepped in, "My Lord, four ships bearing the heraldry of mining worlds have arrived in orbit claiming they are carrying emissaries for the trade meeting." The other emissaries frowned slightly as they heard the news of more competitors showing up. I was in a quandary since the primary issue had been raised for the emissaries here but not for those in the ships.
"Guard, send a transmission to the ships detailing the impossibility of using trade goods as a deal and instead only the loan of production capacity will be considered by Shogi currently." With a salute the guard left to send the message to the ships before they landed and it became harder for them to return to their worlds if they were unable to make use of the offered trade.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, but I am calling a recess for four hours local time to enable all individuals to reach the meeting once it restarts." I bowed to them as I spoke the call for recess and the doors slide open allowing them to leave and seek refreshments if they so wished. The three individuals that had remained were clearly unhappy but accepted the order grudgingly.
As the meeting rejoined, the newcomers smiled towards me before one of them bowed, "We thank you for allowing us admittance to this meeting, your predecessor had unofficially banned us from accessing the markets of Shogi. We are aware of the limitations that you are operating under and have chosen to present our offers reformulated for the circumstances." He bowed before sitting back down and the other three scowled slightly towards him, but I rose up to a fraction of my full height towering over them.
"I am glad to hear that you are willing to work with me for our mutual benefit. Now, I will fully outline what I am able to offer and prepared to offer in totality. First and foremost,I am unable to offer trade goods or Thrones for services rendered, my predecessor has drained the treasury dry and the loss of Nouria has seen the collapse of our native service economy. However, the manufacturing capacity of Shogi has thus far not been adversely afflicted and I am willing to sign a lease of individual manufactorums for unrefined ore in exchange. Furthermore, I will negate any tariffs and taxes that would apply to the production of extrasolar goods within the contracted facilities." I said as I brought out a holographic display showing various graphs and a world map with several locations highlighted, marking it with further notations as I spoke giving more information than they would need probably, but would ensure that there was no misunderstanding at hand.
The seven humans thought on the matter and then one by one they gave their first offers and the negotiations began in truth. They would not go fast, but that is fine, I had time enough to spend on this matter to ensure that the deal was balance for both sides. There was no reason to create unneeded resentment within the sector for I might well be living here for centuries or millennia to come and such would only make my life ever more tiresome and dangerous.
It was to my benefit that none of the worlds barring two were particularly wealthy, allowing me to make trades well in my favor but still more than reasonable for the other side. It would not impact Shogi notably, and might even run the chance of allowing the world to store up basic resources prior to the end of the deals to be made.
As the negotiations ended and the emissaries returned to their worlds after gaining approval of the deal via the astropath coven on Shogi, I found a burden removed for now Shogi was no longer on the verge of total economic collapse.
As the emissaries left and the trade was secured, another weight upon my form as the ruler of this world was relieved. I might not be human, but duty can not be hidden from, one must do their all for the task set before them. When eternity stretches forth, laziness and boredom become the ever present dangers of life, so many hatchlings have succumbed to the corruption of the pair vices of destruction. In the end, only those that have proven their willpower can hold firm against the dangling lure of relaxation are allowed to become our commanders and those that are given the respect of the Homeworld.
As such, for me to not give my all for the people of this world without regard for their origin would be to bring shame to myself that millennia would not wipe away. I look outward over the capital city of the world and wonder once more how humans find this sight pleasant to look upon. Massive spires reach into the sky of brutal metal and ostentatious wealth, yet below the spires countless millions of depilated buildings of stone and wood linger in the shadows.
The Imperium was unbalanced, I had always known such, but my new position has only expanded the view I could possess on the subject. The menials that labored without end had nothing while those that worked naught had everything, I had enough information to conclude that I could easily have gored myself on the remaining wealth of Shogi with little push back provided I constrained myself to a limit below that of my predecessor. I knew that across the world two more mining sites were being started, one under my auspices and one under Urma's, mine would be ran the same as my last one, yet only more so.
Hatchlings would be banned from working entirely except ones over the age of thirteen and desire to do simple jobs such as messaging and marking duties, the menials would be provided a living wage for their work and overtime bonuses in the form of labor waivers or extra payment on their choice, and the hatchlings below the age of allowed labor would be taught simple mathematics and literacy by the tech priests on site. In the end, my site will not be the place for cruelty nor exploitation, I refuse to allow such measures to interfere with my plans.
I knew that Urma would not use my system and that she would rely on the standard of the Imperium, but she was untouchable for me as of yet and her methods were the approved form. I simply would do all that I could with my command over the building site, to ensure that the workers under my command would be treated well and have a future possibly secured beyond their current lot in life.
Turning away from the window, I checked over the samples from the mining sites and noted that there was a rare element in Urma's site that would be useful for trading and native production from her notes on its discovery. Duralium as the Imperium understood the metal was useful in powering ships and repairing ships as well, for all the ingenuity that humans showed in making metals and alloys, sometimes they missed the truly obvious. We might not know the material by the same name, but it was a common material in the Homeworld's oceans and was regularly used to provide its true value to alloys.
In short Duralium was a meta energetic metalloid which depending on its refining process can be turned into either a near perfect insulator or a superconductor. However, the process that the Imperium would more than likely be restricted too was unable to cause the refined product to express the superconducting aspects of the material.
Having a natural supply of the material would enable some of my projects to be completed significantly easier and faster than I had anticipated. Of course a Meta Forge would give the same value infinitely instead of being restricted to the mundanities of mining supply and economic considerations, but that is far from my ability to manage as of yet.
The first thing would be the Awakening Core to even begin progressing towards a Meta Forge, and then I would need to either find a natural wellspring or find a person with enough metaphysical significance to power the Forge and provide the needed particle density to be warped into matter of the desired form. I am unsure, but the Titans might be sufficient for the latter aspect, but the sheer cost of building a Meta Forge without access to the alloys typically used in the construction of the design will probably become the limiting factor compared to the situation with being able to properly power it.
Same for what the Imperials call psycurium, its of lesser importance to our alloying technology, but it is used to serve as a form of balancing agent within the process, allowing the alloys to be more receptive to phase alterations and phase merging. Its absence would be of lesser impact compared to the loss of Duralium, but it still is a fairly core aspect of how we produce our alloys. Of course a Meta Forge can produce it in needed quantities, but reaching the point of constructing a Meta Forge will be a long term goal even for an immortal like myself.
Turning towards another vulnerability of Shogi the computer networks. My predecessor had defunded every system that was not protected via the authority of the military or the mechanicus, for some unknowable reason this had to him included the counter intelligence systems.
And for all of my skill and knowledge, I am a novice with the cogitators that the imperium uses. We never discovered what is called software by humans, in their terms every Exatari computer is purpose built with analog measures to do singular actions, while a given imperial computer can be used to complete thousands if not millions of different actions on the same device.
A truly revolutionary discovery possibly on par with the discovery of a new meta particle library, it could see our research reach never before thought speeds. It might even allow some of the less motivated to reach higher levels in the Nexi of the Homeworld, for computers would enable vastly faster turn around upon discovery of failure.
Yet, in the end, I am still learning the systems and building a counter intelligence system is already hard enough at hand without having to learn the systems used to produce such a thing at the same time. However, I do figure out various ideas on how to expand this action in different directions.
"My lord, a ship labeling itself a Rogue Trader has translated into system." One of the guards that Harkar had posted to protect me said as they entered my office as I finalized some last minute pay alterations for the workers on my mining site. The cursed throne had fluctuated in value once more and I had had to spend several tedious hours recalculating the proper compensation for the workers, but this would be a welcome diversion from such tedious and worst of all error prone work.
I had sent the request for a Rogue Trader to meet with me several years ago by this point, but at least it was done early enough to not impact any of my future plans overly much. I knew little of what it meant for one to be a Rogue Trader, the individuals were reclusive and the information on the subject was little more than heresy of the highest order.
"What House did they claim to be part of?" One of the things I knew was that the vast majority of rogue traders were part of greater Houses that as a single entity held the rights of trade. That was my understanding at least, and would hopefully be corrected in this meeting.
"The ship bears the heraldry of a minor House, I personally do not recognize it but the ship is broadcasting its identity as part of the House Norastye's fleet, My Lord." The guard bowed as they left my office with the completion of their duty in informing me of this occurrence. My predecessor had left records of several Rogue Traders they had worked with over the years and there had never been any refrences to a House Norastye. Which overall is probably for the best since I would be duty bound to investigate and deal with individuals responsible for supplying him with the items that I had unearthed and supporting his proclivities.
With my personal computer accessing the records was easy and from them I could easily confirm that House Norastye existed, was legal and created from a magos explorer, which neatly explained their arrival at my request.
Several hours later, my office opened to admit a human man a few centuries old in, he was not part of the Mechanicus due to the lack of any form of augment either cybernetic or biological as far as I could see, but on his robes he wore the sigil of the House Norastye.
"Lord Atraxas." The man said as he bowed before, an act that I have never figured out the social implications behind it, I know it refrences deference to a higher authority but the context behind its existence escapes me. "I am the commander of one of the ships that flies under the banner of House Norastye and the Honorable Lord Norastye has recognized your request and sent me to negotiate terms for a hopefully beneficial relationship between you and the House of Norastye." He showed no discomfort with being in a room with one of my appearance nor of my political power, which fit with what I knew of the Houses.
"I am eager to open lines of communication with the rogue traders of the Imperium, there are many purposes that I could make use of your services for." I enter the conversion for the first time, confirming that the situation was not accidental and that I did have a purpose for the request before any false impressions could be made.
"Lord Norastye would not have sent me here if he had not thought my vessel at the least would be of use to you, with appropriate compensation of course." A gentle reminder of whom is holding the power in this place, but I could let the implied nudge to accept his word slide for I had called him indirectly, but called all the same.
"I am pleased that Magos Norastye considered my request for a meeting important enough to send one of direct commanders to meet with me. I too hope to begin a profitable enterprise with you and by extension the House Norastye. As such I have a few questions regarding the prices of various exotic goods, especially those that might arose some measure of suspicion from factions of the Imperium."
The captain shifted slightly, to the point where a human might have missed the movement, but to me it was clearly done. "Lord Atraxas, House Norastye only acts within the bounds of Imperial and Mechanicus law as dictated by Lord Norastye. As such I must apologize for we are not allowed to deal in certain exotics for any price, and if that is your goal then I believe there is no possible relationship possible between Shogi and Norastye." I shifted in turn at the words, for I had not expected such a complete shutdown of discussions on exotics, although I guess the exotic materials I would seek could very well be considered state secrets or otherwise protected resources.
"Understandable, moving away from the exotics I had wished to acquire, what is House Norastye's stance on transportation of mercenary forces, weapons, vehicles and technical data." There was no point in trying to contuine a clearly unproductive chain so moving to my next set of questions on possible trade, my private army would be a potent military force and selling its services would be worth a fair amount from my understanding. Furthermore, it would be beneficial if I could hire this House to transport the items for the Homeworld without requiring suspicious avenues.
The man blinked at the rapid change in topic but smiled wider indicating that this was well within possibility for the House to accept. "Norastye is more than able and willing to transport mercenary forces, and bulk cargo trades. Of course we will take a cut of any profits such missions receive or ask for payment upfront for non payed transport jobs, but our fees are reasonable compared to some of our competing houses."
I lowered myself in an emulation of a nod as I processed the information and found that they would serve me well. It was a shame that Norastye would refuse missions to gather exotic resources, since that would have opened many doors for me, but I could always find a less reputable House for such missions.
However, the question remained, what exotics were in particular banned. Depending on how many and what amounts, I might need to seek out several houses of low reputation or ones willing to sully their name with such missions. As such it would be prudent to have a clearer idea of the situation at hand before doing such, to preserve some measure of my wealth in case of needing to hire several such Houses.
"I am ware of House Norastye's disinterest in gathering exotics, but I am curious in which ones are expressly forbidden for any amount of coin or favors to be offered." The man, whom I should probably ask their name eventually, frowned as he stared around my somewhat barren office.
"Any ship bearing Norastye colors is expressly forbidden from assaulting Eldar, and Necron forces regardless of offered payment. We are also forbidden from accepting Astartes as targets of acquisition. The former are considered too dangerous to handle and the latter are His Angels. We also retain the right to refuse any mission to acquire a xeno of sufficient danger, so far we have only listed Catachan as a forbidden world for such missions." I slide backwards slightly as I try to process the situation at hand, it would have to be the manner in which I had phrased the original question making it seem more nefarious than I had expected.
"I have no interest in acquiring xenos as of the moment, I was in fact inquiring into the cost of hiring Norastye ships to harvest certain rare metals from the depths of space. There are several materials that I have personal interest in that are sadly uncommon in the vast majority of space."
The captain frowned at my statement, doing calculations in his mind, "House Norastye has no restriction on harvesting missions of your desired sort, but we do require a direction and destination to pursue for such missions to be accepted. However, we are willing to accept a standing contract where we will harvest the desired materials if we happen across a viable supply."
I nodded at the requirements for the harvesting missions for it was entirely sensible to require either a destination for a dedicated mission, but being able to set up a passive contract for such materials was a good option. "Understandable provisions and more than acceptable. However, my third question is the matter of Xenotech, I know that the Mechanicus has a distaste for the subject and your head of house was at one point a Magos." The one big worry was that they would not be willing to transport the supplies I would gain from the Homeworld, due to them being xenotech.
"We find xenotech unpleasant to handle as policy, but it is not forbidden and simply adds a higher charge to the mission than normal if we are mandated to carry xenotech. However, we do forbid Eldar and Necron xenotech due to the danger inherent to such missions. Is there any race's technology that you have a particular interest in?" His stance was wary of my answer, but at the same time it was clear that this was well within the range of allowance that the House provided for this subject.
It was a good thing I had clarified my position for this would do fine for my purposes, our drives were slower and far more cumbersome than the Imperial warp drives, but they were more than sufficient to cross a few systems in a matter of hours. It would be easy enough to give Norastye the location of some "xeno" worlds that had some of the creations of my people to acquire them directly and also to drop off the imperial items in exchange.
"I have a mission ready for House Norastye to undertake immediately if possible. I need several leman russes, a load of lasguns and plasma gungs, and several various aircraft and infantry vehicles transported to a position in space where one of my connections will retrieve the supplies. They do request that there are no ships in the vicinity when they retrieve the supplies, and will leave behind their payment for me in a box."
I knew that this was inherently suspicious to request as such since few people would have a legitimate reason to request secrecy of this level, and I lacked a fair reason for it. Hopefully, they would accept it for extra payment instead.
"I can not say that I am overly pleased with this mission's profile, but as you are currently not under suspicion, I am willing to handle it. However, House Norastye reserves the right to refuse such missions if we consider it too risky." I shifted downward and nodded to the best of my ability as I accepted the statement.
"I accept, now let us discuss the various missions and contracts that can be initiated at this juncture." The captain smiled widley as what seemed to be his favorite part took center stage.
"Words can not express my disappointment to see you once more." The bitting digtial screeching of Balkavus intruded into my peaceful day as unpleasant as ever. "I can only assume that some unscruplous heretek has contaminated the augments of the Conclave with logic breaking systems, since only such a thing could explain why you remain untouched." I stare down at him, he had never been a concern for me, but now that I knew more I saw him for what he truly was; a non entity. He had no power to effect me, the Mechancius' Lords were on my side regarding his accusations, and I seemed to have a strange in with them regardless.
"Report in full on the outcome of your assigned project." My voice was cold, I could feel ice creeping on my skin once more as my soul began to rouse not in anger but in contempt for the small minded person before me. I felt pity for the Archmagi of the world, pursing their empty dream, but they were more than skilled and had proof aplenty of their worth to Creation. Balkavus had no such worth, he was nothing more than the person that spent the most time bickering with others for political power and he had failed to endear himself to me.
Static growing filled the room as he glared up at my imposing bulk, I usually took measures to hide the truth of my presence for humans, but I had no reason to do so for him and so I stared down upon him from far above his reach. "As you command oh tech heretic, Shogi has suffered 9 Black Crusades that were of averge impact to the world. Beyond the Crusades although a heretek like yourself probably misses not being presence for such foulness and to serve your true fellows, there was not much of importance occurring on Shogi. The only notable event is something that is only referenced obliquely in certain vaults that you as a tech heretic would never be able to enter and there is little on the subject regardless."
Did he truly expect me to accept him at his word on this matter? He was clearly withholding information from me about my world and its history, but he also had no backbone such a pity that he had such a poor combination. I have seen thousands of hatchlings with superior integrity to him and even human children that could hold themselves better than the pitiful growling fool before me.
"Tell me what you found in those vaults, or I will go and investigate for myself." Balkavus screeched some more in meaningless binary and hexadecimal for some reason as he continued to glare up at me. "Yes, oh unholy one, I discovered reports of an ancient Blank being born of unprecedented power. Unfortunately for you and fortunately for everyone else I lost the data on where the Blank is held in stasis."
I angled myself upward as I noted the information, I knew that humans produced both blanks and psykers akin to my people, but lacked the ability to forcibly attune a soul to the desired metaphysical influence and change it at will. However, I did not know how they compared on average to the Exatari that choose to unlock such powers, but leaning towards them being stronger than us would be a safe guess most likely due to humans seeming to be stronger in strange areas compared to us overall.
Therefore assuming that the Blank he is referring too is stronger than the strongest ever Exatari Severed is an intelligent view to take. I would need to construct Meta Shields before even thinking about defrosting the Blank in question, my phase shields would dampen even the Deathly Severer's influence to nothing, but assuming that this Blank is twice as potent, I would be afflicted by tremors and slight paranoia which is not needed in my current predicament.
As he left, a message reached my personal display from Nirve detailing a list of blackmail for use on Yurael. It was a perfect mission from the report with the subject entirely unaware of the spies and what they recovered, but it would be more than enough to force her to submit to a desired action. It was a beneficial event but I had not ordered the action to be undertaken, which also made sense due to the fact that even I would not be included in the details of the spies of the world.
With a flicker of happiness I save the data on her for future use as I turned towards the last thing that I had to finalize. Which was the study on the strange human religion that I had asked Nameria to prepare to explain it to me. I hope that she considered me asking for more political, hierarchal rather than the actual intent of truly learning what the thing was for as far as I can tell no human doesn't abide by the religion.
Another aspect of humans that we lacked commonality with them on, I knew that there were in the distant past Exatari clans that asked for security for protection from natural events from barely understandable concepts even when experiencing the memories directly. Yet, soon after the creation of the Witness and its peers, such actions fell into disfavor over time as information was stored across time allowing even our most early ancestors to realize that there was simple chains of cause and effect at play.
It is true that we work mostly inline with the principle of Creation and the Trinity of Life, but could those concepts be considered a religion. To humans I doubt they would be considered as such, we do not build temples, we do not give prayer to the trinity of life, they are simply things that are done. Creation is achieved whenever someone makes something new for themselves or others, originality does not inherently matter as long as they are building something distinct from the world around.
The Trinity is even less firm, it only says how sapient life comes to be and the parts that compose us and all other Creators. In the end, religion in the all consuming form that humanity partakes in, is something that we never experienced and I am as such at a loss in understanding the principles of the Imperium since the majority revolves around their religion.
Nameria will hopefully explain this to my satisfaction or at the very least enable me to understand the principles of Shogi more completely. I have desires to do much for this world, but I am stymied by my lack of understanding for humans and their systems of governance.
She had sent me a message asking for me to meet her at the Cathedral of Ascendance, the largest such structure in the capital city an hour past noon, for our meeting. There was no point in delaying my arrival and it was fairly close by so there was sadly no reason to make use of my flight systems, my normal movement would be sufficient.
Exiting the palace which still didn't property fit my bulk was an annoyance as ever, but running up the side of the building to reach the roof and plotting out my course was fun. I knew that my guards probably hated my preferred form of transversal in the city limits as I jumped from the roof and glided down to the large thoroughfare several kilometers away before picking up speed.
Dancing around the cars on the street and bouncing between the buildings was a form of fun that I never had prior to being given this position, on the Homeworld our cities were designed in far different methods and were designed for our bulk and my previous world I was forced to the outskirts constantly. Now, I could truly bounce through the city, doing flash repairs on the spot when buildings seemed overly worn down.
It was an easy thing to do, but as I bounced onto a building I would flash repair any damage I could feel where I landed and of course my systems prevented me from causing damage to buildings or vehicles. It was truly amazing how fast humans adapted to new situations, the first time I had taken to the roads there were several hundred crashes forcing me to stop to provide medical aid to the afflicted, now only a few minor situations occurred as I made my way to the Cathedral.
The Cathedral was truly massive, it was similar in size and grandure to the Hive Cities that exist on other worlds in the Imperium. Its gold plated extieror reached into the high reaches of the atmosphere, nearly reaching the ionosphere at the very peak of the spire, and I could feel the shields that covered it from tip to ground.
Massive windows of colored glass cut into various pieces and then fused together with what appeared to be lead covered the grand building. Numerous icons graced the side of the building, the largest of which was a strange one of a column with a human skull embossed upon it. Yet, below that prominent icon another smaller one sat, but seemed to have been given greater care, I could see the purity of its construction outshining the one above it, and the techniques used in its shaping were clearly the work of a master metal worker.
In the light provided by the sun in the sky, the icon gleamed brilliantly, the sunlight dancing across the thousands of metal feathers that formed the wings of the two headed bird that formed the core of the sigil. Above the bird a sun lay, formed from gold as well it glimmered wonderfully as I came closer, noting how much like a real sun it had been made to resemble and its light manifested in rays of solid gold rained down upon the Aquila below I believe the name was.
Then below the Aquila several layers of smaller forms were represented in metal akin to the above, yet of the thirty six figures below, ten were cast from silver and shattered with one tarnished, yet one remained whole if shadowed, another four were forged from wrought iron and rusted through and the final twenty were forged from platinum, nine remain pure of metal and masterfully crafted compared to the eleven that were gilded with wrought iron. Below the three rows of silver, iron and platinum a fourth row lay with only a solitary figure of rhodium stood, facing up towards the sun and the Aquila above.
It was a sigil that was small enough for the majority of humans to miss, compared to the overpowering icon above, but it bore the signs of being far more important to the person in charge than the greater sigil. A curious discovery, but I would be able to ask about the matter when I met with her in only a few minutes.
The Cathedral was interesting when I entered, the windows above projected their image upon the interior and complex prisms covered the floor, directing light into a truly majestic sight. It would take even a Forge Adept significant time to calculate the positions needed for this to work so cleanly, it was a sign of how far Humans could go when they had interest in acting to the best of their abilities.
Thousands of anti gravity plates floated in the depths of the spire above, serving as means of transversal between rooms and ledges. It was a truly impressive construction in size and scope, the heart and brain of the church upon Shogi built in the standard of the world. I knew why she had called me here, I had never entered this place before, but it showed her power both religious and secular well from the cost inherent to this show of technology.
Under the center of the light show the congregation sat in prayer, yet even more technology was present. Holograms of Nameria walked along every row of the seating humans and some indivials had personal interaction with her. Images of her sitting at their side, giving aid to them. Perhaps the humans believed that this was a form of trickery, but I could see that each hologram was a real image of her indicating near impossible body and mental control for a human.
A flicker of light danced to the side and another hologram emerged, bowing to me slightly as Nameria smiled at my arrival. "Lord Atraxas, I will be ready for our meeting in a few minutes. Please explore this floor of the Cathedral, while you wait." I nodded to her as I slide into the shadows, noting how the humans she talked to seemed to be happier and more energetic than before.
"Shogi has changed with your arrival, many of the people that I have heard confession of have come from your work sites for the first time able to afford the pilgrimage to see me. Your kindness has not gone unseen nor unnoticed and these people give thanks to Him for sending you to us."
I turned towards the hologram of Nameria at my side in confusion for how could I have done as she said. I simply gave the workers a reasonable level of compensation for their work, of course there was likely some error in their payment but it would probably fall onto the side of me underpaying them. I did not have a good measure of how time passed to a human and that along with the ceaseless variance in value of the thrones, my payment was most likely to be under the level of appropriate compensations even after doubling the cost I calculated.
"I simply provide my workers with a proper payment for work nothing more or less. It is the same for all that pay for work is it not? A coin in exchange for time and labor." Her face flickered with what could only be confusion before it smoothed away under a mask, and she turned towards the people out in the center of the floor.
"Urma has shared the records with me, per hour you pay on average a thousand thrones to the lowest level and increase for various actions such as working beyond the end of a shift. A minimum of a thousand thrones to people whom in the last ten generations of their families might have saved at most fifty across it all. Perhaps to you the payment is fair, but to those working under your orders its wealth beyond their dreams, its a miracle from Him upon Terra answering their prayers said every day for countless centuries." She fell silent as another man etched with lines of painful labor moved to the front and let a small stream of golden coins fall into a chest before drawing a sigil over his heart and leaving.
"Tens of thousands eat better than they have in centuries, possibly millions of children will reach higher than they ever would have been allowed to reach. You have held to your stance of compassion in a way that I had lost faith in ever seeing, and for that I thank you Lord Atraxas, and I thank Him for sending one such as you to this world. Your actions might have prevented a terrible fate."
"It was not my intention to aid them, I simply pay them what is reasonable compensation for the work they conduct. Although, by my calculations it is likely I am undervaluing their efforts, but I will need to investigate certain aspects to refine my payment system in the future it appears." I counter as I watch as the people begin to leave and a handful notice me in the back of the room. A wave ran through the population of the cathedral as one told the others around them, the information ripplingly back along the whole of the crowd.
The crowd came to a stop before a few bowed and scurried away as the others looked on in what I think was awe before they too left and as the final one left, Nameria sealed the doors before the holograms faded away into light. A door that I had noticed opened as her living body entered the room, "There are few Planetary Governors that would have received such a reaction from the average man, most would have been ignored unless they were making a ruckus. As much as you profess to only pay them what is correct, that does not change the facts at hand. However, you wished to know more of the Ecclesiarchy and the Imperial Creed, so follow me I have a person I would like you to meet." Her demeanor was different more militant as she spoke and lead the way through the interior of the cathedral, but the masterful crafting of the place remained ever evident.
"Are all cathedrals this well crafted?" It was a sensible question to my mind, for this temple displayed more understanding than I had come to expect from humanity and the Imperium in general. Yet, her first response was a snort of laughter, "By the God-Emperor I wish, but most cathedrals are inelegant brutal designs gilded with more gold than some worlds contain. The gold that covers the Cathedral of Ascendance is only a few millimeters thick and is to provide coloring nothing more. This Cathedral is a fortress first and a church second befitting a fortress world."
I accepted her statement and followed in silence once more before we stepped onto a grav plate, which whined under my weight but was able to lift off into the heights of the spire. For a human, the scale of this building would be impossible to truly understand, for me it was simply a somewhat reasonably sized building only inverted.
The main Forge of my Nexus was in a similar spire that reached one hundred kilometers into the crust of the Homeworld the mantle held at bay only via force fields and repulsive matrixes. All of that space had been used to enable me to make the alloys required for the most extreme items and research possible, but it did make it possible to understand the scale of this cathedral.
"Lord Atraxas, I am unfortunately not going to be able to personally explain the Creed and the Ecclesiarchy due to my duties, but I have brought in an individual that I trust to explain the matter throughly. I have also created several data slates for your perusal that will hopefully answer any questions you have." I shift slightly trying to indicate my unease of the situation, but it was understandable since her duties were wide ranging and I could hear a new congregation entering already.
The plate reached the apogee of the building revealing a small floor at the very edge of the ionosphere from which one could see across the city below. "The God Emperor is truly a god to be able to shape such a wondrous world, would you not agree Servant Atraxas?" A feminine voice spoke from the shadows of the platform, I simply walked to the window to look outward as I note the departure of the grav plate.
"I agree that Shogi is a jewel of the void, but to my sight the true beauty of the world lies in the created intermixed with the natural." The woman mulled over the statement for a moment, "An answer not to my question, but not all that serve Him know they do so at the time. Yet, in the end all serve His endless plan, I do wonder what your purpose shall be."
I turn away from the window towards the woman speaking, noting that she was wearing a strangely primitive form of a powered exoskeleton, along with having an implanted mechanical interface in a manner akin to the tech priests I knew. Yet, beyond those details, I could tell that her body was trained to excel in military matters, but that was to be expected for one using such technology as her.
But, there was a question to be asked, since from my understanding it was the default state for humans to assume that their Emperor was a god with regard. "Is it not to be taken as a given that the God Emperor is a god?" She shook her head as she walked to the edge of the floor to stare outward over the city in a manner similar to me.
"Across the grandeur of His Imperium, there are many faiths that give Him his due glory and there are many that deny His existence in manifold ways. Erimyst sector is riddled with splinters of faith, eating away at the foundations of His Imperium and the principles of His Creed. Perhaps in another sector your statement is true, but in Erimyst one must be ever vigilant for the heretics."
I processed the information and understood what it meant, but it was a minor issue in the bulk of the meeting so far to have made such a minor indiscretion. "What do you mean of the faith splintering?"
Metal squealed under her hands as the metal railing bent under grip as she stared out into space, "For the last three thousand years, Erimyst has been in a state of upheaval regarding the proper forms to give honor to Him upon the Golden Throne. In recent centuries the faith has shattered, a million cults creep in the shadows out of His light, twisting the people that live under His protection away from their true father. We have fought against the proliferation of these cults, and some are no more than heresy cloaked in righteousness." I could feel her soul burn bright as the words poured from her mouth, as she glared into the heavens beyond Shogi.
"I am unaware of these cults, could you enlighten me to their nature?" Her face twisted into a cast of fury, but she nodded in the end. "As one of His primary servants in the sector, you should be aware of those that fight against Him in the shadows where His light does not reach." She let go of the railing as she turned towards another wall and seemed to ponder how to explain the subject matter.
"Of the seven cults that have broken away from the Creed, three stand above the others. The Mandate of Holy War, a heretical cult that has remained limited by the true faith in Him thus far. It is known to be heretical and to be purged on sight, for it has a Daemon of Chaos as its high priest a Bloodthirster wearing profane garments taken from one of His priests." I knew that humans were concerned about the immaterial spirts that drifted in the void behind the veil, but why would they be this concerned about the things.
The things were beyond easy to just get rid of, whenever they showed up on the Homeworld we usually find them begging the larger ones to get them off the world and cowering whenever we showed up. I could recall when I found a particularly noxious one that had decided that hiding inside the machinery of my forge to be a good idea. It took me an entire year to get the gunk off the machinery after skewering the thing for its befoulment of my forge.
But, the ones that focused on blood were the least annoying of any of the things. We figured out how to deal with them a long time ago, by making a pool of blood that drew them in like rodents for easy disposal. But, I knew enough to not ask about that since the entire thing regarding Chaos whatever it was seemed to be a sore point for humans.
"The next cult that taints His Imperium is The Eternal Legacy, which casts aside His light and wisdom in favor of that from the perfidious Xenos known as the Necrons. They preach of the Necrons as the true saviors of the galaxy and only through submission to them will peace be found. The Pathfinders have told us of the true heresy involved by confirming that they pray to a Xenos in place of their spiritual father." That was interesting, I do admit to being curious about the Necrons and the Eldar due to both being considered to be species that pose a danger to the greater Imperium.
It would not be incorrect to say that only they were able to truly match the Imperium in power, but I did not know how they managed such an event. Perhaps their methods would be something we could make use of and by extensions reduce the danger inherent to our existence. With the knowledge that one of the Necrons was amenable to working with humans directly, it would stand to reason that it would be conceivable for them to be willing to meet with me directly.
But turning away from my thoughts, I turn back to her as she frowned, seemingly conflicted about the coming topic, "We are conflicted on the subject of the final major splinter. Many of its tenets we hold dear to our heart and code of action, it is a siren call to us and yet it taints His glory with that of the xenos and Chaos. It states that He upon Terra is the supreme god of all, and yet it gives recognition to the creatures of perfidious faith as fallen angels of His glory, in the end it is the most divergent and yet the one we find ourselves troubled by the most of all the splinters."
I noted that she didn't mention the name of this splinter faction, but it seemed to cause her some measure of distress to be forced to confront the existence of it. Yet, she shook her head and turned back to the window and me, "Those are the three primary splinters in terms of danger to His Imperium within this sector, there are four other splinters but they of lesser influence or potential damage." She said as she leaned on the railings peering down at the city below.
"Even we the purest within Erimyst are far from the exemplars of His Creed that one would find in other sectors. For that reason, how can we cast blame upon others for breaking away from the Creed that binds the Imperium as one, for we originate from the greatest splintering it has ever seen." Her voice had taken on a somber tone as she stared out over the city the day turning to night as the star slipped below the horizon.
"The tenets of the Creed are basic and pure, but even we disregard them in favor of ensuring our service is eternal to better form a bulwark behind which the innocents of His Imperium might find succor even in the darkest of nights. We are told to abhor the psyker, xenos and mutant, yet the greatest champions of His light in the sector are both mutant and psyker." A golden coin bearing the mark of an unknown animal flashed in her fingers as she played with it looking upward towards the stars beginning to shine.
"The Angels of Death, the Astartes, the greatest champions of His light, yet one and all they are mutants. From them we learned to call upon the souls of the fallen to fight evermore under His light, with them we stand against the tide of darkness that seeks to extinguish His light upon Holy Terra. Yet, without question we sunder the Creed with our actions, for mutants and psykers find themselves under our protection in truth instead of the watchful eye He seeks." She closed her eyes as she spoke, the coin held in her fist glinting softly in the twilight.
I did not know how to interject here for this was far from my area of understanding, so I waited silently watching the stars rotate overhead as the sun dipped below the horizon finally. The single dwarf moon drifting into view overhead, before she turned back to me.
"I do apologize Servant Atraxas, but I do not think I am able to answer what you sought from me. But, be mindful of Cardinal Nameria, she is more vulnerable than she tries to portray herself as. She was one of my Sisters in her youth, but circumstances were unfavorable for her to remain as such. She did provide me with these records." She spoke finally as she handed over a stack of data slates to me and walked towards a grav platform before bowing to me and leaving the floor.
Her parting words told me more than she could have thought, but pieces came together in my mind allowing me to see the truth of the matter clearly. Perhaps not fully, but in part and that was enough to see behind the veil and thus know that Nameria was barely stable mentally.
The data slates were simple enough to understand for me, the data flowing into my mind and being processed as it always was. It revealed even more on her and the Ecclesiarchy as the church was called along with their primary tenets. In the end, it was a productive event and meeting, but brought about new questions to ask and investigate, but I turned up to stare at the stars above pondering if I would ever see the Homeworld once more. I did not know where it drifted in the silent void of space, one of the countless dots of light the rest of my people drifted in obscurity protected from harm by the distance between stars and the silence of the void.
My duty was more than just to learn from the Imperium, it was to enable my people to take to the stars and exist beyond our single world. It did not dull the pain of loss I felt whenever I looked up towards the stars and did not know where my home lay.
I turned towards the wall of the spire, noting it as a non load bearing structure to ensure the safety of what I was about too do. With careful movements I carved into the wall a doorway sized for me to enter and exit from, it took a matter of moments to breach the wall and find myself in the ionosphere of the world. A human would have died near instantly at this level without protective gear for me it was a pleasant sensation of the ions slamming into my carapace.
Resealing the doorway I had made with the forge in my body, I used a phase vector to push myself free of the building without impacting it. Into free fall I went, from eighty kilometers into the air I fell towards the ground, yet as the wind rushed past me I found it refreshing as I activated my flight systems and hurled myself as fast as I could.
Breaching the sound barrier was easy enough, then I broke into the hypersonic range under my own power as I raced upward through the atmosphere until I hovered on the very edge of space, noting the brilliant ships docked in the starport above the world and the shipyards that filled the orbits of the inner system.
Floating there in space, time was easily lost as the world rotated under me and the sun began to rise letting my carapace gleam in the unfiltered light. With a sigh I raced towards the palace, noting a communication on a high priority level coming from the palace for me.
I turned towards the wall of the spire, noting it as a non load bearing structure to ensure the safety of what I was about too do. With careful movements I carved into the wall a doorway sized for me to enter and exit from, it took a matter of moments to breach the wall and find myself in the ionosphere of the world. While a human would have died near instantly at this level without protective gear for me it was a pleasant sensation of the ions slamming into my carapace.
Resealing the doorway I had made with the forge in my body, I used a phase vector to push myself free of the building without impacting it. Into free fall I went, from eighty kilometers into the air I fell towards the ground, yet as the wind rushed past me I found it refreshing as I activated my flight systems and hurled myself as fast as I could.
Breaching the sound barrier was easy enough, then I broke into the hypersonic range under my own power as I raced upward through the atmosphere until I hovered on the very edge of space, noting the brilliant ships docked in the starport above the world and the shipyards that filled the orbits of the inner system.
Floating there in space, time was easily lost as the world rotated under me and the sun began to rise letting my carapace gleam in the unfiltered light. With a sigh I raced towards the palace, noting a communication on a high priority level coming from the palace for me.
Gliding to a stop on the landing pad I had build into the governor palace, I pushed through into my office where the five archmagi stood waiting for me. "You are either the luckiest lier ever born, or are chosen of the Omnissiah." Remon spoke up before any of the others did.
I stared at him and then the others, Irnimalver spoke up at my obvious confusion. "We investigated the ruins of your old world and found a cache of Golden Age relics exactly where you told us to look. The odds of such an occurrence are near zero."
"We found a particle lance STC, theories on spacetime, degraded alloys of the golden age and to cap it off a neural stimulation unit. Along with relics that are similar to what you presented us with in the noosphere. I am officially never going to bet against you, because clearly the Omnissiah finds it funny to make a mockery of chance." Sincratus interjected as he leaned on the wall, staring at me with ill disguised envy.
"We are here to extent an offer to work with us on investigating these relics, due to your apparent mastery of the principles behind their operation." Quirana interjected before anyone else could say anything, I simply lowered myself to the ground. "I will gladly work with you on elucidating the secrets of the technology in the relics you found."
The five of them had pleased expressions before retreating from my office as fast as possible.
For Turn 3:
The Debt Cap is currently 4x your native income: 280 in other words (reevaluating interest/debt system, until I figure it out 4x income is all you can over spend)
Atraxas Actions: 1 per category, 3 Personal Actions (personal actions can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to any other department)
Advisor Actions: 1 in their category
Nameria Actions: can undertake actions in Faith and Martial by dividing her highest bonus evenly, can not take more actions that would put her bonus below 1, rounds down
Private Army: Can undertake Martial Actions when on world with a bonus of 0
Shogi Native Extraction: 90
Shogi Exotic Extraction
Duralium: 5 per turn, 10 turns remaining (5 mined)
Shogi System Extraction: 0
Shogi Native Production: 500
Shogi System Production: 500
Shogi Trade (base resources): 0
Shogi Trade (refined resources): 400
Shogi Tithe: 250 per turn
Shogi Expenditures (Infrastructure): 300
Shogi Expenditures (Social Services): 0
Shogi Expenditures (Military Services): 100
Shogi Expenditures (Counter Intelligence): 0
Shogi Expenditures (Life support): 0
Shogi Stockpiles: 774/10k
Favor (Exatari): 2
Favor (Adeptus Mechanicus): 100
Blackmail (Yurael)
Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 0/100 +5 per turn, grows by 5 every 2 turns not managed (Managing effect lasts 6 turns) NULLED for the next 5 turns and set to 0 due to DAoT cache
Homeworld Mission: 3 missions. Mission 1: Send to the Homeworld a working Noosphere within 5 turns. Mission 2: Send to the Homeworld data on Imperial Computers within 2 turns. Mission 3: Send to the Homeworld data on Imperial Voidships within 3 turns
I found the augments that he had torn out of the Magos with rusty tools and by fingers arrayed in a loved display room behind windows of pure diamond with plaques denoting what precisely the ruined remains were once. After the body had been ravaged in this defilement, he had the still living Magos burned alive in promethium in front of a parade in the capital, proclaiming that this was to be the rightful punishment to any that broke his laws as commanded by the Emperor's Holy Will.
Even though I should not be surprised, but I was for I had learned much of the Imperium over the decades, the Arbites had collectively rebelled against his rule at that point with the church excommunicating him as a Heretic of the highest order at the same time. Not a single Department aligned with his insanity and a minor civil war began, between his private forces and the people of Shogi. The war from the records immediately turned upon him, with the Legio Orus siding against him and crushing his private army into dust within the first month of battle.
There was no drawn out battles, even the infrastructure of the world remained intact, but I could see why Urma had to do what she did. My predecessor did more than just shatter the economy, he had lost sight of all his responsibilities to the point of almost shattering the prestige of Shogi entirely. If he had been left alone, I have no doubt that Shogi would have fallen from its heights to a mundane world, from the top to one of the countless thousands.
With this information, it was easy enough to understand why Urma had hidden everything from me. My direct predecessor had used my same position to almost undo thousands of years of history all in the name of personal gratification. The breach in trust inherent to such a pattern of behavior would leave long scars in an Exatari, and the same is almost certainly true for a human.
I can feel the rage within my heart aching to recover the soul of the one that hd so succumbed to insanity to recover and interrogate for why they had betrayed all so gratuitously. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for him, human souls disintegrated post death. The crackling of frost coud be heard in every corner of the palace, as I walked through the halls that had once been host to such hedonistic activities.
Without a doubt, I would have to look more into giving aid to Urma for she had done an impossible job with what was at hand. The tithe was back to near original levels, and we had enough in the stockpile to slowly but surely recover if no disasters befall the world.
"Lord Atraxas, I see you have discovered the actions of your predecessor." I let myself lower towards the ground as I turn towards Urma, having heard the creak of her augments a few minutes ago. "You remind me of the one before Him, an idealistic individual if one with the skill to back up their foolishness." She said as she walked around the room, radiating disgust as she peered at the statues in disgust, "Shogi has had many planetary governors, many have been useless and many others have been visionaries. Yet, the world has been lucky to have had a relative paucity of the truly awful, but the Emperor tested the world with Him and I have hope in that we passed the test provided. Lord Atraxas, I hope in time that you will prove to be one of the better lords of this world."
"Shogi has suffered under my predecessor no doubt, and I promise to do my best to recreate what was lost before moving beyond to improve the world as a whole. I can not promise to never misstep nor to flounder or to make incorrect commands, but my principles shall remain steadfast." She can not know the truth, but my principles were forged through trials that would shatter almost all humans, I have lived for several millennia and stand firm. I reject the insanity surrounding me now and I will do so forevermore, never will I succumb to the lure of self gratification over my duties.
I might be an infiltrator for the Homeworld, but I am now a planetary governor of the Imperium. Until the day I am removed from my position, I will fulfill my duties to the best of my ability, anything less would be against the trinity and my principles. Already, I have plans for grand monuments to touch the sky and defenses for space in mind for the future, but the damage must be repaired such that the foundation is strong once more.
Urma turned towards the window facing out over the parade ground, where Harkar was forming the core of my private army. "Why create such a force for your own personal usage? There are few noble uses for such things; do you perhaps feel constrained by the laws of the world and wish to remake it in your image as your direct predecessor did once?" Her words were biting and true in the bulk of her point, there were in truth far too few noble uses for private armies the memories of the early times showed such clearly, but noble did not mean monstrous either.
"It is a simple way to provide a supplemental income source for Shogi and yes an army for use in actions that the bulk of our forces would be unsuited to handle. You should know, however, that while the chain of command grants me the sole authority to deploy them offworld, Commander Harkar has equal jurisdiction over them so long as they stay on Shogi."
With a sigh, Urma seemed to wilt as she left the room, leaving me alone with the relics of insanity, but thankfully I had a meeting to attend with the Mechanicus. With a thought I stored a reminder to have this purged from the palace once I had a moment to spare, but I made my way to the roof to take to the sky to fly to the meeting.
Ascending to the stratosphere reminded me of how there was a strange metallic particulate in the faint air at these heights. The material whatever it was did not obey typical gradient concentrations with the vast majority being closer to space than the ground, and as far as I knew there was no source of this material on the ground. It was for this reason that the Adeptus Mechancius had fought to control Shogi for centuries, due to their belief that it had been terraformed by ancient humans in a forgotten age.
I had doubts about the validity of that theory, but it was theoretically possible, we had alloys that inverted gravity afterall and I could not discount such things being invented by another race. Yet, the world bore little signs of being transformed in any other manner, I shook myself free of the musings as I angled myself towards the meeting place.
Others had told me that the Mechanicus had no sense of drama or theatrics, but building their meeting place into the heart of a dormant volcano said otherwise in my opinion. The Omnissiah Temple of Shogi was a vast construction of adamantine walls, raising high into the sky and below I knew, the great walls gilded slightly and the rest left unadorned save for a coat of black paint with red sigils of the cult mechancius upon the fortress. As I came in, I saw the golden metal for the first time as it flickered in the new dawn light, radiantly pure and even from here I knew that it was of an unknown metal.
The metal was of a curiosity, its spectral lines matched no alloy or metal I knew of and that made this trip worth it in and of itself. So many things could be made possible depending on what the properties of this metal were, but that would have to wait until after the meeting, for I was not the one in command, but the supplicant here. I had requested a meeting and the Mechancius had accepted my request, but that did not change the balance of power both martially and politically was against me here.
Arcing downward towards the open doors, I slowed my speed from my flight speed to a more sedate landing speed such that no anti air craft weapons would accidentally target me. I doubt anything would be able to penetrate my phase shields, but no one became a Forge Scholar by taking unneeded risks.
Following the information provided, I found myself landing on a platform made from the strange golden material. Its durability was beyond even that of the imperial adamantine by a significant margin, I could tell the moment I touched it and something about it called to me. It was no doubt that one of the issues of my job was the difficulty of securing the proper nutrients for my biology, but even if I could, steel and uranium were not particularly enjoyable meals when covered in lead for the latter or rock in the former. Adamantine was chewy and flavorless, making it extremely unpalatable and I had tested it and found that even though it did have viable biological uses in my body, it would act akin to a carcinogen to a human in the long term.
Yet, this metal, something deep within me wanted to dig into it and eat until I could not eat anymore. For the first time since I had celebrated my ascension to Forge Scholar by tasting the Primordial Metal, I felt true desire to consume a metal. It was a bizarre feeling, for it to come so quick, especially when I had thought I lost the interest in eating novel materials since that singular taste of the Primordial Metal. All metals were bland and somewhat lackluster since that day, but this called to me.
It was a truly mighty effort, but I held myself to a higher standard and resisted the urge if far less cleanly than I had wished. I would have to investigate this metal and determine just why this strange golden metal called to me in such a fashion.
The clatter of machinery against metal alerted me to the arrival of another person, standing over shadowed by the great doors, was a figure I recognized even if it has been two decades since the last time I saw her. The nameless tech adept that had risked her future to speak with me while nothing had been known stood in the doorway bearing augments that I recognized as derived from the designs I had left her.
"Lord Atraxas, follow me to the meeting, please ensure that you do not stray from me for the Omnissiah Temple can be confusing to those uninitiated." I could see that she was nervous and holding to formality as a defense against her nervousness. "There is no need for such formality here, I am the same person as the one that answered your questions a mere two decades ago." I said with a faint hum indicating my amusement in the only way possible for me, but I walked slowly aligning myself to her speed.
She fiddled with the augments that covered her limbs, I could tell from how they moved and laced across her body that they were more akin to armor than replacements. "But..you are the planetary governor and I badgered you for stupid questions. How can I act like nothing happened? You were far too kind to not seek retribution, let alone provide me with technology beyond my standard. I still haven't understood your designs, these crude systems the best I can make." Fear, anger, hope and depression warred for dominance in her voice as she scowled down at the floor as we passed many hallways and walked through cavernous forges.
"Seeking to understand what was given to you is only proper, never should one trust another unconditionally. Research the designs, discover the secrets within and move beyond what was given, become better than what I offered. That is the proper way of things, seek to create in all things and it should never lead you astray. To accept and never seek to understand would be failure indeed, but working to learn is a success instead." I answered, it diverted away from the bulk of her question, but it would give her pointers in how to try to appease me if she felt she had a reason to do so.
As she heard my last word, she seems to consider for a moment before nodding, "That's right... The Sixth Mystery of the Cult Mechanicus: Understanding is the True Path to Comprehension. Thank you for your help, Lord Atraxas. I hope some day I can do you a favor in return." The statement clearly relating to a tenet of her religion was interesting, but diverged from the sensible to the insensible. Comprehension alone would never suffice for a creator to achieve anything of note, I had known many hatchlings in my Forge Nexus that had understood all there was to know about a field of study and yet consistently miss the truth before them.
It would be difficult due to not knowing the other tenets, but it would be unthinkable to not offer my view of the world at hand. For only by expanding ones' mind did one become able to truly create new ideas and thus innovate upon new designs. "Perhaps, comprehension is a worthy goal no doubt, but is it all that there is to existence? One can comprehend, without understanding, one can understand, without knowing and one can know without action. Yet, would it not stand to reason that comprehension alone can not suffice for one that seeks to create above what was provided. Would not the greatest individual, be one that knows what they know and knows how to truly use that knowledge to leave their mark upon the world unique from all others?"
"Ah, I'm sorry, I've forgotten you aren't familiar with the Cult's teachings. Comprehension by our definition is an Intellect which encompasses all Knowledge. Omniscience is a similar concept you may know about. I'd recommend asking the Archmagi when you meet them. I don't think it would be polite to make them wait because a Tech Adept tried to explain our theology to you. Besides, they could do it better than me anyway." Her reply said much more than she probably intended, although the concept of omniscient was something we had long ago disregarded as incongruent with the principle of creation.
To know everything was to be incapable of acting with such knowledge, it would inevitably condemn the one that held the knowledge to inaction. To know all would render the art of creation impossible, and more than that it would render the intrinsic ability of a sapient mind to shape the world impossible. It would be the greatest curse to befall one possible to imagine, and it indicated that the Mechanicus suffered from rot of a different sort than I had expected.
"Very well, I can understand your wording better now. Yet, in turn for the information provided, I offer a simple question for you to ponder. What limits would befall one that knew all that there was to know? I wish to know what you make of this question, it has brought many insightful concepts to me over the decades. Do not give me an answer now, come to me when you feel that you have found your answer in truth." The question was one that was given to those that had joined the Forge Nexus, many times the young hatchlings fresh from childhood offered simplistic answers of anything or everything, but the wiser offered more detailed ones realizing some of the inherent limits that knowing all would present.
I had never given a human the question before and I would wait until the day she returned to me with an answer. I could tell that the question had made her somewhat uncomfortable, but some discomfort was required for growth, yet there was no gain in cruelty either. With an easy action I quickly sketched out her armor designs and detailed a few simplistic pathways to improve them. She would have to discover the methods behind the paths I offered, but in so doing it would expand her skills and encourage her mind to grow.
Eventually we came to a grand door, gilded with more of that strange metal that glinted so distractingly in the light of the plasma conduits that cover the celling. It was truly a grand door that would enter into the meeting room proper, "It was nice to meet you once again, Lord Atraxas, but I must take my leave now." The final words of my guide were almost whispered as the doors slide open, large enough to admit a Living Mausoleum in full.
The meeting room was truly massive with twenty five thrones of adamantine, gilded with a red metal that called to me all the same as the gold outside. As I peered closer I could tell that it was the same metal, only the color had been changed to that of the red worn by the tech priests I had met.
Of the twenty five thrones, only five had occupants and one of them was different from the others. I could feel his soul in the air, it pushed against the world and the world bent to its will. It was a sensation that normally I felt only around those of potent mental might, but his soul alone was enough to weigh upon the world in a manner akin to my own. Beyond such weight, the body was wrong to my perception, too many muscles stapled into a human form, bulging pockets of skin concealing unnatural organs and more. Yet, if a human looked upon him, they would see only a human of normal form.
The other four were similar to the other tech priests if with far cleaner and more sophisticated augments, otherwise they all looked more or less the same to my eyes.
"I believe that this means that I won our little bet, Quirana." The person that was a patchwork of flesh spoke up as I reached the center of the bottom of the amphitheater and noted that their thrones were above my eye level, a primitive intimidation method but one that could be effective.
"Humph, enjoy the extra servitor time Sincratus, for our next bet will go to me." One of the other spoke up as she leaned back in the throne, seeming to glare at the one that had spoken originally. "That is what you always say, but by my count the tally is ten to three in my favor, are you sure that your cybernetic calculation engines are not malfunctioning." If I could I would have blinked, for my experience with the other tech priests had shown that although not emotionless they tended to be very subdued unless extremely uncomfortable with a given situation.
"According to my calculations, it would be beneficial if Mentor Quirana and Archmagos Sincratus would engage in certain reproductive actions to reduce tension within the working environment." A figure from the side of Quirana spoke up, and it did not need the sense of an Exatari to note just how uncomfortable both of the two speakers had become at that statement.
"Really? I did not need to hear that and I doubt the Planetary Governor did either, when Mentor Quirana slated you for the title of hyper rationalist, you didn't have to eradicate your understanding of social cues, Archmagos Irnimalver." The other female spoke up now, clearly discomforted by her colleagues inelegant statement.
"To be fair, our overly rational colleague does have a point. Those two have been staring at each other for decades, frankly we should probably lock them into Magos Ebias' factory for a decade to see if that helps them. Even Magos Balkavus has figured out that something is going on between them and everyone knows that he is about as socially aware as an ork trying to woo an eldar." The as of yet unnamed male spoke next.
"That is true, but Mentor Quirana and Archmagos Sincratus do spend an awfully large amount of time together in their labs, how do we not know that they aren't linking together already. Perhaps we should test this possibility before we try to get them some privacy in a factory together, Archmagos Remon." The female I still didnt know responded and named her other male companion in the process.
"As amusing as this is to those with emotions, it would be prudent to transfer our attention over to Planetary Governor Atraxas, Archmagos Mirnier." The emotionless individual spoke up and for once I could welcome such blankness of thought for even if this wasn't embarrassing as it would be for a human, it was still irritating.
"Yes, lets please attend to the purpose of our being here instead of continuing upon this tangent that has no basis in fact." Archmagos Quirana spoke up next, her synthetic voice displaying undertones of embarrassment and from how the other three perked up, I could tell that they also heard it and didn't believe her denial.
"As much as this is a truly delightful conversation, and I would welcome to continue the discussion on if I and the truly lovely Quirana are in a relationship, it would be prudent to continue such behind closed doors. Although, Quirana my lab is always open for you and I have recently upgraded my personal noosphere net, if you wish to try it out." Sincratus spoke up next, his voice layering several emotions over his words in a manner impossible with unaltered human vocal systems, but clearly he was relishing the discomfort of his colleague, although it was entirely possible that they actually were in a relationship of some sort. I could not understand why the last words caused Quirana to fall back into her throne, seeming to wish to vanish from this place outright.
Yet, she gathered herself and shivered as she turned to look down upon me, "Planetary Governor Atraxas, please do not assume that we are all like these four. Your message only indicated that you sought to learn more of the cult mechannicus and to be given the secrets of the machine spirits. Normally, the latter would not be something one not of the cult could be given, but Magos Ebias has informed us of the manner in which the machine spirits reacted to your presence and as such we have decided to consider you one of us for this topic." Quirana continued as she seemed to beg the others to not drag the conversation back into the molasses of her relationship status.
I bowed to her and the others, "Yes, I seek to learn more about the machine spirits and the tenets of the cult mechancius. Before we get to those questions can I please know the name of the metal that was used to gilded the adamantine walls and furniture of this Omnissiah Temple?" It was a risk to be sure, but the metal called to me and I had a pressing need to know more about it than was reasonable.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas, the topic you seek information on is a maximum security topic, refrain from investigating it in the future." Irnimalver stated without inflection, but none of the others seemed to disagree with their statement and so I simply nodded as I knew there were other ways to gather the same information.
"Now, now, it was a reasonable question and there was no signage indicating that it was verboten information to seek. Regardless, Governor Atraxas, what are your questions regarding the Cult Mechanicus." Sincratus interjected staring down at Irnimalver before turning to me.
Crossing my legs and lowering my bulk slightly, I pondered what I sought from this meeting. I had learned more about the upper echelons already, I had thought them more akin to Ebias or Balkavus than not in terms of emotions than unaltered humans, but they seem to be more typical. The primary would be the tenets and doctrine of the religion indubitably, but their political standing would be something to confirm regardless.
"Archmagi, I seek to understand the core tenets and doctrine of the Cult Mechanicus, of tertiary importance is the political situation that exists surrounding the Adeptus Mechanicus, the second order topic I seek to understand is machine spirits. Those are the subjects I wish to be enlightened on."
As I give my request I could see the confusion or something similar to confusion form in the bodies of three of them, while Quirana and Remon both seem self satisfied. "Interesting, I had expected you to be of the cult but have left or a reason in the past seeking to return to our ranks after time apart, but it seems that my expectations proved incorrect here. Quirana I think this nulls the previous bet and makes the tally 10 to four in my favor." Sincratus stated as he leaned back into his throne, face betraying little of his inner thoughts, but he seemed uncomfortable about something.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas, before we can continue, we seek your indulgence for a time. We have been alerted to your ability to interface with machinery from Magos Ebias and would appreciate it if you would join us in the noosphere of this chamber" The sudden shift in tone and demeanor was obvious, in fact it was too obvious, it would alert the target no matter how clueless, but they all seemed to agree with the method.
Reaching out with my more nebulous methods of interfacing, I soon found the info web that they must be speaking of. It was a strange construction, laying between the layers of reality in a manner akin to where we labored upon the metaphysical particles. Yet, it was of a different directionality in a directionless location, and thrummed with information rather than weight. I froze for a moment as I pondered it, there was no possible way that it was that simple was it? We had been using the meta field of weight for millennia and had never looked outside of it, but surely we would have discovered a congruent field of information, yet it seemed to not be the case.
Interlacing my systems for ranged connection to the data web was tricky, the systems I used drew upon the significant weight of my existence to bend reality such that I could connect at range drawing from the presence of the ability to connect via my biology. Yet, this system relied on informational transfer and interaction, it was of a different base architecture from my normal systems and there were several thousand pitfalls I could tell from this basic understanding that I had.
However, I was a Forge Scholar and almost as important for this my soul was of far greater weight than a a normal human's and with a slight overcharge of my phase reactors and feeding the resulting surge of power into the phase connectors I wangled a connection. Information flooded my mind as I connected to the system and realized that it was the same place as I found previously in Ebias' factory with the machine spirit.
I could feel the data thrumming throughout this false plane, it was unique indeed. A world revealed itself to me, brining confusion. The five I had been speaking too were arrayed before me, yet they wore armor fashioned of dead Iron and Stone, gilded with the echoes of Gold, hammered together with the influence of Emotion and the weight of Code. Weapons crafted from Void and Death filled their hands, as blazing fires danced behind them wrought from Code.
So be it, if they though me easy prey to be slaughtered in this place they would be vastly mistaken. Rearing up I slammed my legs into the bedrock of information, writing into its bones the secrets of my technology as I flash forged my armaments of the past. Plates of gravity, time and void anchored with the Invoked Laws of durability and the Abyssal Law of Death covered my form as my weapons erupted from the ground of information, spears of annihilation forged in the primordial pools, tools that had seen the forging of countless atrocities in the past returning to my need for weapons, in moments I stood ready.
The five of them looked at each other then at me, although to be fair I was only half paying them any attention. My armor had been forged as a contest for durability, it might not win any contests for combative prowess, but it could easily absorb damage until the end of time, allowing me the far more interesting option to simply examine this strange place.
It was known that there was nothing within the meta field that we used for our technology beyond the meta particles that controlled everything. Through those particles we could use the power of the soul to reinvigorate the mind or body, restore youth, turn what was innate beyond the confines of the body, revive the recently dead if the soul had remained present, awaken the hidden power of the mind and more. Yet, it was only ever that, there was no realm of weight to be found, there was no grand meeting place to be had.
Nothing like this majestic place, information flowed without end, able to store near infinite data within even the smallest of the fractal webs that formed the bedrock of this place. It was in truth not a natural formation, but a technological creation from something deeper, reaching down into the deep point of this place, I could feel what I expected. A new Library awaited, it was beyond my reach, beyond my ability, but it was there and it had been used to craft this truly majestic device. "A truly majestic creation, just how did you manage to capture and isolate the informational meta particle Library to create a self sustaining fractal data storage and wireless transfer hub interwoven between the layers of reality?" My words broke the silence that had covered this place as the five of them looked at the other and then back to me.
I was confused again, oh right, I was a novice here not a Forge Scholar, asking such would be a major insult. "I apologize for the rudeness of my question and will work to understand your work fully before asking again." Turning back to studying the fractals of data. "Does anyone else feel very foolish right about now?" Sincratus asked as the code weapons faded from his hands, staring around at the other four with him. "Same here, I knew I should've laughed when you sent the warning to me." Remon muttered from his point on the end of the line and Irnimalver nodded faintly as they looked over towards me, and the other two shifted uncomfortably.
"I admit that it was a very impressive display of control over a particle Library, the five of you are clearly worthy of your titles from what I could tell. I admit that I am the inferior compared to you when it comes to the meta informational particles, but it should only take a century or two for me to unearth the Library of information. I hope that when I achieve that we can talk on the principles in open discourse." I shrugged as I let my armaments dissolve back into potential energy and carefully removed the traces of the designs from the info web. They were afterall xeno tech, and the five before me would be more than capable of finding the designs if I did not take care to remove them.
"But, if you just wanted to showcase your skills regarding the Library, there was no need for this whole display, you could have just projected them into reality after-all. Although, I do guess that being inside this informational existence would make it more visible in a manner that would be more representative of your true power." I continued as I carefully rebalanced the flows of information, along the principles I knew for the weight particles, there was afterall some over lap of course in nature.
It wouldn't be perfect but there might be a percent or two of improvement, a fair exchange I feel. Turning towards the five, I could only tell that all of them were staring at me like they had never seen me before, normally I never got uncomfortable, but this was strange enough to piece even my self confidence. "Why do I have the feeling that everyone here is extremely confused?"
"Ah, Planetary Governor Atraxas, could you explain where you learned how to manipulate the Noosphere in this way?" Sincratus asked as he watched what I was doing, hmm, the question of how to reply was intriguing.
I was a novice in this technology compared to them, did he want me to explain it as a hatchling or as a Forge Scholar. The difference in how to respond between the two was an interesting conundrum, the former would be expected to respond in depth, while the latter would be allowed to make use of summaries of details that would be known to the person asking.
Erring on the side of caution would be prudent, I was the supplicate here afterall, and this was their technology not mine. In this field they were the Forge Scholar and I was but the hatchling. But conversely, I could not explain everything due to my species, so how could I explain what was needed without running the risk of destroying my cover as a human.
I might not know that much of imperial politics, but I did know that the world I had been sent to infiltrate was similar to a Hive world, in that it had an extreme population with ruins scattered across it. Perhaps, I could make the case that I learned these principles from scattered remains of someone else's work, although that would be going against the honor of what it meant to be a Forge Scholar, it would be better to give an understandable story to them.
"My homeworld had several ancient ruins and I was an explorer in my youth, in one of them I found several data slates with theorems and designs for weapons and armor, along with what I now know to be a noosphere. It took me several decades, but I was eventually able to enter this smaller noosphere web and learn how to produce those designs in this place. The principles behind the designs was enough to inspire me to continue the work and create more refined devices using them, like the one that I made for Magos Ebias to ensure his survival."
"Atraxas, you expect us to believe that you found relics of the past that you could understand and expand upon within a matter of decades? The odds of such a feat would be near zero for a Fabricator General." Irnimalver interjected as they turned to stare at me with emotionless intent. They were the weirdest of the group, if not the strangest tech priest I had met, perhaps others would be intimidated by them, but I had known far more threatening individuals.
"I am willing to submit to tests of skill if that is required, if you have gotten reports from Magos Ebias you would be aware of my passing familiarity with plasma physics, which is in turn a subset of my more general expertise in particle and metaphysical principles. Although, I doubt any test would be valid if conducted in this noosphere even if it would make it pass by faster than in the normal plane." I shrugged with the reply, for it only makes sense to test one on their claims and I would ask for confirmation if a hatchling tried to claim that they had truly understood a subject matter.
Many tried to pass off phase shields as proof of their understanding, but they often failed to truly understand the principles behind the advancement of the designs. They could understand what they knew, but not how to move forward from that place and if the Mechanicus had anything akin to our methods, then this would fall into much the same situation.
"Atraxas, what fields do you claim mastery of?" Mirnier asked for once, breaking her silence at last. Gently crossing my legs I pondered on what to give, for I was not in fact truly aware of what was normal for a human to know, but if anything underselling would be in my best interest here. "Archmagos Mirnier, I would consider myself an expert in antimatter production and containment, force field physics, plasma physics, various forms of what I think would be classed as warp technology, vehicular design although in a divergent principle set, and gravitic technology."
The five of them peered up at me and then at each other again, "Uh, is that a joke? Seriously, are you joking because this is a serious question?" Remon erupted as he seemed to glare up at me, I crossed another pair of legs wondering what I accidentally did this time. Ah, right, they were archmagi of course, so only a handful of reasonably simplistic fields wouldnt be impressive to them at all. Afterall, any hatchling would be able to claim mastery of plasma, gravity and antimatter, it was unfortunate that I couldn't truly explain the mastery of phase technology I had.
What could I expand on that wouldn't break my cover, why did this have to be so confusing. I am working in the dark here, and I have no idea what is impressive to them. Wait, humans have limited lifespans on average, granted these five probably are immortal. If I examine things from what I think a human could do, I can begin to see the edges of their confusion. Perhaps, the issue wasn't underselling too much but not enough. Regardless, I can not retract the stated fields now, but I could dig for more clarity on the subject.
"I am unaware of anyone making light of the situation at hand. I gave an honest answer to the question of the fields I would consider myself a master in and that I would be willing to be tested on." The five of them just shook their heads before Quirana stepped forward. "Okay, before we answer any of your questions about our religion and political standing or history, we are going to give you tests regarding those fields. I hope that you can prove your words to be true and not false." She seemed overly tired for some reason, I could detect no energy flux from her systems though that would explain the sensation permeating this realm.
"Archmagos Quirana, are you fully energized I am noting a energy lull in your systems and was wondering if it was due to an unknown malfunction?" A groan filled the space as everyone just stared at me before with a wave of her hand the connection destabilized, releasing us back to the mundane plane.
To no longer be in a realm of information was a relief in some ways for no longer did I have to worry about being discovered due to letting secrets drift free of my mind and into the ethereal realm. However, even if I am discovered if I can get this information back to the Homeworld, it would be the greatest victory an infiltrator had ever achieved, surpassing even the one where Caxadaris managed to bring back a wrecked Imperator titan frame.
Such a view was in the long term self defeating if I measured against my colleagues for we all worked for the greater whole of the Homeworld and the Exatari, but this was something that had more connection to my field than that discovery. A new Meta Library would lead to a revolution in versatility, new theories could be made and new designs created and if there is another Library that we missed who could say if there were others that we did not know of. The very heart of Exatari technology is the Meta Library, but now a new chapter has been added, new particles to discover and master.
Such a wondrous event to find, yet it could all be for naught if I was discovered here and now. The archmagi conferred with each other before Irnimalver stepped forward, "In light of your statements we have chosen to test your self proclaimed skills. You will be provided with scrap metal and be expected to make passable designs in all five of the fields you claim mastery of. This metal will be of poor quality and you will have a singular week to produce an item. We will judge based on quality, use cases and novelty, Archmagos Mirnier will be your guide to the workplace set aside for you." Their statements were concise as expected, but seemed oddly simplistic due to having no limits on what I could do with my phase cybernetics.
As I followed Mirnier, I wondered if I should ensure that they were aware of my molecular forges, but it wouldn't truly matter since I would need to build some regardless afterall, so it would come out in the end.
Being a planetary governor was a time consuming job to be sure and breaks were few, of course I could handle the stress without issue, but it was nice to be able to indulge in more enjoyable pursuits from time to time. I do hope that the fact that I had to build a matter realignment forge wont count against me since I technically didn't use the materials provided to build the items that will be tested.
The workshop that I had spent the last seven days in was small compared to what I had back on the Homeworld, but it was more than sufficient, and in the center the forge stood as tall as I was at the apex of my legs and as wide as my diameter. It was not the best construction, but it would be more than sufficient to transmute a few hundred tons of scrap metal into high quality alloys per hour, with a bit of upgrading it could probably do a thousand or so tons per hour interval. Regardless, it was of little interest to why I was here.
I was not being tested on my mastery of molecular forging or alteration, but instead on antimatter containment and production, plasma, forcefields, gravity and vehicular design. I had chosen simple options to go with due to limited time and resources even with the forge, a basic antimatter reactor that would produce only a few hundred petawatts I think in human terms per hour with an integrated antimatter production system via particle spin inversion, nothing overly fancy to be seen. Antimatter was afterall a very basic power source and only useful in weapons of mass annihilation.
The plasma was different, I had already showcased a safe plasma rifle design, but that would just be copying my previous work. Instead of a rifle, I decided on a precision lance design, it would have a slow fire rate of one shot per minute roughly, but in turn it would have a range of nearly two kilometers and be able to core out most heavy armor I was aware of even at maximum range.
The forcefield was a simple electromagnetic repulsion field, it was extremely basic but would suffice for reflecting most incoming assaults for a time. It was the most overly primitive item I had to offer sadly, but I had to make do without using phase technology in its construction preventing it from being on par with my other designs. Even so it would serve as a potent defensive upgrade to unshielded vehicles and the smaller personal versions for the infantry as well.
The final was for two at once due to having no good idea for what to do for either alone. I knew enough of war to know that getting the soldiers to the front in numbers safety could be a monumental challenge and from what little I knew of imperial designs, I had little hope in sanity being present in them. Resulting in a vehicle that could transport five Exatari Warriors, or roughly one hundred humans in full armor with a significant cargo capacity. The armor was angled at the precise degrees to reduce impact the most and the alloy was specially formulated to disperse energetic impacts as much as possible. In addition to the armor was a micro fusion reactor to power the antigravity systems which enable true flight when at half maximum load and can hover slightly at maximum, along with a fragile shield.
It would hopefully be a reasonable upgrade for the imperial military if it got approved, but it was entirely possible that it was overly weak compared to the more standard designs that the Imperium must already use. Yet, there was no more time to build for I could hear the door sliding open as the five archmagi walked into the workshop and ground to a halt, before turning to each other and seeming to wilt.
"I give up, sense has gone out the airlock." Quirana raged as she looked around the room at the trinkets I had managed to cobble together in the week provided. "Did I underdeliver? Should I have kept the gravitic and vehicular items independently of each other for the test? I admit that this work is fairly crude and I only got it done by cobbling together a small molecular forge, which now that i think on it might have invalidated the test. Give me another week and I will do what I can with scrap metal without refinement if you desire a proper test of my abilities with poor quality supplies."
"Uh, Atraxas, we expected you to maybe have a single design document ready or at most have made a handful of parts for a single design. How did you manage this in such a short timeframe?" Sincratus stepped forward resting a hand on Quirana's shoulder as he peered at my designs.
"Ah, right I simply used some of the metal provided as feed stock for my integrated matter phase adjustors, which are well suited for small amounts of atomic rearrangement. From them I gathered enough metal to make a larger forge which you can see in the center of the room, with it I was able to quickly refine the materials provided from junk to passable alloys and above. Then I was able to use it to quickly flash forge the components I needed, it took longer to make the forge than it did to make the items in the end. Although, I am pretty sure that if you threw the things out of a spaceship the things would be consumed by reentry heat so that should be factored into my grade as a negative, a proper design should be able to survive nuclear detonations at close range."
"Atraxas, you stated that you learned your methods from notes left behind in ruins, are your standards derived from those notes?" Irnimalver asked a strange question, but it would be answered anyway, "Yes, the source of my understanding indicated that these were the bare acceptable standards for a passable engineer."
"Moving on from this insanity, Atraxas what did you somehow make for us to judge." Remon broke the sullen silence first as he seemed to be confused on where to look for the items. Assuming that there was no particular order that they wished to see the items in, but just the presence of them, I figured that I might as well start with the mundane and move to the complex.
"The first thing I have to offer is a plasma lance. A design intended for extreme range high priority targets, it has a thin beam width making it ineffective against infantry, but effective against armor up to what I believe would count as a heavy classification. However, I am not well versed in imperial alloys, so I based my calculations on penetration of ten centimeters of adamantine at maximum range. it has a fire rate of roughly once per minute due to the requirement to charge the capacitors and generate enough plasma to reach maximum range, it can fire once per ten seconds at the fastest fire rate possible for a range of only three hundred and thirty hundred meters approximately and scales almost linearly to the maximum of two kilometers. I am unsure of the penetration aspect when fired at below the designed fire rate, as I have not had time to test that aspect of the weapon system. However, I have designed several different versions of the weapon for different uses, I have made one that has no external connections but it weighs in at 40kg instead of the combined weight of 30kg for weapon and battery for the normal one, another design that removes the safety features I have installed which reduce the weight down to 20kg and finally a vehicle model that has increased range, rate of fire and penetration statistics due to being powered by a larger reactor core."
I explained as I brought forth the lance I made, it was a fairly bulky weapon but it was designed for the human physiological structure so it would be well balanced and able to be used even if it might require a tripod support.
As I put away the lance I noted that the five of them looked at each other before sighing once more as I brought out the antimatter reactor. It was a simple device in truth a few coils of superconductors to form the magnetic containment unit and a micro force field unit to contain the entire system. It would not be enough to handle the power in case of a failure, but it would reduce failure chance significantly.
"This is the smallest antimatter reactor I can build with the materials I aware that the imperium possesses. It should be sufficient to power a typical Manufactorum on Shogi without issue and would be self sustaining due to particle spin inverters linked into the system. Compared to the plasma lance it is a simplistic design and is fairly basic." The system was fairly small compared to me, but it towered over humans and would be a significant upgrade in power production but was also unthinkably dangerous to use. Antimatter had been used for only a short time before phase reactors were invented, because even though phase reactors had far less energy production in most cases they were infinite ceaseless power that was inherently unchanging.
The next item I brought out was the infantry armored vehicle, "This is my offering for both the vehicular design and gravitic technological mastery tests. It is an infantry transport vessel capable of orbital insertion due to its anti gravity drive systems and simple electromagnetic shielding both powered by a micro fusion reactor surrounded by several centimeters of adamantine and ceramite. The hull and armor of the design is formed from a forged alloy of adamantine and ceramite incorporating the positives of both substances on the atomic level and as can be seen the armor is shaped to further reduce kinetic impacts and energetic impacts to further increase durability. Unfortunately, its grav lift is only rated for half of a maximum load preventing it from being a viable orbital drop ship without upgrading the reactor."
"The final basic item is an electromagnetic shield similar to the one I built into the vehicle, but this one is overall stronger for its size and general power draw due to having variable scale. With its maximum size being approximately enough I expect for a machine gun nest to be covered, being roughly as durable as the one for the vehicle, while the smallest should be able to attenuate the impact of the plasma lance to a degree, but would require the operator to know the target and adjust the field to focused against the lance. I am unsure if the shield will push against people strong enough to prevent push through from happening, but metal compounds should be countered along with non phonetic or gravity energetic weapons."
I continue, moving from the vehicle to the shield I had made, the only thing of note was that it was able to be worn by a normal human, but that was nothing overly impressive. I was not entirely sure why personal shields seemed to be uncommon among humans, but the things were in truth not that hard to make, although perhaps the Imperium's shield technology was not electromagnetic in nature which could skew their systems.
Regardless of hypotheticals on the issue of shielding for the imperium, I had one final thing to showcase here. It was also the only thing of note for me as well and frankly it was an insult for me to have constructed such a crude design for use in this critical manner. Regardless, once I was free the design would be sent back to the Homeworld for improvement.
"This device measures the level of meta particles in the vicinity and maps them to graphs and identifies known forms. Unfortunately, I only know of a couple such particles and have installed the little I do know into the system beforehand. Currently it is reading a significant upswing in certain classes of unknown particles that I believe are related to the presence of the Noosphere web in this temple."
"Is he serious?" Remon asked the others in an audible fashion, "Archmagos Remon, why would I not be serious?" I ensured the proper amount of confusion would lace my tone as I asked for this was a fairly critical point, if they didnt consider me skilled enough I would not be allowed to learn their secrets, maybe I should have showed a bit more of my skills.
"The majority of the adeptus mechancius could not produce an antimatter reactor, provided a significant fraction of a planetary budget. The number expected would be closer to less than one hundred in the entire imperium that could build a stable reactor of that scale." Irnimalver reported, in an almost sullen voice as he stared at the reactor humming against the wall.
Then the words reached me and I processed them, oh by the Witness I truly screwed this over didn't I. The glint of the strange metal almost distracted me for a moment before I shook away the minor distraction trying to figure out damage control. "Archmagos Irnimalver understates the impossibility of your actions. You made an antimatter reactor that is self sustaining, a novel plasma weapon although admittedly there are several million archmagi that could design a comparable system, a personal shield that is closer to xenotech than that of imperial standards, an entirely novel system using principles I am pretty sure only the Ommnissiah knew of, a new infantry armored vehicle for rapid orbital insertions via an antigravity drive, and to cap it all off to build this all you made a molecular forge capable of bulk matter reforging. I would go as far as to say that there might be a grand total of less than twenty humans in the galaxy that could achieve comparable feats in the time given." Sincratus interrupted as he dryly spoke his indictment of my failure to understand anything of the situation. What a shameful event this was, I should have ensured that I knew more than I had going into this, but I had clearly assigned too many Exatari values to them.
Damage control was needed immediately, and I knew enough to be able to maybe weave something together, but considering this massive disaster that I had made for myself, it was not certain by any means anymore.
"I was never part of the Adeptus Mechanicus as you are aware and my only information to use came from the data that I discovered in the ruins during my youth. The records indicated that it was expected for a prospective engineer to know at minimum three fields to a level of mastery and a potential senior engineer to have a mastery in at minimum ten fields. I based my view of the adeptus mechancius on this assumption that appears to have been in error from the foundational level. I had desired to join your organization, but due to my belief that to join one needed mastery of several fields I never felt comfortable asking for admittance."
This was entirely nonsensical on the face of it, but maybe the insanity of the imperium was contagious and they would fall for it or at least give me enough leeway to gain the answers I sought from this meeting in the first place.
The five of them stared at me and then at each other again, "Atraxas, please describe these data storage units." Remon broke the silence, and I froze once more. Why in the whole of creation were they actually listening to my rambling nonsensical damage control. Regardless this was a great opportunity to maybe get myself free from this pit I had accidentally dug for myself.
"They were a group of several cubes about a meter on each side, with holographic lettering showing up when I touched them. It took me a few days to figure out how to make the letters shift, but after that it was fairly intuitive to navigate the systems. I think the greater system was broken, the units had been left undisturbed for several centuries before I found them at the very least, but after a few months I was able to get them to show videos of engineering and physics, past that point it was fairly easy to learn more from them. Unfortunately, they ended up dying on my several years past that point and I could no longer access them."
A barren description inline with what I think a human would or could provide from something that had occurred decades ago, a distinctly different design from the Imperium due to the Imperium clearly not having this kind of technology as standard fare. Hopefully it would be enough to make my statements slightly less insane sounding.
"Atraxas, could you provide your homeworld to us? We have interest to inquire about these ruins you have mentioned." I wish I could blink for this should not be going this well, they should be trying to figure out my lies and discovering I am a xeno. Not just accepting my words as a possibility, sure there are or were ancient ruins on that world, but they were picked clean and I checked. But, in the end I transferred over the data to Remon who in turn handed it over to Mirnier.
"Ok, now that this madness is over can we please just do what we were meant to have done seven days ago." Quirana groused as she just walked around the room glaring at the devices I had built, at least before Sincratus put a hand on her shoulder seemingly calming her down.
"That would be appreciated." I bow as I speak to her, as with a huff she lead the way from the temporary workshop, "I am unsure how the Adeptus Mechanicus handles ownership of designs, but nothing I have built in these last seven days is important to me and as such I offer the designs to be used as the Adeptus Mechanicus sees fit." My statement caused our procession to stutter for a moment before Sincratus looked towards me, "Is that because nothing in there reaches your approval or because you are trying to bribe us?"
I vibrate as I ponder the answer before turning to truth, "A mixture of both, I could easily produce better designs with a dedicated timeslot for such work, but if it improves our relationship I consider it an easy cost to pay." All of them shook their heads for a moment before seeming to just give up on the matter as we eventually reached the meeting hall we had met for the first time in.
Back in the original setting, I settled onto the floor resting my body after several days of nonstop action. I might not need sleep or rest like a human, but my form can become strained in a similar manner and there were few places in the Imperium that could fit my bulk comfortably.
"Atraxas, you came to us to learn more about the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Cult Mechanicus. It is clear that there is no technological test we can present that you will have a non plausible chance of solving due to your shown abilities, as such we will dispense with the restrictions initiates are typically subject too. Mentor Quirana will be our primary voice for this discussion, however Archmago Sincratus will lend support or clarification when needed." Irnimalver opened the meeting as everyone took their throne and I began to codify my questions, I had learned some but not enough from my misadventures through this week and I would need to ensure that this would never happen again.
"Archmagos Quirana, what is required for one to be initiated into the Adeptus Mechanicus and then become a Magos and Archmagos later on?" This question was fairly neutral, it had little direct pressure on the religious side of things and it would fit with my cover story of desiring admission but being too unconfident in my skills to make the cut.
"I will take this question if you don't mind, Quirana." Sincratus interjected, "Not at all, you would be able to explain this topic better than I could." Quirana answered as she leaned back in her throne and attention shifted to Sincratus from her.
"A person can become an initiate through several means, but the reason I took this question is because I was born outside the Mechanicus but was seen as a valuable mind and inducted at an young age. There is no overall standards for admittance, but there is a standard for progression and for one to remain as a Tech Adept. One becomes a Magos when one can showcase sufficient skill in a given field of study and religious understanding, and an Archmagos is simply an evolution of what it means to be a magos. I am an Archmagos of the Genetor branch due to having a skill surpassing most of my peers in the field of xenobiology. In short, even as a child if you had even a fraction of your current skills the Mechanicus would have welcomed you into our ranks."
He finished and everything made sense at last, I had oversold my ablities from the start, not a single time had I managed to make myself seem reasonable. I claimed mastery of several fields of which at least one seemed to be complex in the minds of the archmagi.
Turning back to Quirana, I considered how to state this question before deciding that it was simply best to ask it bluntly and completely, "What are the tenets of the Cult Mechanicus? I am aware that it involves something called the Omnissiah, but beyond that I am in the dark."
The five of them hissed at my words before Quirana leaned forward adopting a pose conveying thought. "Normally, the tenets are taught over a course of years to decades to ensure proper understanding, but such is not possible in this situation. In light of this I will explain the sixteen universal laws, the principles of tech heresy. Let us begin with the principles of tech heresy, you should be familiar with the term from that particularly annoying gnat of a magos that you have as an advisor.
In practice, it is heretical for innovation to be committed by non trusted individuals and a harsh punishment must be levied upon those that commit this sin. However, there are some fields more heretical than others, primarily the debasement of the human genome..."A cough came from Sincratus and Quirana glared at him before continuing, "the construction of a silica animus and studying the warp. There are individuals that have been given permission to study and investigate genetic engineering on humanity and studying the warp but the silica animus can never be allowed to exist. Your designs showcased today and in front of Magos Ebias are examples of potential tech heresy, but the innovation appears to simply be in the usage of known principles. However, consider future actions to be subject to greater scrutiny on this matter." She fell silent for a moment as if pondering something.
"Now moving to the Universal Laws, there are sixteen of them and they each inform an aspect of the Cult Mechanicus. The laws are in order for the first to sixteenth:
1. Life is Directed Motion
2. The Spirit is the Spark of Life
3. Sentience is the ability to learn the Value of Knowledge
4. Intellect is the Understanding of Knowledge
5. Sentience is the Basest Form of Intellect
6. Understanding is the True Path to Comprehension.
7. Comprehension is the Key to all Things
8. The Omnissiah knows All, comprehends All
9. The Alien Mechanism is a Perversion of the True Path
10. The Soul is the Conscience of Sentience
11. A Soul can be bestowed only by the Omnissiah
12. The Soulless Sentience is the Enemy of All
13. The Knowledge of the Ancients stands Beyond Question
14. The Machine Spirit guards the Knowledge of the Ancients
15. Flesh is Fallible, but Ritual Honors the Machine Spirit
16. To Break with Ritual is to Break with Faith.
These are the universal laws that we recognize as the guiding principles of our lives in the cult Mechanicus. Explaining my personal view of the laws and their impact would not be useful at the moment, but due to your unusual circumstances I am willing to discuss more on the theology behind the laws now if you consider it to be of importance." As Quirana fell silent after listing the laws, I was somewhat confused by them for they bore a distinct resemblance to some of the tenets that we had among the Forge Scholars, of course there were major differences, but the first four laws had a sizable amount of overlap with the principle of the trinity and creation.
Although the seventh and eighth law were incredibly distasteful due to their glorification of omniscience and when those were mentioned I was unable to hide my loathing as well as I should have. The others I can understand, with the possible exception of the ninth, and the last two laws.
The ninth is strange, because there is no inherent difference between species technology barring the inherent neurological differences that shape the final form and what is prioritized. Human technology is perfectly understandable to us as proven by our break down of various samples and from them gathering more knowledge on the workings of the universe, and I had no reason to assume that this would be different for humans.
The last two laws were strange on the other hand, I could understand the inherent implication to carefully repeat actions, but at the same time they halted the growth of knowledge and the ability to create. "Archmagos Quirana, could you explain more of the ninth, fifteenth and sixteenth laws? I understand part of them, but the deeper secrets fail to resonate." Unlike most cases I had no need to artificially influence my tone for this question for the confusion was self evident.
"Easily, the ninth law simply states that the technology of the xeno is a perversion of the true path because it is not sourced from humanity." She glared at Irnimalver for a moment seeming to dare them to say something before turning back to me, "Let me expand on that, its the law that is most often ignored of the warning and prohibition laws. For most cases its a law that is more impactful for the magos and the tech adept than one that we as archmagi observe in full. Everyone barring the blind, understand that xenotech is part of the Omnissiah and as such is part of our preview, along with the understanding that even though xenotech is a perversion it is a perversion of the Omnissiah's designs.
As for the fifteenth and sixteenth, they revolve more around the acknowledgment that the ancients innovated to reach their point, but we do not have their skills and understanding so we must use rituals to understand the relics that are left from them and to diverge from the known rituals can lead to catastrophe and only those that are more metal than flesh may be trusted to innovate on their own initiative and judgment." I nodded along to her statements, for they were more reasonable than I had expected and made sense with what I had come to understand of the Mechanicus from this misadventure.
With my understanding of their religion improved, the other side of the coin was important to explore to ensure I would not produce a near disaster with ignorance of it. "Archmagos Quirana, could you provide an overview of the history of the Adeptus Mechanicus along with your position within the Imperium?"
The five of them seemed to shift strangely in their seat before Mirnier leaned forward, "I apologize, Mentor Quirana, but this is one of my expertises." Her seriousness of the topic was concerning for with Remon she had been one of the more laidback of the five individuals. I noted that Quirana seemed to want to ask something but decide against it before nodding her consent to the change in speaker.
"Our history begins before the Imperium had even left its cradle guided by the incarnation of the Omnissiah. During the great disaster that brought low the Ancients, the Mechanicus formed on Holy Mars and we sent grand fleets out across the stars to build civilization anew in the image of Mars, these became the Forge Worlds that dot the galaxy today.
For thousands of years, Mars was alone in the solar system fending off attacks from hostile forces and recovering technology on Terra from the perversions of techno-barbarians and worse. Perhaps some of our groups were overly zealous in their pursuit of technology, but to leave it to rot in the hands of the fools that ruled at the time would have been unthinkable.
Then the galaxy began to clear of impediments to expansion once more and more fleets were sent forth to found new Forge Worlds in the name of the Omnissiah and on Terra a warlord of a different stripe emerged. At the time we gave it little thought, but within a matter of centuries Terra was unified under the banner of the Imperium and soon Luna followed suit. Then He descended upon Mars and the weapons of the Ancients bowed before him recognizing him as the Omnissiah's living avatar and the last of the Ancients to walk the galaxy.
Soon thereafter the Treaty of Mars was struck by the Fabricator General and the Omnissiah's Avatar, binding us of the Mechanicus to the side of the Imperium for all of eternity. For two centuries did our alliance stand firm, but in the heresy that sparked the civil war we were not exempt from the horrors as tech adepts to even venerable archmagos turned on the Omnissiah and took up arms against the rightful lord.
For a century the ultimate war raged on as Mars almost fell for the singular time, but the Fabricator General in the end gave his life to expunge the contamination from its holy surface and as the Omnissiah's Avatar fell in battle to be forever entombed we stood with our allies once more.
Millennia have passed and heretics have tried to break the Treaty and yet by the grace of the Omnissiah their efforts have failed without exception and we stand ever vigilant against such threats to our alliance. Yet at the same time, we never forget that we are apart from the Imperium, we are not the Imperium for we are an Ally to the Imperium and that is what we shall forever remain."
With my understanding of their religion improved, the other side of the coin was important to explore to ensure I would not produce a near disaster with ignorance of it. "Archmagos Quirana, could you provide an overview of the history of the Adeptus Mechanicus along with your position within the Imperium?"
The five of them seemed to shift strangely in their seat before Mirnier leaned forward, "I apologize, Mentor Quirana, but this is one of my expertises." Her seriousness of the topic was concerning for with Remon she had been one of the more laidback of the five individuals. I noted that Quirana seemed to want to ask something but decide against it before nodding her consent to the change in speaker.
"Our history begins before the Imperium had even left its cradle guided by the incarnation of the Omnissiah. During the great disaster that brought low the Ancients, the Mechanicus formed on Holy Mars and we sent grand fleets out across the stars to build civilization anew in the image of Mars, these became the Forge Worlds that dot the galaxy today.
For thousands of years, Mars was alone in the solar system fending off attacks from hostile forces and recovering technology on Terra from the perversions of techno-barbarians and worse. Perhaps some of our groups were overly zealous in their pursuit of technology, but to leave it to rot in the hands of the fools that ruled at the time would have been unthinkable.
Then the galaxy began to clear of impediments to expansion once more and more fleets were sent forth to found new Forge Worlds in the name of the Omnissiah and on Terra a warlord of a different stripe emerged. At the time we gave it little thought, but within a matter of centuries Terra was unified under the banner of the Imperium and soon Luna followed suit. Then He descended upon Mars and the weapons of the Ancients bowed before him recognizing him as the Omnissiah's living avatar and the last of the Ancients to walk the galaxy.
Soon thereafter the Treaty of Mars was struck by the Fabricator General and the Omnissiah's Avatar, binding us of the Mechanicus to the side of the Imperium for all of eternity. For two centuries did our alliance stand firm, but in the heresy that sparked the civil war we were not exempt from the horrors as tech adepts to even venerable archmagos turned on the Omnissiah and took up arms against the rightful lord.
For a century the ultimate war raged on as Mars almost fell for the singular time, but the Fabricator General in the end gave his life to expunge the contamination from its holy surface and as the Omnissiah's Avatar fell in battle to be forever entombed we stood with our allies once more.
Millennia have passed and heretics have tried to break the Treaty and yet by the grace of the Omnissiah their efforts have failed without exception and we stand ever vigilant against such threats to our alliance. Yet at the same time, we never forget that we are apart from the Imperium, we are not the Imperium for we are an Ally to the Imperium and that is what we shall forever remain."
It was clear that it was not the entire history, but that would have been unreasonable to expect in this context and it would give enough to go on for the major points until I could get a more detailed view overtime. Within the decade I would be fully versed in the history since this was only the start of the project to learn all that I could on the matter.
Yet, I eased myself up to my full height as I nodded towards the five of them,"I appreciate the time you have invested in ensuring that I understand the basics of the Adeptus Mechanicus and shall take my leave for now." I bow once more and leave through the doors I entered through seven days ago.
It was quite for a change in this Omnissiah Temple and now that I knew more of the truth, I found that I could no longer truly appreciate its majesty. A monument to the ideal of omniscience was something that I could not tolerate personally, but I would have to hold my true feelings close to my heart least they discover the truth of my nature. But if I could, I would tear this defilement against creation down and raise in its place a Forge Nexus in all its glory.
Perhaps, they did not truly understand the horror inherent to such a state of being, but I could not inform them of the mistake for it is part of their religion, and that is something I could never touch. It was a miserable journey through the grand halls of this temple, if only it had been raised in worship of a different force than I could have easily appreciated the wondrous technology on display, but the taint was everywhere. I could see prayers to knowledge and comprehension on the noosphere wrapping around all within, I could hear rituals being conducted without understanding and more.
I had made plans in the first decade to build a place for innovation, but they have become more critical now that I know the truth. I will rise a Forge Nexus to bring the principles of Creation to Shogi to balance out the horror of this temple and usher in a new age.
Yet, as I took to the sky above as my systems divested me of the bonds of gravity I could only feel pity in my heart for those that labored under the delusion of the glory of omniscience. There had been a point where we had sought it fervently as well, its a truly tantalizing dream for anyone that prizes knowledge and understanding for what is a better culmination of such a path than to know all that could ever be.
Yet, in that lies the trap, and what hides much like a parasite within the flesh. True omniscience was a horror few things could compare too, yet practical omniscient remains as our goal. One need not suffer the fate prescribed by true omniscience to gain the same level of knowledge. There are a manifold of ways to gather Information from the past and future and present, it is but a matter of time before such measures grow in scale to illuminate all of history to one that puts forth the effort.
The future however, is veiled there is never a truly perfect prediction and thus it forces even the greatest of technological means and other methods to view through the lens of possibility and thus negate the risk of true omniscience. In the end the point of destination is similar but infinitely different and as my rage cools I feel only pity for the Adeptus Mechanicus.
However, I have other duties to attend to for now and such will consume much of my time for most of the decade before my meeting with Nameria and Balkavus regarding the Imperial Cult and the history of my world respectively. Later on I will have to check in with Urma on the expansion of the mines and Harkar for the progress of my personal army.
Right now, my focus is needed on the more pressing diplomatic issues at hand, I had scheduled a meeting with the Mining Worlds within close proximity to Shogi to hopefully fill the massive hole in the budget with their resources, unfortunately I am unsure of what I can use to pay them at this moment in time.
It was a large procession of diplomates that arrived, nine individuals walked through my door into the conference room I had set aside for this meeting. Five of the number were clearly wealthier than the others with crispier robes and embroidered gold filigree as typical of the wealthy in the Imperium. Yet, one of them wore a prismatical chocker of some sort of gleaming stone that tugged at my mind in the same fashion as the gold in the Omnissiah Temple did, but without the stress of a much more dangerous meeting I could push it out of mind.
The other four wore small links of odd metals that clearly were to show their planet's wealth, instead of the more self orientated design of the one with the strange stone. A difference of intent, these were metals to be sold and offered, while the stone was simply to be known and considered but not offered to others.
"It seems that the so called wealthiest person in the sector has finally come crawling to us for resources. Well, I can tell you right now Planetary Governor that the Mining World Valvadus will only supply resources if you promise in perpetuity the complete transfer of the orbital shipyards to our control and meaningful assistance in reclassifying Valvadus as a Forge World outside of the Mechanicus' control. Only with that will we consider providing Shogi with roughly five standard units of resources per century. This is our offer, and you will take it or we will blackball you from other sources." The man wearing the choker dictated and I could only barely hold in my laughter at his demands, not even Terra or Mars could make a world accept such a lopsided offer and he thought a mining world could force such a thing through? "It is clear that the Mining World Valvadus has an irreconcilable difference of view and as such I would like you to leave this meeting as I can promise that your deal will not be accepted."
I wanted to say more, but I needed to be polite even in the face of such insanity. "Typical noble, you think that I listen to you. No, you will sign this deal now or I will leave and Valvadus will declare war on Shogi and the entire sector will force you to capitulate to our demands. We are the primary world that fuels the forge worlds, the Adeptus Mechanicus will fight along side us, the astartes chapters will follow our commands, and you will be skewered and excommunicated for heresy. Of course this can all be avoided if you simply sign this agreement wherein we will graciously allow Shogi to remain as a backwater world compared to our rising star in His Imperium."
I stared down at the man and then over at the other emissaries and I could see confusion coloring them all, there was no sense of unity with these proclamations from the others in my room and the mere fact that we were in my room gave the lie to their claims. "Shogi has recently suffered economic downturns and issues with resource gathering since the loss of Nouria, but we have not fallen so far as to be incapable of fighting against a mining world and the world retains its classification as a Fortress Forge. The Imperial Navy and the Adeptus Mechanicus will not support Valvadus in a war against Shogi, I can promise that." My tone was civil but it was also firm and I could feel my soul beginning to rage under my control as my emotions began to be roused, which was concerning, emotional instability was rare for us and when it did happen it was a rare event to be watched with concern, but it has been occurring with far more regularity since I found myself in this job.
I would need to ensure that my emotional state was not overly compromising my abilities to act in a rational manner, but for now I had a human that had just gained the title of the most insane human I had ever met. "We know that your economic downturn can not be stopped and as such we are offering to take the issue off of your hands. Is it not better to surrender what is costing you everything than to try to recover?"
"Shogi is not so far lost as to be incapable of recovery, it is for that reason that I called this meeting. However, I will be extending a hand to the Astartes regarding your conduct and your statements that you commend their forces once this meeting is completed. However, you will not be present, I asked you to leave, but now I hereby ban you and Valvadus from this meeting." I spoke as I opened the door with a button and a contingent of guards filed into the room and somewhat gleefully dragged the emissary out. "Do not harm him, we do not need such problems, simply remove him from the palace and back to his transport." I ordered as they left the room with the door sealing behind them.
Two more individuals stood up from their chairs and marched out of the room, apparently deciding that their orders or planets were not going to find any success with me in charge. "Ah, what a wonderful sight those assholes getting what they deserve finally. Those three worlds are part of an unofficial alliance trying to become subsector, sector and segementum capital respectively and have tried to bully every other world into line. Shogi has always been one of the few worlds that just laughed them away, but your predecessor was funding their ambitions so they got overly bold from that." A woman wearing cuff links of a rare metal smirked as she saw them leaving and her voice left no confusion to her true feelings regarding them.
"How much truth was there to his statements of influence?" She shrugged, "More than you would think, but far less than what they implied. They have some draw on the Mechanicus by providing rare metals in bulk, but not much draw on any of the major chapters, I think they might have bought the loyalty of some of the minor chapters in this sector, but that is currently unconfirmed." The others nodded with her, but none of them offered any more information unfortunately.
"I apologize for this breach of normality, but they were correct in stating that Shogi is currently suffering from an economic downturn brought about from a lack of basic resources. As such, I can not provide the typical trade goods for trade deals, instead I can only reasonably offer access to the currently unused production capacity of Shogi. Any of your worlds that will only consider trading for direct trade goods, I am unfortunately unable to enact a trade route with you currently due to these issues." I stated the situation clearly to head off long term negotiations only for the issue to become apparent halfway through and causing a possible downturn in relations between the mining world and Shogi.
Three of the remaining six stood up from their chairs, one of whom was clearly enraged by my statements and stormed out of the chamber without speaking. The other two fidgeted for a moment before the woman bowed, "Planetary Governor, I thank you for your candor regarding the present situation on your world, and will inform my governor of your forthrightness on this topic. However, I apologize for Konkolla is currently unable to make use of such access and as such I am afraid that I must decline your offer forthwith." She stated clearly and calmly, earning her some of my respect compared to the others that had acted so insecure and filled with unwarranted arrogance.
As she left the conference room, the man that had stood with her stepped forward now, "Lord Atraxas, I must apologize for Sidao is similarly unable to make use of production capacity as a viable trade avenue. Once you have trade goods to send, do not hesitate to contact us for we always desire new trade lines to assist all under His aegis." He bowed once more and then strode to the exit and nodded to the guards as he left, leaving only three remaining.
The door slide open as one of the guards stepped in, "My Lord, four ships bearing the heraldry of mining worlds have arrived in orbit claiming they are carrying emissaries for the trade meeting." The other emissaries frowned slightly as they heard the news of more competitors showing up. I was in a quandary since the primary issue had been raised for the emissaries here but not for those in the ships.
"Guard, send a transmission to the ships detailing the impossibility of using trade goods as a deal and instead only the loan of production capacity will be considered by Shogi currently." With a salute the guard left to send the message to the ships before they landed and it became harder for them to return to their worlds if they were unable to make use of the offered trade.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, but I am calling a recess for four hours local time to enable all individuals to reach the meeting once it restarts." I bowed to them as I spoke the call for recess and the doors slide open allowing them to leave and seek refreshments if they so wished. The three individuals that had remained were clearly unhappy but accepted the order grudgingly.
As the meeting rejoined, the newcomers smiled towards me before one of them bowed, "We thank you for allowing us admittance to this meeting, your predecessor had unofficially banned us from accessing the markets of Shogi. We are aware of the limitations that you are operating under and have chosen to present our offers reformulated for the circumstances." He bowed before sitting back down and the other three scowled slightly towards him, but I rose up to a fraction of my full height towering over them.
"I am glad to hear that you are willing to work with me for our mutual benefit. Now, I will fully outline what I am able to offer and prepared to offer in totality. First and foremost,I am unable to offer trade goods or Thrones for services rendered, my predecessor has drained the treasury dry and the loss of Nouria has seen the collapse of our native service economy. However, the manufacturing capacity of Shogi has thus far not been adversely afflicted and I am willing to sign a lease of individual manufactorums for unrefined ore in exchange. Furthermore, I will negate any tariffs and taxes that would apply to the production of extrasolar goods within the contracted facilities." I said as I brought out a holographic display showing various graphs and a world map with several locations highlighted, marking it with further notations as I spoke giving more information than they would need probably, but would ensure that there was no misunderstanding at hand.
The seven humans thought on the matter and then one by one they gave their first offers and the negotiations began in truth. They would not go fast, but that is fine, I had time enough to spend on this matter to ensure that the deal was balance for both sides. There was no reason to create unneeded resentment within the sector for I might well be living here for centuries or millennia to come and such would only make my life ever more tiresome and dangerous.
It was to my benefit that none of the worlds barring two were particularly wealthy, allowing me to make trades well in my favor but still more than reasonable for the other side. It would not impact Shogi notably, and might even run the chance of allowing the world to store up basic resources prior to the end of the deals to be made.
As the negotiations ended and the emissaries returned to their worlds after gaining approval of the deal via the astropath coven on Shogi, I found a burden removed for now Shogi was no longer on the verge of total economic collapse.
As the emissaries left and the trade was secured, another weight upon my form as the ruler of this world was relieved. I might not be human, but duty can not be hidden from, one must do their all for the task set before them. When eternity stretches forth, laziness and boredom become the ever present dangers of life, so many hatchlings have succumbed to the corruption of the pair vices of destruction. In the end, only those that have proven their willpower can hold firm against the dangling lure of relaxation are allowed to become our commanders and those that are given the respect of the Homeworld.
As such, for me to not give my all for the people of this world without regard for their origin would be to bring shame to myself that millennia would not wipe away. I look outward over the capital city of the world and wonder once more how humans find this sight pleasant to look upon. Massive spires reach into the sky of brutal metal and ostentatious wealth, yet below the spires countless millions of depilated buildings of stone and wood linger in the shadows.
The Imperium was unbalanced, I had always known such, but my new position has only expanded the view I could possess on the subject. The menials that labored without end had nothing while those that worked naught had everything, I had enough information to conclude that I could easily have gored myself on the remaining wealth of Shogi with little push back provided I constrained myself to a limit below that of my predecessor. I knew that across the world two more mining sites were being started, one under my auspices and one under Urma's, mine would be ran the same as my last one, yet only more so.
Hatchlings would be banned from working entirely except ones over the age of thirteen and desire to do simple jobs such as messaging and marking duties, the menials would be provided a living wage for their work and overtime bonuses in the form of labor waivers or extra payment on their choice, and the hatchlings below the age of allowed labor would be taught simple mathematics and literacy by the tech priests on site. In the end, my site will not be the place for cruelty nor exploitation, I refuse to allow such measures to interfere with my plans.
I knew that Urma would not use my system and that she would rely on the standard of the Imperium, but she was untouchable for me as of yet and her methods were the approved form. I simply would do all that I could with my command over the building site, to ensure that the workers under my command would be treated well and have a future possibly secured beyond their current lot in life.
Turning away from the window, I checked over the samples from the mining sites and noted that there was a rare element in Urma's site that would be useful for trading and native production from her notes on its discovery. Duralium as the Imperium understood the metal was useful in powering ships and repairing ships as well, for all the ingenuity that humans showed in making metals and alloys, sometimes they missed the truly obvious. We might not know the material by the same name, but it was a common material in the Homeworld's oceans and was regularly used to provide its true value to alloys.
In short Duralium was a meta energetic metalloid which depending on its refining process can be turned into either a near perfect insulator or a superconductor. However, the process that the Imperium would more than likely be restricted too was unable to cause the refined product to express the superconducting aspects of the material.
Having a natural supply of the material would enable some of my projects to be completed significantly easier and faster than I had anticipated. Of course a Meta Forge would give the same value infinitely instead of being restricted to the mundanities of mining supply and economic considerations, but that is far from my ability to manage as of yet.
The first thing would be the Awakening Core to even begin progressing towards a Meta Forge, and then I would need to either find a natural wellspring or find a person with enough metaphysical significance to power the Forge and provide the needed particle density to be warped into matter of the desired form. I am unsure, but the Titans might be sufficient for the latter aspect, but the sheer cost of building a Meta Forge without access to the alloys typically used in the construction of the design will probably become the limiting factor compared to the situation with being able to properly power it.
Same for what the Imperials call psycurium, its of lesser importance to our alloying technology, but it is used to serve as a form of balancing agent within the process, allowing the alloys to be more receptive to phase alterations and phase merging. Its absence would be of lesser impact compared to the loss of Duralium, but it still is a fairly core aspect of how we produce our alloys. Of course a Meta Forge can produce it in needed quantities, but reaching the point of constructing a Meta Forge will be a long term goal even for an immortal like myself.
Turning towards another vulnerability of Shogi the computer networks. My predecessor had defunded every system that was not protected via the authority of the military or the mechanicus, for some unknowable reason this had to him included the counter intelligence systems.
And for all of my skill and knowledge, I am a novice with the cogitators that the imperium uses. We never discovered what is called software by humans, in their terms every Exatari computer is purpose built with analog measures to do singular actions, while a given imperial computer can be used to complete thousands if not millions of different actions on the same device.
A truly revolutionary discovery possibly on par with the discovery of a new meta particle library, it could see our research reach never before thought speeds. It might even allow some of the less motivated to reach higher levels in the Nexi of the Homeworld, for computers would enable vastly faster turn around upon discovery of failure.
Yet, in the end, I am still learning the systems and building a counter intelligence system is already hard enough at hand without having to learn the systems used to produce such a thing at the same time. However, I do figure out various ideas on how to expand this action in different directions.
"My lord, a ship labeling itself a Rogue Trader has translated into system." One of the guards that Harkar had posted to protect me said as they entered my office as I finalized some last minute pay alterations for the workers on my mining site. The cursed throne had fluctuated in value once more and I had had to spend several tedious hours recalculating the proper compensation for the workers, but this would be a welcome diversion from such tedious and worst of all error prone work.
I had sent the request for a Rogue Trader to meet with me several years ago by this point, but at least it was done early enough to not impact any of my future plans overly much. I knew little of what it meant for one to be a Rogue Trader, the individuals were reclusive and the information on the subject was little more than heresy of the highest order.
"What House did they claim to be part of?" One of the things I knew was that the vast majority of rogue traders were part of greater Houses that as a single entity held the rights of trade. That was my understanding at least, and would hopefully be corrected in this meeting.
"The ship bears the heraldry of a minor House, I personally do not recognize it but the ship is broadcasting its identity as part of the House Norastye's fleet, My Lord." The guard bowed as they left my office with the completion of their duty in informing me of this occurrence. My predecessor had left records of several Rogue Traders they had worked with over the years and there had never been any refrences to a House Norastye. Which overall is probably for the best since I would be duty bound to investigate and deal with individuals responsible for supplying him with the items that I had unearthed and supporting his proclivities.
With my personal computer accessing the records was easy and from them I could easily confirm that House Norastye existed, was legal and created from a magos explorer, which neatly explained their arrival at my request.
Several hours later, my office opened to admit a human man a few centuries old in, he was not part of the Mechanicus due to the lack of any form of augment either cybernetic or biological as far as I could see, but on his robes he wore the sigil of the House Norastye.
"Lord Atraxas." The man said as he bowed before, an act that I have never figured out the social implications behind it, I know it refrences deference to a higher authority but the context behind its existence escapes me. "I am the commander of one of the ships that flies under the banner of House Norastye and the Honorable Lord Norastye has recognized your request and sent me to negotiate terms for a hopefully beneficial relationship between you and the House of Norastye." He showed no discomfort with being in a room with one of my appearance nor of my political power, which fit with what I knew of the Houses.
"I am eager to open lines of communication with the rogue traders of the Imperium, there are many purposes that I could make use of your services for." I enter the conversion for the first time, confirming that the situation was not accidental and that I did have a purpose for the request before any false impressions could be made.
"Lord Norastye would not have sent me here if he had not thought my vessel at the least would be of use to you, with appropriate compensation of course." A gentle reminder of whom is holding the power in this place, but I could let the implied nudge to accept his word slide for I had called him indirectly, but called all the same.
"I am pleased that Magos Norastye considered my request for a meeting important enough to send one of direct commanders to meet with me. I too hope to begin a profitable enterprise with you and by extension the House Norastye. As such I have a few questions regarding the prices of various exotic goods, especially those that might arose some measure of suspicion from factions of the Imperium."
The captain shifted slightly, to the point where a human might have missed the movement, but to me it was clearly done. "Lord Atraxas, House Norastye only acts within the bounds of Imperial and Mechanicus law as dictated by Lord Norastye. As such I must apologize for we are not allowed to deal in certain exotics for any price, and if that is your goal then I believe there is no possible relationship possible between Shogi and Norastye." I shifted in turn at the words, for I had not expected such a complete shutdown of discussions on exotics, although I guess the exotic materials I would seek could very well be considered state secrets or otherwise protected resources.
"Understandable, moving away from the exotics I had wished to acquire, what is House Norastye's stance on transportation of mercenary forces, weapons, vehicles and technical data." There was no point in trying to contuine a clearly unproductive chain so moving to my next set of questions on possible trade, my private army would be a potent military force and selling its services would be worth a fair amount from my understanding. Furthermore, it would be beneficial if I could hire this House to transport the items for the Homeworld without requiring suspicious avenues.
The man blinked at the rapid change in topic but smiled wider indicating that this was well within possibility for the House to accept. "Norastye is more than able and willing to transport mercenary forces, and bulk cargo trades. Of course we will take a cut of any profits such missions receive or ask for payment upfront for non payed transport jobs, but our fees are reasonable compared to some of our competing houses."
I lowered myself in an emulation of a nod as I processed the information and found that they would serve me well. It was a shame that Norastye would refuse missions to gather exotic resources, since that would have opened many doors for me, but I could always find a less reputable House for such missions.
However, the question remained, what exotics were in particular banned. Depending on how many and what amounts, I might need to seek out several houses of low reputation or ones willing to sully their name with such missions. As such it would be prudent to have a clearer idea of the situation at hand before doing such, to preserve some measure of my wealth in case of needing to hire several such Houses.
"I am ware of House Norastye's disinterest in gathering exotics, but I am curious in which ones are expressly forbidden for any amount of coin or favors to be offered." The man, whom I should probably ask their name eventually, frowned as he stared around my somewhat barren office.
"Any ship bearing Norastye colors is expressly forbidden from assaulting Eldar, and Necron forces regardless of offered payment. We are also forbidden from accepting Astartes as targets of acquisition. The former are considered too dangerous to handle and the latter are His Angels. We also retain the right to refuse any mission to acquire a xeno of sufficient danger, so far we have only listed Catachan as a forbidden world for such missions." I slide backwards slightly as I try to process the situation at hand, it would have to be the manner in which I had phrased the original question making it seem more nefarious than I had expected.
"I have no interest in acquiring xenos as of the moment, I was in fact inquiring into the cost of hiring Norastye ships to harvest certain rare metals from the depths of space. There are several materials that I have personal interest in that are sadly uncommon in the vast majority of space."
The captain frowned at my statement, doing calculations in his mind, "House Norastye has no restriction on harvesting missions of your desired sort, but we do require a direction and destination to pursue for such missions to be accepted. However, we are willing to accept a standing contract where we will harvest the desired materials if we happen across a viable supply."
I nodded at the requirements for the harvesting missions for it was entirely sensible to require either a destination for a dedicated mission, but being able to set up a passive contract for such materials was a good option. "Understandable provisions and more than acceptable. However, my third question is the matter of Xenotech, I know that the Mechanicus has a distaste for the subject and your head of house was at one point a Magos." The one big worry was that they would not be willing to transport the supplies I would gain from the Homeworld, due to them being xenotech.
"We find xenotech unpleasant to handle as policy, but it is not forbidden and simply adds a higher charge to the mission than normal if we are mandated to carry xenotech. However, we do forbid Eldar and Necron xenotech due to the danger inherent to such missions. Is there any race's technology that you have a particular interest in?" His stance was wary of my answer, but at the same time it was clear that this was well within the range of allowance that the House provided for this subject.
It was a good thing I had clarified my position for this would do fine for my purposes, our drives were slower and far more cumbersome than the Imperial warp drives, but they were more than sufficient to cross a few systems in a matter of hours. It would be easy enough to give Norastye the location of some "xeno" worlds that had some of the creations of my people to acquire them directly and also to drop off the imperial items in exchange.
"I have a mission ready for House Norastye to undertake immediately if possible. I need several leman russes, a load of lasguns and plasma gungs, and several various aircraft and infantry vehicles transported to a position in space where one of my connections will retrieve the supplies. They do request that there are no ships in the vicinity when they retrieve the supplies, and will leave behind their payment for me in a box."
I knew that this was inherently suspicious to request as such since few people would have a legitimate reason to request secrecy of this level, and I lacked a fair reason for it. Hopefully, they would accept it for extra payment instead.
"I can not say that I am overly pleased with this mission's profile, but as you are currently not under suspicion, I am willing to handle it. However, House Norastye reserves the right to refuse such missions if we consider it too risky." I shifted downward and nodded to the best of my ability as I accepted the statement.
"I accept, now let us discuss the various missions and contracts that can be initiated at this juncture." The captain smiled widley as what seemed to be his favorite part took center stage.
"Words can not express my disappointment to see you once more." The bitting digtial screeching of Balkavus intruded into my peaceful day as unpleasant as ever. "I can only assume that some unscruplous heretek has contaminated the augments of the Conclave with logic breaking systems, since only such a thing could explain why you remain untouched." I stare down at him, he had never been a concern for me, but now that I knew more I saw him for what he truly was; a non entity. He had no power to effect me, the Mechancius' Lords were on my side regarding his accusations, and I seemed to have a strange in with them regardless.
"Report in full on the outcome of your assigned project." My voice was cold, I could feel ice creeping on my skin once more as my soul began to rouse not in anger but in contempt for the small minded person before me. I felt pity for the Archmagi of the world, pursing their empty dream, but they were more than skilled and had proof aplenty of their worth to Creation. Balkavus had no such worth, he was nothing more than the person that spent the most time bickering with others for political power and he had failed to endear himself to me.
Static growing filled the room as he glared up at my imposing bulk, I usually took measures to hide the truth of my presence for humans, but I had no reason to do so for him and so I stared down upon him from far above his reach. "As you command oh tech heretic, Shogi has suffered 9 Black Crusades that were of averge impact to the world. Beyond the Crusades although a heretek like yourself probably misses not being presence for such foulness and to serve your true fellows, there was not much of importance occurring on Shogi. The only notable event is something that is only referenced obliquely in certain vaults that you as a tech heretic would never be able to enter and there is little on the subject regardless."
Did he truly expect me to accept him at his word on this matter? He was clearly withholding information from me about my world and its history, but he also had no backbone such a pity that he had such a poor combination. I have seen thousands of hatchlings with superior integrity to him and even human children that could hold themselves better than the pitiful growling fool before me.
"Tell me what you found in those vaults, or I will go and investigate for myself." Balkavus screeched some more in meaningless binary and hexadecimal for some reason as he continued to glare up at me. "Yes, oh unholy one, I discovered reports of an ancient Blank being born of unprecedented power. Unfortunately for you and fortunately for everyone else I lost the data on where the Blank is held in stasis."
I angled myself upward as I noted the information, I knew that humans produced both blanks and psykers akin to my people, but lacked the ability to forcibly attune a soul to the desired metaphysical influence and change it at will. However, I did not know how they compared on average to the Exatari that choose to unlock such powers, but leaning towards them being stronger than us would be a safe guess most likely due to humans seeming to be stronger in strange areas compared to us overall.
Therefore assuming that the Blank he is referring too is stronger than the strongest ever Exatari Severed is an intelligent view to take. I would need to construct Meta Shields before even thinking about defrosting the Blank in question, my phase shields would dampen even the Deathly Severer's influence to nothing, but assuming that this Blank is twice as potent, I would be afflicted by tremors and slight paranoia which is not needed in my current predicament.
As he left, a message reached my personal display from Nirve detailing a list of blackmail for use on Yurael. It was a perfect mission from the report with the subject entirely unaware of the spies and what they recovered, but it would be more than enough to force her to submit to a desired action. It was a beneficial event but I had not ordered the action to be undertaken, which also made sense due to the fact that even I would not be included in the details of the spies of the world.
With a flicker of happiness I save the data on her for future use as I turned towards the last thing that I had to finalize. Which was the study on the strange human religion that I had asked Nameria to prepare to explain it to me. I hope that she considered me asking for more political, hierarchal rather than the actual intent of truly learning what the thing was for as far as I can tell no human doesn't abide by the religion.
Another aspect of humans that we lacked commonality with them on, I knew that there were in the distant past Exatari clans that asked for security for protection from natural events from barely understandable concepts even when experiencing the memories directly. Yet, soon after the creation of the Witness and its peers, such actions fell into disfavor over time as information was stored across time allowing even our most early ancestors to realize that there was simple chains of cause and effect at play.
It is true that we work mostly inline with the principle of Creation and the Trinity of Life, but could those concepts be considered a religion. To humans I doubt they would be considered as such, we do not build temples, we do not give prayer to the trinity of life, they are simply things that are done. Creation is achieved whenever someone makes something new for themselves or others, originality does not inherently matter as long as they are building something distinct from the world around.
The Trinity is even less firm, it only says how sapient life comes to be and the parts that compose us and all other Creators. In the end, religion in the all consuming form that humanity partakes in, is something that we never experienced and I am as such at a loss in understanding the principles of the Imperium since the majority revolves around their religion.
Nameria will hopefully explain this to my satisfaction or at the very least enable me to understand the principles of Shogi more completely. I have desires to do much for this world, but I am stymied by my lack of understanding for humans and their systems of governance.
She had sent me a message asking for me to meet her at the Cathedral of Ascendance, the largest such structure in the capital city an hour past noon, for our meeting. There was no point in delaying my arrival and it was fairly close by so there was sadly no reason to make use of my flight systems, my normal movement would be sufficient.
Exiting the palace which still didn't property fit my bulk was an annoyance as ever, but running up the side of the building to reach the roof and plotting out my course was fun. I knew that my guards probably hated my preferred form of transversal in the city limits as I jumped from the roof and glided down to the large thoroughfare several kilometers away before picking up speed.
Dancing around the cars on the street and bouncing between the buildings was a form of fun that I never had prior to being given this position, on the Homeworld our cities were designed in far different methods and were designed for our bulk and my previous world I was forced to the outskirts constantly. Now, I could truly bounce through the city, doing flash repairs on the spot when buildings seemed overly worn down.
It was an easy thing to do, but as I bounced onto a building I would flash repair any damage I could feel where I landed and of course my systems prevented me from causing damage to buildings or vehicles. It was truly amazing how fast humans adapted to new situations, the first time I had taken to the roads there were several hundred crashes forcing me to stop to provide medical aid to the afflicted, now only a few minor situations occurred as I made my way to the Cathedral.
The Cathedral was truly massive, it was similar in size and grandure to the Hive Cities that exist on other worlds in the Imperium. Its gold plated extieror reached into the high reaches of the atmosphere, nearly reaching the ionosphere at the very peak of the spire, and I could feel the shields that covered it from tip to ground.
Massive windows of colored glass cut into various pieces and then fused together with what appeared to be lead covered the grand building. Numerous icons graced the side of the building, the largest of which was a strange one of a column with a human skull embossed upon it. Yet, below that prominent icon another smaller one sat, but seemed to have been given greater care, I could see the purity of its construction outshining the one above it, and the techniques used in its shaping were clearly the work of a master metal worker.
In the light provided by the sun in the sky, the icon gleamed brilliantly, the sunlight dancing across the thousands of metal feathers that formed the wings of the two headed bird that formed the core of the sigil. Above the bird a sun lay, formed from gold as well it glimmered wonderfully as I came closer, noting how much like a real sun it had been made to resemble and its light manifested in rays of solid gold rained down upon the Aquila below I believe the name was.
Then below the Aquila several layers of smaller forms were represented in metal akin to the above, yet of the thirty six figures below, ten were cast from silver and shattered with one tarnished, yet one remained whole if shadowed, another four were forged from wrought iron and rusted through and the final twenty were forged from platinum, nine remain pure of metal and masterfully crafted compared to the eleven that were gilded with wrought iron. Below the three rows of silver, iron and platinum a fourth row lay with only a solitary figure of rhodium stood, facing up towards the sun and the Aquila above.
It was a sigil that was small enough for the majority of humans to miss, compared to the overpowering icon above, but it bore the signs of being far more important to the person in charge than the greater sigil. A curious discovery, but I would be able to ask about the matter when I met with her in only a few minutes.
The Cathedral was interesting when I entered, the windows above projected their image upon the interior and complex prisms covered the floor, directing light into a truly majestic sight. It would take even a Forge Adept significant time to calculate the positions needed for this to work so cleanly, it was a sign of how far Humans could go when they had interest in acting to the best of their abilities.
Thousands of anti gravity plates floated in the depths of the spire above, serving as means of transversal between rooms and ledges. It was a truly impressive construction in size and scope, the heart and brain of the church upon Shogi built in the standard of the world. I knew why she had called me here, I had never entered this place before, but it showed her power both religious and secular well from the cost inherent to this show of technology.
Under the center of the light show the congregation sat in prayer, yet even more technology was present. Holograms of Nameria walked along every row of the seating humans and some indivials had personal interaction with her. Images of her sitting at their side, giving aid to them. Perhaps the humans believed that this was a form of trickery, but I could see that each hologram was a real image of her indicating near impossible body and mental control for a human.
A flicker of light danced to the side and another hologram emerged, bowing to me slightly as Nameria smiled at my arrival. "Lord Atraxas, I will be ready for our meeting in a few minutes. Please explore this floor of the Cathedral, while you wait." I nodded to her as I slide into the shadows, noting how the humans she talked to seemed to be happier and more energetic than before.
"Shogi has changed with your arrival, many of the people that I have heard confession of have come from your work sites for the first time able to afford the pilgrimage to see me. Your kindness has not gone unseen nor unnoticed and these people give thanks to Him for sending you to us."
I turned towards the hologram of Nameria at my side in confusion for how could I have done as she said. I simply gave the workers a reasonable level of compensation for their work, of course there was likely some error in their payment but it would probably fall onto the side of me underpaying them. I did not have a good measure of how time passed to a human and that along with the ceaseless variance in value of the thrones, my payment was most likely to be under the level of appropriate compensations even after doubling the cost I calculated.
"I simply provide my workers with a proper payment for work nothing more or less. It is the same for all that pay for work is it not? A coin in exchange for time and labor." Her face flickered with what could only be confusion before it smoothed away under a mask, and she turned towards the people out in the center of the floor.
"Urma has shared the records with me, per hour you pay on average a thousand thrones to the lowest level and increase for various actions such as working beyond the end of a shift. A minimum of a thousand thrones to people whom in the last ten generations of their families might have saved at most fifty across it all. Perhaps to you the payment is fair, but to those working under your orders its wealth beyond their dreams, its a miracle from Him upon Terra answering their prayers said every day for countless centuries." She fell silent as another man etched with lines of painful labor moved to the front and let a small stream of golden coins fall into a chest before drawing a sigil over his heart and leaving.
"Tens of thousands eat better than they have in centuries, possibly millions of children will reach higher than they ever would have been allowed to reach. You have held to your stance of compassion in a way that I had lost faith in ever seeing, and for that I thank you Lord Atraxas, and I thank Him for sending one such as you to this world. Your actions might have prevented a terrible fate."
"It was not my intention to aid them, I simply pay them what is reasonable compensation for the work they conduct. Although, by my calculations it is likely I am undervaluing their efforts, but I will need to investigate certain aspects to refine my payment system in the future it appears." I counter as I watch as the people begin to leave and a handful notice me in the back of the room. A wave ran through the population of the cathedral as one told the others around them, the information ripplingly back along the whole of the crowd.
The crowd came to a stop before a few bowed and scurried away as the others looked on in what I think was awe before they too left and as the final one left, Nameria sealed the doors before the holograms faded away into light. A door that I had noticed opened as her living body entered the room, "There are few Planetary Governors that would have received such a reaction from the average man, most would have been ignored unless they were making a ruckus. As much as you profess to only pay them what is correct, that does not change the facts at hand. However, you wished to know more of the Ecclesiarchy and the Imperial Creed, so follow me I have a person I would like you to meet." Her demeanor was different more militant as she spoke and lead the way through the interior of the cathedral, but the masterful crafting of the place remained ever evident.
"Are all cathedrals this well crafted?" It was a sensible question to my mind, for this temple displayed more understanding than I had come to expect from humanity and the Imperium in general. Yet, her first response was a snort of laughter, "By the God-Emperor I wish, but most cathedrals are inelegant brutal designs gilded with more gold than some worlds contain. The gold that covers the Cathedral of Ascendance is only a few millimeters thick and is to provide coloring nothing more. This Cathedral is a fortress first and a church second befitting a fortress world."
I accepted her statement and followed in silence once more before we stepped onto a grav plate, which whined under my weight but was able to lift off into the heights of the spire. For a human, the scale of this building would be impossible to truly understand, for me it was simply a somewhat reasonably sized building only inverted.
The main Forge of my Nexus was in a similar spire that reached one hundred kilometers into the crust of the Homeworld the mantle held at bay only via force fields and repulsive matrixes. All of that space had been used to enable me to make the alloys required for the most extreme items and research possible, but it did make it possible to understand the scale of this cathedral.
"Lord Atraxas, I am unfortunately not going to be able to personally explain the Creed and the Ecclesiarchy due to my duties, but I have brought in an individual that I trust to explain the matter throughly. I have also created several data slates for your perusal that will hopefully answer any questions you have." I shift slightly trying to indicate my unease of the situation, but it was understandable since her duties were wide ranging and I could hear a new congregation entering already.
The plate reached the apogee of the building revealing a small floor at the very edge of the ionosphere from which one could see across the city below. "The God Emperor is truly a god to be able to shape such a wondrous world, would you not agree Servant Atraxas?" A feminine voice spoke from the shadows of the platform, I simply walked to the window to look outward as I note the departure of the grav plate.
"I agree that Shogi is a jewel of the void, but to my sight the true beauty of the world lies in the created intermixed with the natural." The woman mulled over the statement for a moment, "An answer not to my question, but not all that serve Him know they do so at the time. Yet, in the end all serve His endless plan, I do wonder what your purpose shall be."
I turn away from the window towards the woman speaking, noting that she was wearing a strangely primitive form of a powered exoskeleton, along with having an implanted mechanical interface in a manner akin to the tech priests I knew. Yet, beyond those details, I could tell that her body was trained to excel in military matters, but that was to be expected for one using such technology as her.
But, there was a question to be asked, since from my understanding it was the default state for humans to assume that their Emperor was a god with regard. "Is it not to be taken as a given that the God Emperor is a god?" She shook her head as she walked to the edge of the floor to stare outward over the city in a manner similar to me.
"Across the grandeur of His Imperium, there are many faiths that give Him his due glory and there are many that deny His existence in manifold ways. Erimyst sector is riddled with splinters of faith, eating away at the foundations of His Imperium and the principles of His Creed. Perhaps in another sector your statement is true, but in Erimyst one must be ever vigilant for the heretics."
I processed the information and understood what it meant, but it was a minor issue in the bulk of the meeting so far to have made such a minor indiscretion. "What do you mean of the faith splintering?"
Metal squealed under her hands as the metal railing bent under grip as she stared out into space, "For the last three thousand years, Erimyst has been in a state of upheaval regarding the proper forms to give honor to Him upon the Golden Throne. In recent centuries the faith has shattered, a million cults creep in the shadows out of His light, twisting the people that live under His protection away from their true father. We have fought against the proliferation of these cults, and some are no more than heresy cloaked in righteousness." I could feel her soul burn bright as the words poured from her mouth, as she glared into the heavens beyond Shogi.
"I am unaware of these cults, could you enlighten me to their nature?" Her face twisted into a cast of fury, but she nodded in the end. "As one of His primary servants in the sector, you should be aware of those that fight against Him in the shadows where His light does not reach." She let go of the railing as she turned towards another wall and seemed to ponder how to explain the subject matter.
"Of the seven cults that have broken away from the Creed, three stand above the others. The Mandate of Holy War, a heretical cult that has remained limited by the true faith in Him thus far. It is known to be heretical and to be purged on sight, for it has a Daemon of Chaos as its high priest a Bloodthirster wearing profane garments taken from one of His priests." I knew that humans were concerned about the immaterial spirts that drifted in the void behind the veil, but why would they be this concerned about the things.
The things were beyond easy to just get rid of, whenever they showed up on the Homeworld we usually find them begging the larger ones to get them off the world and cowering whenever we showed up. I could recall when I found a particularly noxious one that had decided that hiding inside the machinery of my forge to be a good idea. It took me an entire year to get the gunk off the machinery after skewering the thing for its befoulment of my forge.
But, the ones that focused on blood were the least annoying of any of the things. We figured out how to deal with them a long time ago, by making a pool of blood that drew them in like rodents for easy disposal. But, I knew enough to not ask about that since the entire thing regarding Chaos whatever it was seemed to be a sore point for humans.
"The next cult that taints His Imperium is The Eternal Legacy, which casts aside His light and wisdom in favor of that from the perfidious Xenos known as the Necrons. They preach of the Necrons as the true saviors of the galaxy and only through submission to them will peace be found. The Pathfinders have told us of the true heresy involved by confirming that they pray to a Xenos in place of their spiritual father." That was interesting, I do admit to being curious about the Necrons and the Eldar due to both being considered to be species that pose a danger to the greater Imperium.
It would not be incorrect to say that only they were able to truly match the Imperium in power, but I did not know how they managed such an event. Perhaps their methods would be something we could make use of and by extensions reduce the danger inherent to our existence. With the knowledge that one of the Necrons was amenable to working with humans directly, it would stand to reason that it would be conceivable for them to be willing to meet with me directly.
But turning away from my thoughts, I turn back to her as she frowned, seemingly conflicted about the coming topic, "We are conflicted on the subject of the final major splinter. Many of its tenets we hold dear to our heart and code of action, it is a siren call to us and yet it taints His glory with that of the xenos and Chaos. It states that He upon Terra is the supreme god of all, and yet it gives recognition to the creatures of perfidious faith as fallen angels of His glory, in the end it is the most divergent and yet the one we find ourselves troubled by the most of all the splinters."
I noted that she didn't mention the name of this splinter faction, but it seemed to cause her some measure of distress to be forced to confront the existence of it. Yet, she shook her head and turned back to the window and me, "Those are the three primary splinters in terms of danger to His Imperium within this sector, there are four other splinters but they of lesser influence or potential damage." She said as she leaned on the railings peering down at the city below.
"Even we the purest within Erimyst are far from the exemplars of His Creed that one would find in other sectors. For that reason, how can we cast blame upon others for breaking away from the Creed that binds the Imperium as one, for we originate from the greatest splintering it has ever seen." Her voice had taken on a somber tone as she stared out over the city the day turning to night as the star slipped below the horizon.
"The tenets of the Creed are basic and pure, but even we disregard them in favor of ensuring our service is eternal to better form a bulwark behind which the innocents of His Imperium might find succor even in the darkest of nights. We are told to abhor the psyker, xenos and mutant, yet the greatest champions of His light in the sector are both mutant and psyker." A golden coin bearing the mark of an unknown animal flashed in her fingers as she played with it looking upward towards the stars beginning to shine.
"The Angels of Death, the Astartes, the greatest champions of His light, yet one and all they are mutants. From them we learned to call upon the souls of the fallen to fight evermore under His light, with them we stand against the tide of darkness that seeks to extinguish His light upon Holy Terra. Yet, without question we sunder the Creed with our actions, for mutants and psykers find themselves under our protection in truth instead of the watchful eye He seeks." She closed her eyes as she spoke, the coin held in her fist glinting softly in the twilight.
I did not know how to interject here for this was far from my area of understanding, so I waited silently watching the stars rotate overhead as the sun dipped below the horizon finally. The single dwarf moon drifting into view overhead, before she turned back to me.
"I do apologize Servant Atraxas, but I do not think I am able to answer what you sought from me. But, be mindful of Cardinal Nameria, she is more vulnerable than she tries to portray herself as. She was one of my Sisters in her youth, but circumstances were unfavorable for her to remain as such. She did provide me with these records." She spoke finally as she handed over a stack of data slates to me and walked towards a grav platform before bowing to me and leaving the floor.
Her parting words told me more than she could have thought, but pieces came together in my mind allowing me to see the truth of the matter clearly. Perhaps not fully, but in part and that was enough to see behind the veil and thus know that Nameria was barely stable mentally.
The data slates were simple enough to understand for me, the data flowing into my mind and being processed as it always was. It revealed even more on her and the Ecclesiarchy as the church was called along with their primary tenets. In the end, it was a productive event and meeting, but brought about new questions to ask and investigate, but I turned up to stare at the stars above pondering if I would ever see the Homeworld once more. I did not know where it drifted in the silent void of space, one of the countless dots of light the rest of my people drifted in obscurity protected from harm by the distance between stars and the silence of the void.
My duty was more than just to learn from the Imperium, it was to enable my people to take to the stars and exist beyond our single world. It did not dull the pain of loss I felt whenever I looked up towards the stars and did not know where my home lay.
I turned towards the wall of the spire, noting it as a non load bearing structure to ensure the safety of what I was about too do. With careful movements I carved into the wall a doorway sized for me to enter and exit from, it took a matter of moments to breach the wall and find myself in the ionosphere of the world. A human would have died near instantly at this level without protective gear for me it was a pleasant sensation of the ions slamming into my carapace.
Resealing the doorway I had made with the forge in my body, I used a phase vector to push myself free of the building without impacting it. Into free fall I went, from eighty kilometers into the air I fell towards the ground, yet as the wind rushed past me I found it refreshing as I activated my flight systems and hurled myself as fast as I could.
Breaching the sound barrier was easy enough, then I broke into the hypersonic range under my own power as I raced upward through the atmosphere until I hovered on the very edge of space, noting the brilliant ships docked in the starport above the world and the shipyards that filled the orbits of the inner system.
Floating there in space, time was easily lost as the world rotated under me and the sun began to rise letting my carapace gleam in the unfiltered light. With a sigh I raced towards the palace, noting a communication on a high priority level coming from the palace for me.
I turned towards the wall of the spire, noting it as a non load bearing structure to ensure the safety of what I was about too do. With careful movements I carved into the wall a doorway sized for me to enter and exit from, it took a matter of moments to breach the wall and find myself in the ionosphere of the world. While a human would have died near instantly at this level without protective gear for me it was a pleasant sensation of the ions slamming into my carapace.
Resealing the doorway I had made with the forge in my body, I used a phase vector to push myself free of the building without impacting it. Into free fall I went, from eighty kilometers into the air I fell towards the ground, yet as the wind rushed past me I found it refreshing as I activated my flight systems and hurled myself as fast as I could.
Breaching the sound barrier was easy enough, then I broke into the hypersonic range under my own power as I raced upward through the atmosphere until I hovered on the very edge of space, noting the brilliant ships docked in the starport above the world and the shipyards that filled the orbits of the inner system.
Floating there in space, time was easily lost as the world rotated under me and the sun began to rise letting my carapace gleam in the unfiltered light. With a sigh I raced towards the palace, noting a communication on a high priority level coming from the palace for me.
Gliding to a stop on the landing pad I had build into the governor palace, I pushed through into my office where the five archmagi stood waiting for me. "You are either the luckiest lier ever born, or are chosen of the Omnissiah." Remon spoke up before any of the others did.
I stared at him and then the others, Irnimalver spoke up at my obvious confusion. "We investigated the ruins of your old world and found a cache of Golden Age relics exactly where you told us to look. The odds of such an occurrence are near zero."
"We found a particle lance STC, theories on spacetime, degraded alloys of the golden age and to cap it off a neural stimulation unit. Along with relics that are similar to what you presented us with in the noosphere. I am officially never going to bet against you, because clearly the Omnissiah finds it funny to make a mockery of chance." Sincratus interjected as he leaned on the wall, staring at me with ill disguised envy.
"We are here to extent an offer to work with us on investigating these relics, due to your apparent mastery of the principles behind their operation." Quirana interjected before anyone else could say anything, I simply lowered myself to the ground. "I will gladly work with you on elucidating the secrets of the technology in the relics you found."
The five of them had pleased expressions before retreating from my office as fast as possible.
For Turn 3:
The Debt Cap is currently 4x your native income: 280 in other words (reevaluating interest/debt system, until I figure it out 4x income is all you can over spend)
Atraxas Actions: 1 per category, 3 Personal Actions (personal actions can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to any other department)
Advisor Actions: 1 in their category
Nameria Actions: can undertake actions in Faith and Martial by dividing her highest bonus evenly, can not take more actions that would put her bonus below 1, rounds down
Private Army: Can undertake Martial Actions when on world with a bonus of 0
Shogi Native Extraction: 90
Shogi Exotic Extraction
Duralium: 5 per turn, 10 turns remaining (5 mined)
Shogi System Extraction: 0
Shogi Native Production: 500
Shogi System Production: 500
Shogi Trade (base resources): 0
Shogi Trade (refined resources): 400
Shogi Tithe: 250 per turn
Shogi Expenditures (Infrastructure): 300
Shogi Expenditures (Social Services): 0
Shogi Expenditures (Military Services): 100
Shogi Expenditures (Counter Intelligence): 0
Shogi Expenditures (Life support): 0
Shogi Stockpiles: 774/10k
Favor (Exatari): 2
Favor (Adeptus Mechanicus): 100
Blackmail (Yurael)
Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 0/100 +5 per turn, grows by 5 every 2 turns not managed (Managing effect lasts 6 turns) NULLED for the next 5 turns and set to 0 due to DAoT cache
Homeworld Mission: 3 missions. Mission 1: Send to the Homeworld a working Noosphere within 5 turns. Mission 2: Send to the Homeworld data on Imperial Computers within 2 turns. Mission 3: Send to the Homeworld data on Imperial Voidships within 3 turns
Counter cyberspace infiltration - Though not as easily accessible as the Exatari data network, the Imperium does in fact possess an interconnected computational system, at least for those who can afford it. A great deal of data is stored within it, and as such it is the target for many who have a desire to know everything of import that goes on. There exist systems to counter that but it could always be better.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 0) (Upkeep (Counter Intelligence): Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: your cyber defenses are harder to breach, and present viruses are removed.)
Atraxas' Intrigue Action is locked to this action
Find the secrets of previous Planetary Governors (Intrigue) - Shogi is a world with access to more than most. More worlds are within rapid Warp Travel distance, more advanced technology is sent to and produced on the planet, and more prestige is given to one who commands such a strategically vital planet. As such, there is no doubt that not all the wealth and information held by your predecessors was made public, and after thousands of years of constant activity, you may find a great deal of value hidden away by arguably the highest political office in the region.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 69)
(Result: Learn about the history of the world and if there are any surprises in store for you.)
One of Atraxas' Free actions is locked to this
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 0) (Upkeep (Counter Intelligence): Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: your cyber defenses are harder to breach, and present viruses are removed.)
Atraxas' Intrigue Action is locked to this action
[] Imperial Firewall - use only imperial style code and systems, will set the completed action to low Imperial counter intelligence value with pretty much everyone knowing how to counter it to a degree. Can be improved by anyone with some level of understanding of Imperial computers.
[] Exatari Firewall - a new approach for you and would require more time and effort, increases the DC from 18 to 75 once more and adds a hefty amount of suspicion (50), but results in a completely unknown protection system. This dice will be rolled with Intrigue+Learning and requires a Learning or Free action to be allocated to it. Future improvements can only be made by Atraxas or someone with 25 Learning or 15 Learning and are trained in Exatari technological principles.
[] Combined Firewall - take the standard Imperial and create an Exatari style firewall and combine both into a single form. Increases DC from 18 to 150, but provides a high level of protection will result in a gain of 25 suspicion, requires a Learning or Free action and will be rolled with Intrigue+Learning, provides a base from which humans with 5 Learning or Intrigue can improve from.
[] Exatari Firewall - a new approach for you and would require more time and effort, increases the DC from 18 to 75 once more and adds a hefty amount of suspicion (50), but results in a completely unknown protection system. This dice will be rolled with Intrigue+Learning and requires a Learning or Free action to be allocated to it. Future improvements can only be made by Atraxas or someone with 25 Learning or 15 Learning and are trained in Exatari technological principles.
[] Combined Firewall - take the standard Imperial and create an Exatari style firewall and combine both into a single form. Increases DC from 18 to 150, but provides a high level of protection will result in a gain of 25 suspicion, requires a Learning or Free action and will be rolled with Intrigue+Learning, provides a base from which humans with 5 Learning or Intrigue can improve from.
Find the secrets of previous Planetary Governors (Intrigue) - Shogi is a world with access to more than most. More worlds are within rapid Warp Travel distance, more advanced technology is sent to and produced on the planet, and more prestige is given to one who commands such a strategically vital planet. As such, there is no doubt that not all the wealth and information held by your predecessors was made public, and after thousands of years of constant activity, you may find a great deal of value hidden away by arguably the highest political office in the region.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 69)
(Result: Learn about the history of the world and if there are any surprises in store for you.)
One of Atraxas' Free actions is locked to this
AdMech Mission: Ensure secrecy (Stewardship) - The local Adeptus Mechanicus have plans for this world that they would rather not be openly revealed. As it was them that elevated you to your current status rather than attempt to turn you into scrap, you are expected to help keep their work a secret. Call it a favor for a favor.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 0) (DC: 20)
(Result: Ad Mech anger is managed, Cost will increase every time this action is taken. As anger rises new actions will become available in other categories)
Homeworld Mission: Data retrieval (Learning) - You have been given the assignment of providing your people with information on the computer systems of the Imperium after discovering the versatility of software over hardware and alerting the Homeworld to such discoveries. If you are able to send genuine samples of the technology back in addition to that, then your priority rating for covert assistance will be raised.
(Suspicion: 5/20) (Resource Cost: 5/40) (DC: 20/80)
(Result: if bonus achieved gain 4 Exatari Favor)
Homeworld Mission: Data retrieval (Learning) - You have been given the assignment of providing your people with information on the methods of void travel and protection that the Imperium uses in its ships. Due to the size and costs inherent to spaceships in the Imperium, there is currently no expectation for a physical sample to be provided, but if one can be it would be a great boon for the Homeworld.
Can only be done AFTER completing the Study Voidship Learning action
(Suspicion: 5/100) (Resource Cost: 0/200) (DC: 20/200)
(Result: If bonus achieved gain 20 Exatari Favor)
Homeworld Mission: Data retrieval (Learning) - With the discovery of the Noosphere and the meta particle library of Information, the Homeworld has failed to discover the new Library and as such has requested a physical and working Noosphere anchor to be provided within half a century as the humans judge time.
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 100 or 50 Mechanicus Favor) (DC: 500/0)
(Note: Can only be done by Atraxas if not using Favor)
(Result: If completed gain 25 Exatari Favor)
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 0) (DC: 20)
(Result: Ad Mech anger is managed, Cost will increase every time this action is taken. As anger rises new actions will become available in other categories)
Homeworld Mission: Data retrieval (Learning) - You have been given the assignment of providing your people with information on the computer systems of the Imperium after discovering the versatility of software over hardware and alerting the Homeworld to such discoveries. If you are able to send genuine samples of the technology back in addition to that, then your priority rating for covert assistance will be raised.
(Suspicion: 5/20) (Resource Cost: 5/40) (DC: 20/80)
(Result: if bonus achieved gain 4 Exatari Favor)
Homeworld Mission: Data retrieval (Learning) - You have been given the assignment of providing your people with information on the methods of void travel and protection that the Imperium uses in its ships. Due to the size and costs inherent to spaceships in the Imperium, there is currently no expectation for a physical sample to be provided, but if one can be it would be a great boon for the Homeworld.
Can only be done AFTER completing the Study Voidship Learning action
(Suspicion: 5/100) (Resource Cost: 0/200) (DC: 20/200)
(Result: If bonus achieved gain 20 Exatari Favor)
Homeworld Mission: Data retrieval (Learning) - With the discovery of the Noosphere and the meta particle library of Information, the Homeworld has failed to discover the new Library and as such has requested a physical and working Noosphere anchor to be provided within half a century as the humans judge time.
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 100 or 50 Mechanicus Favor) (DC: 500/0)
(Note: Can only be done by Atraxas if not using Favor)
(Result: If completed gain 25 Exatari Favor)
Trade Deal offers: maximum of 500 production cap can be sold
[] Seuclite offers 300 resources per turn for 5 turns at the cost of 400 production cap
--[] for increasing production cap by 100 they will provide 50 units of psycurium per turn (Psycurium is a common part of Exatari Alloys)
[] Sutanov offers 200 resources per turn for 10 turns at the cost of 150 production cap
[] Cruzarilia offers 150 resources per turn for 10 turns at the cost of 125 production cap
[] Koagantu offers 150 resources per turn for 25 turns at 50 production cap which will increase by 10 every 5 turns
[] Stroirilia offers 125 resources per turn for 15 turns at 75 production cap which will increase by 5 per every 5 turns
[] Coulea offers 100 resources per turn for 10 turns at 50 production cap which will increase by 20 for every 5 turns
[] Avarth offers 25 resources per turn for 100 turns at 25 production cap which will increase every 5 turns by 5
[] Seuclite offers 300 resources per turn for 5 turns at the cost of 400 production cap
--[] for increasing production cap by 100 they will provide 50 units of psycurium per turn (Psycurium is a common part of Exatari Alloys)
[] Sutanov offers 200 resources per turn for 10 turns at the cost of 150 production cap
[] Cruzarilia offers 150 resources per turn for 10 turns at the cost of 125 production cap
[] Koagantu offers 150 resources per turn for 25 turns at 50 production cap which will increase by 10 every 5 turns
[] Stroirilia offers 125 resources per turn for 15 turns at 75 production cap which will increase by 5 per every 5 turns
[] Coulea offers 100 resources per turn for 10 turns at 50 production cap which will increase by 20 for every 5 turns
[] Avarth offers 25 resources per turn for 100 turns at 25 production cap which will increase every 5 turns by 5
Passive Contracts multiple can be taken, of different or the same type, each contract provides a dice for itself and only counts for its value return
[] Low Exotic Resource - roll 1d100 per turn on 40+ gain 1d40+60 units of one of: Adamantium, Ceramite, Diamantine, Infinitite, Kultrinium, Moonsilver, Power Crystals, Lithicarium, Fascium. Costs an upkeep of 25 Resources per turn, each unit of Exotics supplied costs 5 Resources
[] Medium Exotic Resources - roll 1d100 per turn on 60+ gain 1d20+30 units of one of: Stelanicite, Phase Iron, Psycurium, Duralium, Enderrium, Bauxanium, Magnaferrite, Symanthite, Trans-Sulphur, Transuranium. Costs an upkeep of 50 Resources per turn, each unit of Exotics supplied costs 10 Resources
[] High Exotic Resources - roll 1d100 per turn on 80+ gain 1d10+15 units of one of: Thyrikite, Organo-Crystal, Stelanictite. Costs an upkeep of 75 Resources per turn, each unit of Exotics supplied costs 20 Resources.
[] Extreme Exotic Resources - roll 1d100 per turn on 90+ gain 1d5+7 units of one of: Auramite, Lorelei. Costs 100 Resources per turn, each unit supplied costs 40 Resources.
[] Notable Xeno Resources - roll 1d100 per turn on 100 gain 1d5+3 units of one of: Necrodermis, Noctilith, Wraithbone, Soulglass, Strangesteel. Costs 125 Resources per turn, each unit unit supplied costs 80 Resources
Contracts: multiple of the same can be taken barring the Army one
[] Hiring out the Private army to House Norastye
-[] No Control (Norastye can only use the Army in ways that Atraxas allows): Provides 5 Resources per turn
-[] Limited Control (Norastye can do discretionary actions with the Army within reasonble departure from Atraxas' orders): Provides 10 Resources per turn
-[] Full Control (Norastye can use the Army as they will for the duration of the contract): Provides 20 Resources per turn.
-[] Duration of Contract (write in a value between 1 and 10)
[] Xeno Acquisition
-[] write in a minor race (Necrons and Eldar are not possible targets)
-[] cost varies between 10 and 100 Resources depending on the target species
-[] Write in time frame, base time is 1d5 turns, lowering increases Cost by 10 and increasing reduces Cost by 10. Can not be lowered below 4 times, nor extended more than 11 times.
[] Xeno Tech Acquisition (the below values are for non esoteric races or unknown races)
-[] Write in minor xeno race (Necrons and Eldar are not possible targets)
-[] cost is set in this case to 25 Resources
-[] Base time is 1 turn
[] Information - write in subject that you wand information on, cost is 10/25/50/100 for Local/Sector/Segmentum/Galactic subjects.
[] Support - gain dice to actions, each type costs a set amount for extra Dice. You can only buy a total of 5 dice per turn and each Dice increases the cost by 1.5x for the next Dice rounded up
Martial: 10
Diplomacy: 25
Intrigue: 50
Stewardship: 15
Learning: 40
Faith: 5
[] Mutant Acquisition
-[] write in desired type of mutation/appearance does not need to have a canon example
-[] Cost is 10 Resources
-[] Base time of 1d3 turns can be reduced by one turn for 5 Resources or cost reduced by one turn for 5 resources returned, can not be reduced below 1 and can be extended no more than 3 turns
These actions provide Credit which is used in place of Resources for Norastye Contracts
Permanent Credit never fades as long as the payment remains in effect and are constant effects
[] Provide a permanent berth in the shipyard for Norastye flagged ship: provides 10 Permanent Credit with Norastye, reduces Production Cap of System by 25
[] Build a House upon Shogi for the Norastye Dynasty: provides 25 Permanent Credit with Norastye, must be done via an Action with the following values: Cost: 250, Suspicion: 0, DC: 100, Type: Stewardship
[] Enable Training of Norastye forces by Shogi trainers: provides 5 Permanent Credit with Norastye, increase Military Services by 10
[] Provide a Battleship: provides 200 Permanent Credit with Norastye
Temporary Credits apply only once before its used up
[] Imperial Relic (Credit Value varies from 0 to 100 depending on Quality, DC are every 10 and Credit increases by 10 each breakpoint. Unlocks a Learning action to make relics.)
[] Sell a ship (Credit Value varies from 0 for a transport to 5k for a Grand Cruiser)
[] Sell Exatari Relics (Credit Value varies from 0 to 1000 depending on use case of the item, DC every 5 and the Breakpoints increase value by 50, this action can only be done by Atraxas or someone skilled in Exatari principles.)
Archmagos Requests
Sincratus: wants biological samples from non mammalian races, will provide either a compendium on human genetics, or a treatise on warp biology. Cost: the same as the Xeno Acquisition Contract
Quirana: wants data on esoteric fields of study suitable for teaching others, will provide training to one Advisor as a favor in a desired field for 5 turns. Cost: 10 Resources
Gravus: wants a Necron Gravity relic for testing purposes, will provide his services for free on a ship project regardless of size of ship and improve the speed of building large ships permanently by 5%. Not Currently Possible by Norastye
Luraia: wants Necron Relics relating to Time or a Cryptek, will reduce Anger Growth by half permanently and provide Bo2 to all rolls on Shogi not involving the warp or psyker powers. Not Currently Possible by Norastye
Lanista Caisa: wants a breeding pair of prize winning fighting dogs for refinement of the cyberhounds of Shogi. Will provide a stable of cybercanids for Atraxas to make use of. Cost: 5 Resources.
Notitio: wants various computer programs from xeno races to practice breaking, will provide a bonus to future Shogi Cyber Security and will add a dice to the next action aimed at improving it Cost: the same as the Xenotech Acquisition Contract
Sangia: wants a breeding population of various Abhuman strains for genetic testing and experimentation, will provide a compendium on human biology of the Archmagos level and will unlock actions to improve the Shogi population. Cost: The same as the Mutant Acquisition Contract
Casus: wants a report on the sector, will provide +5 to all actions taken the next turn after this is completed. Cost: the same as the Info contact for Sector
Vulka: wants support in building a new lab to work in, will increase production capacity of Shogi System by 5% and future expansions to Production Cap by 5%. Cost: one dice from Support (Learning) and the Xenotech Acquisition Contract
Various Archmagos: Will provide Anger Reduction or One Dice to one action to which their support is valuable or Suspicion reduction. This request can be filled up to 3 times per turn and costs 10/50/250 Resources or Credit for Norastye to complete these requests.
[] Low Exotic Resource - roll 1d100 per turn on 40+ gain 1d40+60 units of one of: Adamantium, Ceramite, Diamantine, Infinitite, Kultrinium, Moonsilver, Power Crystals, Lithicarium, Fascium. Costs an upkeep of 25 Resources per turn, each unit of Exotics supplied costs 5 Resources
[] Medium Exotic Resources - roll 1d100 per turn on 60+ gain 1d20+30 units of one of: Stelanicite, Phase Iron, Psycurium, Duralium, Enderrium, Bauxanium, Magnaferrite, Symanthite, Trans-Sulphur, Transuranium. Costs an upkeep of 50 Resources per turn, each unit of Exotics supplied costs 10 Resources
[] High Exotic Resources - roll 1d100 per turn on 80+ gain 1d10+15 units of one of: Thyrikite, Organo-Crystal, Stelanictite. Costs an upkeep of 75 Resources per turn, each unit of Exotics supplied costs 20 Resources.
[] Extreme Exotic Resources - roll 1d100 per turn on 90+ gain 1d5+7 units of one of: Auramite, Lorelei. Costs 100 Resources per turn, each unit supplied costs 40 Resources.
[] Notable Xeno Resources - roll 1d100 per turn on 100 gain 1d5+3 units of one of: Necrodermis, Noctilith, Wraithbone, Soulglass, Strangesteel. Costs 125 Resources per turn, each unit unit supplied costs 80 Resources
Contracts: multiple of the same can be taken barring the Army one
[] Hiring out the Private army to House Norastye
-[] No Control (Norastye can only use the Army in ways that Atraxas allows): Provides 5 Resources per turn
-[] Limited Control (Norastye can do discretionary actions with the Army within reasonble departure from Atraxas' orders): Provides 10 Resources per turn
-[] Full Control (Norastye can use the Army as they will for the duration of the contract): Provides 20 Resources per turn.
-[] Duration of Contract (write in a value between 1 and 10)
[] Xeno Acquisition
-[] write in a minor race (Necrons and Eldar are not possible targets)
-[] cost varies between 10 and 100 Resources depending on the target species
-[] Write in time frame, base time is 1d5 turns, lowering increases Cost by 10 and increasing reduces Cost by 10. Can not be lowered below 4 times, nor extended more than 11 times.
[] Xeno Tech Acquisition (the below values are for non esoteric races or unknown races)
-[] Write in minor xeno race (Necrons and Eldar are not possible targets)
-[] cost is set in this case to 25 Resources
-[] Base time is 1 turn
[] Information - write in subject that you wand information on, cost is 10/25/50/100 for Local/Sector/Segmentum/Galactic subjects.
[] Support - gain dice to actions, each type costs a set amount for extra Dice. You can only buy a total of 5 dice per turn and each Dice increases the cost by 1.5x for the next Dice rounded up
Martial: 10
Diplomacy: 25
Intrigue: 50
Stewardship: 15
Learning: 40
Faith: 5
[] Mutant Acquisition
-[] write in desired type of mutation/appearance does not need to have a canon example
-[] Cost is 10 Resources
-[] Base time of 1d3 turns can be reduced by one turn for 5 Resources or cost reduced by one turn for 5 resources returned, can not be reduced below 1 and can be extended no more than 3 turns
These actions provide Credit which is used in place of Resources for Norastye Contracts
Permanent Credit never fades as long as the payment remains in effect and are constant effects
[] Provide a permanent berth in the shipyard for Norastye flagged ship: provides 10 Permanent Credit with Norastye, reduces Production Cap of System by 25
[] Build a House upon Shogi for the Norastye Dynasty: provides 25 Permanent Credit with Norastye, must be done via an Action with the following values: Cost: 250, Suspicion: 0, DC: 100, Type: Stewardship
[] Enable Training of Norastye forces by Shogi trainers: provides 5 Permanent Credit with Norastye, increase Military Services by 10
[] Provide a Battleship: provides 200 Permanent Credit with Norastye
Temporary Credits apply only once before its used up
[] Imperial Relic (Credit Value varies from 0 to 100 depending on Quality, DC are every 10 and Credit increases by 10 each breakpoint. Unlocks a Learning action to make relics.)
[] Sell a ship (Credit Value varies from 0 for a transport to 5k for a Grand Cruiser)
[] Sell Exatari Relics (Credit Value varies from 0 to 1000 depending on use case of the item, DC every 5 and the Breakpoints increase value by 50, this action can only be done by Atraxas or someone skilled in Exatari principles.)
Archmagos Requests
Sincratus: wants biological samples from non mammalian races, will provide either a compendium on human genetics, or a treatise on warp biology. Cost: the same as the Xeno Acquisition Contract
Quirana: wants data on esoteric fields of study suitable for teaching others, will provide training to one Advisor as a favor in a desired field for 5 turns. Cost: 10 Resources
Gravus: wants a Necron Gravity relic for testing purposes, will provide his services for free on a ship project regardless of size of ship and improve the speed of building large ships permanently by 5%. Not Currently Possible by Norastye
Luraia: wants Necron Relics relating to Time or a Cryptek, will reduce Anger Growth by half permanently and provide Bo2 to all rolls on Shogi not involving the warp or psyker powers. Not Currently Possible by Norastye
Lanista Caisa: wants a breeding pair of prize winning fighting dogs for refinement of the cyberhounds of Shogi. Will provide a stable of cybercanids for Atraxas to make use of. Cost: 5 Resources.
Notitio: wants various computer programs from xeno races to practice breaking, will provide a bonus to future Shogi Cyber Security and will add a dice to the next action aimed at improving it Cost: the same as the Xenotech Acquisition Contract
Sangia: wants a breeding population of various Abhuman strains for genetic testing and experimentation, will provide a compendium on human biology of the Archmagos level and will unlock actions to improve the Shogi population. Cost: The same as the Mutant Acquisition Contract
Casus: wants a report on the sector, will provide +5 to all actions taken the next turn after this is completed. Cost: the same as the Info contact for Sector
Vulka: wants support in building a new lab to work in, will increase production capacity of Shogi System by 5% and future expansions to Production Cap by 5%. Cost: one dice from Support (Learning) and the Xenotech Acquisition Contract
Various Archmagos: Will provide Anger Reduction or One Dice to one action to which their support is valuable or Suspicion reduction. This request can be filled up to 3 times per turn and costs 10/50/250 Resources or Credit for Norastye to complete these requests.
Step Down - Yurael is highly unsuited for the position that she is currently in and with the Blackmail that was recovered it is possible to force her to step aside. It says something that there is no other notable use for this material beyond removing her from the office she currently occupies (this does not take an action)
Improve the private army - Your current private army is near the peak of the average of the Imperium's military according to Harper, but that is not sufficient. It can be made better, more gear and better gear can be provided, training can be improved until it can fight in the hardest battles. It might never reach the level of a War Hive, but just because they are humans does not mean that it is acceptable to not strive for such a level.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (Upkeep (Military Services): 10) (DC: 10)
(Result: Upgrade private army to Peak Imperial Guard, providing it with a +5 when doing Martial actions on world)
Improve the PDF - The PDF of any fortress world is impressive by the standards of the Imperium, but it can always be improved. Increasing the training regimens, upgrading their weapons and vehicles allowed, improving interdepartmental relations. All can be smoothed over and result in a better defense for the world.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 100) (Upkeep (Military Services): 25) (DC: 500)
(Result: The PDF upgraded to low Solar Auxillia level in equipment. More actions unlocked)
Improve the SDF (Minor) - The planetary fleet is in a sad situation, gutted through several decades of lack of maintenance and being sold off to fund more critical planetary situations, now only a shadow remains. But that shadow could be improved with relative ease for little cost.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 250) (Upkeep (Military Services): 25) (DC: 200)
(Result: The fleet improved to Low Imperial Quality from Pitiful Imperial Quality)
Improve the SDF (Major) - There is a saying among the competent command staff of the Imperial armed forces: "Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics." Anyone who spares more than a second to think about warfare will realize quickly that it is the void of space that allows for the flow of logistics across the Imperium of Man, and as such control over it and by extension control over the orbitals is key to emerging victorious against all manner of threats. Currently a small sized fleet is garrisoned in your system and a moderate patrol fleet monitors the rest of the region. It would be possible to renovate the planetary fleet to be worth the title of Fleet in the greater Imperial Navy.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 2000) (Upkeep (Military Services): 200) (DC: 1000)
(Result: The fleet improved to Average Fortress World, more actions unlocked. Will not include battleships)
Improve planetside fortresses - Imperial architecture is a wonder to behold. Sturdy, massive, and well-suited to its terrain. However, you have your own extensive knowledge of defensive siegeworks to fall back on, and there are still a few schemas from your people that would be of use for this world.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 200)
(Result: Military citadels improved, resistant to heavy orbital bombardment, gives bonuses to nearby military forces. Future actions unlocked)
Improve system defenses - A fortress world by definition boasts massive defenses in its orbit and immediate zone of control in a system, but it does not necessarily have defenses that can cover a system. That flaw must be rectified as soon as possible, to ensure a proper defensive fallback for any forces caught by their foes.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 250) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 500)
(Result: basic lines of defense platforms scattered throughout system, more options unlocked for further improvements.)
Improve planetary orbital defenses - Ahh, how you miss the molten metal surface of your homeworld. It was slightly dismaying all those millennia ago when your people discovered the comparative... vulnerability of other planets to impacts from space. Still, there are many ways to solve this problem, and one of them is orbital defense systems, to strike down any voidborne enemies before they can begin bombardment. What is already in place is within acceptable parameters, but one can never be too careful when considering the survival of one's own world.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 100) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 150)
(Result: Improved orbital stations and satellites, more actions unlocked)
Fortify cities - perhaps the cities can not be fortified to the degree you would prefer, for the Humans desire to see the natural light of the star above. A strange desire that your people never developed due to your evolution within the dark heart of your world, but bunkers dug deep into the planet could be done and the humans would accept that.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 20) (DC: 20)
(Result: Majority of population protected from light orbital bombardment, increased storage capacity by 1000, more options unlocked)
Bury Military Complexes - Humans might be content with leaving things to chance, with critical infrastructure above the surface or near the surface as things stand. However, the Exatari are not so content to let their defenses stand low. The greatest defense the Homeworld possess is that of the hundreds of kilometers of molten metal that covers the surface. Bury all that is critical under the ground at great depths and the world will live even through the worst of sieges.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (Upkeep (Military Services): 20) (DC: 500)
(Result: Military critical infrastructure highly resistant to non Exterminatus orbital bombardment. Military forces can move between regions protected from orbital bombardment, increased storage capacity by 200. Second phase unlocked)
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (Upkeep (Military Services): 10) (DC: 10)
(Result: Upgrade private army to Peak Imperial Guard, providing it with a +5 when doing Martial actions on world)
Improve the PDF - The PDF of any fortress world is impressive by the standards of the Imperium, but it can always be improved. Increasing the training regimens, upgrading their weapons and vehicles allowed, improving interdepartmental relations. All can be smoothed over and result in a better defense for the world.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 100) (Upkeep (Military Services): 25) (DC: 500)
(Result: The PDF upgraded to low Solar Auxillia level in equipment. More actions unlocked)
Improve the SDF (Minor) - The planetary fleet is in a sad situation, gutted through several decades of lack of maintenance and being sold off to fund more critical planetary situations, now only a shadow remains. But that shadow could be improved with relative ease for little cost.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 250) (Upkeep (Military Services): 25) (DC: 200)
(Result: The fleet improved to Low Imperial Quality from Pitiful Imperial Quality)
Improve the SDF (Major) - There is a saying among the competent command staff of the Imperial armed forces: "Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics." Anyone who spares more than a second to think about warfare will realize quickly that it is the void of space that allows for the flow of logistics across the Imperium of Man, and as such control over it and by extension control over the orbitals is key to emerging victorious against all manner of threats. Currently a small sized fleet is garrisoned in your system and a moderate patrol fleet monitors the rest of the region. It would be possible to renovate the planetary fleet to be worth the title of Fleet in the greater Imperial Navy.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 2000) (Upkeep (Military Services): 200) (DC: 1000)
(Result: The fleet improved to Average Fortress World, more actions unlocked. Will not include battleships)
Improve planetside fortresses - Imperial architecture is a wonder to behold. Sturdy, massive, and well-suited to its terrain. However, you have your own extensive knowledge of defensive siegeworks to fall back on, and there are still a few schemas from your people that would be of use for this world.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 200)
(Result: Military citadels improved, resistant to heavy orbital bombardment, gives bonuses to nearby military forces. Future actions unlocked)
Improve system defenses - A fortress world by definition boasts massive defenses in its orbit and immediate zone of control in a system, but it does not necessarily have defenses that can cover a system. That flaw must be rectified as soon as possible, to ensure a proper defensive fallback for any forces caught by their foes.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 250) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 500)
(Result: basic lines of defense platforms scattered throughout system, more options unlocked for further improvements.)
Improve planetary orbital defenses - Ahh, how you miss the molten metal surface of your homeworld. It was slightly dismaying all those millennia ago when your people discovered the comparative... vulnerability of other planets to impacts from space. Still, there are many ways to solve this problem, and one of them is orbital defense systems, to strike down any voidborne enemies before they can begin bombardment. What is already in place is within acceptable parameters, but one can never be too careful when considering the survival of one's own world.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 100) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 150)
(Result: Improved orbital stations and satellites, more actions unlocked)
Fortify cities - perhaps the cities can not be fortified to the degree you would prefer, for the Humans desire to see the natural light of the star above. A strange desire that your people never developed due to your evolution within the dark heart of your world, but bunkers dug deep into the planet could be done and the humans would accept that.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 20) (DC: 20)
(Result: Majority of population protected from light orbital bombardment, increased storage capacity by 1000, more options unlocked)
Bury Military Complexes - Humans might be content with leaving things to chance, with critical infrastructure above the surface or near the surface as things stand. However, the Exatari are not so content to let their defenses stand low. The greatest defense the Homeworld possess is that of the hundreds of kilometers of molten metal that covers the surface. Bury all that is critical under the ground at great depths and the world will live even through the worst of sieges.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (Upkeep (Military Services): 20) (DC: 500)
(Result: Military critical infrastructure highly resistant to non Exterminatus orbital bombardment. Military forces can move between regions protected from orbital bombardment, increased storage capacity by 200. Second phase unlocked)
Improve Relations with Astartes Chapters - "They shall be my finest warriors" said the Emperor, upon the original creation of the geneforged super soldiers of the Imperium of Man, and if your research is accurate, he was not wrong. Self-governing, secretive, and mighty, these Space Marines serve as the best strike forces available and have been known to turn the tide of battle just when hope seems lost. It would be in your best interests to remain on at least neutral terms with those who are within range of your system
(Suspicion: -20) (Resource Cost: 100) (DC: 250)
(Result: Learn the names and general culture of the Astartes Chapters in close proximity to Shogi.)
Improve Relations with Rogue Traders - In this region of space there are almost certainly a handful of rogue traders that would be amiable to opening lines of communications with Shogi for more permanent employment and contracts.
(Suspicion: 15) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 50)
(Result: gain contacts among the Rogue Traders and can offer missions for them to complete for various resource bounties)
Contact House Norastye - With connections to the House secured it is possible to reach out to write new contracts and update previous standing ones with new information
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC:10)
(Result: Opens a sub vote for new Norastye contracts for them to undertake)
Contact the Planetary Guilds - It was in a way relaxing to learn that other races had the same divisions of labor among their worlds as occurred upon the Homeworld. People aligned to their interests and mastered their jobs, perhaps not to the level you would find acceptable back home, but here it is passable.
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: 20)
(Result: Ensure that native production is at maximum, No need to do this action again until at least 1/4 of production is used)
Contact the Interplanetary Guilds - If the planetary guilds manage the resources of the world then these grey markets control the flow of resources within the subsector. Thankfully, as a Fortress world Shogi has a high level of priority, but perhaps a personal touch could help repair some of the damage that had occurred prior to your installment.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 60)
(Results: Ensure that the interplanetary guilds do not blacklist or otherwise negatively impact Shogi, more actions will become available)
Improve Relations with Agri-Worlds - As a Fortress World, Shogi is designed to stand up to years of grueling siege and confound any invasion from the enemies of man before they can reach other parts of the God-Emperor's dominion. However, all things run out eventually, including food, and Shogi despite its large stocks of emergency rations is by no means self-sufficient. With such a clear vulnerability, ensuring a smooth connection with the planet's suppliers of sustenance seems to be worth the effort
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 0) (DC: 30)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Agri Worlds)
Improve Relations with Forge Worlds - It was by the will of the Cult Mechanicus that you became Planetary Governor in the first place, and it is by the might of this cult's vast industrial base that the armies of the Imperium remain in fighting shape. For both personal and administrative reasons, it would be wise to befriend them
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 150)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Forge Worlds, enables Adeptus Missions to reduce their anger)
Improve Relations with Mining Worlds - Shogi has the mineral wealth to be fully self sufficient in production in time, but at the same time there is currently no need to exploit its reserves when the Imperium has countless worlds that are settled solely for the purpose of such exploitation and harvesting of their bounty. An inelegant manner to be sure, but the best that you can currently manage and even more critical now that revelations of the truth of the matter have occurred.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50 per Mining World) (DC: 30 rolled individually for each world)
(Results: Appease Mining Worlds)
Open Trade Talks with Mining Worlds - Even with emassieres of the worlds having met, it is always prudent to refactor trade deals when the time comes and to ensure that the trade never falters once more. Call upon the worlds to meet once more and to reset the contracts between them and Shogi.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: 25)
(Results: Open trade talks with Mining Worlds once more)
Improve Relations with Hive Worlds - monumental worlds to the Imperium's manifold failures as a government, yet impressive for their resilience in the face of such troubles. Their population soars into the high billions, nearing the trillions on some of their number, even a mere fraction would fill all the homes of Shogi many times over. With careful parleying and entreaties, it might be possible to bring valuable skills and even mutations over.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 200) (DC: 50)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Hive Worlds)
Improve Relations with Shrine Worlds - worlds dedicated entirely to the worship of the nebulous God-Emperor, a strange practice and one that perhaps makes sense only to the minds of humans. The worlds lack conventional forces of note, but seem to have a high likelihood of possessing orders of the strange all female warriors you had heard of in passing and Kara once was.
(Suspicion: -10) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: 30)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Shrine Worlds)
Improve Relations with Fortress Worlds - Fortress worlds are inherently solitary and yet linked, a strange mixture in your mind. If they are to serve as a mighty bulwark they should be closer together, but the Imperium spreads them far apart leaving gaps for one determined enough to exploit. It would be prudent to close those gaps as soon as possible, before a foe exploits them.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 50)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Fortress Worlds, and to maintain the trade lanes)
Contact Cadia directly - Cadia is renowned across the Imperium as the source of the best trained troops, you are unsure of that as of now, but its prestige is without doubt and unquestioned. Reaching out a hand towards Cadia would be the first step towards getting trainers and other valuable support from the bastion.
(Suspicion: -15) (Resource Cost: 150) (DC: 50)
(Result: Can start gaining Cadian Favor by completing Missions for them, this favor can be used to buy support from Cadia.)
Improve Public Perception - the perception of humans is a fickle thing to say the least, you have been considered a monster, a friend and even a prospective lover all by the same human within a singular month long period. Managing such fickle opinions is difficult, but necessary if one would desire to live when one is a xeno in the midsts of their natural foe.
(Suspicion: -5) (Resource Cost: 20) (DC: 50)
(Result: Gain a measure of the culture of Shogi, unlocks more actions related to propaganda and culture shaping. This action can only be used once per century (10 turns))
(Suspicion: -20) (Resource Cost: 100) (DC: 250)
(Result: Learn the names and general culture of the Astartes Chapters in close proximity to Shogi.)
Improve Relations with Rogue Traders - In this region of space there are almost certainly a handful of rogue traders that would be amiable to opening lines of communications with Shogi for more permanent employment and contracts.
(Suspicion: 15) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 50)
(Result: gain contacts among the Rogue Traders and can offer missions for them to complete for various resource bounties)
Contact House Norastye - With connections to the House secured it is possible to reach out to write new contracts and update previous standing ones with new information
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC:10)
(Result: Opens a sub vote for new Norastye contracts for them to undertake)
Contact the Planetary Guilds - It was in a way relaxing to learn that other races had the same divisions of labor among their worlds as occurred upon the Homeworld. People aligned to their interests and mastered their jobs, perhaps not to the level you would find acceptable back home, but here it is passable.
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: 20)
(Result: Ensure that native production is at maximum, No need to do this action again until at least 1/4 of production is used)
Contact the Interplanetary Guilds - If the planetary guilds manage the resources of the world then these grey markets control the flow of resources within the subsector. Thankfully, as a Fortress world Shogi has a high level of priority, but perhaps a personal touch could help repair some of the damage that had occurred prior to your installment.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 60)
(Results: Ensure that the interplanetary guilds do not blacklist or otherwise negatively impact Shogi, more actions will become available)
Improve Relations with Agri-Worlds - As a Fortress World, Shogi is designed to stand up to years of grueling siege and confound any invasion from the enemies of man before they can reach other parts of the God-Emperor's dominion. However, all things run out eventually, including food, and Shogi despite its large stocks of emergency rations is by no means self-sufficient. With such a clear vulnerability, ensuring a smooth connection with the planet's suppliers of sustenance seems to be worth the effort
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 0) (DC: 30)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Agri Worlds)
Improve Relations with Forge Worlds - It was by the will of the Cult Mechanicus that you became Planetary Governor in the first place, and it is by the might of this cult's vast industrial base that the armies of the Imperium remain in fighting shape. For both personal and administrative reasons, it would be wise to befriend them
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 150)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Forge Worlds, enables Adeptus Missions to reduce their anger)
Improve Relations with Mining Worlds - Shogi has the mineral wealth to be fully self sufficient in production in time, but at the same time there is currently no need to exploit its reserves when the Imperium has countless worlds that are settled solely for the purpose of such exploitation and harvesting of their bounty. An inelegant manner to be sure, but the best that you can currently manage and even more critical now that revelations of the truth of the matter have occurred.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50 per Mining World) (DC: 30 rolled individually for each world)
(Results: Appease Mining Worlds)
Open Trade Talks with Mining Worlds - Even with emassieres of the worlds having met, it is always prudent to refactor trade deals when the time comes and to ensure that the trade never falters once more. Call upon the worlds to meet once more and to reset the contracts between them and Shogi.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: 25)
(Results: Open trade talks with Mining Worlds once more)
Improve Relations with Hive Worlds - monumental worlds to the Imperium's manifold failures as a government, yet impressive for their resilience in the face of such troubles. Their population soars into the high billions, nearing the trillions on some of their number, even a mere fraction would fill all the homes of Shogi many times over. With careful parleying and entreaties, it might be possible to bring valuable skills and even mutations over.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 200) (DC: 50)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Hive Worlds)
Improve Relations with Shrine Worlds - worlds dedicated entirely to the worship of the nebulous God-Emperor, a strange practice and one that perhaps makes sense only to the minds of humans. The worlds lack conventional forces of note, but seem to have a high likelihood of possessing orders of the strange all female warriors you had heard of in passing and Kara once was.
(Suspicion: -10) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: 30)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Shrine Worlds)
Improve Relations with Fortress Worlds - Fortress worlds are inherently solitary and yet linked, a strange mixture in your mind. If they are to serve as a mighty bulwark they should be closer together, but the Imperium spreads them far apart leaving gaps for one determined enough to exploit. It would be prudent to close those gaps as soon as possible, before a foe exploits them.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 50)
(Results: Open lines of communication with nearby Fortress Worlds, and to maintain the trade lanes)
Contact Cadia directly - Cadia is renowned across the Imperium as the source of the best trained troops, you are unsure of that as of now, but its prestige is without doubt and unquestioned. Reaching out a hand towards Cadia would be the first step towards getting trainers and other valuable support from the bastion.
(Suspicion: -15) (Resource Cost: 150) (DC: 50)
(Result: Can start gaining Cadian Favor by completing Missions for them, this favor can be used to buy support from Cadia.)
Improve Public Perception - the perception of humans is a fickle thing to say the least, you have been considered a monster, a friend and even a prospective lover all by the same human within a singular month long period. Managing such fickle opinions is difficult, but necessary if one would desire to live when one is a xeno in the midsts of their natural foe.
(Suspicion: -5) (Resource Cost: 20) (DC: 50)
(Result: Gain a measure of the culture of Shogi, unlocks more actions related to propaganda and culture shaping. This action can only be used once per century (10 turns))
Improve planetside spies - You may be officially in charge of an entire planet that possesses some of the best military forces in the Sector, but what is official and what is true are not necessarily the same. Surely someone will want you deposed or will be investigating your past, and you want to know who is doing what and where. Thankfully, there is already an intelligence service available to you, and it would be easy to justify your requests given how abrupt your rise into political office was.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 20) (Upkeep (Counter Intelligence): 50) (DC: 150)
(Result: Spynet upgraded and improved, more actions unlocked)
Establish subsector spies - You cannot solely depend upon the rumor mill and public statements to understand what is going on. Knowing is half the battle after all, and you intend to know everything you need to long before there is a battle. Blackmail, corruption, secret wars, and more go on all the time, after all, and it would frankly be stranger if you didn't try to have your ear to the ground for this sort of thing
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 100) (Upkeep (Counter Intelligence): 100) (DC: 250)
(Result: gain direct access to the subsector plans, and the sector capital's plans. Have access to all the diplomatically important events)
Improve counterintelligence - People are surely already trying to spy on you. A complete newcomer becoming Planetary Governor? With such a bizarre turn of events there's bound to be people with both noble and less-than-noble intentions looking into everything you want to do and possibly trying to sabotage it, and you won't stand for it. Luckily, you already have ideas in mind for how to deal with this problem
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Counter Intelligence): 50) (DC: 200)
(Result: gain an awareness of the spy rings on the world from other worlds, until they adapt their systems. Unlocks more actions)
Acquire blackmail on someone - Leverage is required to get what you want at this time, and you have ways of getting it. Pick an individual that is proving troublesome and try to either find or forge evidence of their terrible wrongdoing
(Suspicion: Depends on Target) (Resource Cost: Depends on Target) (DC: Depends on Target)
(Result: gain a stack of Blackmail on the chosen target, unlocks blackmail specific actions where you can spend blackmail to force the target to act.
Search and destroy: heretical activity - Cults that have been corrupted by the laws of the warp, by the mind-bending powers of foul machinery, or by other means that sicken you to consider, can always be found somewhere among a large enough human population. You will seek them out and crush them beneath your legs.
(Suspicion: -5) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: Unknown)
(Result: Unlocks martial actions to handle cultists, unlocks Intrigue actions to capture cultists.)
Search and destroy: conventional corruption - You may be a spy for a race that standard Imperial teachings would say requires extermination, but you are also, albeit accidentally, in charge of a human planet, and you want your decrees to actually go through. Bureaucrats that delay important policy by weeks and months through either incompetence, malice, or self-interest will not last long in this administration if you have anything to say about it.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 50)
(Result: reduces likelihood of random events from mundane corruption)
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 20) (Upkeep (Counter Intelligence): 50) (DC: 150)
(Result: Spynet upgraded and improved, more actions unlocked)
Establish subsector spies - You cannot solely depend upon the rumor mill and public statements to understand what is going on. Knowing is half the battle after all, and you intend to know everything you need to long before there is a battle. Blackmail, corruption, secret wars, and more go on all the time, after all, and it would frankly be stranger if you didn't try to have your ear to the ground for this sort of thing
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 100) (Upkeep (Counter Intelligence): 100) (DC: 250)
(Result: gain direct access to the subsector plans, and the sector capital's plans. Have access to all the diplomatically important events)
Improve counterintelligence - People are surely already trying to spy on you. A complete newcomer becoming Planetary Governor? With such a bizarre turn of events there's bound to be people with both noble and less-than-noble intentions looking into everything you want to do and possibly trying to sabotage it, and you won't stand for it. Luckily, you already have ideas in mind for how to deal with this problem
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Counter Intelligence): 50) (DC: 200)
(Result: gain an awareness of the spy rings on the world from other worlds, until they adapt their systems. Unlocks more actions)
Acquire blackmail on someone - Leverage is required to get what you want at this time, and you have ways of getting it. Pick an individual that is proving troublesome and try to either find or forge evidence of their terrible wrongdoing
(Suspicion: Depends on Target) (Resource Cost: Depends on Target) (DC: Depends on Target)
(Result: gain a stack of Blackmail on the chosen target, unlocks blackmail specific actions where you can spend blackmail to force the target to act.
Search and destroy: heretical activity - Cults that have been corrupted by the laws of the warp, by the mind-bending powers of foul machinery, or by other means that sicken you to consider, can always be found somewhere among a large enough human population. You will seek them out and crush them beneath your legs.
(Suspicion: -5) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: Unknown)
(Result: Unlocks martial actions to handle cultists, unlocks Intrigue actions to capture cultists.)
Search and destroy: conventional corruption - You may be a spy for a race that standard Imperial teachings would say requires extermination, but you are also, albeit accidentally, in charge of a human planet, and you want your decrees to actually go through. Bureaucrats that delay important policy by weeks and months through either incompetence, malice, or self-interest will not last long in this administration if you have anything to say about it.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 50)
(Result: reduces likelihood of random events from mundane corruption)
Improve the Arbites - Due to Shogi's strategic importance, it receives a far larger allotment of the Adeptus Arbites to enforce the Lex Imperialis than on most worlds, to the point that a typical security service would be redundant. As such, the Adeptus Arbites of Shogi include local law into their work and have the strength to keep up with the demands of their station. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't benefit from better investigative equipment and better designed facilities though.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 10) (Upkeep (Social Services): 25) (DC: 50)
(Result: Upgrades the Arbites to Imperial Guard levels, more actions unlocked)
Renovate infrastructure - Shogi's transportation systems are above the average for Imperial worlds, as they must be in order to facilitate an effective defense against invaders to the planet. However, there is always room for improvement. Better roads, updated rail systems, and a streamlined shipping network would all contribute towards a far more reactive planetary military and economy.
(Suspicion (Ongoing): 30) (Resource Cost: 1000/2000/3000/4000/5000) (DC: 200/400/600/800/1000)
(Result: Universal improvement to the world status, more actions unlocked after the final stage, can be done in stages as shown above)
Improve city planning - While military installations received some of the best designs and materials available, those ordinary people that live in civilian housing and produce goods meant for common use do not have the same luxury. Sewage systems intersect in bizarre ways, many foundations are not sufficient to hold the weight of human constructs that stand atop them, and travel from place to place is inefficient. It will not be cheap, but you could certainly make changes to these centers of commerce and industry for the better.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 20) (Upkeep Cost (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 500)
(Result: Improved city defenses, improved stability of world, improved siege readiness. Gives army conditional bonuses to mobility within cities. More actions unlocked)
Improve legal procedure - The Imperial legal system is a labyrinthine conglomerate that even scholars dedicated to the field often cannot fully navigate. Months, years, and even decades can pass from the time an offense is supposedly committed to the time that a conclusion is reached, assuming of course that all parties involved remain alive and do not withdraw their cases in that time. It would be for the best if you did what you could to make this monstrosity somewhat more manageable, if for no other reason than it ties up fewer resources than the status quo
(Suspicion: 75) (Resource Cost: 100) (DC: 1000)
(Result: all extraction sources provide 10% more income, all upkeep is reduced by 5%, trade deals are easier)
Streamline the code of law - The number of laws currently in place is literally uncountable, for the Imperium's highest lawmaking authorities seem to have an aversion to stopping and as such the the moment you recite the number it has already become out of date. Admittedly, most of them do not affect daily operations for the vast majority of the populace, but by sheer volume some inevitably make an impact and are often indecipherable even if one has access to them. For the sake of making it possible to not violate the law, you will be attempting to reduce the number of contradicting and redundant laws as well as providing restatements that can actually be understood
(Suspicion: 150) (Resource Cost: 150) (DC: 2000)
(Result: All actions are cheaper and max suspicion is increased by 50, gain an extra action to all departments)
Begin extraplanetary resource exploitation - Shogi is not the only planet within its system, and where matter condenses you will be sure to find something of some value. Place a bounty for survey data on the planets and moons of the system's other bodies and provide financial incentives to set up extraction infrastructure and colonies upon those which hold worthwhile materials for the Imperium
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Life Support): 10) (DC: 100)
(Result: Gives +25 to system extraction, can be taken a maximum of 33 times, can be improved with future actions)
Reform the tax code - At this point, more money is spent on those who collect and tally up the money than is reasonable, and then you have to deal with untold exemptions, penalties, and the following legal battles and bribery bidding wars. For the sake of putting these taxes to actual use, attempt the monumental feat of making the tax code discernible, reasonable, and effective.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 250)
(Result: trade deals biased in your favor, economic events biased towards neutral. more actions)
Increase native extraction (5th) - The Imperium ever hungers for more. More bodies, more food, more construction, and especially more weapons. Where you can, have more manufactorums built so as to make the planet more self-reliant and less in danger of catastrophe if access to the wider network of trade and logistics were restricted
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 50)
(Result: Increase Shogi native extraction by 10, this action can be taken a maximum of 15 times, will unlock more actions to improve extraction rates)
Set up a personal weapon fund - Ah the Lasgun. Practically the defining icon of the Astra Militarum and one of the finest examples of Imperial technology you've yet seen. Reliable to an extreme, versatile, light, easy to learn, easy to manufacture, and possessing nigh-infinite ammunition on the strategic level. Why so many seem to not appreciate its worth, you will never know, but what you do know is that it's an excellent investment to make. This, along with other staple Imperial light arms will be made available for all the planet's residents as soon as you are able to make the purchase.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Social Services): 20) (DC: 100)
(Result: All individuals on Shogi will be armed with Imperial Guard quality las weapons. More actions unlocked)
Shipyard Expansion - The yards above Shogi are more than sufficient to build even the battleships of the Imperium, even multiple at once, but for all their grandeur, it is no secret that even greater ships fly the Imperium's flag across the galaxy. Each of them is a monument to the power of their owner and the wealth of their construction, but beyond such meaningless trifle is the power that such a vessel can command. Each worth a fleet in their own right, without question and it would be possible if expensive to expand the yards to allow for such a vessel to be built under the banner of Shogi.
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 2000) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 200) (DC: 2000)
(Result: Allows production of ships greater in size to the Battleships of the Imperium, allows for better ship building as a whole and more actions, increases system production by 500.)
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 10) (Upkeep (Social Services): 25) (DC: 50)
(Result: Upgrades the Arbites to Imperial Guard levels, more actions unlocked)
Renovate infrastructure - Shogi's transportation systems are above the average for Imperial worlds, as they must be in order to facilitate an effective defense against invaders to the planet. However, there is always room for improvement. Better roads, updated rail systems, and a streamlined shipping network would all contribute towards a far more reactive planetary military and economy.
(Suspicion (Ongoing): 30) (Resource Cost: 1000/2000/3000/4000/5000) (DC: 200/400/600/800/1000)
(Result: Universal improvement to the world status, more actions unlocked after the final stage, can be done in stages as shown above)
Improve city planning - While military installations received some of the best designs and materials available, those ordinary people that live in civilian housing and produce goods meant for common use do not have the same luxury. Sewage systems intersect in bizarre ways, many foundations are not sufficient to hold the weight of human constructs that stand atop them, and travel from place to place is inefficient. It will not be cheap, but you could certainly make changes to these centers of commerce and industry for the better.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 20) (Upkeep Cost (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 500)
(Result: Improved city defenses, improved stability of world, improved siege readiness. Gives army conditional bonuses to mobility within cities. More actions unlocked)
Improve legal procedure - The Imperial legal system is a labyrinthine conglomerate that even scholars dedicated to the field often cannot fully navigate. Months, years, and even decades can pass from the time an offense is supposedly committed to the time that a conclusion is reached, assuming of course that all parties involved remain alive and do not withdraw their cases in that time. It would be for the best if you did what you could to make this monstrosity somewhat more manageable, if for no other reason than it ties up fewer resources than the status quo
(Suspicion: 75) (Resource Cost: 100) (DC: 1000)
(Result: all extraction sources provide 10% more income, all upkeep is reduced by 5%, trade deals are easier)
Streamline the code of law - The number of laws currently in place is literally uncountable, for the Imperium's highest lawmaking authorities seem to have an aversion to stopping and as such the the moment you recite the number it has already become out of date. Admittedly, most of them do not affect daily operations for the vast majority of the populace, but by sheer volume some inevitably make an impact and are often indecipherable even if one has access to them. For the sake of making it possible to not violate the law, you will be attempting to reduce the number of contradicting and redundant laws as well as providing restatements that can actually be understood
(Suspicion: 150) (Resource Cost: 150) (DC: 2000)
(Result: All actions are cheaper and max suspicion is increased by 50, gain an extra action to all departments)
Begin extraplanetary resource exploitation - Shogi is not the only planet within its system, and where matter condenses you will be sure to find something of some value. Place a bounty for survey data on the planets and moons of the system's other bodies and provide financial incentives to set up extraction infrastructure and colonies upon those which hold worthwhile materials for the Imperium
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Life Support): 10) (DC: 100)
(Result: Gives +25 to system extraction, can be taken a maximum of 33 times, can be improved with future actions)
Reform the tax code - At this point, more money is spent on those who collect and tally up the money than is reasonable, and then you have to deal with untold exemptions, penalties, and the following legal battles and bribery bidding wars. For the sake of putting these taxes to actual use, attempt the monumental feat of making the tax code discernible, reasonable, and effective.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 250)
(Result: trade deals biased in your favor, economic events biased towards neutral. more actions)
Increase native extraction (5th) - The Imperium ever hungers for more. More bodies, more food, more construction, and especially more weapons. Where you can, have more manufactorums built so as to make the planet more self-reliant and less in danger of catastrophe if access to the wider network of trade and logistics were restricted
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 50)
(Result: Increase Shogi native extraction by 10, this action can be taken a maximum of 15 times, will unlock more actions to improve extraction rates)
Set up a personal weapon fund - Ah the Lasgun. Practically the defining icon of the Astra Militarum and one of the finest examples of Imperial technology you've yet seen. Reliable to an extreme, versatile, light, easy to learn, easy to manufacture, and possessing nigh-infinite ammunition on the strategic level. Why so many seem to not appreciate its worth, you will never know, but what you do know is that it's an excellent investment to make. This, along with other staple Imperial light arms will be made available for all the planet's residents as soon as you are able to make the purchase.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Social Services): 20) (DC: 100)
(Result: All individuals on Shogi will be armed with Imperial Guard quality las weapons. More actions unlocked)
Shipyard Expansion - The yards above Shogi are more than sufficient to build even the battleships of the Imperium, even multiple at once, but for all their grandeur, it is no secret that even greater ships fly the Imperium's flag across the galaxy. Each of them is a monument to the power of their owner and the wealth of their construction, but beyond such meaningless trifle is the power that such a vessel can command. Each worth a fleet in their own right, without question and it would be possible if expensive to expand the yards to allow for such a vessel to be built under the banner of Shogi.
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 2000) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 200) (DC: 2000)
(Result: Allows production of ships greater in size to the Battleships of the Imperium, allows for better ship building as a whole and more actions, increases system production by 500.)
Logistic Optimization - it might be a while before proper standardization can be brought to Shogi, but it is more than possible to expedite the arrival of materials and workers throughout the world. Carefully adjusting various systems that interplay upon each other will ensure that everyone reaches their destination on time and with the minimum of wasted effort. It might be difficult, for a human, but for one of the Exatari it should be more than doable.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 10) (DC: 200)
(Effect: all building/production related actions roll a free 1d5 for DC progress when being undertaken, this rolls per turn and is affected by double down effect, unlocks more actions)
Factory Investigation - The manufactorums that dot the surface of Shogi are monuments of inscrutable technology, that few understand these days. In order to properly improve the productivity of the world it is only sensible to first understand these factories, of course the tech priests that watch over them could pose a challenge to the investigation.
(Suspicion: 20) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 10) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 250)
(Effect: gain a good understanding of Shogi production facilities and unlock actions to improve them directly.)
Construct Testing Facility - There are many aspects of mass production that we the Exatari do not truly understand nor grasp easily. Our minds do not work in the same ways as those of humanity and as such we need more than basic information to fill in those blanks. To pursue that understanding, which requires working with the Adeptus Mechancius it would be aided by the construction of a facility in which one could test the variables at play within mass production.
(Suspicion: 30) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 5) (Resource Cost: 100) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 25) (DC: 100)
(Effect: builds a testing facility to test ideas for future usage, enhances all logistical/renovation actions post completion, more actions unlocked.)
Pacify Machines - Machine Spirits are unknown beings that live inside and between the lines of code, with primitive emotions and senses of self. But, that brings to light the fact that they are prone to mistakes and other issues that need not exist. They appear to have a positive view of me and as such it might be possible to work towards pacifying them as a whole.
(Suspicion: 50) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 50 will bypass the NULLED state) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 1000)
(Effect: all extraction will be increased by a base of 5 and production cap will be increased by a base of 100, Machine Spirits will cease to be aware/active.)
Unify Machines - Machine Spirits are interesting beings living between the lines of code, but they present a layer of inefficiency that is unacceptable. However, it is known that there are methods of controlling them, and as such it should be possible to eradicate the vast majority of such spirits from Shogi if one built a central core for all systems.
(Suspicion: 50) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 50 will bypass the NULLED state) (Resource Cost: 1000) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 100) (DC: 500)
(Effect: Creates a singular Machine Spirit that controls all machinery on Shogi, secondary effects are too unknown to be expected)
Stabilize Machines - Machine Spirits present an intriguing area of study, but they more of an annoyance to deal with than to tolerate. Their senses of self plague the machines they inhabit giving rise to tendencies that reduce the efficiency of the machine in question. However, it is known that when the spirits are pleased the machines work at an impossible level as such it stands to reason that if all machines were stabilized there would be a great boon of efficiency to Shogi.
(Suspicion: 50) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 50 will bypass the NULLED state) (Resource Cost: 250) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 200)
(Effect: Extraction sources increased by a base of 2, and production increases by a base of 25. Machine spirits biased towards the positive end of events on Shogi, but retain tempers.)
Study Voidspace technology - if there is one area in which the Imperium is the better than the Exatari overall in technology it is within the domain of space travel. The greatest defense of the Homeworld has hampered the progress of space oriented fields for countless millennia and that time lag shows dearly now. Exatari ships are sluggish and fragile compared to even the cheapest of the Imperium's, however you are certain that you could do more than they think possible with their own technology
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 150)
(Result: Gain a measure of understanding of Imperial void space technology. New actions unlocked)
Study weapons technology (Can specify a given type) - the Imperium boasts many kinds of weapons, a large number of which have never been invented upon the Homeworld. The gravity weapons for one were theorized long ago, but never saw military usage, and the same applies to many other fields in the Imperial arsenal. If the worst comes to pass and the Imperium finds the Homeworld, they need to be prepared to combat the unknown.
(Suspicion: Variable) (Resource Cost: Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: Gain a measure of skill with the weapon type)
Study the Particle Lance - The Adeptus Mechanicus discovered a particle lance under where I had lived for several centuries prior to becoming the ruler of Shogi. They claim it comes from the age of humanity's ascendancy, as such it would be interesting to see what the anceint humans would have done with particle technology for if there is anything that we can claim mastery in it is particle physics.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: Impossible not impossible just give them 5k years) (Atraxas DC: 2500)
(Result: Enable production of a DAoT Particle Lance that can be scaled up from tank to starship scale without issue at base level.)
Study the Alloys - There was a cache of alloys recovered with the other items by the Mechanicus and they are clearly superior to what the Imperium uses and yet it is unknown by what means they are improved. There are several theories that I have heard on the topic, but together they are unlikely in my opinion but I have the chance to work with the archmagi on the samples and I could possibly discover something new.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: Impossible not impossible just give them 5k years) (Atraxas DC: 1000)
(Result: Enable production of Very Low Grade DAoT alloys in amounts useful on planetary scale. +1 VLG DAoT Alloys per turn)
Study the Theorems - The Adeptus Mechanicus discovered a set of theorems on the principles of spacetime in the cache that contained the particle lance. We might not be the masters of space and time as we are of particles, but we are still knowledgeable regarding the principles at hand.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: Impossible not impossible just give them 5k years) (Atraxas DC: 5000)
(Result: Vastly improve all gravity technology in the Imperium and for the Exatari, allow mass production of gravity technology in both species once more)
Repair the Neural Trainer - The Adeptus Mechanicus discovered a device that would greatly increase the intellect of a sapient being that it was used upon, however it is sadly broken but they believe it can be repaired. I am unsure of what help I can provide for I am not well versed in the anatomy of human minds.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: Impossible not impossible just give them 5k years) (Atraxas DC: ???)
(Result: Repair the Neural Trainer, allows for a one time +10 Learning to anyone that uses it. At first can only be used by Humans)
Invent new-... Combine existing technologies (specify intended creation): Invention is difficult at the best of times, but under the scrutiny of the Adeptus Mechanicus it is never harder, but that will not prevent the act of creation from being preformed.
(Suspicion: Variable) (Resource Cost: Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: Variable)
Invent Custom Defense Lasers for Shogi - the atmospheric composition of the world wreaks havoc upon imperial laser systems and the Adeptus Mechanicus has so far failed to find a solution for the challenge. You can do better, this is no where near as difficult of a challenge as the grand laser arrays on the Homeworld that can burn through the molten oceans to strike at spacefaring ships if needed. A strange atmosphere will pose no challenge for the ingenuity of the Exatari
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 100)
(Result: Creates Defensive Lasers with lower attenuation across the board, and higher immunity to beam dispersion from all sources. Unlocks future actions.)
Dig into Imperial history - the Imperium has existed in more or less the same state for ten thousand years, but the history is riddled with empty times and even centuries where nothing seems to have been recorded. This is an insult beyond compare for the measure of history is core to a race's existence. Scour the archives, dig up the old tombs, fund the impossible expeditions recover the records and piece together the history.
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 50)
(Result: learn about the Imperium's history and peel back the layers of obfuscation, to get to the truth as much as possible.)
Dig into planetary education system - education is important and the Exatari know that more than most, your studying lasts for centuries and only then does one get the honor of being considered an expert. To consider all angles of a question, to think on the fly and to synthesize the information into usable forms, all is needed. It is an open question on the measure of the Imperial education upon Shogi and so it must be examined.
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 150)
(Result: Learn what if anything is broken in the eduction sector and how to correct it, unlocks actions to correct/improve the education system on Shogi)
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 10) (DC: 200)
(Effect: all building/production related actions roll a free 1d5 for DC progress when being undertaken, this rolls per turn and is affected by double down effect, unlocks more actions)
Factory Investigation - The manufactorums that dot the surface of Shogi are monuments of inscrutable technology, that few understand these days. In order to properly improve the productivity of the world it is only sensible to first understand these factories, of course the tech priests that watch over them could pose a challenge to the investigation.
(Suspicion: 20) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 10) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 250)
(Effect: gain a good understanding of Shogi production facilities and unlock actions to improve them directly.)
Construct Testing Facility - There are many aspects of mass production that we the Exatari do not truly understand nor grasp easily. Our minds do not work in the same ways as those of humanity and as such we need more than basic information to fill in those blanks. To pursue that understanding, which requires working with the Adeptus Mechancius it would be aided by the construction of a facility in which one could test the variables at play within mass production.
(Suspicion: 30) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 5) (Resource Cost: 100) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 25) (DC: 100)
(Effect: builds a testing facility to test ideas for future usage, enhances all logistical/renovation actions post completion, more actions unlocked.)
Pacify Machines - Machine Spirits are unknown beings that live inside and between the lines of code, with primitive emotions and senses of self. But, that brings to light the fact that they are prone to mistakes and other issues that need not exist. They appear to have a positive view of me and as such it might be possible to work towards pacifying them as a whole.
(Suspicion: 50) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 50 will bypass the NULLED state) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 1000)
(Effect: all extraction will be increased by a base of 5 and production cap will be increased by a base of 100, Machine Spirits will cease to be aware/active.)
Unify Machines - Machine Spirits are interesting beings living between the lines of code, but they present a layer of inefficiency that is unacceptable. However, it is known that there are methods of controlling them, and as such it should be possible to eradicate the vast majority of such spirits from Shogi if one built a central core for all systems.
(Suspicion: 50) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 50 will bypass the NULLED state) (Resource Cost: 1000) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 100) (DC: 500)
(Effect: Creates a singular Machine Spirit that controls all machinery on Shogi, secondary effects are too unknown to be expected)
Stabilize Machines - Machine Spirits present an intriguing area of study, but they more of an annoyance to deal with than to tolerate. Their senses of self plague the machines they inhabit giving rise to tendencies that reduce the efficiency of the machine in question. However, it is known that when the spirits are pleased the machines work at an impossible level as such it stands to reason that if all machines were stabilized there would be a great boon of efficiency to Shogi.
(Suspicion: 50) (Adeptus Mechanicus Anger: 50 will bypass the NULLED state) (Resource Cost: 250) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 50) (DC: 200)
(Effect: Extraction sources increased by a base of 2, and production increases by a base of 25. Machine spirits biased towards the positive end of events on Shogi, but retain tempers.)
Study Voidspace technology - if there is one area in which the Imperium is the better than the Exatari overall in technology it is within the domain of space travel. The greatest defense of the Homeworld has hampered the progress of space oriented fields for countless millennia and that time lag shows dearly now. Exatari ships are sluggish and fragile compared to even the cheapest of the Imperium's, however you are certain that you could do more than they think possible with their own technology
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 150)
(Result: Gain a measure of understanding of Imperial void space technology. New actions unlocked)
Study weapons technology (Can specify a given type) - the Imperium boasts many kinds of weapons, a large number of which have never been invented upon the Homeworld. The gravity weapons for one were theorized long ago, but never saw military usage, and the same applies to many other fields in the Imperial arsenal. If the worst comes to pass and the Imperium finds the Homeworld, they need to be prepared to combat the unknown.
(Suspicion: Variable) (Resource Cost: Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: Gain a measure of skill with the weapon type)
Study the Particle Lance - The Adeptus Mechanicus discovered a particle lance under where I had lived for several centuries prior to becoming the ruler of Shogi. They claim it comes from the age of humanity's ascendancy, as such it would be interesting to see what the anceint humans would have done with particle technology for if there is anything that we can claim mastery in it is particle physics.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: Impossible not impossible just give them 5k years) (Atraxas DC: 2500)
(Result: Enable production of a DAoT Particle Lance that can be scaled up from tank to starship scale without issue at base level.)
Study the Alloys - There was a cache of alloys recovered with the other items by the Mechanicus and they are clearly superior to what the Imperium uses and yet it is unknown by what means they are improved. There are several theories that I have heard on the topic, but together they are unlikely in my opinion but I have the chance to work with the archmagi on the samples and I could possibly discover something new.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: Impossible not impossible just give them 5k years) (Atraxas DC: 1000)
(Result: Enable production of Very Low Grade DAoT alloys in amounts useful on planetary scale. +1 VLG DAoT Alloys per turn)
Study the Theorems - The Adeptus Mechanicus discovered a set of theorems on the principles of spacetime in the cache that contained the particle lance. We might not be the masters of space and time as we are of particles, but we are still knowledgeable regarding the principles at hand.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: Impossible not impossible just give them 5k years) (Atraxas DC: 5000)
(Result: Vastly improve all gravity technology in the Imperium and for the Exatari, allow mass production of gravity technology in both species once more)
Repair the Neural Trainer - The Adeptus Mechanicus discovered a device that would greatly increase the intellect of a sapient being that it was used upon, however it is sadly broken but they believe it can be repaired. I am unsure of what help I can provide for I am not well versed in the anatomy of human minds.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 5) (DC: Impossible not impossible just give them 5k years) (Atraxas DC: ???)
(Result: Repair the Neural Trainer, allows for a one time +10 Learning to anyone that uses it. At first can only be used by Humans)
Invent new-... Combine existing technologies (specify intended creation): Invention is difficult at the best of times, but under the scrutiny of the Adeptus Mechanicus it is never harder, but that will not prevent the act of creation from being preformed.
(Suspicion: Variable) (Resource Cost: Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: Variable)
Invent Custom Defense Lasers for Shogi - the atmospheric composition of the world wreaks havoc upon imperial laser systems and the Adeptus Mechanicus has so far failed to find a solution for the challenge. You can do better, this is no where near as difficult of a challenge as the grand laser arrays on the Homeworld that can burn through the molten oceans to strike at spacefaring ships if needed. A strange atmosphere will pose no challenge for the ingenuity of the Exatari
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 100)
(Result: Creates Defensive Lasers with lower attenuation across the board, and higher immunity to beam dispersion from all sources. Unlocks future actions.)
Dig into Imperial history - the Imperium has existed in more or less the same state for ten thousand years, but the history is riddled with empty times and even centuries where nothing seems to have been recorded. This is an insult beyond compare for the measure of history is core to a race's existence. Scour the archives, dig up the old tombs, fund the impossible expeditions recover the records and piece together the history.
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 50)
(Result: learn about the Imperium's history and peel back the layers of obfuscation, to get to the truth as much as possible.)
Dig into planetary education system - education is important and the Exatari know that more than most, your studying lasts for centuries and only then does one get the honor of being considered an expert. To consider all angles of a question, to think on the fly and to synthesize the information into usable forms, all is needed. It is an open question on the measure of the Imperial education upon Shogi and so it must be examined.
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 150)
(Result: Learn what if anything is broken in the eduction sector and how to correct it, unlocks actions to correct/improve the education system on Shogi)
Learn about the Sororitas - From the records on the data that Nameria provided, there are records of all female orders that wage war in the name of their god across the Imperium. It could be a productive use of my time to learn more about them such that I might know how they function.
(Suspicion: -20) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 50)
(Result: Learn about the local Sororitas orders in the sector and more detailed information on the subject)
Learn about the Astartes - I know there are several chapters of the warriors known only as the Asatartes or Angels of Death and as such it would be prudent to learn more about these enigmatic figures before I try to contact them directly. After all, it is known that they can be strange to outsiders.
(Suspicion: -20) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 50)
(Result: Learn about the local Astartes chapters and reduce the DC of diplomatic actions by 50 and the Cost by 25 Resources)
Donate to the local Church - donations to the church could be seen as trying to bribe the church for leniency for crimes committed or being plotted, but at the same time to the common folk it would be an effective manipulation to show your piety to their God Emperor.
(Suspicion: -10) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 20)
(Result: the appreciation of the Church.)
Donate to the Orphanages - If donating to the Church would be suspicious, then the orphanages would be extremely so, it is a sad fact that most humans see the funding of the service as a sign of buying political favor or virtue signaling on a grand scale. But, the hatchlings need support and you can provide it.
(Suspicion: -20) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 50)
(Result: reduce the suspicion reduction by 10 per time this action has been taken within 3 turns, unlocks more options related to orphanages)
Perform an act of Faith - Faith is a very strange consideration for the Exatari, what does it mean to have faith in something. Your people never knew the fear of death for the slumber held it at bay barring the unlucky few that died in battle beyond the ability to be merged to a Living Mausoleum in time. But it can not be that difficult to preform a rite for the God Emperor to prove your faith.
(Suspicion: Variable) (Resource Cost: Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: Variable)
Learn about alien religions - Among the stars there are many races, most of whom appear to have religions of one form or another. Perhaps it would be worth it to dig into the lore of the lore of other empires past and present to learn of how they view the world. Of course such will be extremely dangerous considering the hatred the Imperium holds for all that are xeno.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 100)
(Result: Learn about the Aeldari Religion and the Necron religions as far as the Imperium knows, unlocks new actions)
Practice your race's religion - It is strange to consider, but your people do not have many rituals that other races would consider religious in nature. It is not correct to say that you are a species of beings unaware of that which lies beyond your reach, you stand side by side with them in the Living Mausoleums and the Witness has gently guided your people for as long as records exist. But the fact remains that your worship are expressions of Creation in its purest of forms, perhaps then a ritual would be to create something without a plan or goal, just let the whim of fate take hold for a time.
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: Who knows)
Learn about Imperial view on Chaos - It has been confusing for your people and yourself to understand what the Imperium referred to with Chaos. They spoke of impossible foes that sought to destroy all of existence, but you had long since defeated their fumbling attempts to invade. Their rifts were easily sealed and their forces evicted from the Homeworld for eons at this point and they have never returned. But, perhaps the Imperium knows more than you regarding such forces.
(Suspicion: 80) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 200)
(Result: learn what the fuss about this Chaos thing actually is and why humans run in terror when its mentioned.)
(Suspicion: -20) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 50)
(Result: Learn about the local Sororitas orders in the sector and more detailed information on the subject)
Learn about the Astartes - I know there are several chapters of the warriors known only as the Asatartes or Angels of Death and as such it would be prudent to learn more about these enigmatic figures before I try to contact them directly. After all, it is known that they can be strange to outsiders.
(Suspicion: -20) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 50)
(Result: Learn about the local Astartes chapters and reduce the DC of diplomatic actions by 50 and the Cost by 25 Resources)
Donate to the local Church - donations to the church could be seen as trying to bribe the church for leniency for crimes committed or being plotted, but at the same time to the common folk it would be an effective manipulation to show your piety to their God Emperor.
(Suspicion: -10) (Resource Cost: 25) (DC: 20)
(Result: the appreciation of the Church.)
Donate to the Orphanages - If donating to the Church would be suspicious, then the orphanages would be extremely so, it is a sad fact that most humans see the funding of the service as a sign of buying political favor or virtue signaling on a grand scale. But, the hatchlings need support and you can provide it.
(Suspicion: -20) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 50)
(Result: reduce the suspicion reduction by 10 per time this action has been taken within 3 turns, unlocks more options related to orphanages)
Perform an act of Faith - Faith is a very strange consideration for the Exatari, what does it mean to have faith in something. Your people never knew the fear of death for the slumber held it at bay barring the unlucky few that died in battle beyond the ability to be merged to a Living Mausoleum in time. But it can not be that difficult to preform a rite for the God Emperor to prove your faith.
(Suspicion: Variable) (Resource Cost: Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: Variable)
Learn about alien religions - Among the stars there are many races, most of whom appear to have religions of one form or another. Perhaps it would be worth it to dig into the lore of the lore of other empires past and present to learn of how they view the world. Of course such will be extremely dangerous considering the hatred the Imperium holds for all that are xeno.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 100)
(Result: Learn about the Aeldari Religion and the Necron religions as far as the Imperium knows, unlocks new actions)
Practice your race's religion - It is strange to consider, but your people do not have many rituals that other races would consider religious in nature. It is not correct to say that you are a species of beings unaware of that which lies beyond your reach, you stand side by side with them in the Living Mausoleums and the Witness has gently guided your people for as long as records exist. But the fact remains that your worship are expressions of Creation in its purest of forms, perhaps then a ritual would be to create something without a plan or goal, just let the whim of fate take hold for a time.
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: Variable) (DC: Variable)
(Result: Who knows)
Learn about Imperial view on Chaos - It has been confusing for your people and yourself to understand what the Imperium referred to with Chaos. They spoke of impossible foes that sought to destroy all of existence, but you had long since defeated their fumbling attempts to invade. Their rifts were easily sealed and their forces evicted from the Homeworld for eons at this point and they have never returned. But, perhaps the Imperium knows more than you regarding such forces.
(Suspicion: 80) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 200)
(Result: learn what the fuss about this Chaos thing actually is and why humans run in terror when its mentioned.)
Train an Attribute (Martial, Diplomacy, Intrigue, ect) - While you are certainly no slouch in any field relevant to governorship, you could certainly still improve your skills in all of them. From your military cunning to your religious scholarship, you will dedicate time towards a given area and raise your abilities in it even higher.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50 per Tier) (DC: 100 per Tier+Attribute)
(Result: increase the chosen attribute by 1)
Build a private residence (stewardship) - While certainly luxurious, the previous Planetary Governor's home is not what one would call... suitable for you. The doorways in particular proved to be a most obstructive feature. Nonetheless, you do have some ideas in mind for a home for yourself, and unlike everything else on this planet, you will be able to actually know every nook and cranny of the place. After all, you'll be the one designing it.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 5) (DC: 20)
(Result: Have a private residence buried under kilometers of the crust and have plenty of room to expand. Unlocks expansion actions and reduces suspicion for personal and Learning actions that can be hidden.)
Interact with Advisor (list which one) (Diplomacy) - No man is an island entire of itself. While you are not a man, you do understand the meaning of the parable: humans are social creatures. As such it would behoove you to spend time with the people you will likely depend upon most for your tenure as Planetary Governor, at least if you don't intend to replace them. The question is, who will you get to know?
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 40)
(Result: learn more about the chosen Advisor and their personality. This will reveal traits and other stats)
Meet the Titan Legion (Diplomacy, conditional trigger)- The Legio Orus is one of the most ancient known to the Imperium. Founded back the God-Emperor of Mankind had still walked the galaxy, they are known to be some of the most stubborn and proud engines that the Adeptus Mechanicus has provided. Their lead engine, an Imperator-Class Titan known as Unyielding Oracle, in fact fought alongside the Emperor during the Great Crusade, in the founding years of the Imperium of Man. The knowledge held within their venerable chassis is beyond priceless, and anything you can learn about them in particular will surely be treasured information back home. But first, you should try to make a good impression on these massive war machines.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 40/80/120)
(Result: meet the Titan legion and its princepts, opening official lines of communication with the Legion. On second level success gain data on the Legion, on third level speak with the Machine Spirit of the Unyielding Oracle.)
Look for trustworthy assistants (Intrigue) - Surely there must be someone on this planet that you can depend upon to be your agent and ally. If you are lucky, you might even stumble upon a rare human that would keep the secret of your inhuman status. Of course, you will not be so gullible as to kidnap a random urchin and reveal your most critical secret. If worse comes to worst, of course, you will still have someone who is unshakably loyal to their human Planetary Governor, and that has value in and of itself
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 20) (Upkeep (Support): 5) (DC: 40)
(Result: Gain an extra action in one category (this action can be repeated for each), this action is done with no bonus, but does not incur suspicion)
Create trustworthy assistants (Learning) - Why should you try to find a human to aid you when you could simply make one from scratch? The technology to do so is forbidden by Imperial law as you understand it, but if kept secret, you would not have to fear betrayal and exposure by them.
(Suspicion: 15) (Resource Cost: 40) (DC: 60)
(Result: Gain an extra action in each category barring Personal, these actions are done with 1/5 of your Learning and increase suspicion on actions by 10)
Have a personal vessel created (Learning) - You struggle to travel in Imperial voidships. All but the largest of their doors will not permit your egress and ingress, which makes for quite a few difficulties. On top of that, they do not contain any facilities with which to create the compounds necessary for your continued sustenance. If you intend to make voyages across the stars, you will need to have one such ship built to your exact specifications. It need not be large of course, but you will require some... exotic parts.
(Suspicion: 25) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep Cost (Military Service): 10) (DC: every 10 (a GC era ship would be around 120))
(Result: Have a customized ship constructed for personal usage. Narrative diplomacy bonus for other worlds when used. Unlocks further upgrades)
Hybridization Project (Learning) - Humans are so... fascinating. Their spiritual composition is both bendable and firm at once, and their biology can be shifted to a remarkable degree. This... gives you an idea. You will attempt to create a fusion between Exatari and humanity, using the Imperial "Vitae-Womb" technology as a means of achieving this. If you succeed, you will not only have dependable friends with whom you can be completely open, you may also have created a whole new field of study. Perhaps... this may even allow you to join with the Witness should you return home alive.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 500)
(Result: gain a mastery of imperial vitae womb technology and human genetics, unlocks second phase of the project)
Create emergency evacuation measures (Intrigue) - Should your alien status be revealed, you obviously would not be able to remain where you are anymore. Just in case, you should have every conceivable method of escape prepared, both to leave the immediate area and to make your way off the planet and out of the system
(Suspicion: 40) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 50)
(Result: have secret tunnels to escape to prepared locations in case of a catastrophic Break)
Forge a more robust recorded history (Intrigue) - The last thing you want is for all your efforts to come to an end because something erroneous is discovered in your paperwork. As far as anyone must be capable of uncovering, you are a human being with a known and verified background and thus undeserving of greater scrutiny. All you need to do is create a bit of a better paper trail now.
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 100)
(Result: Increased difficulty of Investigations regarding background to cause a Break in your disguise)
Design something (Learning) - You wish to put your brain and to work on something interesting. What exactly it is however will have to be decided once you get to your laboratory
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: variable) (DC: variable)
(Result: gain an action to build the item or building in the respective category.)
Build an Awakening Core (Learning) - Among those of us that leave the Homeworld, we are told in no uncertain terms to do nothing that would bring the eyes of the Imperium down upon us. However, within this situation bizarre as it is, opens doors that had remained sealed in the recent past. Back on the Homeworld, it would be possible to achieve this project with but a few orders, but the Imperium lacks the alloys that are needed and so substitutions will be need which unfortunately will vastly increase the cost.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 1000 or 10 Exatari Alloys) (DC: 100 or 0 if using Exatari Alloys)
(Result: Gain an Awakening Core, unlocks phase two: Build an Awakening Chamber. The Core can be used to produce small amounts of resources per turn if connected to a potent soul, resource production scales with soul intensity)
Design augments of Advisors (first one must be Nalka) (Learning) - You find that one of your aides would be of greater use to you if they were given the right... touch-ups. Your talents with cybernetics would be easily a match for the Cult Mechanicus' finest Tech Priests after all, and they would likely appreciate the boost in their... well, everything.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 20-100) (DC: 20-80)
(Result: Advisor gains personal trait: Exatari Cybernetics: Increases lifespan by 200 years, increases bonus by 10, high results can have secondary bonuses)
Hide resources (Intrigue) - In a worst case scenario, you may need access to a variety of things. Funds, pieces of technology, even the food which is so disappointingly rare in the wider galaxy. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it after all. (Suspicion: 25 if fails, 5 if passes) (Resource Cost: Write In Amount) (DC per 10 resources: 10) (Result: Hidden Wealth economic status is added to economic system, Hidden Wealth reduces Overall Income by 1/10th per turn. Actions that are funded by Hidden Wealth do not incur suspicion. Maximum storage of Hidden Wealth is 50 at start, more actions will be available)
Contact the Homeworld (Flat dice) - With favor acquired it would be possible to have the Homeworld construct me items and to have the Norastye bring them to me. It would be expensive, but a possible means of acquiring various items that will be difficult to produce natively for a time.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 5)
(Result: Open up trade for Exatari Favor)
Build a Meta Shield - the blank in stasis presents a possible boon to the world, but if it is as potent as claimed by the records it can only safely be unsealed with a Meta Shield in hand. Unfortunately, Meta Shields are on the very edge of what is possible to construct and can not be made from Imperial materials only alloys suited for the process can be used.
(Suspicion: 0) (Cost: 100 Exatari Alloys) (DC: 1000) (Notes: Requires an Exatari Workspace inside a private residence)
(Effect: Enables the unsealing of the Legendary Below Omega Minus Blank currently in Stasis, also gain a Meta Shield)
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50 per Tier) (DC: 100 per Tier+Attribute)
(Result: increase the chosen attribute by 1)
Build a private residence (stewardship) - While certainly luxurious, the previous Planetary Governor's home is not what one would call... suitable for you. The doorways in particular proved to be a most obstructive feature. Nonetheless, you do have some ideas in mind for a home for yourself, and unlike everything else on this planet, you will be able to actually know every nook and cranny of the place. After all, you'll be the one designing it.
(Suspicion: 10) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep (Infrastructure): 5) (DC: 20)
(Result: Have a private residence buried under kilometers of the crust and have plenty of room to expand. Unlocks expansion actions and reduces suspicion for personal and Learning actions that can be hidden.)
Interact with Advisor (list which one) (Diplomacy) - No man is an island entire of itself. While you are not a man, you do understand the meaning of the parable: humans are social creatures. As such it would behoove you to spend time with the people you will likely depend upon most for your tenure as Planetary Governor, at least if you don't intend to replace them. The question is, who will you get to know?
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 40)
(Result: learn more about the chosen Advisor and their personality. This will reveal traits and other stats)
Meet the Titan Legion (Diplomacy, conditional trigger)- The Legio Orus is one of the most ancient known to the Imperium. Founded back the God-Emperor of Mankind had still walked the galaxy, they are known to be some of the most stubborn and proud engines that the Adeptus Mechanicus has provided. Their lead engine, an Imperator-Class Titan known as Unyielding Oracle, in fact fought alongside the Emperor during the Great Crusade, in the founding years of the Imperium of Man. The knowledge held within their venerable chassis is beyond priceless, and anything you can learn about them in particular will surely be treasured information back home. But first, you should try to make a good impression on these massive war machines.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 40/80/120)
(Result: meet the Titan legion and its princepts, opening official lines of communication with the Legion. On second level success gain data on the Legion, on third level speak with the Machine Spirit of the Unyielding Oracle.)
Look for trustworthy assistants (Intrigue) - Surely there must be someone on this planet that you can depend upon to be your agent and ally. If you are lucky, you might even stumble upon a rare human that would keep the secret of your inhuman status. Of course, you will not be so gullible as to kidnap a random urchin and reveal your most critical secret. If worse comes to worst, of course, you will still have someone who is unshakably loyal to their human Planetary Governor, and that has value in and of itself
(Suspicion: 5) (Resource Cost: 20) (Upkeep (Support): 5) (DC: 40)
(Result: Gain an extra action in one category (this action can be repeated for each), this action is done with no bonus, but does not incur suspicion)
Create trustworthy assistants (Learning) - Why should you try to find a human to aid you when you could simply make one from scratch? The technology to do so is forbidden by Imperial law as you understand it, but if kept secret, you would not have to fear betrayal and exposure by them.
(Suspicion: 15) (Resource Cost: 40) (DC: 60)
(Result: Gain an extra action in each category barring Personal, these actions are done with 1/5 of your Learning and increase suspicion on actions by 10)
Have a personal vessel created (Learning) - You struggle to travel in Imperial voidships. All but the largest of their doors will not permit your egress and ingress, which makes for quite a few difficulties. On top of that, they do not contain any facilities with which to create the compounds necessary for your continued sustenance. If you intend to make voyages across the stars, you will need to have one such ship built to your exact specifications. It need not be large of course, but you will require some... exotic parts.
(Suspicion: 25) (Resource Cost: 25) (Upkeep Cost (Military Service): 10) (DC: every 10 (a GC era ship would be around 120))
(Result: Have a customized ship constructed for personal usage. Narrative diplomacy bonus for other worlds when used. Unlocks further upgrades)
Hybridization Project (Learning) - Humans are so... fascinating. Their spiritual composition is both bendable and firm at once, and their biology can be shifted to a remarkable degree. This... gives you an idea. You will attempt to create a fusion between Exatari and humanity, using the Imperial "Vitae-Womb" technology as a means of achieving this. If you succeed, you will not only have dependable friends with whom you can be completely open, you may also have created a whole new field of study. Perhaps... this may even allow you to join with the Witness should you return home alive.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 500)
(Result: gain a mastery of imperial vitae womb technology and human genetics, unlocks second phase of the project)
Create emergency evacuation measures (Intrigue) - Should your alien status be revealed, you obviously would not be able to remain where you are anymore. Just in case, you should have every conceivable method of escape prepared, both to leave the immediate area and to make your way off the planet and out of the system
(Suspicion: 40) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 50)
(Result: have secret tunnels to escape to prepared locations in case of a catastrophic Break)
Forge a more robust recorded history (Intrigue) - The last thing you want is for all your efforts to come to an end because something erroneous is discovered in your paperwork. As far as anyone must be capable of uncovering, you are a human being with a known and verified background and thus undeserving of greater scrutiny. All you need to do is create a bit of a better paper trail now.
(Suspicion: 20) (Resource Cost: 50) (DC: 100)
(Result: Increased difficulty of Investigations regarding background to cause a Break in your disguise)
Design something (Learning) - You wish to put your brain and to work on something interesting. What exactly it is however will have to be decided once you get to your laboratory
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: variable) (DC: variable)
(Result: gain an action to build the item or building in the respective category.)
Build an Awakening Core (Learning) - Among those of us that leave the Homeworld, we are told in no uncertain terms to do nothing that would bring the eyes of the Imperium down upon us. However, within this situation bizarre as it is, opens doors that had remained sealed in the recent past. Back on the Homeworld, it would be possible to achieve this project with but a few orders, but the Imperium lacks the alloys that are needed and so substitutions will be need which unfortunately will vastly increase the cost.
(Suspicion: 50) (Resource Cost: 1000 or 10 Exatari Alloys) (DC: 100 or 0 if using Exatari Alloys)
(Result: Gain an Awakening Core, unlocks phase two: Build an Awakening Chamber. The Core can be used to produce small amounts of resources per turn if connected to a potent soul, resource production scales with soul intensity)
Design augments of Advisors (first one must be Nalka) (Learning) - You find that one of your aides would be of greater use to you if they were given the right... touch-ups. Your talents with cybernetics would be easily a match for the Cult Mechanicus' finest Tech Priests after all, and they would likely appreciate the boost in their... well, everything.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 20-100) (DC: 20-80)
(Result: Advisor gains personal trait: Exatari Cybernetics: Increases lifespan by 200 years, increases bonus by 10, high results can have secondary bonuses)
Hide resources (Intrigue) - In a worst case scenario, you may need access to a variety of things. Funds, pieces of technology, even the food which is so disappointingly rare in the wider galaxy. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it after all. (Suspicion: 25 if fails, 5 if passes) (Resource Cost: Write In Amount) (DC per 10 resources: 10) (Result: Hidden Wealth economic status is added to economic system, Hidden Wealth reduces Overall Income by 1/10th per turn. Actions that are funded by Hidden Wealth do not incur suspicion. Maximum storage of Hidden Wealth is 50 at start, more actions will be available)
Contact the Homeworld (Flat dice) - With favor acquired it would be possible to have the Homeworld construct me items and to have the Norastye bring them to me. It would be expensive, but a possible means of acquiring various items that will be difficult to produce natively for a time.
(Suspicion: 0) (Resource Cost: 10) (DC: 5)
(Result: Open up trade for Exatari Favor)
Build a Meta Shield - the blank in stasis presents a possible boon to the world, but if it is as potent as claimed by the records it can only safely be unsealed with a Meta Shield in hand. Unfortunately, Meta Shields are on the very edge of what is possible to construct and can not be made from Imperial materials only alloys suited for the process can be used.
(Suspicion: 0) (Cost: 100 Exatari Alloys) (DC: 1000) (Notes: Requires an Exatari Workspace inside a private residence)
(Effect: Enables the unsealing of the Legendary Below Omega Minus Blank currently in Stasis, also gain a Meta Shield)
Last edited:
Nicholas Brooks
Redeemer and Destroyer
- Location
- United States
So we can have Nameria fulfill her own Faith action as normal and then do another one in Faith or Martial if desired, but halvng her bonus for both?
- Location
- USA
Yes, you can do the 1 action as normal or have her do more actions in Faith or Martial.
Action 1: full bonus
Action 2: half bonus to both
Action 3: 1/3 bonus to both
And so on.
Well, we seem to be about to hit break even, although I am a bit wary of taking too long contracts. I'm willing to bet that improving our resource extraction will be significantly easier than improving our industry, and we can always renegotiate later when we can actually pay in resources instead of industrial capacity.
Anyways, I think we can afford to take the time to improve our spymaster at this point in time.
Anyways, I think we can afford to take the time to improve our spymaster at this point in time.
Nicholas Brooks
Redeemer and Destroyer
- Location
- United States
[X] Plan Holy Fuck We've Got A Lot To Do
-[X] Seuclite
--[X] 400 Production Cap
-[X] Coulea
-[X] Medium Exotic Resources
-[X] Hiring out the Private army to House Norastye
--[X] Limited Control
--[X] 2 Turns
-[X] Archmagos Requests
--[X] Sincratus
--[X] Quirana
--[X] Lanista
--[X] Notitio
--[X] Sangia
--[X] Casus
--[X] Vulka
-[X] Blackmail Yurael
-[X] Improve the private army
--[X] Atraxas
--[X] Harkar
--[X] 50 R
-[X] Contact the Interplanetary Guilds
--[X] Atraxas
--[X] 10 R
-[X] Combined Firewall
-[X] Begin extraplanetary resource exploitation
--[X] Atraxas
--[X] 25 R
-[X] Begin extraplanetary resource exploitation
--[X] Urma
--[X] 25 R
-[X] Dig into Imperial history
--[X] Balkavus
--[X] 10 R
-[X] Learn about the Sororitas
--[X] Nameria
--[X] 25 R
-[X] Learn about the Astartes
--[X] Atraxas
--[X] 25 R
-[X] Interact with Advisor
--[X] Urma
--[X] 10 R
-[X] Design augments of Advisors
--[X] Nalka
--[X] 100 R
TL;DR spend money to make money. Also maximize our favor with the local AdMech. Estimated R cost, 560 total
Edit: Dropped the Psycurium for Coulea's extra 100 Resources
-[X] Seuclite
--[X] 400 Production Cap
-[X] Coulea
-[X] Medium Exotic Resources
-[X] Hiring out the Private army to House Norastye
--[X] Limited Control
--[X] 2 Turns
-[X] Archmagos Requests
--[X] Sincratus
--[X] Quirana
--[X] Lanista
--[X] Notitio
--[X] Sangia
--[X] Casus
--[X] Vulka
-[X] Blackmail Yurael
-[X] Improve the private army
--[X] Atraxas
--[X] Harkar
--[X] 50 R
-[X] Contact the Interplanetary Guilds
--[X] Atraxas
--[X] 10 R
-[X] Combined Firewall
-[X] Begin extraplanetary resource exploitation
--[X] Atraxas
--[X] 25 R
-[X] Begin extraplanetary resource exploitation
--[X] Urma
--[X] 25 R
-[X] Dig into Imperial history
--[X] Balkavus
--[X] 10 R
-[X] Learn about the Sororitas
--[X] Nameria
--[X] 25 R
-[X] Learn about the Astartes
--[X] Atraxas
--[X] 25 R
-[X] Interact with Advisor
--[X] Urma
--[X] 10 R
-[X] Design augments of Advisors
--[X] Nalka
--[X] 100 R
TL;DR spend money to make money. Also maximize our favor with the local AdMech. Estimated R cost, 560 total
Edit: Dropped the Psycurium for Coulea's extra 100 Resources
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I don't think we should offer 500 production capacity. Sure, we theoretically have enough for it to work, but I am not sure I trust that number, given how much our Stewardship advisor is hiding from us. We might accidentally cripple our mysterious "Trade Goods" income.
Nicholas Brooks
Redeemer and Destroyer
- Location
- United States
Leon isn't the kind of QM to give trap options. If an issue could arise we'd be made aware of it beforehand. And besides it only lasts for 5 turns
Invadingcat478
Certified Homophone
- Location
- Nekoneko town
Have we got an official information on how our protagonist look? Because so far I've been imagining him as an ultramascular gigantic metal dude with a glorious beard in the style of Babylonian kings.
Solarshade
Friendly Local Dyson Swarm
Well, the plan that won was "Plan Giant Metal Spider: Extreme Edition," and he apparently has 10 limbs, so honestly it's a miracle that anyone considers him to be human.
- Location
- USA
Take a tarantula, scale it up to 20 feet or so tall at the peak of the leg with all other ratios more or less maintained. Turn it silvery metallic, with spirals of other colored metal dancing across the bulk of the body and limbs, with no visible eyes, add another pair of legs. This will get you an Exatari in rough appearance.
The average Exatari weights at minimum 25,000 pounds with a variance of 3,500 up without causing issues. Atraxas weights 30,000 and some change and of that only 2,500 of his weight is in cybernetics.
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Invadingcat478
Certified Homophone
- Location
- Nekoneko town
Well good to know how horrifying the extari looks, but I was more talking about his human disguise.
Wait did he not use a human disguise? The fucking madlad
Wait did he not use a human disguise? The fucking madlad
- Location
- USA
He pretends to be a person overly obsessed with augmentations. His cover story is basically, "I am a person that loves metal even more than the most insane tech priest."
- Location
- United states of america
Stuff of arachnophobic nightmares, got it.
Invadingcat478
Certified Homophone
- Location
- Nekoneko town
I'm actually fucking surprised why all our interaction seems so smooth as if they were just talking to a big human instead 20 foot arachnophobia's nightmare. And here I thought since chap 1 when he was said he was flying my image of him was a human flying like Superman, instead he was flying giant metal spyder all along.
I'm gonna have to reread all the interaction with the new context that all characters was talking to 20 foot tall spider.
- Location
- USA
Atraxas tends to place himself so that he is pretty close to humans in height. He has revamped his office such that his body is around even with human eyes, but it doesnt change the fact that he is still a 30k pound massive spider of metal.
Also tech priests are a lot more varied and bizarre in universe and there are plenty of nobles that have more bizarre augments than Atraxas.
Also tech priests are a lot more varied and bizarre in universe and there are plenty of nobles that have more bizarre augments than Atraxas.