Yea we are gonna want Warp Navigation as it will help the Exatari with there ships, along with Study the Warp Drive, Study the Void Shield Generator and Warp Sphere, think it would allow the MC to know everthing there is about the warp if we do all of them
Strange Aeons: A 40k Xeno Governor Quest
- Thread starter Leon12431
- Start date
Multi Energy Lance would be my choice we have a single computer done so the 250 is about what a learning action provides(4D100+our learning bonus). It provides a new weapon that can be scaled up to astartes size as i hope to meet a lot of their chapter to integrate into our style and try and get help from for the invasion having something we can supply them with will help with the talks.
You know i have been thinking shipyards are not something that many world have, so i would think that someone would have come look to have us build them ships, the navy can always use more ship, and they have lost several battlegroups to the warp, so there are in a great need to get more ships to replace them
There is an option for them but its expensive and will take a while:
System Overhaul: The foundations of the Matryoshka System require more than what is currently in place. Shogi is woefully unprepared for the strain of the workload that the project will demand. Nor is the system's ship yard capable of producing the naval parts so required, yet both of these issues can be corrected, if not easily. In addition, more social aspects can be interlaced into the renovations to ensure that the demographic collapse that nearly crippled the system will never happen again.
(Suspicion: 30) (Resource Cost: 15225) (Upkeep Cost (Infrastructure): 1350) (DC: 14000)
(Effect: Each world provides 5% improvement to extraction and production totals to the system (20), all major worlds have a major shipyard built over them, all infrastructure and Megaproject actions have their resource costs reduced by 10%, Health and Education affecting actions provide an additional +1)
System Overhaul: The foundations of the Matryoshka System require more than what is currently in place. Shogi is woefully unprepared for the strain of the workload that the project will demand. Nor is the system's ship yard capable of producing the naval parts so required, yet both of these issues can be corrected, if not easily. In addition, more social aspects can be interlaced into the renovations to ensure that the demographic collapse that nearly crippled the system will never happen again.
(Suspicion: 30) (Resource Cost: 15225) (Upkeep Cost (Infrastructure): 1350) (DC: 14000)
(Effect: Each world provides 5% improvement to extraction and production totals to the system (20), all major worlds have a major shipyard built over them, all infrastructure and Megaproject actions have their resource costs reduced by 10%, Health and Education affecting actions provide an additional +1)
There are two repeatable under Faith:
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)
and a lot of astares chapters still to meet for -20 each.
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)
and a lot of astares chapters still to meet for -20 each.
i was not talking about any suspicion from the Exatari, but more about the tech and data we have send back to the homeworld should have made the MC the golden goose, so they should give him as much support as they can so he can keep on sending them more tech and data
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Turn 5: Part 1 (Meeting Cadia)
- Location
- USA
AN: Most of this is just getting to Cadia/personal ship action stuff. Cadia was pretty short overall due to what it was.
The systems of my personal ship hummed into life as I interfaced my mind with this new, massive body. It would serve as a good test flight to travel the Warp Lanes before taking my private army to the Void Forest to begin construction of the Awakening Core around the black hole.
Phase reactors running at full efficiency, antimatter reactors standing by, various weapon systems reporting green to me in every test, inversion array operational, subsystems activating in proper sequence. Even the armor actuators were flexing in the correct pattern. It was a ship that would not be something one could dismiss as a poor construction.
We as a species might care more for function over appearance, but that does not change the fact that the merging of the two is the superior testament to one's ability to create. As my voidcraft left the ship yard and began to burn towards the outer system, I activated machines that the Imperium failed to use for reasons beyond my understanding.
Gravity bands lashed out to provide thrust and rotational control, enabling true universal motion with mere thought and will. Phasic shields and void shields interlocked to prevent any chance of space debris from impacting functionality. The armor plating shifted towards the maneuverability form, thrust vectors were aligning together as the hull and armor shifted towards the prioritized profile.
An imperial ship would take weeks to reach the outer systems, yet my ship with the gravity drive and more experimental phase drives would arrive in mere days. I had also ensured that a void abacus was aboard the ship. It would not be perfect at the moment as I still lacked the understanding of Imperial Warp navigation, but it would be sufficient for a relatively short trip to reach Cadia.
Resting in a state between awareness and sleep as the data streams of the ship flowed through my mind, I carefully managed the subsystems to ensure that I would come to awareness when it was time to enter the Warp itself.
As I reached the outer system, the escorts that had tried to follow pulled back towards the inner system, and I began to open the Warp rift. We have long since been able to open rifts large enough for individuals to enter and walk through and even for ships to pass, yet Imperial versions were far more stable and less dangerous to use. Power was directed to the Warp drive which was a merging of Exatari and Imperial design albeit heavier towards the Imperial side.
Space tore under the power of the machine as the Veil was parted, and I could see the meta particles flooding away from the middle of the break in reality. However, that was not important currently as I modulated the Warp rift to only fit my ship through, as there was no reason to overly damage reality for my passage.
I had no Gellar Field generator on my ship for I had seen no need for one, as my own nature would anchor reality enough on its own. As I passed into the warp and the rift closed behind me, I sealed the containment vessels to ensure that the meta particles would not be depleted before I reached my destination.
Cadia was only a few hundred light years distant from Shogi, and Shogi was located on a major Warp Lane with a near direct path to said world. The void abacus spun, and as I pieced together the pathway to take and deep in my command nest, I thrummed in satisfaction.
I had installed several experimental technologies to my ship to possibly extract Living Essence that I may in turn refine into Invoked Laws as I passed. I might not be able to reach the meta particles on this side of the Veil, but this trip need not be a waste of time beyond simply placating the world of Cadia and securing their aid.
We knew that the Warp did not conform to linear time and that its geology was more nebulous than the norm for the universe. Still, I was not prepared for what it truly was like when I entered the warp for the first time in a spacecraft.
When I had walked from the Homeworld to the world that I had spent centuries upon, the warp was but a prismatic zone of shifting terrain that I simply walked forward in until I reached a location that appeared proper to exit. Now, it swirled around me in fractal patterns of energy that I understood just barely enough to correct the flaws in my understanding of the Void Abacus that I was using.
Orientating my ship in the proper direction was easily done as the drives responded to my will, and soon I set forth. Calculations almost entirely new to me ensured that it would be on target for the entire journey. If I had prepared, I could have brought a relay with me to Cadia so as to enable real-time communication with the world, although there is the risk inherent to such a statement of ability.
Even my in-system relays were met with surprise from the humans as they lacked any form of consistent communication systems. Brining such a device capable of reaching across the gulf of space would be a step too far at the current moment.
I noted the essence extractors drawing in the power of the realm around and refining it in a crude facsimile of the proper systems within a Forge Nexus, but they would enable me to produce better alloys once I built a phase forge upon Shogi or around the black hole. I had not given much thought to weapons and armor, but with the coming threat, I would need to rebuild my wargear in a different style.
As with all Scholars of the Forge, my old armor and weapons were designed for durability and protection. I was not without means of harming my foes, but that came mostly from my own bulk rather than any armaments I wielded.
I examined the containers and noted that the essences were being broken down into discrete Invoked Laws as expected, although a duplicate of the strange unknown one manifested itself into storage. A shimmering golden orb with dancing flames across its surface, it reminded me of the fleeting brush with the human witness.
Still, I knew some of the others, such as the Invoked Law of Math that was distilled out of mid quality. It was a rather useless Law by and large, its value only applied to calculative engines. Now with the supercomputers, it would be likely to provide a much more notable boon to the Homeworld and myself directly.
The other four were unknown, which made sense. I was not a Forge Scholar that specialized in phase forging, rather I was given the materials to work with. I did recognize one of them in part, as it brought to mind the Invoked Law of Righteous Judgement which bore a similar shackle like appearance as the one that oozed in its containment unit.
Regardless, I would need to investigate the Laws before use of them became reasonable. As I mused on the nature, the time had come to breach back into reality. As the Warp rift snapped open and I pushed through, it was clear that my calculations had failed for I was near the border of the Eye.
I stared for a moment at the so-called Warp Storm. It was strangely intriguing to peer into the infinite darkness and know that something within was peering back at me. Knowing me in a strange way, yet it was quickly overtaken by the drifting array of meta particles that were woven into a message. Information laced with other yet unknown Libraries to contain data that only I could see and read in this moment.
Quickly copying the position data of the particles to the lowest value and ensuring that it would never be lost, I began to decode the information. It was using a hypothetical means of storing knowledge in meta particles that we had been experimenting with for several centuries.
Still, I could tell this was far more refined as I examined it. The placement and general array of the particles were far beyond our current crude methods for such storage attempts. Applying the same principles as with the current form, I slowly uncovered data regarding a suit of wargear.
It was a masterwork without compare, even the Witness itself could not boast of having better armor than what was detailed before me. Thousands upon thousands of Invoked Laws and Abyssal Ingots were phase forged together, no, all of this was forged from Quintessential Essence. Hundreds if not thousands of units must have been spent on this singular regalia.
Such excess was not possible anytime soon, but the rest of the design could be used to a degree. The entirety of the project displayed thousands of years of improvement to even the most core of our technologies. Regardless, for all my skill, most of it was indecipherable to me at this moment. Centuries of work would be required to peel back the layers to even attempt to recreate it to any real degree.
There was another option, though. The information that I could understand was not useless. Already I understood more about many things just from studying these schemas. A metal that I recognized was used throughout these plans: Auramite. It was apparently something we had sought for eons. It could accept more Laws and Ingots than any other metal from what I could elucidate from the designs before me.
Thrumming in thought, I turned back to considering other matters as warnings erupted of something leaving the distorted space. A strange avian form with fragile wings flew through the void, and I knew that it was of Chaos from the sheer density of Ruin particles flooding off of it.
"The Golden One will never return." A strange whisper spoke in the back of my mind, yet that was of little importance as I activated the Inversion Arrays. Ruin was drawn away from the daemon into the might of my ship as its arms prepared to fire.
I waited as the daemon threw spells against my ship, each being rent to nothing against the bulwark of my nature, yet without the Inversion Arrays sapping the power of the daemon, I would have died many times over in moments. In the end, it did not matter as the arrays fired, and in a moment, the daemon ceased to exist.
My sensors detected a remaining object left behind by the daemon, and I had it brought onboard via a gravity tether. There was little that could corrupt me or my ship, and as the book was brought near, it began to tear itself apart as the corruption was shredded by the still active inversion arrays.
All in all, it was a fairly boring find, with various methods for ritual casting and spell creation that seemed to be a trap by nature. Perhaps others would benefit more from it than I would for now.
Turning back, I opened another Warp rift, ensuring that it was the same size as my ship before entering it and plotting a course to Cadia. Hopefully, this time, I would not overshoot my target in the same manner.
Peering through the chaos of the Warp, I saw through the lens of space a strange, nearly impossible to tread pathway that promised to bring me to my destination near instantly. Perhaps this is what humans mean when they say to take a leap of faith. In the end, I set a course for this thin path through the madness of the Warp.
Only one that guided their ship as I did could follow such a path, yet I could, and at that precise moment, I snapped open the Warp rift and inverted my momentum with gravity bands. A human crew would have died from the strain upon their forms, but I simply accepted the momentary pain as my ship came to a halt within the docking bay of a shipyard.
"Newly docked vessel, identify yourself at once." An Imperial radio snapped to life as my systems reconnected to the local datanet, informing me that all of this had taken a handful of weeks. "This is The Witness' Light, carrying Atraxas, Planetary Governor of Shogi, to meet with the Cadian Lord." A moment of silence met me as I sent my vessel's security codes to the dock operator's reception terminal."Power down all systems and prepare to be boarded. Lack of compliance will not be tolerated."
Opening the ship to enable the crews to enter was done quickly, as was decoupling myself from the control nest to ensure that no questions would be asked about its shape. I could hear the soldiers shouting clear as they checked the various rooms and even the obvious secret rooms and the actually hidden rooms. I made a note to improve the concealment of said chambers to ensure that if I was transporting anything that I could not allow to be found by a human, it would be harder to be discovered.
After several minutes, a group of soldiers in power armor entered my bridge, finding me waiting for them. "Where is Planetary Governor Atraxas?" The leader barked as they waved a plasma gun at me. I peered at the gun, more interested in it than in whatever the human was shouting at me. It was better made than most models but could be easily improved. Sadly, now was not the time to fix such an ugly piece of machinery.
When I dragged my attention away from his gun to the armor, noting the manifold flaws in it that poked at me to correct, I could feel guns touching my body. A quick survey revealed only las and plasma, nothing that would impose a notable threat to my life. "I am Planetary Governor Atraxas, here at the request of the Cadian Lord." I stated as I began drawing holographic designs for new powered armor for humans, this entire event was boring and I needed something to break the monotony apart.
"Who piloted this vessel?" Another human barked at me, why could they not be as quick on the uptake as my advisors? "I did." My voice was cold and firm as I stared down at the unpleasant fleshy beings noting their primitive equipment profaning my work. I vibrated my form slightly to refocus on what they were muttering to their commanders, who quickly proved themselves to be as mindlessly dim-witted as these troopers.
As the feeble fleshlings guided me out of my ship as if I was about to do anything unpleasant, I could only wonder what they thought they could do to stop me if they wanted to. The arms they had at hand were woefully insufficient to even penetrate my carapace, and I found myself insulted more by the weakness of their weapons and armor than by having them pointed at me.
Regardless, I was brought into a checkpoint where sensors were run over my form. Of course, the imbeciles expected to detect things through several meters of metallic alloys. Their sensors were not potent enough to bypass a carapace that evolved to handle the gamma bursts that served as the primary emission from our local star.
I knew that my thoughts were different from the norm, yet I did not care, for the pestering of such weak beings is not worth my consideration. I did not understand why I wasted so much effort on improving them to a fraction of my ability. It is not like my advisors are all that impressive, barring two of their number. I do hope that I will find more impressive humans eventually, and if the reports are true, then perhaps my local counterpart will be one such being.
Eventually, after wasting all of our time for an hour, I was waved through with the humans grumbling about tech priest security measures. I hope that they get liquidated, for such foolishness should not be tolerated upon this world. I could be an enemy to their understanding, and yet because their sensors could not find anything, I was let through. Such dereliction of duty only provided another reason to disregard humanity as a worthy peer to the Exatari.
A soldier of one of our hives would never be so careless. They dissect visitors alive when entering secure locations. The Imperium has the technology to do the same, and I fail to understand the reason behind the lack of such measures in place, for how could one detect a nuclear device within my torso if this is all they have to examine me?
At last, after an eternity of waiting for the minds of the humans to finally consider acting, their futile tests were concluded, and I was led to a shuttle to be taken down to the world below. It was nothing impressive, for all the rumors and reports of this world it was far less than I had expected. There were no orbital plates or rings surrounding the environs, no stratospheric spires to erect force fields across the globe.
A Scholar of Creation could improve the world many times over in fractions of a century as I examined the world below, the humans in the shuttle tried to speak to me, but why would one such I care for the consideration of beings so far below my ability?
The cloud layer was breached, and pain ravaged my mind. It was not like when my own self rebelled to bow before something that was not there, but it was akin to it. Pain exploded across my body as I saw the sheer metal pylon erupting from the ground. I felt the energy emitting from it as it ground against my flesh, dampening the influence of the Warp upon me.
Now knowing what has been altering my mind, I reached out and altered the phase shields that surrounded me. I awakened from the dream to see humans staring at me with both dogged determination and blatant terror on their faces and bodies, clutching their weapons with fervor knowing that they would not be enough. Even Cadians are not immune to the curses of humanity it seems, yet I have no room to grandstand above them in this regard.
The curse I bear in my blood is ever so worse than the one that they labor under, but as I relaxed, they did so as well. One of them spoke to the one next to him and I could hear it, "Thank the Emperor, I thought he would snap for a moment." I wilted at those words; I have spent decades helping my world become strong again. I had never wanted to terrorize people, that is not who I am.
If I had, I would be a War Scholar, not a Forge Scholar as I am. I stared at the passing pylon knowing that it was the root cause of my failure in this regard. I could only hope that I would not fall prey to it again.
The world of Cadia was interesting as I walked through its streets towards the fortress that was the command nexus of the world. The cities that I in my moment of failure had decried as poorly constructed and flawed were built with a different form in mind. Durability had been sacrificed upon the altar of value, buildings could be broken to serve as roadblocks, streets could be destroyed in moments, and further defenses lay scattered across the city.
The fortifications of Shogi were but a pale echo of this world now that I walked through it with my mind unclouded. The soldiers that had guided me from my ship were nervous, I wish I could release them from this state, but that was not in my ability to achieve. I was no master of word or faith, I was no Scholar of the Trinity of being. I was not one that had worked with the Living Mausoleums in truth, I was but a Scholar of the Forge, and one could not fix this form of injury.
I could feel the void shields crackling across the world, my cybernetics and biology both reacting to the abundance of energy flux bleeding off of the countless reactors within this city, yet even with all of this, I could see improvements to be found in the design of buildings and the road patterns. I understand enough to know that this is not an independent system but one that is both a part of a greater whole and singular.
Cadia confirmed its reputation as I walked, and my ship reported their actions to me. The wait time that I endured was not because the world was slow to act but instead served a purpose: to gather needed forces to tear apart my ship to uncover what secrets it held. I hummed to myself at the nature of the Imperium, trust among humanity is in short supply, if they had simply asked I would have gladly shared much of the design with them.
Of course, they could not know that, and my previous behavior tainted my arrival. In the end, it is sadly the only logical course for them to undertake with what little they knew about me.
The seat of the Cadian Lord was not as ostentatious as my palace to my relief. It conformed to the style of the world that I had come to understand: brutal efficiency for both defense and offense. I enjoyed the sight of bare metal and well designed systems in place of the gold and pointless artwork that littered the palace I was forced to call home for now.
As I was ushered into a room, I had to hold back a trill as I realized that I was meeting the Cadian Lord in a clearly repurposed military conference room. It did make sense, even among our people my size was intimidating to many, for I was one of the largest Exatari currently alive... or I was before I left the Homeworld and my people for the duties of an Infiltrator.
Humans had much the same reaction to physical difference I had learned as an aged man entered on the balcony above. With a chair in hand as he sat down staring at me, even as he sighed from his age. I could see with my new understanding of human biology the flaws in the rejuvenation technology that they used. I do not know why, but it did not work properly. I would need to investigate it, for I would not tolerate using an inferior product on Shogi than what I could create. Of course, it is doubtful I could improve it with how little I understand of biology, but perhaps something I know would be applicable. I can do nothing but try in the end.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas. I would normally start off by beating around the bush, trying to make a few veiled accusations, catch you off guard, that sort thing. In this case though, I feel that both of us care little for such nonsense. One decade ago, the Astropaths proclaimed The Emperor had delivered a warning to Erimyst sector. The only notable change in said sector for the previous century is your rise to power as Planetary Governor. I called you here to prove to me and the Inquisition that the Emperor's warning was for you rather than because of you. I would strongly recommend honesty."
That was not the expected beginning, but it was logical for such to be considered. I crossed my legs in thought on how to solve this conundrum. I could not trust in the lie that I had fed to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Shogi to defray suspicion if I told the truth regarding a novel discovery that Chaos sought in return.
The man seemed to be content to wait, and I could understand why. The building was being locked down, and humans wearing power armor and holding melta guns were entering the fortification as we waited. I knew little on Chaos beyond its metaphysical nature, but perhaps that is enough. "What do you know about my predecessor?" It was a gamble, but I had no real choice. The man leaned forward, seemingly intrigued.
"I expected denials and blustering proclamations. Possibly a violent outburst. I only know your name because of the warning The Emperor screamed across the Oculus Bulwark. But, please do explain how this predecessor of yours explains the situation we're in now." I could tell that I was on thin standing, yet he was listening, which was all that was needed, thankfully.
"Gateway Solar's governor prior to me was incompetent. He defunded most of the planetary systems, raided the treasury, sowed dissent and corruption in the greater sector. After his death, the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Departmento Munitorum both compromised on a non-political appointee to the seat. I was randomly selected from an industrial world outside of the Erimyst sector. As for the warning, it is my belief that the ruination of Shogi was a plot aimed at weakening the Oculus Bulwark's second ring, and my efforts at the restoration of the world is resulting in a powerful force seeking to prevent it." I finished my statement carefully examining the lord's expression, hoping that I had made the correct choice in using Shogi's secondary designation to push the point of its stellar position home.
The man leaned back, seemingly in thought, "A strangely plausible explanation. The Ruinous Powers would seek to ensure that Gateway Solar and Gateway Cadia are both compromised. Cadia has stood for nearly ten thousand years, but the Gateways do suffer the brunt of what gets through my watch. Congratulations, Planetary Governor Atraxas of Gateway Solar. Your arguments are sound enough to keep me from bringing you in for summary judgement. Don't think I'm taking my eye off you, though. I'll be assigning a Cadian regiment to Gateway Solar with a dedicated Astropath. If they are lost, Cadia will come down upon you like the Emperor's own sword." The aged figure declared even as he stood up from his chair and walked towards the exit, declaring the meeting over in more than one way.
A group of powered armor soldiers entered the room and escorted me back to the shuttles where a hundred men and women waited. Most of whom were clearly soldiers except for one wearing robes with missing eyes. This must be the regiment he mentioned. Perhaps I should have installed a Gellar Field generator on my ship, I consider now that I have to ferry humans aboard it. It should be fine hopefully for a short trip like this.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas, I am Colonel Leonidas of the 560th Field Engineering Corps. We have been displaced to Gateway Solar to confirm the presence of Heretical activity and stamp it out." The foremost man stated as he snapped to attention, I huff at the eagerness on his face, "Harkar will enjoy having some of her peers with her. It should hopefully be a quick journey to reach Shogi." Leonidas quivered as I spoke but not in fear, but in something else as his eyes widened before recovering control and snapping a salute.
Once everyone was aboard the ship, Leonidas, along with his team, began studying the Witness' Light gleefully. I was glad for them to be happy with the design, but soon I was connected to the ship, and the moment I got clearance, I powered the engines.
A Warp rift a few microns larger than the ship snapped open inches in front of the bow as I charged into the warp without waiting, sealing it shut behind me moments later. This time, I was far more adept at reading the Warp and the void abacus as I plotted a course back to Shogi, dancing on the stable currents of the warp as I went. Diving and surfing, new essences were gleamed, most of which I knew in fact, Deathless, Decay, Entropy and Fire were all harvested and stored safety away, while another unknown essence floated into its own tank.
I failed to spot the proper pathway in time, but it was a small matter as I tore open a rift into the middle of the Shogi system merely hours from the shipyard and linked to my relays in system to inform everyone of my return. It was good to be back to my current home.
Plan Fortress And Finance
Assault
Void Forest
Atraxas
Private Army
Improve The Private Army
Super Heavy Tanks, Armored Vehicles, Powered Armor, Aerospace Fighters, Orbital Insertion Pods, Bolters, Plasma, Power
Use AdMech Favor
Comprehensive Subterranean and Void Fortifications
Harkar
Araahal
Atraxas
Atraxas
Atraxas
Urma
Nameria
Private Army
Private Army
Private Army
Private Army
Private Army
2200 R
Create Diplomatic Corps
Akiona
10 R
Contact the Pathfinders
Atraxas
40 R
Contact Cadia directly
Atraxas
50 R
Meet With Shezu
Atraxas
Establish Subsector Spies
Atraxas
Nalka
100 R
Militant Citadel
Atraxas
Urma
500 R
Dig into planetary education system
Balkavus
25 R
The Calculation Heart
Atraxas
1000 R
Use Exatari Alloys instead of R if enough are acquired to spare for this
Practice your race's religion
Atraxas
100 R
Homeworld Mission: Data Retrieval (Void)
1st Level
Atraxas
Homeworld Mission: Data retrieval (Noosphere)
2nd level
Use AdMech Favor
Design augments of Advisors (Kara Nameria)
Atraxas
100 R
Build a Personal Vessel
Atraxas
Atraxas
25 R
Build an Awakening Core
Void Forest
Atraxas
Exatari Alloys
Trade Exatari Favor For Alloys
10 R
Assault
Void Forest
Atraxas
Private Army
Improve The Private Army
Super Heavy Tanks, Armored Vehicles, Powered Armor, Aerospace Fighters, Orbital Insertion Pods, Bolters, Plasma, Power
Use AdMech Favor
Comprehensive Subterranean and Void Fortifications
Harkar
Araahal
Atraxas
Atraxas
Atraxas
Urma
Nameria
Private Army
Private Army
Private Army
Private Army
Private Army
2200 R
Create Diplomatic Corps
Akiona
10 R
Contact the Pathfinders
Atraxas
40 R
Contact Cadia directly
Atraxas
50 R
Meet With Shezu
Atraxas
Establish Subsector Spies
Atraxas
Nalka
100 R
Militant Citadel
Atraxas
Urma
500 R
Dig into planetary education system
Balkavus
25 R
The Calculation Heart
Atraxas
1000 R
Use Exatari Alloys instead of R if enough are acquired to spare for this
Practice your race's religion
Atraxas
100 R
Homeworld Mission: Data Retrieval (Void)
1st Level
Atraxas
Homeworld Mission: Data retrieval (Noosphere)
2nd level
Use AdMech Favor
Design augments of Advisors (Kara Nameria)
Atraxas
100 R
Build a Personal Vessel
Atraxas
Atraxas
25 R
Build an Awakening Core
Void Forest
Atraxas
Exatari Alloys
Trade Exatari Favor For Alloys
10 R
Phase reactors running at full efficiency, antimatter reactors standing by, various weapon systems reporting green to me in every test, inversion array operational, subsystems activating in proper sequence. Even the armor actuators were flexing in the correct pattern. It was a ship that would not be something one could dismiss as a poor construction.
We as a species might care more for function over appearance, but that does not change the fact that the merging of the two is the superior testament to one's ability to create. As my voidcraft left the ship yard and began to burn towards the outer system, I activated machines that the Imperium failed to use for reasons beyond my understanding.
Gravity bands lashed out to provide thrust and rotational control, enabling true universal motion with mere thought and will. Phasic shields and void shields interlocked to prevent any chance of space debris from impacting functionality. The armor plating shifted towards the maneuverability form, thrust vectors were aligning together as the hull and armor shifted towards the prioritized profile.
An imperial ship would take weeks to reach the outer systems, yet my ship with the gravity drive and more experimental phase drives would arrive in mere days. I had also ensured that a void abacus was aboard the ship. It would not be perfect at the moment as I still lacked the understanding of Imperial Warp navigation, but it would be sufficient for a relatively short trip to reach Cadia.
Resting in a state between awareness and sleep as the data streams of the ship flowed through my mind, I carefully managed the subsystems to ensure that I would come to awareness when it was time to enter the Warp itself.
As I reached the outer system, the escorts that had tried to follow pulled back towards the inner system, and I began to open the Warp rift. We have long since been able to open rifts large enough for individuals to enter and walk through and even for ships to pass, yet Imperial versions were far more stable and less dangerous to use. Power was directed to the Warp drive which was a merging of Exatari and Imperial design albeit heavier towards the Imperial side.
Space tore under the power of the machine as the Veil was parted, and I could see the meta particles flooding away from the middle of the break in reality. However, that was not important currently as I modulated the Warp rift to only fit my ship through, as there was no reason to overly damage reality for my passage.
I had no Gellar Field generator on my ship for I had seen no need for one, as my own nature would anchor reality enough on its own. As I passed into the warp and the rift closed behind me, I sealed the containment vessels to ensure that the meta particles would not be depleted before I reached my destination.
Cadia was only a few hundred light years distant from Shogi, and Shogi was located on a major Warp Lane with a near direct path to said world. The void abacus spun, and as I pieced together the pathway to take and deep in my command nest, I thrummed in satisfaction.
I had installed several experimental technologies to my ship to possibly extract Living Essence that I may in turn refine into Invoked Laws as I passed. I might not be able to reach the meta particles on this side of the Veil, but this trip need not be a waste of time beyond simply placating the world of Cadia and securing their aid.
We knew that the Warp did not conform to linear time and that its geology was more nebulous than the norm for the universe. Still, I was not prepared for what it truly was like when I entered the warp for the first time in a spacecraft.
When I had walked from the Homeworld to the world that I had spent centuries upon, the warp was but a prismatic zone of shifting terrain that I simply walked forward in until I reached a location that appeared proper to exit. Now, it swirled around me in fractal patterns of energy that I understood just barely enough to correct the flaws in my understanding of the Void Abacus that I was using.
Orientating my ship in the proper direction was easily done as the drives responded to my will, and soon I set forth. Calculations almost entirely new to me ensured that it would be on target for the entire journey. If I had prepared, I could have brought a relay with me to Cadia so as to enable real-time communication with the world, although there is the risk inherent to such a statement of ability.
Even my in-system relays were met with surprise from the humans as they lacked any form of consistent communication systems. Brining such a device capable of reaching across the gulf of space would be a step too far at the current moment.
I noted the essence extractors drawing in the power of the realm around and refining it in a crude facsimile of the proper systems within a Forge Nexus, but they would enable me to produce better alloys once I built a phase forge upon Shogi or around the black hole. I had not given much thought to weapons and armor, but with the coming threat, I would need to rebuild my wargear in a different style.
As with all Scholars of the Forge, my old armor and weapons were designed for durability and protection. I was not without means of harming my foes, but that came mostly from my own bulk rather than any armaments I wielded.
I examined the containers and noted that the essences were being broken down into discrete Invoked Laws as expected, although a duplicate of the strange unknown one manifested itself into storage. A shimmering golden orb with dancing flames across its surface, it reminded me of the fleeting brush with the human witness.
Still, I knew some of the others, such as the Invoked Law of Math that was distilled out of mid quality. It was a rather useless Law by and large, its value only applied to calculative engines. Now with the supercomputers, it would be likely to provide a much more notable boon to the Homeworld and myself directly.
The other four were unknown, which made sense. I was not a Forge Scholar that specialized in phase forging, rather I was given the materials to work with. I did recognize one of them in part, as it brought to mind the Invoked Law of Righteous Judgement which bore a similar shackle like appearance as the one that oozed in its containment unit.
Regardless, I would need to investigate the Laws before use of them became reasonable. As I mused on the nature, the time had come to breach back into reality. As the Warp rift snapped open and I pushed through, it was clear that my calculations had failed for I was near the border of the Eye.
I stared for a moment at the so-called Warp Storm. It was strangely intriguing to peer into the infinite darkness and know that something within was peering back at me. Knowing me in a strange way, yet it was quickly overtaken by the drifting array of meta particles that were woven into a message. Information laced with other yet unknown Libraries to contain data that only I could see and read in this moment.
Quickly copying the position data of the particles to the lowest value and ensuring that it would never be lost, I began to decode the information. It was using a hypothetical means of storing knowledge in meta particles that we had been experimenting with for several centuries.
Still, I could tell this was far more refined as I examined it. The placement and general array of the particles were far beyond our current crude methods for such storage attempts. Applying the same principles as with the current form, I slowly uncovered data regarding a suit of wargear.
It was a masterwork without compare, even the Witness itself could not boast of having better armor than what was detailed before me. Thousands upon thousands of Invoked Laws and Abyssal Ingots were phase forged together, no, all of this was forged from Quintessential Essence. Hundreds if not thousands of units must have been spent on this singular regalia.
Such excess was not possible anytime soon, but the rest of the design could be used to a degree. The entirety of the project displayed thousands of years of improvement to even the most core of our technologies. Regardless, for all my skill, most of it was indecipherable to me at this moment. Centuries of work would be required to peel back the layers to even attempt to recreate it to any real degree.
There was another option, though. The information that I could understand was not useless. Already I understood more about many things just from studying these schemas. A metal that I recognized was used throughout these plans: Auramite. It was apparently something we had sought for eons. It could accept more Laws and Ingots than any other metal from what I could elucidate from the designs before me.
Thrumming in thought, I turned back to considering other matters as warnings erupted of something leaving the distorted space. A strange avian form with fragile wings flew through the void, and I knew that it was of Chaos from the sheer density of Ruin particles flooding off of it.
"The Golden One will never return." A strange whisper spoke in the back of my mind, yet that was of little importance as I activated the Inversion Arrays. Ruin was drawn away from the daemon into the might of my ship as its arms prepared to fire.
I waited as the daemon threw spells against my ship, each being rent to nothing against the bulwark of my nature, yet without the Inversion Arrays sapping the power of the daemon, I would have died many times over in moments. In the end, it did not matter as the arrays fired, and in a moment, the daemon ceased to exist.
My sensors detected a remaining object left behind by the daemon, and I had it brought onboard via a gravity tether. There was little that could corrupt me or my ship, and as the book was brought near, it began to tear itself apart as the corruption was shredded by the still active inversion arrays.
All in all, it was a fairly boring find, with various methods for ritual casting and spell creation that seemed to be a trap by nature. Perhaps others would benefit more from it than I would for now.
Turning back, I opened another Warp rift, ensuring that it was the same size as my ship before entering it and plotting a course to Cadia. Hopefully, this time, I would not overshoot my target in the same manner.
Peering through the chaos of the Warp, I saw through the lens of space a strange, nearly impossible to tread pathway that promised to bring me to my destination near instantly. Perhaps this is what humans mean when they say to take a leap of faith. In the end, I set a course for this thin path through the madness of the Warp.
Only one that guided their ship as I did could follow such a path, yet I could, and at that precise moment, I snapped open the Warp rift and inverted my momentum with gravity bands. A human crew would have died from the strain upon their forms, but I simply accepted the momentary pain as my ship came to a halt within the docking bay of a shipyard.
"Newly docked vessel, identify yourself at once." An Imperial radio snapped to life as my systems reconnected to the local datanet, informing me that all of this had taken a handful of weeks. "This is The Witness' Light, carrying Atraxas, Planetary Governor of Shogi, to meet with the Cadian Lord." A moment of silence met me as I sent my vessel's security codes to the dock operator's reception terminal."Power down all systems and prepare to be boarded. Lack of compliance will not be tolerated."
Opening the ship to enable the crews to enter was done quickly, as was decoupling myself from the control nest to ensure that no questions would be asked about its shape. I could hear the soldiers shouting clear as they checked the various rooms and even the obvious secret rooms and the actually hidden rooms. I made a note to improve the concealment of said chambers to ensure that if I was transporting anything that I could not allow to be found by a human, it would be harder to be discovered.
After several minutes, a group of soldiers in power armor entered my bridge, finding me waiting for them. "Where is Planetary Governor Atraxas?" The leader barked as they waved a plasma gun at me. I peered at the gun, more interested in it than in whatever the human was shouting at me. It was better made than most models but could be easily improved. Sadly, now was not the time to fix such an ugly piece of machinery.
When I dragged my attention away from his gun to the armor, noting the manifold flaws in it that poked at me to correct, I could feel guns touching my body. A quick survey revealed only las and plasma, nothing that would impose a notable threat to my life. "I am Planetary Governor Atraxas, here at the request of the Cadian Lord." I stated as I began drawing holographic designs for new powered armor for humans, this entire event was boring and I needed something to break the monotony apart.
"Who piloted this vessel?" Another human barked at me, why could they not be as quick on the uptake as my advisors? "I did." My voice was cold and firm as I stared down at the unpleasant fleshy beings noting their primitive equipment profaning my work. I vibrated my form slightly to refocus on what they were muttering to their commanders, who quickly proved themselves to be as mindlessly dim-witted as these troopers.
As the feeble fleshlings guided me out of my ship as if I was about to do anything unpleasant, I could only wonder what they thought they could do to stop me if they wanted to. The arms they had at hand were woefully insufficient to even penetrate my carapace, and I found myself insulted more by the weakness of their weapons and armor than by having them pointed at me.
Regardless, I was brought into a checkpoint where sensors were run over my form. Of course, the imbeciles expected to detect things through several meters of metallic alloys. Their sensors were not potent enough to bypass a carapace that evolved to handle the gamma bursts that served as the primary emission from our local star.
I knew that my thoughts were different from the norm, yet I did not care, for the pestering of such weak beings is not worth my consideration. I did not understand why I wasted so much effort on improving them to a fraction of my ability. It is not like my advisors are all that impressive, barring two of their number. I do hope that I will find more impressive humans eventually, and if the reports are true, then perhaps my local counterpart will be one such being.
Eventually, after wasting all of our time for an hour, I was waved through with the humans grumbling about tech priest security measures. I hope that they get liquidated, for such foolishness should not be tolerated upon this world. I could be an enemy to their understanding, and yet because their sensors could not find anything, I was let through. Such dereliction of duty only provided another reason to disregard humanity as a worthy peer to the Exatari.
A soldier of one of our hives would never be so careless. They dissect visitors alive when entering secure locations. The Imperium has the technology to do the same, and I fail to understand the reason behind the lack of such measures in place, for how could one detect a nuclear device within my torso if this is all they have to examine me?
At last, after an eternity of waiting for the minds of the humans to finally consider acting, their futile tests were concluded, and I was led to a shuttle to be taken down to the world below. It was nothing impressive, for all the rumors and reports of this world it was far less than I had expected. There were no orbital plates or rings surrounding the environs, no stratospheric spires to erect force fields across the globe.
A Scholar of Creation could improve the world many times over in fractions of a century as I examined the world below, the humans in the shuttle tried to speak to me, but why would one such I care for the consideration of beings so far below my ability?
The cloud layer was breached, and pain ravaged my mind. It was not like when my own self rebelled to bow before something that was not there, but it was akin to it. Pain exploded across my body as I saw the sheer metal pylon erupting from the ground. I felt the energy emitting from it as it ground against my flesh, dampening the influence of the Warp upon me.
Now knowing what has been altering my mind, I reached out and altered the phase shields that surrounded me. I awakened from the dream to see humans staring at me with both dogged determination and blatant terror on their faces and bodies, clutching their weapons with fervor knowing that they would not be enough. Even Cadians are not immune to the curses of humanity it seems, yet I have no room to grandstand above them in this regard.
The curse I bear in my blood is ever so worse than the one that they labor under, but as I relaxed, they did so as well. One of them spoke to the one next to him and I could hear it, "Thank the Emperor, I thought he would snap for a moment." I wilted at those words; I have spent decades helping my world become strong again. I had never wanted to terrorize people, that is not who I am.
If I had, I would be a War Scholar, not a Forge Scholar as I am. I stared at the passing pylon knowing that it was the root cause of my failure in this regard. I could only hope that I would not fall prey to it again.
The world of Cadia was interesting as I walked through its streets towards the fortress that was the command nexus of the world. The cities that I in my moment of failure had decried as poorly constructed and flawed were built with a different form in mind. Durability had been sacrificed upon the altar of value, buildings could be broken to serve as roadblocks, streets could be destroyed in moments, and further defenses lay scattered across the city.
The fortifications of Shogi were but a pale echo of this world now that I walked through it with my mind unclouded. The soldiers that had guided me from my ship were nervous, I wish I could release them from this state, but that was not in my ability to achieve. I was no master of word or faith, I was no Scholar of the Trinity of being. I was not one that had worked with the Living Mausoleums in truth, I was but a Scholar of the Forge, and one could not fix this form of injury.
I could feel the void shields crackling across the world, my cybernetics and biology both reacting to the abundance of energy flux bleeding off of the countless reactors within this city, yet even with all of this, I could see improvements to be found in the design of buildings and the road patterns. I understand enough to know that this is not an independent system but one that is both a part of a greater whole and singular.
Cadia confirmed its reputation as I walked, and my ship reported their actions to me. The wait time that I endured was not because the world was slow to act but instead served a purpose: to gather needed forces to tear apart my ship to uncover what secrets it held. I hummed to myself at the nature of the Imperium, trust among humanity is in short supply, if they had simply asked I would have gladly shared much of the design with them.
Of course, they could not know that, and my previous behavior tainted my arrival. In the end, it is sadly the only logical course for them to undertake with what little they knew about me.
The seat of the Cadian Lord was not as ostentatious as my palace to my relief. It conformed to the style of the world that I had come to understand: brutal efficiency for both defense and offense. I enjoyed the sight of bare metal and well designed systems in place of the gold and pointless artwork that littered the palace I was forced to call home for now.
As I was ushered into a room, I had to hold back a trill as I realized that I was meeting the Cadian Lord in a clearly repurposed military conference room. It did make sense, even among our people my size was intimidating to many, for I was one of the largest Exatari currently alive... or I was before I left the Homeworld and my people for the duties of an Infiltrator.
Humans had much the same reaction to physical difference I had learned as an aged man entered on the balcony above. With a chair in hand as he sat down staring at me, even as he sighed from his age. I could see with my new understanding of human biology the flaws in the rejuvenation technology that they used. I do not know why, but it did not work properly. I would need to investigate it, for I would not tolerate using an inferior product on Shogi than what I could create. Of course, it is doubtful I could improve it with how little I understand of biology, but perhaps something I know would be applicable. I can do nothing but try in the end.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas. I would normally start off by beating around the bush, trying to make a few veiled accusations, catch you off guard, that sort thing. In this case though, I feel that both of us care little for such nonsense. One decade ago, the Astropaths proclaimed The Emperor had delivered a warning to Erimyst sector. The only notable change in said sector for the previous century is your rise to power as Planetary Governor. I called you here to prove to me and the Inquisition that the Emperor's warning was for you rather than because of you. I would strongly recommend honesty."
That was not the expected beginning, but it was logical for such to be considered. I crossed my legs in thought on how to solve this conundrum. I could not trust in the lie that I had fed to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Shogi to defray suspicion if I told the truth regarding a novel discovery that Chaos sought in return.
The man seemed to be content to wait, and I could understand why. The building was being locked down, and humans wearing power armor and holding melta guns were entering the fortification as we waited. I knew little on Chaos beyond its metaphysical nature, but perhaps that is enough. "What do you know about my predecessor?" It was a gamble, but I had no real choice. The man leaned forward, seemingly intrigued.
"I expected denials and blustering proclamations. Possibly a violent outburst. I only know your name because of the warning The Emperor screamed across the Oculus Bulwark. But, please do explain how this predecessor of yours explains the situation we're in now." I could tell that I was on thin standing, yet he was listening, which was all that was needed, thankfully.
"Gateway Solar's governor prior to me was incompetent. He defunded most of the planetary systems, raided the treasury, sowed dissent and corruption in the greater sector. After his death, the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Departmento Munitorum both compromised on a non-political appointee to the seat. I was randomly selected from an industrial world outside of the Erimyst sector. As for the warning, it is my belief that the ruination of Shogi was a plot aimed at weakening the Oculus Bulwark's second ring, and my efforts at the restoration of the world is resulting in a powerful force seeking to prevent it." I finished my statement carefully examining the lord's expression, hoping that I had made the correct choice in using Shogi's secondary designation to push the point of its stellar position home.
The man leaned back, seemingly in thought, "A strangely plausible explanation. The Ruinous Powers would seek to ensure that Gateway Solar and Gateway Cadia are both compromised. Cadia has stood for nearly ten thousand years, but the Gateways do suffer the brunt of what gets through my watch. Congratulations, Planetary Governor Atraxas of Gateway Solar. Your arguments are sound enough to keep me from bringing you in for summary judgement. Don't think I'm taking my eye off you, though. I'll be assigning a Cadian regiment to Gateway Solar with a dedicated Astropath. If they are lost, Cadia will come down upon you like the Emperor's own sword." The aged figure declared even as he stood up from his chair and walked towards the exit, declaring the meeting over in more than one way.
A group of powered armor soldiers entered the room and escorted me back to the shuttles where a hundred men and women waited. Most of whom were clearly soldiers except for one wearing robes with missing eyes. This must be the regiment he mentioned. Perhaps I should have installed a Gellar Field generator on my ship, I consider now that I have to ferry humans aboard it. It should be fine hopefully for a short trip like this.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas, I am Colonel Leonidas of the 560th Field Engineering Corps. We have been displaced to Gateway Solar to confirm the presence of Heretical activity and stamp it out." The foremost man stated as he snapped to attention, I huff at the eagerness on his face, "Harkar will enjoy having some of her peers with her. It should hopefully be a quick journey to reach Shogi." Leonidas quivered as I spoke but not in fear, but in something else as his eyes widened before recovering control and snapping a salute.
Once everyone was aboard the ship, Leonidas, along with his team, began studying the Witness' Light gleefully. I was glad for them to be happy with the design, but soon I was connected to the ship, and the moment I got clearance, I powered the engines.
A Warp rift a few microns larger than the ship snapped open inches in front of the bow as I charged into the warp without waiting, sealing it shut behind me moments later. This time, I was far more adept at reading the Warp and the void abacus as I plotted a course back to Shogi, dancing on the stable currents of the warp as I went. Diving and surfing, new essences were gleamed, most of which I knew in fact, Deathless, Decay, Entropy and Fire were all harvested and stored safety away, while another unknown essence floated into its own tank.
I failed to spot the proper pathway in time, but it was a small matter as I tore open a rift into the middle of the Shogi system merely hours from the shipyard and linked to my relays in system to inform everyone of my return. It was good to be back to my current home.
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The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
Hm. Impressive it was able to get a telepathic message through our interference. I'll definitely be a lot happier once we get a personal meta shield though.
We should have enough freed up actions to research the new Laws turn seven though. Might even be able to incorporate the Emperor associated one into our regional meta shields if we have enough alloys or enough favor to buy a blueprint.
There is only one piece of wargear known to use Auramite: Adeptus Custodes Power Armour, the most advanced power armor known to the imperium another long research project for us.
Another action for our to-do list to complete by turn 11.
Im not sure if getting a power armored regiment is worth the increased oversight they bring with them reporting directly to Cadia but it means Cadia can send us requests by astropath now.
What would the Stilling do to Ataxas?
Planetary Governor Atraxas - So, how was the trip? Is everyone comfortable?
The humans on the ship - endless screaming!!!!
The humans on the ship - endless screaming!!!!
The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
Well, he does stabilize the Warp about as well as a Gellar on his own, so long as he's not too outnumbered. Plus, he probably turned the Phasic Shields on for the second leg of the trip.
I am amazed at how much you can write in only a single week and our personal ship and its first trip getting the majority of the writing is no problem, sometimes one actions simply inspires you more than another one.
- Location
- USA
I have actually written the entire posts for another 2 actions. I decided to post this one since it was a good starting point and will post the next one tomorrow. Due to wanting to let people read the individual parts before moving onto the next ones.
- Location
- USA
Not really how it works, its more that it seeds passing ships rather than entangles ships.
Turn 5: Part 2 (The Forest)
- Location
- USA
With my ship refitted with a Gellar Field generator, even if it did not truly need one when I was using it on my own, it was time to set course for the Void Forest and to begin the progression towards a phase forge or wellspring. It was a new experience for me in truth; we had never built such a machine around a natural object before due to them tending to lack any meta particle flux, but black holes were different in that they were predicted to have great flux.
A sixth of my private army filed onto my ship, with new weapons and armor seeming to be concerned for their future. If all went to plan, there would be no issues going forward. The Forest was one of the weaker threats, after all, being mere void plants of a sort. I doubt it had any form of true intelligence or other protections.
Moving towards the point where it was safe for a Warp transition was tedious, as with this number of humans aboard, I could feel that the Warp was becoming more chaotic and unstable on the the other side and as such I would not be able to transition outside of the nominal safe zones.
My army was doing well, taking to their rooms and resting for the fight ahead. In all, this journey should take a mere few hours at most, and then it would be time to see about clearing out a part of the forest for the placing of the Core that I had constructed.
As the time for emergence came, it seemed that there would be no Invoked Laws being harvested in this travel, most likely due to the relative speed of the journey more so than anything else. Regardless, I activated the Warp Drive once more and exited into real space.
The Void Forest was clear even from the far system, a massive asymmetrical sphere of growth around a tiny center point. As the Witness' Light drifted closer under the gravity drives, I could begin to see that the Forest was growing into the event horizon of the black hole at its center. Mass itself was being extracted from the void, yet it would exist for another trillion eons.
There were few places to land the army on, but the most obvious was the longest of the spikes that reached several AUs away from the black hole. Of course, it would be impractical for my army to have to walk to the core along the full distance, but my ship could approach the inner reaches and then offload them.
In the quiet of the void, with only the ship systems as a presence to my mind, I could explore the ever-present flux of meta particles with far more detail than normally. Days passed as the forest grew closer, and I saw more of what the Forest did to the flux of reality. Meta particles streamed in and off of the forest, denoting a thousand concepts, most of which were already things I knew.
It was a sight that was perhaps as close as I would ever come to calling divine, save for the Witness. The delicate interplay of the weaves of particles danced across the Veil, informing the two realities of the other and how they were to be understood. Where gravity told space to bend, the particles I saw told the Warp how to judge reality and how for reality to respond to the Warp.
It was in a true sense a vision of the Veil being seen by my eyes. The sensors of my ship expanded my sight beyond what I alone could manage, seeing deeper and wider than was normal, yet I remained firm in my path as the Witness' Light bore down on the Forest and I began to see more of the display of life inherent to this strange organism.
It was ancient, an untended garden from an epoch long since lost. I could read in its flux the touch of something infinite in scope and grand indeed. It was a great root system, left behind as an age died, growing for it lacked anything else to do, driven by instincts woven into all life, rather than the tending of the Gardner. As the distance closed, I could hear a faint song of life singing from the past from the heart of the Forest. Even after eons of loss the Forest recalled its originator it seemed.
It knew that I was here. It was not thinking in any true way, but it was more akin to a predator than a mere plant as found on so many worlds. It sensed my arrival through the fluctuations of gravity, the bending of space and time, and the shifting of the stellar dust. I reacted to its awareness as it tried to consume my ship, dodging through its flailing attempts to ensnare me with gravity bands.
Soon enough, I reached the point where I sent the order, and my private army dropped onto the spur of the Forest. Baneblades crushed the fragile surface before grinding onwards. My troops, armored in vacuum-sealed power armor, began the long march to the central core. As I prepared to take command, the song changed.
My "ears" felt it go from an echo of a song sung by something infinitely beyond me to something far more primitive. It was the voice of the Forest itself. It knew that beings walked upon it, and it sought their removal. The flux changed in an instant, and unknown particles fell upon my army seeking to shatter their forms, mutate their flesh, alter their life.
I reacted, reading into the flows of the particles their nature, and the Witness' Light shifted. I was unable to aid my people as I fought a battle that they could not understand or see. Meta Particles clashed against each other, Life against Weight and Ruin. They were not opposing ones, thus limiting my power here, yet I was able to disrupt the impact of Life upon my troops.
However, I was unable to provide order to them even as I weaved defenses above and for them. My orders were corrupted by the Forest as it sung its song of decay and neglect. It sought to enforce upon them the same fate as itself. A mindless rebellion against its loss, its Mother torn away from it when it was but a seed, seeking to inflict the same pain upon others that dared touch it.
Unlike before, it had chosen to engage in a battle which it could not win. The Meta Particles are where I hold sway, and I learned from its song.
Life was revealed to my mind, the interlocking nature of the Library revealed in a moment as the song progressed to the next note. I saw the touch of how Life flowed through the Veil, the Trinity's formation. Soul, Body, and Mind were all as one to Life. With but two, one could not live. The Forest was dying from its neglect, its body unpruned, its soul sickly, its mind unformed.
In the broken weaves of Life that it threw across space, I saw what it could have been: an artificial world. Ever growing, an infinite expanse to call home, a sanctuary for the denizens of the galaxy. Now, it languished here, consuming its only food source, ever decaying as it lived.
I could read the echos of the millions that it had broken over the eons, the people that had been shattered by its weight and control over Life. In the end, I was the anomaly here, for how many in this galaxy could say that they could weave Meta particles in this manner beyond my people? I took what its broken song provided and wove it into new Life and countered its malformed weavings with my own. Protecting those under my aegis with weaves of this new Library even as the Witness' Light unleashed the fury I could not upon the forest.
Chunks were torn from its mass only to regrow as it wove Life into itself with a skill born from instinct. I saw the harm that such actions inflicted. It did not know the costs of such weavings. It did not understand how to manage Meta Particles. It was only hastening its doom with how it went about preserving itself.
Its song was twisted, as were its weaves. Healing and decay intertwined, fighting each other as they went. A deep core of malignancy lived within its heart; a wound that never healed and never would festered deep within. Its Trinity was failing, yet I knew enough to staunch the bleeding at last.
The Inversion Array reconfigured itself at my command as my army and my ship neared the major bulwark of its mass. The baneblades fired, and the mass shivered but held. Again and again my army fired, and though the mass held, it was weakened as the weaves of Life became ever more corrupted with Decay. Until the final barrier fell and I commanded them to fall back, in testament to their training and trust in my commands, they complied with my order.
The Inversion Array, configured for Life, unleashed its fury into the very heart of the Forest. I aimed it not for the physical form, but for the corruption that lingered within. It was not proper to exterminate something that sought no harm but lashed out from sickness. The invisible force of the Inversion Array struck it clean, burning away the festering infection that ate at the heart of the Forest from within.
It would not heal the Forest, but it settled it for a time. The weaves stabilized, Life overtaking Decay as the particles were woven with a gentler hand. The song that was sung across the Veil soothed more than harmed now, even as I remained, protecting my army while they emplaced the Core within a hollow near the edge of the Black Hole.
It took mere moments for me to connect the Core to the Singularity, and already, the first batch of matter began to be created from the particle flux. Titanium, Gold, Silver, Uranium and all the other basic elements were produced as a slurry of liquid waiting to be distilled into ingots and further refined. This was a great victory for me and my world. The Forest would share its secrets in time, yet the corruption that lingers within would need to be found and purged.
I sadly did not have the ability to heal the injuries that the Forest had suffered, and I doubt I ever will. Its wound is deeper than one could imagine, a core part of its very soul torn asunder before it had a chance to grow. A fate worse than death in many ways, yet I will not forget this, and perhaps I will find a way in time to give it a moment of respite from its agony.
With the Core in place and the Forest now pacified for a time, I gathered my troops once more and began to return to the Mandeville Point. Still, the song of the forest remained unchanged, a lament of some form, wordless yet formed of a palpable sadness so deep that even the deaf would hear and even the eyeless would weap. Even with the removal of the festering infection, it was still dying and yet in its non thinking mind it understood causal relations and knew that I had given it peace for a time.
Its song reached out and changed for a moment, revealing a weave of another particle, the one that let it feed upon the singularity at the core of the black hole it orbited. A fraction of the Library of Space was revealed to me, far too little to even attempt to guess at the full image, but enough to know that it was truly real.
During the journey back to Shogi, several Laws were distilled, only one of which I knew. Hope, a single Law coalesced into a tank as I traveled, while in the others, seven and six Laws I did not know, formed from the distilled Living Essences gathered. Beyond such matters, it was a pleasant return trip to Shogi.
A sixth of my private army filed onto my ship, with new weapons and armor seeming to be concerned for their future. If all went to plan, there would be no issues going forward. The Forest was one of the weaker threats, after all, being mere void plants of a sort. I doubt it had any form of true intelligence or other protections.
Moving towards the point where it was safe for a Warp transition was tedious, as with this number of humans aboard, I could feel that the Warp was becoming more chaotic and unstable on the the other side and as such I would not be able to transition outside of the nominal safe zones.
My army was doing well, taking to their rooms and resting for the fight ahead. In all, this journey should take a mere few hours at most, and then it would be time to see about clearing out a part of the forest for the placing of the Core that I had constructed.
As the time for emergence came, it seemed that there would be no Invoked Laws being harvested in this travel, most likely due to the relative speed of the journey more so than anything else. Regardless, I activated the Warp Drive once more and exited into real space.
The Void Forest was clear even from the far system, a massive asymmetrical sphere of growth around a tiny center point. As the Witness' Light drifted closer under the gravity drives, I could begin to see that the Forest was growing into the event horizon of the black hole at its center. Mass itself was being extracted from the void, yet it would exist for another trillion eons.
There were few places to land the army on, but the most obvious was the longest of the spikes that reached several AUs away from the black hole. Of course, it would be impractical for my army to have to walk to the core along the full distance, but my ship could approach the inner reaches and then offload them.
In the quiet of the void, with only the ship systems as a presence to my mind, I could explore the ever-present flux of meta particles with far more detail than normally. Days passed as the forest grew closer, and I saw more of what the Forest did to the flux of reality. Meta particles streamed in and off of the forest, denoting a thousand concepts, most of which were already things I knew.
It was a sight that was perhaps as close as I would ever come to calling divine, save for the Witness. The delicate interplay of the weaves of particles danced across the Veil, informing the two realities of the other and how they were to be understood. Where gravity told space to bend, the particles I saw told the Warp how to judge reality and how for reality to respond to the Warp.
It was in a true sense a vision of the Veil being seen by my eyes. The sensors of my ship expanded my sight beyond what I alone could manage, seeing deeper and wider than was normal, yet I remained firm in my path as the Witness' Light bore down on the Forest and I began to see more of the display of life inherent to this strange organism.
It was ancient, an untended garden from an epoch long since lost. I could read in its flux the touch of something infinite in scope and grand indeed. It was a great root system, left behind as an age died, growing for it lacked anything else to do, driven by instincts woven into all life, rather than the tending of the Gardner. As the distance closed, I could hear a faint song of life singing from the past from the heart of the Forest. Even after eons of loss the Forest recalled its originator it seemed.
It knew that I was here. It was not thinking in any true way, but it was more akin to a predator than a mere plant as found on so many worlds. It sensed my arrival through the fluctuations of gravity, the bending of space and time, and the shifting of the stellar dust. I reacted to its awareness as it tried to consume my ship, dodging through its flailing attempts to ensnare me with gravity bands.
Soon enough, I reached the point where I sent the order, and my private army dropped onto the spur of the Forest. Baneblades crushed the fragile surface before grinding onwards. My troops, armored in vacuum-sealed power armor, began the long march to the central core. As I prepared to take command, the song changed.
My "ears" felt it go from an echo of a song sung by something infinitely beyond me to something far more primitive. It was the voice of the Forest itself. It knew that beings walked upon it, and it sought their removal. The flux changed in an instant, and unknown particles fell upon my army seeking to shatter their forms, mutate their flesh, alter their life.
I reacted, reading into the flows of the particles their nature, and the Witness' Light shifted. I was unable to aid my people as I fought a battle that they could not understand or see. Meta Particles clashed against each other, Life against Weight and Ruin. They were not opposing ones, thus limiting my power here, yet I was able to disrupt the impact of Life upon my troops.
However, I was unable to provide order to them even as I weaved defenses above and for them. My orders were corrupted by the Forest as it sung its song of decay and neglect. It sought to enforce upon them the same fate as itself. A mindless rebellion against its loss, its Mother torn away from it when it was but a seed, seeking to inflict the same pain upon others that dared touch it.
Unlike before, it had chosen to engage in a battle which it could not win. The Meta Particles are where I hold sway, and I learned from its song.
Life was revealed to my mind, the interlocking nature of the Library revealed in a moment as the song progressed to the next note. I saw the touch of how Life flowed through the Veil, the Trinity's formation. Soul, Body, and Mind were all as one to Life. With but two, one could not live. The Forest was dying from its neglect, its body unpruned, its soul sickly, its mind unformed.
In the broken weaves of Life that it threw across space, I saw what it could have been: an artificial world. Ever growing, an infinite expanse to call home, a sanctuary for the denizens of the galaxy. Now, it languished here, consuming its only food source, ever decaying as it lived.
I could read the echos of the millions that it had broken over the eons, the people that had been shattered by its weight and control over Life. In the end, I was the anomaly here, for how many in this galaxy could say that they could weave Meta particles in this manner beyond my people? I took what its broken song provided and wove it into new Life and countered its malformed weavings with my own. Protecting those under my aegis with weaves of this new Library even as the Witness' Light unleashed the fury I could not upon the forest.
Chunks were torn from its mass only to regrow as it wove Life into itself with a skill born from instinct. I saw the harm that such actions inflicted. It did not know the costs of such weavings. It did not understand how to manage Meta Particles. It was only hastening its doom with how it went about preserving itself.
Its song was twisted, as were its weaves. Healing and decay intertwined, fighting each other as they went. A deep core of malignancy lived within its heart; a wound that never healed and never would festered deep within. Its Trinity was failing, yet I knew enough to staunch the bleeding at last.
The Inversion Array reconfigured itself at my command as my army and my ship neared the major bulwark of its mass. The baneblades fired, and the mass shivered but held. Again and again my army fired, and though the mass held, it was weakened as the weaves of Life became ever more corrupted with Decay. Until the final barrier fell and I commanded them to fall back, in testament to their training and trust in my commands, they complied with my order.
The Inversion Array, configured for Life, unleashed its fury into the very heart of the Forest. I aimed it not for the physical form, but for the corruption that lingered within. It was not proper to exterminate something that sought no harm but lashed out from sickness. The invisible force of the Inversion Array struck it clean, burning away the festering infection that ate at the heart of the Forest from within.
It would not heal the Forest, but it settled it for a time. The weaves stabilized, Life overtaking Decay as the particles were woven with a gentler hand. The song that was sung across the Veil soothed more than harmed now, even as I remained, protecting my army while they emplaced the Core within a hollow near the edge of the Black Hole.
It took mere moments for me to connect the Core to the Singularity, and already, the first batch of matter began to be created from the particle flux. Titanium, Gold, Silver, Uranium and all the other basic elements were produced as a slurry of liquid waiting to be distilled into ingots and further refined. This was a great victory for me and my world. The Forest would share its secrets in time, yet the corruption that lingers within would need to be found and purged.
I sadly did not have the ability to heal the injuries that the Forest had suffered, and I doubt I ever will. Its wound is deeper than one could imagine, a core part of its very soul torn asunder before it had a chance to grow. A fate worse than death in many ways, yet I will not forget this, and perhaps I will find a way in time to give it a moment of respite from its agony.
With the Core in place and the Forest now pacified for a time, I gathered my troops once more and began to return to the Mandeville Point. Still, the song of the forest remained unchanged, a lament of some form, wordless yet formed of a palpable sadness so deep that even the deaf would hear and even the eyeless would weap. Even with the removal of the festering infection, it was still dying and yet in its non thinking mind it understood causal relations and knew that I had given it peace for a time.
Its song reached out and changed for a moment, revealing a weave of another particle, the one that let it feed upon the singularity at the core of the black hole it orbited. A fraction of the Library of Space was revealed to me, far too little to even attempt to guess at the full image, but enough to know that it was truly real.
During the journey back to Shogi, several Laws were distilled, only one of which I knew. Hope, a single Law coalesced into a tank as I traveled, while in the others, seven and six Laws I did not know, formed from the distilled Living Essences gathered. Beyond such matters, it was a pleasant return trip to Shogi.
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- Location
- Warsaw
So how much does the core provide?
- Location
- USA
500 Resources, the maximum possible at this stage.