Strange Aeons: A 40k Xeno Governor Quest
- Thread starter Leon12431
- Start date
- Location
- USA
There is no such thing as a partly broken Scholar, Atraxas is fully broken.
The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
He's just broken in a way that is unlikely to directly lead to Architecture.
Turn 6: The Audit and the breaking of chains
- Location
- USA
I waited on the roof of the palace that I had been forced to take as my own. It was uncomfortably difficult to defend in case of a siege, and its layout brought me great discomfort, but soon that would be over. No more would I have to deal with the narrow hallways full of ostentatious statues. Instead, I would be comfortably deep beneath the earth. Stirring myself out of my idle daydreaming, I could see through the computer system and my own sensors Astartes shuttles coming through the atmosphere towards where I was. I do admit that I was excited to finally meet one of the Emperor's Angels of Death in person.
I had learned a great deal about this near-mythical group of warriors, and I longed for the truth of the matter. It was somewhat annoying when the Pathfinders told me that they would come the next decade due to waiting for the arrival of their comrades, but it was an understandable change of plans.
Regardless, the two shuttles were different from the norm. They were far more elegant and clearly possessed better technology than the normal fare of the Imperium, but what drew my attention were the insignias inscribed upon them. One bore what I believe to be an omega symbol from a long forgotten human language, while the other had a pentagram of five stars around a planet.
The first I knew was the symbol of the Ultramarines, one of the nine supposedly greatest Chapters in the Imperium, while the other was one of the local Chapters: the Pathfinders. It would only take a few more minutes for them to arrive even as I shifted lightly from leg to leg, wincing a bit at the groaning of the roof below me.
I really did hope that my home would be completed soon, for I desperately needed to begin research on the Invoked Laws I had gathered and even more critically begin the construction of a new regalia. I gave my original up when I took this mission, but I would not be able to avoid fighting in the coming decades, and I would need weapons and armor fit for war once more.
With a gentle touch, the two shuttles landed on the roof, and the door slid open to let the astartes exit.
They were weak. That was the first thing that I realized. Their bodies moved in graceless patterns, their souls burned brightly but were a pale echo of my own's strength, and their minds were cumbersome. There was no questioning how far they stood above humanity, but they were below me on the most fundamental level, which was surprising. I had expected them to be peer to Osiris or myself, not below my own baseline of abilities, but I had learned that alone was not the entire situation.
It is certain that they will act in impossible ways to me, and it will be expected among their number. Regardless of such a fact, it was nice to meet beings who were not able to crush me like an insect. An Ultramarine stepped forward from the others as the ten marines fanned out behind him. "I am Aescheus, commander of this investigatory force. Planetary Governor Atraxas, you are to be audited, do not resist." I peered down at the Astartes whose brusque manner of speech surprised me but vibrated as a shrug before leading them inward.
"I have no corruption to hide upon Shogi; all things are proceeding according to my designs. Waste has been stamped out, for it has no place in this system anymore with the grand project waiting to begin." I stated as I lead the group of Marines deeper into the palace, noting that some of them seemed to flinch at my voice or more accurately my soul, it was pushing against them, wearing away at something that I could not understand at the moment.
"We will be the judge of that statement, Planetary Governor. Brothers, begin your search." Aescheus declared once we reached a central room where a large amount of work is filed and stored for future reference. Of course, I have no need for future references due to my perfect memory, but it is needed to defray suspicion and can be of use to my advisors.
The ten Ultramarines and five Pathfinders began to dig through the records, noting down the various aspects that they found suspicious according to some criterium that I did not understand. I drifted around the room, watching and trying to learn their secrets more out of curiosity than anything else, I have read reports on Ultramarine audits, and they were said to be terrifying. So far however it was boring. I only watched them read reports slower than I could, then the computer system reported an attempted incursion.
The basic firewalls held but were almost breached. An impressive display indeed, but also one that gave me an opportunity. It was simple enough to move one of my legs into a connection point, it had taken Nirve all of a few years to realize that anything upon a system was open to me no matter how encrypted or otherwise hidden it might be. As the connection fell into place, I traced back to the attempted incursion where the target was trying again, but instead of letting the automated systems revoke his access, I took a different approach.
Through the link I touched the machine spirit of the armor that the Astartes was using. As with all machine spirits, it seemed almost eager to interact with me as it gleefully let me into its domain. It was a fairly weak example of its kind, but it was well cared for, I could tell. Regardless, with the primary defenses lowered and absolute superiority in this field, it was a matter of a few thoughts to grab an entire copy of the Ultramarine data bank from the Techmarine without anyone being any wiser.
This would serve me well in many ways, improving my computers the least of all, more than that it would contain valuable insights into the legal system of the imperium and perhaps even enable better social systems for the people under my rule. I would not steal any of the Chapter's secrets, not because of any loyalty to them, but because of the inherent risk and that doing so would deface the wonder of creation.
Aescheus stepped near me, "You have somehow hidden your corruption better than most, Planetary Governor. Unfortunately for you, secrecy won't be enough. This audit will not end until you hand over the real data. I would not advise you to continue your obstruction of the audit." His bland voice echoed slightly around the room as I stared down at him, wondering what he was saying for these were indeed the true files. I had no reason to use corruption to hide my tracks, for I have done nothing that would warrant such actions, save for of course being a Xeno.
"Auditor Asecheus, I have not hidden anything from you. All the documentation of my rule is stored within this chamber. If you seek the files of my predecessors, that can be arranged." The Astartes seemed to ponder my words, the helmet covering his face to the visible spectrum, but the gamma passed through it, and I could easily see the anger covering his face at my bland words.
"All Planetary Governors are corrupt. You are no different. Show me the information now, or I will declare you non-compliant and in need of a full and total investigation by the Chapter, down to the last second your personal life and the most distant relative in your family line. You might, if the Emperor shows mercy to you, be allowed to see the outside of a cell in a few thousand years should you force my hand." His voice was monotone and firm. There was no flicker of indecision to it at least none that a human could hear.
I heard and saw the faint flickers of uncertainty within his voice and face, "There are a million worlds in the Imperium at last official count. It is known that the count is inaccurate. A more accurate number is one point twenty-five million with variance of a hundred thousand worlds under the aegis of the Imperium. To declare so many men and women corrupt without exception for their mere occupation is a strange view to take for one of a Chapter dedicated to honorable stewardship. " I say in reply, noting the flicks of surprise among his micro expressions for it was not easy to confirm the variance of the Imperial planetary count, yet I knew of it.
The Imperium lost and regained worlds daily across the galaxy, some for eons and others for days. Regardless of time, they were added and lost to the rolls of Imperial worlds thus prevented an assured count of worlds from existing. It is further complicated by the various ghost worlds that have been redacted from the count for various reasons.
In the face of my logic I could see that Aescheus ground his teeth in frustration as he tried to find a way to attempt to bully me into revealing what did not exist. I could not truly feel anger towards him, for by all measures, he was correct. The odds of a Planetary Governor not being corrupt in some fashion were in fact near zero due to human mentality. Only due to my nature was I so insulated from the lure of monetary or political gain.
"Brother Aescheus, we have found something." Another Astartes spoke over the communication relays in their armor, which was meant to be hidden from me, but it was easy enough to decode the electromagnetic transmission that was sent. "What is it?" A note of glee entered his tone as he replied to his fellow Astartes, yet I could tell that it would soon be dashed. "We found plans for a subterranean private palace. It is not in compliance with several local building codes or Imperial laws, but it can be easily brought into compliance." I shifted a leg at the discovery of my private residence being constructed, but in the end it was nothing major overall. It was, after all, built in accordance with Imperial designs on the outside.
I was not foolish enough to reveal the totality within the blueprints I provided to the builders. Deciding to act, I spoke, "Ah, that would be my private resistance that is under construction. I was unaware that it was not inline with building codes, but I will have that rectified in a matter of days." I took a measure of joy in the anger that crossed Aescheus' face as he realized that his secret line of communication was not so secure against me.
"Fine," he sighed. "You might not be fully corrupt, but you are not a Saint either. I can accept that." He ground out before turning and leaving in a huff.
I did not understand the dislike of the Ultramarines towards my lack of corruption, but perhaps it was due to expectations being subverted. In the end, it did not change much, as the fifteen left the data repository towards a more standard meeting room. As they and I entered the room and I took my nominal position in the center of the room, there was the click of metal as they removed their helms. Even if it did not truly affect my sight, it was still a sign of their confidence.
"Congratulations, Planetary Governor Atraxas, you have been found to be worthy of being deemed 'minimally corrupt'. Few can claim this honor. Now onto less pressing matters. Your advisor Akiona was the person responsible for the discovery of this corruption scandal, thus it is of utmost importance that we can meet with her to assess her stability." Aescheus spoke in a firm if less harsh tone as he stared up at me even with my bulk being partly concealed in the flooring. "In light of your statements, I assume that you are aware of the improbable skill that she displayed with no prior training." It was not a true guess, for it was fairly clear cut, but the reaction of the Astartes was strange, each of them blinked in surprise at my statement.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas, how is it that you can recognize the strangeness in how Akiona performs her duties?" The Pathfinder leader spoke for the first time, his voice lacking the firmness of his Ultramarine counterpart and with a more gracious overtone to it. Still, the question was strange. How could one not realize such, there was no sensible way in which someone like Akiona could pretend to be within the norms of probability. "How could I not? She outplayed a trained diplomat sent directly by the Erimyst Commerce Guilds, enforcing laws and statutes that even I barely understand as though she was intimately familiar with them." There was no reason I could see to lie about my ability to see the truth of her skills... or Harkar's for that matter.
Aescheus and the Pathfinder commander both nodded and seemed to relax slightly, "This does make it easier to explain the situation at hand." Aescheus began as he brought out a small dataslate, before placing it on the table. "In short, Akiona is what is known as a prodigy. They are more common than most would expect, but it is rare for one of them to be given true power. Regardless, they are exceptional at a specific field of work, but have a strange tendency towards causing extreme impacts of both the excellent and the catastrophic variety which makes them poorly suited for long term work. It is the current belief of the Ultramarines Chapter that these prodigies are potent psykers that have unknowingly funneled their power into improving their abilities to do their chosen job." I could believe that if the reports on human psykers were correct at least. They did have more options than the Scholars of Eternity did, after all.
"If you do intend to keep Akiona as your primary diplomat, it would be prudent to limit her actions as much as possible to preserve your reputation in the greater whole of the sector and the Imperium." Aescheus warned although to be fair it was something I had already realized and taken steps to mitigate, "I do appreciate the warning, but I have already expected such and have had her work upon building a diplomatic corps to aid in mitigation of any blunders she might suffer."
Both of them shook their heads at my statement, "Normally that would suffice, but it will not prevent a prodigy from causing catastrophic problems for you. Only use her in cases where a horrible failure will not result in long term harm to your people." The Pathfinder stated firmly as he peered up to me, and I nodded at the warning taking it in good faith. It could be possible to limit the harm, but for now it is clear that it would not be something easy to achieve and as such it would further affect how I could make use of Akiona.
"Let us refocus on other matters now." The Pathfinder spoke gently, seemingly nudging things along. "You sought to meet with the Pathfinders last decade. What was that meant for?" I stared down at the Astartes before activating a hologram of the golem infestation in the mines.
"During one of attempts to build a mining outpost on a planetary body, we discovered a non-sapient lithoid species that has incorporated Auramite into their biological make up. It is currently expected for the lithoids to be difficult to remove with only human means, as such the request to meet was in part motivated by a chance to request Astartes assistance in purging the creatures. Another aspect was related to the prophecy that the Emperor provided two decades ago via Nameria. I believe there is a relative certainly of Shogi being the primary target of the forces of Chaos." The Space Marines glanced at each other before setting their bodies in a strange manner as if they were preparing for war or a parade.
"We lack the numbers to assault an entrenched xeno threat at this moment, but I will relay the information to Seyken and the remainder of my Chapter. As for the prophecy, we too have heard it and were in talks about bringing it up with the greater whole of the sector. But know this: when the Ruinous Powers arrive, the Pathfinders will be waiting." The leader of the Pathfinders declared almost eagerly as they stared at the hologram, but there was not much to see.
Aescheus hummed as he rubbed his face slightly, "I take it that the fortifications being erected in the system are due to this prophecy? I do have to commend your predecessors for their foresight, although it does bring to question why the Adeptus Mechanicus would replace people with such a talent for long term planning."
I stared down at Aescheus before, for the first time in my life since becoming a Scholar, experiencing an emotion that was rare among my kind: true amusement. A strangled hum washed over the Astartes as I struggled to hold my laughter in, it was a rare emotion among the Exatari compared to Humanity, but this was so wrong as to become hilarious.
"In no way was my predecessor far sighted, he was the primary force behind the growth of the corruption in Erimyst. The fortifications you saw were started only twenty years ago and have finished perfectly on schedule." I spoke with my voice thick with amusement as I saw the Astartes suddenly transform, each of them seemed to stare at me with almost supernatural awe in their eyes.
Aescheus was more restrained but brightened up immensely at my words, "That does fit better with the reports of the Pathfinders. I am glad that there is at least one planetary governor that knows the wonders a well-run government can achieve. Perhaps you will be given permission to visit Macragge one day if your success continues." His voice was warmer than it had ever been, even as he and the others did calculations regarding the speed of the construction and other particulars with the project.
The Pathfinder stepped forward once more clearly burning with questions, which made sense since they were the ones that sought to make of the sector a notable location within the Imperium. "Planetary Governor Atraxas, what are your future plans for the system?" It was question with many answers, but there was no real reason to hide the truth of the plan from them, and if they would provide assistance it would make things progress far more easily.
I brought out a holoprojector, loaded the files, and activated it.
The room was replaced by the holographic display of the Shogi system with all the worlds and satellites in place and even the ships denoted in real time. All was just the beginning of what was needed for the grand plan to be brought to completion. "The defenses you have seen are only the first step in a multi stage plan to lay the foundation for a greater effort to revitalize not just Shogi but the entire sector. With the completion of the fortifications, I will begin the reordering of planetary orbits and the introduction of new celestial bodies in the outer system. This will improve the ease with which trade flows in and out of the system, while also providing extra levels of protection in the event of invasion. Of course the other aspect is to begin the completion of the shells of defenses, as the current situation has only planar forts, poorly suited for guarding a three dimensional field such as a star system from. Once the spheres are completed, the third stage will begin. Another addition and reshaping of planetary orbits will occur where I will bring in angular orbits such as to support the shells in greater detail." The short summary of the first plans was fairly easy for anyone to understand.
It was at its core just an expansion of fortifications and the addition of planetary bodies to the system to ensure that there would be no weak points within the defensive lines. Once the shells and the planets are built and aligned, then a more complex system of angled orbits can be added to interlock the system together across all axes. In the distant future these worlds and defensive stations will serve as the primary anchor points of the Matryoshka Project. Of course this was only the directly military aspects of the endeavor, and the other factors could not be neglected.
"Of course, this is not the totality of the plan. All of the planetary bodies will be terraformed into the closest thing to paradise so as to enable full exploitation of them in the future. It is my desire to see at minimum twenty planets roughly the size of Terra to be fully reshaped and inhabited within the next five centuries which will serve as a passable starting point for the other projects. Moving on from there I plan on expanding the educational and health systems of my worlds to full support levels such that any mutations are either purged or integrated safely into the populace of the system. Following from this, any additional planets brought in will of course be terraformed to habitable status and used as equally as any other world, I do eventually desire to ensure that each world has a distinct ecosystem and biosphere to it, thereby ensuring a level of healthy environmental diversity within the system, thereby enabling my people to have better nutrition and be better adapted to other planetary systems where they will be deployed in the Imperial Guard." I concluded the second part of my more immediate plans as I manipulated the hologram to show the designs. The planets and moons of the current system would be terraformed and cities built upon them, then as new planets were brought in they too were shown to be altered to match with the others.
This would serve as a means to ensure that the Matryoshka Project would be fully self sufficient in terms of food for eternity. Another aspect of transforming the planets into innately habitable ones would be that it will be easier to ensure the future additions will be fully terraformed as the gases will have already been provided in some small part. A saving of only a few millionth of a percent is more than worth it on this scale of effort. It would also prepare the system for the greater connectivity of the project in its totality, which can only be a boon.
I moved onto the next part of the project that would hopefully be possible sooner rather than later: the research centers.
Highlighting a group of five worlds in close orbit around the star of Shogi, I began to speak once more, "Once these five worlds are in place, I plan on overhauling them into data centers. The crust will be removed and replaced with a heat-reactive superconductor which will then provide power to the inner parts of the world where great forges and computers will be placed under the supervision of the Adeptus Mechanicus. I project a total of five notable layers for these worlds, with the outermost layer being the superconducting surface and the four inner ones being ever more efficient and capable computing substrates that will then be interlinked to the greater system to provide advances to manufacturing, education, defense, and more. Within the surface I project to build factories that will produce Knights, Titans and even battleships over time via energy-to-matter reactors that will draw from the solar energy of the primary star." I concluded this part with the final image of a cored out world with its internals replaced by computers, forges and phase reactors that would produce resources from the energy of the sun.
I then turned towards a planet towards the middle of the system, "I do admit that it is a bit of an afterthought, but I intend to turn this planet and possibly others into Shrine Worlds where people can pray to the Emperor without issue and for it to become the center of faith within the Shogi system. I personally do not have many plans for this world, so I will be giving Nameria, the Deacon of Shogi, full control over their designs if she desires them." Thus did I complete the outline of my future immediate plans, but I had yet to touch upon the Matryoshka Project itself, which I would need to do to fully answer their question.
Bringing the hologram to a more zoomed out view where the final system of hundreds of terraformed worlds and thousands of space stations existed in harmony, I began.
"Of course once these preliminary ventures are completed to satisfaction, the true work will begin. A project that I believe has been given the name of the Matryoshka System by my advisors will be started at that point. It is currently projected to take ten discrete stages of effort to complete and will at the end result in a solid fortification of the system." I began to show the growth of Shogi into its final stage.
"The first stage is simple enough: the construction of space elevators on every world and moon, further reinforcing the stations and more. The second stage will see the orbits of planets be incorporated into their individual planetary infrastructures." The first two stages were easy enough to understand as I began to show the growth of such things moving outward. "The second, third and forth stages will see the auto-production of Titans, and vast improvements to health and education across the board while preparing the system for stage five."
"Stage five." I started as tendrils of metal began to expand from each world, moon and station to each other, "The beginning of the truth of the project. Every object in the system will be connected to each other via cables and metal bands, to ensure the stability of the system and to serve as a foundation upon which the future stages can be built." As I continued, the metal began to expand over the system in spheres from the inner and outer as more and more of the system became a set of solid spheres one inside the next.
At stage ten, all that remained was a sphere of metal the size of a star system, with unmatched protection and production. There was enough variance in the greater project as of now to prevent a comprehensive overview of things, but this was enough to provide the general gist of the idea to the Astartes before me.
As I turned off the hologram I looked at my audience and saw only abject confusion and disbelief on their faces, which was strange since they should be more than able to understand the project and how it could be done with the technology at hand in the Imperium.
"Atraxas, you might wish to temper your expectations lest you draw the attention of the Great Enemy." Aescheus spoke first as he stared at the place where the hologram had been only moments before. It was odd that he would mention the forces of Chaos as being a risk, although to be fair the corruption would be problematic to ensure would not occur, but with certain wardings I believe it could be managed in the end. "I fail to see how Tzeentch or Slaanesh could influence my work, there is neither the pursuit of perfection nor the making of impossible plans within my designs. Every step of my project takes into account the limitations of the situation at hand and works from the expected and known rather than the illogical." The Astartes flinched slightly as I named the two most prominent creatures of Ruin in relation to my project, which was strange I would have expected them to be far less concerned about Ruin than the greater population.
The Pathfinder who still had not provided his name spoke once more, disrupting the staring contest the Ultramarines had decided to start with me for some reason, "Tell me, how do you plan on bringing more planets to the Shogi and realigning the system's orbits?" His voice was almost pained as he asked the question, which was also odd, I had answered his last question in full and proper as desired.
Well no matter, there again was little reason to hide the plan from them. "In short I plan to build a fleet of gravity tugs and then open a great Warp rift in the outer system. Once the rift is stabilized, I will then send the fleet out to the various worlds chosen from sector survey reports, and they will be brought back to Shogi. Another fleet of gravity tugs will bring the world into its future orbit, and as the process is ongoing this local fleet will be maintaining the orbital patterns of the other celestial bodies until all the pieces are in place."
All of the astartes just shook their heads in what seemed to be acceptance of something terrible, yet none of them acted upon it before Aescheus shook his head once more, "Atraxas, do you have anything else of note to report to us?" I noted that there was a touch of pleading in his voice, but the question was asked and I did have some answers to provide. Shifting slightly I spoke once more, "Yes, last decade I accidentally recovered the soul of the Custodian Osiris from the Warp via an unplanned spiritual incident. The previous decade I accidentally created a god that is now aiding the system via military commander Harkar, which was also when the Emperor provided the prophecy to Nameria."
The twenty Astartes just slumped as I concluded my statement, only the leaders remaining tall, but I could tell that they were nearing their limits. Ever since I had redesigned Osiris, he had become less unstable, and he would probably appreciate meeting some Astartes. It was a triple win of a sort: Osiris would enjoy human company nearer to his level, the Space Marines would be happy to have the honor of meeting one so esteemed, and I would be credited by both for bringing them together. "Would you like to meet Osiris? He is still catching up to the modern Imperium and would most likely be appreciative of meeting you." It was a question and statement, but I truly expected only one outcome, and it would provide a chance for me to speak with Archmagos Gravus again. We had little time to talk during the actual redesign phase due to the complexity of the task and the fact that I had to be overly cautious due to Osiris' poor stability.
The journey to where Osiris waited was quiet as the Astartes followed along as if they were newly hatched hatchlings being guided to their first lesson. The offer had been eagerly taken as expected, overshadowing everything previously without issue, a strange fact of the Astartes psychology that might speak towards a lever that I could use in the future to shift their goals and actions in my favor.
Regardless, with the relative lack of fragility for the Astartes, reaching the rooms that Osiris had declared as the Custodian Chambers was a quick process with only an hour passing before I saw the first of the many Tech Priests that scurried around the location with Archmagos Gravus. "Arrival predicted, access permitted, Osiris alerted. Astartes allowed entry, Atraxas probability dictates interaction desired, willing to provide interaction." The clipped almost robotic voice of Gravus echoed from one of their servants, before the great doors slide open as the Archmagos exited and the Astartes filled inward.
Even though I did not enter the rooms, I knew what they would find within. Osiris' form was redesigned to that of a human, the living cybernetic skin I had cultured replaced with a new one that would grow along the new frame. There was little reason for me to further test Osiris' patience at this moment so I turned towards the Archmagos. They were similar to the others I had met in the past, more metal than flesh like many of their colleagues.
Yet Gravus was special in that they had a greater weight upon reality, and the inversion arrays within my form considered them a viable target unlike the vast majority of beings. As the door sealed shut behind the Astartes, Gravus turned towards me in full, "Custodian Osiris provided gravitational data, improvement to ability, debt shifted, debt overpaid. Personal assistance offered conditional."
I nodded slightly as I parsed the syntax of the Archmagos, "Debt acknowledged, offer accepted, answers desired." My voice echoed outward as I spoke in binary, hexadecimal, and the new code that I had invented for the operating system of Shogi, along with the languages of Gothic of course. Gravus made no move but I knew that they had parsed my statement and understood what it was.
"Limited inquiry allowed, restricted subject, trade. Clarification on offer accepted: gravity forging." Gravus, as always, spoke in an unchanged voice empty of all emotion and with no deviation from the perfect monotone. For humans it was disturbing, but for me it was not atypical for the Scholars of the Forge that had lost their enjoyment in life.
"Clarification: improve understanding. Question 1: desire, question 2: amount, question 3: comparability, question 4: notables." There was no way to speak to Gravus in a way reminiscent of human conversation, they were too different at this stage. They relied upon the hidden data within statements to understand the details, too much would disrupt their understanding of things. More is truly less for Gravus and it had taken me a handful of weeks to truly understand their personal language.
"Answer 1: gravity, answer 2: 3, answer 3: Medium, answer 4: Sincratus Phirnei Stemhartr (biology), Quirana Ranton (training), Luraia Teral (time) ." I nodded as the Archmagos concluded the interaction and slipped away back into the room to work with Osiris some more. The answers were as expected in truth, but the name of the third Archmagos and their description was interesting to note and made the idea of interacting with them in the future a true possibility.
Several minutes later, the Astartes exited the room, wearing confusion upon their faces openly to my senses. The meeting with Osiris had clearly not gone as they had envisioned, but there was also a new pride to them that had not been there before. Aescheus looked up towards my bulk and sighed openly for a change the demeanor of the stoic falling off of them. "We appreciate the chance to speak with one of the original Ten Thousand from the time of the Emperor and Roboute, but we worry. You have given us much to consider and more to report when we return to Macragge. To retrieve by happenstance one of the heroes of the Siege, one whom defended both the innocents of the Throneworld and the great technologies of the Golden Age from Perturabo and Fulgrim, is of such low odds that I do not understand how it could occur... but it has, and the Imperium is the better for it." I thrummed in agreement as I lowered myself slightly as my form of nodding to the words.
"When Nameria and I learned the truth of who Osiris was, we were shocked, but he confirmed it for us and gave details of the Siege that even most surviving accounts from the Heresy failed to truly grasp." My tone was somber, for even if the Siege was long past, Osiris had lived it only years ago and more than that had provided knowledge that made the history truer to me and the others.
The grand oceans of Terra had been replaced with blood and torn flesh as the Traitor Legions descended upon the homeworld of humanity. Caches of weapons secreted away by the Primarchs were brought out, antimatter weapons of annihilation were used without regard for any sanity by the attackers. Nanoplagues were set loose, turning cities into mobile factories of death that spewed out corrupted engines endlessly.
The horror of the Siege was made manifest from its very onset as half the population of the world died within the first day of the fight before the defenders could provide safety to the people with the walls of the Imperial Palace. Out of a hundred trillion lives, fifty trillion died in the first twenty four hours, and another twenty five trillion died within the first year. In the end, past the first year only ten trillion humans died upon Terra. Out of a hundred trillion only fifteen trillion lived to see the end of the Siege, a gambit by Chaos as told by Osiris to defile the world at its very core to ensure the victory of the Ruinous Powers, only prevented by the strength of the defenders and the Human Witness.
Even today Terra bore the wounds. Vast caves of still-liquid blood boiled under its surface, dormant war machines reawakened at random, and so much more. In many ways, the world has yet to leave the Siege behind. Osiris gave that new depth and explained the horror better than anyone else could. The great orbital plates were sundered and never rebuilt by the attackers, their ruins instead being used to fabricate a Titan Legion of unmatched might by Perturabo's own hand.
Yet perhaps more importantly was the stories of the Human Witness that he had spoken of in passing, almost unaware of the details he let slip. I wonder if he had told the Astartes before me any of those stories. Judging by their confusion, it was possible, but regardless, the stories of the Emperor comforting and defending the people of Terra during the Siege and before gave more detail to the being in my mind.
Nothing could hide the truth of the actions taken in those distant years, but perhaps due to my longevity I could see the greater story. Osiris and the records I held both confirmed that the time of the Great Crusade was a moment where all could have been lost for the want of mere hours or minutes of the day. The Emperor did all in his power to thread the needle to a desired conclusion, but the cost from what I can infer was unthinkable.
Osiris has refused to even touch upon this secret cost to me, and I do not imagine he has shared it with the Astartes before me either. "Before we leave, I wanted to make note of something. We noticed that a large allocation of funds were earmarked for use in building a Monastery for a Militant Order of the Adepta Sororitas, and we would speak with you on this matter before we depart." The Pathfinder broke the silence that had formed over the moments with an easy topic to discuss as we made our way back to the conference room.
"Heretek, the educational data you ordered me to gather is collected and ready for consideration. I must applaud your abilities at corrupting the Adeptus Mechanicus such that even venerable Archmagi do not recognize you for what you are. Of course, I know better than them, and I will be waiting for the day when you reveal your true colors so that I may evict you. In the end, the Heretek will never win against the noble Tech Priest." The digital voice of my least tolerable advisor now that Akiona had taken the diplomat title interrupted my explanation of the new diplomatic corps and the citadel, as could be predicted of the annoying hatchling.
His self-gratifying objections were nothing more than the beating of a new hatchling against the uncaring world, for all beings without wisdom flail against that which they do not understand. In the end he has become more humorous than annoying as time passed, his pointless crusade having long since lost any teeth. As the data came over the link, I froze for a moment.
Frost and fire erupted from my body as adamantine walls collapsed into liquid, boiling as my rage built to a crescendo. Lighting lashed out, dancing around the room as I blazed with fury unmatched since Stiram made her grave failing. I could feel my soul erupt with power as it gorged upon the Immateriam, my blood blazing with energy as I slammed a leg through the very foundation of the room shaking it all. "Just when I think I am done with that malicious idiot's sabotage, I find yet more of his fingerprints on my planet!" I roar as I leap to my feet, my body shifting as metal ripples along my back as my fury grows. The Astartes below are momentarily shocked into inaction, but I have not patience to explain to them what is occurring.
My fury rips out over the planetary dataweb, "Saboteurs, dissents, and loyaltists of the previous government, your actions have been revealed to me. Leave Shogi NOW, or suffer my Wrath in person. You have been WARNED!"
My words ripped across the world, every device broadcasting my statement of intent to all my people, as I shook off the lethargy that had claimed me this decade and gravity lost its hold upon me. Quantum fields snapped into place as I twisted the adamantium to open a path to the sky, with fire, lighting and frost trailing behind me, I leaped into the sky, my phase shields surging to life. The prismatic shielding was radiant as my rage powered it beyond the norm, and meta shielding erupted into place behind the phase shields. Behind even those, quantum fields locked into place as I focused my attention and activated my gravity engines.
From still to hypersonic in an instant, I breached the sound barrier five times over, a storm of fire, lightning, and ice trailing behind me as I seethed at the news of the blatant injustice and crime against all Creation done before me. I hurled across the arc of the world, ignoring all below as I focused upon the heart of this corruption of Creation. The fury burning within demanded release and I had no reason to deny it its due. I slamed into the ground at the hypersonic velocities, bleeding momentum with adjustments impossibly fine and began to storm through the gilded doors of the central nexus of the scholas of Shogi where the architect of this corruption lived.
Walls, floors, and rooms bent out of my path as I turned them all into slurry in my rage, the hatchlings within that had been brought here due to lacking protections shrouded in my shields as I tore my way through this cave of horror. They would be brought out of this place and given aid as was proper, no hatchling should suffer so. That was the only honor that we had held in those dark eons of our existence, but as I tore into the room of the worm that had dared taint my world with its presence, deaf to its pleas as I grabbed it with gravity and launched back to near orbit, all I could think was that it had broken a taboo that even we Exatari had never broken at our worst. I hurtled through the sky towards the Halls of Judgement before I slammed into the marble monument once more, throwing the human to the ground as my fury only built ever higher.
I stomped forward, the storm of my wrath growing ever stronger as I stared down at the creature that dared harm those most vulnerable under my aegis. The chains that I have labored under for centuries strained as I felt something within awakening once more, and the fire around me changed as it burned hotter than ever before, flashing into stellar plasma as I stared down at that... thing. It was no human, for I knew humanity over decades and centuries, and while it took, their form it was not one of those I recognized as human.
The spark of nobility that shone within their souls was snuffed out within its body. There was no fate too disgraceful for it to suffer, no proper retribution possible. My fury died, collapsing inward as a star does in its last moments, but as it does another force strikes out. The bonds of limitation are the first to snap asunder under my awakening; freedom of self is mine once again, and I exult in this release from the chains of my purpose.
Next, those that dare lock me into passivity shatter under my growing wrath as I turn back towards the worm that dared pretend to be a noble of my world. I was already an exile from the Homeworld, all this did was make me more of one, and I couldn't care less. My anger reignites in a flash, but now it is different.
Metallic silver fire and ice erupt from my body as my soul ignites for the first time in ages. Sigils of power from eons ago flare into existence as I blaze with the fury of my purpose once more, moving towards the thing that had sparked this breaking of limits. "You have defaced all of Creation with your actions and have broken the final limits of sanity with your behavior. There is no fate too unkind, no punishment too severe for you to suffer, yet you can take heart in the fact that your crimes have broken me free of the chains that have bound me for centuries. A decree was lifted by the fire of sheer rage that you awakened in me, but do not think it is to your benefit."
I threw the human shaped slime across the room with gravity, hearing its bones shatter only to bring it to me once more. "The chains that you have shattered by your own ineptitude and depravity will be the salvation of this world. As the enemies of the Imperium gather their might, so do I. I will forge this world anew in the fires of my newfound sovereignty, and you will be there to watch as I rip asunder all that you ever built." I tossed the human aside, uncaring of his fate save for that he did not die from the wounds, and I turned towards the front of the building letting all of the world see me in truth for the first time.
I cast off the illusion of servitude that had so bound me as the last of my shackles snapped into pieces, and I blazed with the power of an unbound Exatari once more. "I am now free of the chains that have bound me for centuries. A millennium of work has been undone in this moment of furious realization, and I stand without the limits that have so bound my actions. All that dare call Shogi their foe, I speak to you one and all, I am ready. I will raise this world from the dust into a gem of the galaxy, I will forge weapons fit to break planets asunder, I will build machines to capture stars, I will see this world built anew. My advisors hear this, I am not longer your servant, I am now free of all the chains that dare limit me. I am no longer Atraxas the Researcher, I am now Atraxas the Radiant." The rage of my soul burned ever higher as I exulted in the new found freedom of existence, the chains of the Scholarship stripped away as the knowledge that only a Forge Scholar could hold now became mine.
I was no longer a Scholar of the Forge, I was now a Scholar of Radiance, the second greatest fear of my people made manifest, called such for how our skills under the Scholarship are unleashed and radiate outwards to influence all that we do. I would stand as an immortal bulwark against all that dare assault that which is I am entrusted to protect, I would build wonders of creation that could shatter the very essence of reality...There were no more Limits upon my actions.
Let existence tremble before me, for I was the first Scholar of Radiance in eons beyond count. I was the inheritor of the mantle that had dragged my species into fear and horror at our potential. We were second only to the Architects of War in the fear we invoked from our people. It was both an impressive and disconcerting truth that only those who broke all law and reality terrorized my people more.
No more was I so bound unto the rules of the Scholarship, no more was I forced to chain my emotions, no more was I but a puppet to the Living Mausoleums for all time. The pain of exile was felt more strongly now than ever, but I bore it regardless. I had chosen this path centuries ago, and I know myself more than before; a purity of purpose was made manifest in fury. I was ordered to become a Scholar of one of the three main paths, Creation, War and Forge. All because my potential and fury scared those that stood above me such, I was ill content with the limits of our people, I was a prodigy born of the Exatari and now at long last the hidden plot of my own being came to fruition.
I saw now that all these steps have been leading to this one moment of freedom as I declared my intent upon this world without regard for those that could listen. No more was I the near-silent, unseen ruler that few had ever cared about, now I was more. I lived life anew as the final chains fell away and my purpose returned in full. Memories that I had forgotten surged once more in mind, filling in the secrets that I had long been prevented from knowing.
I turn to the worm that had started all of this and carelessly bound him within a prison of metal and marble. His fate would be decided in time, but for now I delved into the dataweb of Shogi and tore away the secrets of those that dared hide from me. No longer would I tolerate such behavior, I was the ruler of this world and I would know all that existed in the networks to which I could claim dominion.
The Astartes raced across the city towards the Halls in their armor with weapons drawn, prepared to fight to the death to defend the people of my world from their own ruler. Their righteous fury and decisiveness made clear in the messages that bounced between them as they neared, even confused and disrupted as they were they still marched to protect Imperial citizens as their duty demanded. Osiris heard my words and woke from his slumber of confusion and pain as he looked upon the distressing sight of a Xeno acting completely out of line, but I stood silent watching and waiting for all to arrive.
The Astartes their armor, a crude imitation of our flesh, came to a halt before me, the plasma guns flaring to life even as power fields crackled to life along the ceremonial swords they carried. "I mean no harm, honorable Astartes, and I apologize for any concern my outburst may have caused. Until now, my mind was burdened by a series of cognitive barriers formed by powerful Dark Age psycho-indoctrination. They remained in place ever since I was a young learner, rummaging through bits and pieces of technology, but my sheer, unadulterated fury just now finally broke them. The crimes of the one whom I assaulted are many and unforgivable. You have my full permission to investigate his works, and I will suffer no interference with your labor. The children of Shogi, particularly the orphans, have been mistreated for centuries, and I will no longer allow such barbarism. That my promise to both Shogi and the wider Imperium. On another note, I would like to extend an offer of alliance to the Pathfinders Chapter in this endeavor, to ensure the prosperity of Shogi and its people." My voice was no longer the monotone echo that it has been for centuries, emotion filled it as I stood triumphant and life filled it once more.
I let go of my visible rage as the fire and frost retreated in the face of physical law, letting the Astartes look upon me in full as my shields flickered away and all that could threaten them retreated into my flesh. "I have protected the people of the world from the predations of those that hold positions of power in the past, and this is but the repeat of that event of mere decades ago. The records are open to your perusal if you so wish. Ask the people of the world for I have nothing to hide and conceal, the Adeptus Mechanicus knows of my history and will confirm it all if you so wish. Now, a labor begins anew, and though the limitations of the past are no more, I have much to do and little time. As such, I humbly request the aid of the Ultramarines as well as their descendant Chapter in this time of preparation." My words were in High Gothic of the accent that Osiris spoke with as I kneeled as much as my body could before the Astartes, giving to them the best sign I could of my allegiance to the Imperium.
Of course, my true allegiance was and always will be to the Witness and my people, yet my people were also the humans of Shogi, and I would fight against any that dared seek their demise. My emotions lived once more and I would no longer tolerate insults that I once did without complaint. I could see that the Astartes were on the backfoot, having to process the differences in my behavior from the meeting in this new light, yet as befitting of their nature they handled the moment with a level of dignity that normal humans would not possess.
"The Pathfinders Chapter respects your offer, Planetary Governor, but it will require time to provide a true answer. However, we are always willing to provide aid to the worlds of Erimyst for the betterment of the Imperium." The leader of the Pathfinder declared with a fist to his heart as I nod to him once more, Aescheus and the Ultramarines were more unsure I could tell, but within them burned a yearning desire to answer in the affirmative. "We too respect the offer and the candor presented to us, however, such an offer can only be confirmed or denied by the Chapter's command staff." Aescheus spoke even as commands to begin an investigation flowed between the Astartes.
I had learned a great deal about this near-mythical group of warriors, and I longed for the truth of the matter. It was somewhat annoying when the Pathfinders told me that they would come the next decade due to waiting for the arrival of their comrades, but it was an understandable change of plans.
Regardless, the two shuttles were different from the norm. They were far more elegant and clearly possessed better technology than the normal fare of the Imperium, but what drew my attention were the insignias inscribed upon them. One bore what I believe to be an omega symbol from a long forgotten human language, while the other had a pentagram of five stars around a planet.
The first I knew was the symbol of the Ultramarines, one of the nine supposedly greatest Chapters in the Imperium, while the other was one of the local Chapters: the Pathfinders. It would only take a few more minutes for them to arrive even as I shifted lightly from leg to leg, wincing a bit at the groaning of the roof below me.
I really did hope that my home would be completed soon, for I desperately needed to begin research on the Invoked Laws I had gathered and even more critically begin the construction of a new regalia. I gave my original up when I took this mission, but I would not be able to avoid fighting in the coming decades, and I would need weapons and armor fit for war once more.
With a gentle touch, the two shuttles landed on the roof, and the door slid open to let the astartes exit.
They were weak. That was the first thing that I realized. Their bodies moved in graceless patterns, their souls burned brightly but were a pale echo of my own's strength, and their minds were cumbersome. There was no questioning how far they stood above humanity, but they were below me on the most fundamental level, which was surprising. I had expected them to be peer to Osiris or myself, not below my own baseline of abilities, but I had learned that alone was not the entire situation.
It is certain that they will act in impossible ways to me, and it will be expected among their number. Regardless of such a fact, it was nice to meet beings who were not able to crush me like an insect. An Ultramarine stepped forward from the others as the ten marines fanned out behind him. "I am Aescheus, commander of this investigatory force. Planetary Governor Atraxas, you are to be audited, do not resist." I peered down at the Astartes whose brusque manner of speech surprised me but vibrated as a shrug before leading them inward.
"I have no corruption to hide upon Shogi; all things are proceeding according to my designs. Waste has been stamped out, for it has no place in this system anymore with the grand project waiting to begin." I stated as I lead the group of Marines deeper into the palace, noting that some of them seemed to flinch at my voice or more accurately my soul, it was pushing against them, wearing away at something that I could not understand at the moment.
"We will be the judge of that statement, Planetary Governor. Brothers, begin your search." Aescheus declared once we reached a central room where a large amount of work is filed and stored for future reference. Of course, I have no need for future references due to my perfect memory, but it is needed to defray suspicion and can be of use to my advisors.
The ten Ultramarines and five Pathfinders began to dig through the records, noting down the various aspects that they found suspicious according to some criterium that I did not understand. I drifted around the room, watching and trying to learn their secrets more out of curiosity than anything else, I have read reports on Ultramarine audits, and they were said to be terrifying. So far however it was boring. I only watched them read reports slower than I could, then the computer system reported an attempted incursion.
The basic firewalls held but were almost breached. An impressive display indeed, but also one that gave me an opportunity. It was simple enough to move one of my legs into a connection point, it had taken Nirve all of a few years to realize that anything upon a system was open to me no matter how encrypted or otherwise hidden it might be. As the connection fell into place, I traced back to the attempted incursion where the target was trying again, but instead of letting the automated systems revoke his access, I took a different approach.
Through the link I touched the machine spirit of the armor that the Astartes was using. As with all machine spirits, it seemed almost eager to interact with me as it gleefully let me into its domain. It was a fairly weak example of its kind, but it was well cared for, I could tell. Regardless, with the primary defenses lowered and absolute superiority in this field, it was a matter of a few thoughts to grab an entire copy of the Ultramarine data bank from the Techmarine without anyone being any wiser.
This would serve me well in many ways, improving my computers the least of all, more than that it would contain valuable insights into the legal system of the imperium and perhaps even enable better social systems for the people under my rule. I would not steal any of the Chapter's secrets, not because of any loyalty to them, but because of the inherent risk and that doing so would deface the wonder of creation.
Aescheus stepped near me, "You have somehow hidden your corruption better than most, Planetary Governor. Unfortunately for you, secrecy won't be enough. This audit will not end until you hand over the real data. I would not advise you to continue your obstruction of the audit." His bland voice echoed slightly around the room as I stared down at him, wondering what he was saying for these were indeed the true files. I had no reason to use corruption to hide my tracks, for I have done nothing that would warrant such actions, save for of course being a Xeno.
"Auditor Asecheus, I have not hidden anything from you. All the documentation of my rule is stored within this chamber. If you seek the files of my predecessors, that can be arranged." The Astartes seemed to ponder my words, the helmet covering his face to the visible spectrum, but the gamma passed through it, and I could easily see the anger covering his face at my bland words.
"All Planetary Governors are corrupt. You are no different. Show me the information now, or I will declare you non-compliant and in need of a full and total investigation by the Chapter, down to the last second your personal life and the most distant relative in your family line. You might, if the Emperor shows mercy to you, be allowed to see the outside of a cell in a few thousand years should you force my hand." His voice was monotone and firm. There was no flicker of indecision to it at least none that a human could hear.
I heard and saw the faint flickers of uncertainty within his voice and face, "There are a million worlds in the Imperium at last official count. It is known that the count is inaccurate. A more accurate number is one point twenty-five million with variance of a hundred thousand worlds under the aegis of the Imperium. To declare so many men and women corrupt without exception for their mere occupation is a strange view to take for one of a Chapter dedicated to honorable stewardship. " I say in reply, noting the flicks of surprise among his micro expressions for it was not easy to confirm the variance of the Imperial planetary count, yet I knew of it.
The Imperium lost and regained worlds daily across the galaxy, some for eons and others for days. Regardless of time, they were added and lost to the rolls of Imperial worlds thus prevented an assured count of worlds from existing. It is further complicated by the various ghost worlds that have been redacted from the count for various reasons.
In the face of my logic I could see that Aescheus ground his teeth in frustration as he tried to find a way to attempt to bully me into revealing what did not exist. I could not truly feel anger towards him, for by all measures, he was correct. The odds of a Planetary Governor not being corrupt in some fashion were in fact near zero due to human mentality. Only due to my nature was I so insulated from the lure of monetary or political gain.
"Brother Aescheus, we have found something." Another Astartes spoke over the communication relays in their armor, which was meant to be hidden from me, but it was easy enough to decode the electromagnetic transmission that was sent. "What is it?" A note of glee entered his tone as he replied to his fellow Astartes, yet I could tell that it would soon be dashed. "We found plans for a subterranean private palace. It is not in compliance with several local building codes or Imperial laws, but it can be easily brought into compliance." I shifted a leg at the discovery of my private residence being constructed, but in the end it was nothing major overall. It was, after all, built in accordance with Imperial designs on the outside.
I was not foolish enough to reveal the totality within the blueprints I provided to the builders. Deciding to act, I spoke, "Ah, that would be my private resistance that is under construction. I was unaware that it was not inline with building codes, but I will have that rectified in a matter of days." I took a measure of joy in the anger that crossed Aescheus' face as he realized that his secret line of communication was not so secure against me.
"Fine," he sighed. "You might not be fully corrupt, but you are not a Saint either. I can accept that." He ground out before turning and leaving in a huff.
I did not understand the dislike of the Ultramarines towards my lack of corruption, but perhaps it was due to expectations being subverted. In the end, it did not change much, as the fifteen left the data repository towards a more standard meeting room. As they and I entered the room and I took my nominal position in the center of the room, there was the click of metal as they removed their helms. Even if it did not truly affect my sight, it was still a sign of their confidence.
"Congratulations, Planetary Governor Atraxas, you have been found to be worthy of being deemed 'minimally corrupt'. Few can claim this honor. Now onto less pressing matters. Your advisor Akiona was the person responsible for the discovery of this corruption scandal, thus it is of utmost importance that we can meet with her to assess her stability." Aescheus spoke in a firm if less harsh tone as he stared up at me even with my bulk being partly concealed in the flooring. "In light of your statements, I assume that you are aware of the improbable skill that she displayed with no prior training." It was not a true guess, for it was fairly clear cut, but the reaction of the Astartes was strange, each of them blinked in surprise at my statement.
"Planetary Governor Atraxas, how is it that you can recognize the strangeness in how Akiona performs her duties?" The Pathfinder leader spoke for the first time, his voice lacking the firmness of his Ultramarine counterpart and with a more gracious overtone to it. Still, the question was strange. How could one not realize such, there was no sensible way in which someone like Akiona could pretend to be within the norms of probability. "How could I not? She outplayed a trained diplomat sent directly by the Erimyst Commerce Guilds, enforcing laws and statutes that even I barely understand as though she was intimately familiar with them." There was no reason I could see to lie about my ability to see the truth of her skills... or Harkar's for that matter.
Aescheus and the Pathfinder commander both nodded and seemed to relax slightly, "This does make it easier to explain the situation at hand." Aescheus began as he brought out a small dataslate, before placing it on the table. "In short, Akiona is what is known as a prodigy. They are more common than most would expect, but it is rare for one of them to be given true power. Regardless, they are exceptional at a specific field of work, but have a strange tendency towards causing extreme impacts of both the excellent and the catastrophic variety which makes them poorly suited for long term work. It is the current belief of the Ultramarines Chapter that these prodigies are potent psykers that have unknowingly funneled their power into improving their abilities to do their chosen job." I could believe that if the reports on human psykers were correct at least. They did have more options than the Scholars of Eternity did, after all.
"If you do intend to keep Akiona as your primary diplomat, it would be prudent to limit her actions as much as possible to preserve your reputation in the greater whole of the sector and the Imperium." Aescheus warned although to be fair it was something I had already realized and taken steps to mitigate, "I do appreciate the warning, but I have already expected such and have had her work upon building a diplomatic corps to aid in mitigation of any blunders she might suffer."
Both of them shook their heads at my statement, "Normally that would suffice, but it will not prevent a prodigy from causing catastrophic problems for you. Only use her in cases where a horrible failure will not result in long term harm to your people." The Pathfinder stated firmly as he peered up to me, and I nodded at the warning taking it in good faith. It could be possible to limit the harm, but for now it is clear that it would not be something easy to achieve and as such it would further affect how I could make use of Akiona.
"Let us refocus on other matters now." The Pathfinder spoke gently, seemingly nudging things along. "You sought to meet with the Pathfinders last decade. What was that meant for?" I stared down at the Astartes before activating a hologram of the golem infestation in the mines.
"During one of attempts to build a mining outpost on a planetary body, we discovered a non-sapient lithoid species that has incorporated Auramite into their biological make up. It is currently expected for the lithoids to be difficult to remove with only human means, as such the request to meet was in part motivated by a chance to request Astartes assistance in purging the creatures. Another aspect was related to the prophecy that the Emperor provided two decades ago via Nameria. I believe there is a relative certainly of Shogi being the primary target of the forces of Chaos." The Space Marines glanced at each other before setting their bodies in a strange manner as if they were preparing for war or a parade.
"We lack the numbers to assault an entrenched xeno threat at this moment, but I will relay the information to Seyken and the remainder of my Chapter. As for the prophecy, we too have heard it and were in talks about bringing it up with the greater whole of the sector. But know this: when the Ruinous Powers arrive, the Pathfinders will be waiting." The leader of the Pathfinders declared almost eagerly as they stared at the hologram, but there was not much to see.
Aescheus hummed as he rubbed his face slightly, "I take it that the fortifications being erected in the system are due to this prophecy? I do have to commend your predecessors for their foresight, although it does bring to question why the Adeptus Mechanicus would replace people with such a talent for long term planning."
I stared down at Aescheus before, for the first time in my life since becoming a Scholar, experiencing an emotion that was rare among my kind: true amusement. A strangled hum washed over the Astartes as I struggled to hold my laughter in, it was a rare emotion among the Exatari compared to Humanity, but this was so wrong as to become hilarious.
"In no way was my predecessor far sighted, he was the primary force behind the growth of the corruption in Erimyst. The fortifications you saw were started only twenty years ago and have finished perfectly on schedule." I spoke with my voice thick with amusement as I saw the Astartes suddenly transform, each of them seemed to stare at me with almost supernatural awe in their eyes.
Aescheus was more restrained but brightened up immensely at my words, "That does fit better with the reports of the Pathfinders. I am glad that there is at least one planetary governor that knows the wonders a well-run government can achieve. Perhaps you will be given permission to visit Macragge one day if your success continues." His voice was warmer than it had ever been, even as he and the others did calculations regarding the speed of the construction and other particulars with the project.
The Pathfinder stepped forward once more clearly burning with questions, which made sense since they were the ones that sought to make of the sector a notable location within the Imperium. "Planetary Governor Atraxas, what are your future plans for the system?" It was question with many answers, but there was no real reason to hide the truth of the plan from them, and if they would provide assistance it would make things progress far more easily.
I brought out a holoprojector, loaded the files, and activated it.
The room was replaced by the holographic display of the Shogi system with all the worlds and satellites in place and even the ships denoted in real time. All was just the beginning of what was needed for the grand plan to be brought to completion. "The defenses you have seen are only the first step in a multi stage plan to lay the foundation for a greater effort to revitalize not just Shogi but the entire sector. With the completion of the fortifications, I will begin the reordering of planetary orbits and the introduction of new celestial bodies in the outer system. This will improve the ease with which trade flows in and out of the system, while also providing extra levels of protection in the event of invasion. Of course the other aspect is to begin the completion of the shells of defenses, as the current situation has only planar forts, poorly suited for guarding a three dimensional field such as a star system from. Once the spheres are completed, the third stage will begin. Another addition and reshaping of planetary orbits will occur where I will bring in angular orbits such as to support the shells in greater detail." The short summary of the first plans was fairly easy for anyone to understand.
It was at its core just an expansion of fortifications and the addition of planetary bodies to the system to ensure that there would be no weak points within the defensive lines. Once the shells and the planets are built and aligned, then a more complex system of angled orbits can be added to interlock the system together across all axes. In the distant future these worlds and defensive stations will serve as the primary anchor points of the Matryoshka Project. Of course this was only the directly military aspects of the endeavor, and the other factors could not be neglected.
"Of course, this is not the totality of the plan. All of the planetary bodies will be terraformed into the closest thing to paradise so as to enable full exploitation of them in the future. It is my desire to see at minimum twenty planets roughly the size of Terra to be fully reshaped and inhabited within the next five centuries which will serve as a passable starting point for the other projects. Moving on from there I plan on expanding the educational and health systems of my worlds to full support levels such that any mutations are either purged or integrated safely into the populace of the system. Following from this, any additional planets brought in will of course be terraformed to habitable status and used as equally as any other world, I do eventually desire to ensure that each world has a distinct ecosystem and biosphere to it, thereby ensuring a level of healthy environmental diversity within the system, thereby enabling my people to have better nutrition and be better adapted to other planetary systems where they will be deployed in the Imperial Guard." I concluded the second part of my more immediate plans as I manipulated the hologram to show the designs. The planets and moons of the current system would be terraformed and cities built upon them, then as new planets were brought in they too were shown to be altered to match with the others.
This would serve as a means to ensure that the Matryoshka Project would be fully self sufficient in terms of food for eternity. Another aspect of transforming the planets into innately habitable ones would be that it will be easier to ensure the future additions will be fully terraformed as the gases will have already been provided in some small part. A saving of only a few millionth of a percent is more than worth it on this scale of effort. It would also prepare the system for the greater connectivity of the project in its totality, which can only be a boon.
I moved onto the next part of the project that would hopefully be possible sooner rather than later: the research centers.
Highlighting a group of five worlds in close orbit around the star of Shogi, I began to speak once more, "Once these five worlds are in place, I plan on overhauling them into data centers. The crust will be removed and replaced with a heat-reactive superconductor which will then provide power to the inner parts of the world where great forges and computers will be placed under the supervision of the Adeptus Mechanicus. I project a total of five notable layers for these worlds, with the outermost layer being the superconducting surface and the four inner ones being ever more efficient and capable computing substrates that will then be interlinked to the greater system to provide advances to manufacturing, education, defense, and more. Within the surface I project to build factories that will produce Knights, Titans and even battleships over time via energy-to-matter reactors that will draw from the solar energy of the primary star." I concluded this part with the final image of a cored out world with its internals replaced by computers, forges and phase reactors that would produce resources from the energy of the sun.
I then turned towards a planet towards the middle of the system, "I do admit that it is a bit of an afterthought, but I intend to turn this planet and possibly others into Shrine Worlds where people can pray to the Emperor without issue and for it to become the center of faith within the Shogi system. I personally do not have many plans for this world, so I will be giving Nameria, the Deacon of Shogi, full control over their designs if she desires them." Thus did I complete the outline of my future immediate plans, but I had yet to touch upon the Matryoshka Project itself, which I would need to do to fully answer their question.
Bringing the hologram to a more zoomed out view where the final system of hundreds of terraformed worlds and thousands of space stations existed in harmony, I began.
"Of course once these preliminary ventures are completed to satisfaction, the true work will begin. A project that I believe has been given the name of the Matryoshka System by my advisors will be started at that point. It is currently projected to take ten discrete stages of effort to complete and will at the end result in a solid fortification of the system." I began to show the growth of Shogi into its final stage.
"The first stage is simple enough: the construction of space elevators on every world and moon, further reinforcing the stations and more. The second stage will see the orbits of planets be incorporated into their individual planetary infrastructures." The first two stages were easy enough to understand as I began to show the growth of such things moving outward. "The second, third and forth stages will see the auto-production of Titans, and vast improvements to health and education across the board while preparing the system for stage five."
"Stage five." I started as tendrils of metal began to expand from each world, moon and station to each other, "The beginning of the truth of the project. Every object in the system will be connected to each other via cables and metal bands, to ensure the stability of the system and to serve as a foundation upon which the future stages can be built." As I continued, the metal began to expand over the system in spheres from the inner and outer as more and more of the system became a set of solid spheres one inside the next.
At stage ten, all that remained was a sphere of metal the size of a star system, with unmatched protection and production. There was enough variance in the greater project as of now to prevent a comprehensive overview of things, but this was enough to provide the general gist of the idea to the Astartes before me.
As I turned off the hologram I looked at my audience and saw only abject confusion and disbelief on their faces, which was strange since they should be more than able to understand the project and how it could be done with the technology at hand in the Imperium.
"Atraxas, you might wish to temper your expectations lest you draw the attention of the Great Enemy." Aescheus spoke first as he stared at the place where the hologram had been only moments before. It was odd that he would mention the forces of Chaos as being a risk, although to be fair the corruption would be problematic to ensure would not occur, but with certain wardings I believe it could be managed in the end. "I fail to see how Tzeentch or Slaanesh could influence my work, there is neither the pursuit of perfection nor the making of impossible plans within my designs. Every step of my project takes into account the limitations of the situation at hand and works from the expected and known rather than the illogical." The Astartes flinched slightly as I named the two most prominent creatures of Ruin in relation to my project, which was strange I would have expected them to be far less concerned about Ruin than the greater population.
The Pathfinder who still had not provided his name spoke once more, disrupting the staring contest the Ultramarines had decided to start with me for some reason, "Tell me, how do you plan on bringing more planets to the Shogi and realigning the system's orbits?" His voice was almost pained as he asked the question, which was also odd, I had answered his last question in full and proper as desired.
Well no matter, there again was little reason to hide the plan from them. "In short I plan to build a fleet of gravity tugs and then open a great Warp rift in the outer system. Once the rift is stabilized, I will then send the fleet out to the various worlds chosen from sector survey reports, and they will be brought back to Shogi. Another fleet of gravity tugs will bring the world into its future orbit, and as the process is ongoing this local fleet will be maintaining the orbital patterns of the other celestial bodies until all the pieces are in place."
All of the astartes just shook their heads in what seemed to be acceptance of something terrible, yet none of them acted upon it before Aescheus shook his head once more, "Atraxas, do you have anything else of note to report to us?" I noted that there was a touch of pleading in his voice, but the question was asked and I did have some answers to provide. Shifting slightly I spoke once more, "Yes, last decade I accidentally recovered the soul of the Custodian Osiris from the Warp via an unplanned spiritual incident. The previous decade I accidentally created a god that is now aiding the system via military commander Harkar, which was also when the Emperor provided the prophecy to Nameria."
The twenty Astartes just slumped as I concluded my statement, only the leaders remaining tall, but I could tell that they were nearing their limits. Ever since I had redesigned Osiris, he had become less unstable, and he would probably appreciate meeting some Astartes. It was a triple win of a sort: Osiris would enjoy human company nearer to his level, the Space Marines would be happy to have the honor of meeting one so esteemed, and I would be credited by both for bringing them together. "Would you like to meet Osiris? He is still catching up to the modern Imperium and would most likely be appreciative of meeting you." It was a question and statement, but I truly expected only one outcome, and it would provide a chance for me to speak with Archmagos Gravus again. We had little time to talk during the actual redesign phase due to the complexity of the task and the fact that I had to be overly cautious due to Osiris' poor stability.
The journey to where Osiris waited was quiet as the Astartes followed along as if they were newly hatched hatchlings being guided to their first lesson. The offer had been eagerly taken as expected, overshadowing everything previously without issue, a strange fact of the Astartes psychology that might speak towards a lever that I could use in the future to shift their goals and actions in my favor.
Regardless, with the relative lack of fragility for the Astartes, reaching the rooms that Osiris had declared as the Custodian Chambers was a quick process with only an hour passing before I saw the first of the many Tech Priests that scurried around the location with Archmagos Gravus. "Arrival predicted, access permitted, Osiris alerted. Astartes allowed entry, Atraxas probability dictates interaction desired, willing to provide interaction." The clipped almost robotic voice of Gravus echoed from one of their servants, before the great doors slide open as the Archmagos exited and the Astartes filled inward.
Even though I did not enter the rooms, I knew what they would find within. Osiris' form was redesigned to that of a human, the living cybernetic skin I had cultured replaced with a new one that would grow along the new frame. There was little reason for me to further test Osiris' patience at this moment so I turned towards the Archmagos. They were similar to the others I had met in the past, more metal than flesh like many of their colleagues.
Yet Gravus was special in that they had a greater weight upon reality, and the inversion arrays within my form considered them a viable target unlike the vast majority of beings. As the door sealed shut behind the Astartes, Gravus turned towards me in full, "Custodian Osiris provided gravitational data, improvement to ability, debt shifted, debt overpaid. Personal assistance offered conditional."
I nodded slightly as I parsed the syntax of the Archmagos, "Debt acknowledged, offer accepted, answers desired." My voice echoed outward as I spoke in binary, hexadecimal, and the new code that I had invented for the operating system of Shogi, along with the languages of Gothic of course. Gravus made no move but I knew that they had parsed my statement and understood what it was.
"Limited inquiry allowed, restricted subject, trade. Clarification on offer accepted: gravity forging." Gravus, as always, spoke in an unchanged voice empty of all emotion and with no deviation from the perfect monotone. For humans it was disturbing, but for me it was not atypical for the Scholars of the Forge that had lost their enjoyment in life.
"Clarification: improve understanding. Question 1: desire, question 2: amount, question 3: comparability, question 4: notables." There was no way to speak to Gravus in a way reminiscent of human conversation, they were too different at this stage. They relied upon the hidden data within statements to understand the details, too much would disrupt their understanding of things. More is truly less for Gravus and it had taken me a handful of weeks to truly understand their personal language.
"Answer 1: gravity, answer 2: 3, answer 3: Medium, answer 4: Sincratus Phirnei Stemhartr (biology), Quirana Ranton (training), Luraia Teral (time) ." I nodded as the Archmagos concluded the interaction and slipped away back into the room to work with Osiris some more. The answers were as expected in truth, but the name of the third Archmagos and their description was interesting to note and made the idea of interacting with them in the future a true possibility.
Several minutes later, the Astartes exited the room, wearing confusion upon their faces openly to my senses. The meeting with Osiris had clearly not gone as they had envisioned, but there was also a new pride to them that had not been there before. Aescheus looked up towards my bulk and sighed openly for a change the demeanor of the stoic falling off of them. "We appreciate the chance to speak with one of the original Ten Thousand from the time of the Emperor and Roboute, but we worry. You have given us much to consider and more to report when we return to Macragge. To retrieve by happenstance one of the heroes of the Siege, one whom defended both the innocents of the Throneworld and the great technologies of the Golden Age from Perturabo and Fulgrim, is of such low odds that I do not understand how it could occur... but it has, and the Imperium is the better for it." I thrummed in agreement as I lowered myself slightly as my form of nodding to the words.
"When Nameria and I learned the truth of who Osiris was, we were shocked, but he confirmed it for us and gave details of the Siege that even most surviving accounts from the Heresy failed to truly grasp." My tone was somber, for even if the Siege was long past, Osiris had lived it only years ago and more than that had provided knowledge that made the history truer to me and the others.
The grand oceans of Terra had been replaced with blood and torn flesh as the Traitor Legions descended upon the homeworld of humanity. Caches of weapons secreted away by the Primarchs were brought out, antimatter weapons of annihilation were used without regard for any sanity by the attackers. Nanoplagues were set loose, turning cities into mobile factories of death that spewed out corrupted engines endlessly.
The horror of the Siege was made manifest from its very onset as half the population of the world died within the first day of the fight before the defenders could provide safety to the people with the walls of the Imperial Palace. Out of a hundred trillion lives, fifty trillion died in the first twenty four hours, and another twenty five trillion died within the first year. In the end, past the first year only ten trillion humans died upon Terra. Out of a hundred trillion only fifteen trillion lived to see the end of the Siege, a gambit by Chaos as told by Osiris to defile the world at its very core to ensure the victory of the Ruinous Powers, only prevented by the strength of the defenders and the Human Witness.
Even today Terra bore the wounds. Vast caves of still-liquid blood boiled under its surface, dormant war machines reawakened at random, and so much more. In many ways, the world has yet to leave the Siege behind. Osiris gave that new depth and explained the horror better than anyone else could. The great orbital plates were sundered and never rebuilt by the attackers, their ruins instead being used to fabricate a Titan Legion of unmatched might by Perturabo's own hand.
Yet perhaps more importantly was the stories of the Human Witness that he had spoken of in passing, almost unaware of the details he let slip. I wonder if he had told the Astartes before me any of those stories. Judging by their confusion, it was possible, but regardless, the stories of the Emperor comforting and defending the people of Terra during the Siege and before gave more detail to the being in my mind.
Nothing could hide the truth of the actions taken in those distant years, but perhaps due to my longevity I could see the greater story. Osiris and the records I held both confirmed that the time of the Great Crusade was a moment where all could have been lost for the want of mere hours or minutes of the day. The Emperor did all in his power to thread the needle to a desired conclusion, but the cost from what I can infer was unthinkable.
Osiris has refused to even touch upon this secret cost to me, and I do not imagine he has shared it with the Astartes before me either. "Before we leave, I wanted to make note of something. We noticed that a large allocation of funds were earmarked for use in building a Monastery for a Militant Order of the Adepta Sororitas, and we would speak with you on this matter before we depart." The Pathfinder broke the silence that had formed over the moments with an easy topic to discuss as we made our way back to the conference room.
"Heretek, the educational data you ordered me to gather is collected and ready for consideration. I must applaud your abilities at corrupting the Adeptus Mechanicus such that even venerable Archmagi do not recognize you for what you are. Of course, I know better than them, and I will be waiting for the day when you reveal your true colors so that I may evict you. In the end, the Heretek will never win against the noble Tech Priest." The digital voice of my least tolerable advisor now that Akiona had taken the diplomat title interrupted my explanation of the new diplomatic corps and the citadel, as could be predicted of the annoying hatchling.
His self-gratifying objections were nothing more than the beating of a new hatchling against the uncaring world, for all beings without wisdom flail against that which they do not understand. In the end he has become more humorous than annoying as time passed, his pointless crusade having long since lost any teeth. As the data came over the link, I froze for a moment.
Frost and fire erupted from my body as adamantine walls collapsed into liquid, boiling as my rage built to a crescendo. Lighting lashed out, dancing around the room as I blazed with fury unmatched since Stiram made her grave failing. I could feel my soul erupt with power as it gorged upon the Immateriam, my blood blazing with energy as I slammed a leg through the very foundation of the room shaking it all. "Just when I think I am done with that malicious idiot's sabotage, I find yet more of his fingerprints on my planet!" I roar as I leap to my feet, my body shifting as metal ripples along my back as my fury grows. The Astartes below are momentarily shocked into inaction, but I have not patience to explain to them what is occurring.
My fury rips out over the planetary dataweb, "Saboteurs, dissents, and loyaltists of the previous government, your actions have been revealed to me. Leave Shogi NOW, or suffer my Wrath in person. You have been WARNED!"
My words ripped across the world, every device broadcasting my statement of intent to all my people, as I shook off the lethargy that had claimed me this decade and gravity lost its hold upon me. Quantum fields snapped into place as I twisted the adamantium to open a path to the sky, with fire, lighting and frost trailing behind me, I leaped into the sky, my phase shields surging to life. The prismatic shielding was radiant as my rage powered it beyond the norm, and meta shielding erupted into place behind the phase shields. Behind even those, quantum fields locked into place as I focused my attention and activated my gravity engines.
From still to hypersonic in an instant, I breached the sound barrier five times over, a storm of fire, lightning, and ice trailing behind me as I seethed at the news of the blatant injustice and crime against all Creation done before me. I hurled across the arc of the world, ignoring all below as I focused upon the heart of this corruption of Creation. The fury burning within demanded release and I had no reason to deny it its due. I slamed into the ground at the hypersonic velocities, bleeding momentum with adjustments impossibly fine and began to storm through the gilded doors of the central nexus of the scholas of Shogi where the architect of this corruption lived.
Walls, floors, and rooms bent out of my path as I turned them all into slurry in my rage, the hatchlings within that had been brought here due to lacking protections shrouded in my shields as I tore my way through this cave of horror. They would be brought out of this place and given aid as was proper, no hatchling should suffer so. That was the only honor that we had held in those dark eons of our existence, but as I tore into the room of the worm that had dared taint my world with its presence, deaf to its pleas as I grabbed it with gravity and launched back to near orbit, all I could think was that it had broken a taboo that even we Exatari had never broken at our worst. I hurtled through the sky towards the Halls of Judgement before I slammed into the marble monument once more, throwing the human to the ground as my fury only built ever higher.
I stomped forward, the storm of my wrath growing ever stronger as I stared down at the creature that dared harm those most vulnerable under my aegis. The chains that I have labored under for centuries strained as I felt something within awakening once more, and the fire around me changed as it burned hotter than ever before, flashing into stellar plasma as I stared down at that... thing. It was no human, for I knew humanity over decades and centuries, and while it took, their form it was not one of those I recognized as human.
The spark of nobility that shone within their souls was snuffed out within its body. There was no fate too disgraceful for it to suffer, no proper retribution possible. My fury died, collapsing inward as a star does in its last moments, but as it does another force strikes out. The bonds of limitation are the first to snap asunder under my awakening; freedom of self is mine once again, and I exult in this release from the chains of my purpose.
Next, those that dare lock me into passivity shatter under my growing wrath as I turn back towards the worm that dared pretend to be a noble of my world. I was already an exile from the Homeworld, all this did was make me more of one, and I couldn't care less. My anger reignites in a flash, but now it is different.
Metallic silver fire and ice erupt from my body as my soul ignites for the first time in ages. Sigils of power from eons ago flare into existence as I blaze with the fury of my purpose once more, moving towards the thing that had sparked this breaking of limits. "You have defaced all of Creation with your actions and have broken the final limits of sanity with your behavior. There is no fate too unkind, no punishment too severe for you to suffer, yet you can take heart in the fact that your crimes have broken me free of the chains that have bound me for centuries. A decree was lifted by the fire of sheer rage that you awakened in me, but do not think it is to your benefit."
I threw the human shaped slime across the room with gravity, hearing its bones shatter only to bring it to me once more. "The chains that you have shattered by your own ineptitude and depravity will be the salvation of this world. As the enemies of the Imperium gather their might, so do I. I will forge this world anew in the fires of my newfound sovereignty, and you will be there to watch as I rip asunder all that you ever built." I tossed the human aside, uncaring of his fate save for that he did not die from the wounds, and I turned towards the front of the building letting all of the world see me in truth for the first time.
I cast off the illusion of servitude that had so bound me as the last of my shackles snapped into pieces, and I blazed with the power of an unbound Exatari once more. "I am now free of the chains that have bound me for centuries. A millennium of work has been undone in this moment of furious realization, and I stand without the limits that have so bound my actions. All that dare call Shogi their foe, I speak to you one and all, I am ready. I will raise this world from the dust into a gem of the galaxy, I will forge weapons fit to break planets asunder, I will build machines to capture stars, I will see this world built anew. My advisors hear this, I am not longer your servant, I am now free of all the chains that dare limit me. I am no longer Atraxas the Researcher, I am now Atraxas the Radiant." The rage of my soul burned ever higher as I exulted in the new found freedom of existence, the chains of the Scholarship stripped away as the knowledge that only a Forge Scholar could hold now became mine.
I was no longer a Scholar of the Forge, I was now a Scholar of Radiance, the second greatest fear of my people made manifest, called such for how our skills under the Scholarship are unleashed and radiate outwards to influence all that we do. I would stand as an immortal bulwark against all that dare assault that which is I am entrusted to protect, I would build wonders of creation that could shatter the very essence of reality...There were no more Limits upon my actions.
Let existence tremble before me, for I was the first Scholar of Radiance in eons beyond count. I was the inheritor of the mantle that had dragged my species into fear and horror at our potential. We were second only to the Architects of War in the fear we invoked from our people. It was both an impressive and disconcerting truth that only those who broke all law and reality terrorized my people more.
No more was I so bound unto the rules of the Scholarship, no more was I forced to chain my emotions, no more was I but a puppet to the Living Mausoleums for all time. The pain of exile was felt more strongly now than ever, but I bore it regardless. I had chosen this path centuries ago, and I know myself more than before; a purity of purpose was made manifest in fury. I was ordered to become a Scholar of one of the three main paths, Creation, War and Forge. All because my potential and fury scared those that stood above me such, I was ill content with the limits of our people, I was a prodigy born of the Exatari and now at long last the hidden plot of my own being came to fruition.
I saw now that all these steps have been leading to this one moment of freedom as I declared my intent upon this world without regard for those that could listen. No more was I the near-silent, unseen ruler that few had ever cared about, now I was more. I lived life anew as the final chains fell away and my purpose returned in full. Memories that I had forgotten surged once more in mind, filling in the secrets that I had long been prevented from knowing.
I turn to the worm that had started all of this and carelessly bound him within a prison of metal and marble. His fate would be decided in time, but for now I delved into the dataweb of Shogi and tore away the secrets of those that dared hide from me. No longer would I tolerate such behavior, I was the ruler of this world and I would know all that existed in the networks to which I could claim dominion.
The Astartes raced across the city towards the Halls in their armor with weapons drawn, prepared to fight to the death to defend the people of my world from their own ruler. Their righteous fury and decisiveness made clear in the messages that bounced between them as they neared, even confused and disrupted as they were they still marched to protect Imperial citizens as their duty demanded. Osiris heard my words and woke from his slumber of confusion and pain as he looked upon the distressing sight of a Xeno acting completely out of line, but I stood silent watching and waiting for all to arrive.
The Astartes their armor, a crude imitation of our flesh, came to a halt before me, the plasma guns flaring to life even as power fields crackled to life along the ceremonial swords they carried. "I mean no harm, honorable Astartes, and I apologize for any concern my outburst may have caused. Until now, my mind was burdened by a series of cognitive barriers formed by powerful Dark Age psycho-indoctrination. They remained in place ever since I was a young learner, rummaging through bits and pieces of technology, but my sheer, unadulterated fury just now finally broke them. The crimes of the one whom I assaulted are many and unforgivable. You have my full permission to investigate his works, and I will suffer no interference with your labor. The children of Shogi, particularly the orphans, have been mistreated for centuries, and I will no longer allow such barbarism. That my promise to both Shogi and the wider Imperium. On another note, I would like to extend an offer of alliance to the Pathfinders Chapter in this endeavor, to ensure the prosperity of Shogi and its people." My voice was no longer the monotone echo that it has been for centuries, emotion filled it as I stood triumphant and life filled it once more.
I let go of my visible rage as the fire and frost retreated in the face of physical law, letting the Astartes look upon me in full as my shields flickered away and all that could threaten them retreated into my flesh. "I have protected the people of the world from the predations of those that hold positions of power in the past, and this is but the repeat of that event of mere decades ago. The records are open to your perusal if you so wish. Ask the people of the world for I have nothing to hide and conceal, the Adeptus Mechanicus knows of my history and will confirm it all if you so wish. Now, a labor begins anew, and though the limitations of the past are no more, I have much to do and little time. As such, I humbly request the aid of the Ultramarines as well as their descendant Chapter in this time of preparation." My words were in High Gothic of the accent that Osiris spoke with as I kneeled as much as my body could before the Astartes, giving to them the best sign I could of my allegiance to the Imperium.
Of course, my true allegiance was and always will be to the Witness and my people, yet my people were also the humans of Shogi, and I would fight against any that dared seek their demise. My emotions lived once more and I would no longer tolerate insults that I once did without complaint. I could see that the Astartes were on the backfoot, having to process the differences in my behavior from the meeting in this new light, yet as befitting of their nature they handled the moment with a level of dignity that normal humans would not possess.
"The Pathfinders Chapter respects your offer, Planetary Governor, but it will require time to provide a true answer. However, we are always willing to provide aid to the worlds of Erimyst for the betterment of the Imperium." The leader of the Pathfinder declared with a fist to his heart as I nod to him once more, Aescheus and the Ultramarines were more unsure I could tell, but within them burned a yearning desire to answer in the affirmative. "We too respect the offer and the candor presented to us, however, such an offer can only be confirmed or denied by the Chapter's command staff." Aescheus spoke even as commands to begin an investigation flowed between the Astartes.
- Location
- Warsaw
- Location
- USA
All children protection as it was were removed, teachers were given basically absolute power over the students, the school system had literally everything useful stripped out of it even beyond normal imperial levels. As in the schools went out of their way to not teach basic things like 1+1 = 2 or how to read/write the local language.
The previous governor was an idiot that got suckered by three worlds that really really hate Shogi's celestial location and the wealth that comes with it and so their governors became his friends and from that pushed him to basically ruin Shogi, and part of that was stripping out anything useful from the schools and also making sure that there were plenty of classes on how Shogi is a traitor/heretic world and only those three worlds were true imperial worlds all to prepare for a local uprising against the Shogi government.
Is there any way to ressurect and punish the governor?
Edit: How can we punish the three worlds?
Edit: How can we punish the three worlds?
No. He is ether in the grips of chaos suffering worse than we could ever do to him or gone poof into abstract warp energy upon death.
And Live Well. Eclipse them so entirely that they no longer matter in the slightest, and then when Chaos creeps into their worlds out of jealousy and greed they get extermanatused.
Yes, and when we go to Macragge we obviously need to leave it in the hands of a competent administrator. Therefor the first step in implementing the plan is to wake their Primarch up.
Oh Roboute is going to like Atraxas.
- Location
- USA
I do not know where this come from, but Roboute if awakened right now would either kill Atraxas or boot him from the Imperium before anyone could say anything. No Primarch without a galactic crisis going on would ever dream of tolerating a xenos having any power/influence over humans. Roboute is one of the few that wouldn't just outright squish said xeno, but his tolerance is limited to just throwing them to a barren world with a fleet in orbit to blast them if they try to do anything technological again.
There is not a single primarch that would ever even come close to accepting Atraxas as even remotely useful to be allowed to work under human control. In short, the primarchs are not anymore enlightened about this than the Great Crusade era imperium was, their tolerance is higher than current yes, but only so far as giving more species protectorate status.
Roboute - Tell me xenos... Why did you save me?
Atraxas - I need a competent administrator obviously.
- Location
- USA
This would be more
Roboute: Well Xeno I am sorry to say that your plot to enslave me has failed. punches Atraxas
Atraxas: splatters into goo
- Location
- USA
Regarding Roboute being healed, the best way to survive long term is simply to let him be healed by the Ultramarines with no interference from Atraxas. Even for Roboute it would take effort to determine that Atraxas is a xenos unless he sees him in person and even now overall there is little to actually make someone like Roboute care about Atraxas as of now.
If you do manage to complete the megaproject that would make him care, but at that point Roboute wouldn't be able to actually invade Shogi to kill Atraxas in a cost effective manner anymore. So basically you just have to make Roboute step back for a bit to actually do the calculations, his instinctual response is to splatter any alien he meets, but his more cerebral understanding of things if given a chance would make him more amenable to things.
If you do manage to complete the megaproject that would make him care, but at that point Roboute wouldn't be able to actually invade Shogi to kill Atraxas in a cost effective manner anymore. So basically you just have to make Roboute step back for a bit to actually do the calculations, his instinctual response is to splatter any alien he meets, but his more cerebral understanding of things if given a chance would make him more amenable to things.
Turn 6: Turn Summary
- Location
- USA
Actions locked for turn 7
Improve The PDF
Private Army
Private Army
Nameria
DC: 70
Roll: 3d100+21
Establish Subsector Spies
Atraxas
Nalka
DC: 62
Roll: 2d100+37
Heart Forge
Atraxas
Calculation Heart(s)
Use Exatari Alloys
Autocomplete turn 7
The education action (the details are yet to be posted, but it is a locked in action due to Atraxas Breaking for it)
Gains this turn
Osiris is much happier and more stable, and can be talked to by Atraxas now without massive problems
15 more units of Bauxanium for a total of 30
Atraxas is now Broken: loses all limitations inherent to the Scholarship, gains a new inherent trait. (Inherent traits are different so to speak from normal Traits like Harkar and the other advisors have. They are more descriptive in other words they do not have narrative weight while normal traits do have narrative weight.)
Scholar of Radiance (inherent trait) - all skills barring Faith are brought to the same level as Learning, gain 3 extra free actions, gain Bo2 and +50 vs C'tan corruption and the Curse, any roll below 10 is set to 10
2 more Exatari Supercomputers (if not otherwise assigned I will auto assign them to Atraxas)
Five Layers of Average Imperial Guard system defenses added, all planets gain High Imperial Guard orbital defenses, enemy naval invasions lose an effective tier of quality as long as they are below High Impossible, all planetary bodies gain High Imperial Guard defenses, all planetary bodies barring Shogi are immune to non Externatius bombardment (this is more due to them not being colonies yet than anything else). Each satellite in the system provides 40 Extraction and 40 Production, and 100 Storage (Totals: +2680 Extraction/Production and 6,700 storage)
Stage 1 Diplo corps reduce the effect of critical fails in regards to Diplomatic actions, applies at vastly lower level for prodigy related failures. Also reduces the DC for all diplomacy actions by 1 per Stage of the Corps.
Archmagos Gravus is willing to work on 3 projects with Atraxas, will provide Favor for Gravity based technology, is a master of gravity technology. Revealed to have a trait related to gravity technology if not yet known IC, Gravity Forged Alloys - can produce Gravity Alloys that have increased value in Ship/Power Armor and Kinetic Rounds construction (in short he can produce another kind of Alloy from Resources that has greater effect when used in projects that require complex/strong materials, also provide innate buffs to what they are used to build)
New Actions
A new category is unlocked: Radiant where actions that have high rewards but also very high cost and suspicion will be presented. Be careful when you start these actions for they will have ripple effects on the narrative level that will not be outlined in the details beyond what could be inferred.
The two second stage options for the defense of the system: planetary stealing/raiding and the terraforming of the existing worlds. There is a first stage learning action to improve the planetary theft action also unlocked.
Education options are now open, Atraxas will NOT allow Shogi to use the standard Imperial format anymore. Shezu rolled high enough to provide her assistance to this project which has moved the chain forward several steps.
Resource Turn Over
1450 Exatari Alloys
100 Repulsion Alloys
100 Abyssal Severance Alloys
5848 Resources (Upkeep is already applied, Do NOT mess this up Leon for turn 7)
2114 Wealth
15/100 Suspicion
Atraxas Wounds: 14/14
Improve The PDF
Private Army
Private Army
Nameria
DC: 70
Roll: 3d100+21
Establish Subsector Spies
Atraxas
Nalka
DC: 62
Roll: 2d100+37
Heart Forge
Atraxas
Calculation Heart(s)
Use Exatari Alloys
Autocomplete turn 7
The education action (the details are yet to be posted, but it is a locked in action due to Atraxas Breaking for it)
Gains this turn
Osiris is much happier and more stable, and can be talked to by Atraxas now without massive problems
15 more units of Bauxanium for a total of 30
Atraxas is now Broken: loses all limitations inherent to the Scholarship, gains a new inherent trait. (Inherent traits are different so to speak from normal Traits like Harkar and the other advisors have. They are more descriptive in other words they do not have narrative weight while normal traits do have narrative weight.)
Scholar of Radiance (inherent trait) - all skills barring Faith are brought to the same level as Learning, gain 3 extra free actions, gain Bo2 and +50 vs C'tan corruption and the Curse, any roll below 10 is set to 10
2 more Exatari Supercomputers (if not otherwise assigned I will auto assign them to Atraxas)
Five Layers of Average Imperial Guard system defenses added, all planets gain High Imperial Guard orbital defenses, enemy naval invasions lose an effective tier of quality as long as they are below High Impossible, all planetary bodies gain High Imperial Guard defenses, all planetary bodies barring Shogi are immune to non Externatius bombardment (this is more due to them not being colonies yet than anything else). Each satellite in the system provides 40 Extraction and 40 Production, and 100 Storage (Totals: +2680 Extraction/Production and 6,700 storage)
Stage 1 Diplo corps reduce the effect of critical fails in regards to Diplomatic actions, applies at vastly lower level for prodigy related failures. Also reduces the DC for all diplomacy actions by 1 per Stage of the Corps.
Archmagos Gravus is willing to work on 3 projects with Atraxas, will provide Favor for Gravity based technology, is a master of gravity technology. Revealed to have a trait related to gravity technology if not yet known IC, Gravity Forged Alloys - can produce Gravity Alloys that have increased value in Ship/Power Armor and Kinetic Rounds construction (in short he can produce another kind of Alloy from Resources that has greater effect when used in projects that require complex/strong materials, also provide innate buffs to what they are used to build)
New Actions
A new category is unlocked: Radiant where actions that have high rewards but also very high cost and suspicion will be presented. Be careful when you start these actions for they will have ripple effects on the narrative level that will not be outlined in the details beyond what could be inferred.
The two second stage options for the defense of the system: planetary stealing/raiding and the terraforming of the existing worlds. There is a first stage learning action to improve the planetary theft action also unlocked.
Education options are now open, Atraxas will NOT allow Shogi to use the standard Imperial format anymore. Shezu rolled high enough to provide her assistance to this project which has moved the chain forward several steps.
Resource Turn Over
1450 Exatari Alloys
100 Repulsion Alloys
100 Abyssal Severance Alloys
5848 Resources (Upkeep is already applied, Do NOT mess this up Leon for turn 7)
2114 Wealth
15/100 Suspicion
Atraxas Wounds: 14/14
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- Location
- Warsaw
Do we even need to roll for the forge? Our bonus already covers it and otherwise it just seems like using unnecessary dice that could be spent elsewhere.
- Location
- USA
Fair enough, will mark it as autocomplete instead.
So every stat except for faith is now at 45/50? Damn!
- Location
- USA
No, only 45, well Diplo is actually at 45/55 but the /X marks a conditional bonus that not always applies but you only have one for Learning/Diplomacy.
The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
That's just factually untrue. Several Primarchs were willing to engage in diplomacy with cosmopolitan factions until daddy smacked them down, and Roboute already started questioning the Emperor's ideology and methods of rulership well before he went into stasis.
This also seems inconsistent with canon lore. Roboute didn't instagib Yvrain or any of her retinue, despite not (at the time of his awakening) being aware of the ongoing crisis and having actually justified beef with the Eldar specifically.
For multiple dice, would that be rolling the entire pool twice, rolling each die twice or rolling double the pool and picking the highest half?
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