"Spirits of the Machine-God," Rho incanted, frantically trying to rush the Litany of Unjamming without angering or damaging the Machine Spirit or bolter in equal measure. "Aid your servant and free their weapon," she continued, moving parts and freeing the blockade with somewhat unpracticed movements. "So they may use it to break your foes!" She finished, laying down the bolter in the same motion as she laid her hands flat on the table. A blaring beep sounded over her head as a servitor skull scribbled her time onto the parchment it held, while to her left and right, two more beeps followed, one and seven seconds later, respectively. She deliberately avoided taking a deep breath and continued to breathe evenly, even as she internally worried at how long it had taken Rho-Delta to finish his Litany.
Tap came the staff of Magos VY-512, Tap did it sound nearer, Tap it struck for the final time, as the towering bulk of the Dominus stopped behind the three apprentices, all trying to stay as still as possible with their still flesh bodies.
Identification: Apprentice Rho-Delta. Observation: Worsening of time for completion of sacred Litany of Unjamming. Warning: Occurrence of worsening after declaring the betterment of time from Apprentice Rho-Delta. Thought: Lie? The Magos spoke in their blessed mechanical voice, though the words made Rho shrink internally in dread. Or Failure? Conjecture: Failure to perform to set standards due to lacking fervor in performing assigned duties. Observation: Underutilization of Recreational Period for rest of biological components. Conclusion: Lack of improvement due to failure to maintain biological components sufficiently to maintain the ability to serve the Omnissiah. Declaration: Apprentice Rho-Delta, you are ordered to fully utilize your 4-Hour Standard Time Recreational Period to sustain body and mind. The Magos finished his chastisement, lightly pushing Rho's exhausted compatriot toward the door with one mechadendrite. Chastisement: Neglecting the maintenance of one thing leads to neglecting the whole. Statement: Sleep, you idiot. VY-512 spoke, letting the little bit of humor Rho had noticed the Magos possessed to come to the front of their speech for a moment before turning toward her and Omega again. Statement: Improvement following my conjectures and calculations. Order: Repeat Litany of Unjamming fifty times. Addendum: Return to assigned duties afterward.
And with that, the Magos turned around; their staff Tap Tap Tap-ing away as the rest of their hulking body moved silently. Then, as one, Omega and Rho picked up the Bolters once more, the machines within the table creating jamming within the guns again, before a buzzer sounded from the Servo-Skulls above the two. And with that, they once more spoke the Litany of Unjamming, racing to finish in time and better than before. Though, the time performing the act was long since routine, allowing Rho to think back on that fateful day when their Cohort was exiled from Forge World Tesla when the Bolters were reset.
When Magos VY-512 had chosen her as an apprentice from all the apprentices they could have chosen, she had been overjoyed. Rare was the chance to join an order as vaunted as the Legio Cybernetica. It was rarer when Cohort Delta-Omega-Sigma opened its ranks to new components of the Omnissiah. The Cohort preferred to recruit internally long since, elevating those among the servs working their factories and manufactories rather than allowing outsiders to join, but here she was! Soon, if she proved to be capable enough, she would serve the Omnissiah and the Motive Force within the Cohort, bringing death and destruction to the Cult Mechanicum's Foes!
Only, it would not be so. Because only a single day after she had joined, a Magos accused the Cohort of harboring Hereteks. One with evidence that the Fabricator-General could not dismiss, no matter their wishes. Most damming of all, the accusations proved true, and the Cohort nearly faced destruction over them. Only their allies, and by choosing exile to a recently colonized world, did they avoid being erased from memory, only allowed their automata and the singular Secutor "Imperious Draconis" with them.
After all, the Sin was heavy:
[] Sin of Innovation
(A new alloy had replaced the armor and structure of all Robots. Stronger by 2.37%, while cheaper by 0.021%, it had been hailed as an incredible find of long-lost knowledge. Only, it proved to be an alloy created anew, rather than found.)
[] Sin of Ritual-Breaking
(The Cohort had undergone a dramatic break from ritual that nobody could endorse or tolerate, no matter their stance. This occurred after a new faction had risen to prominence within the Cohort, discarding or modifying rituals one after the other, claiming to better the Cohort by removing useless or no longer applicable rites.)
[] Sin of Deviation
(They had built new Robots, made from their schematics, created by using old designs finished within their halls. The creation of such was not Tech-Heresy in itself, but the scale was outrageous and encroachment upon other Orders tasked with such Holy Works.)
[] Sin of Perversion
(The Cohort used Xeno-tech within the Robots. All that contained such were destroyed.)
The harsh buzzer of the Servo-Skull ripped Rho out of her thoughts just as she had finished the fiftieth Litany of Unjamming, with Omega running two behind. Enough time for her to grin at the glowering apprentice before retreating before his stuck out tongue and playful insult of her "bribing the Bolter with incense beforehand," as he put it. Regardless, she had finished with this part of her training, meaning it was time to begin her usual duties. Duties that other apprentices had been more than happy to trade with her, somehow believing the maintenance of the Automata to be tedious instead of holy. She found it relaxing and stepped into the hallway to cargo-bay seven-dash-beta.
Rho immediately backstepped, narrowly avoiding bumping into:
[] Archmagos (WRITE-IN NAME)
[] (Optional: "Personality," Augmentations, and History)
As the leader of Cohort Delta-Omega-Sigma moved through the hallway on their way to somewhere else. Rho didn't even dare to think what the Archmagos was currently doing, only glad she didn't bump into them. She was sure that would have resulted in her wishing she would be ejected out of the airlock to escape Magos VY-512's wrath. But, shaking off the fright and peeking around the corner to make sure the hallway was free of high-ranking Techpriests that could have her executed with a single burst of data, she continued on her way. It took her twenty minutes of walking and using the onboard tram to reach her destination, walking into the cargo bay holding her charges for the day, the Automata the Cohort was most known for.
What Automata are most used by the Cohort?
[] Baharat
(Large, weighty, well-armed, and deadly. Swarms stand no chance.)
[] Thanatar
(Siege-engines of deadly renown. Ready to tear you a new one.)
[] Lambda-Zeta-01
(Death on threads, armed in melee and horrific in close-range. And with three heads, for some reason.)
[] Vultarax
(Flying, Pricy, And Swift, does it deliver death from above? You bet.)
[] Rho-Tau 17 Surveillance Robot
(Cheap mass-produced swarms of bolter-wearing automata beat everything. If not, apply more; they are cheap enough.)
Looking over the bay, Rho could not help but smile, even as:
[] Her double shift would strain even her enthusiasm.
(100 Maniples with 5 Automata each.)
[] Her shift would be lengthy.
(70 Maniples with 4 Automata each.)
[] She would need some time to clean her batch.
(50 Maniples with 3 Automata each.)
[] The lone Automata stood forgotten and dejected.
(30 Maniples with 1 Automaton each.)
But as Apprentice Rho strode into the room, zeroing in on the cleaning equipment she would need to use; she did not perceive one thing:
[] Actually, nothing happened.
(Nothing happens.)
[] The eye of an Automata followed her.
(???)
AN: Sister vote is still going on; this is just happening simultaneously.
Why?
Because your threat-choice is finally kicking into gear.
