Chapter 424 Everyone has their own agenda

Chapter 424 Everyone has their own agenda

As Sid Nora said.

The situation with steel belts is complicated.

The situation here is complicated...

I don’t know who the real traitor is.

Fu Qinghai reviewed the entire battle at the Zellas Space Station. The enemy was fighting a war that was destined to fail - they scuttled all the warships, removed the shipboard weapon systems and installed them on the orbital defense facilities. So what? They have no reinforcements and they have cut off their own retreat. This is a battle between trapped beasts.

Even if Fu Qinghai's infiltration plan fails, it is only a matter of time before an isolated Forge World falls. The only difference is how much damage it can cause to the Space Marines before it falls, and how much it costs the Human Empire.

The five Astartes Chapters were told that the Gerath Space Station was a rebel forge world that they needed to recover. When they arrived here, the Gerath Space Station had indeed taken up its stance and was ready to resist.

So a battle began. After a bloody battle and a heavy price paid, the Space Marines successfully suppressed the rebellion and regained the Forge World, returning it to the banner of the Empire and the path of the Ohm Messiah.

Nothing seems wrong.

But Fu Qinghai always felt a little strange.

If the Xerath Space Station belongs to the Dark Mechanicus, why don't other Dark Mechanicus or Chaos Space Marines come to support them? Why not come to support them? They were left to be besieged by five Chapter fleets.

Most Chapter Masters, as professional soldiers who do their duty and obey orders, never think about these issues. Being immersed in the fierce battle and focusing on the combat target in front of them also left them no time to think about these issues.

Until the vortex technician named "Proteus" told Fu Qinghai "the truth of the matter": The Zerath Space Station never wanted to launch a rebellion, and they didn't care who came to rule the galaxy, they just wanted to be unrestricted , not to be disturbed, and to study the subspace as they wanted. However, Terra and Mars did not allow it. They labeled their behavior as "technological heresy" and sent troops to suppress it, so they were forced to resist.

Terra and Mars characterize the Tech-Priests of Xerath Station as "Dark Mechanicus" and "heretics", but they themselves do not see it that way, and this is where the disagreement lies.

Strictly speaking, essentially.

This is not an "insurgency operation."

Rather, it is an “academic dispute.”

From Fu Qinghai's perspective, he can understand the decision of Mars and Terra. The technical priests of Zerath Space Station were pronounced as "dark technological heretics", and they were not unjust at all.

Can humans study subspace? Of course, otherwise, how would subspace jumping, void shield technology, teleportation technology, Geller force field, etc. come about? They are all based on the research results of subspace. These technologies are of great significance, allowing the human empire to expedition to the star sea, regain the homeland of mankind, and restore the glory of mankind, instead of becoming one of many technologically advanced but extremely small pocket empires.

However, the study of the Warp cannot be conducted without restraint or restriction, but must be conducted within the constraints of the Ohm Messianic Way. This is just like the real world. Governments of all countries do not allow genetic cloning of humans, which involves ethical issues. But for Warhammer 40K, the harm of Chaos is far more serious than moral and ethical issues, so a simple issue of "academic misconduct" can turn into a war.

From Fu Qinghai's point of view, the degree of mutation of Proteus' flesh and blood required an evil sacrificial ritual to answer the question. Whether it was physical appearance or inventions, there was no problem at all in calling the "Whirlpool Technician" a "black machine oil guy".

But, from another perspective.

The vortex technician was also wronged.

If a diviner, a machine that needs to torture human souls to create psychic malice in order to operate smoothly, is the so-called "Devil Engine" and "Destruction Engine"...

So, what is the Star Torch?

So, what is the Golden Throne?

There is a double-standard logic here: "Only state officials are allowed to set fires, but ordinary people are not allowed to light lamps."

Moreover, although it is not stated explicitly in the original novel of Warhammer 40K, it is hinted both inside and outside the words - it was the Emperor who invented the world's first Daemon Engine.

As early as the Era of Strife, the so-called "Era of Warlords", when Terra was still called "Earth", there was an unknown wanderer who came to Mars from Earth. At that time, there was no Mechanicum on Mars, only the Mechanicus. A loose group of technology priests, composed of a group of technology priests, quietly conducted their own research while watching the war and turmoil on the planet next door. Wanderer's technical level was very high, surpassing all technological groups on Mars at the time. He invented a method to combine demons in the subspace with inorganic machinery and create the world's first demon engine.

But he did not choose to spread this technology, but sealed it in a cave. On the eve of the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, Warmaster Horus promised to unseal the cave in order to seduce the Martian Forge Commander Kalbor Har in exchange for his support. Little did he know that the so-called "heretical technology" sealed in that cave ”, the so-called “forbidden technology” that Kalbor Hal wanted so much that he even launched a rebellion for it... was probably created by the Emperor himself.

Because many clues hint that the "unknown wanderer from Earth" is the Emperor himself.

What's even more ironic, Fu Qinghai doesn't know.

Two of the three "dark heretical technological artifacts" he obtained - the Umbra Looking Glass and the Matrix of Faithlessness - were later widely used by the three Inquisitions and the Loyalist Forge World. The former was used to interrogate ghosts for clues, and the latter It is used to torture heretic tech-priests. It is said to be an unclean and taboo technology, but the major forces in the empire use it more easily than anyone else.

There is no psychological barrier.

…………

The world of the knights of Orestes.

There is a local Mechanicum sect here.

They call themselves a “data curation” sect.

Few people knew that Hieronymus Gant, the second-in-command in the Iron Ring War Zone, did not stay in the safety of the forge world of Atal Meridian, but boarded a Mechanicus. The cruiser came here.

A communications machine slave of the Data Oversight Sect designated this dark chamber in a small forge temple as their meeting place. This temple is located in the far outskirts of the knight family's ebony fortress and is very remote.

As soon as the message was delivered, the Dominion Sage recorded the explosion of synaptic fuses in the servitor's brain, forever burning any memory of the message.

In order to keep a piece of information confidential, a machine slave worker was completely scrapped, very cautiously. While the Dominion Sage considers this an unnecessary precaution, it is entirely consistent with some of the dark rumors surrounding the Data Custody Cult.

The ruling sage stepped onto the stone steps step by step.

This abandoned forge temple was well chosen.

It's so close to the front lines that every senior tech-priest has fled, leaving only a skeleton crew of expendable staff to oversee the final transfer of data from its databases.

Lined with towering dusty filing cabinets, the whirring sound of information transmission magnetic plates and the chants of binary choruses are humming. Mounted on the wall, a cog-skull-shaped atomizer fills the air with the scent of cooling incense.

The message from the Data Regulatory Sect told him to come alone, but Hieronymus was the ruling sage of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and priests of his status rarely came alone.

An old low-level technical priest named "Cork-R-41" is the only remaining experienced monk in this temple. This is a very common name form for a low-level technical priest, a short word + a few letters + a string of numbers. A combination whose names are as lackluster as their academic prowess.

Cork-R-41 welcomed the Dominion Sage to his simple temple with a humble attitude, as if the Omnissiah himself had appeared before him. Like a loyal cybermastiff, he led the ruling sage to the data warehouse behind the temple, where six lexical mechanics, a kind of dedicated data warehouse machine slaves, were gathered here like a guard of honor.

At the end of this meeting, Hieronymus will erase the memories of these word mechanics without any consent. This is his ability and his status.

The agreed time for the meeting has passed.

where is he?

Hieronymus leaned forward and tapped his fingertips impatiently on the black surface of a filing cabinet, the tactile implant generating a stack of glowing endoscopic status panels. Without opening it, he had a clear view of the database in the filing cabinet.

"Brother Hieronymus?"

Cork-R-41 asked in a fleshly voice that betrayed both his fear and his humble status.

I'm asking about Cork-R-41.

Hieronymus responded.

The technology priest tilted his head to one side, and the ruling sage narrowed his eyes. Only then did he suddenly realize that the auditory input port of Cork-R-41 had not been modified for the encryption ritual level of technical language. So the Dominant Sage could only spend a moment rearranging the implants in his esophagus.

"Your superior, where is he?"

The ruling sage asked. Since this mechanical vocal cord is rarely used, his voice seems somewhat unfamiliar.

"Ah, he, uh, in, probably, about fifteen minutes ago, he was still here, the ruling sage..."

Cork-R-41 stammered.

perhaps? About?

Hieronymus glared dissatisfied. The imprecision in Cork-R-41's language offended him and made him a little angry. He once considered erasing the memory of both the old priest and the lexicon engineer. It was against the rules to take such drastic action against a monk who also belonged to the Mechanicum, but he was sure that no one who heard this would condemn him.

"I have been waiting for a long time to rule the sage."

A voice came from the darkness:

"I asked you to come alone."

Although the Dominator Sage's body had undergone extensive modifications and was very different from the baseline human template, he was still shocked by the sudden and unexpected sound.

"It is not easy for a wise ruler to travel alone."

Hieronymus said solemnly.

It is impossible for a ruling sage to travel without bodyguards. Just outside this small forging temple, there are several of his subordinates. They are all cybernetics, a kind of technical priest who specializes in programming and controlling cybernetics. Each of them leads a Castellan cybernetic army. Machinery Brigade. Hieronymus originally thought that the data surveillance sect would not be aware of it because his information interference methods had already hidden it.

Hidden at the data level.

"That makes sense."

said the disembodied voice.

"A person, a group of people? You can't hide your existence. For us, it makes no difference."

A figure disappeared between the two filing cabinets. Hieronymus's row of bionic eyes buzzed. They were trying to focus, but they were still unable to capture the figure.

"Brother Nemonix?"

Hieronymus asked.

"Is there anyone else you want to wait for?"

the voice asked rhetorically.

"No, but I am connected to every system in this temple, and I did not find any registration." Hieronymos said, "In fact, your existence is not recorded at all, at any level, Why is this?"

This figure has been hiding in the shadows, but the ruling sage has an uneasy illusion in his heart - even if he stands under the strong light of a sodium lamp, he can't see anything.

"Becoming a ghost in a machine has many benefits." The technical priest of the data supervision sect said, his tone was understatement, as if it was a small matter that the various auspicious omens in every corner of the forging temple could not see him clearly. “The most important of these is the freedom to roam without leaving any footprints.”

"how did you do it?"

Hieronymus asked.

"If I didn't tell you on Greia or Spiderweb, what makes you think I will tell you now?"

The ruling sage once again confirmed that the data disk in his brain was operating normally, then shook his head and said:

"You and I have never met, Brother Nemonix."

"On the contrary," Nemonix said, in a feminine voice that Hieronymus interpreted as ridicule. "We have met six times before this, ruling sage."

"you are wrong."

"No, you just forgot, you will forget again."

This time it was Hieronymus’ turn to sneer:

"This is impossible. The Adeptus Mechanicus will not delete any data. We will always expand memory storage."

"Really?" Nemonix smiled. He whispered something in binary lingo, and suddenly asked: "What's the name of the technical priest next to you?"

"He is...he is..."

Hieronymus's voice became smaller and smaller, because he realized that he could no longer remember the identity of this technical priest. There was a strange atmosphere surrounding this man. He was clearly standing there, but he looked like a Inorganic sculpture.

No names, no numbers, no historical records, no trace of any existence. In one instant, the tech-priest's entire life was wiped from every nook and cranny of the data network.

For the tech-priests.

He no longer exists.

Hieronymus suppressed his anger and began to suspect that he had had similar experiences many times. For the first time in his life, the ruling sage hoped that he could retain some biological characteristics - such as a pair of naked eyes or a pair of fleshy ears, which seemed to allow him to see the true existence of the technical priest in front of him.

"This is thought invasion, this is heresy!"

Sage Hieronymus said angrily.

"I know."

Sage Nemonix said calmly.

"What do you think you know?"

The other party's attitude of having everything under control made him a little angry, Hieronymos asked in a cold voice.

"More than you imagine, Sage of Dominance." Sage Nemonix said slowly, "I can assure you that it is enough to make every one of your achievements and titles deprived of you by Mars. But will we Should threats and counter-threats, revelations and counter-revelation be abandoned? Every priest has secrets, every sect has secrets, and it does no one any good to have dark secrets among followers of the Mechanicus revealed. Do you agree? ?”

The ruling sage was eager to know more, but he restrained his instinct to ask questions and did not talk about this topic for the time being. There were more important things that brought him to this place.

Hieronymus nodded.

"very good."

The technical priest of the data supervision sect slowly walked under the light and continued:

"Now, let's get down to business."

Hieronymus stared at him closely, but Nemonix flickered like a negative exposure on a film, an electronic ghost that disappeared after a heartbeat, as if it was just a technopriest-shaped hole in the real world.

The Dominion Sage no longer wants to be fooled by data.

The ruling sage really wants to change his eyes at this moment.

Nemonix looked casual, as if he was erasing the traces of a member of the Mechanicum every day. Hieronymus had a terrible suspicion—that this might be it.

"The fall of the Iron Ring once again freed House Draconis from its shackles."

Nemonix emphasized responsibility for the disaster:

"Viscount Sunderland of Ebony Castle is very willful. Just because of some historical issues, he wants to completely break away from the Mechanicus. The war in the Iron Ring has rekindled, and various forging worlds have evil intentions, which has caused your status in Mars to be greatly weakened. If you let another knight family slip away, you will probably be kicked out of the council and even stripped of your title and property."

"Am I right, Ruler of Sage?"

the flickering electronic ghost asked softly.

"you know too much!"

Hieronymus tried his best to hide his surprise, but judging from Nemonix's next tone, it was clear that his concealment failed completely.

"Don't be so surprised, Sage of Control. To someone like me, the torrent of data in your mind leaks like a sieve. You might as well announce your intentions directly through a public communication link, which will save trouble."

Nemonix snapped his fingers and warned:

"If I were you, I would think twice about using unapproved STC fragments as a brain firewall. Also, I specifically recommend against using proprietary interpolation code to fill in the gaps, which is a significant vulnerability."

Reveal his loopholes in a few words.

Nemonix waved his hand to stop Hieronymus from gaping in shock.

"But it doesn't matter. Back to the current issue, the Draconis family is not a powerful knight family. They don't even have the Raging River Knights and Watch Knights, let alone the more powerful City Lord Knights and Giant King Knights. Cut off The connection with Mars is irrelevant and inevitable, and you are worried that other families will know about this, right, ruling sage?"

"If House Draconis can get rid of the Mechanicus with impunity, other houses may follow their lead, but when will the end be reached? This poor Knight family on the verge of destruction may become a domino for other families to fight against the Mechanicum. The allied Knight Houses thought they could survive without the protection of Mars."

"Then..."

Hieronymus said:

"You fully understand my needs?"

"Let Viscount Sunderland know his mistake and return the Draconis family to Martian control."

Nemonix said.

"Yes, that's it."

Hieronymus said.

"What if that proves to be impossible? Just how far are you willing to go, to rule the wise?"

Nemonix asked rhetorically.

Hieronymus raised his head and said:

"If Viscount Sunderland is determined not to surrender to Mars, you must ensure that the Draconis family can set an example to all other knight families in the Iron Ring and let them know how bloody disasters similar actions will bring!"

The voice of the ruling sage is resounding.

The electronic ghost nodded, and at that moment, his blurry outline suddenly became clear. He rattled off a series of extremely obscure code words, and a trickle of static electricity washed through the machine that controlled the sage. Prosthetic eyes.

The ruling sage blinked again, then looked around at the empty databases.

A tech-priest he didn't recognize and a half-dozen wordsmiths stood with him among the humming filing cabinets. The glowing status screen flashed with distorted ripples of gibberish, telling the Dominant Sage that every data file had been cleared.

"So, he didn't come?"

Hieronymus said to himself.

And wondered why I subconsciously used the sound of mechanical vocal cords instead of binary lingo.

He looked around the empty archives room for the last time. There were still only the two of them. There is no sign that the tech-priests of that data-custodian sect ever existed.

Hieronymus frowned and shook his head, annoyed that he was being forced to waste precious time.

He was let go, and the ruling sage Hieronymus Gant was furious at such a serious breach of etiquette, and turned around and left the dilapidated Forge Temple.

The Dominion Sage led several of his men who had been waiting outside the Forge Temple and left the planet in a shuttle.

In the empty forging temple.

Suddenly a vague voice sounded.

It's like the electric microphone is noisily neighing:

"Everything will be as you wish, Ruler Sage."

"A family of loyal knights..."

"Hehehe, I guess..."

"My loving father will definitely accept this gift!"

…………