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The roars of horns blared through the air as the Titan stood at either side of the great road. Just like the man of old, the Mechanicus quickly lined their streets with the icons and avatars of the Machine God to guard their most sacred proceedings.

Below their watchful eyes were crowds of people and machines. At the front of these crowds were the Adepts either too cowardly or too young to have joined in the Crusade that occurred before them. Now though, with safety confirmed, both sides were able to give signals of joy as for one of the few times they are able to witness those that fought for them.

Behind them were the people, serfs and servants of the Mechanicum. They all served a great purpose in the cog of production but were much more human than their overlords. Though even among them were those of greater standings, being either Nobles or servants of the Dutonian Aristocracy that was quickly taking hold within the sector.

It is simple that so many planets were claimed that the Nobility of the Knight Planet was expanded. It came that a great many peasant mayors and even servants were given a chance to ascend into the now burgeoning ruling body. The only requirement now being that they are capable of operating one of many hundred new Knight Chassis that were being crafted.

With the growing Empire the Priests also needed more bodies. Though instead of raising the peasants of their home world the world of Lucius was quickly being flooded with immigrants from across the Mechanicum. Let them be hopefuls taking a chance to become a Priest or Adepts wishing to acquire a piece of the Federation for themselves. Simply put Lucius, which had an adequate population before, was now many times over what was there just five years ago.

They all looked out as a line of soldiers and machines began walking across the road. Behind them were mountains of items that would cause near fatal heart attacks to those who might know of their secrets. These devices, recovered from hidden facilities all across the territory of the Xenos, were being transported to the heart of Lucius for storage and analysis.

Behind them though were the numerous creatures, Xenos and Fauna, that were captured by the Reconquista. Some were the Sloog that were trapped within stasis surrounded by nullification crystals. Others were giant beasts that had captured the imagination of the Genetors upon exhibition.

Surrounding these pieces of knowledge and wonder were the armed wing of the Mechanicum. The Skitarii with their signature red cloaks were surrounded by the heavily armored warriors of the Legio Proelitor. These soldiers were occasionally followed by the Knight Chassis of Dutonis, one side belonging to Navarros while the other was Borgius.

They all walked with purpose in their step. They knew that they had succeeded in securing what is to be the heart of the Mechanicum.

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At the front of this procession was the largest of the Titans that were fielded on this day. It stood several units tall that almost eclipsed all the buildings within the local area. Its chassis was, unlike the people of Lucius, was blue and gold that lined its chassis. But priminantly was the red stripes that declared this Titan a Crusader of the Mechanicum’s war.

Particep Semper walked. It walked with the precision and elegance of a veteran Princep who knew exactly how to operate such a grand machine. All looked upon it with awe as it guided the precession.

To its right and left were two chassis, newly discovered from the records of both Dutonis and Mars. Through the advanced understanding of the Mechanicum these weapons of war were resurrected to bring about a great service to the Priests of the Mechanicum.

One of them, which bore a massive claw and spear, was the Knight known as Arch Angelus. A mighty Knight that always looked forward with the purpose afforded to its rider. Such a great person that any Tech Priest worth their knowledge would give honor to him. Word was that at the moment where he saved Lucius that he was able to tap into the Motive Force to bring his Knight back from the brink.

The other was Magna Atlas, the rider of whom even the men of the Imperium knew of. No mortal man in their history could claim a kill that even the Emperor of Mankind rarely committed himself to. Many noticed that while the Ceratus Pattern Knight was elegant, the Fist that the machine bore was greater than anything else they had seen before. It was branded with the colors of not just Navarros but of Borgius, together to show in the icon of their fallen God that saved their civilization so long ago.

These two walked as guards to Particep Semper and those that surrounded him. Many on the ground were prominent magi such as Magos Dominus Sicarian or Prime Dominus Pterraxi whose minds assisted in the downfall of the Mitu Empire.

Among them of course were the Imperial Fists. A Legion of Astartes whose assistance brought a clean end to the Orks that had once ravaged the edges of federal space.

Soon they all came to a stop as Particep Semper began to turn about. The Precession soon continued under its legs as the grand machine slowly powered down to a great enough margin that the Princep could disengage himself.

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Sanctus Dominus TalOS DAV1S looked out upon the hordes of Man from the top of Particep Semper. He could feel the subtle hum of all the people cheering for him above the forever humming of Particep Semper’s plasma reactors.

For years he had been away from Lucius on campaign across the stars. With every day he advanced the borders of the Federation to reclaim what humanity had lost during the age of its great Empire.

He was just like his Father, TalOS took a moment to realize. For just like his father TalOS had an immense need to conquer what was around him. As for what ends there were, TalOS felt they might differ.

The Emperor of Mankind wished to bring about a unification of Humanity, to bring it out of the darkness and into the light of enlightenment.

TalOS however did not conquer all of humanity but the Mechanicus and its allies. He pushed the Reconquista to all edges of the system, causing each of their borders to be shared not by foul Xenos but instead the Imperial to whom a tight alliance was forged in faith. For TalOS, who was not influenced by such a school of thought, knew that once the realization is made it will be an alliance TalOS wishes to keep in blood. Somehow TalOS knew that unless the worst comes, the Emperor will never bring himself to strike against his own creation.

In this parade of triumph over the Xenos TalOS knew that they were expecting the Sanctus Dominus to speak. The words of one who forsaked his birthright only to forge a force rumored to be equal to that of his own creators.

TalOS knew that at one point that was the case, but now the Reconquista was over. A great part of his army had laid down their blades for the mining equipment and forges.

Now he must tend to the Federation that he created with the help of so many others. So many different peoples and sects populating a sector that only a few months ago was in total war.

What he did and said now was important. While a foundation was created it would need to be set firm by the hands of himself and those that assisted in its construction. But this final moment before the Title of Sanctus Dominus becomes ceremonial, TalOS can set the path for this Federation forward.

>Unity, make sure that every knows that while they won there will be a great many forces that attempt to divide them for future conquest.
>Bring about praises for oneself, to forge a personality that many can look towards.
>A demonstration of the great power of the Mechanicum, showing that the Mechanicum will need to fight to keep what it has gained in this era.

>>5395767
>Unity, make sure that every knows that while they won there will be a great many forces that attempt to divide them for future conquest.

>>5395767
>Unity, make sure that every knows that while they won there will be a great many forces that attempt to divide them for future conquest.

>>5395767
>Unity, make sure that every knows that while they won there will be a great many forces that attempt to divide them for future conquest.
I wonder if TalOS is wise/paranoid enough to see the risk of the great schism before it happens, and want to prevent it.

>>5395763
"It came that a great many peasant mayors and even servants were given a chance to ascend into the now burgeoning ruling body. The only requirement now being that they are capable of operating one of many hundred new Knight Chassis that were being crafted."
Aha, confirmation of Sacristan and Civilian frame operators. Wonderful. I have confidence in our Knight Worlds to keep up economically with our other worlds with such frames to build and colonize with.

" Some were the Sloog that were trapped within stasis surrounded by nullification crystals."
Aw yeah, war trophies! Let none forget what the Mitu had done unto us and why they had to be destroyed.

>>5395765
Glorious Cerastus pattern and our brave Princes. So glad we kept them alive.

I'd like to think by now the twin houses of Dutonis have truly surpassed even House Raven in scope and greatness and House Taranis in its cult fervor.

"Somehow TalOS knew that unless the worst comes, the Emperor will never bring himself to strike against his own creation."
I hope TalOS speaks true even unto the unification of the Galaxy itself. Well, as long as we avoid the fate of the canon 2nd Legion, all will be well. And maybe having embedded ourselves so deeply into the Mechanicum, we have secured that at long last.

"A great part of his army had laid down their blades for the mining equipment and forges."
See Lorgar?

THIS is how you do faith properly. You conquer to save men from the alien menace, do your part for the war effort, and THEN you can build your temples and empires. Bonus points if the building of the temples may contribute themselves to the war effort. It is by our works we validate our faith, 'Faith without works is dead.'

You don't build the temples before you've put the work in on the territorial expansion.

So the Emperor cannot complain that we have delayed or been slow in our efforts. We have done our 'Lightning War', as the Jermanyc would say.

>>5395767
>Unity, make sure that every knows that while they won there will be a great many forces that attempt to divide them for future conquest.

An alliance based on mutual hatred will not last forever. We need to create the soul of a nation, an identity capable of creating nationalism for a new federation.

>It is now that the real hard work begins.

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>>5396157
We should capitalize on calling ourselves the true inheritors of the Old Federation and making use of the existing identity and romanticism of the Golden Age.

The galaxy is littered with relics and remnants of that time.

At some point if we ever hear that the Imperial Fists have discovered necromunda we need to bargain with their legionmaster or Rogal Dorn because of all factions, House Van Saar's STC discovery may be the closest we could possible get to the sci-fi aesthetic of the old Federation.

What would the pro and con be for trying to establish transitio imperii with the Old Federation? Opposed to trying to build a brand new identity and image.

It's a funny thought but we could style ourselves as the "Holy Lucian Federation" since we are now faithful cult worshippers.

>>5395767
>Unity, make sure that every knows that while they won there will be a great many forces that attempt to divide them for future conquest.
a Holy Federation sounds deeply pleasing, especially if we could get ourselves voted as Mecha-Pope

>>5396164
I liked the idea, but what are we going to offer the golden builder? It's not like he needs anything we can offer.

>>5396196
The "Federation of Sacred States", seems to me a more universal name, it pays a homage to all the Forgeworlds that helped to form the state, in addition to recognizing the sovereignty of the other worlds that participated in its formation, and lastly it still gives us the appearance of inheriting the desires of the old Federation.

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>>5396230
Interestingly there's supposed to be a Rogal Dorn novel coming up in October but we can't wait for that.

One thing we can offer him is the reciprocation of blunt honesty: "I would like to buy that planet for its technology, or at least that piece of technology, and would like to do so by offering you whatever I can provide as worthy payment." No word mincing, just plain simple facts.

Dorn is an empire builder, like Guilliman, and empires and defenses do need supplies and resources which we will have in bulk.

Dorn will eventually be tasked with the Fortification of Terra itself. We can take the load of his mind of having to deal with the logistical and technological support elements so he can focus purely on the construction works themselves. Supply him tonnes of ferrocrete, adamantium, servitor workers, peasant knight frames and let him build to his hearts content.

These will be the same things we will offer to Guilliman when the time comes to help him build his empire for his logistical expertise.

We are the Quartermaster and the Supplier of our Brothers. If they need resources and technology, we are happy to oblige. For fair exchange of course.

>>5396227
Still gotta figure out what we wanna do with Kelbor Hal. We did leave on a good note last time. He is probably the second smartest and influential Techpriest in the entire Admech, and the only mortal to come close to us in terms of influence and knowledge so we will have to take that into account.

Either maintaining and embracing him, booting him out office, or even somehow charismatically convincing him to step down will have consequences.

My hope is that by genuinely getting him on our side to believe in the cause and away from Horus clutches, we will have a powerful ally in grasping the whole of the Admech together with our iron fists and slowing down the giant tear as much as possible. Most important and perhaps the most critical thing we could ever do, is keep Mars in line. If we can prevent Mars from going traitor or having many traitor elements, that drastically improves our odds if we participate in the Siege of Sol.

A great outcome for this quest is people won't call it the "Siege of Terra" but the "Siege of Mars" where an intact Mechanicum stood against the renegade Warmaster. A proud moment, even if it the end result is the same: Emperor arriving on his Imperium Somnium to board the Vengeful Spirit and being slain. But Mars loyalty would be proven true.

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>>5396244
If our destiny is to be the logistical master of the great crusade, we have to create an organization that meets this demand. A machine capable of processing, building and distributing supplies anywhere in the empire quickly and cheaply, in short, bezos would be jealous of our future economy.

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>>5396251
That'd be sick, I hope we can give Olianas Pius a Cog or something, also we need to make a few connections with the Ecclesiastes because they'll become incredibly important Post-Heresy

>>5396333
>bezos would be jealous of our future economy
And of our future backdoors. We are definitely spying on everybody, right?

>>5395767
>Unity, make sure that every knows that while they won there will be a great many forces that attempt to divide them for future conquest.
Forgot to vote

>>5396453
YES!

>>5395761
I began working on a cafe last week and I say stuff like
>thank you microwave for heating this food
>Coffe maker forgive me, I have to interrupt this process
Marketing got me, I fell into it

>>5395767
>Unity, make sure that every knows that while they won there will be a great many forces that attempt to divide them for future conquest.

>>5395767
what a pretty illustration
wait, what are those AI that make art on demand? What will come out if we input something like Sanctus Dominus Tal0S Davis?
Also QM did you win?

>>5395767
>>Bring about praises for oneself, to forge a personality that many can look towards.
Nothing but the Self to drive me forward

>>5396196
>since we are now faithful cult worshippers.
>he wasn't here since thread 1

>>5396333
nice trips
>>5396453
speaking of backdoors, remember that data dijin we left in mars back when we hunter for an AI that a heretek made?

>>5396572
It was one of those art on demand AIs. I like it but I do prefer human stuff since the AI will have little rhyme/reason and the art can make your head hurt if you look at it for too long.

I went 4-5 but I'm in the upper half of game won since I went undefeated day 1 (With a victory against a Fellow Knights player who was 21st). I ended up losing a game against a popular Clowns player and then got defeat after defeat after that. Especially since I went 3 games in a row against Tau.

My list change is converting my Errant to a Gallant. What I lose in Armiger mobility in the Errant is the melee might of the Gallant. One of the winning Knights lists gives him a 14" move with a guaranteed 6+" charge. Add a 2+ WS, 5 atk, and wound roll of 6 becomes mortals and that model does a lot more work than my Errant could.

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>>5396583
woah... heh, a clown. Was it a barely painted army ready to be sold as soon as it stops being meta?
this is the result I got

>>5396577
The Old Federation were atheists heathens. The greatest flaw of the ancients.

>>5396589
No, it was a fellow known to the community for his Clowns. He has a 40k competitive podcast that I learned afterwards was what my friend listens to. It was a fun game against him, just that my Errant wiffed half of his sweep attacks thus failing to take the point. The Errant did that all Tourney long and is the reason Imma changed him for a Gallant.

The only problem game I had was a Blood Angels player who wouldn't give me his list. He was the definition of 'That Guys' but luckily he just gave me a fuck you and left, giving me a 4th win.

9e meta sounds so interesting.

Going to wager that in general, the meta of knights across the board is focusing on melee and charges over any sort of ranged build?

I know of only one mention of a house that tries to pull off ranged and its House Vulker

>>5396605
Yeah the Meta itself is very interesting with the Tau's high quality Units and the Necron/Tyranid swarms. As for Knight melee we can hit hard, as with my Armigers I assassinated Characters easy enough. Now keep in mind we struggle against invulns, as we have quality not quantity.

While they've fixed Alpha striking recently it's still a problem with some armies. My Tau games were determined by the die roll for the most part as they either alpha strikes my Castellan or I alpha strikes their hammerhead.

>>5396612
>as with my Armigers I assassinated Characters easy enough.
That explains why we use our Princes to deal with enemy leaders. They're so good at it.

Tbh, I dunno how you feel about the Tau and I know a lot of people dislike them, but even in setting the Tau are often compared to the Federation and the Dark Age by inquisitors.

Do you believe the Federation were a bit like them? I'm inclined to believe it because a lot of age of strife planets use mecha's and robots such as Gardinaal and Duulath and Forty-Seven Sixteen. Or do you think the Federation were more like a different army?

>>5396634
Game wise I really think it's a problem with rules involving High Wound models and Obscuring. A Questorius/Dominus Knight cannot hide behind terrain and can be shot from all angles. Thus Knights tend to be decided by whoever goes first and Tau Railguns still massacre the big Knights.

Lore wise I think they are fine. If anything I would prefer they actually took more from the Pfor (The obvious fiction they were based on). We need to see more races on the table top since we only see the Fire Caste and their battle suits when we could have races like the Sphit or Grunts running around.

Honestly I do not mind if a race is missing something grimdark, but they need something interesting to replace it. The Tau are, in my opinion, missing that feeling of being a Covenant of numerous races banded together.

>>5396671
>The Tau are, in my opinion, missing that feeling of being a Covenant of numerous races banded together.
Agreed. They would be better done as the last refuge of the many xenos of the galaxy, an enemy you would have seen in the great crusade. Not just another reason to make more expensive mecha suits. Those should be a plus, not the main shtick.

Unity
>>5395783
>>5395948
>>5396019
>>5396157
>>5396227
>>5396457
>>5396560

Cult of Personality
>>5396574

Love this crest
>>5396589

>>5396634
No, the Federation was not built like the Tau. There is plenty of evidence to show that they expanded in a haphazard manner similar to how the Mechanicum expanded throughout the Galaxy. Yeeting ships into the sky in hopes they hit some rock that is habital.

Reason why there are STCs and Knights, as humanity quickly started fighting off fauna. But overall I see little reason that the human actually felt the same pressure the Tau did, since they expanded when the Galaxy was mostly quite except for the occasional Eldar Rave.

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TalOS looked out upon the assembled peoples with a moment of somberness. His mind already processing what needed to be said in a moment like this. Like his Creator TalOS was starting something great, and the Primarch would be the first to claim that it was greater than himself.

The hyper intelligent mind of a Primarch came to the understanding quickly that he needed something to unify the people of his Federation. After all, if he were to die or otherwise lose contact with these peoples he needed them to stay together.

It was this thought that TalOS spoke his first words for, +People of the Holy Federation, At the apex of this event I hereby declare that we have succeeded in the elimination of the Mitu Collective. The Reconquista, the retaking of all that we humans once owned, has been finished!+

To those words the entire crowd that stayed underneath the Primarch roared in excitement and fervor. Even from on top Particep Semper he could hear the individual cries of glee as well as words of encouragement that rained upon him.

+For years we have fought for this moment. Expanding the reaches of the Federation across the stars in an attempt to attain security at home. First there was Lucius, then Helmnut and Dutonis. When we reunited with our fellow Scions and Progenitor the Federation became able to stretch itself across not just the Sector but the entire Galaxy!+

TalOS felt his memories of travel wash over his mind, +I, TalOS DAV1S, walked across the entire Mechanicum with a call to arms. To each and every Forge did I visit, telling their Fabricator Generals of the Xenos blight that forever threatened our existence. So many of you joined though that we no longer feared our enemy, it was that we were able to face our enemies head on! To bring war to the lands of the Mitu and the Ork!+

TalOS raised his arms into the air for all to look upon him in joy and veneration. To see in that moment a Primarch announced to the skies his subservience.

+We have brought to these foul Xenos not the wrath of the Mechanicum, but that of the Machine God himself. The full might of the Machine God was brought upon the heathen Xenos that bordered. And with this might brought before them, they were found wanting! We, the United Federation that serves the Machine God, TRIUMPHED!!+

And with that the crowd that was before TalOS lost all sense of reason as fervor reached a fever pitch. Even the Titans, who had remained silent during his words, blared their horns in praise of thewing its Horn to quake the earth underneath the crowd as the crowd attempted to sing praises louder than even the God Machines themselves.

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>>5396909
I meant less culturally. Culturally i'm sure they were full on cyberpunk, corporations, all split up and scattered.

I meant tech wise and combat capabilities.

Heavy use of advanced trooper weapons, mech suits, hover vehicles, very sci-fi esque. Railguns etc.

Turns out Votann have functional STC railguns too. If you mean to include Votann or stick with Old Squats.

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It was a good minute before the fervor began to wane, as all emotions did. Whatever possessed the people of the Federation slowly left their systems while the Titans became but inanimate guardians once more.

TalOS had felt himself joining his people in their cries to the Machine God, but was also one of the first to calm himself. Many of his fellow Priests whose minds were on the Noosphere followed in TalOS’s examples, finding that their Emotion Vaults were weak to the cries of solidarity. Though they would argue that was not because they lost themselves in the emotion but that the Machines themselves cried out.

TalOS would agree with them of that fact. Even the Machine Spirits knew that triumph had been founded.

+Now that victory is upon us we must build, just as the Machine God desires of us.+ TalOS spoke as he transitioned to the next segment of his speech, +We are now one people, united in the embers of a war that had ravaged hundreds of worlds. No planet on our journey to victory was left untouched. We must now turn these planets into resources for the greater expansion of mankind!+

The Sanctus Dominus made a wave of his hand as it brushed towards those numerous armies that were below him, +My Creator, the Emperor of Mankind, marched his fleets ever closer to the galactic core and soon passed it. Those that helped us, the Imperial Fists, pushed themselves towards the south to claim human habitations from Orkish warbands just like what we fought.+

TalOS jester towards the sky, +Both my brothers, Leman Russ and Horus Lupercal, have asked for the Legios of the Federation to help them. To answer the Warlords of the Imperium we bring them not just bolters, but the volkite fire of Legio Proelitor, the anvil of Legio Skitarii, and the hammer of Dutonis! Let it be with each and every one of these auxilia we bring them countless supplies that could feed a dozen more wars!+

With those words TalOS looked out into the crowd of people, +These Auxilia will scour the Galaxy just as Mars sent the Arch Mechanici across the void. To gather knowledge learned from all corners of the Galaxy to bring it back to the Federation. With every step we make with the Imperium, shall be a step closer to the Machine God himself!

With those words the crowd announced their approval, many adepts willingly joining the ranks of the cheering for this moment. A unified goal to turn the Federation into an industrial power that will fuel its own Legions of men.

At this moment TalOS allowed himself to change in tone. His binaric chatter changing to give out a new emotion that few could not pay attention to now. For even in this Triumph held in the honor of the Federation TalOS felt a quaking fear creep up within his heart.

+All of you, people of the Federation, each and every one of you are cogs in the greatest Machine that mankind can design. None can argue that no matter what Machine is designed it must be manufactured, transported, and used by those whose collective knowledge create the core of the Motive Force. Even the Federation of Terra, whose we are inheritors of, will be but a shadow to the capabilities that this Machine shall become.+

The cries began to quiet as those who heard TalOS began to feel his pull of emotion. The subtle binaric changes gave those who could feel it a moment to tap into the great well of will that was a Primarch. It did not overwhelm their senses, causing them to fall into the thralls of his voice. No, he granted upon Priest, Skitarii, Serf, Acillian, Astarte, and Knight a glimpse into his heart.

Many allowed it to resonate with themselves, others studied it for the feelings that it was. All paid close attention to the words that TalOS wished to speak now.

+To last we must stand united.+ Declared the Primarch as he felt his fears ache from his heart, +All around us there are creatures and forces that forever try to tear apart the great creations of man. You all know of the time they had succeeded, when the terrors from beyond tore apart the Federation of Terra to usher in the Longest Night that humanity had ever experienced.+

To those words the people around him became calm and hesitant. All who could understand the words of TalOS understood the terror that they had all faced years ago. Moments when Xenos craft came crashing upon their planets or the ground crumbling for the dark horrors to emerge.

+Know my words, both the mankind of today and the future. Record it upon data drives and inscribe it on steel tablets. Etch it into the walls of isolated caves or speak it down to your descendants. I want all to know my plea as Sanctus Dominus to transcend to the era in which I no longer walk the galaxy but watch in the presence of the Machine God.+

TalOS allowed a moment for the Priests to ready their drives and men to focus upon him. For the words he was about to speak needed to exist past his own life for they were the ones who needed it the most.

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+We, as Humanity, are at our strongest when we are united. Working together, side by side with our fellow man, for even the waves of time seek to rust our civilization. This task I give to the Federation, for when we start to fracture the echoes of Old Night shall be upon us.+

TalOS allowed himself a moment’s breath as incense flooded him.

+I shall make the first step to light the boilers of our Federation. I ask each of you to do your part in its maintenance and expansion, for when our Great Machine fails humanity will be engulfed in darkness.+

None spoke after those words, for no further context was needed. The next stage of the Federation was upon them. The building was finished, now it was time to start operating.

>Speak with the Fabricator General of Lucius
>Talk with the once forign, now fellow, Tech Priests of the Federation.
>Take in a communication from Mars.

>>5396980
>Talk with the once forign, now fellow, Tech Priests of the Federation.
Federal Reorganization planning soon!

>>5396909
Wouldn't those ships have mostly been manned by Men of Iron going forward to subdue the planet ahead of colonization efforts?
Knight worlds were probably those worlds colonized by humans who either didn't want or couldn't get men of iron to do it for them.

>>5397002
The Men of Iron were much later into the Empire, as they were made by the Men of Gold.

>>5396980
>Talk with the once forign, now fellow, Tech Priests of the Federation.

>>5397002
They were men of something else and human at the time.

>>5396980
>Take in a communication from Mars.
UZ1 is that you?

>>5397016
No, she has not set sail yet. Its the Fabricator General.

>>5396980
>>Take in a communication from Mars.
We did want to earn Hal's friendship and trust

>>5396980
>>Take in a communication from Mars.
Can't wait to see what fun this will lead to. Dungeon crawl invite perhaps? We still need to delve the depths of the Lucian megastructures, now that we're not on a war footing for the moment.

>>5397070
There was discussion last thread, given where we are sending UZ1, that TalOS could favor a delegation strategy for spelunking. He can't be in every planet at once, but he can arm his teams to be as good as any primarch techpriest equipped team could ever be.

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>>5397005
Hmm, I take it then the comparisons to the Tau (at least technologically) are to late Empire rather than the colonial phase.

Once the humans had established the colonies and those grew into advanced hive worlds and urban centers, then they wanted to indulge in AI to do all the work and fighting for them. That's when things got really sci fi. When the STC's could be focused on some really fancy shit rather than colonial tools.

>>5396980
>>Take in a communication from Mars.
to take huh? I am intrigued, what does Mars have to offer?

>>5396980
>Take in a communication from Mars.
I kinda want to pop over and kill some kind of Data-Djinn or something similar/worse, also I want to get deeper into the Motive Force

>>5396980
>Take in a communication from Mars.

>>5396980
>Take in a communication from Mars.

>>5396989
>Switch to
>Take in a communication from Mars.

My two bits on the Tau-Federation comparison is as the QM said their society wouldn't be built like the Tau who are very centralized, instead scattering so many colony ships to void instead. But the Tau superficially resemble them in terms of army tactics and science fiction motifs such as emphasis on technological supremacy, combat frames, and liberal use of AI as well as knights and titans which are really just larger and larger combat frames.

The colony ships would have been built and supplied on Mars at its peak, they would well supplied to rapidly establish advanced hives and independent stellar fiefdoms. STC databases would have contained the sum of humanity's science and many were able to print technology so most could leapfrog past most of the gritty colonial phase.

However where Knight worlds emphasized self reliance and avoiding the Federation, the Federation worlds rapid pursuit of progress would inevitably let their economics focus on interstellar trade and once the age of strife came and the warp storms, coupled with the AI rebellion. Essentially the Bronze Age rise and collapse on a galactic scale.

>>5396980
>>Talk with the once forign, now fellow, Tech Priests of the Federation.
UNITY

>>5397002
The ships had Men of Stone, half machine half men that were resistant to the warp.
I wish GW talked more about then, we only have a little passing description, but they sounds like the pinnacle of what the Mechanicus considers holy.
Maybe they were like the Vottans ancestor machine database, but less juryrigged.

>>5397440
"Men of Stone" for me indicates the level of technology used in the early days of the great expansion. It would be something like a brain in an immortal body made with technology.

Technically it's something the Emperor can do at 30k, but I don't know if he would be willing to share the technology needed to create perpetuals using machines.

>>5397440
It just was a way to explain the power levels of the setting. Men of Stone > Men of Iron > Men of Gold
they try to fluff it up but it wasn't something well thought. In fact, it seems that is the case with everything. A dumb concept that they put make up on for 40 years until we have what we know today

>>5397440
>Men of Stone
>Resistant to warp
Imagine if they were some sort of blackstone technology but either the Necrons influenced mankind to abandon taking their precious blackstone or they went full retard and decided against it, thus allowing the AI to be corrupted by Chaos.

>>5397496
QM unfortunately ascribes that all perpetuals must be psychic in nature, which goes against our goals. The best we could do would be necron reanimation protocols.

Last thread TalOS is aware of a machine that can recreate a copy of a soul but the copy is rumored to be evil or flawed, suspected to be the Proteus Protocol.

But there's also the Antigonus STC that was able to make a pure and true recreation of a digital soul that was vouched pure on Mars and who fought against Chaos.

>>5397604
So Antigonus found an ancient machine wonderful enough that managed to do a miracle? The Necrons would be jealous that a human accidentally did what they were promised they would receive.

>>5397604
"What is a soul? A miserable pile of pain!"

Really though souls are terrible because we know that like the Eldar, men are damned to a horrific and eternal fate upon death. We have no soul stones, no infinity circuit, and even if we did such things are walls of sand in the face of eternity. I sure hope the idea that blanks are born without souls or at least souls so small they do not exist in the afterlife is true, because our children and their kind are surely blessed.

Talos can only but pray and have faith in the idea of the Data-Vault and that the Machine God can truly save the souls of the faithful. Like the god nailed upon wood of the Katherics.

Because without that, if there is little hope that the Machine God Saves, the destruction of the soul to be like the Necrons is not such a bad thing either, if anything a good thing, a noble thing. To see our souls fed to the Void Dragon our god, so that we are forever a part of him, and not cast into the warp? Other than an afterlife granted by the Machine God, what greater guarantee is there for any man than to avoid a fate as the plaything of a demon for all time than the destruction of his soul.

There are still nobles and heroes among the Necrons, indeed there is still even the semblance of love among them.

The cost of having the curse of a soul with no guarantees to the afterlife is NOT worth it under any circumstance.

It will really depend on how much Talos believes that the Machine God saves souls genuinely, and lets them avoid their cursed fate.

>>5397626
However Antigonus machine did it where he remained a faithful and feeling soul for hundreds of years, that's a true miracle of the Machine God.

>>5397693
If there were a way to preserve our soul while being integrated into the machine, it would be worth it. Especially if perpetualism is possible without sacrificing our ability to use the motive force as we cannot currently do so. Offering perpetuality and still being able to tap into chronomancy is the most surefire way the Emperor could convince TalOS to not reject his soul.
>>5397604
Does TalOS believe the Machine God saves the souls of the faithful from hell?

>>5397626
The man spent several hundred years reforming his consciousness after narrowly escaping a demon on a corrupted world, helped the grey knights to slay the corrupted Chaos titan, and his final request was to finish his report in person on Mars and fulfill his duty.

Is it any wonder why the Machine God would bless such true faith with a techno miracle?

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Many other speeches were had but few could carry the same weight that TalOS had presented to them first and foremost. Let it be the Magi of Mars and even a small one from the Fabricator General of Lucius all accepted that TalOS was the head of the victory.

In the flavor of celebration the Titans were left in the same position for twelve days and nights. Watching vigilantly as many of the Serfs took in the goods that were now plentiful to them. Knight worlds provided to these peoples plenty of food while connecting with the Imperium gave the common folk luxuries forign to the Forge World.

Being the center of a burgeoning Empire, it was not hard for these servants to somehow net reasonable amounts of wealth as Tech Priests attempted to stuff their factories to their greatest capacities.

During one of the many celebrations where TalOS held within his hands a mug of B3-3R that a person shrouded in golden cloth approached.

“Astropath Prime.” TalOS declared the title of the individual without even turning his head, “It is quite the moment to be approaching me.”

“The matter is urgent.” Declared the psyker with a weak voice.

“Urgent but needing to be kept secret?” Suggested the Primarch as he glanced at the Astropath. There was a moment’s thought that he could assume who it was from but there was something much simpler, “Of who asks for my attention?”

“The Fabricator General of Mars, my Lord.” declared the Astropath while giving a small bow of the head.

TalOS gave a simple nod before rising from his place, “My Sons, I shall leave you to your chatter.”

As TalOS left he heard a few cries of encouragement but mostly the Acillians and Astartes went back in on themselves. Though the Primarch noticed a few faces here and there that were not of his sons but of the Skitarii that assisted them. A moment’s humor was there, but the Primarch was interested as to what will be happening soon related to that.

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When connection with the Imperium was made a few years ago Lucius had brought itself under the fold of the Mechanicum. This of course granted them the access to Astropaths who allowed communication throughout the galaxy. These men though needed special rooms and facilities, both to concentrate their psychic might as well as simply desiring higher standards of living.

As they stood upon Lucius, the planet of Artisans, no expense was taken when creating the golden architecture that the Astropaths desired. TalOS was not a fool though as he heard whispers about many of their kind dreading to arrive at Lucius. The reason, of course, was the Blackstone Fortress that forever hung in the sky above their heads.

Even so far away from the Fortress Psi Candles lit the halls as TalOS walked them. Many people who roamed the halls quickly making way for TalOS. As expected of the psykers, their fear of Blackstone is evident even at moments like this.

The one who was directing TalOS through the place brought him to a larger than average chamber. Walls were lined with gold while the symbol of the Telepathica stood out above a throne within the room. Thus, this was the Astropath’s main meditation hall if TalOS was to guess.

“The Fabricator General had sent this message as urgent and also wished for it to be kept silent.” Declared the Astropath as he presented to TalOS a document, “The Astropath who wrote these words down did not read them, so security is affirmed according to the request.”

TalOS took the paper from the man’s hand, watching him flinch the tiniest bit as the Blackstone came that tiny bit closer. Opening the document he scanned it for a moment and studied it.

Sanctus Dominus TalOS,

I congratulate you on your success against both the Mitu Collective and the Orks. A mighty victory you have won for the Mechanicum and the Omnissiah. Already your name is known to even the lowliest of serfs who live on Mars and Terra.

I hereby invite you once again to Mars for the celebration of your victory and discuss your future within the Mechanicum.

- Fabricator General Kelbor Hal.

As he read the letter TalOS realized the truth of the matter, that Kelbor Hal wishes to poach him from the Federation for Mar’s own use.

>Agree to the visit and discussion.
>TalOS will only be there to visit
>There is too much to do within the Federation. Another time, maybe.

>>5397905
>Agree to the visit and discussion.
Time to convince Mars to accept the CoCK.

>>5397905
>Accept the meeting and discussion

We're not getting Poached, you little shit. Nothing you could offer us would really be enough.

>>5397905
>Agree to the visit and discussion.

>>5397905
>>Agree to the visit and discussion.
Let us have the greatest and grandest arrival upon Mars. A visage worthy of one who has proven himself the Prime Conduit of the Machine God. Where before we arrived in some urgency and humility seeking to build a crusade, now we arrive as a victorious prophet, like the ancient prophet who returned unto ancient Mecca in triumph as Lorgar would say.

Perhaps even, we can now make it truly rain, and convince others whom is the true material Omnissiah.

>>5397905
>Agree to the visit and discussion.

>>5397905
>Agree to the visit and discussion.
Dungeon diving with Kelbor and Cawl when?
>>5397907
We ain't the poached, we are the poacher.

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>>5397934
Cawl was a younger man after the Emperor had just been killed by Horus, and he and his friend freiderich were adepts. Depending on whether or not a young and brilliant adept and his friend could afford rejuvenates form a young age (or more likely, his master who wanted to achieve immortality by transferring his mind to him via untested mind transferral tech) kept him young so he'd have a nice body to enter, if he were alive right now he'd be a baby or a toddler.

An utterly brilliant toddler who was able to speak perfectly via vox caster much like we did.

Cawls mind transferral technology, or rather the technology of his master, is theoretically another possible method for us to achieve immortality or some safeguard in the event of our demise, and also opens up the door for us to construct Talos Inferior. It would not involve soul death like copying our mind digitally, but transferring from one vessel of brain flesh to another.

>>5397905
>Agree to the visit and discussion.

>>5397905
>Agree to the visit and discussion.
The Federation is deeply important, but the Faith to the Omnissiah deserves our work

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>>5397693
that's him inquisitor, that's the heretic!!!

>>5397905
>Agree to the visit and discussion.

Finally! time to have a real conversation with the big E himself, plus meet newly found siblings, plus see our talented apprentice. But it would be wise to prepare the whole federation idea on the trip, I imagine it would be a few weeks of travel.

>>5397905
>>Agree to the visit and discussion.
we are no pussy!!! plus this man is the damn fabricator general of Mars. That deserves *some* respect

>>5397905
>Agree and Visit
>Return in massive pomp and circumstance, as a victorious prophet
The time has come. Last time we left a hopeful faithful wanting to prove himself. Now we return for the true arrival the scion of the machine god deserves

When we first arrived to Mars, it was as a humble pilgrim, gathering a band of brave souls to bring the fight to the alien and reclaim the Machine God's realm.

If we're going to return to the Cradle of the Mechanicum in glory as a prophet to make a big impression, what's the best way to go about it?

>>5398441
We own a titan that can teleport, I think the intro kinda writes itself...

>>5398441
>>5398476
>Siphon an ocean world and make it rain from the blackstone fortress, no psychic tricks that dry up this time. Make our own claim to Omnissiah
>Teleport the Titan onto the first true lake Mars has had in thousands of years
>Bring a caravan of some reclaimed STCs to be stored in the holy vaults of Mars as well as huge gifts of adamantium, solarite, and other precious metals
>A procession of the Knights of our realm to outdo even House Taranis in number
>A planetary broadcast via the rediscovered Noosphere

>>5398489
that sounds fair

>>5398489
Love it.

Also given we are sending UZ1 to Sol and she hasn't set sail yet, it seems we will both be returning in glory.

This may be our last interaction with her for a time, though we have confidence in her. Maybe before she leaves to explore Terra for us, we can at least do something meaningful for her.

>>5398489
Very based
>>5398541
The Mechanicum doesn't have traditional marriage, but I'd imagine there's something similar in an organization that has tech families and dynasties that control forges and different sectors of production and pairs good candidates. Especially for those in the higher echelons of forge society.

Taking the invite to Mars
>>5397906
>>5397907
>>5397934
>>5397908
>>5397914
>>5397915
>>5398006
>>5398017
>>5398117
>>5398221
>>5398289

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The Primarch took his time to read through each line of ink, knowing that such ink was only done when the Astropaths took in their communication. He wondered for another minute as to how the Astropaths could not really understand the message. Maybe some technique Malcador the Sigillite developed to allow such galactic communication possible.

Such thoughts were only keeping TalOS from making a declaration, but it was one he knew was for certain, “Inform the Fabricator General of Mars that I will come to meet him. I will hear his proposition when I arrive upon the red planet.”

“Understood Sanctus Dominus.” The Astropath declared as he gave a solemn bow, “Is there anything in addition you wish for me to do?”

TalOS shook his head, “You do not need to keep it secret, my departure for the Red Planet will likely be known to all. As for the reason the Fabricator General has decided to keep even myself in the dark.”

“I understand.” With those words the Astropath made his way to the throne within the sanctum.

Knowing that his presence would only hamper the operation TalOS made his way out of the Astropath’s Quarters. As he walked numerous communications were sent to and from TalOS with the arrangement of ships and what they will do for the flight over.

Of all ships TalOS will need to leave the Blackstone Fortress behind. Both as it protected Lucius from the greatest of troubles while also making the risk of blotting out the Astronomicon minimal. Such troubles TalOS had, needing to deal with the psychic construct that his brother built for the men of the Warp.

As for those that will join him the Primarch could guarantee Magos Dominus Sicarian will be in attendance. UZ1 will join him too as TalOS delivers her upon Terra for both research and the greater education of Malcador.

As for others TalOS might extend an offer of transport to the Knights of Dutonis. TalOS will be in need of an honor guard and having the Knights act as such will only serve the demonstrate the power of the Federation to the people of Mars. And one cannot argue against their fire power joined with the Proelitor Guards that TalOS will surely be employing as well.

It will be another extension of the celebrations it seems. It will also be a sign that business must once again begin to supply the Great Crusade with the Arms and Armor that they so covate.

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As the war finished the title of Sanctus Dominus had become something of a ceremonial one that TalOS could hold proudly. A title granted to him not by a higher power but the people who he rallied to war with. The Title has grown since it was randomly generated to be that of a Crusade Leader, but at least TalOS’s use of the title had left him.

In conjunction with that title TalOS held another, Arch Dominus of Lucius. Such a Title was one declaring him one of the greatest military leaders of the planet to which he was found upon. To hold such a title TalOS was the manager of several factories devoted to Skitarii and the vehicles in which the Legio Skitarii used to wage their wars with.

One may wonder how the power was balanced with a position as monumental as his. This balance was held by the fact TalOS had few naval assets to his name and that the Titan Legions answered to Magos ADM1N. The Fabricator General was the one who united these pieces of the military together into the uniform planet of Lucius.

It was a system that might have been abused, but with such a long lived Fabricator General at the helm of operations few could question his authority. After all, how can you question a contract when the one who built its foundations was the one you had to debate against?

Though with his duties as Sanctus Dominus taking the forefront and organizing the war TalOS had to place the production responsibilities upon someone who he knew would do well with it. As he walked into the halls of his great Manufactorium TalOS was greeted by a man who had become more metal from the last time he had seen him.

+Dux Dominus D3X, it has been a long while.+ TalOS called out to his friend while extending his hands in greeting.

+/Body signs read/ /Time denotation calculated/ it has been several years TalOS. It is an honor to meet you again.+

TalOS gave a small chuckle as he heard those words, +Formal, are we?+

He saw several eyes glance upon him with a clean red focus, +[Counter] Then I should open stating that you have finally embraced the Machine?+

TalOS could only wave his hand as he heard that, +You were one of the few who placed me on this journey. I simply decided that now was the time for my ascension.+

+[Detailing.]+ The Machine Man said as he began walking through the rows of assembly systems, +[Assessment] You are correct. Admittance that the work upon your augmetics is far beyond the base functions of Lucius. I would wish to study them.+

+I can give you the schematics.+ TalOS declared as he began his own walk.

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+[Allowing stimuli] That is good. Wondered what kind of mystics you had discovered as I stayed upon Lucius.+ D3X announced as he stopped for a moment to allow the Primarch to catch him, +From the Mitu there is much we have found and shall analyze.+

+And more. I know these moments will be the greatest in the amount of knowledge we can gather from the universe.+ Announced TalOS with the sureness one would expect of a Primarch.

+[Assessment]Your hypothesis is confirmed. Mechanicum forces attached to the 113th exhibitionary fleet announced Leman Russ has discovered an STC. Its contents will be arriving first to Lucius for duplication before the original is sent to Mars.+ Declared the Tech Priest as he nodded.

+My brother spoils me.+ TalOS admitted as he heard those words.

+[Calculation] Such transfer has added three weeks of travel time compounded with the one month processing period. He does not think purely by straight logic but by politics, giving you such a valuable item as a bribe.+ Announced D3X as he tried to affirm TalOS’s opinion.

+Both or neither could be the case. One cannot underestimate him as he is of similar making to me.+ TalOS admitted as he looked out into what was an empty area of the manufactorium.

+Indeed.+ D3X took a moment to look from one side to another, TalOS noticing a series of sensors being fired off in all directions. In the next moment a data tether was linked between the two of them by the Dux Dominus, +[Confirmation] Link Secure. An issue has occurred in storage.+

The Arch Dominus allowed the change in demeanor affect him as he spoke through the link, +What has happened?+

+[Report] Based on the Treaty of Olympus all psykers collected by the first wave of expansion have been transferred to the care of Terra. Of fifteen thousand eight hundred sixty two subjects only fifteen thousand eight hundred fifty three subjects have been reported to transfer.+ Declared the Dux Dominus with a dour outlook already generating.

+Someone has stolen our psykers…+ TalOS felt a wave of anger and wroth wash over him as he realized what it meant.

>Keep it quiet, use the psi sensors to do an above ground search.
>Make a ruckus about it! These are fucking psykers!
>Let's just kill whatever psyker is on the planet. Turn up the Blackstone Fortress.
>Lay some traps to see if any other psykers are stolen.

>>5398978
>Keep it quiet, use the psi sensors to do an above ground search.

We have the technology for a reason.

>>5398978
>Lay some traps to see if any other psykers are stolen.

>>5398978
>Keep it quiet, use the psi sensors to do an above ground search.
and
>Lay some traps to see if any other psykers are stolen.
We can do both.

>>5398978
>Keep it quiet, use the psi sensors to do an above ground search.

>>5398978
>Keep it quiet, use the psi sensors to do an above ground search.
Hyper spooky time to Search and Destroy

>>5398978
>Keep it quiet, use the psi sensors to do an above ground search.
>Lay some traps to see if any other psykers are stolen.

>>5398973
>UZ1 will join him too as TalOS delivers her upon Terra for both research and the greater education of Malcador.
I thought she left a thread ago lmao and we were going to check up on her

>>5398978
>Keep it quiet, use the psi sensors to do an above ground search.
mmm.... technollogy. Yes this is my vote
For the sake of grindark I was thinking on voting for the blackstone fortress but that would end up being GRIMDERP.
>Some psykers were abducted
>KILL EVERY PSYKER IN THE PLANET

>>5399252
That's just Tal0S just going "fuck it" and realizing he'd rather have no psykers for anyone than psykers possibly in enemy hands

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>>5398978
>Write-In
>Slowly and gently increase the Blackstone Fortress, to within tolerance levels of the general population
>Goal is not to (intentionally) kill but to suppress and possibly reverse those who commit to hiding underground into neutrals, possibly even into blanks. Or to drive out those who cant take it into the light
>Focus psi detectors on preventing off world escape via teleporters and shipyards or sneaking into our sanctioned psyker sanctuaries. They can also have a special void base distanced from the Fortress
>Only sanctioned psykers like astropaths and navigators will get reprieve via more candles
>Let the people be comforted in the knowledge and logic that if there are psykers, they are protected by the Blackstone Fortress
We have not discovered Graia yet but one day we will find their people are so devoted to logic and reason and the shunning of the supernatural that their very nature seems to deny the warp. Our people could be like them. More the so we could have another front to test our polarity reversal experiments.

These hidden psykers, if they are committed to staying hidden, where the field is just tolerable to the general populace will face an immense struggle. Either they overcome this struggle and possibly lose their powers permanently, or even reversing them as years drag on, or they cannot take it and come screaming into the light for relief

They have the choice of being sent to Malcador as sanctioned psykers or being given the Machine Gods peace via the end of a volkite.

>>5399542
>Addendum: keep on the lookout for illegal psyker sanctuaries. They should stick out like a sore thumb during the overall suppression field
Occured to me the Psykers may attempt the shield themselves somehow.

>>5399542
No. You are not cheating to make blanks. It is ALOT FUCKING HARDER than reversing a person's own polarity.

>>5399648
Boss in possibilities, how hard is it to reverse someone's polarity? 10%, 5%? Do the numbers change depending on the individual in question, in the case of super humans?

>>5399670
You can't reverse a soul's polarity. Later either this or next thread you will see how hard it is to make someone a blank.

>>5399648
Well, it was worth trying! At least now we have some definitive answers.

>>5399683
Aw damn.

Will that also explain a bit where we went wrong in trying to mimic the Blank Grey Knights? Is such a thing still at least within the realm of our reach in the game?
https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ferrymen

>>5399542
>Switch to
>Let's just kill whatever psyker is on the planet. Turn up the Blackstone Fortress.
>Then an above ground sweep, just to be sure
The law is the law, Imperial or Mechanicum. Suffer not the unsanctioned or the rogue psyker to live. Their chance to join the ranks of Malcador was squandered either by their own hands or someone else's.

Obviously, ensure our sanctioned psykers are not caught in the cleansing...

>>5398978
>Let's just kill whatever psyker is on the planet. Turn up the Blackstone Fortress.
Even if it doesn't go through, it wouldn't feel right if at least some part of Tal0S DAV1S internal thought process isn't paranoid 24/7.

>>5399670
fuck off namefag

>>5398978
>Let's just kill whatever psyker is on the planet. Turn up the Blackstone Fortress.
>>5399648
>>5399683
As the ancient Saint ED150N himself would say, we have not failed. We have discovered a new way it won't work.

>>5399777
make me

>>5398978
>Let's just kill whatever psyker is on the planet. Turn up the Blackstone Fortress.
This is probably a horrible idea but it sounds fun so I'll throw my vote in for taking fortress-chan on a trip with us to see mars

Also I wonder if the void dragon might react to fortress-chan

>>5399843
We turned it from one of his ancient shackles into the centerpiece of a crusade dedicated to him.
I think he would be very pleased.

>>5399838

Just did

>>5399854
Even if we dont bring it, maybe this time we can take a moment to visit the Noctis Labrynth.

Iirc it wasnt officially forbidden like the Vaults of Moravec were. Emperor just put a perpetual there to tell people to go away.

>>5398978
>Let's just kill whatever psyker is on the planet. Turn up the Blackstone Fortress.

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With the clarification that it will not be possible to practicably reverse the polarity of a soul (though I'm curious what the Grey Knights that we missed) we can scratch one more item off the Blank Research list. I wonder what options will remain to us?

[X] Investigate if souls polarities can be reversed to help make Blanks (They cannot)
[ ] Investigate our known Blanks, to bolster their numbers:
>If Psykers are genetic, as per Navigators, is it likely that Nulls are too? [Confirm the existence of the Pariah Gene]
>The Ancients were able to stabilize the Navigator Gene and establish growing populations. Can we do the same? [Emulate Planet 9-13 / Sisters of Silence conclaves]
>End Goal is creating a sort of reverse Navigator Houses, likely on remote planets like Xana, tasked with the raising of blanks from pure populations

All else fails, if the flesh fails us us, we shall have to just pursue the Cron's Blank Generating technology and rely on inorganic blackstone. Where flesh fails, the machine will prevail.

>>5399949
Technically it's still a gene, maybe it can be implemented in developing fetuses? Or maybe clone fetuses that already have that gene, and modify them so that they survive longer?

>>5399966
No cloning, QM already said that it's a bad idea.

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>>5400018
Mhm. Although, technically speaking, Vitae Womb/In-Vitro/Gestational Tube population boosters is a canonical way to rapidly grow a population and seen as a perfectly valid thing even among techpriests.

They just hate Krieg because they don't share their methods.

But hell, we and our brothers were technically grown that way.

So we can try to supplement natural pairings of Nulls with as many gestational tube fetuses as can possibly survive.

>>5400026
I think that it doesn't really count as cloning and instead just artificially growing people.
Maybe all it needs is for you to mix the genes of each one enough for the universe to not be angry about it.

>>5400033
Makes sense. This explains why the Navigator Houses put so much emphasis on pairing up of good genes rather than just trying to copy very good examples. Even if they found a perfectly stable Navigator with the "Cannot be Possessed" trait from 2e, I doubt they'd have any luck cloning it.

That's the fun part of the Mechanicum btw. All the "doesn't count" and doublespeak you can use to justify your actions.

Design an AI software but put a single human brain into the hardware so you can say its got an element of human control? Perfectly acceptable.

>>5400018
Pure cloning really ends up in a lot of problems, but if the cloned fetus is modified to have different physical and mental characteristics than the original ones during gestation, would that being still be a clone?

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Have a techpriestess

>>5399949
The issue is you theorize that souls is just like Blackstone. That is wrong. A soul does not have a polarity.

Secret Search
>>5398987
>>5399041
>>5399064
>>5399074
>>5399191
>>5399252

Kill'em
>>5399787
>>5399719
>>5399757
>>5399843
>>5399878

Traps
>>5399018

>>5400069
As we can see, TalOS was sooo tempted to just rage and order their demise, but logic always prevails. This is a test of new technologies and the hunting of psykers.

>>5400066
Would it be accurate to say Blackstone is like a cup which can be filled with positive polarity or negative polarity whereas a soul is more likely a liquid that intrinsically has a polarity for that. With the Blackstone the polarity is not something intrinsic to it and instead it acts as a vessel for positive or negative polarity while the soul just is a specific polarity and to change it rather than emptying or filling a cup you would need to effectively change the properties of the soul akin to preforming surgery on it?

>>5400075
No. I would like to make a point about souls but it would easily spoil shit.

Anyways, Blackstone is much closer to a magnet. You put power through the magnet and it becomes polarized. Sometime it will even hold the new polarization.

Souls do not have that. There are simply stronger and weaker souls.

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>>5400066
My only reasoning for have done that is based on the evidence in canon with the Ferrymen and how the previously Psychic Grey Knights were somehow flipped or turned into Nulls, which lead me to believe their polarity was somehow reversed. So that was what I had based it off of.

That and the way the assignment is arranged from positive to negative, and how psykers can be made to lose their powers through prolonged exposure. So if Psykers can be neutralized, it wasn't so strange to imagine more energy could push them int he opposite direction.

But if it isn't polarity reversal that creates Ferryman Null Marines, what is? Did they figure out a way to take pre-existing nulls and make them into Null Grey Knights from the get go?

>>5400080
I keep saying your polarity theory is wrong related to souls. Think outside the box.

>>5400081
Its still going to be done, but the method will not be reversing the polarity of a person. There is one aspect of a soul's station that you are forgetting is a constant.

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>>5400078
>There are simply stronger and weaker souls.
Hmmm. This would imply that the concept of Nulls being "Soulless" being valid then.

Perhaps then the assignment has it all wrong. Baseline humans are not "Inert" or "neutral". They could be thought of more as "room temp".

It's not a positive/negative scale, it's the Celsius scale! Omega Negatives are "0", and baseline humans are some positive number with psykers being a higher number!

We just treat them as neutral or "zero" out of convention and them being the perceptual majority, like how Fahrenheit based his values on the human body!

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>>5400086
Or to put it in other words they are not "Omega Negative" that's a mistake.

They are "Absolute Zero" in terms of soul power. There is no negative scale when it comes to souls, only varying degrees of positive. Weaker and stronger.

>>5400093
Good try, not it.

Remember more powerful Blanks tend to be more emotional, which is shared by powerful Psykers also being such. The most powerful psykers after all are Primarch, each of whom emotion is immense.

>>5400075
a soul is yes or yesn't, not negative or positive

>>5400083
They are very tasty?

We have to get rid of our souls. T4L0S is going to have so much fun!!

>>5400105
Oh, they are always tasty.

>>5400108
Even the blank ones? Demons run away from blanks and consider them disgusting.

You seem to confirm that Blanks have souls, so if they have souls, and you also confirm that souls live on after the warp. . .what happens to a blanks soul?

>>5400112
;)

this QM has tastefully avoiding spoiling the quest and he has REAL surprises for us, it seems. It is for our own good to avoid this meta.

Changing the topic, our primarch was brought up at random in another ongoing quest and there was a brief discussion of "my dad is stronger than yours" vs the two ongoing 2nd primarch quests. It brought up a hilarious comparison, because it seems the other primarch is a saviour of people and conquers tyrants. On the other hand we have T4L0S D4V1S: YOU ARE A COG IN THE MACHINE, MENIAL GET BACK TO WORK.

>>5400128
yes, I know talos has done wonderful things like giving serfs breathable air and shifts of 14 hours instead of 18. He is pretty lenient all things considerred

>>5400132
lol.

>>5400128
Yeah, though it is obvious that QM has a different idea going for his quest. Has he gotten to the Imperium yet?

>>5400152
Not really, too busy saving other brothers.
It's metagaming, but Angron escaped beinf done dirty, so it's all good.
Doesn't help that Malal's machines spirits are rebellious and we only get more or less one post a week.

>>5400154
Ouch!

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In that single moment TalOS wanted to reach over and order for the destruction of all psykers. The fact that a group of Psykers was now among the Federation was something that TalOS should not allow to happen. With a single command TalOS could have each and every psyker of the planet killed with the Blackstone Fortress. A single moment to clean up the mess that presented itself to TalOS.

But he did not give that order.

+Assign Skitarii and Proelitor to search the planet for Psykers. We must confirm that at least Lucius is safe from the possible incursion by whatever lurks within the Warp.+ Declared TalOS as he tightened his fists, +If my station did not require me, I would do it myself. However I am traveling to Mars.+

+[Assignment Made] Understood. I shall issue reports accordingly.+ Announced D3X as he roamed the halls for a moment, +May the Machine God Bless you in your return to Mars.+

+Thank you. I believe I know what is happening but even then I will take the Machine God’s assistance.+ Declared TalOS as he took a moment’s thought, +Is the Tactic Display still active within this facility?+

+It is.+ Declared the Tech Priest as he change direction, +I have already prepared it with General against General Scenario.+

+With or without player adjustments.+

+[Response]We will start without them.+ Declared the Priest as he they turned into a massive room, +After that we will start to apply them when I start to fail.+

+I do wonder how many men it will take to defeat me now.+ TalOS joked as he grew a small grin, +I believe it was roughly ten last time, but I have had experience.+

+We shall see. [Conjecture]There are limits within the simulation that cannot be translated from battle and that the simulation cannot translate back into battle.+

+Then we will see who wins.+

And with that the two rested their days with friendly competition. Ultimately TalOS did see defeat, but never was it on an equal footing.

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The Ship gave a moment’s vibration that showed it entered the Warp. Before then the shutters that blocked out the warp from being seen had already fallen as according to ritual. Having spoken his last words TalOS rose from his seat.

With every step the metal underneath his heels shook with weight. TalOS weighed several tons at the moment, with several rooms of this spacecraft now off limits because the metal could not support his immense weight. Even places that were reinforced with him in mind screamed under such power.

For that moment TalOS wondered how his brothers experienced such small things. Did they always wear their armor like he had or did they travel about without any? Did they have the fear that they would accidentally destroy something or thought that would always glide across what they were upon.

Yes, a minor thought but it was something TalOS always needed to deal with. It would just be a little humorous if it happened.

+What are you thinking about?+ UZ1 asked as TalOS finally reached her position. She showed the Primarch a small smile that shined with understanding.

+An ever wandering thought about my brothers.+ TalOS admitted as he watched the Steel Wardens take up their positions behind TalOS, +Though it is a simple thought that I do not think applies. It would be simply seeing my brothers make a mistake.+

+What kind?+

+The kind that a newly rebuilt adept suffers when he gets new augmetics.+

To that UZ1 gave a small chuckle as surely the same images that TalOS had were going through her mind. She looked at TalOS with a devilish smile, +There are twenty of you, with several years between one another. I am sure it has happened once.+

+You say that but I wonder. We are psychic beings after all, could being so psychic allow us to avoid such a troubling matter. But if there is a moment where the Motive Force supersedes their thoughts I would want to see it.+ TalOS declared outright with a heartfelt laugh.

+Then we should place our prayers in the auxiliary.+ said UZ1 as they walked down the halls.

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The place that TalOS turned into his workshop was much smaller than the standard one that was blessed to him upon the Blackstone Fortress. But it was best to have one upon the vessel than not, for the amount of research that TalOS could produce was greater than zero if he did not have it.

As the two of them were aligning it was UZ1 who spoke her mind first, +Soon I will be upon Terra and Mars, the homes of Humanity. It's hard to wait!+

+It is hard, but bearable in that we only have to wait a few weeks instead of centuries of travel thanks to Saint Gellar.+ Announced TalOS as he kneeled to give his eyes a good lineup on the object they were working on, +There will be lots to do there.+

+Just the Archeotech itself would be great! What secrets does Terra still hold from humanity.+

+Several things that I could barely comprehend.+ TalOS said as his Machine Spirits told him the items were aligned, +It is also the knowledge center of the Imperium and Mechanicum.+

+Yup, Malcador and Magos Dominus Sicarian just being a few.+ Announced UZ1 as she named off those that she knew.

TalOS took a moment’s thought away from the project, +There are probably several brilliant minds that I do not know. Those that will bring about a future that only the Machine god would be aware of.+

+I could look for them.+ Suggested UZ1 off handedly, +I am sure many would wish to meet the Sanctus Dominus.+

+They would, but then what of the technology?+


There was a small click as UZ1 shook her head, +I can do both.+

+But you will need a focus.+ TalOS said as he pressed a button to activate the mass of lasers, +To do half and half would mean the whole is not finished.+

>>Side activity for UZ1
>Headhunt Tech Priests for TalOS
>Go archeotech hunting
>Other suggestions.

>>5400161
>Go archeotech hunting
UZ1 goes dungeon diving like a rogue-like.

>>5400161
>Go archeotech hunting

>>5400161
>Go archeotech hunting

>>5400161
Both options are tempting but I think uzi should probably go hunting for archeotech. She could find holy technology that would help her own position in the mechanicum and get some more accomplishments under her belt independent of us for when she becomes a magos.
>Go archeotech hunting

>>5400158
>The Ship gave a moment’s vibration that showed it entered the Warp. Before then the shutters that blocked out the warp from being seen had already fallen as according to ritual. Having spoken his last words TalOS rose from his seat.
d'aaw... I miss the ritual. I liked the copy pasta

>>5400251
I did not have it prepared, lol. My notes got wiped and that was one of the many things among them.

>>5400158
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q7VPKvy5Ss
This nightmare earrape is T4L0S' laugh

>>5400161
I thought >>Side activity for UZ1 was one of the options we had and it meant spending together all the time we have left
>Go archeotech hunting
We must secure the technology!!! and perhaps QM will feel like making a side quest UZ1's Dungeoneering

>>5400161
>Go archeotech hunting
I hope she brings back some kickass stuff from the DAoT

"TalOS weighed several tons at the moment, with several rooms of this spacecraft now off limits because the metal could not support his immense weight. Even places that were reinforced with him in mind screamed under such power."
Hmmm, and as far as I can tell we aren't technically dreadnought sized yet. This is annoying and we'll need to retrofit this somehow.

Is the Onus Probandi on the scale of a Gloriana or not? I will still say we need one for travel and a very sturdy one designed by us. We clearly aren't able to easily travel about in our Blackstone Fortress as easily. Every legion had one, and Dorn had his super fortress and his Gloriana.

"Did they always wear their armor like he had or did they travel about without any?"
Guilliman in about a 100 or so years is going to be taught a harsh lesson by 9 Alpha Legionaire's regarding that funnily enough. And not having deployable turret guns and shield generators and robotic bodyguards hidden in every wall, floor and ceiling in your house like Talos would. And teleport weapons and bodyguards at a literal noospheric thought. And escape routes.

>>5400264
Honestly part of me hopes that now that the war is over, we will get a chance to Vacation Timeskip like Vulkan did and still be able to empire build. At least after we get the Federation plans going but before we throw ourselves fully back into the Great Crusade.

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But a breather to spend time with Malcador, the Emperor, in Sol with our beloved UZ1 would be a wonderful thing and the primary reason we speed rushed the Lucian Crusade for like hell to earn that chance. If the Big Green Guy could do it before even rejoining his legion, surely we've deserved a break somewhere.

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>>5400161
>>Headhunt Tech Priests for TalOS
I know a lot of people want UZ1 to get started on the archaeotech right now and right away, and I'm sure she alone could find some quickly. UZ1 has the whole of the Great Crusade to be our brave explorer, among other things.

But just as we cannot be everywhere at once, neither can UZ1. A little patience now can pay off massively in the future.

Let's meet up with the brilliant minds first, and those who would have lead teams of their own in the canon timeline. Why have only one brilliant explorer searching on our side, when we can have oh so many? The brilliance of Arkhan Land famed explorer of his own, Ezekiel Sedayne the Lord Geneticist hand picked by the Emperor himself for his brilliance! These minds could be invaluable aids.

Then once UZI has gained their trust and confidence, we can switch her Archeotech Hunting later now with even much greater assistance than if she were to ever work alone.

Invest a little diplomacy today, reap greater archaotech's later.

>>5400161
>Go archeotech hunting

>>5400382
My only issue with having Uzi headhunt for people is her lack of clout and reputation. She is practically a nobody for all intents and purposes still. What she most desperately needs is some achievements of her own under her belt that will force others to take her seriously. Think about it she literally had to beat the Acillians before they acknowledged her. Right now her influence is still painfully limited but it is just enough to support her mounting expeditions since she earned credit for her military achievements and impressed the Astartes so they will dispatch some men to go with her. So it is not like she is going in blindly.

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>>5400128
>>5400132
TalOS friends, allies and upbringing definitely do not mark him as the egaliatarian I feel. As I mentioned before, he was found immediately and raised by the upper echelons of his planet. He is a noble princeps, two of his closest allies are Knight Princes, and he wears the red cloak of the most brilliant Tech Priest in the extremely selective Mechanicus Organization. He would gladly welcome into the fold of his empire Hiveworld Presidents or Dictators alike, so long as they give compliance and let us reorganize their planets for maximum efficiency and provide us resources

I still want to see a scene down the line like that scene between Angron and Russ tries to shame us about how the Imperium is so tyrannical and we basically turn about and say: "Yeah Angron, it sure is. And guess what? I'm a High Rider. My friends are High Riders and we dwell at the tops of golden spires. What are you going to do about it?"

Jokes aside where he will shine in regards to helping the masses I think, is where Guilliman did. The establishment of a prosperous Federation where prosperity does legitimately benefit the masses while at the same time ensuring maximized outputs.

>>5400391
She is riding off our reputation as Sanctus Domini, the conqueror of the Lucian Sector, and the Prophet of the Machine God.

In her own words: "I am sure many would wish to meet the Sanctus Dominus"

She is definitely not a nobody simply by being associated with us lol. And she has war feats since she also fought in this war she's a veteran. Not to mention we ourselves could kit her in such fancy gear and extremely advanced equipment people are gonna be clamoring to get a piece of the action TalOS is offering.

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>>5400358
Tal0S should build noosphere operated robot bodies or use holograms for small day to day activities after he reaches a certain size and weight class. Bit like when Magnus would psychically project himself when needing to "be" at distant places. It would also be a test of his abilities if he could create a robotic body that was on par with the flesh body of a primarch pound for pound.

>>5400400
Tal0S favorite food is the recycled bodies of the poor and he's aiming to be the second richest man in the galaxy. That should tell anyone plenty about his character.

>>5400161
>Headhunt Tech Priests for TalOS

>>5400573
the recycled bodied of the poor deep fried by his mother** get your facts straight

>>5400610
Deep fried in 100% pure recycled poor people fat. And that's saying something cause there's barely any fat in them.

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>>5400620
There was an old saying, 'Eat the Rich' among the times of the federation. Though in the Grimdarkness of the Far Future, they don't even have enough money to eat eachother.

>>5400620
don't be silly, brains have so much fat in them. 60% of its weight

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>>5400450
The Indomitus Era Fabricator General's main body is an actual building, with the large part that contained his head poking through to the Council Chambers akin to the Navigator Container in Dune. He required barges to move around, but he was still able to physically enter the Emperor's Chambers to help make repairs to the throne. So refurbishing our ships to permit a planned Telemon/Armiger sized body isn't too wild.

It would make sense too if we want to encourage the growth of dreadnoughts and larger space marines who resemble Primaris in height using bionics that we would work on retrofitting the ships to be hardier and sturdier with wider hallways.

Displays of material resource are an important part of any Techpriest repertoire.

>"Materialism is a Virtue" ~ Book of Catechisms

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If TalOS is to be the Drip-march, will QM would let use get Auric Plating while we are at Mars? This is his shining moment when he returns in glory having reclaimed an entire sector.

Ours can be different from Dorn's by having the more crimson hue of "Martian red gold" but still made of the same material as the Emperor/Custodes armor. Instead of just a cape we still have the full red cloak of a Techpriest.

>>5400675
All of my yes. I almost pity Lorgar. For he will NEVER be as shiny and glorious a prophet as we are.

>>5400686
It was bad enough being the only religious child in a family of 19 other atheists. Now there's another brother whose the wrong religion but richer, stronger, and successful with a bigger following and worst of all Dad appreciates his religion while shitting on yours.

We won't just push him to turn to Chaos, we're loading him into a Marocannon and firing him into the eye of Terror with the amount of seethe Lorgar will have at the mere sound of our name.

>>5400783
Honestly, bugger him with a billybat. Lorgat put his faith in meaningless ritual while we put ours,in cold steel and the advamcement of the posthuman condition. We could take his Legio with half our supporting assets stripped and pur eyes closed. Hoping Big E sends us to put him down like Horus sent Russ for Magnus.

>>5400952
As fun as that would be, I doubt it. Not only sending one religious brother to put down another would be hypocritical, the message would be disastrous for his goals because it would send a massive rallying cry for billions around the Galaxy to switch to the Cult Mechanicus since we are the "right" alt religion to the Imperial Truth.

Although, that would be sad, as that would be quiet good for us.

You can bet even after Guilliman does it, we will have a smug smile behind our metal faceplate but probably keep low so we don't get the other sanction. He'll never Monarchia Lucius (probably) but he could find other ways to make us think twice.

We might replace Russ in taking down Magnus though, given our Blank specialty.

Unless QM wants the 11th to be even an greater a rival to us than Lorgar, which would be impressive indeed.

>>5400983
>>5400952
But if we did. By the Machine God if we did.

If we were to be given the Permission to teleport drop our giant walking Cathedrals and unleash apocalyptic fury of our God upon his false church while blaring out sermon speeches that can be heard upon the planet?

Lorgar would never recover from that.

>>5400983
Lorgar isn't a rival to us, he might consider us a rival but to us he's just another inefficient waste of resources to snidely look down upon with a mixture of disdain and slight disgust. He simply isn't worth our time, after all we have much more important things to think about as a high ranking member of an actually useful rather than some paltry cult worshipping a man that doesn't even think himself divine

>>5401015
Point.

Unlike at least Perturabo and Dorn, where at least Pert can say his men were good at siege, the Word Bearers were good at. . .?

Nothing

>>5401023
Ruining everything.

Archeo Tech!
>>5400163
>>5400167
>>5400176
>>5400194
>>5400264
>>5400273
>>5400382
>>5400391

Head Hunting
>>5400595

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+Then…+ UZ1 took the moment to compare the costs and benefits of each objective that they had just presented to her, +I will focus on the expedition of Terra’s depths. Just what can be gained from those exhibitions I cannot comprehend.+

+I think you can comprehend some of it.+ TalOS said to counter her doubt.

+...+ The Tech Priest looked dead on at TalOS for a moment’s frustration, +I should adjust my words in saying I do not know what I will gain from it. There are plenty of items that I can assume will be acquired. I however am not omniscient.+

+I would hope you are not. Psykers and machines tend to not mix anyways.+ TalOS joked as he put the final touches on their test system.

+I’ll be sure to send you a few letters about what I am doing.+ UZ1 announced as she flicked a switch to start the experiment, +If I am lucky it will come with schematics.+

+Some new transports would not go amiss.+ Admitted TalOS as they watched the crystal in the center of the board begin to glow, +If Terra holds some technology for farming I believe that will be of the greatest assistance. We will have a lot of mouths to feed.+

+A lot of them.+ UZ1 admitted as she shook her head, +If it is Terra there are likely to be administrative tools within its bowls.+

+A new concept on the Cogiator could be useful as long as it does not lead to an AI.+ TalOS admitted as he gave a nod to those words, +There is likely a growth pattern scheme or something like that to educate those in growing new colonies.+

+That would be nice.+ UZ1 admitted as she gave a nod, +I am sure there is a database holding at least that! It surely has been shared thousands of times across multiple computer systems.+

+Oh surely it has! Someone simply needs to go and find it!+ Declared TalOS with a hearty laugh.

+Then I will be the one!+ UZ1 announced with the same laugh as TalOS.

With those words the two of them continued their work, cheers and jeers continuing throughout the night and morning as they did so.

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As he was acting commander upon the Vessel TalOS looked around the place to confirm that everything was operating correctly. The Primarch nodded to himself as he studied the systems up and down for any sign of misoperation that was not reported to him during the morning’s reports.

There were a few issues TalOS had noted. They however were not of the main systems but instead related to the nutrient paste. For some reason the machine had several screws that were loosened that caused it to create more paste then what was allotted by the Adepts that morning.

A lot of little things like that. Small things that did not place the vessel in any real danger and the serfs likely did not even know it was a problem.

Though such things were small, they could easily be seen as someone trying to sabotage the ship. Well, less sabotage and more ride off of the vessel.

Such was the reason TalOS kept his ears as sharp as he could. Everything that happened around TalOS was analyzed and processed within his mind for what it truly was. A sense equaling that of a hunter began to show as he took every other corner to try and find what his quarry was.

They were likely illusive and made sure that they could not be so easily found. There was no hotspots of greater errors within the ship that could point to signs of their hiding place. Indeed it seemed that whatever was trying to hide from TalOS knew the best ways to avoid it.

Cause subtle harm only when it is absolutely necessary. When it had to do such harm, make sure it was done away from where one lived.

It was only when TalOS stepped into the room of the Datasmiths and their Robots that TalOS knew he was on the right track. He walked around to see a series of robots that were out of commission, hanging by chains to allow the Tech Priests to get access to their bits. Many of them were still whole, only having their reciprocals exposed to the air for standard cleaning procedure.

TalOS stood before one of the machines, the Priest next to him staying silent as TalOS looked into the false eyes of the machine. The Primarch listened closely and could not hear anything off, but then again he did not hear characteristic clicking of the Kastelan Robot before him.

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With his thoughts confirmed TalOS looked at his fellow Priest and spoke, +Datasmith Orellian of Hektar, may I take a closer look at this Robot.+

The Priest, who had been silent for those moments, quickly started to set his cogitators for heavy processing. While he was not saying a thing he was definitely trying to figure out what was a good thing to say at this moment. Something that would not lead to his death.

Whatever algorithms were created the Priest had to come to a decision. The Priest likely knew that every moment he held back only increased the likelihood of his death. Would TalOS grant such a thing… that was not to be guaranteed.

In the end he received a bow from the Priest, +The Robot shall be yours to examine. If you are interested in Unit R-407 I suggest you look into series Z-208 to Z-213. They are all exquisite models.+

TalOS gave a small nod as a Steel Warden quickly got a dolly for transporting the machine, +I thank you. I will be sure to share my findings with you.+

+I thank you for this mercy, Sanctus Dominus.+

TalOS watched as the Acillians lowered the Kastelan onto the machine moving platform. With the machine loaded they all made their exit from the facility with their prize in tow. As for where they could take it TalOS sadly could not take it to his workshop. With UZ1 there the man will likely voice complaints to no end.

Instead a Holo-Vid room was chosen. The Primarch looked over to see the Robot placed before him. In the next moment TalOS looked at his sons and gave them a voiceless command to leave the room. This was between him and his brother.

>Give him a thank you
>Let him know of the numerous errors that were made.
>Bitch at him for trying to be sneaky, again.

>>5401176
>Give him a thank you
>Let him know of the numerous errors that were made.
He helped us a lot by creating a Schism withing the Mitu, the least we can do is help him get better.
Captcha is TGWAR.
We are on /qst/ machine spirit, don't be silly

>>5401176
>Give him a thank you
>Bitch at him for trying to be sneaky, again.

>>5401189
>support

>>5401176
>Give him a thank you.
>Let him know of the numerous errors that were made.

How will telling the spy not to be stealthy help? It's like telling Tal0S not to be inquisitive, it goes against nature.

>>5401176
I am one for always voting for a single option but this is... complicated. T4L0S is a sensible man and thus a thank is in order, but giving his brother precious information that will certanly help him is valuable... damn

>Give him a thank you
>Let him know of the numerous errors that were made.

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>>5401171
I'm sorry but are we going to use an opportunity to search for Archeo Tech on Terra, and waste it on farms? Seriously?

There are possible forms of agriculture using fungi and insects that are capable of creating absurd amounts of food with all the necessary nutrients, without needing light with little maintenance and being extremely modular. Any small border outpost, even large enough ships could support such a system. And the best part? All forge worlds in 30k can create something like this.

Archeo Tech can be used to create melee weaponry using small black holes, using such a chance to look for something we could do ourselves feels so wrong.

>>5401289
You're missing the point. TalOS is more interested in tech that can give them an upper edge in production instead of straight up war.

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>>5401289
>>5401292
I think the bigger potential (because we can just build High Yield sci fi agri worlds for strategic food abundance) is the potentiality of extremely compact Archaotech Food Technologies that would be useful for Forge Worlds and other planets typically dependent on interstellar trade.

This would be critical and definitely worth a search. If we can prevent our enemies from using the one critical weakness of Forge Worlds, inability to feed themselves, from being used against them in a siege then it is worth it.

If all our worlds can be as independent as our Knight World, we will be able to use any excess food we are making for either faster colonization or selling it to the Imperium and our brothers.

>>5401176
>Give him a thank you
>Let him know of the numerous errors that were made.

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>>5401176
>Give him a thank you
>OTHER: Offer him raw data from our side so he can see what our Legion saw, pure facts with no opinion attached. Alpharius can use that data to improve his own legion without us attaching any opinion to it.
>Tell him in the Mechanicum we leave 'nothing unspoken or left to detail' in Techna Lingua.
>[This means if we have made no opinion, we have made no opinion, simple as. It means we don't speak in messages between the lines. Alpharius can then realize if he wants our opinion he will have to ask directly]

There are reasons we shouldn't critique him off the bat.
#1 It says that we believe his legion should act the way we envision, not the way he envisions or his motivations behind the scenes.
#2 "Well, why didn't we do that?"
#3 It gives Alpharius a critical insight into our own mindset, which could give him more leverage against us.

In response, if asked:
#1 "I don't presume to command the Alpha Legion, for I am not Alpharius. The Alpha Legion succeeds or fails per Alpharius alone and no other"
#2 "If I could have done it, I would have. I didn't. Therefore, all that you do, I appreciate."
#3 "If you want to know what I think, please ask. Don't make inferences from my silence, it's not how I run things."

>>5401415
>>Support
I can see Alpharius appreciating having impartial eyes to view his legion. It's something no other legion provides because they will only focus on what they see as errors. Let him decide on his own errors that's not our right

>>5401176
>Give him a thank you
>Offer him raw data
Giving him the gift of impartial empirical data and genuinely appreciating his espionage is probably the surest way to earn his friendship. Let him make the analysis, we just show him the parts we saw

>>5401415
>support

>>5401292
>>5401376

Fair enough, but I still think that a federation-era nuclear generator, or asteroid mining methods from that same period would be more crucial to achieving independence. I'm not saying that having the capacity to feed trillions is something insignificant, I'm saying that having generators that consume minimal resources for centuries would be much more consistent with achieving self-sufficiency.

Because I can see Tal0S creating a method by itself to solve the food problem, create a nuclear power generator, in realistic terms infinite, then I start to have my doubts.

My point is that there are bigger problems in the pursuit of self-reliance.

>>5401415
>Support
The Machine God calls for logic and facts. Our brotherly love calls for respect. We respect our spy brother.

>>5401415
I think the mistakes were what he did in this infiltration not the campaign, like we did last time

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>>5401633
Hmm, you might be right the context of the option wasn't immediately clear. Either way, I'm not saying we shouldn't let him know any errors that gave him away if we spotted him this time (we should especially if asked).

More the attitude we take. One of constructive criticism, and "not ruling out that your actions may have been deliberate for reasons left hidden to me, rather than unintentional."

But honestly, if we turn around and say "Thank you" that's already plentiful indication of : "If you were trying to sneak up on me again, it didn't work." so he can just ask us what we saw.

Because by damn, he did us a good turn, so we should turn him one back.

>>5401584
Federation era Atomantic reactors and are really neat. I like to think of them as akin to Arc Reactors. They may not be perpetual motion, but it will take millions of years before even one of them needs to be refueled. Use em as microbreeder reactors for our guns and our boys will never have to reload.

For Mining I can see the Federation using stuff like Digistruct Lasers or Assembly Beams, directly laser mining asteroids and then immediately layering the molecules into refined products, thus vastly streamlining our production logistics by combining resource extraction with refinement.

Even so, with exponentially increased food production there are also war applications:
-Converting excess food into biofuel/prometheum or possibly even more Phosphex
-Application towards siliconic or even metallic lifeforms created from our Genetor Genius, thus bolstering our mineral extraction
-the ability to apply it to grow en masse any rare or normally tedious to grow exotic plants such as can be used for advanced medicines, chemicals, munitions or other uses.

Imagine if we were to custom design a plant that siphons either solar or ambient radiation that we place in regions of high radioactivity, to grow tiny pods of fissile material while also scrubbing the area, and then grow it en masse using the Federation sci fi agriculture tech. The limits are only our imagination.

If it's Federation Era Tech, I do not expect it to disappoint even if it is farming. In the very least, food is a commodity and a dependency. Becoming the Breadbasket of the Galaxy means not only increased population, but by making others dependent on us, we gain influence and leverage. And we already produce arms.

>>5401654
That was basically what I meant my vote for when I said thank you and point out his mistakes to be, giving constructive feedback, since that's how I think tech-priests pay back people that they think are not below them.
Hopefully QM will understand the intent and fuse it all, because I think some of the other anons that voted for it thought the same.

>>5401663
The Greentext Options have been tricky in the past where the wording and the outcome aren't always obvious.
Sometimes I think we should just vote by intent:

"Thank our respected brother for his effort. But we did spot him approaching us again. We can let him know how so he can continue to improve. We also give him access to our data so he can see how well he did against the Mitu.
Espionage is a tool we value highly."

For example, in the above phrasing, is there anything you would disagree with?

>>5401664
Nothing to add, it's basically what I meant to say with my comment here
>>5401189
To try and justify why I was voting for two options, I saw them as complimentary instead of contradictory.

>>5401654
You have a point, I just hope it's from the "Federation Age" level of technology. These things are practically magic.

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>>5401673
I have faith in QM to impress. TalOS did recently discover Black Hole Tech. Who knows what wonders of science we will recover from those glorious days.

>>5401415
I support.

Raw data is the best way forwards.

"Thank our respected brother for his effort. But we did spot him approaching us again. We can let him know how so he can continue to improve. We also give him access to our data so he can see how well he did against the Mitu.
Espionage is a tool we value highly."

This is pretty much it in a nutshell. Help our Spybro, and he may do us good in return.

>>5401415
>Support

in the future when alphaomegon goes heretical poor T4L0S is going to be "no... I believe in my brother :( " so sad I am heartbroken

>>5401692
The spy boy has everything he needs not to be tricked. For him to be saved is just a matter of personal interest.

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Whichever anon from ye long ago wanted STC pattern Railguns for our soldiers, congratulations, we have our ticket.

It's just locked behind some short angry bearded heathens.

A clean slate of details
>>5401415
>>5401436
>>5401568
>>5401625
>>5401687
>>5401513

Bitch
>>5401198

Errors were made
>>5401189
>>5401227
>>5401236
>>5401239
>>5401402

>>5402161
>no invul
>AP -4
wounds EVERYTIME unless you roll a 6

>>5402351
I'm just happy its 24". Otherwise I would bitch like everyone else is.

>>5402352
I agree... @son of the nanomachine show me the full sheet please... I want to see if the squats have any tradeoffs...

>>5402353
5" movement and can only advance 3". If you stand 6" behind your deployment they can't shoot anything.

As for expense, I think its every 200-300 pts you can get this gun.

>>5402355
that's better. I am bitching less Also I am finally buying the primer and acrylics to paint my edge eldars and... everything is hard, even coming up with the paint scheme

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TalOS did not need to wait long after his sons left the room.

The first to be removed was the head of the Kastelan, which seemed to pop off like it was never truly attached in the first place. Then a series of contortions occured that slowly revealed a man emerging from the chassis of the giant robot. With every movement TalOS slowly gained the understanding of how much control his brother truly had over his own body.

Soon the man stood before TalOS without anything upon him. His chest bare the Arch Dominus the man looked rather annoyed that he was found out again.

“Welcome once again, brother.” Announced TalOS as he looked upon the man with a phantom of a devilish grin, “While we have been infiltrated once again I was able to detect it and track down the ringleader.”

“Congratulations, Brother.” There was a moment of anger as he saw a pair of robes presented to him, “You have caught me in this circumstance, I will not avoid it.”

“Indeed, there are plenty of signs that show that you were on the ship.” Announced TalOS as he put away his backup robes, “Changes to the food, utility, and sewer systems were all present.”

“Hmm, is looking into such things so closely common?”

TalOS gave a shaking of the head to that question, “It is not. Only a bored Magos without something to occupy himself would do such check ups around the ship. But it seems that one has.”

“Then it was a failure.” Declared Alpharius as he placed his hand upon his chin.

“My only question is what part of the operation was a failure.” TalOS declared as he swiped his hand through the air, “Those things that helped me find you were not of your personal disguise. While the trip over is several weeks the Susan-Membrane should have been able to disable the majority of your bodily functions to render you inert. You and your squad of Astartes do not need food if that is the case.”

Alpharius grew a sly smile as he heard those words, “That us true, we did not need those things. They were to transport assets out of the Federation to be used elsewhere.”

“So the Alpha Legion employs humans in their basic operations.”

To those words Alpharius gave a simple nod.

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“Today was not a complete loss as you have noticed.” The words of the Primarch slithered out of his mouth as he gladly brought details to the events that occured, “Transporting assets through the Galaxy can be more valuable than the assets themselves. This trip was an experiment to see if I can get these assets across the galaxy using Mechanicum vessels.”

“So you are commiting a mass extraction as the war with the Mitu has ended.”

“I wanted to see how many assets I could move out of the region at once.” Declared the Hydra as he moved to take a seat on the nearby table, “Many circumstances could lead to the draining of assets. Alarm among the local populace is an obvious one, but also the need for assets within the region being gone is another. Assets are wasted if they are never to be activated.”

TalOS gave a small nod as he understood what Alpharius meant by those words. That meant he was indeed pulling his resources out of the lands according to their earlier agreement. There are probably a few that he left behind but TalOS could only give a smile behind his metal mask as he gained that understanding.

“The attempt to rely upon internal systems is a handy one.” TalOS admitted as he gave a sign of understanding, “But when someone notices that the food is less than it should be then issues will occur.”

“As it was demonstrated today. The ease of infiltrating a single ship, where all of your resources can be placed into securing the boarding and transit, is outside of the realm of possibilities it seems.” Announced the Hydra, “We will need to do a standard decentralized approach when moving troops across the Imperium.”

“It does make me wonder how many experiments you have played while within my mist.” TalOS declared as he looked upon his brother.

“It could have been a thousand, or none at all.” Declared the brother as TalOS heard his heart slow.

It seems for the moment TalOS will not know what his brother thinks. Somehow TalOS knew the man was lavishing in the misnomer that he tricked TalOS here, knowing that it would be hard for TalOS to know which is reality.

TalOS knew one thing though, this was just a joke. That for all his obfuscation this was just a joke played so that he could gain himself that modicum of self respect back.

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As that piece of their conversation was over TalOS finally began the part he was waiting for, “At this moment, brother, I thank you for what you have done for me. Without your assistance I feel that the war would have gone for several more years and many more lives lost.”

To those words Alpahrius gave a small laugh, “You are correct. The Mitu were not the hardest race to trick with a past like theirs. I took their fears of the past and made them fears of the present.”

“I am only curious how you learned of such things. I was roughly aware of it, being that I xenocided those that broke off last time, but how did you learn of it?” TalOS asked his brother forthright.

“Your records gave us a hint at that fate. We confirmed it through slective assassinations across the outer belt of the Xeno’s area of influnce.” Alpharius described as he surely had every moment of his plans flashing before his own eyes, “Once it was confirmed we attacked. Placing within their empire seeds of the long begotten craze among their planets.”

“Then it is to your luck that we allowed your schemes time to simmer.” TalOS told his brother as he looked out from the corner of his eye.

“I knew that you would give us this chance.” Declared Alpahrius, “You knew I was capable of what I spoke of, and thus I knew that you would give me the chance I needed.”

“As one should never underestimate a brother.” Declared TalOS as if it was a fundamental fact of the universe.

“You speak of such, but I feel I have a firm understanding of our brothers.” Announced Alpharius as he waved a hand, “As for the Mitu, we spring our trap two months before your invasion. The cults that appeared quickly declared their independence. They could not get farther than that though, for by the time they started to solidify their borders you launched your invasion.”

>Talk about your brothers. Seems Alpharius has some ideas about them.
>Discuss with him what is happening with TalOS right now.
>There is a Holo-Vid display in the room. Finally TalOS can have a worthy opponent to fight!

>>5402362
>Talk about your brothers. Seems Alpharius has some ideas about them.

>>5402362
>>Discuss with him what is happening with TalOS right now.
This is IT. This may be the ONLY time that our primarch will open up to someone. I find it improbable that T4L0S will admit anything that hints at weakness and self doubt, even with UZ1

>>5402373
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g7Uwb-GlmlU

>>5402362
>Discuss with him what is happening with TalOS right now.

>>5402362
>There is a Holo-Vid display in the room. Finally TalOS can have a worthy opponent to fight!
Primarch Gaming

>>5402362
>Discuss with him what is happening with TalOS right now.

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Hey QM/guys, how does this look?

>>5402475
The augs can be a little smaller. Remember that he is a Primarch and is the size of a Kastelan Robot. So their arms won't look big on him.

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>>5402475
One servo arm version

>>5402476
Gotcha.
I had a feeling they still might be too big. First draft was definitely oversized. Will see to getting them shrunk down some more.

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>>5402476
Rough idea but is this better?

>>5402500
Looks good!

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>>5402500
In my opinion, the servo-arms are redundant, if we already six appendages equally capable of crushing shit up!!! but mechadendrites look weird... heh., look at pic related. A mechadentrite made just to flip pages on a book

>>5402362
>Discuss with him what is happening with TalOS right now.

>while they play on the Holo-Vid

>>5402525
I'd like to believe we have those too, small fine motor ones. Servo Arms seem part and parcel of the Techpriest/Techmarine, but we can always replace them with shoulder weapons I feel.

>>5402543
I do agree with the fellow that the Servo Arms are too much. Technically TalOS has four already and there is the saying 'Too many chefs in the kitchen'.

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>>5402821
Fair enough.
It does leave his shoulders open for guns at least.

>>5402362
>Discuss with him what is happening with TalOS right now.
>(if possible while playing a game)
There are two brothers in the Galaxy I feel Talos would be most comfortable speaking with.
Alpharius, the brother he plays advanced level mind games with.
And Guilliman, the brother he counts on for governorship and logistical expertise, one who most shares his ambition for empire building.

Dorn is a reliable friend, but hard and stoic, someone we can turn to for tactical advice on defense
Vulkan is a beloved brother, someone to tinker with, but keeps to his own really.
Ferrus is the hard older brother
And Perturabo the downer brother we want to help reach his potential

But I don't see many others empathizing with our ambition or love of logical interests

Our brother Alpharius purpose is as "Keeper of Secrets". Secrets that are given to him are kept, and he finds those secrets that are kept from him.

If we willingly divulge things to him, I feel he will keep them. Likewise, he's more likely to use secrets that he finds himself. It would hardly be fun or sporting to just use a weakness freely given. There is no challenge, no meaning, no purpose in exploiting a weakness that was presented so obviously.

It would also convey a great deal of trust we have in our brother.

>Discuss with him what is happening with TalOS right now.

>while they play on the Holo-Vid

>>5402362
>Discuss with him what is happening with TalOS right now.
>While playing a holo-vid
We are both the masters of multi-tasking.

>>5402827
Funnily enough I imagine we'll have a great relationship with pert & the iron warriors if only because as the quartermaster of the crusade we'll be giving them the most stuff. the iron warriors do the shit jobs no one else wants to do and tended to leave behind large garrisons. He'll we might end up his favorite brother (even if no one else is competing)

>>5403074
That is unless Pert starts being a shit and intentionally refuses all the gifts and supplies we send him.

"What? Are you saying I can't supply my legion? That I need "Help" or that I am insufficient for the task at hand?"

>Proceeds to blow up half his supplies

But desu he was friends with Magnus so he should at least be better than Angron. Hell, even Angron was friends with Lorgar. . .somehow.

>>5403074
If there's one Brother I could save it would be him. We should honestly be that guiding influence he always deserved

>>5403074
Given how much TalOS like to give feedback, Pert is way more likely to think we are insulting him. He had next level inferiority complex.
Talking about Perturabo, I haven't seen his Appreciator in a while. I wonder what happened to him

>>5403200
Perturabo isn't a bad choice.
I do think Alpharius is the brother most alike to our logical mind though, and having him protect us from our one biggest concern: Primarch Assassinations (especially by shitters like Curze) is huge.

>>5403205
Well that and people infiltrating and fucking with our Federation.

With Dornian defensive tactics and Alpha Legion allies watching us from the shadows, coupled with as many automata and turrets as we can around every corner, the Federation is as impregnable as we can possible make it.

A talk about brothers
>>5402368

The situation
>>5402373
>>5402390
>>5402394
>>5402528
>>5402827
>>5402934

Holo vid game
>>5402391

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“Then we will see what the future holds for ourselves.” Declared TalOS as he thought to himself of the coming journey. TalOS thought to himself for another moment before he spoke again, “What do you think of what is happening?”

“Your trip to Mars?” Asked Alpharius with a somewhat humorous chuckle.

“I need another eye to look at the situation. Someone who has been looking at it from the outside. I assume you have been doing so?”

“I have, brother, always have been.”

“And I am to assume that since you have hand made whatever is watching us now that it is far more advanced than previous.”

To those words the man whose face was of the many gave a smirk, “Everywhere there is the Hydra, we are only where you can look.”

“So, is the Fabricator General of Mars looking to recruit me?” TalOS asked forthright to his brother without care of formality.

“He is. The Fabricator General of Mars is terrified at the rate of growth your system of Lucius has experienced. While it cannot rival the sheer size of the Imperium, it has easily outgrown the Lordship of Mars.” A dark smile took shape over the Primarch’s face as he gave the information, “He seeks to remove the one thing that gave it such immense growth.”

“My tenure upon the planet.” TalOS announced as he looked upon his brother with an ease of understanding.

“By removing the brilliant mind he wishes to bring about the doom of the Federation in its juvenile stage. With an uniting factor gone it will likely begin to stagnate as each Forge World within the system grows back into old habits.”

TalOS took those words in for a moment as he internalized and understood them. The simple fact of the matter being that the Fabricator General saw him as a threat. However as he thought of that another idea appeared within his head.

While it was a brother who spoke to him of this, the man was obviously grown in the society of darkness. Might everything that happens before him be some sort of plot against himself and those he cares about?

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“What will he entice me with?” TalOS asked as he came to the next idea, “I would think he’d keep such rumblings quiet, but if you knew I could prepare for it.”

“Exploration into the wider cosmos, specifically to find other Forge Worlds and bring them into the fold. It will be a high title, one of which I heard was Fabricator Locum, but you will be separated from the operations of the Mechanicum. You would be second in command, in title only.” The Primarch of Spies declared with the tone one would expect of welcoming a royal.

“That is, assuming I do not do anything.” TalOS told his brother with a small idea within his mind.

“Yes. You are so well known within the Mechanicum that if he makes the wrong step, there could be a referendum or coup to place you as Fabricator General. We both know that though.” Alpharius said with a devilish grin, “You can force him into a more compromised position.”

“I will not allow myself to be relegated to such a minor duty.” TalOS told his brother outright as he tightened his hand, “I also cannot let myself be divorced from the Crusade. Even now I feel the engineering of our creator pushes me towards his endeavor. I would think a builder of conquered worlds and the management of Mechanicum resources to the Crusade would be the most beneficial.”


“And you will have that.” Alpharius informed his brother of the matter of fact, “He cannot stop such a reasonable request.”

TalOS allowed himself to fall silent knowing that he did indeed have that kind of power. The only way he could fail is bringing the ire of Mars upon himself. So many opportunities were now presenting themselves to TalOS as he knew now what he could and could not do.

Really the only thing that he could not risk was trying to become the Fabricator General of Mars. Unless Kelbor Hal makes a mistake in offending the people of Mars it would be an uphill battle. TalOS was an outsider. Being a creation of the ‘Omnissiah’ is both a boon and a grievance depending if those who speak truly believe the Emperor to be divine.

That was a hard bet there. After all, of all the planets it was Mars who held closest to the idea that the Omnissiah would touch down upon their planet. And look now, he has indeed given them their Empire that was lost among the storm of Old Night.

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It was through these thoughts that TalOS had to ask the next question, “And what of the Federation. Of Lucius?”

“I made an agreement not to pry deeply into those matters.” Alpharius said to TalOS with a smug grin upon his face.

TalOS looked at his brother for a moment. To that his brother simply gave a small chuckle, “Brother, if you are trying to make me feel something you cannot. Ever since you placed on your mask whatever I could gleam of your emotions is what I can affirm through guesswork.”

To that TalOS gave a small exaltation of breath to, “You were among Lucius to gain board upon my vessel. If you were able to do that then your network was yet to be dead.”

With that continued smugness Alpharius spoke, “The ships of the Federation are being reassigned and processed. With conquest over and the Imperium at all sides they have decided to start decommissioning ships or moving them to other duties. Of them a great number of powerful Warp-Capable Craft were being organized into a single fleet.”

TalOS gave a small nod as he heard all this, “I have seen some of those actions, but such operations are being handled by Arch Magos C0LT as the navy is her domain.”

“I believe that the single fleet has a purpose other than for the Federation. The orders were quite young, measuring what could and could not be done, but they are very similar to the exploratory fleets that Mars put together.”

To that TalOS spoke, “Are you suggesting they are going to ship me off?”

“It could be that.” Alpharius admitted as nonchalant a liar he could be, “Or someone is planning an exodus. The records show that the planning and development were all placed forward by the Fabricator General of Lucius.

>We plan to pressure Kalbor Hal into a more suitable position.
>To abandon Lucius is to stop a project halfway. We entertain the Fabricator General, but no more than that.
>We hold off, for the moment.