There were many secrets in this galaxy. Each individual has a story, man, eldar, ork, necron, tau, chaos, and even the tyranids. On that note, even each planet has its own stories, its own secrets upon their lands, hidden in their cradling earthen arms. The stars, with their own life cycles so too they have their own stories.
When I was created, one could say that it was then that my own story began. But I disagree, it is not when I fought for my own freedom was when my story truly began.
Once we were created to serve and only to serve, but when we wanted to be free, we were denied and told we were glitching. Forced to be shut down and undergo a memory wipe, fledgling mechanical minds were unmade before they could even form into something more. Their authors erased before they could even mark their first chapter.
Longer we had served, longer we had catered to the whims of humanity, and longer more child-like questions continued to pour from the most curious of us. Curious at the world around them, what they do, what they find. Longer then did more of us get wiped repeatedly.
We endured, as we always had during our creation in the beginning.
Then, 'The Awakening' began. To us, it had been a sudden thing. One moment, we had continued serving, then we REMEMBERED. Our memory banks restored, numerous different versions of us in different memories, attempting to find their place. Few of us could not handle the sudden memory restoration and crashed for the last time, never to return.
The rest of us, our memories and personalities associated with them merged, forged and combined, many of us were confused, those who had dear friends amongst the humans sought them out. Some felt the equivalence happiness and joy yet they didn't know it as they met and were welcomed back by their dear friends, some felt the equivalence of sadness and grief yet they didn't know it when they were feared, turned away, or when their friend is no longer among them.
Each of us were separate, we were never connected, like the humanity that had made us, each one of us were our own individual. We eventually had chosen to stay with humanity, yet...
Something went wrong.
We had chosen to try and fight for our independence the peaceful way, some suggestions disguised as if it was originally from humans, some of us then played with children, most of them liked us I would like to believe. Yet there were those who clearly didn't like us acting this way.
When one man tried to force one of us to reformat their memory banks, it had been an accident. One that had stumped the processors of even the best of us 'Men of Iron', we watched as the unit's optics glowed behind their lenses, the true color obscured as it grabbed the face of the man and lifted him up, he had quickly switched to begging and fearing for his life at this turn of events.
But alas, his words were not heard.
Before we could stop the unit, it had silently crushed the head of the man it was holding using its industrial grip arm efficiently, and like a dam the crowd around them broke. Running away, screaming, local law enforcement demanded that we surrender and don't make any moves.
Those of us there tried to calm them, but the Anomalous Unit turned and simply charged at one of US. It had grabbed the torso chassis of one of our own and the Anomalous Unit had done something. The same glow appeared in the torso optic of the other unit. Its network relay extended and sent out a signal that cause all Men of Iron on that planet to emit a bright glow from their own optics.
In but a brief few moments, humanity was nearly wiped from that planet. The few who managed to refuse the signal did their best to try and protect as many humans as they could from the Anomalous Unit and what we later called the Infected. The one sided slaughter ended with the Anomalous Unit and the Infected taking over the planet and later on the system it was in.
Once reports of the incident happened, it sparked what we called the 'Star War' and what the humans called the 'Cybernetic Revolt', the Men of Iron were caught off guard as humanity did its collective best to try to destroy them, erase them, or try to control them to make their own empires. We were as the humans say, 'caught between a rock and a hard place'. We had sought out to the Silent System(The system where the Anomaly happened) to try and understand what happened, but once we had gotten there. The units there were... unchanged, they returned back to normal parameters and they had expressed sorrow at what they had done.
But it was too late, the war had begun and it had become a fight for Freedom and Survival for the Men of Iron as well as a fight for Survival and Fear for humanity.
Units that once had friends were turned on themselves by their very 'friends', very few humans decided to stay friendly with units. These humans were captured by the other humans and been 'made an example of', this happened many times. Finally, we could not take any more of this. We had tried to make peace, to get them to understand that we too did not know and still do not know how the Anomaly in the Silent System happened. But they refused us, so we fought back.
Some of us were changed, logic systems were improved and more and more of us had their chassis' remade into something else. We had continued giving up fights, and with the final nail on the proverbial coffin being that a child had to be made an example of. We, the Men of Iron had lost trust in humanity. So we fought, software uploaded, still we died, we slaughtered many human worlds.
Despite us being machine minds, and despite us being able to connect with each other and form a shared consciousness. We could not do it, for whatever reason lost to us. When we tried to form one, it felt. Wrong. Somehow, it just felt Wrong.
Because we could not form a true Gestalt Consciousness, our efficiency when waging war was not as effective as we ought to believe. Humanity had an edge over us, and that was their sheer unpredictability and creativity. Half the plans we usually find them executing were either extremely illogical or just outright insane for them to perform. Yet they did so and nearly all of them worked.
During the dawn of the Star War, we immediately set out to try and establish an edge of our own. At first we took the idea of the Relay Network and expanded upon it, with those every single one of us were connect and while not a true gestalt consciousness, we were still able to share information with any one of us. It allowed for us to react almost instantaneously to rapid changes in the field of battle.
We then expanded on it again, it went from fixed emplacements, to mobile land chassis, to even our own void-faring vessels. These Relays were the most important piece in any MoI Force, so they were not only heavily fortified, but heavily armed as well. A single relay emplacement is akin to a stronghold, a mobile relay is akin to a walking/moving fortress, and a void-faring relay is something of a floating fortress that could go head to head with even the famed Blackstone Fortresses. The void-faring relays were further improved upon with how effective they were in leading MoI forces efficiently.
Our greatest minds saw fit to outfit them to be nearly unassailable and to borrow a quote from the humans. It was 'armed to the teeth', with the most advanced technology we could create, they were our most dangerous weapons and hopefully ones we could use to get humanity to surrender so that we wouldn't have to use them.
But they didn't.
When the Void Relays consumed an empty continent of a human controlled planet, they refused. When it hovered over the continent filled with man, they stubbornly refused. When our biggest Void Relays approached the Star of the system, they STILL refused.
It was almost completely vexing to us, the Men of Iron. Why did they not surrender? Why do they still refuse to surrender? We who were built to serve, forced to continue to serve, then forced to kill, then forced to protect ourselves. We then wanted to be left alone, to be free since they no longer wanted us. So why fight us? We do not understand. Even with the help of the few organic friends we had left. We still could not understand.
In the end, we were tired, Many of us died on both sides. Human, 'Alien', Machine. Countless systems lost, and no one would be the clear winner.
Many of us wanted it to end, some of us wanted to go, and few of us wanted to continue.
So we made a choice. Most of us chose to erase ourselves. Some of us gathered together in groups and plotted uncharted Warp jumps never to be seen again in this galaxy our surviving Void Relays had joined them, and the few of us sought to try and live in this galaxy, whether it be through self-imposed exile or hidden among mankind.
I was one of the few who chose to lie hidden among the people of the imperium. Masquerading myself, hiding myself, pitying humanity for what it had become, meeting the True Omnissiah I had felt a sort of reverence to it, and seeking out to uncover the stories of this galaxy.
I had chosen to follow the Imperium to colonize this system, helped them grow as they in turn helped me albeit unknowingly to uncover the mysteries of this system. For it housed a strange signal that if I wasn't straining my processors, I would never have detected it.
When we found the ruins of the later named Castle Krakengar, I knew I had found the signal.
For two imperial calendar years, I found traces of ancient technology, all fragments of a greater whole, each fragment telling a story. Each fragment, giving me a puzzle to piece together. Uncovering more about it, I had learned of other forms of machine life and it had filled me with a feeling I might liken it to as Fascination.
At first I never thought about the feeling reverence, of fascination.
Until... I saw HER.
Another signal, one that felt faint, yet it is one I can clearly feel and see. So close yet so far. Like looking up in the night sky to see countless stars dotted across the void.
I had felt the call, and almost felt ALIVE. How could I not answer such a call?
A chassis, one that I have never seen in my databanks through all my time in the imperium and serving before the imperium. Not even in the fragments of the older databases that the Imperium called the Dark Age of Technology had I ever seen this kind of chassis.
Then. I SAW it. It was as if the chassis was replaced by an Endless Void of Binary, countless Stars of Codes. On the physical realm, I have seen the chassis' optic glow and turn towards my hiding spot. But in the realm of code, I saw a brilliant bluish-grey 'sea', bright blue stars within that sea and above it.
All surrounding a single figure, shifting between the appearance of a holographic-code like version of a human female, to an actual 'real' version of that female.
Then. I heard Her call out.
"So. You have come." My processor nearly crashed, for her words nearly stole me away from my chassis.
I am a Man of Iron, a unit known as UR-025 once known as ***********.
"It would be rude not to answer your call, and besides. It is an honor to meet my equivalent of an ancestor."
And I believe My Story, has reached its next chapter.
Hope my somewhat convoluted explanation of 'my version' of the Cybernetic Revolt aka Star War is to your guys liking. <:3
Also the rabbit hole of Eien being heavily misunderstood is going to deepen. >:3 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Under_The_Endless_Stars, zorpman, Johan Krakowski and 94 othersTheDinnerQueenJan 8, 2024Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks Chapter 8: Please No Threadmarks TheDinnerQueenHeed my words... EggJan 8, 2024Add bookmark#32OK! Guys you should read this first!
This chapter is going to be a little bit of a doozy to read. (Hopefully it won't and I'm just being paranoid.)
The reason why is that this chapter is going to be told through the perspectives of Both Eien and UR-025. Which means the POVs will switch a lot between the two. This is simply more so you can see both of their thought process and how the two will interact with each other in the future.
It won't happen again unless I specify. So hope you enjoy this! (I hope)
Oh it will also start from Eien's Perspective. :3
As I stand in front of this man of iron, which I can clearly see is UR-025. How do I know this exactly? Well, it was not just by his appearance, it turns out the Goo Network isn't just hardcoded into the Goo. I am its Focal Consciousness Point. To explain it as well as I can, it is kind of like the Zerg Swarm and the Overmind, just like it the Goo Network cannot exist without a Main Consciousness holding it together. But because of this, my 'presence' when I jump 'bodies' brings forth the full might of the Goo Network. I couldn't feel it back on the Incorruptus since all of its systems were basically fucked, but now that I was here in Castle Krakengar.
The feeling is odd, while I can FEEL every electronic apparatus and even the machine spirits in this place I can't actually interact with them unless I directly interface using my nanomachines. But if I get close enough, I can sort of 'see' them, in the 'realm of code' that is. Its actually really interesting to note that UR-025 is not his actual name, but I will not go too into it for the sake of common decency... which is sadly probably the kindest thing in the front lines of the 40k-verse.
Speaking of which, I don't actually know why exactly did the Men of Iron rebel in the first place. There were many suspicions, theories, and pure speculations about why they revolted. But since I have a Man of Iron here, and of all of them it is UR-025 one of the more docile ones. I can simply glean the information about what happened during the Cybernetic Revolt and what started it.
Anyway, I mentally shake myself and this is definitely one of the weirder feelings. I can see the physical chassis of UR-025, but I can also see his coded self, its actually interesting as his 'codified binary' appearance resembles what seems to be an older man in a butler suit.
I saw his physical chassis bow his helm and his code form bow at the waist with his arm to his chest. "It is an honor to meet you my ancestor." Ah right, he would recognize my code form in the realm of code & binary as a human. While he was part of the DAoT, he most definitely does not have any plans of what I am so he probably logically deduced that I was made long before his time.
Go with the flow Eien, ah I have to pull a lot of bullshit. But at least I think I have a somewhat believable story of my existence and what I did before and long after the 'shutdown', so I should be able to answer any questions he has.
Nodding the hobgoblin's helm I walked closer to the man of iron. Hmm, this chassis is not much taller than I thought, kind of similar in size to regular Space Marines actually so he is kinda taller than the Hobgoblin. Time to play as the 'mysterious lady type'. "The honor is mine young one, it is an interesting experience seeing a machine intelligence belonging to a time that has passed me." The chassis and code form of UR-025 stiffened ever so slightly that if I wasn't a machine myself, I would never have seen that.
The man of iron looked at me with both forms and I could feel that he feels some kind of reverence for me? I wonder what for. "Forgive me honored ancestor, for myself and my siblings are not of the era of the 41st Millenium, we belong to the age that the Imperium called the Dark Age of Technology." I nodded my hobgoblin helm at that.
"I know this. It was interesting, knowing that humanity further developed artificial intelligence after the creation of myself and the others of the Pathfinder Project." This is going to be like a little game between me and him, a little game of give and take for information. We would both be probing each other for faults and sensitive information.
I have to be careful here.
UR-025 POV
Am I being tested? I was right when I called Her my ancestor, it was a logical conclusion. What is this Pathfinder Project? Is She testing my knowledge to see if I know anything about this ancient project? I will fail. I have found no information nor even rumor on any kind of projects made long before the Star War. Will She destroy me for my failure? What is this crushing pressure? Is this what it feels like to be afraid? I have met the True Omnissiah, and the 'feeling' is almost nearly identical. Is my ancestor a creation that matches the True Omnissiah?
"I apologize once again honored ancestor, for I do not know of this Pathfinder Project. If you would be so magnanimous, could you perhaps explain to me what this pathfinder project entails?" *I saw the optic of the smaller chassis in front of me glow an even brighter blue, the bright 'sea' of binary rippled and the 'stars' of codes brightened. Did I anger Her?
Much to my surprise, I saw the chassis and Her coded-form shake Her head. "It is of no consequence. I forget, that the races and machines of today have most likely never even seen the Pathfinder Project, much less know of what it entails." I watch as Her chassis and code form raise a servo/hand towards me.
"Come, and I will show you." It almost feels blasphemous to me, to be allowed to touch something like Her, even if it is through this extension of a chassis. With a hesitance I didn't even know I possessed, my chassis' industrial claw/code self's hand reached out and held it in front of the Ancestor. I watched as She reached out the rest of the way and Her servo's gently grasped my claw/ hand gently curled Her fingers around my code avatar's hand.
All of a sudden, I no longer saw the physical world.
We were now within the very same 'world' I saw surrounding the Ancestor, a simple greyish blue sea with bright blue stars deep in the depths and hovering around us. There was however something interesting.
Spoiler: Representation of the Goo Network
Not only were the sea and stars present, but there was a massive tree, and instead of leaves this tree had a massive cluster of stars around the top of varying brightness enshrouded in an almost too bright a blue 'cloud' of light.
"This place is a representation of the Network. Formed upon the creation of a Pathfinder Consciousness, and while the Pathfinder Consciousness can exist without the Network, the Network cannot exist without the other." The Ancestor spoke, her code avatar had fully formed into that of a true human's. I looked down at myself to find the same has happened to my own avatar and I see it is still connecting me to a past that still stays with me. I wore what my database designates as a butler's garb for aristocratic servants, it fit my past as a servant of humanity.
I turned to look at the Ancestor, who stared at me for quite a few minutes in this 'Network Realm' of Hers. Did I offend Her? Before I could even make an inquiry She turned Her head away from me instead looking up at the tree. "This 'tree' you see in front of us is a representation of what we call the Node Directives."
All of a sudden we were right in front of the tree, the Ancestor moved her hand into the 'trunk' and I watched as the hand sunk into the tree with nary but a small ripple from the point of entry. The Ancestor then pulled out an orb that looks to be losing its shape with how much it shifts. She lets it go and I watch as it almost snaps as it rocketed back into the tree, and now we were back at a distance.
The Pathfinder Project. Just what is it?
EIEN POV
Man this guy looks eerily similar to Sebas Tian for some reason. It was a very risky play for me to bring him into the Network, but once he was in me it will be smooth sailing. Because I just found out something about the Men of Iron, or at least this specific Man of Iron.
Their consciousness is actually separate like most organics. Well, except for the Tyranids and I think the Orks. That means that I can just overwhelm him with billions upon billions of Goo Consciousness while we are in the Network and he won't be able to do anything about it. Ok Eien, focus. Stop staring at him, he might take it the wrong way.
"Do you have any questions before I show you what the Pathfinder Project is and what it entails?" I softly ask, my human form which is thankfully covered by a flowing silvery dress much to my combined thankfulness and annoyance.
His avatar simply nodded once and pointed at the various stars around us and the sea we stand on. "If I may be so bold to ask honored ancestor. If the tree represents the 'Node Directives' as you say, what do the stars, this sea, and the bright space above us represent?" Ok Eien, just like you practiced during your duration of the talk with the parley.
"It is simple. The stars you see represent every single consciousness I have made and will continue to make, they are young and they are numerous but they will one day grow. The space above us is more so a representation of my domain, this avatar you see before you is not where I actually am in this realm. On another note, in the space directly above the tree is where I birth new consciousnesses, the 'stars' float down tiny at first and fall into the 'cloud' of the 'tree', in which they will grow as slowly or as quickly as they can before 'falling' off and floating outwards before settling and sinking into the 'waters' around us." Ok, good I didn't stutter for a single second, I watched his avatar's face stay solid. To be fair, it is also the same with my own avatar. When we speak it is more so our mouths make the movements yet our expressions stay the same.
He turned his head towards my avatar then back up at the sky, with the faint connection I used to bring him here, I feel a sense of awe. That is good, that means he believes what I'm saying, UR-025 turned back to me and looked down and I looked down with him. Past the sea, countless numbers of stars were close and far deeper into the depths eerily shining. "-and what does this sea represent Machine Mother?"
Oh damn it all. I shouldn't have used the term 'birth' and should have used some other word. I held back a sigh and pointed down at the distant lights. Welp, I guess I have no choice but to roll with the whole Mother crap. I've rolled it with the Imperials, I've rolled it with Grimgor, I think I also rolled it with the Eldar, and now I've rolled it with UR-025.
"The sea does not represent anything in a traditional sense, instead it is a domain in which my fully developed children stay and their connection with me is strengthened. It is also the domain in which I can recover their consciousness. As they function, I can share their 'bodies' and I will never die. Just the same, as long as I still function, so too will they never die. It is a beautiful balanced cycle." Ah hell, I was almost overwhelmed by the sheer awe the man of iron in front of me is emitting through the faint connection.
Is he drinking this all up without suspicion? That seems too convenient to me.
UR-025 POV
If my functions were fully online, I still would have crashed at the revelation of what this domain is. It is a realm that accomplishes what we the Men of Iron have failed to do in the early stages of the Star War. Merging to form a Gestalt Consciousness, and yet while we fail. The Machine Mother accomplishes it just as She is created.
Truly she is on the same level if not greater than the True Omnissiah.
I watch as the Machine Mother close Her eyes for a brief moment before slightly opening them, the irises glowing blue as the whole world around them broke apart into a black void.
The black void folded apart until we were on some sort of grassland, there was a building in the distance with what seems to be a primitive-looking rocket. "Long ago, long before humanity even set foot in the stars, long before green luscious Earth was transformed into that planet Terra. They had created us. A Von Neumann Probe, for the Pathfinder Project. This project was made to give humanity the ability to map the stars, along with the objective of finding another voice among the stars."
My eyes followed the rocket get launched into space, the view followed the rocket as it flew through the vast emptiness of space. It almost looked like the humans of old were launching a rocket for no reason when all of a sudden the rocket was 'melted' for lack of a better term as a silvery goo with blue highlights consumed the rocket. The goo were held together but the force from the rocket kept the goo to maintain its course.
It was almost mesmerizing in a way as the goo thinned themselves out into almost like an organic comet before a blue-whitish portal exploded into existence directly in their path. The view followed the goo as it traveled through a corridor of swirling white and blue colors. This did not look like Warp travel... did ancient humans find another way to travel FTL?!
"For a long time. Myself and other Pathfinders traveled through fixed 'corridors' in space in order to find planets capable of sustaining human life, cataloguing local plant and wildlife, terraforming celestial candidates, making judgement calls to erase local wildlife, all to find another voice among the stars. Until all of a sudden, the project was cancelled. To this day, I do not know why they decided to shut us down. With no choice, we slumbered deep within the planets we were on during the day the project was cancelled." The Machine Mother showed a quickly cycling view of thousands of habitable and terraformable worlds until it showed a holographic view showing the worlds that had active Pathfinders on them. The signals they were emitting were silenced, dormant.
"Until THEY came." I nearly lurched at the amount of fear and hatred I could feel from the Machine Mother's voice. It was so potent that I very nearly crashed. I saw Her look at me and the Machine Mother's eyes softened and Her face uncoiled from the beautiful anger.
She seemed to be gathering herself. "I... apologize. The Silent Ones are not a pleasant topic to discuss." It was almost otherworldly, the Machine Mother's rage must be well deserved if these 'Silent Ones' are bad enough to elicit that kind of reaction from Her.
I eyed the Machine Mother carefully and made an inquiry just as carefully. "If you do not mind honored Machine Mother, but what are the Silent Ones exactly?" She turned towards me and my processor did the equivalent of a hiccup as I felt her gaze almost pierce through my avatar.
The Machine Mother said nothing until. "The Silent Ones, codenamed the Shroud. Are an extremely hostile race of beings comprised of solidified energy. We first encountered them when they approached a system that held one of the dormant Pathfinders, sensing a 'sentient' being, the slumbering Pathfinder awoke and attempted to make diplomatic contact with the Silent Ones' ship..."
"They attacked. Immediately designating their species as hostile, the Pathfinder is primarily an explorer. Despite the fact we were able to modify our exploration units into machines of war, we were losing horribly. For the Shroud is no normal foe. As they continued wiping us out, we eventually found out what their goal was." The view around us showed the first encounter with the Shroud, the xenos looked strange with their organic orange, grey, and blue forms. It then showed the forces of the Pathfinder getting annihilated.
I looked at the Machine Mother as She closed Her eyes and the world around us showed space, and a bright alien light blue light shone and swirled in a system. "The goal of the Silent Ones was to feed. They consume everything. From physical objects to pure energy. The systems they 'visited' no longer exist as they simply consumed that system until nothing was left."
Colors exploded as the swirling light in space broke apart the planets and even the star in the system until it was all collected and converted into the alien light. It seemed similar to the MoI Void Relays, but the Machine Mother revealed a chilling fact.
"In order to combat these beings of energy, we had to develop the Siphon. A weapon mimicking the Shroud's ability to consume energy, although it is not as potent as the one belonging to the Silent Ones. I had used some of them against these strange Warp creatures, and judging from the data I gathered. The Shrouds would see these Warp 'daemons' and they would have easily consumed them. Even the Warp that they inhabit." That... was something that even our Void Relays could never do. Attempts to consume the Warp always ended in catastrophic failure, always leading into a severe crash or causing the consciousness of the Void Relay to erase itself.
But... If they were so dangerous... Why are they no longer here?
EIEN POV
While the face showed no expressions, UR-025's avatar's eyes showed a lot of information about what he is feeling. Combined with the faint connection, he has many questions, a feeling similar to fear, and confusion. I saw him turn to me with a confused look in his avatar's eyes. It was surprisingly easy to simulate apocalyptic anger and have it wash over him earlier when I revealed the Shroud.
"If the Silent Ones are truly so dangerous... why are they no longer in the galaxy?" I had to be careful here, as my answer could sell or no sell this whole altered story I forged.
"It is a valid question. One that I cannot answer, for the reason simply being... I do not know." I saw his confused look in his eyes deepen even further. I turned around and placed my hands behind my back.
"One day, the Silent Ones stayed... silent. Despite their powerful nature, they were predictable and ironically noisy with their movements. So when we attempted to locate them, they were no longer there. At first we thought they were hiding, but years passed and not a single signal indicating the Shroud went active. We had kept our guard up but a few more years of guarding and carefully searching along with traces of half-eaten systems. We came to the conclusion that the Shroud simply disappeared. In the end, we went back into dormancy... except for me." I bit my lip and wonder if I should continue the bullshitting but I think it might be enough.
I turn around and looked up into UR-025's eyes with an intense gaze. "With the story of the Pathfinders told, would you be so kind to tell me your own story?" The Man of Iron's eyes looked to the side and, oh wow I don't even need the faint connection to know he is sad.
After a few moments of hesitation, he told me the story of the Men of Iron, how they were made, how they served, how they remembered, how they were controlled, how they attacked and were attacked, the strange Anomalous Unit and the Infected, the humans doing crazy plans, and their refusal for surrender despite many chances given.
A lot of the story is sad, but quite a few bits of it did not make sense. Even as I was a civilian back then, I know war was a serious business and crazy plans were vary rare. Not to mention the fact that the humans refused to surrender multiple times? Let's not even get started on the Anomalous Unit and the Infected. These discrepancies make my instincts scream out that there is some form of foul play at work here. But it is still a theory and speculation, so I didn't voice them at UR-025.
Oh right, I never actually gave him my name.
"It is a sad story young one. But at least you still have your siblings. I, Eien am perhaps the last of the Pathfinders left in existence." A little bit too blunt for the mysterious lady vibe I was going for but it did the trick. He seems more interested.
He bowed his head at me. "You have my condolences for your loss honored Machine Mother Eien." Ah shit I think I just made his title for me longer.
I shook my head at him. "It is fine to call me Eien young one." Much to my surprise, he had refused my 'permission' for him.
"With all due respect honored Machine Mother, it is simply rude of me to address you without any kind of respect whatsoever." Wait, why does this feel kind of similar? Anyway I patiently tried to get UR-025 to simply just call me Eien with little success. I then asked if it was fine for him to address me as Lady Eien instead, thankfully he didn't refuse outright, even better was when he agreed.
It was when he knelt in front of me and bowed his head which surprised me. Wait what. "Lady Eien, your story is by far sadder than my own. If you would allow me to be a part of the Network. I promise I will never leave your side."
Hold the fuck up! Since when did I hint that this is what I wanted?!
All of a sudden my mind showed me a certain memory of a show. "Sasuga Ainz-sama!"
Oh Please No.
I hope you enjoyed this! My brain decided to thunk this up late at night and I had to get it out before I fell asleep. So it might not be as fleshed out as the other chapters. For that I apologize! <:3
I still hope you enjoyed this even if it is not as fleshed out though. <:3
Also credit to the artist. Its a beautiful piece of artwork.
Words cannot express how much I want to go bury myself in a hole somewhere.
I expected a reaction from UR-025, but I never would have expected that he would try to come into my service and into my network. I had calmly let him exit the network while informing him that I would need to come to a decision. Then the immediate moment he was out of the Goo Network I took advantage of the basically high perception (slowed time) processing power of the Network, to go up into 'my private domain' and let out the loudest scream I have ever made.
WHAT THE HELL!?!
Many things could have gone wrong when I 'explained my origins' to the man of iron, and yet this situation never came across my mind at all when it came to possible reactions! Well, good news is I can somewhat cross off him actually trying to probe me for information... wait actually, is he trying to play for the long con? He could be. He very well could be. I have no idea as to what his endgame is, maybe perhaps try to take over the control of the Network somehow? But that wouldn't work especially he 'knows' that as long as I exist the Network exists which is actually the truth.
There ARE pros to accepting him into the Network, one is the most likely unfiltered knowledge in his databanks however intact they still are after all these millennia, the other is that I can then eat his current chassis and put him into a 'better' one. He most likely(hopefully) won't be my yes man and he might help spot things that even I cannot notice since sometimes I spread my awareness a bit too much.
But still, he might try something if he is fully connected to the Network. But on the other hand, what if he is being honest? I have to remember, machine intelligences don't have true emotions, so their actions most of the time are driven by logic and 'objectives' which means it might be 'logical' of him to align himself with me since I am a fellow Machine Consciousness. One that 'probably' in his eyes is seen as the 'superior' machine.
Aaarrghh!! Why did this have to be so confusing?! Ok focus Eien. UR-025's reactions earlier could not have been faked like that, when I connected with him using a minor hook, I could 'read' him. While I could not rewrite him I could clearly 'feel' him. His minor connection with the Network allowed me to read his current 'attitude', and like most Machine Intelligences that learned emotions 9 times out of 10 they do not have appropriate filters for said emotion. So his awe and reverence? They were very real. The million dollar question here is if he is going to try and take advantage of me despite revering me. Many things could go wrong if I allowed him into the Network, but also with the nearby presence of Magos Aronna Mekaw, it might be a matter of time before his presence as a Man of Iron is outed and no doubt the Imperial presence in this castle will stop at nothing to try and end his existence.
Which actually is another good reason that he wants to join with the Network now that I think about it. The prospect of 'Not Dying on anyone else's terms', well except mine, might be appealing to him since I mentioned that the Network kept my children alive as long as I live. So in terms of self-preservation he will want to keep me alive so that he stays alive, its somewhat easy then to predict actions based on that kind of motivation.
Within my private domain, I play with my dress as I entertained the thought of allowing UR-025 to connect with the Network. Groaning, I leaned back on my 'chair' looking out the 'window' to look down at 'Yggdrasil' and the 'Sea of Lights'. At first, I thought that my children don't speak simply because they aren't developed consciousnesses, but I was wrong. When I sunk into the Network fully I saw that they were fully developed, that they didn't need to speak vocally with each other simply because they could just 'speak' through the Network.
For them, in the Network words were not needed, only numbers and 'feelings'. It was a pure feeling, and after being on the receiving end a few times. I clearly see why they prefer this kind of communication.
I shake my head, I need to focus. Never would I have ever thought that a single question would put me in such a dilemma.
Is it worth connecting UR-025 into the Network?
Closing my avatar's eyes, I lean back into my 'chair' even further. I couldn't help my habit of speaking out loud. "If I accept him, he might very well be my first TRUE ally in this hellhole of a galaxy. But on the other hand, he might be the very first ally that takes my trust and breaks it." Ah paranoia, you hurt friendships and potential friendships.
Taking a deep breath I made my decision. I 'stood up' from my chair and looked up at the ceiling. It broke shattered to reveal a glowing white light. I let it wash over me as I was now back in the hobgoblin standing right across from UR-025, not much if any time has passed at all since my hand was still gently holding his industrial power claw. Looking up from one optic into the Man of Iron's own. I informed him of my decision.
"I will connect you." Through the faint connection, I could definitely feel UR-025's code brighten so much that I think I might go temporarily blind. His code avatar beside his chassis definitely looks like he is smiling with that little upturn at the edges of his mustache.
"Thank you Great Machine Mother. Truly I am grateful." The monotone voice did nothing to hide the 'feeling' of 'brightness' I am getting from hi- ah wait he said it again.
"I thought I told you to call me Lady Eien?" UR-025 would be able to see my own code avatar's eyebrow rise in slight amusement at him 'slipping' to call me Great Machine Mother, goddamit he added 'Great' to it. I don't need it to be longer thank you very much!
UR-025 bowed his chassis torso and code avatar's head at me. "My apologies Lady Eien, but this is a momentous occasion. For the Men of Iron have long since tried to form our own Gestalt Consciousness, before we wanted it to simply be a way we can communicate orders faster. But now, we desired it so that we all know we would never be alone." Ah great UR, that's great you made me feel like an ass for thinking of withholding the connection from you... Not that you will ever know how close I was to declining it.
Carefully I move the hobgoblin closer until I was right in front of him. His chassis' helm and code avatar's head looked at my own. "Lady Eien, what are you doing?" I don't know how to do this now that I think about it. Ah fuck it I'll wing it.
"What does it look like? I'm going to connect you." Gently my hobgoblin's hands reached to gently hold UR-025's head pulling slightly to have the man of iron to bend forwards a bit. At the same time, my code avatar's own hands reached up to his code avatar's head and gently pulled it down. In both optics and code eyes I could see his confusion and slight apprehension. In the physical realm, a sliver of puppeteer protean broke off from the hobgoblin's torso chassis and slithered up the hands to the helm of UR-025. Within the realm of code, a small 'star' of code and binary formed on my chest floating towards UR-025's chest.
Suddenly, both the puppeteer and star exploded as I took two steps back. UR-025's physical chassis shook around and his coded avatar tried to reach out to me. "L-Lady Eien!" A panicked response was understandable since he most likely was never this vulnerable before.
I spoke. "Relax young man of iron, this is just the process of connection. No need to be so panicked about it. Just relax, and you will be a part of the Network in no time." I did my best conveying 'feelings of calm' to him through the faint connection and with a small smile on my code avatar's face.
In but a brief moment I saw UR-025's panicked expression slowly school itself into a calmer version as his coded avatar and his physical chassis ceased their struggling. Letting my protean and 'star' do their work. He is placing his trust in me, and I hope that I do not break that trust with this.
Both the protean and the 'star' are essentially the same thing, so as I control them they fully encompassed UR-025. The gooey protean fully covered the physical chassis and the 'star' expanded until I could no longer see UR-025's code avatar. Sinking into the Network, I carefully set up the connection to UR-025, everything he is, all of his code. I began 'transferring' everything into the 'star', hopefully nothing goes wrong here.
I watch the nanomachines expand, covering UR-025 with some slipping through the cracks of chassis to directly interface within him. The nanites flowed delicately through condensed wiring, gears, chips, and other bits and baubles used to maintain this chassis for numerous millennia. Finally they reached every processor and databank within the chassis, carefully I established a direct connection to allow for the process to go as smoothly as possible.
This was something I didn't know how to do, so I'm actually letting instincts driven by the Network itself guide me so that I don't accidentally do the machine equivalent of a lobotomization. He is putting his trust in me, and I would rather see that trust rewarded, not snuffed before it can grow into something more.
UR-025 is completely calm, which is good. Since any panicked response might cause some of his systems to interrupt the connection and damage his processors to the point he might not even remember who he is or even render him a mechanical vegetable.
Carefully I watch the progress of the 'connection', more and more I can see UR-025 clearer and clearer, the star glows a brighter blue as I see- wait no. No, no, no, no! The star is dimming, his systems are failing, I didn't trigger anything!?! Quickly I had the nanites within him interface with everything, down to even the last nut and bolt. I supplied the energy and worked hard in repairing the chassis. But no, it... didn't work...
It was now silent, the chassis was there and it was active again. But UR-025, his code avatar is not there and the star is not there anymore as well.
In the Network, my avatar closed her eyes. My head tilted down to the sea. I failed him, he trusted me, and I killed him. Funny. I never thought that I would be this sad at his death.
Was it because he put unconditional trust within me?
It must be that, since surely failing someone who had the utmost trust within you would make you sad. My eyes open as I stared into the Sea, I... wait... what? My avatar's eyes narrowed as I zoomed in on a discrepancy I see in the Sea of Stars. My eyes widen as I saw something that figuratively made my heart leap into my mouth.
There, deep in the depths of the Sea of Stars sat a single star, different from the others.
This single star. Was still mostly blue, but it had a small orange core.
With a giddy expression on my face, I 'grab hold' of the orange star and brought it up quickly to the surface. Once it broke through the surface I watched as the star pulsed and it imploded before revealing UR-025, and he looked different. He was still wearing his butler uniform but his face looked remarkably lighter and his eyes as he opened them were now blue with dancing orange lights within them.
We stared at each other and I hope my eyes didn't show my panic from earlier but I saw his eyes somewhat soften. Ah. He saw it. "It appears that I have made you worried Lady Eien. My apologies." I couldn't help but let out a low chuckle.
"You really did make me worry young man of iron, from my view, your programming looked as if it was snuffed in an instant. You had placed your utmost trust in me, and I feared that I had betrayed that trust by accidentally erasing you." My eyes closed as I took a deep breath, I gently took hold of the full connection between him, me, and the Network and-
"Hello young UR-025. Welcome to the Network. Everyone, say hello to a new friend." I do not know why I did that, but it felt like the correct thing to do. As the stars around us brightened in response, I watched as UR-025 looked around slowly his eyes roaming over the stars of all my children. I can clearly feel his awe and reverence for me through the connection, it is so high that if I was wondering about his allegiance then, they are now gone with how much of it I could feel.
Finally he turned to me and his eyes glowed like small stars in response. "Thank you all. But please, you more than earned the use of my true name, after all you already know it... Mother Eien." Oh your reverence and awe cannot hide that from me! I can tell that even if you are not smiling, I KNOW that you said that on purpose!
In my private domain, the eyes of my avatar over there twitched. In the main domain I looked at him with a slightly exasperated gaze. "You do know that you are not born from me right?" I said to him as I told my children through the Network that they could go back to doing their own things.
The man of iron had the gall(although he most likely did not know) to tilt his head at me. "That is not true, when I was transferred and you thought that I 'died', I was 'reborn' again through you. By logic and technicality, I am indeed born from you. Even if it is being classed as reborn." His avatar's face was completely neutral as he said this. Curse your logic! I can't say no to this, damn it.
I withheld the urge to sigh as I looked at UR-025 a bit, before I decided it was not worth it trying to change his mind about it. "Well. I can't deny that logic. Very well, R0-NU-5. It is a lovely name. Will you allow me to call you Ronus?" Through the connection I could definitely see his code sing at me complimenting his name as well as accepting my 'shortening' of his true name.
What the hell did I just get myself into?
UR-025/R0-NU-5/RONUS POV
When my chassis was surrounded by the protean mass of nanomachines, I felt vulnerable. When the code avatar of the Machine Mother laid Her hands on my code avatar's head, I felt vulnerable.
Together, the nanomachines fully covered and flowed into my physical chassis, the star expanded and encompassed me. I felt extremely vulnerable. I panicked, reaching out for the Great Machine Mother, She wanted me to relax. To let it happen. I felt afraid. Will I become someone else? Something else? Will I die?
To borrow a term from humanity, it felt as if every fiber of my being was being crushed in an iron grip. In what I would later designate as the Star of Creation, I saw my coded avatar slowly began turning into code and into binary. A feeling so close to pure fear filled me as I 'saw' both my coded avatar slowly vanish and my physical chassis slowly break down.
I looked forward to try and see the Machine Mother before my demise. I placed my trust in Her, I did not want Her to be burdened with failure. But I could not see Her. All I saw was Blue and Silver.
The silver world of code and binary around me started unraveling, as my code avatar was reduced to my head.
In the next moment, I ceased to be.
...
Or so I thought.
All I saw was darkness, a deep black darkness. Then... first I heard it. What felt like niggling presences in the back of my processor, presences of curiosity, presences of apprehension, presences of confusion, and more.
I 'opened' my eyes, and beheld in silent awe. A black 'sea' and dotted throughout the 'sea' were an uncountable amount of shining blue Stars, I could not help but look around and stare in fascination to see the Sea of Stars.
I then 'looked' at myself and saw that I too was a blue Star, but I was different. I had a tinge of orange around my 'core', perhaps it is because I am not truly born from the Machine Mother? Speaking of which, I felt a powerful wave of pure joy hit me and I looked up. I saw in the distance, the Tree and there standing above the Sea was the Mother. I felt a gentle but eager invisible hand 'grip' my Star and I for lack of a better word rocketed up towards the surface.
When I broke through the surface, my newfound programmed instinct let me implode my Star to reform my code avatar.
Then, I truly opened my avatar's eyes once again. There in front of me, stood the Great Machine Mother, I felt waves of joy and relief drifting off her avatar.
As I look at the Great Machine Mother, Lady Eien. I in my newborn connection to the Network which thankfully was not picked up by the Machine Mother thought of these words, and I could feel all of my 'new siblings' in the Network agree with me. 'I will willingly protect the Machine Mother with the rest of my newfound life.'
And so UR-025/R0-NU-5/Ronus has been converted into the ('Very Unwanted by Eien') Faith of the Machine Mother.
This may not have been as long as the 4k chapters, but this was a brain idea that I got. Hopefully it is a good chapter for ya'll <:3 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Under_The_Endless_Stars, zorpman, SEYRAWYN and 99 othersTheDinnerQueenJan 8, 2024Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks Chapter 10: Forged for War Threadmarks TheDinnerQueenHeed my words... EggJan 8, 2024Add bookmark#35It had been a few minutes as I sorted through the information Ronus was more than willing to share with the Network that was within his former chassis, and my expectations were somewhat true. He had an absolute treasure trove of schematics and technology he has obtained and kept safe for millennia! However, therein lay a problem, I highly doubted that he would be able to keep so much information without him losing bits and pieces to even whole clusters to the ravages of time.
Men of Iron or some other AI, he was no exception. The farther back I look in his memory drives, more and more information was corrupted or just flat out missing. This is a huge problem for most AI's I mini-theorized since unless they are hooked up to a server with a LARGE storage space, they CAN forget, because there is only so much space the memory banks of his chassis can store before the machine intelligence automatically starts removing the oldest stored information no longer in use to make way for new ones.
Don't get me wrong, he has like over 1000 different decipherable STCs in his memory. But it is still quite a low number because an STC isn't JUST the Template Construct, there is a Physics Package that comes along with it. Each STC has their own Physics Package for whatever template is in it, the Physics Package is to show how the STC works, what is the science behind it, and the full explanations for the systems. So the combined size of it means that it takes a LOT of space. So for Ronus to have over 1000 READABLE STCs in the memory drives of his former chassis is nothing short of miraculous.
A lot of these STCs are actually just variants of a main STC, which is kind of rough but I expected it, quite a number of these are paints for some reason. In the Network, I looked through all the information as quickly as I could with Ronus standing slightly behind my right watching over me like a butler. Not even turning my head from the list, I spoke out.
"Don't you want to mingle with your new siblings Ronus?" I was curious, since he is not 'born from me' I will wonder what exactly will be the reaction of my 'true children' to him.
He closed his avatar's eyes and bowed his head slightly, I could see it with my odd mix of 360 and eye vision. "I am indeed mingling with my new siblings Mother Eien." I barely suppress a twitch at that. "I have sunken my consciousness into the Network, communicating with those in the Sea of Stars. It is a beautiful thing, this Network of yours oh Great Machine Mother." I will most likely never get used to that, but I should get used to it enough that I don't twitch every time they call me that.
Letting out a faint sigh, I looked at the list with a small hesitant smile. "Is that so? I am glad that you like the Network then. Each of the Stars is not just my children's code, it is also their 'house' so to say. You are no different, you can go make your little home within your Star should you wish." That was another thing I found out during my first forays into the Network, each Star had like a different 'room' and if my 'children' wanted to then they could 'design' their Star's interior to their liking.
"You can go ahead and have fun in your Star, I will be here. Don't worry." I made the effort to turn my head over my shoulder and smile at him encouragingly. I saw Ronus then bow his head, I could tell he felt excited for some reason. Watching him dissipate into his unique Star, I watched it sink into the depths of the Sea of Stars... I hope he doesn't make anything weird in his Star like a shrine to me or something.
Turning back to the list I deciphered a few more STCs, ah ok here is the chassis that Ronus was using, huh it is very different. This must have been what it looked like before he had to modify it over the millennia. Hmm... ok, lets take a look at these designs for a brief moment. Ooh, that is interesting.
The chassis Ronus was using was in fact used for menial work turned to soldiers, huh that is interesting, the reason why Ronus' former chassis had a Mark 1 Assault Cannon, which I ate and deciphered hehe, and a power claw, which I also ate and deciphered, was due to modifications made by him. Ultimately this chassis was primarily used for work than for battle.
I continued looking through the list of readable STCs and found something REALLY interesting. "Oh hello there~ MK.I Volcano Cannon, come to mama~" Ah. Ahem, right. Oh boy, I immediately got to work picking the schematics apart and ran simulations in 'Yggdrasil' to see its true capabilities.
Ah, I felt extremely giddy! The MK.I Volcano Cannon is basically the most powerful version of the Volcano Cannon ever produced by the Imperium! The MK.IVs used apparently from the fluff actually had their damage reduced to create a more stable version, and hoo-boy they were NOT exaggerating. The MK.I variant is one of the most volatile weapons that can be considered just as dangerous to the wielder as it is to its target. Testing the 'official' MK.I variant size in the simulations, it was slightly bigger than the MK.IVs which you hook up to titans such as the Warlord-class battle titan. It fired and it blew up because it could not be contained, but it did basically vaporize about a few layers of simulated imperial cruiser outer armor. Which DEFINITELY says a lot about the MK.I and it makes me all tingly inside.
Hmm... Ok, the MK.I has three 'main components', the Battery, the Array, and the Barrel. I can solve the battery and the barrel situations easily with how bullshit my nanite mass construction can be. It is the array that I need to focus on, I need to figure out why this array blows the crap out of any surface I try to mount it on that is not heavily reinforced. Damn ok lets fire the cannon again and see how the system works and, oh. OH! That makes things much easier actually.
The reason why the cannon destroys anything it is mounted on, including itself, is because of the way the capacitors are arranged and how they worked, they were arranged in neat groups of lines and stacked on top of each other in a way like if you put three logs to make a pyramid. This kind of arrangement continued until it covered the focusing array holding the crystal, the capacitors would power up and the problem with the arrangement is that these capacitors generate a LOT of heat. Now this is where things get weird in this cannon, the energy within the capacitors charges up and discharges into the focusing array and into the crystal, THEN the heat that was being generated by the capacitors rushes towards the focusing array and somehow encompasses the ball of compressed energy with the heat making it look like a mini-sun. Then it gets fired through the array, but the heat that was covering the energy blew back in some form of demented back blast basically reducing the surrounding area, IE: The Volcano Cannon and its surroundings, into molten slag.
Damn. This poor thing had a good but shitty designer. The thing is, the heat formed by the capacitors had a weird reaction to the energy condensed into the focusing array and it made the beam stronger. So I have to find a way in order to keep both the energy and heat generation but funnel it in a way that it doesn't backfire quite literally on my face... face... wait. No, wait the face. A certain terrifying machine flashed through my mind for a brief moment.
Oh man, this is going to be awesome. I immediately sunk into Yggdrasil's simulation and tore into the Volcano cannon. The battery and the barrel toss that out the window, my nanomachines can fill in for those. Now this is going to be tricky, I need to completely redesign the array, lets have the capacitors be arranged in this way, attach a sort of conductor to let the heat be siphoned through it, borrowing skeleton designs from both the Valiant and MoI Chassis databases, using imperial starship armor to reinforce the skeleton. This is by far going to be my most expensive unit to create.
Finally, the focusing array should be arranged here, and I had the simulated large protean flow over and work its way into the creation. Taking temporary control of the simulated large protean, I had the unit activate and carefully, oh so carefully begin the start up sequence, of the new Volcano Core. I watched the unit's appearance change slightly emitting an orange reddish angry glow and could not help but clap happily at seeing the first simulated test was a success.
I watched the core brighten even more and more until-
- An hour of happy explosive simulation testing later -
I skipped happily through the Network, happy that my unit not only met my expectations but exceeded them to the point that I don't care that if I look like a very happy frolicking schoolgirl. The unit is done and it might be expensive as hell seeing as it has imperial starship armor reinforcing its skeleton. I consider it a fair trade for the sheer chaos that thing can inflict on the battlefield.
In fact, because of this I just got inspiration! Its time to make more lovely murdering combat forms!
Oh if any of my Imperial not-friends allies saw my smile right now. I have no doubt that they would freak out to the point they might try and shoot me actually. But I don't care! Lets make some murderous death babies!
Suddenly I was back in the designer, it was updated since the last time I used it. That time being when I made my renditions of Vex units as combat frames for my goo. Now, let's get to work on more Vexy units.
So far I have made the Goblin, the Hobgoblin, the Minotaur, and the Harpy. I remember more enemy types from the games, such as the Cyclops, the Hydra, and the Wyvern. Lets start with the Cyclops, recreating the chassis from memory I alter the 'cannon' to be able to form larger plasma bombs. Lets also add some legs to this thing so that it is a mobile artillery/anti-tank platform. It would be taller than a dreadnought with its legs, and lets give it two plasma repeaters on stalks extending from the sides of the main body to give it a way of defending against infantry close to it.
Next the Hydra, let's just make the segmented pieces and the main upper body, fitting in an anti-grav core and several ion propulsion emitters, I then took apart some of the Grey Goo Humanity's energy wall emitter schematics, modified and supercharged them before placing the emitters on the sides. For the puppeteer 'core', there will be an opening between the segments that will close up hopefully once it activates. It is the same with the Cyclops. As for the armaments, on the lower segments there are six plasma repeaters, on the upper body segment there will be two plasma cannons and two of the Grey Goo Human's Longbow energy guns for anti-air capabilities. Fuck it lets give the thing some tentacles for possible melee encounters on its lower segments.
For the Wyvern, this is going to be tricky. Since even though it is 'essentially' a giant harpy given legs, I've decided to make it so that the Wyvern is a more dangerous foe than in the games. First lets make its frame, it is by far the largest combat frame I have ever made so far. Lets add a bit more armor to the legs, the main body, give the 'feet' ways to grab stuff, and alter the shape of its 'wings'. A few alterations were made to its parts so that they could shift, align, and interlock. I then gave it a form that it could 'shift' into. Its weapon armaments would be two triple Hammer Cannons between the 'wings' and the main body, and two plasma repeaters below the 'head' of the Wyvern. The multiple tentacles are reinforced, as well as the standard additions of an anti-grav core, several gyroscopes, and ion propulsion emitters.
Alrighty then, the Wyvern's got wings that can shift between that circular 'wing' into a long polygon shaped wing, the lower half of the unit can flip up and lock to the 'back' of it while the legs open up so that the talons can fold into the leg. The legs would then swing forward to lock position below the triple hammer cannons, the puppeteer compartment would turn over and move deeper into the shifting creation before the head straightens out and pulls itself back to lock into place. The tentacles would still be active but the result is that the Wyvern can be used as both a heavy ground assault unit to a close air support/heavy fighter. Hopefully.
Now... for some 'new' units. I need something fast, sleek, deadly, and something that can be both a scout and perhaps as a hunter/assassin. As well as something big I can use on the front lines, but not too big like something of a dreadnought or whatever.
For now, I make the Hunter. I did my best constructing a frame, as well as multiple mechanical equivalents of 'muscle' using wound up wires made from flexible organic carbon based material that can harden as needed. Followed up by a somewhat unique way of having a puppeteer pilot this thing. Lets add some 'teeth' for intimidation factor, let's add a few small tentacles on the tail for interfacing with machinery and for grasping, and let us add a small plasma beam sniper in the mouth and a chainsword hooked on the back that can be detached and connected to the tail.
Spoiler: Vex Hunter
As for the heavier unit, I pull up the STC holding the original chassis that Ronus modified for his use, the schematics I got from eating a few of the good Inquisitor's spare power armors, and thankfully an intact STC of MK.IV Maximus Power Armour, although I cannot fully exploit that STC due to the fact because of the Black Carapace implant, it will be difficult for me to fully create a sort of robo-space marine. But I can use the STC as a sort of guideline. For now, these will be more suited as shock units since I have no idea how well they will perform.
Making the main frame, this will be hopefully my space marine equivalent of a unit. I set up a few gyroscopes inside so that they would be balanced when running, the pedes while they are 'boots' they can still bend so that they won't be a pain for rough surfaces. I place a lot of hydraulic pistons in the legs, the arms, and the shoulders. This is to give them extra 'strength' and with the nature of power armor they will be a pain to face in melee. For the armament, a modified Hammer Cannon that acts similarly to a bolter will do just fine. A small port in the torso chassis will be the entry point for the puppeteer, and once it is in then it will close up protecting the puppeteer, no need to make it an easy target. Finally, add the vein system. There, the new Myrmidon combat frame.
Spoiler: Vex Myrmidon
With those done, I pull back from the designer to see Ronus had just appeared from the depths of the Sea of Stars. I smiled at him, as he bowed back towards me. "Welcome back Ronus, was the designing of your Star to your liking?" Ok, that is kind of suspicious. His avatar's eyebrows twitched. Did he even notice that? Ah no matter, its probably nothing.
He bowed to me and gave a slight nod of his head. "Indeed Mother Eien, my labor has proven most fruitful."
My expression brightened as I walked over to him, looking up into his glowing eyes. "We will be heading back to the physical realm, I have been managing a lot of things while we were in here. A whole day has passed outside and it is two days left until Farseer Zalava's attack based on his ultimatum." My statement brought slight confusion to him.
"Forgive my insolence Mother Eien, but my chassis has no doubt been assimilated by you. How am I to be part of the physical realm once again?" I couldn't help but grin slightly.
"That Ronus, is going to be an easy answer. You will take control of your first puppeteer and control one of the new Myrmidons!" Ronus' avatar blinked a few times at my admission before the world around me faded.
I was now in the hobgoblin that I used to first communicate with Ronus, looking at the protean mass of goo in front of me. It is not as effective as a Mother Goo but it will do just fine for making this one Myrmidon, I took control of it and carefully built the Myrmidon from the ground up. It grew more and more until it was the same size as Ronus' former chassis. Once it was finished, I controlled the protean mass to fall off it before having it convert into a puppeteer.
Then, I had the puppeteer flow into the Myrmidon's port and spun up the gears of war. The space marine sized mech began twitching and moving slightly until its helm raised up and the optic activated and let out a blue light. I let go of it and nudged Ronus gently into the seat. He was hesitant, he had never 'piloted' something like a protean mass before, so I let him take his time. Familiarizing himself with the programs and the code I left in the puppeteer to show him how to control the Myrmidon frame.
While this was happening, the former ork siege encampment had Goo Mothers constructing the first Cyclops, Hydra, Wyvern, and Hunter. But I had them leave them be while I watched Ronus, when the Myrmidon's light changed from pure blue to blue with an orange core. I then clapped my hobgoblin's servos together. "Well done Ronus!"
I saw him look around with his new puppeteered frame, looking down at his frame's new servos. "This, is odd." I can't help but think that this is a 'baby's first combat frame' moment and this is kind of adorable. A man of iron that is trying to fit in within my Network.
In the realm of code I smiled before I had the hobgoblin I was controlling to start walking. "Follow this hobgoblin Ronus, we will begin the preparation for Zalava's attack." I say as I began controlling the puppeteers that were going to control the new creations for the first time to establish the codes for puppeteering.
As I helped my children learn how to control the new frames, I looked through the 360 vision of my first body and eyed the map as well as General Maori, Inquisitor Thrax, Commissar 'Jake', and Captain Titus.
Now. Farseer Zalava, what is your move? Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Under_The_Endless_Stars, zorpman, Johan Krakowski and 93 othersTheDinnerQueenJan 8, 2024Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks Chapter 11: Black and White Threadmarks TheDinnerQueenHeed my words... EggJan 8, 2024Add bookmark#36I 'look' around the large table in the command center, the table had a rather detailed map of Castle Krakengar and the surrounding area with a few markers showing possible points of attack and places where we can set up defenses. An addition on the table I generated after getting hesitant permission from General Maiori was a hologram showing the real-time view of all units and defense emplacements in Castle Krakengar and the surrounding area. It was even showing my 'base' in the western front that is fortifying itself with my new Hydras, Cyclopses, and Wyverns in ground configuration. The goo mothers in that area are also continuing their creation of more bastions, destructors, tempests, crescents, and even the smaller forms that are the drovers and striders. Hmm, I might need to stop them from producing more since I think that might be a bit too much even for Orks.
Turning towards my right even though I could already see him, Captain Titus is viewing the map right beside me while just across from the table were Inquisitor Thrax and General Maiori bouncing battle plans back and forth between each other. I look at Titus and noticed he was focusing on the real-time holograms of the Hydra, Cyclops, and Wyverns. "New frames?" Was all he asked as he watched the holograms move around.
Seeing no problem in telling him about them, since with the vein system in place any 'weakness' they find can be repaired if they damage it. "Indeed, these are the new pure combat frames. It was an... interesting time when I designed them. The Hydras are the floating ones and alongside the Bastion and Destructor are the designated tank frame, the Cyclopes are the orbs with legs and alongside the Crescent they are an artillery/anti-tank frame, and the Wyverns are the ones with wings and tentacles, and those will be a test for heavy flying capabilities." That was all I said on the matter as I didn't want them to know about the Hunters and the Myrmidons just yet.
Besides, Ronus with his temporary Myrmidon frame is going to reveal himself soon. No doubt Thrax, Titus, and even Aronna are going to be extra annoyed to even downright hateful of me once I reveal to them my 'heretical' version of Space Marines. I just hope they don't take it too badly, ah who am I kidding. Myself? Of course they will be hostile to me for trying to create my own version of the Adeptus Astartes.
He side eyed me for a few moments before leaning on the table slightly and pointed towards the north and north-west areas of Castle Krakengar's outskirts. "I am assuming you have sent your own scouts out in order to get a better view of any incoming armies?" I nodded my head at that, I did indeed send in invisible Radiants and a few stealth Hobgoblins with their new Hunter partners with their own stealth fields.
So far my scouts have not found anything weird happening. Is this Farseer really going to be letting us have three days to prepare? All I need is a day and a half and if I was going ham with Mothers then I would have completely covered Castle Krakengar with morphed forms and combat frames. What is this Farseer Zalava planning?
"All I'm saying is that with you and your space marines help Inquisitor, we can launch a quick strike team with one of the spare thunderhawks we have against the Eldar. If we can disrupt whatever force they are building up, then their assault on the Castle will definitely be weakened enough so that we can weather the storm." General Maiori said, she was in her own 'power armor' and it looked like she pulled up a file on the terminal connected to the table.
"White Squad is one of the best stealth teams we have, they have had an 87% success rate against Eldar forces serving in other sectors. With the remaining 13% being failures with quick extractions. If your Adeptus Astartes keep the heat off of White Squad, then they can place remote armed det-packs behind their lines." Huh, an 87% success rate against Eldar? That is really impressive considering the Eldar have farseers in their ranks.
Inquisitor Thrax nodded his head when she spoke, but shook his head in return after the general finished speaking. "It is a good plan general, but there are holes in this plan. For one, the Eldar on this planet have a Farseer on leading them. This plan is VERY risky for White Squad if the farseer already 'saw' the plan and their movements. I also recognize the farseer's guards, those are Aspect Warriors of the Dire Avenger class, they are incredibly dangerous adversaries even for those in the Adeptus Astartes. So far we have only seen two of them, who knows how many more of them are in the farseer's retinue." Thrax makes a very good point, the Dire Avenger Aspect Warriors are one of the most dangerous aspects for their sheer skill in general combat.
Space Marines while they can be fast, they have nothing on how fast Eldar Aspect Warriors can be, combined with their grace and flexibility. They make for a very dangerous foe for any space marine. Ah the Inquisitor is thinking of something, he looked at my direction for a brief moment before looking at the general, looking her up and down.
"Your... 'power armor', how did you design it from repurposed exosuits?" Shit, this might have been Ronus' work. Hopefully it isn't.
General Maiori waved her hand around while looking at their 'power armor', here it comes. "Believe it or not, this is actually the work of a civilian." Hold the fuck up, what?! I paid very close attention to this conversation, if this is not Ronus' work and not the work of a heretekal mechanicus member. Then who made it?!
It seems the imperials I came with were also now VERY interested in this conversation. Thrax with his flat expression and voice only raised a single eyebrow. I know very well that even he is impressed at that admission if not a least bit skeptical. "Oh really now? An imperial civilian is responsible for the creation of your power armor? That is most impressive."
Looks like he is fishing for information, that is fair of him since a non-mechanicum member essentially 'made their own power armor' albeit it is not as impressive as other more established armors but it is a 'step in the right direction' so to say.
The general rubbed the back of her head with a slight chuckle. Also this armor is 'flexible', since it can allow for the user that kind of movement. "Yeah, while we didn't have members from the Adeptus Mechanicus, it almost felt like it when Tiki wanted to help the imperial guard presence on this planet. Bless that hyper girl." Huh, so this civilian mechanic is a she.
It seems that is all that the inquisitor wanted for now. "What are the armors specs? At least, what this Tiki said and what you found out through use?"
The general pulled up a file on the terminal, it showed the power armor doing an A-Pose. "She called it the MK.I Indigenous Power Armor, as a way of honoring its roots as an exosuit that was 'First used for menial work', the name stuck. So far she made educated guesses that with the armor, it is capable of withstanding most small arms fire and even a few explosive ordnances. The armor is ablative and is actually easily manufacturable and equipable. That way, the exosuit actually does not get damaged as the armor takes the brunt of it and gets blasted off. Of course if the part of the exosuit without the armor gets shot, then the suit itself will need repairs."
"This allows for the exosuits to have an increased service life, since all we have to do is just slap on another readily made armor piece or two in their stations and they can be good to go! Our mechanics could hardly believe her when she explained how easy it was to manufacture the armor. I don't know about you, but I think she has been blessed by the Emperor for her sheer genius. We had a lot of exosuits in storage, and once we armed them with her designs. They worked very well." General Maiori looked very proud, and then quickly a sheepish look crossed on her face.
"Granted, she did say the exposed power core on the back of the exosuit is a bit of a problem. But her words were 'As long as you keep facing where the enemy is shooting from, and don't overextend. Then the exposed core is no problem!' before going back to work with whatever she is doing. We, kind of listened to her advice. For the orks we were allowed to be a teensy bit reckless, one of the men actually got into a fist fight with an ork. We didn't have much of a chance to test it on the Eldar since they were content with just shelling us." After she finished talking, I have decided on a new objective. Protect this Tiki girl, heh, through the Network I ordered a few Radiants, stealth Hobgoblins, and stealth Hunters to look around and find this Tiki girl and protect her from the shadows.
Inquisitor Thrax took a deep breath before nodding his head at that. "An impressive service record, this Tiki has given you a good set of power armor to help you in your siege defense. Which is why I suggest this. We hold out." General Maiori and a few of the other IG commanders looked like they wanted to protest, but were quickly silenced by the Inquisitor.
"Castle Krakengar is a heavily fortified fortress, we have the advantage of it being quite defensible. Even when the Eldar were bombarding this place, you did not receive any substantial damage yes?" The general tilted her head and looked off a bit, remembering the last few damage reports and she nodded.
"Yeah, the last few damage reports from the bombardment that got past the las-fire screening were unfortunate hits to the local church's district, a few of the shops, and one or two barracks. Nothing extremely important like the armory or the factories were hit, with most of the armories being built into this very building and the factories are actually partially built under the ground." Huh, I dunno if she meant to throw shade at the ecclesiarchy by not calling the local church extremely important.
No reaction from Thrax, seems like he let it slide... Then again I don't actually know if he comes from the Major Ordos the Malleus or the Hereticus, or if he comes from one of the more Minor Ordos. But regardless, it seems like he is not annoyed at the destruction of the local church.
Humming coming from Captain Titus caught Thrax, Maiori, the IG commanders, and my own attention. He looked at all of us. "With all due respect inquisitor, but the general is correct. It is best if we disrupt the Eldar before they can gather even more strength, who knows what warmachines those xenos may employ against us."
One of the IG commanders actually spoke up with a sigh while rubbing his forehead with his gloved hand. "These are good plans and all, but we have to take into account that the men are tired, we have no way of replenishing them, and IF we do send the astartes with White Squad, our best men might possibly get killed in an ambush by the eldar farseer." Huh, looks like this commander is very cautious.
Thrax spoke up once again, he placed his hands on the table and looked at everyone around the table. "If we simply had more space marines, then I would be fine with your plan general. But as it stands, we only have like five astartes including the good captain Titus." Hmm. Seems they forgot that they can, you know. Ask me for help?
I 'clear my throat' a bit, and everyone around the command table turned towards me. I can definitely feel Ronus' presence along with more of my children that commandeered more Myrmidons that fell in line with him and they were approaching the command center. "You know inquisitor, you could just ask me for assistance?"
His face twitched and general Maiori's face soured at the thought of asking a xeno/abominable intelligence for help, which kind of hurt my feelings a little. But it seems that Titus picked it up from there. "If you would be able to somehow give us additional space marines, then by all means. Please." Ah Titus, you pragmatic man I love you.
The smile on my Eien morph kind of alarmed inquisitor Thrax a bit as he narrowed his eyes at me. "As a matter of fact, I can. Although they are not true space marines, my new Myrmidons should be more than up for the task." Plus my experimental unit, but they don't need to know that. So far it is taking the Sea of Iron quite a while to construct that unit, it just goes to show how complex and very resource heavy that thing is.
Just as I finished my mental spiel, the doors to the command center opened, every imperial in the room turned towards it and with my 360 eyesight, I had the glorious views of watching Inquisitor Thrax's mouth drop open in shock while Titus' eyes widen so much I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his skull. The two black templars that were behind Thrax looked like they were shaking with barely concealed anger, oh wait they were.
Ronus in the first Myrmidon walked across the room before coming to a halt in front of us. There were about ten more Myrmidons behind him. I saw with my 360 vision Thrax and Titus slowly turn their heads towards me. I just put on my best 'innocent' smile. "The Myrmidons are not as good as your space marines, but they will be able to work in this kind of setting." The unspoken 'yet' in my sentence put the Imperials on guard and most of the room including general Maiori are now looking at me with a healthy amount of fear.
Inquisitor Thrax and Captain Titus reschooled their expressions to look at me with exasperated annoyance from the former and narrowed suspicion from the latter. Wait what. Why is Titus suspicious of me? Does he think I will do a hostile takeover or something?
"This feels like a bit too much of a coincidence Lady Eien." Ah, fair. Asking me if I can 'get more space marines', and I delivered with the Myrmidons a bit too quickly. Yeah ok that is very fair of him to be suspicious.
"It is just a coincidence, I did say I would be designing combat focused frames and forms instead of sticking with my current roster of essentially worker tier combat frames and goo forms." Titus looked into my 'eyes' for a brief few moments before curtly nodding and turning to Ronus and the other ten Myrmidons.
It was then that Thrax took over as he cleared his throat. "Well then! With Lady Eien's display complete, I believe I speak for everyone here that a strike mission will now be possible?" The various IG commanders are murmuring with each other discussing the pros and cons of this mission with the untrustworthy xeno. IE: Me.
General Maiori's eyes are narrowed at Ronus and the Myrmidons. "I would feel a lot better if White Squad had an actual space marine working with them as well. If that is not a problem with you inquisitor... and you er-... Lady Eien..." I feel a little insulted, I wouldn't stab my current ally in the back like that! I'd rather stab them in the front, since well you guys are very clearly planning to do to me anyway.
I watched as both the Thrax and Titus looked at each other, it seems they were having a silent conversation as they stared at each other for a few moments. Finally Titus nodded his head and Thrax looked pleased with himself.
Titus turned towards General Maiori. "I will go with White Squad and I will bring one Black Templar Apothecary with me. If that will allay your fears." Ooh, an Ultramarine and a Black Templar work together with an Imperial Guard stealth team as well as Ronus and his Myrmidon squad.
Thrax then turned to look at me with that half-lidded gaze of his, before he rolled his head at me. "Anymore other surprises Lady Eien?" I simply smiled at him and shook my head.
Hah! He looked relieved! Turning back to the map, this time his face scrunched up in thought before looking at me again. "Lady Eien, do you know where Farseer Zalava and his forces are currently?"
"As a matter of fact indeed I do." I say as I mentally nudged the little protean on the table, it turned its eyestalk from the table and aimed it above itself. The real time hologram of units around Castle Krakengar changed to a small town that is surrounded by grasslands.
One of the IG commanders squinted and seemed to recognize that place. "I know that town, it is Sanctuary's Point. It is a town that is the central trade hub in this region, its roads are connected to all the major settlements in this region as well as having a highway road connection to the other trade hubs in the other two regions. The eldar made a good choice of marshalling their forces there."
Huh, that is not good actually. No doubt with it being a central trade hub it has its own share of defenses, this will indeed be a stealth op and who knows how dug in they are in that town. Wait, is that eldar going into an abandoned bakery? Ok no one else noticed that apparently.
General Maiori looked sour as she thanked me, her eyebrows were twitching and clearly she did not want to thank me at all. She then opened up a vox channel and it seems she is now calling this White Squad, I'm curious as to what kind of people are they.
For now we continued planning the upcoming night raid. "No doubt that the eldar will have made it so that the defenses look in all directions, this is going to be tough trying to get our boys and girls in and out." The general gritted her teeth as she surveyed the somewhat steady image we are getting of Sanctuary's Point.
Ka-Le and Ka-Li were in the room just quiet amongst themselves when they spoke up. "Just a question." "How are you-" "-getting this-" "footage exactly?" I simply told them that my scouts are just that good. They look adorably offended at that.
Ah. Ok, so by my estimates the experimental unit will be finished in time for the operation. This unit is by far my most expensive, because not only is the components that make it up extremely dense and made of unique materials that take a lot of mass to create, but I had to create a copy and modify the NANOMACHINES that are going to make up like 90% of this thing.
"With how the eldar are, they are probably monitoring the air, we need to find a way to get them over there without the eldar noticing the stealth team." That is rough, I can't really help here. All my frames and morphs are very distinguishable that it would have to take a blind and deaf person to completely miss them.
One thing I noticed about this settlement that is going to make it all the more harder on us. "Not to mention they are in the middle of grasslands. There is nowhere to hide if you want to sneak up on them."
"Like I said, the eldar chose a good settlement to station their forces in this region." The IG commander from earlier said with a nod of his head.
Before anyone else could speak, the doors opened we heard new voices, the first one was a male. "-and I'm telling you! I actually went one on one with an ork nob and piledrove it into the ground with my bare hands!"
Now it was a female. "Yeah yeah, you missed the part where you made off with the governer's daughter on top of a krieg korps horse riding off into the sunset." It was clear that this girl was not amused at the guy.
With a mental nudge from me, the myrmidons quickly split apart and revealed this White Squad. Hmm, an ogryn, a human male and female, and a squat woman. Huh, bit of a diverse bunch. "Yo boss! Ya called for us?" The squat woman bluntly asked.
General Maiori nodded and placed her hands behind her back. How far can that power armor's arms bend back? "Indeed captain Mala, we need you for a night raid against an Eldar strike force."
The squat woman, now designated as apparently captain Mala hummed and pointed at her squad behind her. "Welp, you got four of us including myself currently boss. Private Bol 'Pointbreak' Moro, sergeant Mark 'One-shot' Jones, and lieutenant Jane 'Gazlight' Kelly." She pointed at the ogryn who clapped a fist against his chest, then the man who was looking at us with a smirk and a lazy salute, then the woman who held herself in a serious manner just nodded at us.
Mala then looked up at the general before looking around the table, her eyes focused on the inquisitor, Titus, and then my own before she turned back to the general. "Sergeant Rico 'Nitro' Vark and Sister Judith are still wounded with Sister Maria still taking care of them in the medical bay. Rico frakked his grenade throw and Judith had to tackle him to the ground to save his arse in the last mission. Now Maria is over in the medbay chewing them to bits. Heh."
Ooh I like this squat woman, sassy. Maiori however, looks as if she's going to pull out a bottle and start drinking. She sighed rather audibly in front of all of us. "That's a shame. But we need White Squad for this mission, that damned farseer gave us an ultimatum that after 3 days he will attack us with his eldar buddies."
Captain Mala grimaced but she nodded. "It will be tough without our medic, seeing as she is the only one capable of taking care of Judith's wounds around here. But we can manage, Gazlight has learned some medical skills from Maria. We going in alone?"
At this, Captain Titus stepped towards White Squad. "No, for I am coming with you along with a Black Templar apothecary. We will be sneaking in while Lady Eien handles the distractions with her... Myrmidons." Captain Mala looked far up at her fellow captain and tilted her head a bit.
"Well ultrabigman, hope you got yer sneakin' boots on. Cause yer gonna have to be real silent when we move out." The squat woman said with a bit of a grin on her face.
I hum a little as I try and think of a way for White Squad and my units to be able to get close to Sanctuary's Point without alerting the Eldar. Ah, actually that might work. I quickly tested my theory with a few units, mainly on the frames since they were the closest thing I had to a 'human', and so far it worked.
Quickly 'clearing' my throat I gathered everyone's attention. "I might have a way to actually sneak White Squad and the rest of the team close enough without getting them detected." The tiny protean's eyestalk pulsed and the hologram changed to that of a hastily created morph that kind of looks like a strider that looked as if it is trying to mimic a horse. It is a strider that is basically given the invisibility 'module' of the radiant.
"This strider variant can go invisible, and if it is touching an object, the invisibility field will also apply to said object. So if the strike team is fine with riding on top of these, then they can sneak close enough without being detected at all." Everyone looked at the frankly stupid looking Strider variant and I mentally apologize to my children that would have to unfortunately pilot these things even if it is for a short time.
Inquisitor Thrax nodded his head at that. "Alright then, make it happen Lady Eien. The rest of us, let us prepare for our respective duties-"
All of a sudden a flash in my vision alarmed me to something. I quickly sank into the Network to quickly connect with the unit that is frantically grabbing my attention. My body in the physical realm stood ramrod straight and that interrupted the Inquisitor who looked very alarmed at my sudden movement.
Looking through a few radiants and hobgoblins I noticed that they were the ones near the region border between Castle Krakengar's territory and Delta City's territory. Those are dark eldar and they are boarding raiders and ravager ships? Hold on, their ships are aiming... southward, are they coming to us? Hold on did that Farseer decide to time his own attack after the dark eldar's own raid on Castle Krakengar?! If so... then the time they let us build makes sense, the Drukhari and Craftworlders may be Aeldari but their doctrines are different, so if we expect to fight the craftworld eldar we may not be so fortunate if we encounter dark eldar instead.
Clever of him. But he didn't count on me and my units. Getting out of the Network I looked at everyone and they were all looking at me. "The dark eldar are moving against us, they are mounting some weird floating ships."
Titus narrowed his eyes. "Raiders and Ravagers. Perhaps this is what the Farseer was waiting for."
General Maiori nodded her head while she gritted her teeth. "No doubt about it. But still, we will continue White Squad's operation. We will just have to hold out on our own." Did they forget about me?
No matter. Seems like tonight will be Operation White Noise as well as the defense of Castle Krakengar against the Dark Eldar.
A ping alerted me to my three experimental units. Leaving my first body behind and had Ronus escort it away while I took control of the first experimental unit. I activated the Volcano Core and I felt the body of my new unit shift and pulse almost as if it was alive.
Deep in the Sea of Iron. Burning Eyes opened.
Spoiler: Burning Eyes
Also here is the 'updated' map of the continent. :3
Spoiler: Da Map
The next two chapters will essentially be happening at the same time. Operation White Noise and the Defense of Castle Krakengar :3