The rebellion on Atomal was finally put down, and reconstruction efforts are now in full swing across the remaining Hive Cities.
Massive construction equipment is leveling the charred and dilapidated structures, and a magnificent new city is quickly rising from the ashes.
The lives of the Hive City residents have done a complete 180. School-age children are finally getting an education.
Adults either signed up for the military or became factory workers. The social security net is slowly coming together, and citizens are no longer treated like dirt as they were before.
Atomal's economy is also bouncing back fast. Merchants are dusting off ships salvaged from the void, ready to get interstellar trade rolling again.
The Adeptus Mechanicus is repairing shipyards and void installations, hiring skilled labor to crank out new starships and beef up void defenses. Mining the asteroid belt is also on the front burner.
After thousands of years of relentless exploitation, Atomal's planetary mineral resources are on their last legs.
However, humanity still utilizes less than 0.5% of the entire galaxy's resources. The vast void has enough raw material for humans to squander for millennia.
Daniel has tasked Magos Theresa with mass-cultivating computing Servitors using genetic technology. He ordered the Mechanicus to genetically tweak the Servitors' brains to boost their processing capacity.
These new, highly efficient Servitors will form the backbone of automated factories and mining operations, kicking up production efficiency across the board.
The training of new Astartes is also on the right track. It's unclear if it's the Emperor's direct blessing, but the Gene-Organs are growing from player gene-seed at breakneck speed compared to standard Astartes production.
In just over a month, the genetic organs are ready for implantation. When implanted, there is virtually zero rejection, and the mortality rate is significantly lower than the norm.
Magos Theresa estimates it will only take two or three months for the Saint's gene-seed to transform a regular Joe into a full Astartes.
If all goes according to plan, Daniel will likely be able to roll up to the Battle of Macragge with a ship full of Astartes. That would seriously boost his standing in the Imperium.
At the same time, new players who obtained reservation spots also entered the game. The entire prayer hall was packed to the gills.
Daniel stood on a high vantage point, gazing out over the teeming crowd. "It looks like we need to add a login point at the Cathedral in Tyrian Hive."
When players first enter the Warhammer world, they start in the Prayer Hall. Returning players have two options: either return to the initial login point or log in from the same place they logged out. Resurrection, however, always sends you back to the initial login point.
Daniel realized a while back he could customize these points, but it was a big hit to his Exp Points, making it a poor investment. Now that he's sitting on a pile of Exp and Atomal is secured, it's time to make this a priority and get the ball rolling.
Arale appeared in front of the new players. "Welcome to Hell, loyalists." she announced, reading the lines Daniel had given her.
Unlike previous times, Daniel delegated this task to Arale and did not show up himself. Arale finished the welcome spiel and let the players move freely.
Regiment representatives waiting outside the hall couldn't contain their excitement. The moment the process finished, they swooped in to snag new recruits.
"The player engagement for Warhammer Online is so high it would make other game companies weep!"
"Cut the chatter and start recruiting, or the best ones will be long gone!"
"Any loners out there looking for a tight-knit squad? Come join us!"
"Titan drivers, step right up! Join us and get free Exoskeleton Armor!"
"Engineers and designers who build planes or ships in the real world? I'm gearing up to build a warship. Come talk to me if you're interested!"
Daniel was thrilled to see new blood joining the battle groups. He issued a 'Mission: Help' with Contribution Points as rewards, encouraging established teams to take the newbies under their wing and show them the ropes.
This helps new players hit the ground running instead of running around like chickens with their heads cut off, ensuring they integrate quickly and don't lose their enthusiasm due to a poor initial experience.
The rebellion on Atomal is old news, and a large-scale war is not in the cards in the short term. If new players want to level up, they'll have to get their feet wet in other areas, such as assisting with the Hive City's rebuilding or training at the combat grounds.
This is slower than fighting on the battlefield, but Daniel couldn't just start a shooting war before he was ready, just to give players a boost.
"Just launching missions isn't going to cut it," Daniel mused. "We need to supercharge the battle group system. We need to make sure they see the incentive for recruiting and mentoring."
"First, we'll divide the warbands into different levels. The more players they recruit, the higher the registration level, the larger the scale they can support, and the more benefits they'll receive."
"We also need to encourage players to innovate. If the Imperium remains stuck in the mud, we lose the whole point of bringing them into the game."
Under the players' influence, Magos Theresa and other members of the Mechanicus are starting to break the shackles of dogma and explore new tech. But that's not enough by a long shot. We need to double down on our efforts and find ways to get humanity back to its Golden Age of Technology.
Just as Daniel was racking his brain trying to find a bigger role for the players, Arale appeared beside him.
"Master, a communication from an Imperial warship has been received."
"Imperial battleship? Which department does it belong to?"
"They're identifying themselves as Astral Knights."
Daniel was stunned.
The Astral Knights Chapter, whose founding date is unknown, can be traced back to the Imperial Fists. They are legendary for destroying a Necron World Engine—a planet-killing superweapon so immense that the Imperial Fleet's entire arsenal couldn't even scratch its dread shields.
Just when the war was a lost cause and the Imperium was ready to cut bait and abandon tens of billions of citizens, the Astral Knights stood their ground and refused to retreat.
They hatched a crazy plan to use their own flagship, the Storm, to ram the World Engine. Using this kamikaze tactic, they managed to deploy their entire Chapter onto the World Engine's surface.
Eventually, they cut a deal with Igrania, a fragment of the C'tan imprisoned inside the World Engine. They promised to free the entity in exchange for it paralyzing the World Engine's shield, creating an opportunity for the Imperial Fleet to destroy it.
They achieved their goal, and the Chapter Master destroyed the force field device that imprisoned Igrania. Igrania not only took the shields offline but also offed the Necron Dynasty's ruler.
The Imperium won, but the ultimate price was the death of every remaining Astral Knight. Only 30 new recruits and an aging Dreadnought were left on their homeworld, Obsidian.
The Imperium allowed the Sable Swords to clean house and take over all the Astral Knights' assets, including their homeworld. To defend their last shred of glory, the survivors abandoned their homeworld and launched a one-way suicide mission with no hope of return.
"Why are they here?" Daniel frowned. "Connect the communication. I want to talk to them."