"Cadia's Forge World has ordered several million melta-core components from us.
"And that's only the first batch..."
Prik sighed with emotion.
It represented an enormous number of killing machines, and it also meant his machine workshop would never have to worry about running out of orders again.
In fact, they might have to expand the workshop before they could handle such a lucrative contract.
The client's requirements were demanding, and the delivery deadline was tight. The order was somewhat beyond the workshop's current production capacity.
Prik had no intention of giving it up, however. Instead, he planned to join forces with other Magi on this Forge World and complete the order together.
"You may want to look at the announcement issued by the Archmagos. Machine Goddess, we're about to enter an entirely new system of manufacturing..."
A Tech-Priest spoke excitedly.
He was browsing the Mechanicus forum, streams of data flashing across his electronic eyepieces as the Tech-Priests discussed the newly unveiled manufacturing system.
It was not limited to Forge Worlds. It encompassed all the Empire's merchants, corporations, and other commercial entities, reaching into every part of the Imperial economy.
The announcement had been released several hours earlier. Unfortunately, Prik and the other oilheads had been too immersed in their misery to pay attention.
There was another reason as well. The workshop had previously been shut down, with its utilities and high-speed psychic network access cut off. That had prevented them from receiving the relevant information in time.
Fortunately, the restrictions had now been lifted, allowing them to once again enjoy an industrial-grade psychic network connection.
"What?"
Prik's curiosity was immediately aroused, and he quickly logged into the Mechanicus forum.
Ever since his humiliating failure, he had refrained from posting there, lest his acquaintances ridicule him.
The main problem was that, back when things had been going well for him, he had insulted quite a few people. Once his fortunes declined, they had hounded him with mockery for a long time.
It was karmic retribution, more or less.
For oilheads, arguing and trading insults on the Mechanicus forum was simply part of everyday life.
Once Prik logged in, he discovered that everyone was talking about the new manufacturing system.
The discussion was incredibly intense.
Millions of posts streamed past, analyzing every aspect of the new system.
He finally understood why orders had started pouring in the moment his workshop reopened.
"A big-data supply chain?"
Prik murmured the unfamiliar term as he rapidly reviewed the relevant concepts and analyses. He immediately downloaded the corresponding data package as well.
Afterward, he logged into the supply-chain platform jointly established by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Manufacturing. The platform contained information on every Forge World and corporate enterprise, extending all the way down to individual factories and machine workshops.
Every production unit registered in accordance with Imperial regulations had been entered into the system. Its records covered every conceivable detail.
Legal representatives, operating conditions, technological capabilities, production capacity, product data, contact channels, and much more were all available.
In simple terms, with the Machine Goddess's immense computational power, the supply-chain platform had integrated the industrial data of the entire Empire.
It functioned as an enormous information exchange and trading platform.
Users could order anything they wanted, submit custom manufacturing requests, or accept available contracts.
In the past, the Empire's industrial systems had generally operated on a planetary or system-wide basis, centered around individual Forge Worlds.
There had been no other choice.
Imperial communications had once been unreliable, and transportation had been severely restricted. Cooperation between Forge Worlds was exceedingly difficult.
Their industrial systems, technologies, and components were often incompatible as well.
The establishment of the psychic network and the opening of the Webway had greatly improved the Empire's manufacturing system.
Even so, the fundamental structure had not changed much. Each Forge World or star system still completed its entire production process independently.
At most, they now had access to more suppliers and trade routes.
As more Forge Worlds and corporate enterprises emerged, the Ministry of Economic Affairs discovered a serious problem.
The existing production model could not fully utilize all available productivity and resources. It was inefficient and generated substantial waste through idle capacity and redundant processes.
Even after issuing a series of industrial standards and integrating the relevant systems and technologies, the ministries had been unable to solve the problem.
The Empire's regions had remained isolated from one another for far too long. People had grown accustomed to this kind of industrial structure.
There was not even any useful historical experience for them to draw upon.
The previous ten thousand years had been an age of suffering beneath the Great Rift. Before that came the Horus Heresy and the Great Crusade.
Even if they traced the Empire's surviving records back to the earliest periods of human history, Terra's warlords had fought ceaselessly throughout the Age of Strife, existing as independent city-states.
Without the Emperor, humanity would never have had any possibility of unification.
As for humanity's earlier golden age, the Empire no longer possessed any detailed records. There was nothing they could use as a reference.
This had caused the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Manufacturing no end of headaches. Unless they solved the problem, the Empire's economy and productive capacity could not advance any further.
Fortunately, humanity still had its omniscient and omnipotent Savior.
After studying the great Savior's ideas and principles, the ministers responsible for Imperial administration finally devised an entirely new manufacturing system.
The big-data supply chain.
All industrial data would be integrated into a single platform, allowing every participant to exchange information and resources. A Forge World could use the platform to locate any product it needed.
The economic and information ministries established comprehensive procedures and data models, allowing Forge Worlds, industrial conglomerates, factories, and other production units to construct their own supply chains.
This made the production process far easier to control.
They could also order or commission the finest primary components, individual parts, and related materials available anywhere in the Empire. They could then assemble those components using their own core technologies, producing superior mechanical creations.
More importantly, Forge Worlds possessing advanced core technologies no longer had to waste time painstakingly manufacturing every related component themselves.
They could outsource the work instead.
This greatly increased production efficiency while integrating the manufacturing resources of the entire Empire.
Cadia's Forge World, for example, had used the platform to commission more than eighty percent of the components required for its Slaughter Battle-Automata. The Forge World would then assemble and optimize the finished machines itself.
This increased its production speed by more than tenfold while ensuring that every automaton used the finest available components.
According to the supply-chain platform's data, the melta-weapon cores forged by Prik's machine workshop were the components best suited for its Slaughter Battle-Automata. They produced more destructive firepower than the original parts.
They were also considerably cheaper than anything Cadia could manufacture itself.
"Machine Goddess, we're going to forge the most powerful battle-automata melta weapons in the entire Empire!"
Once Prik understood the benefits of the big-data supply-chain platform, he became so excited that his electronic brain began to overheat.
With a steady supply of orders, he would no longer lack the resources required for further development. He could also devote all his energy to the field of manufacturing in which he excelled.
Prik was certain that every Forge World producing Slaughter Battle-Automata would soon be placing orders with him like mad.
He could continue expanding his workshop and eventually use this technology to rise to the rank of Archmagos!
As the great mechanical bell rang and the mechanical apprentices burned sacred incense, the workshop's furnaces roared back to life.
Prik, the newly ambitious Magos, threw himself into adjusting the production lines and swiftly began preliminary manufacturing.
Batch after batch of customized melta-core components rolled off the lines.
They would be installed aboard Slaughter Battle-Automata and used to inflict devastating casualties upon the enemy.
Seen from above the galaxy, the Forge Worlds within Imperial territory shone brilliantly, their furnaces illuminating entire planets.
Cargo fleets traveled along the shipping lanes like swarms of worker ants, densely packed together as they transported personnel and goods.
They were the arteries supplying the Empire's industrial machine, connecting every region beneath its rule.
Once its industrial systems had been integrated, the entire Empire became a colossal factory operating with mechanical precision.
Now that the Empire had entered a state of total war, an endless stream of armaments rolled off the production lines and was dispatched to the battlefronts.
On a remote shipping route, several cargo vessels belonging to the Gantz Industrial Group cruised slowly toward the next Webway node.
Their holds were packed with goods, including a large shipment of voidship cannon components bound for the Forge World of Voss Prime.
Voss Prime was one of the Empire's largest voidship manufacturing centers. Anyone arriving in the system would be awestruck by the sheer scale and magnificence of its industry.
On the bridge, the first officer stared into the silent darkness ahead, a faint unease stirring in his chest.
"Savior protect us. Taking an unguarded route may have been too great a risk."
Under normal circumstances, they should have followed one of the secure shipping routes designated by the Departmento Logisticae.
There, they would have enjoyed the protection of escort fleets, along with patrols conducted by the White Scars Legion.
The warriors of the White Scars possessed extraordinary rapid-response capabilities. They could deal with almost any heretic or xenos threat, allowing passing vessels to travel without fear.
But their corporate convoy was currently moving through a dangerous route with virtually no protection.
"There isn't even a trace of another fleet around us. It looks like all the other cargo ships avoided this route..."
The first officer checked the ship's auspex again, and his unease intensified.
No signs of other vessels had been detected within dozens of light-minutes.
That, in itself, was not a good sign.
"There's no need to worry.
"We won't be unlucky enough to encounter xenos. There hasn't been a xenos hijacking along this route in a long time," the captain said.
He took a sip of steaming instant black coffee and leaned comfortably against his command throne, displaying little concern.
According to the data on the star charts, an escort fleet passed through this region roughly once every three months, purging any threats it encountered.
Even if they had entered during a gap between patrols, they could not possibly be unlucky enough to run into xenos pirates.
"Besides, isn't this exactly why the corporation hired people like us and pays us so well?"
The captain emptied a packet of refined white sugar into his black coffee.
He looked toward the first officer.
"No matter what happens, all we have to do is deliver the cargo to Voss Prime. Then we can finally put this damned transport run behind us."
A scheduling error within the corporation had forced them to choose this dangerous route.
It was the only way they could deliver the goods before the deadline.
After all, this was the Gantz Industrial Group's first order through the supply-chain platform. Failure to deliver on time would damage the corporation's reputation.
For the captain, navigating routes like this was nothing unusual. He had traveled through shipping lanes ten times more dangerous and knew exactly how to handle them.
To put it bluntly, he had once been a pirate himself.
After the Empire reclaimed the surrounding regions, however, escort fleets became more numerous than the damned merchant ships.
There was simply no way to raid anything anymore.
With their livelihoods gone, pirates like him had been forced to surrender to the sector government and accept rehabilitation.
Only after more than a decade of penal labor and thorough Imperial reeducation had he finally been given the opportunity to find employment again.
Legitimate employment, of course.
He did not have enough heads to survive another attempt at piracy, nor did he possess the courage to try.
The Gantz Industrial Group had recognized his unusual talents and honored him with the position of corporate captain.
His life was far more comfortable than it had ever been as a pirate.
In his eyes, the route ahead was practically a safe zone. They could push the engines as hard as they liked.
Unless their luck was catastrophically bad, they could not possibly encounter pirates. What kind of idiot would come all the way to this barren, remote region in search of ships to rob?
Beep, beep, beep!
"Damn it!
"Savior's bloody balls, those are Drukhari lunatics! We're completely screwed!"
Half of the captain's black coffee spilled across his crotch.
The ship's auspex blared furiously as several unidentified high-threat contacts rapidly approached.
He looked up toward the observation dome. Several pitch-black xenos sailships had already revealed themselves and were hurtling toward the convoy.
The vessels were constructed from lightweight wraithbone, while their sails shimmered with specks of light. They constantly harvested the radiation winds of space to generate momentum.
Even more horrifyingly, every vessel was covered in bloodstains. Withered flesh and bones hung from their hulls, some of them clearly human remains.
Hideous banners sewn from countless strips of skin fluttered along both sides of the sailships. Innumerable faces trapped within them wailed in agony.
Most of the Drukhari had reformed by now. Their principal hobby was traveling everywhere in search of Tyranid creatures, breeding them for fighting matches and running highly successful arenas.
A small minority, however, had refused to submit to the Aeldari Savior's rule. They remained scattered across the galaxy, continuing their old lives of piracy and slaughter.
These Drukhari raiders could no longer inflict the widespread devastation they once had, but they still harassed the Empire's cargo fleets like persistent flies.
Every so often, an unlucky fleet attempting to take a shortcut would fall prey to them.
Now, the Gantz convoy had become that unlucky fleet.
Worse still, the Drukhari sailships had used their concealment fields to cross the bombardment zone of the convoy's voidship cannons. They were already closing rapidly on the hulls.
"Hu... humans all die. Skin you alive. Tear out your bones and make furniture!"
A Drukhari pirate's mangled Low Gothic came through the ship's vox-channel, radiating absolute madness and cold-blooded cruelty.
The xenos raiders delighted in torturing humans. To them, human captives were another resource to be plundered, something they could use to satisfy their bloodthirsty cravings.
"Port bearing three-one-seven, elevation twelve, depth minus four! Lock onto those damned xenos sailships!"
"Target their void-sails and hit them with everything we've got!"
The captain was nervous, but his professional instincts held firm as he directed the corporate convoy's counterattack.
Under his command, the convoy swiftly used its shipboard batteries to destroy the sails of several xenos vessels.
Their speed plummeted, leaving them unable to catch the corporate convoy's ships, which had been equipped with the latest engines.
One xenos sailship still managed to break through the barrage, however, and rapidly closed on the corporate flagship carrying the captain.
"Savior protect us, the xenos are boarding!"
The first officer drew a deep breath, his voice trembling.
It was the young man's first encounter with a xenos raid, yet he remained steadfast at his post.
"Hah. I thought you were going to piss yourself," the captain teased, looking at the recent graduate.
The first officer had graduated from a transport academy and was an excellent navigator, but he had little talent for dealing with xenos raiders.
Then again, that had never been part of his job.
The captain drew his bolt pistol, his voice becoming much calmer.
"I trust the security teams to stop them. But if those xenos reach the bridge, we'd better start praying for a miracle!"
In truth, he was more concerned about whether the cargo would be damaged.
If it suffered irreparable losses and could not be delivered, jeopardizing one of the corporation's most important contracts, he might lose his job on the spot.
A position this good was not easy to find.
The shipment was also tied directly to the construction of Imperial warships.
If the transport incident was ruled to have resulted from human error, he might face punishment far worse than unemployment!
(End of Chapter)
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