Chapter 221: An Interesting Planet
The Dawnlight Fleet slowly entered the Pioneer system.
The four Dawnbreakers stood before the battleship's cogitator-array, looking at the hololithic projection of the entire system with thoughtful expressions. It was a system of eight large planets, sixty-six moons, and countless asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Four gas giants on the outside, four rocky planets on the inside.
Familiar. Very familiar.
Many of the "Stormcast" warriors who had been through the comprehensive review of the Great Crusade unconsciously gripped their weapons. They also looked at the four 'Primarchs,' silently resolving that, no matter what, they could not let them go down there.
During the Great Crusade, the Luna Wolves Legion, led by Warmaster Horus, had dealt with a system identical to Sol, and on its third planet, had killed a being named 'Emperor'. This had indirectly foreshadowed the Warmaster's rebellion, and the Emperor's final battle with his son.
In this universe, metaphysics was a very real thing. Even these ancient warriors, who had once believed in the Imperial Truth, now that they had a correct understanding of so-called faith and the warp, believed that patterns that had been empirically verified were worth heeding.
"The one Horus went to back then... it wasn't this one, was it?" Romulus asked Cawl, uncertain. The Dawnbreakers knew many things, but they didn't have data with this level of coordinate-precision. They had been searching for Isstvan III for a long time and still hadn't found it, even with the full might of the Imperium.
And Cawl, though he hadn't personally experienced many of the events of that era, should be quite clear on these secrets.
"...No." The Archmagos Prime dragged over a crate of data-drives, plugging them in one by one. On the thirteenth, the light in Cawl's eyes flickered. "That system was completely destroyed. And it was located on the galactic fringe. But the coordinates of this place—" The mechanical components of his body whirred into a high-speed calculation state. "—there is no occultic connection between this place and the Throneworld of Terra. And according to our scans, all four rocky planets show signs of extensive terraforming. The Venus- and Mars-analogs are both habitable worlds." He had been studying the Ecclesiarchy's records recently. He had the data.
Cawl's answer made the tense crowd let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Report. Astropathic communication in this system is experiencing severe interference," the comms officer reported.
"What about the link to Astorgius?"
"Everything is normal, my Lord. But we cannot get any closer to the system's interior. Should we proceed for a visual confirmation?"
Starlight streamed through the observation window into the starship. Romulus's gaze was locked on the gas giant with its ring system. It was very different from the pict-captures of his home system. The rings looked thin, and the orbits of the asteroids were abnormally chaotic. It was as if they had been forcibly held together by some power, and were now returning to their natural state now that that power was gone.
"Leave a portion of the fleet here to maintain contact with the outside. The main fleet will continue to advance. Analyze all enemy forces in the system." There was a large amount of debris in the 'Earth' orbital position. Initial assessment was Orks. There were also scattered Mechanicus fleets floating in deep space.
"Can we contact the local Mechanicus?" Romulus asked, then took the data-slate that Cawl had finally retrieved from his memory banks.
The Astra (Pioneer Beta) system was discovered by Mars 1690 years ago and registered as a minor forge world. Several Mechanicus explorator fleets had fought over the surrounding sector. It was finally brought under the complete control of the Fabricator-General of Mars, Krik-Wilkins, 146 years ago. The planet, named Astra by the Mechanicus, was thus classified as belonging to Mars. The Mars- and Venus-analogs were currently in an undeveloped state.
This was not because the Fabricator-General lacked the ability to develop them, but because he did not want anyone else to know about this planet. The report in the archives obscured the system's similarity to Sol, and the last entry on the Mars-analog emphasized Fabricator-General Krik-Wilkins's ownership of the system. The Fabricator-General's birth record was 372.M41. Alright. Probably has nothing to do with the warp's spooks and ghosts.
"Always scheming something big in the dark," Romulus muttered, annoyed. It was probably the Mechanicus discovering some relic-tech again. Either Necrons or C'tan.
"This is Fabricator-General Krik-Wilkins of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Unidentified fleet, state your identity."
"This is the sacred property of the Omnissiah. Unidentified fleet, you are ordered to depart immediately."
As the fleet drew closer, the Fabricator-General's clear voice came through the servo-system.
Romulus and Arthur exchanged a look, confirming that the other party probably didn't know an open-channel message had been sent out.
"We received an open-channel telegram from the Adeptus Mechanicus. This planet requires assistance. Here is the record," Romulus said.
"I don't remember..." Deep beneath the surface of the third planet, in a forge-city built on the lava fields, Krik-Wilkins was directing his drone-fleets to deal with the Orks, while shifting the pressure of the ground war onto the local natives. "Fething natives..." he grumbled.
But when his gaze fell on his own identification code, he froze. He looked up. In the depths of the forge-city, isolated behind a thick, transparent material, was a giant device, connected to something unknown beneath the mantle. The device was black, and in its center was a module that seemed to be in a dormant state. In the open space before this giant device were countless, densely packed sarcophagi.
'You still have the strength?' a look of horror crossed his face. It's awakened the Necron technology, attracted the Orks, and now it can intercept my identity code and send out a communication?
"Fabricator-General Krik-Wilkins," Romulus's voice came again, "we have detected a massive Ork threat on the planet's surface. Do you require assistance?"
The Dawnlight Fleet was now close to 'Earth'. The planet, which clearly had five distinct climate zones, was now surrounded by an Ork fleet. The planetary defense fleet was putting up a fight. For the moment, the two sides were evenly matched. The Dark Angels' report had already come in: the Mechanicus fleet guarding this planet was entirely automated. No wonder they were only just holding their own against the Orks. For a Fabricator-General, a fleet with only a cruiser as its flagship was far too modest.
"Fabricator-General Krik-Wilkins, do you require assistance?" the Primarch's tone was firm.
"..."
Krik wanted to say he didn't, but faced with such a massive fleet, he found his tone could not be too sharp. And his previous attitude had clearly made the other party suspicious. Krik's mechanical brow-ridges furrowed. Above all, he could not let them discover the planet's secret. He tightened his grip on his staff of office. At this crucial moment, just as he was about to reap the fruits of his labor, trouble always seemed to arrive.
Stall them. My goal is almost within reach. Then, destroying a single fleet will be a simple matter. And he really was having trouble dealing with the Orks on this planet, and these damned local natives.
"Yes," he said. "Astra III is under a severe Ork threat. There are also a large number of human traitors on the surface, wielding xenos technology. I require you to deal with them as well." His gaze fell on a mobile city that was currently clashing with an Ork Gargant. The humans on the surface had mastered the ancient technology of the race called Necrons. They were very difficult to deal with. With them and the Orks, the ground war would be tough for this fleet.
"We can do that," Romulus nodded naturally. With a single gesture, everyone around him sprang into action. "We will be taking command of the planet's anti-air systems," he said. "Tyberos, get the Carcharodons ready. Coordinate with the armoured divisions for a surface landing."
"Fabricator-General, I will require you to provide the necessary intelligence support."
Decisive. Thoroughly Imperial.
Fabricator-General Krik breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course. It would be my pleasure."
"Please keep this channel open."
As the starship quickly moved into low orbit and parked, two ground-assault forces and one Dark Angels unit boarded their Stormbirds and headed for the surface. Romulus crossed his arms. After some persuasion from the Invictarus Suzerain and Navradaran, he had abandoned his plan to make planetfall himself.
'Let's see what you're hiding.'
In the distant past, in the center of what is now the galaxy's eastern arm, there existed an advanced branch of human civilization. They had unlocked the secret of infinite energy. They had erected giant discharge coils in the sandy plains of Mars, left behind ovoid, giant trees that could control artificial rainfall in the forests beneath Venus's thick atmosphere, and had even, with an unknown gravity-manipulation technology, raised a towering star-ring to orbit Saturn.
Rushing plasma was merely a tool for particle decomposition. Torrential rain was merely a surface phenomenon to promote circulation. Towering fireballs were merely a means of extracting rare materials from the planet's crust. With an unknown power, this ancient civilization could even manipulate the four fundamental forces.
They had conquered the laws of physics. And in doing so, in an unimaginable way, they had built wonders of unimaginable magnificence. In the heyday of this branch of humanity, they possessed the ability to manipulate nature at will.
This power was reminiscent of—
The Fabricator-General looked at the glowing green cube in his hand and was lost in memory.
Beings that were only mentioned in the tales of even more ancient races.
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