Kasha stood in stunned silence, taking in the spectacle of the colossal warship with her psychic senses. At its prow, a massive Imperial Aquila was embossed into the metal surface, its double-headed wings spread wide.
It was majestic, sacred.
The emblem alone was enormous, larger even than several even Gloriana-class battleships. After all, a Gloriana-class was only twenty kilometers in length, whereas the vessel before her was on an astronomical scale.
What was strangest of all was that the ship had painted itself, coating its own hull with the Imperial Aquila as if declaring allegiance.
It had only just joined the Imperium, and already it had given itself a fresh coat of heraldry.
Although it had been transformed into a Machine Spirit and now shared a special bond with both herself and Axis, its artificial intelligence had not diminished in the slightest, if anything, it seemed to have improved.
This was the fusion of a soul and a self conscious AI. In every respect, this Machine Spirit's performance far outstripped that of any other.
Still, what had Axis meant earlier when he'd called it a "Transformer"?
Unlike Kasha, Axis's eyes were full of excitement.
As a transmigrator, and as someone who had grown up watching Transformers cartoons and movies, who hadn't dreamed as a child of having their own transforming robot?
And who hadn't fantasized about commanding a colossal starship?
The ship's transformation ability was the stuff of legends, it was like a dream from his childhood come true.
"Can you transform into a gigantic mechanical titan?" Axis asked quickly.
"?? Father, you mean you want me to turn into some kind of giant spacefaring robot? Why would I do that?" Solus Prime asked back.
Sleek, astronomical-scale designs—spheres or rectangular hulls—were the optimal forms for space combat and travel. Both attack and defense benefited from such shapes.
Turning into a humanoid machine? That would be… inelegant, and worse, impractical.
Yes, it might look intimidating, but it would offer no real combat advantage.
Whether spherical or rectangular, her firepower and defensive attributes would hardly change. But in a humanoid form, her mobility would plummet. Arms and legs would be useless appendages, consuming vast amounts of energy to move.
Given her enormous mass, the inertia alone might tear such limbs apart.
In spherical form, her diameter exceeded 2,000 kilometers; in rectangular battleship form, her length reached 5,000 kilometers.
A humanoid form would be even larger, slower, and less energy-efficient, and all for negligible combat benefit.
Her "head" would be nothing but decoration, and placing her main cannon in the "chest" would make it an obvious target.
Not even her energy shields or void field projectors could fully cover such a body.
In short, turning into a giant robot would offer no combat advantage and might even become a liability.
"Why not? Don't you think a colossal cosmic Titan would look cool?" Axis insisted.
"…" The Solus Prime stared at him wordlessly. Was he serious?
"Axis, streamlined ships are the most effective weapons in void combat," Kasha said flatly. "Giant robots have no place in space warfare. What, do you expect her to turn into a Titan and punch enemy ships? Why not just fire the shadow blaster instead?"
It wasn't as if the Imperium lacked the technology to make Titans that could fly and fight in space.
They could do it if they wanted.
The problem was that such constructs would be next to useless in the void, far inferior to any attack craft.
On the ground, Titans served as powerful siege engines, breaking enemy morale and bolstering friendly forces.
In space? They were dead weight.
"Fine, I just think it would look amazing," Axis pouted.
"Father, if you truly want to see it, I could find a secluded place and transform for you. But using that form in combat would be little better than suicide," the Solus Prime said.
If her father wished it, she could transform somewhere out of sight.
Now, with her Machine Spirit fully integrated, she could control every part of her body, every panel of armor, every bolt, down to the smallest detail.
"Perhaps another time. From this moment on, you are no longer just a battleship of the Imperium… you are a Star Destroyer! Wait, does the Imperium even have that classification?" Axis asked.
"Of course not," Kasha replied, "The largest vessels the Imperium produces are Gloriana-class battleships. And there are Bucephalus and Imperator Somnium, both are which my father's flagships, but it's only as big as the Orbital Plates of Terra, nothing compared to the literal moon.
"If this warship joined the Imperium, it would be the largest ship in service. There is no such formal designation as 'Star Destroyer.'"
Compared to the Solus Prime, even a Gloriana looked like a toy.
But could it truly destroy a star, or at least a world, in a single strike?
Normally, an Exterminatus required hundreds of Imperial vessels firing cyclonic torpedoes. But could Solus Prime do that?
"A Star Destroyer implies the ability to annihilate a star… Can you do that?" Kasha was skeptical.
"Not a star… but I'm confident in obliterating half of that agri-world's mass in a single firing.
"However, such a blast consumes tremendous amounts of energy. In a single engagement, I could only fire it once at full strength," the Solus Prime replied.
Her main cannon, the shadow blasters, had once been the pride of the Galactic Empire, the Rangda's crowning achievement so to speak.
Originally, it could destroy asteroids in a single hit. Now after the augmentation and with the full control do all of the fortress, it could wipe out a quarter or even a third of a planet without difficulty.
"In that case, the name is fitting," Kasha said.
The deterrent power of this warship was undeniable.
"It's more than that! I analyzed Father's Ki energy which he fed me during my evolution and added a Ki powerd module to my main cannon. Father can stand at the cannon's focal point and charge it with his ki.
"When I fire this special ki-blast cannon, its power will be doubled compared to firing my main cannon normally. I could completely annihilate a planet in one shot, and without consuming any of my own energy," the Solus Prime explained.
"Axis could already destroy a planet on his own, but firing through your main cannon will make it easier for ordinary mortal soldiers to accept. So I suppose this counts as a bonus ability," Kasha remarked.
Destroying a planet was something Axis could do without a ship's help, but this way, it would look far more like a fleet operation.
"That's not all! I can replace my nuclear power source with Father's ki energy. As long as his ki is sufficient, I can use it as my primary fuel," Solus Prime said.
Axis and Kasha exchanged a glance.
All Imperial ships ran on nuclear power. A single refueling could keep them flying for decades.
Simply replacing the ship's massive reactor cores at intervals was enough to keep them running. The only real advantage here was that as long as Axis was aboard, the ship's power was essentially infinite.
Axis's ki reserves were staggering, and with just a brief rest and some food, he could replenish them, not to mention the sibamen.
"Yep, it's decided! You'll be my flagship from now on," Axis said.
Destroying planets from the safety of a ship was certainly more convenient than doing it in person.
Solus Prime had a feeling that her Father and Mother didn't really understand what she was saying.
With Father's help, she could convert part of his ki into usable energy, effectively, a new kind of power source.
It might only work with him as the powersource, but it was remarkable nonetheless.
And because she could directly control every function of the ship, she didn't need any crew to operate.
No Navy personnel were required; she could navigate the Warp herself, raise void shields, repair battle damage, and operate every weapon battery at full efficiency.
Against any foe short of someone like Axis, who could ram ships barehanded, she was effectively invincible.
Her Machine Spirit's processing power also allowed her to manufacture weapons independently.
With enough raw materials, she could fully automate the production of anything aboard.
Given the necessary data and resources, she could even fabricate Imperial equipment, and in just a few days, assemble a fully functional Imperial battleship.
Those ships would need an artificial intelligence installed, which Father could then transform into a true Machine Spirit.
"Father, I believe it's time I formally introduced my full capabilities…
"So now you understand just how powerful I am," the Solus Prime concluded after explaining her systems.
"You can produce your own equipment? Even assemble an Imperial battleship in just a few days?" Axis asked.
"Completely possible, Father. I can install an artificial AI operating system, which you could then awaken into a Machine Spirit. Or I can leave the systems blank and let the Imperium do it themselves," she replied.
The fact she could repair herself in under ten days spoke volumes about her production capacity.
That was the efficiency of artificial intelligence.
"Next time I destroy a Rangda vessel, I'll try to keep the hull intact. Collect all the salvage and store it, you can use it for upgrades or keep it as spare materials," Axis said.
A mobile production base seemed far more reliable than the gearheads on Mars.
Still, Axis had no intention of revealing this capability just yet.
The political and economic implications were simply mindboggling.
Kasha was grumbling about a headache thinking about it all.
The Mechanicus would never tolerate a vessel that could rival dozens of Forge Worlds in output.
They wouldn't want to be reduced from manufacturers to mere suppliers of raw materials.
This ship would have to remain a closely guarded secret.
"Yes, father. With my current optimal processing capabilities, I can maintain a spherical form with a diameter over 3,000 kilometers and wield a Shadow Blaster as a weapon.
"In battleship form, I could extend my length to around 7,000 kilometers, but I'd need to consume the materials from another warship of my own class to achieve that," the Solus Prime said.
An increase of over 1,000 kilometers in diameter wasn't just one-third larger, it was nearly double in mass. At such colossal scales, controlling her own body demanded extraordinary processing precision. This was her current limit; any larger and she could no longer operate at peak efficiency.
"That won't be a problem. The Rangda should have more than enough suitable materials," Axis replied.
After some further discussion, Axis and Kasha departed the Solus Prime and returned to Axis's current flagship, the Gloriana-class battleship.
It had only served as his flagship for just over a month, and now it was about to be retired.
"Axis, how are you going to explain this colossal Star Destroyer to your father?" Kasha asked.
"I'm not telling the Emperor just yet.
"I need you to purge the memories of every mortal who's seen this ship. Replace them with the memory that, over the last ten days, we destroyed the war moon weapon and defeated the Rangda," Axis said.
If this super-warship were revealed now, it would only cause endless trouble.
Better to hide it until the right moment.
"Your psychic abilities are now strong enough thoughm, you can handle part of the memory purges," Kasha sighed, taking up her staff. To the current Kasha, doing memory replacement was only the inconvenience of raising her staff.
Axis's reasoning was sound.
At present, there was no way to explain the ship's origin.
The Imperium had an ingrained hatred for xenos technology, not to mention the AI which, Axis had, tiptoed around the edges of imperial dogama to turn into a machine spirit. While it was technically a machine spirit, it stil wasn't one authorised by the Imperium or Mechanicum.
Only once Axis became a Primarch could the existence of the Solus Prime be revealed, only then would they be able to deal with the headaches without worrying about endless court sessions.
"Alright then, let's pack up, report the situation here to the Lion, then head for our next battlefield," Axis said.
Kasha nodded already done with the memory modification.
...
..
.
Can I get a powerstone?!
Have a great day/night!