At the end of the 41st Millennium, the Grey Knights and the Adeptus Mechanicus jointly launched an exploratory mission targeting an anomalous celestial body in the Ultima Star District.
This celestial body, which had suddenly appeared on the Imperial star charts, was confirmed through reconnaissance to be Chronia, a former Forge World of the Adeptus Mechanicus that had been missing for over a hundred years.
When the Imperial fleet arrived in orbit, investigations revealed that the Dark Adeptus Mechanicus had exploited the time dilation between the Warp and real space, placing the planet within a distorted temporal flow.
While a mere century had passed in the real universe, Chronia had endured a full ten centuries of corrupted production under the influence of the Warp.
Hundreds of Daemon Titans were birthed in the Chaos Forges covering the planet's surface; these war machines, fused with dark mechanical technology and demonic essence, were secret weapons being prepared for Warmaster Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade.
A purification force, personally led by the Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights, along with a combined legion formed by the Adeptus Mechanicus exploration fleet, forcibly landed on the planet's surface. Their mission was to destroy all Daemon Titans and prevent these forbidden weapons from falling into the hands of Chaos.
During their operations, the Grey Knights and the Adeptus Mechanicus discovered an unknown, pristine Titan model on the planet, even larger than an Emperor-class Titan, with exceptionally advanced technology, dubbed the Punisher-class Titan.
This Titan prototype was equipped with self-repairing technology and a wealth of powerful technologies from the Dark Age of Technology, long since lost, and could operate autonomously without a pilot. Its core was an STC Template for a bipedal autonomous weapon platform called the Castigator-class.
Further examination revealed that this valuable STC Template had been corrupted by Warp energy, but under a millennium of temporal distortion, its chaotic nature was hidden beneath false memories—it firmly believed itself to be the original Titan prototype forged, completely unaware of its demonic corruption.
Later, at the request of the accompanying Inquisitor, the Grey Knights and the Adeptus Mechanicus destroyed all Daemon Titans on the planet and convinced the STC of the fact that it had been parasitized by demons, after which they destroyed the STC Template and this Punisher-class Titan.
This is the only officially recorded instance of a Titan with autonomous capabilities in the Imperium to date.
But if Cawl were to comment, he would only say that during the Great Crusade Era, the Adeptus Mechanicus had already developed similar technology and formidable creations.
And the proof of this assertion now stood before Alex—an ancient and unique Warlord-Class Titan.
This Titan was not a product of a modern Imperial Forge World but originated from a long-lost Dark Age of Technology STC Template.
Unlike the Punisher-class, it did not possess true self-awareness, but for the Adeptus Mechanicus pioneers of the Great Crusade Era, this was not an insurmountable obstacle.
In that era, when technology was not yet constrained, the limitations on autonomous machine technology were not as strict, and the size of the Destroyers could even approach the height of a knight titans.
Therefore, transplanting the control systems of Destroyers to a Titan-class war machine, creating an autonomous Titan that did not require a pilot, was theoretically entirely feasible.
However, due to various reasons, perhaps the instability of the technology, perhaps the Imperium's vigilance against autonomous war machines, or perhaps the knowledge fragmentation caused by the turmoil of civil war, this autonomous Titan ultimately failed to enter mass production.
Precious related technologies gradually became lost, with only one prototype abandoned deep within a forgotten ancient ruin, until Cawl excavated it from ruins in a remote Star District and spent centuries repairing and modifying it.
To conceal its existence, Cawl reshaped the prototype's exterior to resemble a Warlord-Class Titan, but its essence remained some kind of bipedal autonomous weapon platform from the Dark Age of Technology.
From the outside, it indeed resembled the common Imperial Warlord-Class Titan, but closer inspection would reveal differences; this Warhound-class had a more upright posture, standing straight like an ancient knight, rather than the hunched, heavy stance of modern Titans.
The armor lines were smoother, and the joint structures exhibited flexibility far exceeding Imperial standard Titans.
Its right arm mounted a Titan-class Melta weapon named "Embrace of the Incinerator," capable of instantly vaporizing an Emperor-class Titan's armor; its left arm was a giant Power Fist, powerful enough to shatter the outer walls of a Hive City with a single blow.
Even more terrifying, its shoulders were equipped with two incredibly powerful Plasma Destroyers, whose charging hum was enough to strike fear into any enemy.
This Titan was just one of Cawl's many secret research projects scattered across the galaxy, carefully deployed in the core area beneath this Forge, serving as the ultimate weapon to guard the final line of defense.
Any unauthorized intruder who breached the outer defenses and penetrated the underground facilities of this Forge would trigger an alarm, and the Cognitohazard Array would immediately send a wake-up protocol to this ancient autonomous Titan, awakening this ancient God-Machine to utterly annihilate the invaders.
In this narrow, confined underground environment, this specially modified autonomous Titan displayed tactical advantages far beyond conventional models.
Its form was more agile, its weapons more powerful, and it even possessed self-repairing technology, which was coveted by other God-Machines of the Imperium.
For any looter daring to covet Cawl's research, facing such a war machine, which integrated the essence of the Dark Age of Technology, there was only one outcome—to be reduced to ashes in the scorching torrent of Melta weapons, or to be crushed into a blurry mixture of flesh and metal by the gigantic Power Fist.
Furthermore, this Titan would strictly adhere to the annihilation protocol, leaving no survivors and accepting no form of surrender.
Once the life signs of the last invader disappeared, it would quietly return to its designated chamber, awaiting the next moment of awakening by the Machine Spirit.
However, for Alex, this slumbering God-Machine before him was not a formidable guardian but a war machine that could be commanded.
His Power Armor display interface flickered with the binary key personally granted by Cawl, allowing him to pass unimpeded through layers of heavily guarded forbidden zones, directly to the Titan Sanctum at the very core of this Forge.
Alex stood before the massive armored chamber, gazing up at the sleeping God-Machine.
The Terminator Power Armor's viewfinder scanned the entire sanctum, then locked onto a control console located at the foot of the God-Machine.
Alex approached the control console, took a key from his Power Armor's storage compartment, inserted it into the console's interface, and sent a digital command: "Awaken this God-Machine, Cognitohazard."
"Command received, authentication successful, initiating wake-up procedure." The Cognitohazard's Machine Spirit completed the verification, rows of indicator lights illuminated, and the massive God-Machine began to awaken.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"