POV: Nicole
The next twenty-four hours were chaotic. Not that I really notice outside of how the Noosphere and Vox channels explode with traffic as more machine spirits wake up and everyone tries to get their ducks in a row.
I help personally by sending the proper reactivation codes and Rites of Awakening for certain specific machines to a few thousand very grateful Tech Priests and Tech Adepts.
I get a handful of requests from Master Doll for a few specific cybernetic parts that I either made in or retrieved from his forge. I am not quite sure why he needs so many Volitor Implants, but I get the sinking feeling it's sohow my fault.
I take a short break to watch the Argent Drake orbitally bombard a few large clusters of chaos spawn and daemons congregating in the southern hemisphere with lance strikes and plasma bombardnts before she is coaxed back to her berth on the Halo.
I send so of my Automata to guard my new shuttle after two individuals had to be firmly shooed away from the locked-down bay. A couple of scary robots with really big guns should further dissuade the curious.
The surface reports coming from Cycladon were an absolute ss. The Drukhari had attacked at the sa ti PR-103 had taken down the orbital defenses only for most of the Xenos to either get stuck behind Cylcadon's Gellar field protections or have their souls ripped away when the vessel perford the Ergency Warp jump. Now there were conflicting reports of groups of Eldar that had released the human captives and killed so of their kin while others had taken hostages.
The previously asleep orbital defenses have since woken up leaving the remaining Drukhari unable to return to their vessel. The main Drukhari fleet has turned around and is fleeing the system at their best speed, cutting their losses.
Luckily the PDF and Imperial Guard had still been out in force. This allowed them to get to work swiftly and suppress the various incidents of localized warp-induced phenona.
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POV: Lord Cornelius Aarark
Governor Aarark scratched at the back of his head. The implants Archmagos Doll had put in were subtle and exceptionally well made. Keeping the information on the Princeps a secret didn't seem like a terrible deal considering what he got in addition.
With his new Calculus Logi Implant and MIU interface he could handle twice the paperwork in half the ti!
Cornelius didn't ask about the strange glowing green goo the Biologis had used to accelerate his healing either. Probably more things above his pay grade. Nothing worth worrying about, he already had one Archeotech artifact eating a hive city, and the aftermath of the warp jump and Man of Iron attack to deal with.
"Power generation is back up to standard. The rail lines are functioning. Water is flowing and sewage processing is active. Warp-related incidents went up ten percent but those are being handled. What news from Cycladon about the Xenos?" Cornelius asked his command staff. Several of them also sporting new cranial implants.
"The news is conflicting, My Lord." Castellan Krag spoke wearily. "So of the Xenos that were very clearly Drukhari have been dealt with after they abducted and started to do unntionable things to the refugees. However, there is a large number of the Xenos that have simply taken up residence in one of Cycladon's spires and even assisted in the termination of a chaos spawn. They have not yet attempted to return to their vessel, likely due to the air defenses, or tried to parlay."
"Well, we don't need to provoke them just yet. I want them dealt with before the enemy fleet arrives at least. If they're not hostile, then they can negotiate with the Princeps or myself if they want their ship back." Lord Drakios said from his seat. He was one of the few individuals legally permitted to deal with Xenos.
"Speaking of the Princeps, one of my Tank Commanders has inford that so of her n uncovered a minor Archeotech object that would be of potential interest to her or perhaps the Archmagos. They were hoping to arrange an appraisal and possibly discuss a finders fee with the chanicus." Castellan Krag explained tapping the conference table.
Cornelius considered asking about the item but instead simply nodded. "By all ans reach out and inquire if she would be interested. Should the Princeps wish to do so have the individuals in question co by at her convenience." Considering the Princeps was herself a collector, Cornelius wanted to stay in her good graces by any ans necessary. He might have felt guilty before passing the issue off like that, but he felt no such compunctions now.
"The Archmagos and the Magos Biologis have relayed that they will be finished implanting the last of our guards within the next two days." one of his generals said with a sigh. "The nobles are beginning to inquire about the… incident. The abomination was not subtle about its nature when it visited."
"Inform them that it has been dealt with, it will not happen again, and that if they value their positions and lives, they should shut up and forget it ever happened. That is my official stance on the matter. It's not a matter for us to pry into." Cornelius said firmly. As he cast his gaze around the room he was t with various looks of approval and relief from his staff.
Nodding he cleared his throat. "Ahem. Then let us proceed with the clean-up asures. I've asked for updates from Zeta 9-Kane regarding the remaining machines that have yet to awaken. I want everything squared away within a week so we can return to focus on preparing for the invasion." Cornelius reminded them all before excusing them.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Location: Edge of the Ur-Haven System, the Purest Shadow
A pitch-black shape scythed into reality as it left the Warp. The blunt prow of the Imperial vessel sported no running lights as the Purest Shadow aligned itself.
"My Lord, reporting our successful entry into the Ur-Haven System." The captain said promptly.
"Thank you, Captain." The feminine voice replied. "Have the Shadow ping the system and then enter silent running."
"My Lord, we've picked up long-range Auspex targeting our position. Shall I transmit the usual introduction?" The captain asked.
"Already?" She questioned. "They were either expecting us or they are on high alert for sothing else. Cancel the silent running and delay the transmission. I want a full scan of the system. Sound general quarters." She ordered. "Estimated ti 'till we reach the planet?"
"Five days, My Lord." The captain replied calmly. The Black Ship's engines ignited and pushed it into the system, passing several pieces of debris along the way.
"You." She pointed to one of the servants loitering around the edge of the chamber "Fetch the Farseer. I want to know if we were expected. It seems their Runecaster was beneficial to our Navigator after all. You, inform the kill team we've arrived back in real space."
"At once, My Lord!" the two servants she had pointed out bowed and scurried off.
She voxed the bridge once more. "Reach out and see if any of the assets we left in the system are still alive. If able they are to transmit a preliminary report using channel four code cipher two."
"Yes, My Lord." Ca the respectful reply from the vox operator.
Agatha Striker sat alone on her throne of noctilith. "Just what have you gotten yourself mixed up in, little Radic?" She pondered while running her thumb over the bone-white icon resting in her palm, tracing the contours of the stylized column and the skull embossed prominently in the center through her black gloves.
—----------------------------------------------------------
POV: Archmagos Doll
Doll looked around as he sterilized his tools. The Implantations were finally complete. Discounting the Astartes, nine in ten individuals in the room had received a Volitor implant. The Astartes present from the first scale were undergoing ditative hypno-indoctrination to never willingly disclose the information on Nicole's origins. Captain Bolaar had even offered to undergo the process himself but that was unnecessary.
Doll had included additional cybernetic implants for the Magi who received the Volitor Implants along with the governor. As a show of goodwill. While the censorship was necessary Ur-Haven had already seen the stick, so a carrot to keep them happy would go a long way.
The city had been roused. The Halo was operational and under Zeta 9-Kane's firm traditional hand it was operating as a well-tuned machine should. All of the voidcraft in orbit aside from the Drukhari vessel were operational or were on their way back to being fully operational.
"Are we finally done procrastinating, Archmagos?" Gertrude asked as she removed her soiled surgical scrubs.
"Procrastinating from what?" Doll replied, turning towards her with a frown.
"From discussing what happened with Nicole and the Man of Iron with those of us who you elected not to censor." Gertrude replied.
Doll turned away and paused. "I suppose you and the others have questions." He sighed, "I am uncertain how much I can share or elaborate on the subject. Nicole remains on the Argent Drake?"
"Yes, Archmagos, she has been tending to the ship, working on the weapons, ditating, and studying the Stormbird for the past several days. However, she is scheduled to visit Halo Alphos tomorrow to appraise a piece of Archeotech one of the Imperial Guard soldiers recovered from a vault in Cycladon and potentially acquire it." Xor replied from the entrance of the dical bay.
"Oh? That is good. She is welco to do so. If she requires aid identifying the device she knows how to reach us." Doll grabbed his Axe and began walking towards the exit, "We shall convene aboard the Argent Drake. I will do my best to enlighten you all." Doll buzzed as he walked.
When they finally t again Doll was confident and relaxed as he lounged on his throne, waiting for the Magi to file in before the room was secured.
"You all ca seeking my wisdom. Ask and I shall do my best to answer. If I cannot or do not know I will not hide that from you. My fellows, my friends." Doll said, spreading his arms wide.
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"What did the creature an by Hands of Gold?" TH-102 Inquired.
Doll humd and tapped a finger on the arm of his chair, "There is an old sailor's tale, that relates to early humanity. Keep in mind that these are unconfird speculations. There are scattered ntions of them in the oldest records confirming that the tales are not baseless. It is said that the n of Gold made the n of Stone, and that it was the n of Stone who in turn created the n of Iron. The n of Gold were said to be the peak of humanity. The best geneticists humanity had ever seen in the Age of Technology." Doll paused for a mont to lant the loss of such great minds.
"According to the legends. The n of Gold spread from Ancient Terra. They created the n of Stone to colonize the galaxy. The n of Stone were half-n, immune to the effects of the warp. Paving the way for mankind to sail the stars. Inferior to their Golden creators but capable of building great artifices such as the n of Iron made to be their eyes and ears." Doll chuckled and held up a finger stalling their questions.
"Now they say the Golden race eventually waned but a certain individual, maker of the Astartes, the Custodes, and the Primarchs, bears quite an interesting resemblance to these ancient n of Gold. If the Omissiah was one of the Hands of Gold responsible for Nicole… I cannot say. What happened to the n of Gold has been lost to history. Though I believe it is by his will and that of the Machine God that she has found her way to our care." Doll stated plainly.
"Based on the claims of PR-103 Nicole was designed by the n of Gold as a direct counterasure to the n of Iron to quell the Cybernetic Revolt of the twenty-third millennium." Doll said with a pensive tone.
Xor was the first to speak up, "I see. That was… enlightening. Thank you, Archmagos." He gave a small bow of his head as he sat back to mull over the information.
"I would certainly love to speak with such a Man of Gold if they were still around. There would be so much we could learn about genecoding." Gertrude sighed wistfully.
"The tic effect." Zephyr started only for Doll to hold up a hand.
"I cannot even begin to fathom the workings of such an effect or how it operates. All I have concluded is that it is responsible for the IFF discrepancy. The Man of Iron considered it a negative effect. All machines innately view her as a friend, the more intelligent the machine the more potent the effect. From my point of view, it is likely one of the Machine God's greatest gifts. To be loved by all machines." Doll whispered reverently.
"I doubt the effect extends to warp-corrupted machines. We should be wary of Xenos technology as well until it is confird to ignore or respond to that effect." Xor added getting nods of approval from the entire table.
"I agree. Considering the nature of our upcoming foe, the appropriate counterasures must be taken." Doll said as he interlaced his chanical fingers in front of his face.
Zephyr whispered, "I suppose asking to examine the Man of Iron is prohibited?"
"Yes, Nicole was upfront about PR-103's directives, any such attempt would likely result in your termination. Nicole is the only one present capable of restraining PR-103. The risks for data that can just as easily be obtained in ti through Nicole outweigh the cost." Doll replies, giving Zepthyr a pointed stare.
"Understood." Zephyr replied, his shoulders slumped.
"Should we prioritize getting Nicole to any Forge world or specifically to Mars?" Altair asked them. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
The room grew quiet as they each considered their options.
"Considering Mars is out of reach on the other side of the Maledictum for now. The Lathes may be the best location to prioritize." Doll admitted wearily.
"I believe separating Nicole from the Argent Drake will be problematic, if soone wished to do so. The ship is exceptionally fond of the Princeps and has proven rather protective of her." Altair admitted, glancing at TH-102 who nodded in confirmation.
"The long-term goal is to have her visit Mars and take one of the Yggdrasil seeds there as well. Until then we must keep both Nicole and the holy artifacts we recovered safe. We should all do our utmost to prepare for the coming conflict." Doll said before his head snapped up sharply.
The Magi all tensed waiting for a mont before Doll spoke. "A vessel has been detected exiting the warp at the edge of the system. According to the Deep Void Auger, it appears to be Imperial. I recognize the hull type and drive signature. An Inquisitorial Black Ship is headed to Ur-Haven." Doll stood and nodded to the Magi, "If there are no more questions regarding the incident and Nicole, you are dismissed."
—----------------------------------------------------------
POV: Nicole
Exploring the mories I gained from the original Nicole is proving much more difficult than anticipated.
To access the mories, I have to maintain a calm emotional almost zen-like state without loosing my focus. The mories are divided into individual packets, but I can't tell what they entail until I enter. If I get upset or focus too hard on the contents, I get ejected.
I have yet to fully process any of the mories, but I have narrowed down my selection and picked one out that should be suitable for my first attempt to fully process a mory.
I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, letting my thoughts quiet as I focus on slowly coaxing the mory over like a skittish kitten. Once it's close enough I slip in, my point of view shifting to that of the original Nicole.
We are in the lab aboard the Argent Drake fiddling with a circuit board when her uncle stomps into view, angrily sending signals back and forth through a vox connection. It takes Nicole but a mont to bypass the restrictions and join the secure call.
"Indas, what you are asking for is ridiculous, the expenses we have accrued on this project already exceed our projections by a fold." Her uncle growled out.
"I don't care, brother, I've humored and approved your absurd requests for over a year now. I've turned my eyes away from whatever unscrupulous deals you've made in that ti to get your own projects secured. I don't care how. I want an Engine. I've already secured the unique parts for it from the salvage site. I've allocated additional funds and located a forge willing to take the custom commission, we have the requisite part schematics. I burned favors for this. As your brother and Princeps Senoris, I am telling you. Get. It. Done." Hearing the voice on the other end of the vox made us happy, it was her father's voice.
"I've seen your schematic. I do not recognize the classification of this machine. Where did you get so of these parts? Is so backwater forge world out in Obscurus to be trusted with such things?" Uncle asked petulantly.
"Cypra Mundi is not so backwater Forge World! It's the best Forge in Obscurus!" Her father yelled back. "By all that is holy, you best mind your tongue when negotiating with them, brother! I've already secured transport for the Archeotech parts and the primary armants. You just need to secure the secondaries and possibly arrange for a security force. Be thankful I am not asking more of you after what you pulled. I considered asking for an Imperator, unfortunately, that would require too much space in the Argent Drake and the funds were spent on replacent parts for Tempestus." Indias hissed.
Uncle clicked his tongue but eventually replied with a hiss "Fine. I will see it done, Princeps."
"Good, inform Nicole if she isn't already aware. Give her my affections. She surpassed all our expectations in her simulated trials. I will see her walk." Indias spoke affectionately. "Make sure you get the order codified in writing brother."
"I'm not a fool, Indias. I've already secured a modest number of cybernetica for the House. The sale of the estate will be completed within the month." Uncle said proudly.
"Good." There was a sigh "I must go, the Warhound pilots are being… Warhound pilots." Then the call was terminated.
Our uncle turned to us and scowled when he saw us beaming up at him, "Were you listening to that?" He asked rhetorically.
"I'm getting a Titan! Yaaay!" We cheered.
"Yes, how wonderful for you, now cease your prattling and do your work." Uncle said as he made us go do so boring repetitive computational work.
We felt a spike of irritation that nearly ejected her from the mory. I remained calm watching original Nicole go about her day. The mory ended but not before we caught a glimpse of precisely where our uncle had stored the proof of sale docunt from his deal.
I shook my head as I stood up and bolted from my ditation chamber. Startling Lael and Delta-A3. Brother Silverwalker, and the automa calmly walked after .
I went back to the lab area and went to the desk, opening the false bottom drawer and withdrawing the vellum scroll resting within a small stasis field. "Yesss it was still here!" I grabbed the container and held it up triumphantly.
"What is it?" Lael asked from the entrance.
"Proof! Proof Cypra Mundi owes my Titan!" Nicole replied with a vulpine grin.
Delta-A3 imdiately inford Doll of this developnt, Brother Silverwalker called Captain Bolaar and Lael just stood there looking impressed.
—-----------------------------------------------------------
POV: Archmagos Doll
Doll looked at the holographically projected galactic star map and humd in contemplation. Tracing his finger downward from their current location.
"Cypra Mundi." He muttered considerately. It was so close yet so far with their strangled warp capabilities.
"Dealing with the Administratum Master will be annoying without a proper item of tribute. Even if we bypass him, we would still need to deal with the local Archmagos and find out where her Titan is, if it's still even on the planet." Doll closed the map and made a note of it in his logs. There were more pressing matters to handle, the Black Ship was drawing closer and was yet to contact the planet. Though still a few days away they expected to establish communications soon.
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