Chapter 271: How Come I Can't Figger It Out No More?
With the loading of Enigmatic Engineering, its effects were felt immediately across the galaxy and even within the warp. The Warpsmiths who had dragged the wreckage of the starships and powersuits back to their domains suddenly found that all their attempts at reverse-engineering had ground to a halt. Even their efforts to use daemonic possession to forcibly hack the servo-systems for information came to an abrupt end. The supernatural power of the warp could not bypass the lock imposed by Enigmatic Engineering.
It wasn't just Chaos. Numerous factions and forge worlds within the Imperium also discovered the anomaly. It wasn't limited to forces outside the Mongorte Dynasty; many of Lucan's own allies had been secretly trying to study the technology. The profits brought in by the wargear, and especially the quantum communication systems, were simply too immense. The reason the Mongorte Dynasty could develop at such a high speed without worrying too much about resources was precisely because of these massive profits.
Reverse-engineering projects that had been making progress were now completely stalled. Even forge worlds that had gathered large numbers of Tech-priests and utilized the full computational power of their worlds could not find the cause. Baffled, they could only shelve these projects for the time being and continue to purchase the equipment from Lucan.
The effects of Enigmatic Engineering also began to spread to other races.
At that moment, in the Koronus Expanse, near the edge of the Alliance's sphere of influence, a massive fleet of Ork scrap-ships floated in the void. This large Ork clan was on its way to a human-held planet. Among the Greenskins, mobs of Ork Boyz were clad in their own ramshackle version of powersuits. The armor, made of scrap metal, was similar in shape to the original suits but still retained the distinct, crude style of the Orks.
This was the very Ork pirate clan that Lucan's intelligence had identified as the one that had "figgered out" the powersuits. Their Big Meks and Mekboyz were particularly active. As the clan's numbers had swelled, Ork powersuits were being churned out at an incredible rate and distributed to the other Boyz. Though they looked like junk, just scrap metal welded together haphazardly, they actually possessed performance comparable to the genuine article.
But with the loading of Enigmatic Engineering... the Mekboyz and the Big Mek, who had been busy building more suits, suddenly froze in place.
The effect of Enigmatic Engineering on the Orks was even more severe than Lucan had imagined. For other factions, the technological breakthroughs they had already completed before the perk was activated were not erased. For example, some forge worlds still possessed the knowledge to manufacture powersuits.
"Oi? Wot's goin' on?" a Big Mek muttered, staring at the pile of scrap in his hands, suddenly unsure of what to do next. "How come I can't figger it out no more?"
All the Mekboyz looked at their Big Mek with blank expressions. The knowledge of how to build a powersuit had simply vanished from their minds. This was the first time these Orks had ever encountered such a thing.
The pieces of scrap they had just been putting together suddenly fell apart. The cold fusion reactors, created through the power of their collective belief, completely ceased to function. The power of "Ork know-wotz" was rapidly failing. Even the suits that had already been distributed began to lose their function.
In an instant, an entire army of powersuit-equipped Orks was reverted to its primitive state.
This anomaly caused the Ork Warboss to lead a large mob of Boyz storming into the Meks' workshop. In Ork society, the powerful weapons made by the Mekboyz were not given away for free. The other Boyz had to use teeth, their currency, to buy them. To afford a single powersuit, countless Boyz had pulled out their own teeth, or had looted them from others in numerous battles.
One could only imagine the world of hurt the Mekboyz were in for, now facing a mob of furious Orks who had just been scammed.
Of course, Lucan was not yet aware of what had just happened to these Orks. He could only confirm that the Ascension Perk had taken effect, but he could not immediately feel its results.
"Lord Lucan! Lord Lucan!"
Guilliman had noticed that Lucan had been sitting with his eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep. He had assumed Lucan was exhausted; after all, from the moment he had revived him to their journey to Cadia, he had not seen Lucan rest. Even he, a Primarch, felt fatigue after such intense combat. So, he had not disturbed him. But then he saw an unconscious smile playing on Lucan's lips and began to think that perhaps things were not as they seemed.
Guilliman's call pulled Lucan out of the System interface.
"Did something happen?" Lucan asked, opening his eyes to look at Guilliman. To avoid provoking the still-necessary Navigator houses of the Imperium, the fleet was still traveling through the warp.
"Were you dreaming just now?" Guilliman asked. "You looked quite happy. Did you dream of something pleasant? We are about to exit the warp. We have arrived at Terra."
"Dreaming... yes, it was indeed like a dream," Lucan replied. "I was just thinking of some happy things. But we're finally here. It's been a while since I've traveled through the warp; I'm still not used to it."
As Guilliman finished speaking, the entire warship shuddered. Following the reports and maneuvers of the crew, the fleet successfully exited the warp. The Ultramarines' fleet, the Stellar Pioneer, and a contingent of Dynasty warships had arrived at Terra. The Spear of Adun remained hidden in the Webway and had not appeared with them. Lucan feared that the arrival of a xenos fleet would cause an overreaction from the High Lords on Terra.
As the armored viewport shutters opened, Lucan couldn't help but rise to his feet and look at the planet in the distance. The very heart of the human Imperium, the place where the Emperor resided: Holy Terra.
"So, this is Terra..."
Lucan stared, captivated. Since transmigrating to this world, the planet before him was the only one with which he felt a true sense of connection. After all, in the Warhammer universe, it represented his own former home, Earth. It had even once had a civilization similar to his own world's. There were even place names he was familiar with, like the Himalayas.
But now, Terra's natural resources had been completely exhausted. Apart from the Himalayas, all other mountain ranges had been leveled, the oceans had boiled away, the soil was utterly barren, and the atmosphere was filled with pollutants. It was impossible to imagine that the heart of humanity looked like this. The entire planet had been transformed into the Imperium's largest hive world. Every inch of land had been used to build towering hive-spires that scraped the clouds.
The High Lords themselves probably didn't even know how many people lived on Terra.
Countless pilgrim ships from all corners of the Imperium formed an endless stream. These faithful followers of the Emperor endured journeys of years, sometimes decades, braving a one-in-a-million chance of survival, just to catch a single glimpse of Terra. On their pilgrimage, countless would die from Chaos, pirates, starvation, and a myriad of other threats.
Lucan truly wondered what they would think after all that effort, only to arrive and see a world like this.
When they were fortunate enough to enter one of the grand cathedrals, each person was only allowed to stay for a few seconds. For those few seconds, these believers may have sacrificed their entire lives.
Faced with this constant influx, the Ecclesiarchy did at least perform one humane act: the priests would provide them with just enough food to keep them from starving to death. After all, pilgrims starving on the streets of Terra would be a stain on the Ecclesiarchy's reputation. As for those who died on the way, they were completely forgotten. No one would remember them or care about them. The truly fanatical would even believe that they had failed to reach Terra because they were not devout enough.
As the capital of the Imperium, life should have been better here. But the standard of living for the lower-class citizens was still pitiful, even worse than in some other hive worlds. Even the officials in the various Imperial agencies, those on the government's payroll, lived at a bare subsistence level, numbly performing their duties day after day. The vast majority still struggled in extreme poverty. The almost hereditary system of the lower bureaucracy gave people no hope of changing their lives or moving up. Only those with exceptional ability and even better luck could hope to gain entry into an official Imperial department. Even the most humble position within one was something to be looked up to.
Xenos, cults, mutants, and internal strife constantly eroded the heart of humanity.
But with the news of Guilliman and Ferrus's return, the celebration being prepared on Terra had given its gloomy populace a glimmer of hope.
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