Kingdom of Disorder, Fourth Layer. Nareth, high upon his throne, listened to Lucius's report.
"...Finally, I detonated the melta charges I had placed in the Mondus Occulam reactors, triggering a series of explosions."
"Due to the withdrawal, I cannot fully confirm the results, but I am certain we destroyed five Titan of the Legio Mortis, fourteen Knights, and over thirty thousand enemy automata."
"Sigismund requisitioned the help of some Tech-Priests and servitors and urgently transferred over a thousand Mark IV power armor suits, twenty Sicaran battle tanks, and various other equipment into orbit."
Nareth nodded slightly. 'Sigismund did reasonably well. Though he didn't secure the most valuable assets, he didn't come away empty-handed, and without paying a price, he gained some hand-me-downs... hmm, for the loyalists, it's new equipment.'
'And, unlike in my memory, he didn't face Titans and lose hundreds of his 1st Company Terminators.'
His gaze fell on Lucius.
'After the successful Mars operation, Lucius has established his authority among the loyalist combined forces of the Emperor's Children and the Death Guard.'
'Even with a significant physical change, no one will suspect he has undergone Bile's surgical enhancements.'
As Nareth pondered, the Jokaero in the first layer got to work, feeding materials like Basmekanic metal plating into the furnace to concoct the Sequence 6 "Dawn Paladin" potion.
Moments later, Lucius's body swelled by a head and a half, his bulging muscles straining his Mark VI power armor.
Feeling the surging power within, he knelt on one knee.
"My Lord, I thank You for this gift. I will be Your flawless blade, slaying all heretical enemies."
'Flawless blade… you're already giving yourself a title, aren't you?'
'A coincidence?' Nareth mentally quipped before giving his orders.
"You will depart immediately for Jupiter to claim your flagship."
"The Shadow Guard will coordinate with you."
"After restocking your armory and creating spare capacity, return to Mars and launch an attack on Mondus Gamma."
He knew the Imperial Fists had split into two forces. While Sigismund went to Mondus Occulam, Camba Diaz's two companies would attack Mondus Gamma.
Facing the Kaban machines, Diaz had no hope of victory. Without the aid of forty thousand Jovian Grenadiers, he would have been overwhelmed.
Diaz had sacrificed the Grenadiers to hold off the Kaban machines while he escaped with the spoils from Mondus Gamma, at the cost of almost the entire force.
Now that the Hessen Cartel had sided with him, Diaz had only five thousand Jovian Grenadiers; he could not achieve a decisive victory.
Lucius's face lit up. He had not only received a new gift of power, but would also gain a powerful flagship.
"My Lord, I understand. I will fill my new flagship with the spoils from Mondus Gamma."
Black mist swallowed Lucius. When he opened his eyes, he was back in reality.
He drew his blade, quickly tapping it to deactivate the "Euclidean Runes," then stepped from the compartment.
The three members of his Nasicae Cohort, his second, Thorason; Vespasian, Eagle-King of the Wings of the Phoenician; and Palatine Blade Andros, all looked at him.
Andros stared at Lucius's towering form and swollen physique. "My lord, what happened?"
"You were only gone for half an hour."
Lucius's gaze swept over his trusted followers. He didn't know if the Black Emperor would grant them power.
They lacked his devotion, and they were not flawless blades.
"Follow my path, and perhaps one day you will receive such a gift."
Thorason was silent for a few seconds before reporting.
"Lord Commander Vespasian and Nathaniel of the Dusk Raiders have sent messages, inquiring about your next move."
"Tell them our target is Jupiter." Lucius said, walking towards the deck where Zagreus Kane, the new Fabricator General appointed by the Black Emperor, was working.
"I will inform them of my plan later."
"Now, I need a new suit of armor."
"As you command, my lord." Thorason contacted the Master of Vox to relay Lucius's orders.
Lucius walked to the grav-lift. The two Nasicae members, staring at his imposing form, paused for a moment before saluting.
Lucius nodded and stepped inside, quickly entering a string of runes on the keypad.
Click!
The grav-lift descended rapidly, arriving at the lower deck in moments.
Since Zagreus Kane had boarded, he had taken his Tech-Priests and apprentices to the lower deck.
Since then, the roar of machinery had been audible through every deck, even to the Nasicae Cohort on the upper deck.
As the lift descended, the roar grew louder.
With the vibration beneath his feet and the cold mist, Lucius activated his Ramm's Ear filters.
He stepped out. A red-robed Tech-Priest's bionic eye, wary, fixed on him.
His mechadendrites swayed. The synthesized voice carried a hint of respect and surprise, barely detectable to a mortal.
"Lord Lucius."
Lucius nodded. "I wish to see the Fabricator General."
"Please wait." The Tech-Priest sent a data packet over the noosphere.
Since the scrapcode had ravaged Mars, the Martian Magi of Mondus Occulam had abandoned their old communication habits, replacing them with the noosphere.
"The Fabric..." the Tech-Priest paused. "General, he will see you."
Lucius stepped inside. Crackling sparks filled his vision.
Red-robed Magi, their mechadendrites crackling, moved across the machines in a silent race.
"Lucius, do you have good news?" Zagreus Kane asked.
"When will Nareth send his forces to help us retake Mars?"
In an instant, the sparks vanished. The crackling subsided.
"Fabricator General, the time is not yet right." Lucius said.
"I am here today to ask you to forge a suitable suit of armor for me."
Kane's gaze swept over Lucius's form. "My scanners show your body has changed by 36.13 percent."
"What happened?"
Lucius hesitated, wondering whether to tell him about the Black Emperor's gift, when Kane's memory buffers supplied the answer.
"Archmagos Zeth sent a data packet over the noosphere."
"Arkhan Land has received a gift of power from Nareth. He has even changed his faith, now considering Nareth the Omnissiah."
Lucius spoke. "Yes. Lord Nareth is the Omnissiah you worship."
"If you wish to reclaim Mars, you must worship Him devoutly."
"I do not know what Arkhan received and I do not believe Nareth is the Omnissiah." Zagreus Kane said.
"But I need his help."
"Now, let me design armor suited for you." Curiosity kindled within his mechanical frame.
....
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