At the Third Altar of Lukov's hive, Sage Kivior-15 withdrew the data-probe of his mechadendrite from the data-slate presented by Muravski.
The designation Kivior traced its origins to the sage who led the Martian exploratory fleet that discovered Vostonia, a name steeped in illustrious history and adopted by many local adepts.
The appended numeral 15 was a bespoke suffix, distinguishing this unit's unique identity, much like the customized designation of another tech-priest, Number 23.
Thierry spoke first, his voice resolute. "Sage, as you have witnessed, Puhach is dead. The new king, Nimrod, hailing from Tetzvok's hive, has seized the spire and the Upper Hive."
Muravski added with urgency, "Sage, Puhach was long a madman. Without King Nimrod's intervention, Lukov would have collapsed in short order."
"Foolish Puhach, for having such frail humanity."
The voice emanating from the crimson robe conveyed Kivior-15's judgment. Puhach's pursuit of a perfected form was not misguided, but he overestimated the wisdom and resilience of fragile flesh-bound minds.
Muravski exchanged a glance with Thierry, both grasping the Sage's stance. Without his tacit approval, the Mad King could not have ruled Lukov for so long.
The white-haired marquess hastened to speak. "Sage, King Nimrod has noted Lukov's recent decline in production capacity. He pledges to swiftly restore it."
Thierry supplemented, "King Nimrod has already achieved this in Tetzvok and secured an accord with Sage Kaminski."
Kivior-15 remained silent, his golden augmetic eyes flickering with red and green binary pulses, establishing a connection through the Mechanicus' exclusive high-tier vox-channel to consult Sage Kaminski.
After a torrent of binary data surged for moments, the Sage declared, "I shall meet this new king. Lead the way."
Sixteen standard minutes later, Kivior-15 beheld the new king. More fervent in his belief in the perfection of the machine-form than either Kaminski or Puhach, he engaged in a five-minute contest of wills with his new sovereign before speaking.
"Kaminski informed me you restored Tetzvok's production capacity and enacted reforms in the Underhive's dome."
"Yet you breached our accord by failing to address the xenos pirates, instead assaulting Lukov and slaying Puhach, blessed by the Omnissiah. This is a violation."
Nimrod shook his head, his voice steady. "On the contrary, my assault on Lukov was to fulfill the accord."
"Your words lack logic."
"To combat the pirates, I require voidships. Tetzvok's three vessels departed under Robert Boleslav's command."
Nimrod's eyes gleamed with purpose. "I chose not to strike Mazov or Szczecin first but targeted Lukov precisely to secure House Piontkovski's frigate."
After seizing the spire, Nimrod's search of Puhach's palace yielded three monumental gains.
First, the cornerstone of House Piontkovski's power: the Standard Template Construct for mag-lev trains and fragmented technologies related to augmetic enhancements.
Second, materials for Beyonder potions, exploitable to their fullest only by him. He uncovered twenty-five types, totaling forty-three components.
Beyond assembling another "Sailor" Beyonder potion, his greatest prize was securing two complete sets of "Polymath" Beyonder potion materials.
In the study, Nimrod discovered the primary components for the "Polymath" potion: two data-slates from deceased tech-priests.
In the laboratory, he found seven auxiliary components: unused Mars Grade-I helical gears.
Lacking suitable candidates for now, he refrained from ordering Bukayo and Rawlslev to other hives to slay tech-priests for additional data-slates.
The final gain was the frigate docked at the starport.
Unlike Tetzvok, where warships were divided among Houses Boleslav, Find, and Kurnikova, Lukov possessed a single vessel: the Piszczek.
Upon this discovery, Nimrod dispatched Bukayo and the Seventh Company, bearing the access cipher, aboard a flyer to the orbital port to secure the Piszczek.
Simultaneously, he leveraged this gain, employing his "Beyonder Eloquence" to reframe his diplomatic rhetoric.
After advancing to "Barbarian" Beyonder, the abilities from his "Lawyer" phase had been enhanced to varying degrees. While "Beyonder Eloquence" did not gain as much in exploiting rule loopholes, its capacity to extract critical insights from data surpassed its prior limits.
"With the frigate, I can venture into the void to strike the xenos pirates."
He produced a data-slate, having spent fifteen minutes harnessing his superhuman intellect to process six work cycles' worth of data from all Upper Hive manufactorums in Lukov. Using his insight-extraction ability, he pinpointed critical trends and compiled them into charts.
"The first chart's trapezoid graph depicts the production statistics, recorded every ten minutes, for B-14 Weapons Forges during the Niban shift, six cycles ago."
"It reveals that after five hours of labor, output plummets rapidly, declining by eight point five two percent."
His finger tapped the slate, summoning another chart.
"This chart tracks the same forge, same shift, same time, five cycles prior. The output during the first standard hour matches only the third standard hour of the previous day, and by the fourth standard hour, it drops sharply, by ten point eight three percent."
Nimrod presented each chart to Kivior-15, letting the data speak.
Finally, he displayed a comprehensive industrial output chart, quantifying Lukov's Upper Hive production across six work cycles in Martian Thrones.
"This chart demonstrates that Lukov's Upper Hive total output has fallen from twenty-five point zero eight billion to sixteen point three five billion Martian Thrones for each work cycle."
"Combined with prior charts, one conclusion emerges: Lukov's production capacity is declining precipitously."
"Data accurate, logic rigorous, conclusion sound."
Kivior-15 issued his assessment, turning to the giant with a query.
"King Nimrod, how shall this be resolved?"
"Naturally, by addressing the root cause: the food crisis."
"Workers are not machines, not servitors, nor bodies of steel."
"The frailty of flesh," Kivior-15 disdained mortal weakness yet acknowledged reality,
"Kaminski and I request you fulfill your pledge swiftly."
"Of course, I always honor my commitments."
"I require twelve work cycles to prepare."
After conquering Lukov, Nimrod grasped the severity of the food crisis.
With the First Regiment of Vostonia sustaining minimal losses in battle, he resolved to launch preemptive strikes on Mazov and Szczecin before embarking to confront the xenos pirates.
Thierry and Muravski, observing Nimrod's effortless persuasion of Kivior-15 to recognize his sovereignty over Lukov, shed their final apprehensions.
The giant wielded not only godlike martial prowess but, unlike Puhach, remained rational and sagacious outside combat. He seized the Sage's priorities, using logic to secure allegiance and achieve political aims.
Both men, in unspoken accord, thought: [Vostonia's destiny will shift. Nimrod shall unite all thirty-three scattered hives, becoming the sole true king.]
Anticipating his departure from Lukov and subsequent void campaign, Nimrod decided to delay reforms until his return.
"Muravski, you shall temporarily oversee Lukov's governance."
"As you command, my king."
After Muravski's departure, Nimrod transmitted orders to Rawlslev and Bukayo, summoning them to the palace for a military council to plan further expansion.
Szczesny was specifically named to attend this meeting.