Chapter 44: The Spaceport Has Fallen
Outside the Teyedan system, two fleets faced each other in silent standoff.
One side consisted of a dozen ships bearing the cog-and-skull insignia of the Adeptus Mechanicus: a Dictator-class cruiser, a Lunar-class cruiser, a Tyrant-class cruiser, and several smaller vessels like the Dauntless-class and Endurance-class light cruisers. Behind them loomed two colossal ships, so large they were a spectacle in themselves: an Ark Mechanicus and a Goliath-class factory ship. It was an entire, massive Adeptus Mechanicus explorator fleet.
The other side's fleet markings were a motley collection, but any one of them was enough to strike fear into the hearts of xenos and heretics alike. These were the symbols of the Imperial Navy, the Adeptus Astartes, the Inquisition...
"Captain Ventris, how much longer must we maintain this standoff?"
"Until a victor emerges on Teyedan, Inquisitor Griffin," the Ultramarines Captain of the 4th Company replied, his gaze unwavering as he looked at the Inquisitor, who was nearly half his size.
"But according to our instrument readings, the empyric energy on Teyedan is rising rapidly. It won't be long before it reaches a critical point. At that point..."
The Space Marine Captain rubbed the bridge of his nose, a hint of weariness in his voice. "Did we not know we might face this situation when we received our orders?"
Inquisitor Griffin fell silent.
"I understand your concern. But you and I both know that when it comes to the fate of Teyedan, we must persist, we must endure, we must sacrifice."
"My apologies, Captain. You are right. It was I..."
"No need for apologies. I am just as conflicted as you. I am merely repeating to you the words I have been telling myself."
A bitter smile touched the Inquisitor's lips. He pointed to the holographic display. "I'm guessing the other side isn't conflicted at all. Their machine-brains can only calculate."
The Captain chuckled. "Not necessarily. After all, making an entire explorator fleet wait here with us is costing them a lot of potential tomb-raiding."
"Heh, that's true. Then let them continue to wait."
"Sir, we have an emergency!" an officer at the augur-array console suddenly shouted.
Omega knew nothing of the events outside the system. He was currently hunched over a hand-crafted astronomical telescope, watching the spaceport fall.
"The Archmagos has suffered a heavy blow this time! How many people will die in the fall?" What weapon had the Temple used to bring down the entire spaceport? Omega had no idea. He had only just received the notification and had rushed out to watch the spectacle. "That's not right. Isn't the spaceport in a stable orbit? Why did it suddenly fall? Even if it was blown up, it should have remained in orbit as debris!"
"A gravity weapon? It must be a gravity weapon. Otherwise, there's no explanation for the fall. Where did they dig up a gravity weapon of this magnitude?"
Omega muttered to himself, analyzing the cause of the fall as he watched. He had built this telescope not to watch... well, he had built it to watch the spaceport, but not to watch it fall. One day, a thought had struck him: if he could steal the technology of any object he saw with his own eyes, then with a telescope, who within eight hundred miles could stop him? He could steal from whomever he pleased. And so, the astronomical telescope was born. The result proved his idea was a good one. He should not think such thoughts again.
With such a major event, Omega could no longer stay in his lab. He had to consult with the Magi. He made his way down into the cavern tunnels, where construction of defenses was underway—a task he had assigned. After the external defenses had been completed, Omega's sense of security had not increased at all. He had immediately begun the construction of a shelter, planning to move his "home" underground in case of a crisis.
When he reached the Magi's location, they were already gathered and discussing the events above. Omega smoothly slipped in to listen.
"Hmph, what a waste! How much manpower and resources did it take to build that spaceport?"
"It wasn't ours to begin with. Why do you care? We should be worried about the future."
"What's there to worry about? That little brat Omega... oh, Omega, you're here!"
"I'm here!" (Hmph, you backstabbing old cog-head.)
The senior cog-head, not feeling the least bit awkward, continued, "Didn't he predict this? I think his calculations were quite accurate."
"Thank you for the praise, Magos..."
"..."
"With what we have, just being able to protect ourselves is a blessing from the Omnissiah. Let's just take it one step at a time."
"I wonder how much strength the Archmagos will have left after this?"
"It would be best if he was crushed along with it. The civil war could end right there."
"If the Temple had used this lost technology earlier, this would have been over long ago."
"Just wait. If the Temple has it, doesn't the Archmagos? I believe a counter-attack will come soon!"
"Sigh, if this continues, Teyedan will be torn apart."
"Instead of worrying about that, we should be worried about Chaos. According to my readings, the fluctuations in empyric energy are constantly rising!"
"..."
"How are the ruins?" Omega interjected.
"The ruins are almost..." The Magos who was speaking caught himself and stopped, glaring at Omega.
Omega's thought: What are you looking at? You bunch of incompetent "tomb-raiding" Magi. You've been searching for half a year and you still haven't found the "main chamber."
"I'm asking because it's important," Omega said righteously. "I'm already preparing to build a shelter in the area with the lowest radiation. So I need to know your progress."
"Just wait a little longer. We'll have it confirmed soon."
"How long is 'soon'? Everyone's life is on the line right now, Magos!"
"..."
"Magos, I need a specific time. I have to consider the safety of everyone here," Omega pressed, his voice filled with righteous indignation.
"..."
The Magi could see that the kid was putting them on the spot. If they didn't give him some information today, he wasn't going to let it go. And the little brat had more authority in the settlement than they did. He had a fully armed and armored army at his command.
Omega's thought: Hmph, I've been waiting for this day for a long time. Today, I will...
"Ow! Who hit my head!" Omega cried, clutching his forehead.
"I did!" Magos Laust replied.
Weren't you just not here? "Oh, Magos Laust," Omega, the honest child, replied meekly.
"This is the location with the lowest radiation in the entire subterranean space. Build your shelter here."
"Understood, Magos Laust," Omega said, then scurried away.
"Laust, if you hadn't come back, we wouldn't have been able to handle him," one of the Magi said.
"Just now? Are you sure we could have handled him before?"
"He respects Laust. He doesn't fear us."
"What a little bastard!"
"We should thank the Omnissiah that the kid has a conscience. If it were me, a few years out of the vitae-womb, I would have already cut you all down and ripped out your data-slates."
"We always knew you had no conscience!"
"You..."
"Laust, honestly, where did you get Omega?"
"He was issued from the Grand Manufactorum," Laust replied, his tone tinged with a hint of pride and amusement.
On his way back, a frustrated Omega took a detour to the front lines of the war with the Pale Orks and shot a few Ork Boyz to vent his anger.
"Die, xenos! Taste my lascannon!"
"I was so close to getting a piece of the pie! Damn it! Eat my boltgun!"
"The ruins! My knowledge! You can drive a piece of scrap like that? Have some plasma!"
"Let that Grot come over here! Let it taste my power axe!"
A Pale Ork Boy, who had managed to retreat from the battle, was bragging to the newly sprouted Boyz who didn't even have a proper choppa yet. "I was on a WAAAGH! with da boss today, and we ran into this really WAAAGH! little git. Before da boss could even charge, da little git blew 'im up with one shot. Da other boyz tried to run 'im over with their trukk, but he blew dat up too. Not only was da little git really WAAAGH!, he was also really brutal. He even chopped da boss's pet Grot in half. If I wasn't even tougher dan da boss, and hadn't WAAAGH!-ed him so hard he ran away, I wouldn't have made it back. I would have gone to see Gorkamorka."
"You ain't lyin', are ya? You made da little git run away, but you're da only one who came back?"
"You just sprouted from da ground, what do you know? I'm tough, dat's why I came back. Da ones who weren't tough went to see Gorkamorka's other half."
"Oh..."
"From now on, I'm da boss here. You lot do what I say! If you don't listen, I'll punch ya and put ya teef in my pocket."
"Okay, boss."
"Oi! I'll punch you! You lot remember, from now on, you call me da boss. Listen to me, and I'll take you on a WAAAGH!"
"Da boss!"
"WAAAGH!"
"Da boss, let's go on a WAAAGH!"
Unaware that he had just become the stepping stone for a new Pale Ork Warboss, Omega, having vented his frustration, began to assign tasks to his "six staff officers." He didn't care about the process; he just wanted to see a shelter large enough to house the entire settlement at the location Laust had given him, in the shortest time possible. The "six staff officers" were to figure out the details themselves and report back to him with any difficulties.
While arranging for the shelter, Omega also dispatched an elite team. Their mission was to find and destroy all the other discharge wells that connected to the subterranean space, leaving only the two most concealed ones. After destroying the other shafts, they were to clear the cavern passages connecting these two to the main subterranean space and determine their locations.
With all this arranged, Omega began to wander around the settlement with his three illegal psyker attendants. He didn't have much to do now. The technology in his possession had been sorted, the OMG-series of infantry weapons and vehicles had been mostly optimized, the firepower of the "Worker-Soldier" legion had been maxed out under the current conditions, and their food and supply reserves were enough to last a long time even if their "supply line" was cut. Even the two Battle Automata had been repaired and their performance enhanced.