Chapter 69: I Will Not Submit
Rhea's words had successfully ignited Omega's spirit of resistance. In his own words: "I will not be influenced and coerced by you! You are willing to sacrifice, willing to believe, but what has that got to do with me? I will only do what I want to do. No one will impose their will upon me!"
Having found his footing again, Omega immediately began to regather his forces. He started to visit, one by one, the people he had a connection with, the people he could influence: the Worker-Soldier legion, the Tech-Priests who were drawn to his talent, and even the cog-heads who had secretly set up "shrines" to him.
All who were willing to follow his will, whether he liked them or not, were a force he had to unite and utilize. He would integrate these forces, forge them into a fist, and smash it against this disgusting world.
While Omega was on the move, Ventris was not idle. As soon as the meeting was over, the first thing he did was to have the Space Marines cooperate with Inquisitor Griffin to find and eliminate the traitors who had turned to the Rainfather, to weaken the power of this hidden threat as much as possible. At the same time, he drew several squads from the three Chapters and assigned them to "protect" the Archmagos and the other Magi, to ensure that no matter what happened, control of the nuclear bomb would not be lost.
All that was left was to wait for the Rainfather to send the "contract." But he knew in his heart that when the contract arrived, the high command of the allied forces would inevitably be tied up by it. This would give the traitors who had secretly turned to Chaos an opportunity. The daemon would not give him much time to solve the hidden dangers. The time for the final battle was at hand!
And then he received a report: Omega was in a shouting match with a Chaos Sorcerer sent by the Rainfather. The reason was that the Rainfather believed the humans had broken their promise by blatantly building fortifications—digging a "moat-cliff."
Ventris's thought: It's been less than four hours. Can't this little brat just stay quiet for a while?!
Why had this happened? It all started when Omega, having regained his fighting spirit, decided to gather his forces and resist the world.
The Worker-Soldier legion was extremely enthusiastic about their "Warmaster" coming to visit them. This enthusiasm also infected Omega, making him feel as if he were back in the settlement. His nimble little brain suddenly found a loophole in the "agreement that no one intended to keep." Another plan popped into his head.
They were not allowed to repair the city wall's defenses, but no one had said they couldn't dig a "ditch." Although they couldn't surround the entire Grand Manufactorum like they had with the settlement in such a short time, it was still possible to dig "moat-cliffs" at key locations. This would allow them to guide the daemons' attack direction and reduce their attack range.
But this was just a smokescreen. The daemons and heretics were not mindless zombies. A "moat-cliff" would not stop them. But it could conceal Omega's "Great Escape Plan." Since he couldn't run on the surface, he would run from underground. As a cog-head who had mastered the core technology, was digging a tunnel that difficult? Didn't everyone know how the cog-heads had made their fortunes?
Thinking of this plan, Omega himself sighed, "As expected, the ancestral craft cannot be abandoned."
He would dig a tunnel from the Grand Manufactorum to a location several hundred kilometers away. When necessary, he would take his people and run. There were a few problems with this. One, where to put the excavated rock and soil. Two, how to hide it from everyone.
Digging the "moat-cliff" perfectly solved both these problems. The excavated rock could be mixed in with the excavated earth, and the commotion on the surface could cover up the commotion underground. If the Grand Manufactorum were still intact, with its detection systems fully functional, Omega would have been discovered no matter how careful he was. But who had asked the Grand Manufactorum to be in ruins? This gave Omega an opportunity.
"The will of the Omnissiah is with me! I can't be limited in my thinking in the future. If I had thought of this earlier, the Grand Manufactorum wouldn't have even fallen. How can we defeat the daemons with these parasites?! This world really does need me, Omega, to save it!"
Omega, both smug and annoyed, complained to Jacob and the others. He was annoyed that in his days at the Grand Manufactorum, his nimble little brain had been led astray by the senior cog-heads, turning him into someone who only knew how to fight a static war, always thinking of defeating the enemy with brute force and superior performance. Who didn't know that he, Omega, had roamed Teyedan for four years, relying on the technology that popped into his head and his endless "schemes and plots"?
Of course, the key to realizing this "Great Escape Plan" was the technology: the Termite Assault Drill. It was the memory of this digger, which had been enshrined as a "relic," that had given Omega the idea for the "Great Escape Plan."
As a product of Terran technology, the assault drill was originally developed in the early years of the Great Crusade to dig out and exterminate various xenos species hidden underground, and it had been quite effective in those missions. Because it used a series of melta-arrays and void shield generators in conjunction with the drill to assist in the digging process, and an extremely advanced gyroscopic stabilization system, the "Termite" could tunnel through the ground at an astonishing speed, even through various high-density materials: whether it was rock, soil, or even hard plasteel concrete, nothing could stand in the way of the specialized digging system. The gyroscopic stabilization system could greatly reduce the vibrations caused by the "Termite" as it traveled underground, allowing for high-speed movement to deceive the enemy's augur systems and atmospheric scanners.
This ancient machine had originally been enshrined as a "relic" because its "Machine Spirit" had a bit of the "grace of the Omnissiah." Now, it was covered in the blasphemous symbols of Chaos. Omega could only have Jacob and a few other Rune Priests do what they did best: appease the Machine Spirit and purify the Chaos taint.
To call Jacob a Rune Priest now was actually not quite appropriate. He should be called a "Techno-Magus." That's right, a "Magus," but not the psyker kind. A rather rare type of cog-head in the Adeptus Mechanicus. A Techno-Magus specializes in analyzing and purifying corrupted Machine Spirits. Because of the Nurgle daemon army's invasion, there were inevitably Machine Spirits infected with "Chaos scrap-code," also known as "daemonic data," and vehicles and weapons twisted by the malevolent power of Nurgle. The Tech-Priests were forced to deal with these mutated machines. The Archmagos had also opened up this part of the knowledge base, but not everyone had a talent for it. Jacob had a considerable aptitude in this area.
Techno-Magi are different from orthodox Tech-Priests. Their methods of solving problems are unusual, because they often rely on intuitive thinking and improvisation. Their talents allow them to work as a standard Tech-Priest, but also to think outside the box, to better understand how the power of Chaos affects and twists technological artifacts. This means that when they encounter heretek, they are often called in as experts to solve the problem. To become a Techno-Magus, an aspirant must first submit an application, which is signed by a Grand Inquisitor. The aspirant is then fitted with a special bionic limb that includes an anti-curse device. This modified bionic limb helps the Techno-Magus perform their duties, as its special electronic firewall allows them to resist the corruption of Chaos on the Machine Spirit. The bionic limb also has a small storage unit for storing forbidden files, but if the limb is removed or the Techno-Magus is killed, the device will erase the relevant memories.
Jacob had no endorsement from a Grand Inquisitor. He had become self-taught through his years of experience, his rich humanity, and the knowledge opened up by the Archmagos. Even the special bionic arm had been taken from the Archmagos's warehouse by Omega after he had found out.
Back to the "moat-cliff." The "Termite" required some effort from Omega, and time was short. He decided to release the smokescreen first. Mobilizing the men was child's play for Omega. He just said to the Worker-Soldiers, "I've found another way for us to live." The Worker-Soldiers all replied, "We will follow the Young Master's lead! When do we send the Archmagos to his 'heavenly ascension'?"
Omega's thought: See, this is the power of a Warmaster...
The "moat-cliff smokescreen plan" was immediately put into motion. What Omega hadn't expected was that the moment he made a move, a bizarrely shaped Chaos Sorcerer came to his door. Was he going to take this lying down? I can't deal with the Rainfather, but I can still deal with you!
"Get lost, you disgusting thing! What agreement did I violate?" Omega pointed at the Chaos Sorcerer and cursed.
The Chaos Sorcerer had tried to secretly attack Omega with sorcery from the very beginning, but the other party had shown no reaction. He could only retort in a fit of rage, "You bastard! Didn't we say no repairing the fortifications?!"
"Digging a ditch is a fortification? Are you a primitive? And what's with the psychic frost appearing around you? You dare to use sorcery on me?! Kill him!"
Knowing the plans of the Rainfather and Ventris, and understanding that they wouldn't fall out over a single Chaos Sorcerer right now, Omega, having found a suitable reason, decided to kill him on the spot, to make an example of him and prevent any other troublemakers from coming his way.
The Chaos Sorcerer obviously hadn't expected the little brat on the other side to be so ruthless. He only dared to act sneakily, while the other party was calling for tanks to blast him. But the Chaos Sorcerer still had a few tricks up his sleeve. He conjured a cloud of yellow-green toxic mist teeming with flies and sent it towards Omega.
Omega, looking at the toxic mist rushing towards him, was terrified, but after fighting daemons for so long, he was timid, but he was also bold. He dared to strike, and he was prepared for an attack. The eggshell gave him confidence, and the technological relics on the "Omega's" four mechanical arms gave him power.
The Chaos Sorcerer died a pathetic death. He couldn't understand why, whether it was the mind-twisting sorcery, the summoned toxic mist, or even the time-distorting spell that had defeated his most formidable enemies, none of it had the slightest effect on the little brat. Ineffective! All of it was ineffective! The little brat just stood there, raised his hand, and gave him a shot. Gravity crushed him. The Chaos Sorcerer's soul had long been sold to a daemon. After death, he would surely become a daemon's plaything. He uttered the most vicious curse on Omega, and in return...
"Hmph, weakling. Couldn't even take one hit from me," Omega, who had heard nothing, said with disgust at the puddle that was once the Chaos Sorcerer.
Having dealt with this trouble, he told the workers to continue digging. He had another problem to solve. Omega had already seen Ventris and Griffin approaching.
"Omega, you were too rash!" Ventris said.
"He struck first," Omega replied righteously. "I have a recording. I have proof."
"Now is not the time to cause more trouble," Inquisitor Griffin said.
Omega was still a little afraid of this man with theoretically unlimited power. "My dad is the Archmagos" didn't work on an Inquisitor. He tilted his head to the side. "I was just having them dig a ditch..."
"What is the meaning of this? You should know that your little tricks won't work!"
"Every little bit helps. It's better than doing nothing. And how does it not work? If it doesn't work, it just means we're not digging it big enough!" Omega retorted.
The two of them could see that Omega was determined to dig his ditch. But to prevent a repeat of what had just happened, they had to issue a solemn warning to this son of the Fabricator-General, this leader who could mobilize a legion of worker-soldiers with a single word, this "strange" Son of the Omnissiah they had heard about in the intelligence and had just witnessed with their own eyes. "Omega, cease your actions immediately. This is an order!"
Hearing them try to stop his survival plan again, and still riding the high of having just killed a Chaos Sorcerer, Omega, who understood them but still disliked them, stiffened his neck and said angrily, "I refuse! You have no authority to command me!"
"You are disobeying an order?"
"Your words have never been an order to me. When did I become your subordinate?"
"..." Ventris realized that Omega was right. He wasn't.
"We are partners, just like the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus. I am a priest of the Machine God. Do not impose your will upon me."
Griffin and Ventris were seeing this assertive Omega for the first time. They exchanged a look and both understood: Damn it, the kid has snapped.
Omega hadn't snapped. Of course, he was very annoyed, but he hadn't lost his reason and started a fight with an Ultramarines Captain and an Inquisitor. He was just using this momentum to get Ventris to leave him alone. "Don't you bother me! Even if the Archmagos comes, this ditch is getting dug! I said so!"
"This could affect the plan, you know?" Ventris said again.
Seeing them try to use the bigger picture to pressure him again, Omega rolled his eyes and said irritably, "The daemon doesn't have the time for this right now. Sirs, you should hurry up and deal with the important matters. By having everyone move, I'm actually making it easier for the traitors to be exposed!"
"Who told you that?" Inquisitor Griffin, hearing Omega directly state the plan they had just made, was shocked. His professional instincts immediately screamed "traitor."
"I guessed. It's not that hard to guess. Sirs, you should hurry up and deal with the important matters. I really just want to, in the worst-case scenario, let more people live a little longer."
"..."
Omega had won.