Chapter 122: The "Ta'unar" Supremacy Armour
What does it feel like for a mouse to get into a granary?
Magos Omega could now write you a 1,000-word "post-entry report." No matter how cunning the blue-skinned xenos were, they had still fallen into his trap. To get into the T'au's core stronghold, the little cog-head had been acting ever since he had arrived at their base, putting out the bait of the Howling Sky and waiting for the prey to take the hook.
The Emperor does not fail those with a determined heart. The cunning prey had, in the end, been outwitted by the patient hunter. The T'au themselves had opened a breach and had let in a Gluttony..
"Beep."
With his access card, Omega walked into the heavily guarded core stronghold with a smile on his face. The Fire Warriors on guard even nodded and saluted him in respect. It was clear that the little cog-head was not a first-time visitor.
"Magos Omega, you're here." The busy Earth Caste, seeing Omega come in, one of them quickly came forward to greet him.
The little cog-head returned the smile and said in a very friendly tone, "I just gave a few small suggestions for the 'Kroot Hound.' It still needs some time to adjust. I just happened to have some time, so I came over to take a look."
"Thank you for your selflessness. It's already very fast. Without you, we wouldn't even have a clue. Magos, are you here to see the 'Ta'unar' again this time?"
"Yes. I have to say, your Chief Engineer Aun'shi is truly a genius. He completed the design of several battlesuits all by himself. The Ta'unar is a masterpiece, a quantum leap."
"If Chief Engineer Aun'shi were to wake up from his stasis and hear your praise, he would surely be honored. Let me be your guide this time."
"Good."
A human and an Earth Caste T'au walked deeper into the base, chatting idly. After they had left, the other Earth Caste also began to discuss among themselves.
"This one is also a genius, not inferior to Chief Engineer Aun'shi in the slightest!"
A person beside him, hearing this, asked curiously, "But I just heard him speak very highly of Chief Engineer Aun'shi?"
"That's humility. He's good at finding where others are stronger than him. I've asked the people from the 'Hound' project. This Magos Omega is an all-rounder. The range of fields he's involved in is beyond our imagination!"
"Oh, how come I didn't get such a good opportunity? I heard that he's very kind and is not at all stingy in explaining problems to us." The speaking Earth Caste T'au had a look of regret. The others were also the same. Just then, another Earth Caste T'au said, "Heh heh, don't be regretful yet. It's hard to say what will happen in the future. We're not completely without a chance. I once passed by the lounge and heard the Water Caste chatting. From what they said, this Magos, because of his good character, has suffered a lot of exploitation from the humans and has long been full of resentment. Moreover, do you know, his values... how should I put it... are very 'Greater Good'."
"Haha, is there such a thing?"
"But his 'Greater Good' is a little different from ours."
"Different in what way?" another Earth Caste T'au asked curiously.
"In the Magos's own words, humans are sensitive beasts after being hurt. Any slight disturbance will cause him to be startled and attack. We are cubs who have just walked out of the safe zone, curious about everything and wanting to touch and try everything. Although he envies our spirit, he cannot be like us."
"Is that so? I think what the Magos said makes sense. The galaxy is far more dangerous than we imagine." The others also nodded in agreement. They had seen too much, and had experienced too much. Their former innocence was gone.
"But this Magos is not pessimistic. He still chooses to face the future with a positive attitude. He says he appreciates the philosophy of the Greater Good. It coincides with his ideals. But he has also seen the unreasonable parts of the Greater Good."
"Unreasonable?"
"He says that as long as there are differences between species, it is impossible to live in peace forever. So his idea is to have intelligent beings abandon their flesh and exist in the form of data. This way, the differences will be erased. Using people who have abandoned their bodies as managers, to manage the various races of the galaxy, to open up promotion channels, to accept the qualified individuals from each race. This will not only ensure the continuation of the species, but it will also allow people with no racial bias to maintain peace. He calls this path: Mechanical Ascension."
Yes, the despicable cog-head had pried open the T'au's granary and was not satisfied. He was also trying to pollute the T'au's Greater Good with the heretical doctrines of the Adeptus Mechanicus. In Omega's own words, "Why should we humans be the only ones to eat this pile of crap that is the Adeptus Mechanicus? If we're going to eat, let's all eat together. Friends should share."
It was just a sudden whim. Omega, who was just trying his luck, did not yet know that his "Greater Good version of Mechanical Ascension" had already begun to spread among the Earth Caste engineers. As for whether there would be any T'au who would agree with Omega's "heretical evil doctrines," no one knew. Only time would tell.
He had no mind to think about these things now. The big guy in front of him had occupied all of Omega's attention. A Titan-class unit, a formidable weapon in any faction in the galaxy. A single one was enough to change the course of a battle.
The T'au Empire had fought against the Imperium, the Greenskins, and the Tyranid bio-titans many times. After being beaten to a pulp by these super-giant enemies who could withstand repeated air strikes from bombers, they had finally been forced to admit that they also needed to have some similar weapons. And so, the Ethereals had asked the Earth Caste genius, Aun'shi, who had created the XV107 and XV109, to create a "Titan" of their own.
And Aun'shi had not disappointed them. The KX139 "Ta'unar" Supremacy Armour was born. The KX139 stood at a height of about 16 meters, a veritable fortress with legs. It was the largest mech in the T'au Empire at present, designed to deal with the unknown enemies the T'au Empire might encounter now and in the future.
Its main weapon was the pulse ordnance multi-driver on its back, which could be replaced with a nexus missile system, a heavy rail cannon, or a fusion eradicator. Each arm was also equipped with a tri-axis ion cannon or a fusion annihilator. There were also two burst cannons and missile pods mounted on the chest as a defensive system. For defense, it was protected by a shield generator, enough to withstand the attacks of Titan-class weapons.
The "Ta'unar" still followed the T'au's design philosophy—long-range firepower above all else. In terms of size and performance, it was at most on par with the Imperium's most common "Warhound" Titan, and in some areas, it was even inferior. But it was still a Titan, with the knowledge that Omega had never been able to access.
After learning that his wild dad's "we'll have our own Titan Legion in a few years if there's no rebellion" was just Veyl's bragging, Omega had not been stingy with his eye-rolls. To save his image in his son's heart, the Archmagos had had to give Omega the only Titan-related "plasma reactor" in his collection. The result was that Omega had soon cobbled together a better one. This had made the informed Veyl regret it so much that he was beating his chest and stomping his feet. If he had known he would have such a son a few hundred years later, he would have taken that Titan wreck, even if it meant black-eating-black. But now he could only stare at his precious son, how could he not regret it?
To get access to Titan technology, you couldn't avoid the Collegia Titanica, let alone Mars. But Teyedan was the Regent's lackey. The technology he had was partly collected by Veyl, and mostly a gift from his grand-master, Cawl. But his grand-master also couldn't build a Titan. To expect the Collegia Titanica and Mars to open up to Teyedan was impossible, unless Teyedan changed its master and completely fell out with Regent Guilliman.
Because Teyedan was under a technological blockade, this had also led to Omega being unable to access any knowledge about Titans. This was also why he had schemed so much to get in here.
"Magos Omega seems to be particularly interested in the Ta'unar," the Earth Caste T'au who had been accompanying him asked.
Omega, who did not want to be distracted for a moment, after hearing his words, had to put away his staring and said with a look of reverence, "This is a miracle of materials science. No scientist can fail to understand its weight."
Omega's expression was an act, but his words were true. To build a giant piece of equipment like a Titan, the first hurdle was to create a metal frame strong enough to support its massive weight. Just like if you scaled up a human by 10 times, the person would be immediately crushed by their own weight. The same principle applied to machines. Omega could design a mech larger than the Xingtian, but for every bit of size, the mech's weight would increase tenfold. If the height were doubled, let alone moving, just standing still, the weight would exceed the load-bearing limit of the materials used for the metal frame, causing the mech to collapse.
Without the materials that meet the design requirements, you cannot build the weapons and equipment that meet the design requirements. And the pitfall of materials science still existed in the 42k.
"Indeed. The Supremacy Armour can be said to be the pinnacle of my T'au Empire's materials science. Many of the young people in the Earth Caste now have lofty goals. They all take Chief Engineer Aun'shi as their role model, and are all focused on innovation in design. There are fewer and fewer people who are willing to do the basic research on the ground."
"Haha, don't look so sad. It's the same everywhere. But there will always be people who understand the importance of basic research, and there will always be people who are willing to put in the effort for it."
"Magos Omega is not just interested in the materials of the Supremacy Armour, right? You can't see anything just by looking," the Earth Caste engineer asked, seemingly unintentionally.
Omega slightly lowered his eyelids, so that the other party could not see his eyes. He understood that he had been coming here too frequently, and the cunning xenos were starting to test him. His eyes darted around, and he thought of an excuse. He raised his head and said with a frank expression, "I can't get anything from the materials, but I can still learn a lot of useful things from the design. Just the way the mech's weight is more reasonably borne by the frame has given me a lot of inspiration."
"Hahaha, I see. Magos Omega is truly good at discovering things. It's good that you've gained something. Otherwise, we would feel uneasy."
"Mutual help between friends. What's there to talk about?"
The Earth Caste T'au smiled and said no more. Although he had been assigned the task of monitoring Omega, he was just a researcher. His impression of Omega was also very good. As long as he could figure out the reason for the other party's frequent appearances here, that was enough for him. He didn't believe that just by looking, it would cause any major security breach. In his opinion, the commander assigning him this task must have been the idea of the Water Caste, who were full of schemes but knew nothing about technology. Wasn't this a case of an amateur leading a professional?
Seeing the other party fall silent and stop talking nonsense, Omega once again focused his attention on the mech before him. Now he had to race against time. Whether he could build a Titan when he got back depended on this.