On the Forge World of Nexum, the core forge district belonging to Osiris's faction operated with unprecedented intensity. The order to produce ten EVA Titans for the Collegia Titanica was the largest and highest-level manufacturing task undertaken since the establishment of this site.
Vast amounts of energy were drawn from the planetary core network and funneled to the surface, powering arrays of furnaces and heavy forging presses that roared like metallic beasts. Thick energy conduits hummed incessantly, and swarms of servo-skulls moved through the air like migrating birds within the factory spaces that reached hundreds of meters in height, transmitting commands and data.
Tech-Priests and servitors moved efficiently along preset tracks, their chants and binary prayers weaving into a low, continuous background hum that composed an industrial symphony alongside the roar of machinery.
The production line for the non-biological components of the EVA Titans presented a shocking sight. Leg-bearing frames tens of meters long slowly emerged from ultra-large five-axis machining centers, their surfaces already partially polished, with complex internal conduit channels and joint structures gleaming with the cold luster of precision finishing.
Not far away, heavy chest armor components underwent final structural impact molding on giant composite presses; the dull thuds caused the reinforced alloy floors to vibrate. In a specially designated weapon assembly area, the barrel components of Nemesis-class Volcano Cannons were being precisely assembled, their energy induction rings calibrated and locked one by one, emitting a faint blue glow.
All these components, composed of metal and ceramic composites, were produced following a digitized workflow optimized by Osiris, achieving precision and efficiency far exceeding many Mechanicus forges that still relied heavily on ancient STC templates and manual adjustments.
However, these were merely "shells."
A specially modified heavy transport ship, bearing the codes of the Dead World base and under heavy escort, quietly entered Nexum's spaceport. Within its hold, kept at constant temperature and pressure, rested the first "cargo" from the world of WILLE—an EVA biological skeleton in a state of deep hibernation.
It possessed a pale, lifeless fleshy hue, its massive humanoid silhouette firmly fixed to a high-strength support frame. It lacked a head, and the chest cavity was in an unfinished, open state, revealing glimpses of complex and eerie internal biological structures. It remained silent, like the remnant of an ancient deity waiting to be given form, or a semi-finished biological weapon from a foreign land.
This biological entity was carefully transferred to a highly isolated bio-mechanical integration workshop deep within the forge district. Here, pre-manufactured giant metallic spinal components and reinforced joints would be physically connected to the biological skeleton and interfaced with nerve bundles through a series of precise surgical operations.
This process was not a simple assembly; it involved a deep fusion of biological tissue and mechanical structures, requiring the Tech-Priests to utilize unique knowledge obtained from Osiris—a blend of otherworldly biology and Imperial bionics.
Meanwhile, a supervisor from the Collegia Titanica of Mars—Magos Forge Tal Solan—had arrived on Nexum and moved into a prepared observatory. Solan was a senior priest renowned in the field of Titan manufacturing, his body heavily augmented to optimize his engineering focus.
He carried explicit instructions from Archmagos Dominus Saul: ensure the quality of this new batch of war machines met the standards of the Collegia Titanica and learn as much as possible about the production details. He held a deep interest in the "unique technological path" claimed by Magos Osiris, while maintaining the usual caution and skepticism inherent within the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Magos Solan looked down at the busy production area through the giant reinforced glass window of the observatory. He could see the molding and processing of metal parts, but regarding the crucial biological core, he could only learn fragments through limited data reports and filtered surveillance footage.
Osiris's side strictly restricted external access to the bio-integration workshop, citing "core technology security" and "bio-contamination risks." This secrecy deepened Solan's curiosity and planted a seed of doubt in his mind.
Inside the integration workshop, Tech-Priests, guided by the main control system, were performing the most critical step: installing the logic core cultivated on the Forge World of Nexum itself. This complex crystal-metal composite, glowing with an eerie green light, was implanted into a specific chamber reserved within the biological chest cavity and connected to the primary nerve clusters.
It was not a "soul" in the original sense of an EVA, but a powerful mechanical will equipped with basic learning and adaptation capabilities—the hub of the "Dummy System." It was responsible for taking over basic life support functions, processing sensor information, and executing high-level commands from the pilot or preset automated combat protocols.
When the logic core successfully interfaced and initiated the initialization program, the silent biological entity seemed to tremble imperceptibly, and a faint flow of energy appeared to surge beneath the pale fleshy surface. It still possessed no consciousness and no self, but a low fluctuation of power, like a breath from the abyss, began to permeate from within this giant body that fused otherworldly biotechnology with the essence of Imperial mechanical creation.
The "birth" of the first EVA Titan entered its final countdown. To this, Osiris' primary body on Necromunda merely received a brief status update during an interval while processing gene-seed experimental data.
The successful implantation of the logic core was only the first step. Following it was a long and demanding phase of system integration and debugging. This newborn giant needed to learn to coordinate its biological instincts with mechanical constraints, calibrate tens of thousands of sensors and transmission mechanisms, and perfectly synchronize otherworldly flesh with Imperial steel.
The integration workshop became a realm where the lights never went out in the following days. Tech-Priests were divided into several shifts, rotating continuously over twenty-four standard hours. Thick data cables connected like blood vessels to various interfaces on the chassis; massive amounts of test commands were input, and feedback data was recorded and analyzed in real-time.
In the early stages, coordination issues emerged frequently. Micro-tremors in the biological limbs interfered with the aiming stability of precision weapons; hydraulic noise from mechanical joints triggered stress responses in the biological nerve bundles; high-load operation of energy circuits sometimes caused abnormal localized muscle spasms.
Every anomaly was recorded in detail, analyzed by the team led by Cassius-7, and addressed through rapid adjustments to the mechanical damping parameters, optimization of the Dummy System's control algorithms, or fine-tuning of the life support system's energy distribution.
It was a process of constant trial and error and repeated refining. However, unlike traditional Titan manufacturing—which relied on experience and ritual and often involved debugging cycles measured in years—the digitized modeling and rapid iteration under Osiris's system provided a massive advantage.
Many problems had been simulated and partially solved in virtual environments; the real-world debugging served more as final verification and fine-tuning. The production line did not wait for one unit to be perfect before starting the next; instead, it used a parallel model, rapidly applying the experience gained from the first unit's debugging to the assembly of subsequent units, greatly compressing the overall timeline.
As time passed, the movements of the first unit on the testing grounds became increasingly fluid and stable. It could precisely execute complex tactical maneuver commands, and the response time and hit accuracy of its weapon systems gradually improved to satisfactory levels. The initially permeating, slightly raw fluctuation of power gradually became restrained and controllable, like a prehistoric beast being slowly fitted with a bridle.
When the first unit successfully passed 720 hours of continuous fault-free stability testing and completed its final full-system combat simulation exercise, Cassius-7 signed the documents authorizing its release from the factory. Heavy towing platforms entered the workshop, beginning to move this gray giant toward the final painting and pre-delivery inspection zone.