V3 Chapter 46: Your Secrets Mean Nothing to Me, Archmagos
The Necron fleet had vanished beyond the expeditionary fleet's reconnaissance range.
But Guilliman had not lowered his guard.
On the main bridge of the Macragge's Honour, the system projection continued to refresh. Vulcantia and Cereris were marked as two high-risk objectives, and fleet damage reports, the Necron fleet's withdrawal vector, signal interference zones, and suspicious low-orbit defence nodes were all overlaid onto the same tactical display.
"Divide the fleet into five battle groups."
Guilliman stood before the star chart, his voice steady.
"Establish a picket perimeter around the outer orbits of Vulcantia and Cereris. The main battleships hold the centre. Light cruisers and escort vessels deploy early-warning buoys outward. Transport groups are not to approach low orbit."
Admiral Villent acknowledged the order immediately.
Officers across the bridge began adjusting the fleet's deployment. Having just weathered the Necrons' long-range strike, no one was willing to mistake the xenos fleet's disappearance for a genuine sign of safety.
Guilliman turned to Duvette.
"Marshal-Commissar, you may begin preparing the ground campaign."
Duvette nodded.
"I need to first make contact with the surviving ground units on Vulcantia and Cereris, and confirm landing zone positions, garrison locations, and the source of the psychic silence."
"Go and do it."
Guilliman said.
"The fleet will fully support your decisions. I want to see how far you can take this."
Duvette had barely turned when an Archmagos in a red robe approached, several Tech-Priests trailing behind him.
The Archmagos's mechanical frame was tall and intricate, a Triplex Phall forge-sigil hanging across his chest, several mechadendrites folded away beneath his robes. His vocaliser produced a low burst of static before switching to High Gothic.
"Marshal-Commissar Duvette Erdmann."
"I am the commander of the Triplex Phall exploratory fleet, Archmagos Carlotrek. I request a brief private word with you."
Duvette raised an eyebrow.
"If your concern is the equatorial foundry belt, I can tell you now, I have no intention of recommending Lord Guilliman bombard it directly."
The Archmagos's optic lenses narrowed slightly.
"My request has nothing to do with orbital bombardment."
Duvette gave a nod, gesturing for him to continue.
The two of them moved to a shadowed section at the edge of the bridge. Several Ultramarines Honour Guard stood a short distance away, neither approaching nor withdrawing.
The Archmagos was silent for a moment before speaking. "Vulcantia is a subsidiary forge world of Triplex Phall. Triplex Phall maintains long-standing bindings with its data sanctum, its forge ciphers, and a portion of its defence machine spirits."
"And?"
"This time, we accompanied the expeditionary force in part to determine why this subsidiary world lost contact."
Duvette understood at once.
No wonder a fiercely insular, highly autonomous Mechanicus order like Triplex Phall had been so eager to join Guilliman's crusade. The first forge world scheduled for rescue had belonged to them all along.
The Archmagos continued. "I would like the first communication contact to be handled by Triplex Phall."
"You are certainly entitled to be present."
Duvette said.
"Senior Astra Militarum officers, Astartes Chapter representatives, Mechanicus Archmagi, and Ministorum and Battle Sister representatives will all be present at the coming strategy briefing. You are welcome to speak there."
The Archmagos's voice cooled slightly.
"My request is more specific than that. The first contact with the surface should be conducted by Triplex Phall alone."
Duvette narrowed his eyes at him.
After a moment, he asked, "Are you intending to conceal something?"
"This is an internal matter of the forge world."
Duvette gave a short laugh.
"I don't believe your internal matters carry enough weight to make Lord Guilliman's will give ground."
His voice dropped lower.
"Your secrets mean nothing to me, or to Lord Guilliman, Archmagos. What we are facing right now are Necrons, not a Mechanicus archive sealing ritual."
The Archmagos fell silent.
The mechadendrites behind him shifted slightly, as though running some internal calculation.
After a moment, he spoke again.
"I can permit your presence. Everyone else must wait until later."
"I have no reason to give ground for you," Duvette said, watching him. "But I can agree to this for now, on the condition that you actually succeed in reaching the surface."
Carlotrek lowered his head.
"My thanks for your reasoned judgement."
"Don't thank me yet," Duvette said. "I don't care for being led into a corner and then told it's just an internal matter."
The Archmagos made no reply, and turned away to prepare the communication procedure.
Duvette returned to Guilliman and gave a brief report of the exchange.
Guilliman listened, his gaze still fixed on the star chart.
"Triplex Phall is concealing something."
"I think so too."
"But this ground campaign is now entirely yours to handle."
Guilliman said.
"I want to see how you handle this. The fleet, the landing flotillas, and every ground force will support your deployment. Bring it to me when it concerns strategic quarantine, Exterminatus-level decisions, or Mechanicus political matters."
Duvette saluted.
"Understood."
He then made his way immediately to the communication sanctum of the Macragge's Honour.
It was a vast, tiered hall.
The upper level connected into the fleet's command chain; the lower level was crowded with comm stations, vast vox-array clusters, avian-augury arrays, Mechanicus data altars, and Astropath isolation shrines. Ultramar's double-headed eagle and the Ultramarines' chapter icon hung upon the walls. Tech-Priests moved between rows of data pillars, and fleet communications officers repeated call codes without end.
At the centre of the hall floated a twin holographic projection of Vulcantia and Cereris.
Vulcantia appeared as a rust-red industrial world, long stretches of its equatorial foundry belt flickering. Cereris was marked out in agricultural zones, water purification reservoirs, climate towers, and granary cities, with many regions already gone the grey of lost contact.
Within the Astropath isolation shrines, several Astropaths murmured prayers.
Astropathic communication had already proven almost entirely unusable in the aftermath of the fleet engagement. The choir of Astropaths tasked with making contact had made several attempts to pierce the silence field, and had gained nothing for it but nosebleeds, blackouts, and shattered echoes.
A strange psychic interference continued to suppress communication at the sub-Warp level.
The only thing left to attempt now was physical-layer communication.
High-power electromagnetic broadcast, directional lasers, Mechanicus binaric carrier waves, and orbital relay buoys had all been brought online in the communication sanctum.
Carlotrek stood before the Mechanicus data altar.
He instructed the accompanying Tech-Priests to transmit binaric prayers, along with Triplex Phall's identification cipher, along Vulcantia's Mechanicus channel.
The first attempt returned only noise.
The second attempt produced a few fragmented pulses.
On the third attempt, one of the data pillars in the communication sanctum suddenly lit up.
A halting binaric transmission emerged from it, sharp-toned, riddled with dropouts and interference. Several Triplex Phall Tech-Priests immediately gathered around it, responding at a higher frequency.
Duvette stood nearby and gave a light cough.
Carlotrek paused.
"Marshal-Commissar?"
"I need to know what you're saying."
Duvette said.
"From this point on, everything relating to the ground situation is to be relayed simultaneously in High Gothic."
The other end of the transmission fell silent for a moment.
Then a heavily distorted mechanical voice switched over to High Gothic.
"This is the temporary defence command node of Vulcantia's Primary Foundry Sector One. Identification: communications unit under Deputy Forgemaster Sevran-Theta-44. Request confirmation of orbital relief identity."
Carlotrek answered, "The Triplex Phall exploratory fleet has arrived. The Imperial Primarch Roboute Guilliman personally leads the expeditionary fleet into the system. Report the ground situation."
A distinct fluctuation came through from the other end.
"Imperial Primarch... a Primarch? Confirmation requested."
Duvette cut into the channel.
"This is Duvette Erdmann, appointed overall ground campaign commander by the Imperial Primarch, Lord of Ultramar, Roboute Guilliman himself. Your confirmation will proceed later. For now, report the current situation."
The transmission cut out for two seconds.
Then a flood of fragmented intelligence came pouring in.
The five space elevators along Vulcantia's equator, along with the main star ports, had been destroyed in the earliest stage of the loss of contact. The upper orbital structures had been severed, and the star port runways and lift anchor stations had been struck repeatedly by the Necron fleet and its fighters.
Worse, the mechanical xenos had not initially attacked from beyond the outer defence lines.
They had struck from beneath the ground.
Anomalies had erupted simultaneously in the deep mine shafts, the underground transit lines, the waste-processing tunnels, and the areas surrounding those strange xenos structures. Vulcantia's most powerful perimeter defence network had been rendered almost meaningless, and most of the foundry belt had collapsed from within.
The only core zones still holding were Primary Foundry Sector One, the area around the main furnace, and a handful of subsidiary defence zones.
The anti-air data-link had broken down, and low orbit could not be safely entered. Any counterattack force that left the void shield perimeter would be hunted down by the xenos's high-velocity fighters.
Duvette's brow furrowed.
He had already fixed on the most critical question.
"Why did these xenos wake in such large numbers, all at once, in so short a time?"
The other end of the transmission went quiet.
Carlotrek did not speak immediately either.
Duvette gave them no time to compose an answer.
"I learned about these xenos from Archmagos Belisarius Cawl. Necron tomb worlds are normally in a state of dormancy. Unless disturbed, they do not wake in large numbers within a short span of time."
He looked at Carlotrek.
"Vulcantia's records also mention that you have been excavating this world's major ore veins."
Duvette's voice went cold.
"Was it your excavation that woke them?"
The communication sanctum fell quiet.
The Tech-Priests' mechadendrites went still, and the fleet communications officers instinctively softened their movements.
After a long while, Carlotrek finally spoke.
"Vulcantia's deep excavation team discovered a strange material substance within the ore vein."
Duvette said nothing.
The Archmagos continued. "Preliminary testing showed the material had a pronounced effect on energy fields, psychic disturbance, and Astropathic communication. Vulcantia reported the data to us. We assessed it as being of significant research value, and authorised expanded excavation."
"Continue."
"A remote technical oversight team subsequently joined the project. As the excavation advanced, the team gradually determined that the target was not a natural ore vein at all, but a cluster of ancient structures made entirely of this material."
The Archmagos's vocaliser gave a brief burst of static.
"Given the exceptional value of the data, the excavation was continued."
The mechanical voice from Vulcantia's end of the transmission added, "After the final deep cutting operation, the underground structure activated. Following that, the xenos's defence protocols spread through the mine shafts, the underground foundry lines, and the equatorial transit arteries."
Duvette gave a slow nod.
"So the disaster that befell these two worlds was entirely caused by you."
His tone was very calm.
But anyone who knew him well understood that this kind of calm was not a safe sign.
Carlotrek raised his head.
"The pursuit of unknown knowledge is the duty the Omnissiah has laid upon us. Every attempt holds value."
"That is not a reason to conceal the truth, Archmagos."
Duvette said flatly.
"You know what this means."
The Tech-Priests within the communication sanctum made no sound.
Duvette took a step forward.
"If not for Triplex Phall's unauthorised exploration and its concealment, Vulcantia would not be in the state it is now. Cereris would not have been dragged into this disaster either."
He stared at Carlotrek's optic lenses.
"So for this campaign, you bear full responsibility. If Lord Guilliman or someone from the Inquisition stood here instead of me, your conduct would face judgement without question. You should count yourself fortunate that it is I standing here now."
The Archmagos's mechadendrites tightened slightly.
"Please define your requirements."
"First."
Duvette said.
"Your Skitarii forces will accept my complete tactical command, effective immediately, and this will no longer be a matter of simple coordination. Landing points, advance routes, fire support, and engineering priorities will all be decided by my theatre command."
Carlotrek gave no answer.
"Second."
Duvette continued.
"In this campaign, the Victory Legion's Titan formations will serve as the heavy main force of Vulcantia's primary assault axis. The operation of the Titans themselves remains your people's responsibility, but target selection and fire priority must fall under the unified planning of ground theatre command."
Duvette paid no attention to their reaction, and continued.
"Third. Until the Necron tomb is confirmed disabled, sealed, or destroyed outright, your Tech-Priests will remain involved for the full duration. Those familiar with the xenos technology project, the mine-cutting records, and the deep excavation routes will go down with the first or second wave of the landing force."
"Fourth. Triplex Phall will bear the cost of pre-battle reinforcement, mid-battle repair, and post-battle compensation for the 112th's direct combat cluster and the landing vanguard."
He spoke slowly, letting every word enter the record.
"Thermal demolition charges, anti-air equipment, engineering machinery, vehicle components, sealed environment gear, communication relays, prosthetics for the wounded, machine spirit calibration, armour repair. All of it goes on the highest priority list."
"Fifth. All tactical data related to the research project you have been conducting is to be handed over now. The complete records will enter the expeditionary force's theatre archive once the campaign concludes."
Carlotrek finally spoke. "These demands exceed the bounds of standard cooperative authority."
"Of course they do."
Duvette said.
"Standard cooperative authority cannot handle the trouble you people dug up."
He looked at the Archmagos, his tone still even.
"You can treat these as terms of cooperation. Or you can treat them as the reason I have not yet handed this transmission over to Lord Guilliman and the Inquisition."
The communication sanctum fell silent once more.
After a long while, Carlotrek lowered his head.
"For Vulcantia's reclamation, and for the continuity of Triplex Phall's data, I accept."
Duvette gave a nod.
"Very good."
He turned to face the central twin-world hologram.
"Now. Tell me everything you know."
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