The Ringing of a Forge of Stars [Warhammer 40k/ Celestial forge V3||OC...ish]

Hadrian.Caeser · Jun 21, 2021

Cheetored20 said:
Lol, to my knowledge it's uncorrupted meaning it has MORE THAN ONE BLUEPRINT.

Yea, but it sounds like the content isn't a normal STC database, the holy grail of the Mechanicum/cus. Which is strange, as a complete STC should contain most stuff humanity knew, including history, technology, philosophy... (Maybe without secret or cutting edge technology)

Cheetored20 · Jun 21, 2021

Hadrian.Caeser said:
Yea, but it sounds like the content isn't a normal STC database, the holy grail of the Mechanicum/cus. Which is strange, as a complete STC should contain most stuff humanity knew, including history, technology, philosophy... (Maybe without secret or cutting edge technology)

From what it sounded like, most stc's only have one blueprint, this one is special because it's not damaged like the others, but is in pristine condition.

Hadrian.Caeser · Jun 21, 2021

Cheetored20 said:
From what it sounded like, most stc's only have one blueprint, this one is special because it's not damaged like the others, but is in pristine condition.

But why would the author be so mysterious about it, if it's nothing more than an undamaged STC? There has to be more to it.

Here is my totally true theory:
The STC was created by a hardcore feminist organisation which planned to take over the galaxy and wipe out mankind. Therefore this STC has to contain philosophy about the natural superiority of womankind as well as the technology to achieve their goal... either that or the emperor's special taco recipes as well as the knowledge needed to recreate the complex infrastructure necessary for them

Cheetored20 · Jun 22, 2021

Hadrian.Caeser said:
But why would the author be so mysterious about it, if it's nothing more than an undamaged STC? There has to be more to it.

Here is my totally true theory:
The STC was created by a hardcore feminist organisation which planned to take over the galaxy and wipe out mankind. Therefore this STC has to contain philosophy about the natural superiority of womankind as well as the technology to achieve their goal... either that or the emperor's special taco recipes as well as the knowledge needed to recreate the complex infrastructure necessary for them

That second one would be amazing.... also the mysterious attitude isn't about what it is, it's about what is in it. The thing is still there but can be reverse engineered with Thoth. THAT is why it's such a big deal.
Edit: STC might actually be a military STC, which would be stupid powerful if it's complete.

Mandabar · Jun 22, 2021

Slider Zero said:
There was a whole, uncorrupted STC in that chamber. You may speculate on the contents.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now to the ~~meant~~ meat and potatoes of this post.

Yes, that was a Chozo Statue. The data packet that Thoth got was not perk related...at least not directly. As to why it's there? Its because Chozo are Bullshit. And they are trolling for some reason.

I need more meat and potatoes. Chapter ASAP is requested!

Confirmed it has nothing to do with the forge though which was the big one for me. Chozo are either canon to 40k (for this story anyways) and not forge bullshit, and/or they decided to throw things in from the multiverse because everyone wants to fix the slumverse pit of despair that is 40k.

Hadrian.Caeser said:
One STC? As in one blueprint? Meh, unless it's something extremely advanced or useful against the warp I don't see its value to us... Unless he could use it to learn how to face them. Trading lots of real ones from forge worlds for fakes would be extremely helpful, as he would learn more about humanity's old technology. This would in turn make it easier to pretend to be part of it.

As for the content, maybe a super advanced pleasure item for women? That would fit right into the universe

Cheetored20 said:
Lol, to my knowledge it's uncorrupted meaning it has MORE THAN ONE BLUEPRINT.

Oh no, as Cheetored20 said not just one blueprint. It's as it's called, a database. These STC, Standard Template Construct, were basically AI's (though from how they are described I think they more like a VI like in Mass Effect) with the full knowledge of human DARK AGE technology designed to tell you HOW to build civilization up from scratch. And it's not just blueprints it could also fabricate small items (tools to make the tools?) as well. They could also dynamically adjust designs to meet changing situations and/or resources. They are amazing and an UNCORRUPTED one by itself could honestly change 40k around. Getting all the lostech to not be.. lost. Well hell.

Just the STC is enough to honestly break 40k if used properly and not destroyed by idiots (ie not going to happen in 40k). Imagine this being found my normal 40k inhabitants on Earth or Mars. Some of the most (debatably) sane citizens in the universe? They would revitalize the Imperium and hopefully fix so much. First of all the Emperor being HEALED.

https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Standard_Template_Construct_(STC)

The STC was invented when Human interstellar civilisation was at its technological peak. Introduced during the Age of Technology before the onset of the Age of Strife, an STC allowed workers to build anything from a Lasgun to a fortified bunker or the fearsome interstellar warships now used by the Imperial Navy.
STC systems possessed the ability not just to store information but also to produce new designs to meet changing circumstances.
The designs contained within an STC were intended to be able to cope with anything -- by the standards of their day they were rough and ready, big and brutish, hard to damage and easy to repair.
All that survived from before that terrible time were debased and corrupted versions of the old STC designs, scattered and lost on thousands of back-water planets across the galaxy.
These databases contain lost knowledge from the Age of Technology, and the Adeptus Mechanicus make it their business to find them -- the STCs are their equivalent of the most sacred of holy texts, a font of all knowledge, a quest for the holy grail.
The rare complete STC Library is said to contain the total sum of all knowledge possessed by the great Human interstellar civilisation that existed before the onset of the Age of Strife.

Fanboying a little and I'm not even a 40k nut.

From what I'm reading if anyone finds out that our MC has an complete, working and uncorrupted STC the entire weight of the galaxy of the Imperium of man will fall upon them. Let alone the forces of Chaos. Probably the Eldar too with all their spies and future sight. The reaction of our lady Waifu Mechanicus techpriest to the STC is sure to be... amusing.

God now I'm really worried that they left it BEHIND.

Now keeping it uncorrupted will be a thing, but I'm going to guess it's deactivated and not active so the AI (Or is an VI?) wasn't able to be corrupted yet and our MC has history/ability in preventing chaos being able to corrupt the AI thru extreme levels of paranoid error checking. I can't wait for input from Slider Zero on all of this I said on STCs ... or more finely crafted words.

Hadrian.Caeser said:
Yea, but it sounds like the content isn't a normal STC database, the holy grail of the Mechanicum/cus. Which is strange, as a complete STC should contain most stuff humanity knew, including history, technology, philosophy... (Maybe without secret or cutting edge technology)

Exactly right! A 'make your new colony/seed of civilization' thrive kit.

The rare complete STC Library is said to contain the total sum of all knowledge possessed by the great Human interstellar civilisation that existed before the onset of the Age of Strife.

Cheetored20 said:
From what it sounded like, most stc's only have one blueprint, this one is special because it's not damaged like the others, but is in pristine condition.

They normally only had one blueprints because they are damaged to all hell and/or corrupted. Most things that survive are just hard copies (IE print outs) of a design that have been meticulously preserved over the millennium.

Slider Zero · Jun 23, 2021

RIversand said:
Of course the chozo are doing something. They want to make places better, and are superb precogs normally. They knew where to put things for Samus when she would need them. And now they have another hatchling to aid, as they would put it. With a monumental task.

There already was precidence for something like this to happen, as like with the phantasy star online perk, it had actual interactions from it's native settings powers that be, with the real light/photon energy rewarding him for his success against the dark trying to take him.

Of course other powers from outside have taken interest in helping that universe that Satori finds himself in.

I am looking forward to what he comes up with with all that tech. Turn his fighter into a gunship? I can see that happening.

ATP said:
If Chozo are trolling,then they must be alive.Good for WH40 galaxy.

Heh. Hehe.
There are clues in plain sight, if you pay attention.

As for other powers looking in on 40k? Not all of them are benign. Keep that in mind.

Cheetored20 said:
Bruh, chozo gunships are op, they are immune to all detection methods exept eyesight.

I'm not going to Contest the might of Chozo gunships. as far as I know, they ARE that good, and more. so...yeah.

Hadrian.Caeser said:
Yea, but it sounds like the content isn't a normal STC database, the holy grail of the Mechanicum/cus. Which is strange, as a complete STC should contain most stuff humanity knew, including history, technology, philosophy... (Maybe without secret or cutting edge technology)

Hadrian.Caeser said:
But why would the author be so mysterious about it, if it's nothing more than an undamaged STC? There has to be more to it.

Here is my totally true theory:
The STC was created by a hardcore feminist organisation which planned to take over the galaxy and wipe out mankind. Therefore this STC has to contain philosophy about the natural superiority of womankind as well as the technology to achieve their goal... either that or the emperor's special taco recipes as well as the knowledge needed to recreate the complex infrastructure necessary for them

Cheetored20 said:
That second one would be amazing.... also the mysterious attitude isn't about what it is, it's about what is in it. The thing is still there but can be reverse engineered with Thoth. THAT is why it's such a big deal.
Edit: STC might actually be a military STC, which would be stupid powerful if it's complete.

While funny as all hell, this is incorrect.

Mandabar said:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I need more meat and potatoes. Chapter ASAP is requested!

Confirmed it has nothing to do with the forge though which was the big one for me. Chozo are either canon to 40k (for this story anyways) and not forge bullshit, and/or they decided to throw things in from the multiverse because everyone wants to fix the slumverse pit of despair that is 40k.

Oh no, as Cheetored20 said not just one blueprint. It's as it's called, a database. These STC, Standard Template Construct, were basically AI's (though from how they are described I think they more like a VI like in Mass Effect) with the full knowledge of human DARK AGE technology designed to tell you HOW to build civilization up from scratch. And it's not just blueprints it could also fabricate small items (tools to make the tools?) as well. They could also dynamically adjust designs to meet changing situations and/or resources. They are amazing and an UNCORRUPTED one by itself could honestly change 40k around. Getting all the lostech to not be.. lost. Well hell.

Just the STC is enough to honestly break 40k if used properly and not destroyed by idiots (ie not going to happen in 40k). Imagine this being found my normal 40k inhabitants on Earth or Mars. Some of the most (debatably) sane citizens in the universe? They would revitalize the Imperium and hopefully fix so much. First of all the Emperor being HEALED.

https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Standard_Template_Construct_(STC)

Fanboying a little and I'm not even a 40k nut.

From what I'm reading if anyone finds out that our MC has an complete, working and uncorrupted STC the entire weight of the galaxy of the Imperium of man will fall upon them. Let alone the forces of Chaos. Probably the Eldar too with all their spies and future sight. The reaction of our lady Waifu Mechanicus techpriest to the STC is sure to be... amusing.

God now I'm really worried that they left it BEHIND.

Now keeping it uncorrupted will be a thing, but I'm going to guess it's deactivated and not active so the AI (Or is an VI?) wasn't able to be corrupted yet and our MC has history/ability in preventing chaos being able to corrupt the AI thru extreme levels of paranoid error checking. I can't wait for input from Slider Zero on all of this I said on STCs ... or more finely crafted words.

Exactly right! A 'make your new colony/seed of civilization' thrive kit.

They normally only had one blueprints because they are damaged to all hell and/or corrupted. Most things that survive are just hard copies (IE print outs) of a design that have been meticulously preserved over the millennium.

STC Contents are to remain unspecified for now, because I'm trolling.
for everything else, Ask yourself two questions:
1) Why is it There?
2) Why is it still there?

Cheetored20 · Jun 23, 2021

Slider Zero said:
Heh. Hehe.
There are clues in plain sight, if you pay attention.

As for other powers looking in on 40k? Not all of them are benign. Keep that in mind.

I'm not going to Contest the might of Chozo gunships. as far as I know, they ARE that good, and more. so...yeah.

While funny as all hell, this is incorrect.

STC Contents are to remain unspecified for now, because I'm trolling.
for everything else, Ask yourself two questions:
1) Why is it There?
2) Why is it still there?

Because the Chozo are nice trolls like that. They leave stuff behind where nobody will use it exept the one they want to give it too....or in such a way that the stuff gets to them anyway.
Also the robot sentrys are probably terrifying.

abercrombie fizzwidget · Jun 23, 2021

It's just become enough of a priority to get his hands on some anti-warp devices, a la Pentagramic and Hexagramic Warding along with Blanks and Pariahs and Blunts and Navigators, to justify going through a few of the tougher factions on Necromunda. Like sending a few disguised Servitors into the Space Marine base levels of priority.

He could probably also stand to fuck about with Power Field technology, Force Weapon technology, and Psilencer technology to make the psychic equivalent of a Thunder Hammer. It would be a good way for a Celestial Forge user to properly and respectfully wield the Light of The Emperor in a way more productive then the vague claw projection technique currently in use. Sort of just build up a massive store of the stuff and bash things with it. Maybe also have it passively act as a lantern or something.

Should probably make a lot of it cybernetic so that he can't get rid of it. He can miniaturize his organs and whatnot now. He bloody well should to make room for redundancies and weapons and whatnot. Just make muscle that'll make a Aeldar or Drukhari blush with envy and then pack in enough dense rubbery impact resistant connective tissue that he could get hit by a train, the sort of trains that they use in 40K, without getting bruised, take some inspiration from Space Marine Gene Seeds, and possibly also a few Xenos like how the Tau have hearts that double as livers and/or kidneys or how birds have hollow dense but hollow bones for extra rigidity and/or bend tolerances, for a few other augments along with completely overhauling his biochemistry to carry enough chemical potential to fuel more potent activity, then fucking bolt at least some synskin to the poor bastard. Probably add some scale-mail or to the whole thing as well bare minimum. He'd probably only have it for a few days even with that so some subdermal meshes and plates would also probably be useful.

Also get a bunch of Cyber-mastifs already and load them up with turrets and turret deploy omni-tools. Have them run right along places to set down a few dozen of them.

Lotor said:
Well fuck.

A direct attack from Chaos Undivided.

Yeah. They don't like the Forge, do they...

...and our hero clearly has a LUK stat out the ASS.

And getting your own personal Enginseer that is also a waifu? Works for me! Hey, she might have some interesting modifications... ...oh damn, this isn't the NSFW section. Still!

...and now 40k has Kerbals.

...yeah, this is all fucking crazy. But hey, fiat-backed workforce and an amazing new ally and everything else. And safe back in the forge.

...and did Thoth just get Daemon'd? Fuuuck. ...unless that was part of a perk... I mean, that was either a chozo statue and you got some metroid shit going on. Because holy hell.

Makes me wonder what the AdMech are going to do with the guy hacking the Noosphere... ...also, I wonder how the Warp Tumors react to getting smited? Heh. Bitches. The Forge has only BEGUN to fuck you over! Also... a fucking SCT... yeah. shit is about to Escalate.

If it is a Daemon then I should think that Thoths Fiat Backed anti-damage/anti-theft features should kick in reasonably soon.

As a side-benefit if it is a Daemon then it's going to have every opportunity to be bound until it can either properly be put to use or be given a True Death. At any rate it should bloody well be taken out of circulation in a way that banishment simply does do well enough.

Also yeah most Celestial Forge stories seem to be shockingly safe for work.

Squid said:
I don't think that was a daemon, I'm pretty sure Thoth just downloaded either an STC database or a Chozo database. So, Valkyrie/ Samus suit, get?

Hey on the bright side if Satori gets Varia Suit technology he can probably miniaturize the Morph Ball until it's basically a pokeball.

For that matter he can probably already do that with Valkyrie Suit technology. Satory should totally do that if for no other reason then to carry large numbers of psykers safely. Possibly also to slot into his weapons using the card-slotting upgrade system.

Speaking of the Valkyrie Suit technology Satori should totally shove that thing into the flight system optimizer. It probably wouldn't be too much extra throughput but it'd be at least a little bit. Plus it'd probably make things a bit aerodynamic.

Ghost in a Wall said:
I love the comparison about Kerbals being Orks obsessed with SPACE rather then War. I can't stop snickering at the thought, it's halarious.

ATP said:
I like Kerbals - and they are still more close to science then Mechanicus.
And Mechanicus cute girl...all SI need now is busty Sororita and flat Eldar to made his harem complete.

Probably tricky to get some Sanctioned Xenos but doable if you need to.

Mandabar said:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I need more meat and potatoes. Chapter ASAP is requested!

Confirmed it has nothing to do with the forge though which was the big one for me. Chozo are either canon to 40k (for this story anyways) and not forge bullshit, and/or they decided to throw things in from the multiverse because everyone wants to fix the slumverse pit of despair that is 40k.

Oh no, as Cheetored20 said not just one blueprint. It's as it's called, a database. These STC, Standard Template Construct, were basically AI's (though from how they are described I think they more like a VI like in Mass Effect) with the full knowledge of human DARK AGE technology designed to tell you HOW to build civilization up from scratch. And it's not just blueprints it could also fabricate small items (tools to make the tools?) as well. They could also dynamically adjust designs to meet changing situations and/or resources. They are amazing and an UNCORRUPTED one by itself could honestly change 40k around. Getting all the lostech to not be.. lost. Well hell.

Just the STC is enough to honestly break 40k if used properly and not destroyed by idiots (ie not going to happen in 40k). Imagine this being found my normal 40k inhabitants on Earth or Mars. Some of the most (debatably) sane citizens in the universe? They would revitalize the Imperium and hopefully fix so much. First of all the Emperor being HEALED.

https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Standard_Template_Construct_(STC)

Fanboying a little and I'm not even a 40k nut.

From what I'm reading if anyone finds out that our MC has an complete, working and uncorrupted STC the entire weight of the galaxy of the Imperium of man will fall upon them. Let alone the forces of Chaos. Probably the Eldar too with all their spies and future sight. The reaction of our lady Waifu Mechanicus techpriest to the STC is sure to be... amusing.

God now I'm really worried that they left it BEHIND.

Now keeping it uncorrupted will be a thing, but I'm going to guess it's deactivated and not active so the AI (Or is an VI?) wasn't able to be corrupted yet and our MC has history/ability in preventing chaos being able to corrupt the AI thru extreme levels of paranoid error checking. I can't wait for input from Slider Zero on all of this I said on STCs ... or more finely crafted words.

Exactly right! A 'make your new colony/seed of civilization' thrive kit.

They normally only had one blueprints because they are damaged to all hell and/or corrupted. Most things that survive are just hard copies (IE print outs) of a design that have been meticulously preserved over the millennium.

You'd really think that a complete STC would be a little bit overpowered there. Some Age Of Technology ships were able to effect causality as a function of their targeting systems after all.

You'd also think that it'd be more along the lines of a technology database, based around making blueprints based off of the physical parameters of various available materials or composites derived from those materials, paired with a material science analysis/synthesizer program/device.

It'd probably normally also be paired with a third program intended to predict required performance parameters and tolerances and whatnot combined with future reuse, repurposing, or recycling all to manage the logistics of supply lines.

Point being that the idea of them being damaged in a way that would result in having only one blueprint is kind of absurd.

Slider Zero said:
STC Contents are to remain unspecified for now, because I'm trolling.
for everything else, Ask yourself two questions:
1) Why is it There?
2) Why is it still there?

I suspect that a part of it could be that it retroactively wasn't always there until it suddenly was retroactively there and the timeline just conformed to that.

Hadrian.Caeser · Jun 23, 2021

How and how fast do Kerbals reproduce?

djett4 · Jun 24, 2021

Okay so thing about the Chozo is that they are absurd precogs. So heres what i think is happening with the statue. the Forge has perks which give him Chozo knowledge/equipment that one day he will get even if its the very last thing he unlocks he will one day get them. The Chozo from an entire multiverse away see this happen thousands of years before hand and decide to help out a by sending stuff to places they know he will end up. the reasons for this can be summed up as Because Chozo.

Cheetored20 · Jun 24, 2021

djett4 said:
Okay so thing about the Chozo is that they are absurd precogs. So heres what i think is happening with the statue. the Forge has perks which give him Chozo knowledge/equipment that one day he will get even if its the very last thing he unlocks he will one day get them. The Chozo from an entire multiverse away see this happen thousands of years before hand and decide to help out a by sending stuff to places they know he will end up. the reasons for this can be summed up as Because Chozo.

I was thinking this exept with the Chozo being retroactively written into existence.

djett4 · Jun 24, 2021

Nah the Chozo are bullshit enough to do stuff across multiversal lines no need for them to be retro written into existence.

Cheetored20 · Jun 24, 2021

djett4 said:
Nah the Chozo are bullshit enough to do stuff across multiversal lines no need for them to be retro written into existence.

No you don't get it, they are so BS they RETROACTIVELY REWROTE THEMSELVES into existence. They simply didn't exist before.

djett4 · Jun 24, 2021

Huh yeah I could see that.

Slider Zero · Jun 24, 2021

Chapter is delayed due to a combination of Annoying work and lack of energy. With luck, this only ends up me posting on Friday night instead of tomorrow. My apologies for the setback.

abercrombie fizzwidget · Jun 24, 2021

Cheetored20 said:
No you don't get it, they are so BS they RETROACTIVELY REWROTE THEMSELVES into existence. They simply didn't exist before.

I'm pretty sure that the Chaos Gods did something similar actually.

Mu;er · Jun 30, 2021

Slider Zero said:
Chapter is delayed due to a combination of Annoying work and lack of energy. With luck, this only ends up me posting on Friday night instead of tomorrow. My apologies for the setback.

No worries! I hope you rest up and regain your energy.

ATP · Jun 30, 2021

Slider Zero said:
Chapter is delayed due to a combination of Annoying work and lack of energy. With luck, this only ends up me posting on Friday night instead of tomorrow. My apologies for the setback.

Lack of energy and annoing work? Nurgle and Tzaaneth must combined forces to stop you.But - i belive,that you will prevaill.

Slider Zero · Jun 30, 2021

Late chapter is exceptionally late.

I will be attempting to get a chapter out for this week as well, but don't expect it tomorrow. More like saturday-ish. After that, I will be back on normal schedule.

The usual suspects are responsible for help here. You know who you are.

Currently, my life was interesting, in the Chinese sense.

I was fresh out of a direct attempt by the warp tumors to remove me from the board, even if it was born from an unexpected opportunity. I had a very odd new companion in the form of Miolala Granliss, who also just so happened to be a freaking engineseer, and a rather senior one at that, who was somehow connected to me on a level that I didn't think was possible before now. Thoth, one of the few constants I'd had for a LONG time, was currently suffering from some kind of unknown debilitation.

Oh, and I also had freaking Kerbals. Who were currently being shot at by one Harrisyn Cain, formerly of the Imperial Ecclesiarchy's Inquisition.

Truly, this was some kind of punishment for all of this to come down at one time, was it not?

I just sat there, watching for a few minutes as the comedy played out before me. In any other situation, it would be hilarious, and Miolala's laughter made it clear that it was quite funny. But right now…

"ENOUGH!!!"

Yeah, I was kind of stressed out. Sue me.

Surprisingly, it worked, mostly because everyone was looking at me in shock.

"Alright, here is what is going to happen." I began, a blatant edge of malice in my tone. "First, everyone here is going to sit the fuck down. Second, I am getting cleaned up. Third, I am Taking. A. Fucking. NAP. any other business can be attended to AFTER I wake up. I fully expect to see my workshop in good condition when that happens.

"Any questions?" I expected to hear none whatsoever. My audience did not disappoint.

"Alright then. I will see you when I wake up. I suggest cleaning yourselves up as well, when you get the chance." And with that I immediately head off to the hangar, where a shower and a simple cot awaited. It would be MORE than enough.

Miolala winced slightly at the outburst.

Oh, she understood completely where he was coming from, and agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiments (she wanted to clean up too), but that tone was a bit...harsh.

She suspected he had been faced with more than a few trials today, and they had worn on his nerves to the point he was irritable.

Very well, then!

She would have to just take care of the cleanup process while he rested. Of course, this meant that she would have to do a self-tour of the workshop space as well.

Hm. all the better, as it would allow her to find a proper space for an altar to the Omnissiah.

"Mister...Harry, was it?"

Harry turned towards her with an odd expression on his face.

"Harrisyn, please. Now, then, what can I do for one of the priests of Mars?" Harry asked, with only a small but of incredulity in his tone.

Huh. at least he was polite about it. And he didn't even ask why she was not panicking at the sights before her and declaring them all heretic for the bits of advanced technology visible even here, and the clearly Xeno things running around and being oddly cute.

"Just a few explanations, if you do not mind." She replied. No reason to be rude, after all.

Harry looked at her, and shrugged. "Alright, fine. I'll tell you what I know. Just don't cry to me when you don't believe it" with that, he stepped back into a relaxed pose and allowed his weapon to fold back into a proper arm.

What surprised her about the motion was that the arm did not look out of place at all, or even like it was an artificial arm.

Curious. She was unaware that prosthetics could be made in such a way...but the Imperium had lost much during old night. Knowledge the likes of which it had yet to re-learn.

But it would, she thought. All that, and more, would be restored to us, given time.

But that was in the future, a distant dawn that had yet to break, for its champions had yet to earn it. Instead, she turned her thoughts back to Harry.

"So then, how did you end up in our friend's wake, then?" She asked. "It's not everyday one gets called to serve one such as him."

She watched as Harry blinked, before an odd look crossed his face. "Well, I kind of found him when he first got here, really. The rest is just us doing the standard hive thing." He shuffled around a bit, before finding an old chair in a corner and plopping down with a sigh. "So then, lady Granliss. What brings you to our neck of the woods, eh?"

To any other, the question would have been the picture of innocence, with no duplicity at all in any form attached.

To her, it was an open book, the intent clear as day.

She smirked. This was going to be fun, after all.

My sleep was filled with weird dreams.

Strange, formless things stalked through my mind, each seeking to gain some form of purchase as I drifted through an endless void. All failed to gain traction as my light shined on them and repulsed their efforts. All the while, I floated aimlessly, seemingly in no direction at all, but somehow I knew that I would reach my proper destination soon.

An unknown span of not-time later, my hunch was proved correct as I came to behold what looked like an older-looking man sitting in front of a seemingly endless lake, and randomly chucking stones.

I settled in next to him, waiting patiently as he continued his strange task. I took a moment to look outward at the lake, seeing the countless shining stones beneath its surface. If I looked loosely enough, I could almost interpret that as being a representation of the galaxy itself.

The Man threw another stone outward into the lake. I noticed that it seemed to be a faded gold in color. The Stone seemed to strike against one particular rock, shuffling it into an unknowable position, and the man went back to watching.

I stayed silent and patient. I had an idea of whom this person might be, and had no reason to engage him at this time. Instead, I focused inward, on my own powers, and began practicing with them.

I wasn't sure how long this continued, but eventually the old man spoke. "So, you intend to just sit there?"

I smirked through my own meditation, having completed a difficult experiment involving blending my various powers. "Of course. It's my dream, Adam. or is it Revelation? The fandom could never get that name right." I snarked at him.

"Neither, actually," the God Emperor replied. "But Adam is fine if you wish to address me."

I sighed openly. "Power games already? When you're in MY dream? Come on Emps. you have to be able to do better than this."

"I did, actually. Have you considered why you are here?"

"Several times, in fact." I shot back. "Too bad none of the actual theories are testable right now, or I'd be in hog heaven. I know for a fact you aren't involved, so don't bather with the attempt at the mindgame. Just state your business, and we can get this over with."

The Emperor chuckled. "You may believe as you wish. As for your task--"

"Request, Emps. you do not task me with SHIT."

"As for your Task, you are to fight your way to Terra, and use your abilities to restore me to my power." He said, the words seeming to echo all around us. "You will do so with all haste, and to the exclusion of all other activities."

I listened as he spoke, and once completed, did the only thing I was capable of at that moment.

I laughed.

I laughed long and hard, and the Emperor watched me the whole time.

I finally stopped at the look in his face. "...oh wait. You're serious, aren't you?"

I stood up from where I had been sitting next to the pond. "Hold on for a second."

I saw the Emperor give a subtle smirk, even as he continued watching me.

"Let me laugh even harder."

And I got to watch in real time as the smuggest look ever got wiped off of the face of the God Emperor of Mankind as I violated his will to his face. It was absolutely priceless, that expression.

"You...you DARE!! Do you not know what is at stake here?" he all but shouted at me.

I slowed my laughing to a light chuckle. "Of course I do. The four tumors are trying to kill me, The Eldar are useless until they aren't, the Necrons are waking up and have a massive hate boner on us for being here.

"The Orks are going to Ork, whether anyone likes it or not. And everyone else is munching at table scraps, all while your Imperium rots away from the inside out because you were a dumbass. Let me know if I missed something. Ok?"

The Emperor now had a look of absolute fury on his face. "You utter fool. Fine. I had wished for you to come to me by choice...but now it seems that I must force you to come to me instead." And with that he pulled.

And I didn't care. At ALL.

The Emperor just pulled harder.

I laughed harder.

I'm not sure when he finally gave up, but that time came soon enough. I turned my head to him again. "Had enough fun yet? Or have you figured out that I am not one of your pawns in this game?"

The Emperor's face remained sullen.

"Thought so. Now then, here's what I am going to do."

I lifted a hand and placed it on his shoulder.

"I'm going to give you a bit of SUN."

The light filled my dreamscape. As did the screams. And I refused to let go the entire time, even as the entity that claimed itself to be the Anathema to Chaos BURNED under my grip, until there as naught but ashes left.

I released the small remaining scraps of fabric that were within my clenched fist in disgust and frustration.

"Now let me fucking sleep, you damned impostor. Besides, you're the third one tonight."

Miolala dragged herself into a bathroom after her rather enlightening conversation with Harry. The man was loyal to a fault, especially to those he considered friends, and had grilled her near endlessly, in an attempt to discern her intentions towards HIM.

Much to his credit.

The man acted like he was the standard Inquisitor, of course: cold, calculating, and ever on the lookout for Heresy to stamp out. But she was able to see beneath, to the concern he had over the safety of his friend.

He is fighting a losing battle against himself and his delusions. That poor man.

Oh, she wished that she could help him, she really did. But Harry was a very closed person, and had no trust in her just yet. Hell, she was surprised that he allowed her time alone to clean up.

After stripping down, Mio looked at herself in the mirror. The same features as always reflected back; Chocolate colored skin, broken up to her knowing eye only by the few high-quality implants she had, each subtly installed in a way that hid them from all but the most observant eye; the same platinum silver hair, that she normally allowed to reach her buttocks. Her one remaining flesh eye was a striking purple color, a remnant of her family, while her "proper" eye glowed a faint green as it recalibrated itself. Her few mechadendrites extended themselves from the hidden sheathes along her back and legs, and got to work, performing the simple task of cleansing her of the dirt and filth of her recent excursion.

It seemed odd, still, that she was actually here. Never in her century-plus of life had she expected to find her new master so quickly. Hell, the mere OFFER that was given to her was almost too good to be true. But here she was, within the workspace of her master, and after he had saved her from some mad psyker's rampage no less.

"It would seem that the Omnissiah blesses me still." she spoke into the empty air.

That even her, heretek that she was, could be within the favor of the Omnissiah so was quite humbling. That it allowed her to come ever closer to her true dream, that of a true, proper fusion between man and machine, was even better.

"I will not waste this chance," she swore to herself.

Redressing in her undergarments and robes, she frowned at the outline presented to her in the mirror. Even with the loosest, most flowing robes possible, her figure was still shamefully on display for all to see. And she would have to present herself to her master like this?

She shuddered in embarrassment at the thought, and quickly moved to shake it off.

NO. I must be positive. Master will be able to see beyond my shame. I know it.

With a smile on her face and an aura of cheer that was only partially faked, she finished her ablutions and returned to the main hangar.

Harry managed to get in a quick shower in the hangar facilities while he contemplated the latest revelations.

The part with Satori potentially being a mutant he tossed out almost immediately. It didn't matter what he was right now. He was here anyway, and had, again, bailed him out when he had no obligation to do so.

As much as he tried to deny it, he was Proud to call the man his friend.

That left the issue of the Engineseer that had tagged along with them. Her story seemed legit enough, sure, but there were parts of it that were just...off, somehow. He was not fully vested into the matters of the Adeptus Mechanicus, but even he knew that her actions were...strange. That little slip she made after Satori went to catch a nap was all the more reason to dig deeper and try to suss out the truth. So far it had gained nothing, but he would find the truth one way or another.

Now, those green things? the...Kerbals, Satori called them? They were just WEIRD. Completely obsessed with space and space travel, to the point where they would ignore practically everything else for the chance to work on their goal.

Kinda like Orks, in a way, but much friendlier. They didn't even have any hard feelings for him shooting at them, which he found both amusing and relieving.

Double-checking himself in the mirror, he decided he was good to go, and stepped "outside." The Kerbals were here, and doing some sort of experiment, from the looks of it. He moved closer to observe.

"…Alright, we should have the wind calculations good and set now." This was spoken by one of the small green things, a male of sorts that seemed to be in charge. "EVERYONE READY!?!" A chorus of agreement resounded from its companions. "ALRIGHTY THEN!!! READY TAKEOFF!!"

A super-sleek aircraft rolled out of the hangar space at that point, and began moving towards a cleared area. The craft was surprisingly compact, until he realized that it was sized for these creatures and not for humans such as himself. He watched, curious, as the craft reached its destination, and then, with an odd warbling sound, lifted straight up into the air without any thrust of any kind.

The cheers from the Kerbals echoed all around him, every last one giddy at the sight of the machine, which on closer inspection looked cobbled together, somehow manage to take to the skies…

...at least until the sudden *pop* of an explosion happened, and the machine dropped like a rock straight into the ground with a massive *CRASH*.

Harry could only watch in stunned horror as the crew, some random one of the Kerbals in an orange flight suit, climbed out and gave a wave that it was okay...at which point the entire mass swarmed the wreckage and began dragging it back into the hangar.

He couldn't help it. He just started laughing uncontrollably, without stopping.

I finally awoke about four hours later, and did a quick set of stretches to get the kinks out from having curled into myself. The damned daemons trying to get into my head didn't help, although I did recognize the subtle call for help from the Emperor for what it was.

Too bad, Golden boy. You're going to have to wait your turn, just like everyone else.

I trekked down to the ground level of the hanger complex, and to the break room that was within. Surprisingly, there was activity here.

The Kerbals were hanging around, chattering excitedly among themselves as they seemed to plan out some kind of project. I moved over to take a quick look and nearly did a spit take at what I saw.

It was a full blueprint for an antigravity engine, complete with notes on modifications and...wait, were those TESTING NOTES?

I reached over and grabbed the projected notes out of the air, the system giving me a copy to work with. One of the Kerbals looked up at me with a winning smile on her face, tinged with amusement, as I tore through the available data.

And, as the saying goes, the numbers never lie. The little bastards had actually done it. A completely novel antigravity engine, that was surprisingly fuel efficient for its weight and size, and could be easily manufactured using basic parts and materials. No exotic matter or heavy metals needed.

Of course, powering the damned thing was a mess, and from the notes, where the failures happened during testing, but still…

I looked up as one of the orange-suited Kerbals came forward, a look of concern on his face that matched the white lab coat he was wearing for some reason. Must be a scientist…

"Good day, sir. Checking out the blueprints, I see?"

I nodded absently as I continued my perusal of the design. Already I could see several areas of improvement that could be made...but a thought struck me just then.

Question time. "Hey...err, never got you guys' names…"

"Bob Kerman, sir. More or less head scientist for this mission."

Huh. that was nice. "Alright then, Bob. I had a question about this setup you guys have here."

I paused solely for effect for the next question.

"Just where in the HELL did you get the material for your test craft from?"

Bob had the decency to wince at the question, but still responded. "There was a stash of stuff in that warehouse over there, sir. We used the spares to get set up with what we needed."

Warehouse? What warehouse?

I immediately turned to look for anything looking like a warehouse, and quickly found it, or at least an entrance to it, to the side of the hangar. I immediately jogged over to investigate this new find.

And hooo boy, I could have used this shit earlier.

The warehouse was some kind of Resource generator, that basically contained raw materials of any kind that I would need, from common to rare, in usable quantities. From the quick sheet that was posted on the clipboard next to the door, it replenished itself of supplies every 24 hours, Earth time, and would make notes and references of any new materials I brought into it for stockpiling.

My days of having to scrounge for raw materials was over. Would have been nice if I could have some spare parts, though…

No matter. I could play with it later. The fun part was that the Kerbals had figured this out and went hog wild with building whatever they needed to test their various aerospace technologies.

I glanced over my shoulder for just a moment, and beheld a team of kerbals (led by another of the Orange suited ones, this time with what looked like a Hard Hat. Something about it just screamed Engineer) futzing with what looked like one of the preciously few plasma weapons I had managed to scavenge, apparently trying to rig it as some kind of propulsion.

Kerbals will be Kerbals, I guess…

I managed to locate Miolala (or rather, she found me) while I was fixing up a quick breakfast. She seemed...morose for some reason. I decided to try and fix that.

"So. why the long face?"

The sudden jump she made was actually kinda cute.

"Err...master! I didn't expect--"

"Nope." I interrupted. "None of that. I am not your Master, not in any way that the word could be used. I will, however, be more than happy to be your teacher." I smiled, despite having the local equivalent of a pop-tart in my mouth. (They didn't taste all that good anyway, but it was fast.)

"Now, then, I believe we got off on the wrong foot yesterday." I held out my hand towards her, palm open. "My name is Satori Green. What's yours?"

She glanced down at my hand for a moment, her face with a look of utter incredulity on it...and then she started laughing.

I could really get to like that laugh.

"Fine, then." she took my hand with her own. "My name is Miolala Granliss. Pleased to meet you...teacher."

I freely admit that her grin was utterly infectious.

After laughing at ourselves for a bit, we sat down to actually talk

"So then, I have to know. Why were you searching for me?" I asked.

"It's...complicated." Miolala began. "What do you know of the inner workings of the Mechanicus?"

Huh. it was like that? "Less than I want to, actually. This may have bitten me in the ass when I kind of hacked the noosphere to get a distress call out after the hellstorm…"

"Then you know more than most do." She shifted a bit in her seat before continuing. "Within the Mechanicus, there is a belief that the natural flesh of the body is weak and impure. The belief is that only the True Flesh, the blessings of the Machine God, are pure. It is considered both an honor and a duty to augment oneself with the True Flesh until you reach the point of union with the Machine God. Such is the will of the Omnissiah.

"I, however, seek a different path. I found myself...disillusioned with the cause of replacing all of my self with nothing but cold and unfeeling metal. I seek a path towards a better, more holistic union between man and machine. My path, however, is one of Heresy…"

"You consider yourself a Heretek for seeking a better path." My response was...not unkind.

A solemn nod was my only answer.

"Well, then, your Mechanicus are a bunch of fools. There is always a better path, a better way forward. Perfection is an Ideal, not a goal." the crazy part was that I actually believed that--and I also wanted to see if she would take the bait...

Miolala frowned. "It still leaves me at odds with my own people. I am an exile, to be hunted down and killed for not following the ways of the Omnissiah. It is why, when I received the strange offer to serve one such as you, I made all haste to your side. I was supposed to have arrived in a place that would make it easier for you to approach me, but somehow I ended up in that horrific storm…" She shuddered at the memory. "I thought I would die before meeting you."

Hm. that's interesting. Still leaves a question, though. "One more question: just how did you get her to Necromunda anyway? And what was this odd request that you received?"

Miolala nodded before answering. "I was...teleported somehow. It was a very strange feeling, almost as if there was something gently holding me as I was carried off towards you. As for my offer...it was a kind of pop up in my eye, here." She tapped her rather obvious bionic eye for emphasis, "and it was quite generous in terms, though it did say that I would need to discuss them with you first."

Double huh. This is getting interesting! "And what were those terms, exactly?"

"That I would share in both your knowledge and power, as appropriate for one who would create wonders beyond the likes of anything seen before. That I would act as assistant to your greatness, and that in due time I would be offered the secrets of what I seek."

"Hm. I see no problems with that. And you seem alright as a person, too." I smirked a bit before dropping my next line. "Easy on the eyes, too." Miolala's giggles were a welcome reply to my bit of humor.

"But seriously, I have no issues other than one: are you sure you want to be here? As you can see, I'm kind of a trouble magnet. You sure you want in?"

The woman nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Of course yes! I would not have come if not for that!"

I sighed, somewhat dramatically, but also in slight exasperation. She simply would not quit. Very well then.

"Alright then, I can see I'm not convincing you otherwise. Welcome to the show." with that, I took her hand, and activated a particular power that until now I had never wanted to use.

The process happened so quickly that I almost missed it happening in the first place. One moment, there was Miolala, Veteran Engineseer, complete with the implants to prove it. The next, there was Miolala, shockingly attractive woman, whom if you never knew her you would never know that she was Mechanicus to begin with.

For my part, I got the full details on every piece of tech that she had ever placed within her body. And there was quite a bit of it, some of which were downright works of fucking ART. It was almost painful to watch them get assimilated, but I knew that they could be remade, better, with naught but a little patience...not that she would need them, though. It also bumped up my still (relatively) rudimentary knowledge base of cybernetic augmentations and implants to a great degree.

I did need to check something first, though. I brute-forced a connection to her new mental implants, and did a quick scan of the coding therein, looking for a specific piece of code. Much to my relief, I found it, completely disabled.

Good. I was afraid for a moment that the forced loyalty coding was still intact. Nice to know that my disabling that part actually went through--

My attention was suddenly yanked back to that same code by an unknown force. It was with a bit of confusion I realized that it was Miolala herself. I had my attention directed towards the loyalty code, and was fed with the impression of an impish grin combined with blatant smug satisfaction as she literally rebuilt the code and turned it back on.

[I CHOSE to be here. You are not forcing yourself on me.]

The message blazed in block letters across my vision as the coding took effect. Looking past the blatant obfuscation as best I could, it seemed that the loyalty code was actually doing things differently from what I knew of the original function--more reinforcing the ties and bonds being formed than creating new ones out of whole cloth, so to speak. It was actually quite fascinating to watch, even if I was only barely suppressing my near reflex reaction to the mere existence of such a thing.

It was a seeming eternity before the process finished itself, even if objectively less than a second had passed, and I was released from the metaphorical grip of my new assistant. Mio gave me a warm smile, even as she gave herself a look over to see what had changed.

I, on the other hand, had a very interesting alert pop up in my vision.

{Miolala Granliss accepted as Assistant. Special provisions for primary assistant have activated. Akashic nexus active. Access to constellation abilities granted.}

THAT was concerning to me. If I was reading this right, she had some kind of special link to the grand constellation that represented the forge itself, and was just given full access. I had no clue how this was going to play out but…

"Hm. I would have thought there would be more...obvious parts to this." Mio's voice drags me out of my contemplation, and I look back at her in confusion.

From what I can see, she's fine. Sure, all the obvious implants are gone, but it's not like she can't just make newer, better ones anyway with my help.

...Wait a minute.

"Mio, we might have a problem." more like we definitely have a problem, and I only just now realized it.

Mio looked up at me in confusion. "Not really seeing a downside to this, Master. Also, my diagnostics are coming back 100% clean. So why do we have a problem?"

"Because you now have horns and a tail."

Mio blinked at my statement, and then slowly raised her hands up to her now fully manifested (and quite majestic) horns, protruding quite prominently from her head. The strong, lizardlike tail swayed behind her almost lazily as she felt around her new accessories, a subtle spark of power trailing along the tip.

"So...how did this happen, exactly?" She asked. "Not that I'm complaining...much...but this is just a bit weird for me."

I shrugged, and waved my own tails behind me. "It's a side effect of one of the abilities of the Forge. I personally just got used to it and moved on. Besides, it tends to have some form of compensation attached anyway. Kinda curious as to why you're not sick, though…"

"Sick? Why would I be sick? I feel GREAT!!" Mio exclaimed. "This is amazing! I've never felt better in my life!"

I wasn't convinced. At all. "Sure you are. Now, lets head over to my poor excuse for a medbay and get you checked up. I don't want you getting a repeat of what I had to go through--"

"Oh, you mean the Oripathy thing, right? No worries, I dealt with it already." That grin never left her face at all.

"...How the hell did you do that so fast? It took me HOURS to cobble together a workaround for that." I wasn't jealous. Not at all. And I definitely did not turn away to hide this.

Mio was both unfooled and unrepentant. "Oh, I just used the notes you had tucked in your head from when it happened to you and adjusted accordingly. Speaking of which, we need to get you proper training in using your WHOLE body. You are leaving so much on the table in ability, it's almost sad."

Wait what?

"Oh yeah, did I mention that the nice little loyalty code I modified allows me a backdoor into your head, blacked by the forge itself? Isn't it cool? It's two-way, of course, but since you suck at using your own skills..."

...So this is what it felt like to get owned by the Mechanicus, then.

"Pretty much, yeah, just with more vindictiveness. I, on the other hand, am doing this for your own good. You have needed a stabilizing influence in your life for some time. I intend to be that influence, and you aren't stopping me. Consider it payment for the goodies that you have given to me."

...Great. What next?

"You sure you want the answer to that question, boss?" I could feel the smirk she was wearing, without even having to look at her. And it was pissing me off to no end. I reached back through the connection, intent on wiping that smirk off her face--

--and was met with the equivalent of an especially wet and sensuous kiss.

"I am not above using those means as well to keep you cooled off, boss. Good job for actually doing stuff with your interfaces, though. We'll practice more later."

Well, at least she was getting comfortable with me, judging by the shift to more casual speech.

Speaking of which, she is a card-carrying member of the Mechanicus proper. Why the hell is she not going nuts over the new bits added to her self?

Mio actually looked at me for this one. "Mostly because I have you here as a counterpoint for my panic. I know that you will accept me, I know that this is not a mutation or some kind of slide into corruption. And even with all the teachings and dogma entrenched in my life, and in the Imperium in general, I know that you would NEVER allow something harmful to befall me just for a quick gain."

That...was a lot of trust she was showing in me. "And why do you believe that?"

"Because you did not leave me to die when I was dead weight out there in that mess." she pointed towards the rough area of the hive where we came from as emphasis. "Nearly everyone else in this hellhole would have left me to the daemons."

"...So basically support network. Gotcha." I nodded to myself. "In any case, you have some extra training to do to get used to your new form and the abilities it provides. For one, you are probably stronger than I am right now, both physically and in the Originium Arts as well. Gonna have to put you through a grinder to train that right...and I just so happen to have skills that will assist in getting you up to speed." I made sure to plaster a downright malicious grin onto my face as I said this. There would be no escape nor mercy from my training. None at all.

"Don't get too cocky, Master. You have plenty of things that need ironing out yourself." She quipped back, and her own matching grin appeared. "Don't worry, though. I will be very thorough in your instruction." She actually licked her lips in anticipation. "VERY thorough."

I really couldn't help it at that point. I all but jumped out of my chair and dragged her onto the table proper, laid out within easy reach of me.

She only grinned wider and stretched out. "Oooh. We're starting already?"

I barely held myself back from ravaging her right then and there. But I did eventually gain control of myself and pulled away from her, backing away from the table. I deliberately took deep breaths in an effort to calm myself down.

This woman was going to kill me from stress, I knew it.

"Nope. I will quite literally rape you before I allow that to happen."

My head snapped back to her so fast It was almost a blur.

"Good. you are listening." Mio's words were deep, sultry, and laced with an immense amount of anger.

Wait, what?

"I TOLD you. I will not allow you to go off wild and off-balance. If that means that I have to seduce you until you break, then I will do so. And I know I will enjoy the consequences immensely."

She lifted herself off of the table with her tail, the entire movement deliberately made to put on display as much of her body as possible...a body that she was actually quite shy about, normally, if her memories were correct--wait, I did it again?

"Yes, you did it again. And I will keep pushing you, so you do it more." she slowly sauntered up to me, the motion little more than a standard walk but somehow transformed into the most sensual thing possible simply because SHE was doing it. How the hell?

"And make no mistake: you WILL learn, one way or the other." another of her bright smiles graced her face once more, in stark contrast to the sheer aura of menace that she was putting out, that was a direct result of my own stubbornness? Huh?

"Yes. You are being stubborn. Fortunately, this is not critical, or I would be doing a lot more to you to get you to understand. As it is right now? I can just tease you all I want as a training aid. Eventually you will break, and you will properly claim what is yours, and solve two problems at once. Until then...suffer, as long as you wish."

And through the link we shared, I could feel that she meant it. Damn.

"I do believe that you have projects to be working on, right? I'll go ahead and set up a space for myself. When you're ready to take proper care of yourself...you'll know where to find me.

And with that, she walked off towards the workshop area, likely to set up a shrine or something similar to the Omnissiah, as well as to mark out her own work space.

And I knew, just plain KNEW, that I would be banging her like a drum within a week.

Fuck.

Mio was not amused at her current predicament.

The extra bits were new and slightly disorienting, but she was adjusting quickly to the additions. Besides, her new tail was a surprisingly effective balance aid, and was extremely strong...and the horns were just cool.

She very carefully allowed herself to silently squee over the coolness factor that was very much not an approved or even tolerated view to have within the Imperium of Man.

Well, this Imperium, anyway.

No, her frustration was with her newfound master (and future lover), who, despite having been offered everything he needed on a silver platter, refused to take it and rid himself of the weight of the world around him.

It was enough to drive a girl mad, especially when said girl had set aside all of her own insecurities for the sole purpose of aiding another.

No matter. He would crack sooner or later, and the problem would resolve itself. Until then, she had some work to take care of. Namely, the workshop needed a proper blessing from the Omnissiah. At the very least, a small shrine to the machine god would suffice. Even a heretek like her could maintain her faith, regardless of what the others would say about her.

Much to her surprise, there seemed to be a place almost reverently set aside near the center of the workshop spaces just for such a thing. The crafting and assembly of the shrine proper was almost painfully simple thanks to the addition of the abilities of the forge...and the blessings laid upon it seemed ever more powerful than they should have been otherwise. It was a curious happening, and one she planned to explore in detail, but first she needed to get her tools in order, as well as set up her workspace.

During her travels and assignments as an Engineseer, Mio had seen many a different place and battlefield, and many of the harsh lessons learned there carried over to her current style and flair; namely, to live life as best as one could, and fight bravely for the future of mankind. Having come to this strange and dark mirror of her home had taught her just how far the Imperium could have fallen, if not for the citizens of the Imperium themselves.

Unfortunately, what little wargear she had brought with her on her trip was totaled by the hellstorm, and the rest was sadly reclaimed by that process that had rebirthed her to her new and glorious form. Thus, a rebuild of at least some basic wargear was absolutely necessary. There were more than enough parts on hand for her to build and refine an Omnissan Power Axe in a small amount of time, and she could probably cobble together a decent set of power armor from the leftovers that would not get her killed. Past that…

"I told you that you needed to work on your skills, woman. Key point is all the stuff you're leaving out of your build."

Mio was more than able to stop herself from jerking back in surprise when her master appeared behind her, and critiquing her work no less. She took a breath to calm and steady her nerves, even as outwardly she remained passive. "And what exactly am I missing, anyway? It's not like it matches up to a good power field."

"More like it's better than a good power field." he retorted. "For starters, I solved the Eezo shortage, just before the forge kicked out a way to bypass it entirely, and that stuff is wonderful for melee weapons if used right. Second, you are going to want to plate that thing in Originium to use as a focus for O.Arts...especially since your new form seems to pull from the Draco, which are STUPID powerful with them.

"As for the third…" he had been moving closer the entire time, it seemed, and was now in full contact with her back. "You have other things to do." The command, for that was exactly what it was, brooked zero argument, and left no error as to what her task was.

She grinned, even as she laughed inside. That poor man...he needed her more than even she had known.

Didn't even last an hour…

"Almost done over here. Pass me the towels?"

I handed Mio the requested items without complaint. After all, it was technically my mess too.

As shameful as it is to have to admit this after the fact, I REALLY needed that. I didn't even realize just how much stress had built up over the last few months, and Mio was the perfect cure for what ailed me...as she had tried to tell me hours ago.

Yes, Mio, I get it. You were right about me needing my pipes cleaned. Stop being smug about it.

[No.]

Guess that is going to be a thing now. Well, it's not like I didn't deserve it, neglecting myself the way I did. Anyway, time to take care of business. There are some things I actually DO need to get done...including one that I have put off for long enough.

The workshop was, unsurprisingly, empty save for myself and Mio. The mess we'd made during our previous activities (namely, fucking each other silly) was now fully cleaned up, with minimal fuss. All that was left was to take care of the business at hand.

I went to the center table, and removed the sealed case from it, then started out to the open air chamber that was the "outside" of the hangar. I wanted some room for this.

Mio was somewhat confused as to my actions, but followed me anyway. I expected a question long before now, but apparently she was content to have me handle this.

I set the case down on the grass, and opened the locks with the requisite amount of mana. Once open, I finally pulled out the core of the Unison device I had received what seemed like ages ago.

It was time to activate it and see what we had available.

The process was simple, according to the instructions in the case. All I needed to do was provide an amount of "seed" mana to the device, and it would activate after it reached it's self-sustain level. Because it would be my mana used as part of the startup, I would be favorably inclined in the initial alignment for unison compatibility. Other than that, it was a toss-up.

Pushing my mana into the device, it slowly took on a soft glow as it took in more and more power. Eventually, the device refused to take any more of my energy, and began it's proper start-up sequence, a very muted and uninteresting thing all things considered. It just sat there and glowed...and then a scanning beam lashed out at both myself and Mio, surprising us both.

The beam did a very simple scan of the both of us before dispersing, and the glowing ball within began to take on a shape. A small, humanoid figure eventually emerged from the light show, stark naked. Observations had it as male, with dark skin, and black hair, and he seemed to not be doing much at the moment.

It was with a note of surprise that I saw him open his eyes, a rather interesting shade of gray, and look at the world around him. He looked at the hangar, then at the still sealed bay doors leading to the space areas of the hangar proper. Another glance to the Kerbals, still engrossed in their antigravity experiment, and then over to Harry, who had finally decided to appear from wherever he ran off to since I saw him last. Finally, those steely eyes settled on me.

A gentle wave of bluish green (or was it greenish blue?) energy washed over him, and formed into a set of loose robes in the same color, complete with pants. All the while, he never stopped staring at me, as if searching for something.

There was no change in expression, no note of anything looking like emotion. One moment, he just stared at me. The next, there was a lance of pure mana impaled in the ground where I was standing only a moment ago, having reacted on pure instinct to dodge.

...Guess the chaos protections didn't work, after all…

The Device lashed out with more shooting spells as I dodged around the area, and DAMN, but those bullets were fast and hit hard. I barely had time to shield against them, and from the looks of it they had a NASTY set of tracking code built in, making it next to impossible to dodge the damned things.

Of course, the midget was spamming the fuckers harder than a bullet hell boss. I blocked where I could, but even that was only a stopgap. Sooner or later that thing was going to target--

A plasma bolt lanced through the air, and immediately impacted a shield that was placed in the way. Fuck, there goes the Harry option.

Then the fucker turned towards Mio with a lager than normal sphere of energy. He chucked it almost casually in her direction, without any thought whatsoever. She had the good sense to dodge whatever it was, but it turned out to not be of any help, as the fucking bomb exploded with preternatural force and blasted her back into the hangar proper.

Of Mio there was no sign.

I didn't even think about it. I just moved. Faster than I'd eve thought possible, I was in the midget's face, a claw of psionic energy aimed to tear it's head off...and which was stopped by another shield, though this one was more flexible. Maybe I could break through?!?

"You are weak."

The fucker speaks?

"You are weak, and unable to stop even me from doing as I please."

The fucker was FAR too smug about this. My resolve burned hotter as I pushed against that elastic shield.

"And in your weakness you forget one of your few strengths. Pity."

All around me, more and more o the little homing blasts appeared, and unlike the previous shots, I could FEEL the malicious intent in each of them.

This was nothing less than a kill shot.

I moved to break off my attack, but the barrier that had been preventing me from advancing suddenly became my prison, as it engulfed my whole arm. I was trapped and powerless to do anything about this.

"And now, I shall make sure you BURN for your sins."

And then the pain started. It seared and scoured through my body, mind and spirit, blazing everywhere it could touch, everywhere it could reach. The pain was excruciating, and I felt it in my very soul as it burned away everything it touched. I struggled in vain to break free, to stop the attack, to at least save my friends (and lover) but nothing worked. And all the while, the burning flame came ever closer to consuming me.

Every struggle rendered fruitless, every effort turned back upon me or outright ignored. And forced to watch as my friends fought a desperate and unwinnable dance with the hell of bullets as the thing TOYED with them.

Something within me snapped. A spark, previously unnoticed, erupted into a roaring flame that consumed all.

And a brilliant light blinded all as I broke free of my chains and pushed the attack.

Harder and harder still I forced myself through. When the shields became too much, I focused my power into a form that would break it. When the distance became too great, I focused on ways to bridge it.

And all the while I was dead-set on the little bastard that was responsible for it all. I fully intended to annihilate the little corrupt bastard and purge the last of the chaos taint from my space.

{oh, is that all you wanted?}

The burning seemed to intensify as an otherworldly scream echoed through the surroundings, and something was torn from my person, burning the whole way. Midget boy, surprisingly, had a very satisfied smile on his face at seeing the thing.

"Extraction successful. Moving to terminate target."

And the shadowy being was pummeled with waves of magical bullets without end.

It tried to dodge, to evade the oncoming swarm of death and destruction. And for a short time, it actually succeeded...and then it found its efforts to be suddenly fruitless, as it was quickly enveloped in a strange fog of darkness that it clearly did NOT control.

Mio came charging back into the fight, the obscuring darkness apparently being under her control, from the look of her hands.

Odd, but workable. Whatever that thing was, it was apparently trying to do something to me, and I wanted it dead, YESTERDAY. I focused again, and my claws found themselves in a new shape, that of a straight-edged blade. Giving it a quick once over, I nodded to myself and charged in.

Huh. It apparently was not very well versed in combat, of any kind, as I was tearing it to shreds. Every attempt to block or counter was met with my psionic blade, and summarily cut down. Attempts to flee found it caught in a tide of seemingly endless darkness. The waves of magical shots continued unabated, as the Device choked the very air with hell. Even Harry had gotten back into the action, tossing out plasma shots at every opportunity.

And yet, for all our effort, nothing seemed to be working well. The odd specter seemed to be completely unkillable, even if we could hurt it.

But I was going to kill it. That much I was sure of.

{Not just you. We.}

The Device was apparently tired of playing around, and instead made a beeline directly for me. I was stuck in the middle of recovering from an attack, and had no time to react as he caught me, and then merged with me.

{Unison In.}

The transition was jarring. Suddenly I could think again, and recognized the extremely subtle effect of madness that was surrounding that specter for what it was. Worse, the field was twofold: not only did it confuse its opponents in battle, but it was also specifically designed to prevent its opponents from actually killing it, if they managed to figure out how to damage the thing. Normally this would be a deadly combination...but now that I was aware of the effect, countering it would be a breeze.

{Lord, if you do not mind, please allow me.}

Interested in what might be happening here, I allowed the action to occur. Much to my shock and delight, several orbs of mana charged with my unique form of light energy--and something else, as well--formed around us, completely caging in our specter. As one, the net of spheres closed, and the resulting orb of light basically fried our interloper from existence.

I breathed a sign of relief once the deed was done. "Everyone okay?"

"I'm fine, but this is getting a bit stale by now, yes?" Harry's gruff voice answered back. I happened to agree, but did not bother to reply.

"I'm good as well. I know you said you were a trouble magnet, but this is ridiculous." Mio's calm voice rang out. Even in a life-or-death situation, she still tries to lighten the mood. I approved.

{I am also functional. All hostile lifeforms have been purged from Lord at this time.}

That, however, brought up a question. Why the hell did the midget attack me?

{Lord, you showed signs of a subtle corruption effect, matching with a possession-type energy entity. Field data indicated that the process would have been slow and insidious until it was too late to counter. I executed emergency steps to purge said entity and all influence from you immediately...this would have been the "burning" that you felt.]

"Oh great. So I nearly got possessed. Again. "

The Device took this time to cancel the unison, and reformed outside my body. "Close, but not quite. This was not meant to be a full possession, but rather a kind of slow-burn corruption effect. To what end, I do not know, but it was deliberately taking time to harmonize with your normal energy pattern."

"So what...chaos getting slippery again? Not the first time, man" Harry did, have a point here...

"Not quite." The Device continued. "It is worth noting that this entity is brand new and was only just settling in...and it does not match anything in the database of known energy patterns or expressions of the Warp. My conclusion is that this is not a daemonic attack. I recommend further research."

Huh. so now I have OTHER things trying to get at me? "So, did you at least get a clue as to what was happening? Something we can work with?"

"The energy patter had a correlation with photon energies. I predict 75% chance of it being relevant." He paused for a moment. "There is also this." and displayed a picture, of a hazy outline of...oh hell no.

That is a fucking Chozo Ghost.

...Fuck. I am not dealing with this right now.

Mio tackle-hugged me as I tried to get my bearings set, knocking us both to the ground.

"You are going to have to practice with whatever that darkness was. Seems like it's pretty good."

Her only response was to laugh.

"So, now that we're done with all the excitement, You need a name. You had something in mind?"

My newly activated unison device shrugged. "Not really. I am, or was, intended as a research assistant for unusual technologies, prior to the outbreak of the unification wars. Most of my recent knowledge came from the central database of your installation. I shall give it some thought."

I blinked. "Wait, we have a mainframe now?"

Mio was equally confused. "Apparently so. It set up and installed itself shortly after we started fighting with the little one here. I'm scanning through it now...and wow. It's like an STC in miniature." Her voice had taken on an almost reverential tone at that point.

My eyes narrowed, and I dove into the digital aether to see for myself.

"Hot damn. I guess it kind of is."

Well, not quite. An STC was the equivalent of a colony database, that could do amazing things with very little in the way of actual technology. This was more a single-point database of every piece of knowledge and tech that I had gained up to this point. Similar, but not the same.

Wait a minute. I almost forgot about that.

"Hey Harry, remember that one back in the old tunnel we found?"

Harry glanced up in my direction from his cup of recaf. "You mean that STC that we couldn't drag out? Yeah, I do. Probably still there, too, all things considered."

Mio was on me almost immediately. "YOU FOUND AN STC!?!? WHERE IS IT?!? WE MUST RECOVER IT!!!"

I shrugged her off with only minor difficulty. "Calm down. It was in an old side cavern that we stumbled on by accident while running from the damned Chaos cultists that were choking up the space. There were other things in that cave too, now that I think about it, including that weird...Bird...Goddammit."

I didn't even bother trying to check Thoth, who had conveniently chosen that exact moment to report being back to full functionality. I knew what I would see, plain as day.

Chozo are Bullshit, man.

"We have to go back anyway. I think the bird people are trolling me."

"Bird people? What Bird people?" Harry's confusion was evident, but was interrupted by an unexpected source.

"Lord, I have decided upon a name." The little device was finished with its deliberations, it seemed. I gave him my full attention.

"After some thought, I felt that this title would be appropriate for one such as me."

The little device floated his way in front of me, and bowed.

"Please, call me Rico."

"Welcome to this strange world, little Rico." Mio greeted him warmly. "We shall endeavor to guide you the best we can."

Harry was his usual self. "Alright then, Rico. Welcome to the club of crazies. Check your sanity at the door, if you don't mind."

I simply smiled. For once, things were actually looking up.

Alright, I freely admit that this is NOT my best chapter. At all. Like seriously. Also, Mio is being sassy at how she wants to be written, and basically forced herself into being a waifu. I TRIED writing her differently, I really did.

-Data Access (Endless Pantheon) (100CP)
Having knowledge isn't always good enough, seeing as it can be quite the hassle to actually access it if you don't have the proper setup. You do, thankfully. This is one device of your choosing, which allows you to perfectly access any and all books, scrolls or databanks you have, putting all of the knowledge you have gathered at your fingertips at all times. It can also change forms, but is always something digital. Try not to stand too close to the wizard.

-Resource Generator (Toaruverse) (100CP)
Buying materials and resource cost too much time and manpower especially if the materials or resources that you need are limited or rare. You gain a warehouse full of materials and resources no matter how common to how rare it is that you need to build any technology that you want. It replenishes used materials every twenty-four hours after you take it out the warehouse, additionally it records and replenishes any materials that you add in your warehouse. After the jump it would become a warehouse add-on or be inserted near your starting location.
* Gives a rapidly restocking warehouse which contains large amounts of anything that falls under materials and resources that is stored in your warehouse improving most perks that are listed under supplies.

-Tinkerer (RWBY) (300CP)
You're a whiz at maintaining, modifying and making things. Everything from Sniper Scythes to Toaster Ovens, as long as you made it yourself or had the blueprints on hand. Unlock the secret of Variable Weapon Crafting.

-Profession: Tailoring (World of Warcraft) (300CP)
Sew cloth armor and many kinds of bags using dye, thread and cloth gathered from humanoid enemies during your travels. Tailors can also fashion nets to slow enemies with, rideable flying carpets, and magical threads which empower items they are stitched into. Zen Master: At this level you've mastered everything from basics to advanced. Additionally you've expanded your knowledge of the profession beyond the mastery of both basics and advanced stuff to complete understanding of it. At this level you're on an even playing field with top 1% of your profession. Should you write down your knowledge it would easily be considered a work of art in that field.

-Doll Maker of Bucuresti (Touhou) (200CP)
Being an undisputable genius in terms of mathematics and science in a realm ruled by magic tends to undermine just how impressive it is. Your ability with technology and engineering is so great that you are able to adapt to handling, repairing, modifying and even reverse-engineering completely foreign devices you have little to no background on. Your connection with both practical technologies along with magic allows for you to eventually unlock the secrets to creating magitech if given enough time to experiment.

TheToFu · Jun 30, 2021

I generally don't enjoy Warhammer stories since they tend to go way off the rail. Which then cuase me to roll my eyes and just drop the story all together.

Now this I am enjoying and can't wait for more. Great work mister author man or lady.

edboy49 · Jun 30, 2021

Good chapter.
Hey question, if Ridley were to appear, from the four cancers, who would he belong to?

Lotor · Jun 30, 2021

My only regret?

Pity this isn't in the NSFW section of QQ. Otherwise, delightful! Mechanicus Waifu Get!

Still, heh, those poor Daemons... they definitely deserved that.

And yeah, the Chozo are clearly fucking with things. Damn it.

RIversand · Jun 30, 2021

A good chapter to read. Quite the interesting set of powerups, and whhhooo boy! The dark energy trying to make him into a darkfalz/dark force.

Then there is Little Miss Engineseer, I know how characters can write themselves. She amuses me.

Harry's reactions to things, he's trying to roll with it all. I wonder if he's going to get companioned?

Then there is Rico pointing out to the chozo ghost. I can just see the hand wave as they lounge on a couch or some shit .. because that's Satori's luck/life right now.

I was eagerly checking for this having updated. A nice thing to wake up to! Also, yay for him getting it on, even in a Kirkian (read: fade to black) manner~

Slider Zero · Jun 30, 2021

Lotor said:
My only regret?

Pity this isn't in the NSFW section of QQ. Otherwise, delightful! Mechanicus Waifu Get!

Still, heh, those poor Daemons... they definitely deserved that.

And yeah, the Chozo are clearly fucking with things. Damn it.

Even if I was in the NSFW section, I would have still faded to black. I was going for the joke more than the smut factor.

as for the Chozo fucking with things...well, Ruyne put it best on the Discord:

Yeah, that feeling of impotent rage as they fuck with you for the good of not only yourself but everyone around you is what they live off of.

edboy49 said:
Good chapter.
Hey question, if Ridley were to appear, from the four cancers, who would he belong to?

Good question. I am tempted to say Khorne, but Ridley is known to be cunning as well, so maybe Tzzentch? it would depend, really.

Moon-llama · Jun 30, 2021

edboy49 said:
Good chapter.
Hey question, if Ridley were to appear, from the four cancers, who would he belong to?

from what i know of him?
Khorne or slaanesh.
He is described as bloodthirsy narcissitic maniac who revels in slaughtering anyone he conisders weaker then him(Very much khornate behavior)
but he does so to satisfy his every wants without restraints which is very slaaneshi behavior.

stads · Jun 30, 2021

ah poor mc getting a girl to chase him down to get into his pants
do wonder what else was lurking that was trying to infect the mc is it was not warp based

omegasrevenge · Jun 30, 2021

Time to bring the miracles of the Omnissiah DOWN TO EARTH!

Bigreader · Jul 1, 2021

What is a chozo?

Slider Zero · Jul 1, 2021

Bigreader said:
What is a chozo?

*jaw drops*

Wow. That question just happened...alright then, Check HERE for details.

Morkail · Jul 1, 2021

Every warp entity and there mothers is trying to corrupt him, kill him or turn him to there purpose franky he need a anti divination power right bloody now or he won't be alive much longer.

Good chapter thoe thanks.

The Ringing of a Forge of Stars [Warhammer 40k/ Celestial forge V3||OC...ish]

Know what you're doing yet?

Versed in the lewd.

Know what you're doing yet?

Versed in the lewd.

Found happy button. Unclear, everything's on fire!

Not too sore, are you?

Versed in the lewd.

Know what you're doing yet?

Know what you're doing yet?

Versed in the lewd.

Know what you're doing yet?

Versed in the lewd.

Know what you're doing yet?

Not too sore, are you?

Your first time is always over so quickly, isn't it?

Well worn.

Not too sore, are you?

ToFu

Versed in the lewd.

Prince of Planet Doom

Know what you're doing yet?

Not too sore, are you?

Know what you're doing yet?

Experienced.

The Epic of Alexander (Ultimate)

Doom. Boom!

Not too sore, are you?

Shado-Master

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