"By the Savior!"
The first thing the captain and the others saw after their vessel passed through the port barrier was the great Savior himself.
A golden colossus stretched across the void, many times larger than an asteroid.
It was magnificent, sacred, and majestic beyond description. The transport ship was little more than an ant before it.
Even across the vast distance separating them, the captain and his crew could feel an invisible pressure emanating from the holy statue. Their breathing became labored beneath its gaze.
It was the majesty of a supreme being given physical form, as well as the crowning achievement of the Empire's industrial system.
The people of Forge World Voss had spent more than a century and consumed countless resources to construct this statue of the Savior.
It was an expression of their loyalty.
This was already an old tradition within the new Empire, as well as a form of competition between regions. Whenever a region accumulated surplus resources, it would build some grand wonder dedicated to the Savior.
If your wonder was not impressive enough, you would be too embarrassed to show your face elsewhere. More importantly, it would fail to demonstrate the strength of your star system.
If you could not even build a proper wonder, had you failed at your duties? Was your economy simply too weak?
These monuments had become an unofficial standard for judging both regional strength and political achievement.
Of course, the construction of any wonder required approval from the Royal Court. No region was permitted to secretly tighten its belt and pour everything into a vanity project, lest it interfere with normal development.
In other words, only regions with genuinely abundant surplus resources qualified to construct wonders of their own.
Consequently, every Imperial region capable of building one was necessarily prosperous and wealthy.
One relatively affluent world had neglected to apply for permission to construct a wonder. When a Voss delegation visited the place on an exchange tour, they dismissed the entire system as backwater country.
It had no grandeur whatsoever.
The local governor and nobles took that remark as a direct attack on their dignity. They immediately submitted an application to the Royal Court and resolved to construct a colossal statue of the Savior even larger than the one in the Voss Industrial Zone.
Their pride had been wounded so deeply because their territory was also one of the Empire's major industrial regions. It specialized in shipbuilding and competed directly with Voss.
Naturally, they refused to lose to their rivals.
Even now, the Savior's colossal statue that filled the people of Voss with such pride remained under continuous expansion. New components and ornaments were constantly being added to make it even grander and more majestic.
They had achieved their goal.
Everyone who laid eyes upon the colossal wonder was deeply shaken by its magnificence.
The captain and first officer stared at the monumental creation before them, momentarily at a loss for words. They had no idea how to express what they were feeling.
The employees and voidsmen of the Gantz Industrial Group were so overwhelmed that they dropped to their knees and began to pray.
The colossal wonder stood majestically in the void, its body towering like a celestial object as it gazed down upon the star system and everyone who had come to behold it.
Enormous banners hung from its arms, shoulders, and the surrounding structures. Reflecting the light of the system's star, they resembled sacred scriptures draped around the colossus.
"In the Savior's name, forge mighty warships to cross the sea of stars!"
"The people of Voss swear to build the finest warships for His Majesty the Savior!"
"Everything for the front! Everything for victory!"
"Long live humanity!"
The crimson banners and their proclamations radiated a fervent atmosphere, one filled with passionate loyalty and the roaring momentum of mass production.
This was the industrial spirit the Savior wished humanity to display: solving problems through material means and a practical, truth-seeking attitude.
"Humanity is so great, so full of vitality."
As the captain gazed upon the majestic colossus and the banners surrounding it, he found himself swept up in the atmosphere.
A fiery pride rose within him as he stared at the statue.
This was humanity.
The former pirate and Imperial outlaw felt an even greater sense of belonging to the Empire. He genuinely believed that humanity could achieve prosperity and reclaim its former glory.
"By the Savior...
"Are those Voss construction ships installing a large-scale force field around His Majesty's holy statue?" the first officer asked in amazement.
"What's so strange about that? A sacred creation like this naturally deserves proper protection," the captain replied.
Installing protective force fields around a holy statue was considered standard procedure within the Empire.
"That's the Savior's Halo, a planet-class multilayer composite force field manufactured on Mars. There are entire planets that can't afford to install one..."
The first officer pointed toward a particular insignia, apparently recognizing it.
Like many young people, he had memorized the models and specifications of countless Imperial weapons systems and could discuss them at length.
He would also analyze the current state of the galaxy and eagerly engage others in heated debates about it.
The young people of the new Empire were no longer as ignorant as earlier generations. They clearly understood the Empire they inhabited, as well as the dangers and enemies they would one day face.
"Voss really is wealthy. They're even willing to install such an expensive force field around a holy statue.
"What loyalty!"
After seeing the listed cost of the Savior's Halo composite force field, the captain took a long drink of coffee.
That thing was obscenely expensive.
Even if his home system devoted its entire economic output to the task for a hundred years, it still could not afford such a costly planet-class force field.
As expected of one of the Empire's foremost industrial regions, Voss possessed truly staggering economic strength.
Of course, while the system was expensive, it was worth every credit. It integrated numerous defensive technologies, including void shields and stasis fields.
It could withstand almost any threat from space and remain operational for a considerable length of time even while under siege by an entire fleet.
Normally, only a planet serving as a sector capital would be willing to install something so costly.
Yet the people of Voss had gone so far as to mount one on the colossal wonder dedicated to His Majesty the Savior.
After thinking about it, however, the captain decided that this was only right. If they possessed the means, offering the finest things to His Majesty the Savior was precisely what loyal subjects ought to do.
The captain and first officer soon discovered that the people of Voss were also mounting tremendously powerful planet-class surface defense macro-cannons on the colossal statue.
It possessed both overwhelming offense and impregnable defense.
Moreover, the people of Voss apparently had no intention of stopping there.
Voss could only be described as incomparably wealthy and loyal!
Before the captain and the others could finish marveling at the colossus, the flagship's line of sight passed beyond it. Through the observation dome, they saw the region behind the statue.
In an instant, they were overwhelmed by another astonishing sight.
Spaceborne shipyards extended all the way to the edge of the visible sea of stars. One brightly illuminated dock after another was busy forging Imperial warships.
Newly completed hulls poured out of the shipyards like dumplings spilling from a pot, then proceeded to have shields and shipboard cannons installed.
"How many foundries are there?!"
The captain and the others were numb with disbelief.
This complex was larger than any warship manufacturing base they had ever seen.
Even more terrifying was the speed at which it produced ships. Thousands of docks operated simultaneously, and newly completed Imperial warships entered the void at every moment.
It was unlike any other shipbuilding base they had witnessed. Everything before them completely overturned their previous understanding of warship construction.
There were more ships, and they were being built faster!
This was the power unleashed when a big-data supply chain was combined with the Empire's immense industrial foundation.
It was nothing less than terrifying productivity.
The Empire's high-speed transportation network, complete industrial chains, and big-data supply system had combined to form its modern production structure.
As a world specializing in warship construction, Voss controlled the core technologies.
Its foundries could procure or commission superior materials and components from across the Empire, then assemble and calibrate everything within their own shipyards.
Using supply-chain procurement, they could assemble a complete warship from nothing.
Furthermore, those warships incorporated the most advanced materials and technologies available anywhere in the Empire.
More importantly, outsourcing production through the supply chain allowed Voss to absorb the productive capacity of other regions while focusing more of its own efforts on core warship technologies and optimized designs.
In this way, it fulfilled the industrial spirit promoted by His Majesty the Savior: "Go all out and build fast," while also ensuring that production remained "both fast and good."
In short, they had transformed warship construction into an assembly-line industry and were pouring all their strength into building larger, more formidable engines of void warfare.
Warship construction was not the only industry operating this way. The same transformation was taking place throughout the rest of the Empire's armaments sector, causing Imperial military strength to increase at an astonishing rate.
The administrators of the Empire's warehouse worlds were almost celebrating as though Victory Day had arrived. With the great armies assembling, their accumulated inventories were finally being cleared out.
Even stored hulls that had spent years gathering dust were being towed back to shipbuilding forge worlds for refitting and active service.
The Royal Court had finally granted the logistics and storage divisions permission to construct additional warehouse worlds. They no longer had to worry about running out of space for their stockpiles.
Now that they had enough room, they wished the Empire would manufacture even more armaments.
"We can smash those metal skeletons and make them lick humanity's balls!"
The captain stared at the densely packed ranks of brand-new warships, filled with confidence unlike anything he had ever experienced.
With so many warships, how could humanity possibly lose?
He refused to believe that the Necrons could destroy every warship humanity produced. The sheer scale of the resulting war of attrition would be more than they could bear.
After all, those metal skeletons no longer possessed the ability to manufacture new weapons. Their stockpiles would eventually break down or be exhausted.
That was the simplest conclusion he could reach with the practical instincts of a former pirate.
Still swept up in his excitement, the captain delivered the Gantz Industrial Group's cargo on schedule.
His crew had protected the shipboard cannon components extremely well, and not a single item had been lost or damaged during the voyage.
The Tech-Priest responsible for receiving the shipment was thoroughly satisfied and formally accepted the cargo.
That meant the Gantz Industrial Group had officially established a partnership with the Voss Shipbuilding Forge World. More orders would undoubtedly follow.
The transport personnel would also receive corporate rewards, perhaps even salary increases.
The war had not yet truly begun, but Imperial citizens had already glimpsed the power being unleashed by the Empire and benefited from it personally.
They longed for victory.
Only then could humanity truly welcome a bright future instead of continuing to live beneath the threat of the galaxy's ancient hegemon.
...
The outer reaches of the Pariah Nexus.
An enormous and unusual Cairn-class Tomb Ship floated through space, with entire landmasses piled across its surface.
A reawakened Necron city could faintly be seen atop it.
One pyramid after another glittered beneath the light of the system's star, while countless Necron entities moved among them.
This was the tomb flagship belonging to the Divine Emissary of the Holy Soul Cult, Phaeron of the Ramesses Dynasty, and Lord of Hope.
Eden had gone to considerable effort to excavate the central city of Phaerakh Fahra's Crownworld, along with the continental mass beneath it, and place the entire thing aboard his tomb flagship so he could carry it around the galaxy.
He needed a living, functioning Necrontyr city to display the beliefs and achievements of the Holy Soul Cult.
It would show the phaerons and overlords what precious rewards awaited those who believed in the New God and followed him, the Lord of Hope.
Simply put, the Necrontyr city served as a tea room and reception hall. Its primary purpose was to entertain the high-ranking figures who came to visit.
"My love, I wish so dearly that I could regain my flesh and soul. Then I could bear your children and provide our dynasty with an heir..."
Fahra nestled against Eden's chest, as hopelessly lovestruck as ever.
"Hiss. Having children with a Phaerakh... That's certainly an idea."
Fahra's words caused a flash of inspiration to pass through Eden's mind, opening an entirely new line of thought.
He stroked the Phaerakh's hair. She already felt almost like a living being.
Of course, she had originally been alive. She was merely recovering her true form one gradual step at a time after existing in a state of emptiness for so long.
Was new life not precisely what the Necrontyr had always desired?
Perhaps he could use it to bring them completely under his control.
For a species organized into dynasties, bloodlines and descendants would always remain indispensable bonds of power.
While he was considering the possibilities, Fahra spoke again.
"The tomb fleet has remained in this region for too long. The phaerons are growing impatient. Should we continue advancing deeper into the territories controlled by the Silent King...?"
They had already gathered the tomb worlds and Necrontyr fleets of numerous phaerons and overlords throughout the outer regions.
These followers of the New God, who had pledged themselves to the Lord of Hope, were eager to continue expanding and absorb even more believers.
Afterward, they intended to defeat the Silent King and the Stormlord and place Eden upon the throne whether he wanted it or not.
These fellows were far too eager for advancement and desperate to earn the New God's favor.
Unfortunately, further expansion would require them to enter the Silent King's own backyard. That would mean openly violating his domain and attracting his attention and retaliation.
"The time hasn't come. We must wait for a better opportunity."
Although Eden had risen to become the Lord of Hope and theoretically possessed the right to compete for the Throne of Dominion just as the Stormlord did, that was only true in theory.
He did not yet control enough Necrontyr military forces. In truth, he was something of a paper tiger and would struggle to defeat either of his rivals.
For that reason, he had no intention of confronting the Silent King yet. It would bring him little profit while inflicting enormous losses.
The Silent King and the Stormlord were currently beating the life out of each other in the Hypnos region, and the scale of their conflict was steadily increasing.
Once those two had thoroughly bashed each other's brains out, Eden could fish for profit amid the flames and seize their strongholds while they were distracted.
Naturally, that plan also carried considerable risks.
When the strongest and second-strongest powers fought, it was often the third-strongest who suffered first.
That was especially true when all three factions possessed irreconcilable ideological differences and had no means of trusting one another.
The Holy Soul Cult wished to restore the souls and flesh of the Necrontyr. The Stormlord, by contrast, supported retaining their living metal bodies so that they could preserve their overwhelming military strength.
Although the Silent King was pursuing reverse biotransference, he was merely using it to promote unity. He also held an extreme hatred for gods and religion of any kind.
They represented the greatest humiliation of his past.
It was therefore obvious that neither the Silent King nor the Stormlord could tolerate the Holy Soul Cult's beliefs.
Neither would allow a third party to seize the Throne of Dominion while they were fighting each other.
If Eden's scheme were exposed, the Silent King and the Stormlord might temporarily suspend their war, join forces to crush him, and only then resume beating each other senseless.
Under those circumstances, Eden needed a contingency plan.
Ideally, even if the two discovered that he was raiding their strongholds, they would be too overwhelmed by their own problems to stop him.
"I wonder when humanity's armies will finish assembling and begin advancing into the Pariah Nexus..."
Eden contemplated the matter.
More than two years had passed since Zabok traveled to the Royal Court to deliver the Supreme Directive.
Although Eden could receive relevant news from the Empire, some discrepancies remained in the finer details.
This was a massive war spanning thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of sectors. Its battlefield stretched across the galaxy itself, and every mobilization required a considerable amount of time.
That remained true even with access to the Webway and established Warp routes.
Species without high-speed transit routes, such as the Tyranid Hive Fleets, might require decades to prepare for an interregional war.
Even so, the Empire would need at least several decades, perhaps even longer, to conclude its total war against the Necrons.
That was precisely why Eden had ordered the Empire to begin mass production.
If the intensity of the war continued escalating while the logistics system failed to keep pace, restarting production later would be extremely difficult.
Fortunately, after so many years of development under his management, the Empire possessed ample reserves of personnel and resources.
In short, they just needed to gather the armies and A-move straight into the enemy!
While Eden waited for further news, an unfavorable intelligence report arrived.
"My Lord of Hope.
"The Triarch Praetorians are approaching our territory. Those lackeys of the Silent King may be coming with hostile intentions."
Nemesor Zahndrekh approached and bowed respectfully.
He had completely submitted to the Lord of Hope and wished to follow this ambitious leader in making the Necrontyr great once more.
"How large is their force?"
Eerie green flames flickered within Eden's eye sockets as concern rose within him.
The Triarch Praetorians were the Silent King's loyal hounds and the most elite force among the Necrons. They had most likely come to eliminate him, the galaxy's greatest charlatan and prophet.
Fighting them ahead of schedule would interfere with his plans.
"There aren't many of those lackeys. It's only a single battlegroup."
A hint of anticipation entered Zahndrekh's voice.
He had wanted to defeat those arrogant Triarch Praetorians for a very long time.
"Destroy them."
The moment Eden heard the answer, his concerns disappeared and he issued the order to attack.
His forces vastly outnumbered that Triarch Praetorian battlegroup.
The Silent King had sent such a tiny force against him. Who was he trying to insult?
It seemed that the ancient ruler had not yet realized how serious the situation had become. Either that, or his information was outdated. Otherwise, he would never have sent so few troops to eliminate the threat.
That was good news.
At the same moment Eden gave the order, he received another report.
This one contained excellent news.
Humanity's armies had begun advancing toward the Pariah Nexus.
That meant his own forces could begin their advance as well.
Together, the two armies would trap the Silent King and the Stormlord in a pincer attack!
...
The frontier region, at the human fleet's assembly point.
Hummm!
The void trembled beneath violent spatial fluctuations.
Something was about to tear its way out!
(End of Chapter)
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