Upon hearing this, Rhodes nodded in great satisfaction. This was exactly the effect he wanted. When you were a Necron, your pride was unmatched.
You had no fear of death, thinking only of your kind's benefit, because you were an electronic lifeform—your soul was lost, and you had no emotions.
But if you reverted to being a Necrontyr, it was different. This race was simply too terrified of death! Even their name reflected their fear of death.
At this moment, the cowardly, fearful, and base sides of life would be revealed!
Sixty million years ago, this desperate race, to escape their inescapable fate, underwent mass mechanization.
But after ascending, some began to miss their fleshly forms, because only after losing something do you realize its value.
"Don't worry! From now on, just stay obediently in this secret base, researching living metal for me, deciphering all manner of Necron technology. No one will ever discover your secret," Rhodes said.
Perhaps next time he used this method, he could poach more Necron talent?
The Necrontyr were much easier to control than the Necrons. Rhodes finally understood why the C'tan chose to corrupt this race back then: their technology was advanced, yet they were easy to manipulate.
Unfortunately, the C'tan ultimately failed, for a simple reason—they could only extend the Necrontyr's lifespans, not grant them immortality.
They also erased their emotions and devoured their souls. Only with emotions does one know fear; when they became Necrons, they had none.
This made the race even more terrifying, for they became fearless—harboring only hatred for the living.
"By the way, AsanethAyu, if I bring in other Necrons, could you help me subdue them?" Rhodes asked.
"Thank you for taking me in, great master. In my dynasty, I know several other Necron crypt-techs.
If you can transform them to this state I am in now, restoring both our flesh and souls, I am 100% confident they will pledge loyalty to you," AsanethAyu replied with a nod.
This wasn't difficult for her. The ones with backbone and no emotion, the diehards, were the Necrons, not the Necrontyr. It was like how some humans sided with Xenos—the Necrontyr were the same.
"Very good. Balt, take our new colleague down to familiarize them with their work environment. I'll put all the Necron dynasty's technological relics, as well as the core mainframe of that tomb world, here for your research. I'll also release some fragments of the star core," Rhodes instructed.
Next, Rhodes cut off a massive fragment of the star core and placed it in the secret lab, then left behind all the spoils captured from the Necron mini-dynasty.
He then ordered Yapool to finish transforming the first leader of the Space Wolves, Bjorn, into a super-beast, and arranged a ship to return him to the Space Wolves' homeworld.
Having done all this, Rhodes planned to leave. For the next two months or so, he intended to spend quality time with Elena and Lelith.
He would stay on Holy Terra, occasionally using Tartarus's teleportation gate to return to his own territory to check on its construction.
Only after his firstborn was born would Rhodes deal with the star god fragment of the Void Dragon, since Elena was now pregnant.
He wanted the cosmic phantom beast within her to devour the star god fragment, but she could do so only if unburdened. Elena was not a life goddess like Isha—her body could not handle it.
By now, Ahriman should have arrived at his territory as well. Rhodes intended to use Tartarus's portal to return and supervise the construction of the Dark Gate.
This demon-farming field was something he planned to make good use of in the coming two months.
"Lord Rhodes, please wait a moment. I have something else to report," Belisarius Cawl suddenly spoke as Rhodes was about to leave.
"What is it, Cawl?" Rhodes paused and looked back at him.
"Lord Rhodes, two production lines have been established on Mars, controlled by Lady Salome and myself. We have already produced ten King Joe and five mechanical Ultra Warriors.
But a serious problem has arisen, causing major divisions within the Mechanicus on Mars. I hope you can resolve it," Cawl said.
"What's the division about? Tell me."
"It's this, Lord Rhodes: after awakening the machine spirits of these massive machines, they can operate entirely on their own, without any human crew.
Many members of the Mechanicus, as well as high-ranking Imperial officials, believe this is a form of 'Men of Iron' in disguise. While they don't have complete artificial intelligence,
given enough time, their machine spirits might evolve—without human operators, they could develop their own sentience and become Men of Iron again," Cawl explained.
The Men of Iron rebellion had left an indelible scar on humanity. Even ten millennia later, people still remembered that pain.
Artificial intelligence was strictly controlled. Machine spirits could awaken, but still had to obey human operators.
These giant Titans, with not a single pilot, made people uneasy—what if they ran amok?
Rhodes nodded. So the issue was that these robots had no pilots.
To be honest, the concerns of the Mechanicus and Imperial officials were not unfounded. In the Or universe, machines could move freely due to top-level AIs.
But here, Salome had replaced AIs with machine spirits, which couldn't stray far from the control console. These giant robots were all remotely operated.
None were as powerful as the robots Rhodes could summon from his system—they could act entirely autonomously.
"What's your suggestion? Have you discussed this with Salome?" Rhodes asked.
"Yes, Lord Rhodes. We propose assigning five pilots to each King Joe—one to control the body, and the other four to operate separate sections.
The King Joe is simple to operate, and with some modifications, retired Titan pilots can handle these giant robots safely.
They're also equipped with void array generators, so a team of 100 must maintain the array, another 100 armed guards to protect the Titan, and another 100 for weapons maintenance—a total of 305 crew," Cawl reported.
With his modifications, the King Joe's chest could accommodate at least 300 people. Human superweapons were added to it, operated by these crewmen, forming a Titan crew.
This would silence Mars and Imperial authorities' concerns, making it a true Titan unit for the Imperium.
Adding 300 people would also boost its combat power. The King Joe already had an energy shield, plus the void array and human weapons for even greater firepower.
It could fight in space and be assigned to the Imperial Navy.
"Good idea. Proceed—add a 305-person operations crew.
What about the mechanical Ultra Warriors? Their frames can't fit so many pilots," Rhodes asked.
Unlike the King Joe, mechanical Ultra Warriors couldn't be so heavily modified. Fitting even a few people inside was a challenge.
"Lord Rhodes, I've made some changes. I found the chest timer is mostly decorative.
I modified it to hold a single pilot, who can control the Ultra Warrior more effectively," Cawl explained.
"So, it becomes a single-pilot knight mech?" Rhodes asked.
Cawl's idea was good. The mechanical Ultra Warrior could only fit one person; the timer was just for mimicry, not function.
"Yes, Lord Rhodes. We use a bio-link system—once the pilot's linked, it's like moving their own body," Cawl answered.
"Not bad. But piloting such a giant mech isn't for ordinary people," Rhodes said.
A normal human's body and brain couldn't handle the strain.
"We need stronger pilots—your Astartes, for instance.
Your gene-sons, both physically and mentally, could easily pilot these Ultra Warrior mechs," Cawl said.
Rhodes's eyes lit up. Cawl's plan was sound—his gene-sons operating these mechs would ensure loyalty.
The special brain cores Rhodes installed in his sons, would greatly boost control. Ordinary humans would be overwhelmed, but the gene-sons could manage it with ease.
Thus, King Joe would serve mortal regiments, while the giant mechs would serve the Astartes.
"What does Salome say?" Rhodes asked.
"She's agreed and helped with some modifications. We're just waiting on your approval," Cawl said.
"No problem. Proceed. Ultra Warriors will be for Astartes only.
I'll send suitable pilots, and King Joe will have 305 mortals as crew.
All mortals should be injected with gene serums to attain baseline Astartes strength," Rhodes ordered.
"Thank you for your trust, Lord Rhodes. If you wish, we could also downsize the Ultra Warriors to around a dozen meters, so ordinary humans could pilot them," Cawl suggested.
Currently, the standard is 45 meters tall, 30,000 tons, requiring the best resources—construction is expensive.
When the Emperor awoke, half the Imperium's industry was redirected to build five in six months—draining all Mechanicus resources on Mars.
Thus, some suggested downsizing them; even a smaller version could handle many of the Imperium's enemies.
It would also save costs. If production continued at this scale, the entire Imperium could make only a dozen per year, even at full tilt.
A smaller version would lose some power but could still crush many foes.
"How much would their power drop?" Rhodes asked.
"If we downsize to 16 meters, like a small Titan, they can't fire the full Specium Ray.
But they can fire a weaker version—about one-tenth the power. They'd lose flight, the Eight-pointed Halo, and hand beams.
They'd be ground units, but in close combat, could easily defeat Warlord or Warhound Titans, and could solo a Tyranid Hive Tyrant.
Even against the new Tyranid Titans from the Battle of Baal, these improved Ultra Warriors could hold their own," Cawl said.
He and Salome had worked out the data; while not as powerful, they were more cost-effective and still deadly.
Normal humans enhanced with the monster warrior serum could pilot them.
"Approved! Equip the smaller Ultra Warriors to mortal regiments," Rhodes ordered.