Nareth returned to the Throne of Shadow's Soveriegnity and met with the Magos, Lian Ramilies, inside the palace.
"Lord Nareth," the Magos greeted him respectfully as soon as they met.
He had now come to fully believe that the Omnissiah favored Nareth.
"The sacred template of the starfort is astounding. Even I cannot fully comprehend its superior plasma energy conduction system," said Ramilies with awe.
"However, thanks to the divine template, we can still construct it. It's estimated operational lifespan exceeds three millennia."
"Of course, the construction time is immense. Without affecting other production lines, even a small forge world would need several centuries to complete a single starfort."
The Magos spoke passionately, unable to contain his excitement over the monumental discovery.
Nareth listened patiently, smiling, until Lian finished his lengthy explanation covering twelve ship design standards. Then, he finally spoke:
"Lian, you will be the one to publicly announce this great discovery of the starfort."
He paused before continuing, "But I have one condition."
"What condition, Lord Nareth?" asked Lian.
'No matter the condition, I will agree. To continue following Nareth is to witness more divine templates,' he thought.
"Only I may decide which forge world is authorized to construct them," Nareth said, his tone firm. "And it shall be named the Ramilies-class Starfort, after you."
"I accept, my lord," Ramilies replied without hesitation.
"Good. Then I have a task for you," Nareth said.
"What are your orders?"
"I have obtained several standard construction templates. I want you to integrate them with the Ramilies-class Star Fortress to create a unique fortress exclusive to the Shadow of Order."
Nareth had already decided that while the Ramilies-class could be licensed to others, his legion would have its own exclusive variant.
"By your will, my Lord," Ramilies said, savoring the electric thrill of having a divine template bear his own name.
"The Punisher-class Reactor will serve as the power core of the Ramilies-class starfort."
"The Auto-Recharging Void Shield will protect the entire starfort."
"The Fortress-class Energy Barrier will defend its four quadrants and central hub."
"And the Simulus Chambers will allow the entire fortress to act as one cohesive unit during wartime."
Even without explanation, Nareth knew that a Ramilies-class star fortress was about the size of a small moon.
Traveling from one quadrant to another by shuttle could take an entire Terran hour.
In a sunlit system, each quadrant experienced its own "day."
While one quadrant slept, another would awaken.
Though the fortress's control and communication systems surpassed those of most battleships, they still paled in comparison to the power of the Simulus Chambers.
Nareth ordered his techmarines to guide Ramilies through the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignity Punisher-class reactor, void shield generator, and the Simulacrum Sanctum.
Three hours later, back on the bridge, the Magos turned to Nareth.
"My lord, I never imagined anyone could recover so many divine templates," he said reverently.
"The Omnissiah guides you and us through you. I shall follow your command and combine these four templates with the Ramilies-class to birth an even greater starfort."
Ramilies was now utterly convinced. Even if Nareth claimed there were twelve sacred templates, he would not doubt it, after all, twelve was a holy number to the Machine God, and Nareth was clearly His chosen.
"Lian," Nareth said, "I want you to go to Cypria Mundi and construct the first starfort by the year 837."
He needed the Ramilies-class fortresses ready to suppress the Rhandan War Satellites during the upcoming First Rangdan War of 839.
From his memories, the Dark Angels' Imperial fleet, centered on three Gloriana-class battleships, had fought a brutal naval battle against Rangdan's fleet.
In the end, the severely damaged Paradigm of Hate rammed a war-moon, overloading its plasma reactor to destroy it.
Only two of the three battleships survived.
Nareth anticipated that the Emperor would send his Pegasus fleet to engage Rhandan, while he himself needed the Rangda Brain-Eaters to ascend to Sequence 6, Baron of Corruption.
Thus, he would fight Rangda, but he refused to sacrifice the Throne of Shadow's sovereignty.
With the Ramilies-class starfort, he could ensure superiority, just as in the legendary Battle of AlAlaxxesxis during the Horus Heresy, which best demonstrated the starfort's might.
In that battle, the Space Wolves fleet was down to only four main warships, one being the Queen of Glory-class Lafenc.
The rest were strike cruisers, missile ships, light cruisers, escorts, and two fast-response squadrons of destroyers.
A capable fleet, but their enemies were stronger.
The Alpha fleet possessed its own Queen of Glory-class battleship, Alpha, six heavy battleships, and swarms of escorts and cruisers.
As the Wolves were about to be annihilated, the Ramilies-class Starfort Chimaera of the Dark Angels, stationed at the Alaxxes Nebula, revealed itself.
Its firepower was overwhelming, a true fleet killer.
In the first volley, the Alpha battleship was nearly destroyed.
After losing three strike cruisers and numerous other ships, it barely escaped the starfort's range.
If Nareth could deploy a Ramilies-class starfort, he could dominate both Rangdan's war-moon and their powerful fleet.
He was asking for the Starfort two years early, both to allow sufficient time and to meet the massive deployment schedule.
"Lord Nareth, this is… nearly impossible," Ramilies said.
"By my calculations, constructing a Ramilies-class starfort would take at least fifty Terran standard years."
"I believe in you and your Explorer-class ship," Nareth said calmly. "You can complete the first fortress by 837."
He knew such a project normally required centuries.
But during the Great Crusade, the Imperium's production capacity was vastly greater than in the future, enough to build more than ten Ramilies-class fortresses in just over a century.
This was both a test of Ramilies's ability and loyalty.
"I authorize you to use all of Cypria Mundi's resources to complete the first fortress," Nareth declared.
"You may suspend any other project."
The Magos's logic engine processed rapidly. Twelve seconds later, he replied, "Lord Nareth, I will not disappoint you."
Lian then departed aboard the Explorer, carrying the four sacred template blueprints.
Nareth turned to his aide and issued new orders. "Have Merson choose a squad to garrison Ulthanx, oversee the region, and command the miners who arrive later to extract ore."
Three days later, the Eleventh Chapters fleet departed for Vostroya
After ten months of ship time, Nareth arrived and immediately received a report from Wojciech Blyek.
"My lord, the forge world Griffon IV is willing to trade the technology for the Huntlord Armor in exchange for authorization to produce the Blyek Battle Tank."
Nareth recalled that the nobles of Necromunda wore the Huntlord suits during their duels of the same name, but he also knew the suits were not locally produced and that many Imperial nobles owned them.
'So the Huntlord suits originate from Griffon IV,' he mused. 'That makes sense. Griffon IV's 'defenses are unmatched in the southern galaxy.'
"I accept," Nareth said.
He knew the Huntlord suits possessed a self-sustaining internal system and an "experience" protocol, adapting themselves to their users through accumulated combat data.
"My lord, many Mechanicum worlds have gone mad over the Ramilies-class divine templates," Wojciech continued.
"I've received a request from Mars, the Fabricator-General offers to build you two Gloriana-class battleships in exchange for construction authorization."
Nareth thought. 'Compared to their previous offer on the Attack-Moon, Mars this time is much more sincere, opening with an offer of two battleships. If I accept, the Shadow of Order will rival the Dark Angels in the number of Gloriana-class ships.'
"Not enough. Four," Nareth said firmly. His minimum was three, but asking for four gave him room to bargain.
Even though the Ramilies-class fortresses boasted immense firepower, they were static once deployed, not ideal as fleet flagships.
Thus, the Gloriana-class battleships remained the best choice for a fleet's command core.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu