On the 7th Solar Month of 850 M30, the vessel carrying Rosicky Czeckh arrived in the Squat System.
He proceeded immediately to the Shadow's Sovereignty and met Nareth in his private office.
"My Lord, I have been following Primarch Vulkan in researching Saturnine defensive technologies. Not long ago, we produced the first batch of prototypes."
"On my ship, there are ten prototypes of the Saturnine Terminator and one prototype of the Saturnine Dreadnought."
Rosicky bowed and began his briefing.
Nareth nodded slightly. He knew that, unlike the more mature Cataphractii pattern, the Saturnine pattern was not yet in formal production.
The current prototypes were being deployed to the battlefield for practical testing, to identify flaws for subsequent improvement.
The truly mature version of the prototype would not be ready until the Battle of Istvaan V.
At that time, the frigate Forgefire would carry twenty finalized prototype suits of Saturnine armor.
Vulkan had originally intended to gift the prototypes to other Legions, including the newly renamed Sons of Horus, at that time.
Even the Iron Hands, the experimental Legion for all Terminator patterns, had not been given the Saturnine prototypes before the Triumph.
However, due to Mars's hunger for Squat technology, the Shadows of Order had been equipped with Cataphractii Terminators earlier and on a larger scale than even the Iron Hands.
And because Nareth had agreed to Vulkan's request, dispatching Techmarines to provide fortress-grade energy shield support for worlds under the 18th Legion's protection to counter threats, Vulkan had specially permitted him to assign personnel to join the research and development.
"In that case, have the First Chapter equip the Saturnine Terminators to breach the Hold's defenses."
"Besides instructing the Techmarines in mastering the manufacturing techniques for the Saturnine Terminators, you are also to research, alongside Malevolus, the technology of the Hunting Rig of Necromunda, to develop armor suitable for the Court Members."
"My Lord…" Rosicky frowned, looking at the Black Emperor.
The armor for the Court Members should be considered top-secret. Involving an outsider like Malevolus posed a risk.
"It is of no concern. Like Wojciech Blyek and Lian Ramilies, he can now be considered a member of the Legion."
The "Baron of Corruption's" "corrosion" had already bound Malevolus's loyalty to him.
Moreover, he had elevated the Tech-priest to a "Savant" to lead the armor development project.
"I wish for the Court Members's armor to be based on the Hunting Rig, Power Armor, and Terminator Armor, incorporating the Necrons' living metal, the Rangdan personal energy shields, the Squats' Basitum Alloy, void armor, and shield-weave defense technology, as well as relevant Aeldari technologies, to develop different armor types."
Only then did Rosicky realize how many armor technologies the Legion now controlled.
Technologies like living metal had not been available before he was dispatched to Saturn.
'During my time on Mars, the Legion has continued to grow and develop under my Lord's leadership.'
'I must bring back the knowledge I have learned from the Primarch Vulkan to serve my Lord.'
As Rosicky pondered, Nareth continued.
"We need variants, not only those focused on defense like Terminators, but also assault-optimized and agility-enhanced models."
The Forge Lord noted the Black Emperor's requirements and accepted the order.
"By your will."
Nareth smiled at Rosicky. "The Squat fortress-ship I captured is now yours. It is not merely a formidable warship, it is a vessel that unites exploration, mining, and forging into one."
"Thank you for the gift, my Lord." Rosicky knew that not only on Mars, but also within the Saturnine Tech-Enclaves he had previously been part of, many were deeply impressed by the formidable forging capabilities displayed by the Squats.
Before returning to the Legion, he had often heard the Conclave's priests speak of the Squats' grand subterranean cities, their heavily fortified Holds, and the fortress-ships that combined mining and forging into one titanic vessel.
Compared to Imperial ships, Squat vessels were larger; their smallest ships were equivalent to Imperial cruisers in size. This short men, conversely, had no escort or destroyers.
Moreover, their ship armor was thicker, embodying the same resilience as the species itself.
The flagship of the League would undoubtedly be even more magnificent.
Rosicky then followed the Black Emperor, boarding a lander heading towards his new ship.
Through the viewport, Rosicky beheld the colossal entity in the void.
His instinct tod him it was over twenty kilometers long, reaching the scale of a Gloriana-class ship.
The mechadendrites on Rosicky's back moved swiftly above his head, activating his cranial integrated scanning matrix.
Moments later, the compiled scan results were fed back into his personal cogitator.
[Length: 25.41 kilometers...]
'It truly is a vessel comparable to a Gloriana-class battleship.'
Inspecting the stereoscopic imaging compiled by the auspex, he immediately noted its differences from a Gloriana-class battleship.
'Compared to ships like the Shadow's Sovereignty, this vessel is bulkier, wider, and taller.'
After the lander settled on the deck, Nareth placed a data-crystal into Rosicky's hand.
"Forge Lord, go inspect your ship. From now on, it is yours."
"The Squats do not always accompy contact with others with war. They engage in trade with other factions."
"Among the items acquired, there are many whose purposes cannot be identified. I have ordered them all gathered and stored. Use your spare time to appraise them. This is also the best way for you to master the power I have bestowed upon you."
Nareth spoke to the "Appraiser." The items he referred to had already been checked by the "Baron of Corruption"; they were neither alchemical materials nor things he recognized.
Although this League was a young, formed only 490 years prior, the items discovered and consolidated from the participating Chapters still filled three entire decks. Along with some items from the Primarch's palace, they all awaited the "Appraiser's" judgement.
"As you command, my Lord." Rosicky took the data crystal and placed it into a mechadendrite.
The tendril inserted the crystal into an external playback unit on his chest, beginning a rapid review.
Rosicky quickly found that the data-crystal contained information compiled by the Honour Guard after exploring the ship.
[Mineral Storage Decks: 2000.]
[Mineral Refining Decks: 490.]
[Forge Decks: 1200. Of these, 380 have been dismantled, 520 have been retrofitted.
[Product Storage Decks: 2000, pending reconfiguration.]
'Dismantled? Retrofitted?'
Puzzled, Rosicky headed towards the nearest Forge Deck, Number Thirteen.
The relevant information in the data crystal stated: [Merged from two dismantled decks.]
Entering the Forge Deck, Rosicky immediately saw thousands of laborers working busily on production lines.
With a brief assessment, he recognized they were manufacturing boltguns.
The Forge Lord noticed that over a dozen steps in the process differed significantly from what he knew, and the finished products had broader, thicker frames.
"Lord Rosicky," the overseer, a Legion serf who had received orders about the Forge Lord's arrival today, saw the black-armored giant with mechanical arms and quickly ran over, kneeling on one knee.
"You are from Vostroya?" Rosicky asked, hearing the distinct Vostroyan accent.
"Yes," the serf replied. "Not just me, but all the workers on this Forge Deck are from Vostroya."
"We were fortunate to be selected, to depart from Vostroya and come to this ship to serve His Majesty."
"The deck I oversee is responsible for producing a new boltgun pattern. It's called the 'Bedrock' pattern. The Standard Template Construct comes from the Squats."
"When we first arrived, we found this deck unsuitable. The ceiling was only slightly taller than me. After I reported it, the great Techmarines of the Shadows of Order granted permission to merge the upper and lower decks and adapt the machinery."
Rosicky nodded. Looking up at the nearly five-meter-high ceiling, he understood the meaning of "dismantled" and "retrofitted" in the data-crystal.
'The Kin of the Forge are shorter than humans. Their work environments and equipment couldn't be used directly and required adaptive modifications.'
'The Ironkin handle mining. Equipped with machinery, their frames are larger, so modifications weren't needed for them.'
"Carry on with your work," the Forge Lord instructed.
"At once."
Rosicky spent two ship-standard hours quickly grasping the ship's status.
Afterward, he proceeded to the ancestral shrine on the lower decks to report to the Black Emperor.
"Thank you for the gift, my Lord. I will certainly utilize this ship effectively to research and provide more equipment for the Legion."
"You should give it a name," Nareth said with a slight nod and a smile.
"The entire ship is like a massive forge, encompassing the entire process from ore to casting to storage. Laboratories and such also serve the forging purpose."
"Let it be called the Forge-Hammer."
.....
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