After Rosicky left, Nareth proceeded to the Kingdom of Disorder.
He ordered the Jokaero to prepare the Sequence 6 "Artisan" potion using materials like the gear discovered on Necromunda.
After obtaining the golden "Artisan" potion, he immediately returned to the real space and summoned Rosicky.
Rosicky took the potion from Nareth's open palm and drank it in one gulp.
The sound of countless interlocking gears echoed in his ears, followed by the roar of machinery.
A moment later, Rosicky reined in the dissipating potion's power and bowed slightly.
"Thank you for the gift, my Lord. I will make good use of the power you have bestowed."
"After becoming a 'Artisan,' I can complete the construction of the spatial particle excavator more quickly."
"Although the spatial particle excavator can refine new elemental ores, the accompanying destructive nuclear fusion reactions will also cause irreversible ecological damage to a planet's environment," Nareth instructed.
"Once production is successful, deploy it in uninhabitable star systems."
"As you command, my Lord." The Forge Lord accepted the order and departed.
Nareth walked towards the machine beneath the statue to continue his exchange with the Fane.
Considering Votann's crucial importance to the Squats, any action he took against the core of the this League's Votann would provoke retaliation from many Leagues.
More critically, once the Squat League surrendered to the Imperium, the Mechanicum would urge the War Council to accept.
Nareth had no reason, nor was it possible, to engage in continuous warfare with the Squats at the cost of the Shadows of Order.
He had to seize the time to secure the spoils.
The hazardous environment of the Galactic Core was not suitable for human habitation. Only a special population like the Squats, shaped by technology, could survive here.
Nareth also did not intend to expend vast resources establishing territories in the Galactic Core. The galaxy still held many easily developed worlds.
His plan was to engage in trade with the Squat League to obtain resources unique to the Galactic Core region.
Nareth's target was the various technologies contained within the Votann. Once removed from the Galactic Core, the Fane might be unable to interact with the Votann due to distance.
For this reason, after the Shadows of Order launched their landing assault on the Squat homeworld, he did not immediately join the battle.
Nareth aimed to fulfill the strategic objectives of the War Council while excavating as much knowledge, such as STCs, stored within the Votann as possible.
During this period, he repeatedly used the "Conceptual Swap," in a cycle of exhausting his spirituality, recovering, and repeating the interaction.
Nareth quickly walked to the base of the statue, placed his palm on the screen, and activated "Conceptual Swap."
"I am a person. A Grimnyr is also a person."
"Grimnyr can interact with Votann. So can I."
Nareth, adopting the identity of Grimnyr pleaded: "Great Ancestor, I need plasma beam weaponry to repel the invaders"
Through multiple interactions, he had not only mastered the Squat language but also learned how to initiate exchanges.
The Primarch swiftly memorized the design templates for the Etacarn-type plasma gun flashing across the screen.
The "Baron of Corruption" also used each interaction opportunity to transmit to the Votann the future he, the Grimnyr foresaw.
As his spirituality was about to be exhausted, he said:
"Great Ancestor... Primarch Nareth will bring hope to the Squat League."
"The Squat League should form an Iron-Sworn Oath to fight alongside the Shadows of Order…"
Nareth knew that since the Great Crusade and humanity's rediscovery of the Squats, some Squats had fought alongside the Imperium.
Many Iron-Sworn bands would also leave their homes as mercenaries, joining various galactic factions to broaden their knowledge of the galaxy.
Beyond technology and acquiring resources through trade, the third aspect he targeted was the Squats' martial forces.
Nareth planned to personally enter the battlefield only when the core forces of the Squat League committed, to decisively crush the enemy army.
While the "Baron of Corruption" excavated the Votann's secrets, the other two Primarchs personally led their warriors in launching assaults.
....
1st Solar Month, 851 M30.
Periphery of the Galactic Core, D-1519 System.
The Thousand Sons, having captured numerous shipyards in the D-1519 system through a series of raids, launched landing operations on the planetary surface.
Magnus himself commanded the offensive, leading five thousand Thousand Sons against the Hold.
The Athanaean Cult was his mind they link the minds of all Thousand Sons together.
Members of the Athanaean Cult also strove to probe the minds of the enemy, but the Squats' willpower was resolute, making it difficult to glean information.
Magnus joined this process. Together with several other Fellows, he collectively glimpsed the surface thoughts of the enemy.
As the master of all the Cult's and the Enumeration, his skill in every aspect surpassed that of any Thousand Son.
When the Athanaean Cult's progress stalled, he immediately filled the gap.
Magnus' immense psychic power and supreme skill pierced the tough surface thoughts of the Squats, discerning their flanking maneuvers and interception routes.
The Corvidae Cult was Magnus's eyes and ears.
He saw a large number of Ironkin appearing from the nine o'clock direction, raising plasma cannons to fire at the Thousand Sons.
Ahriman immediately sent a brief warning pulse. In an instant, he touched Magnus's mind.
The Primarch's incredibly complex mental structure was like a brilliant star in the void, its dazzling radiance illuminating the surrounding constellations.
After Ahriman's future warning was sent, the Thousand Sons immediately reacted.
The Thousand Sons of the Raptora Cult were Magnus's shield. Their projected telekinetic barriers intercepted the plasma fire.
The Pyrae Cult and the Pavoni Cult were the fists of Magnus's counterattack. They launched assaults against the enemy.
Psychic arcs danced across the Ironkin's steel shells, reducing the sturdy metal to piles of charred, scattered components.
Clouds of psychic flame melted the iron bodies, burning them, along with the Ironkin's forms, into cinders.
The Corvidae Cult, aided by foresight, continuously sent thought-pulses to the Thousand Sons.
Each intervention altered the course of the future. Every outcome rippled with causal waves, their interactions weaving intricate patterns imperceptible to ordinary minds.
Only Thousand Sons versed in Corvidae arts possessed the mental fortitude to process this information.
Ahriman experienced a dance with potential futures, witnessing possibilities and certainties intertwining into a storm.
Capricious, shifting between the substantial and the illusory.
Ahriman had never experienced a more perfect scenario. He smiled.
His gene-father, Magnus, was leading a magnificent dance that dispelled the gloom of the flesh-change.
The Red Cyclops, Magnus, led his Athanaean sons in probing the Squats' intelligence while overseeing the entire battle.
He found the Squats more tenacious than he had anticipated.
Even with the five cults integrated into a single cohesive whole, unleashing psychic arts that inflicted heavy casualties, the enemy not only did not break but even maintained the integrity of their lines, striving to mount counterattacks.
The Corvidae Cult foresaw major shifts, providing early warnings of ambushes, but the continuous hail of fire could not be entirely avoided.
The Squats' intense, unrelenting firepower was ceaseless. The Raptora Cult could not block every attack.
A Pyrae Cult Thousand Son was struck by over a dozen bolts. His power armor was shredded. His son was dead.
Seconds later, an Athanaean Cult member fell.
Tens of seconds later, a Raptora Cult Thousand Son's psychic reserves were exhausted, his kinetic shield shattering.
Magnus raised his arm. Meteor-like flames descended from the sky, crashing into the ranks of the Squats.
The Thousand Sons now numbered only five thousand. Including newly transformed recruits, they were less than ten thousand. They could not be expended in brutal underground warfare.
Magnus strode forward. The curved blade in his right hand slashed out, its spinning edge felling several Ironkin in succession.
His left hand raised his staff high. Telekinetic force seized dozens of Squats, hurling them into the air and tearing them apart.
.....
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