6th Month, 851 M30.
Nareth exited the Fane of the Forge-Hammer and took the elevator to the Dreadnought Hall.
This deck was named the Dreadnought Deck, for its purpose was to eternally inter fallen battle-brothers within Dreadnought sarcophagi, allowing Legion elites to continue serving their Primarch.
Nareth stepped out of the elevator and looked around.
Over a dozen decks had been merged, creating a total length exceeding five kilometers. It was the second-largest chamber on the Forge-Hammer, second only to the Forge Lord's primary forge hall.
The most striking features in the vast Dreadnought Hall were the Dreadnought chassis secured on row after row. Nareth's vision confirmed the total number exceeded one hundred and twenty.
Numerous weapon systems were arrayed beside the Dreadnoughts: missile pods, volkite guns, massive piston-driven hammers, power flails, heavy boltguns, and twin-linked flamers, awaiting installation on the steel frames.
Among them, three were the largest. One completed chassis was crafted by Vulkan and brought to the Legion by Rosicky.
The other two, constructed by Rosicky and Malevolus, were incomplete, evident from the unfinished mechanical limbs. Only the sarcophagus and related components were finished.
After the Fifth Chapter's brutal assault on the Hold, Rosicky and Malevolus had temporarily set aside other work, devoting more time to this task.
Nareth saw their respective works were only half-complete.
The armored sarcophagi lay open, revealing translucent amniotic tanks within.
Bubble-like suspension chambers held naked forms immersed in amniotic fluid.
Viscous materials clung to the Astartes' superhuman physiques, their enhanced muscles emitting a faint glow.
Between the half-interred bodies, a massive Dreadnought chassis rose with a hiss of releasing clamps.
"I shall serve His Majesty forever."
Nareth approached the first Shadow of Order interred within a Saturnine Dreadnought prototype, the former Chapter Master of the Fifth, Carlo.
The two primary weapons he had wielded in his Saturnine Terminator Armor, twin-linked Disintegration Cannons, and Heavy Plasma Bombard, were now mounted on either side of his chest armor.
His shoulder plates housed larger teleport homers, enabling him to reach the battlefield faster.
The Dreadnought chassis hummed, taking an awkward step forward. His tone and demeanor carried a familiar air.
"Father."
Nareth nodded slightly. "Carlo, you shall continue your glory within the Dreadnought."
Rosicky and Malevolus stepped around the Dreadnought from either side, bowing to Nareth.
Nareth handed a data-crystal to Rosicky. "It contains the technology for shock weapons."
"As you wish." The Forge Lord accepted the crystal and acknowledged.
"How goes the Dreadnought interment?" Nareth surveyed the surroundings. Each Dreadnought housed one of his sons, a scar left upon the Shadows of Order by the brutal war with the Squats.
Rosicky then reported to the Black Emperor: "Elite warriors who have fallen from all participating Chapters wish to be interred within the steel sarcophagi of the Saturnine Dreadnoughts."
"They are placed in suspension chambers and transported to the Forge-Hammer."
"But only three can be interred in the Saturnine Dreadnoughts. It's not only because only Malevolus and I can manufacture them, but also because only warriors with extraordinary willpower and focus can pilot such steel engines."
Upon hearing this, Carlo seemed to understand something.
He recalled the last clear memory before losing consciousness: a small being struck his knee with a hammer.
He had guessed the weapon was dangerous but hadn't imagined it could kill him.
A flash of insight struck Carlo. He suddenly remembered the dangerous weapons mentioned in the data provided by his father, the darkstar weapons.
'Perhaps if I had remembered immediately, I wouldn't have died.'
'No… I was sufficiently vigilant then. But the High Kâhl's agility, the potent psychic power of the two Grimmnir Lords… Even if I faced them again now, unless I teleported away instantly, I could not have escaped their targeted strike.'
'They had already aimed for me.'
Accepting this reality, Carlo immediately felt the power surging within his steel form.
'This feeling is also good. I can serve Father for a long time.'
As Carlo pondered, Rosicky continued his report.
"Besides the three warriors interred in Saturnine Dreadnoughts, fifty-four warriors have been interred in other Dreadnoughts. Their interment rituals are nearing completion."
"Thirty-seven of them are from the Fifth Chapter."
Nareth nodded and asked, "What is the progress on the new armor research?"
Malevolus spoke before Rosicky. "My Lord, we have been studying various technologies and have begun applying some of them."
"Only the core technology has not yet been utilized. I believe we should craft various patterns for important figures like the Auxilia, experimenting with integrating different technologies in the process."
"Once we have mastered them, we will then craft armor for you and the Shadows of Order."
"Proceed according to your plan." Nareth approved of Malevolus's idea. Crafting armor for non-Shadows of Order was indeed the appropriate timing.
For the war against Gardinaal, the main force he envisioned was not the Shadows of Order, but the beyonder individuals.
Unlike Ferrus Manus, he already knew before the war that Gardinaal's social structure was based on a caste system.
He decided to adopt a different approach to conquer Gardinaal.
"My Lord," Rosicky thought of the Black Emperor's close confidants, Arsena Dunn and Marlena Skala, who would certainly be on the list.
He said, "The data crystal records Dominum Armor prototype patterns without versions adapted for psykers. We can only adopt the system combining Grimnyr runes and Warp circuits to experimentally create entirely new patterns."
"I require ordinary psykers to assist."
"I will have Marlena provide you with assistance," Nareth said.
Leaving the Dreadnought Deck, Nareth boarded a Stormbird and flew towards the surface of the Squat System.
Arsena's negotiations with the Squat League had concluded. He needed to go to the surface to sign the treaty.
One hour later, in a temporary palace constructed for him on Squat, Nareth listened to Arsena's briefing.
"My Lord, the war is over. Legion losses have been consolidated."
"The Legion lost a total of two hundred and seventy-three ships, including fifty-four capital ships."
"The six participating Chapters suffered a total of eighteen thousand four hundred casualties."
Arsena fell silent. The Shadows of Order had suffered their greatest losses to date.
Nareth had anticipated this. Although he didn't know the exact Imperial losses from the war against the Squats in his memory, he knew it must have been a brutal conflict.
Most Squat technologies surpassed the human Imperium in their respective fields. They were the only faction to compel an evolution in power armor.
Both in his memory and now, the Mechanicum had realized the limitations of standard power armor in brutal siege warfare.
Mark III power armor was under development.
Simultaneously, the Squats, upon joining the Imperium, maintained a high degree of independence, even exceeding that of the Mechanicum.
They paid no tithe to the Imperium, only providing the manufacture of certain weapons and equipment. Their obligations were far less than their production capacity or the duties borne by the Mechanicum.
Without sufficient strength, the Imperium would never have permitted such a state.
'If not for demanding the Cataphractii Pattern Terminators from the Mechanicum beforehand and receiving the Saturnine Terminator prototypes, losses would have been even more severe.'
As Nareth reflected, Arsena continued his report.
"The Fifth Chapter, responsible for the assault on the Hold, suffered the highest casualties, with six thousand five hundred and forty Shadows of Order fallen."
"The other two Legions also suffered significant losses. The Thousand Sons lost nearly two thousand warriors in the assault on the D-1519 system. The Iron Warriors lost nearly ten thousand in the underground assault on the D-1504 system."
"Primarchs Magnus and Perturabo will arrive in the Squat System in two standard days."
"I understand," Nareth nodded, thinking to himself.
'The Hold assaulted by the "Iron Warriors" was smaller in scale than the one in the Squat System, yet their casualties were higher.'
'Perturabo still employs his signature precise planning for frontal assaults!'
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