Gamma, somewhat overwhelmed by the news of the rebellion, took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"Don't overthink it for now; first, go and rendezvous with Magos Lauster and the others."
Gamma quickly packed his belongings. Fortunately, he didn't have much. He took out all the weapons and shields from the safe and stuffed everything else that couldn't be used as a weapon inside, securing them.
A rosary was placed around Gamma's neck, and a deflection field belt was tied around his waist, worn close to his body for easy activation at any time.
After preparing, he boarded the "Gamma," connecting to the contact points on its spine. He manipulated the mecha's four arms to equip the weapons into the pre-reserved slots on the mecha.
A mechanical axe with an added decomposition field generator.
A plasma pistol with an additional cooling system and strong magnetic restraints, significantly increased in weight and volume but more stable.
A modified laser cannon, high energy consumption, slow charging, but considerable power.
A finely crafted rapid-fire thermal machine gun, with a faster firing rate and stronger power than ordinary thermal machine guns.
Also, a bolter, whose recoil was enough to shatter an ordinary person's bones, used by Space Marine, and two spare magazines were placed in the mecha's leg slots.
With everything ready, Gamma used his free mechanical arm to directly lift the safe, activated the mobility wheels on his feet, and frantically slid towards the Temple Auditorium.
When he arrived at the auditorium, many Priests had already gathered, and many more were still on their way.
"Magos, what should we do now?"
"What exactly is the situation now, Magos?"
"Yes! There's all sorts of information in the communication network; it's impossible to tell what's true or false!"
Magos Lauster was surrounded by a crowd of people, all talking at once, asking what had happened. Gamma saw he couldn't get close, so he looked around and spotted Paul in a corner of the auditorium.
"Excuse me, everyone, let me through, let me pass."
He shouted as he pushed his way towards Paul's location, and thanks to the "Gamma's" adamantium body, he easily reached Paul.
"Paul, why are you here alone? Where's your family?"
Paul shook his head and said, "I told them and a few familiar families to hide in a secluded warehouse."
"Oh, that's good. It's better not to come here, to be honest; the target here is much bigger," Gamma said, looking at the Priests who were almost filling the auditorium.
"Yeah, boss, do you know what happened?"
"Not clear. The message Leia sent me said there was a rebellion, but I don't know who started it."
"I also don't know when Leia and the others will arrive?"
"They should all be on their way, after all, they probably have more things."
"Hmm."
At this moment, Gamma and the others heard Magos Lauster's voice coming from the auditorium's sound system.
"Everyone, quiet down! Listen to me!"
The chaotic environment of the auditorium immediately quieted down, and the Priests all focused their attention on what Magos Lauster was about to say.
Magos Lauster said, "Now, the rebel forces led by the Three Great Temples have launched an expedition against Fabricator-General Will."
With a buzz, Gamma noticed that all the Priests present began to stir. Some had already started communicating secretly via encrypted channels, discussing who knows what.
"Both sides are now calling for personnel to join them. Whether you leave, stay, or join either side, I will not interfere."
"However, you can only take your family and personal belongings. As for the workers and weapons in the factory under the Temple's jurisdiction, not a single person or a single gun is allowed to be touched!"
"Do not attempt to contact me privately via encrypted communication. I will not read or answer. I will not stop your personal wishes, but do not involve innocent people! Understand?!"
Heh! Did that kid just point his gun five centimeters towards Magos Lauster? What gall! Magos, watch me save... Oh... he put it down again.
Gamma stared at the suspicious Priests who might attempt to seize power by force, ready at any moment to come to Magos Lauster's aid and earn some goodwill. You ask why he's so confident? That's the courage given by his Iron Halo, rosary, and field belt. He was confident that no one on site, besides Magos Lauster, had higher protection than him.
However, the Priests present were all very calm, or perhaps the two castellan robots that walked out from behind the auditorium forced them to calm down. Most Priests left the auditorium, not knowing which side to join, or perhaps to find a safe place to hide.
A small number of Priests, including Gamma, remained in the auditorium, staying by Magos Lauster's side. They didn't want to join either faction; compared to them, Magos Lauster was more reliable.
"What are your thoughts?"
"Wherever the Magos goes, I go!" Gamma shouted, leading the way.
"Yes, we'll listen to the Magos!"
"Yes."
The others followed suit, echoing their agreement: We only trust the Magos.
Magos Lauster did not decline and immediately began assigning them tasks. Some were tasked with gathering workers, some with inventorying supplies, and others with setting up roadblocks on several passages in the factory area.
Gamma was assigned to patrol, to prevent anyone from causing unrest. He didn't understand this arrangement, not because he was afraid, but mainly because he felt his small frame lacked deterrence.
Magos Lauster said, "That's precisely why it has deterrence, because they don't know if you'll just open fire if provoked!"
Oh, a child with a cannon is scarier, but I can be even scarier!
Gamma also took out the servo-skull he had stored in his safe and equipped it. After repairing this servo-skull, he had only tested it once and hadn't used it since; he was still a bit unnerved by this real human head.
Servo-skulls are drone-like devices made from loyal human skulls. External systems and anti-gravity engines allow them to fly around their master. Gamma's servo-skull has a pair of simple hydraulic pincers, an image recorder, functional implants, a focused light source, a loudspeaker, and various other devices, providing him with detection, scanning, analysis, illumination, and repair functions.
Gamma felt that having such a head circling the "Gamma" during patrols would increase its deterrence by at least +10.
Things turned out just as Gamma expected; there were indeed Priests attempting to take advantage of the situation. As soon as one opened a warehouse door, a warning sound came from the servo-skull above his head.
Turning around, he saw Gamma in the distance, already aiming his cannon. The Priest immediately raised both hands and shouted, "No need! No need! Don't shoot!"
While Gamma and his group were busy guarding their factory area, on the other side of the planet Thedan, Fabricator-General Will was openly engaged in a verbal battle with the Sages of the Three Great Temples.
"Shameless Traitor, just wait until I weld you to the assembly line!" Archmagos Will said furiously.
The Temple Sages retorted impolitely, "Heretic who betrayed the omnissiah, just wait for the white phosphorus torture!"
"You dare to rebel at such a critical moment when we are attacking the xenos! This is a betrayal of humanity!"
"You blasphemous thing, who dares to practice usury in the omnissiah's Temple."
"You're spouting nonsense! You're the ones who took the lion's share! I'm blasphemous? What are you?"
"We were coerced by you into doing this. After you are judged, we will commit suicide in front of the omnissiah's Temple to atone for our sins and beg the omnissiah for forgiveness."
"Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe that nonsense. If you're so brave, commit suicide for me to see right now."
"Good, today let all Priests know our determination."
No sooner had the Temple Sage finished speaking than a giant real-time holographic projection appeared in the sky above the battlefield. The location displayed in the center of the image would be very familiar to Gamma—it was the omnissiah's Temple where he almost had his legs removed. The person in the center of the image was also very familiar to him—it was "Preacher-Alpha," who had led him inside. At this moment, Alpha was dousing himself with promethium. After a short confession, Alpha unhesitatingly ignited the promethium on his body, immolating himself.
"Why hasn't the image been cut off yet..."
Archmagos Will's words were, in the end, a step too late. Alpha's self-immolation image was still seen by hundreds of thousands of Priests and Adeptus Ministorum on the battlefield and rapidly spread throughout the planet's communication network.
Archmagos Will saw that the situation was irreversible, so he could only decide the outcome on the battlefield. He immediately ordered, "Attack directly, crush them."
"Indeed, a shameless scoundrel who can still have 'illegitimate children' at over a thousand years old! Counterattack! For the omnissiah! For the omnissiah! For Source Power! Counterattack!"
"Haha, is your brain made of organic matter? If you're going to fabricate lies to slander me, at least make them believable! 'Illegitimate children'! Why don't you just say I have a vat-grown son!"
Temple Sage: An unexpected surprise, you said it yourself.
"You admitted it yourself, didn't you? To arrange a Priest identity for your son, you acted recklessly, wasting already scarce resources, utterly blasphemous!"
"Fabricate, keep fabricating."
"To compensate for the deficit, you extorted and exploited Tech-Priests, how many Priests cried tears of blood, wishing they could eat your flesh and blood! And how many people have you welded to the production lines! Brutal and erratic!"
"Nonsense, that was my mercy. Where else could someone who attacked a Fabricator-General survive?"
"Autocratic and tyrannical, you even forced several Priests to become your son's servants. To pave the way for your son to inherit your position, you didn't even spare the meager possessions in an apprentice's hands. What kind of blasphemy is this! What right do you have to be a Fabricator-General!"
"It sounds so real."
"It sounds so real," said Gamma, who was watching the live broadcast.
He was so engrossed in watching the first large-scale melee involving hundreds of thousands of people that he didn't notice how strange the looks Leia and Ed, who were watching the live broadcast with him, gave him when he said that.
"Gamma, what if it's true?"
"If it is, I'd say it's great to have a Fabricator-General as a father. Why don't I have one! Just thinking about it makes me a little jealous, hahaha," Gamma joked, laughing at himself.
Ed: "Uh... what if it's false?"
"What's there to say if it's false?"
Leia then said, "What if someone impersonated the Archmagos's son, and everyone believed it?"
"Then he'd be in big trouble. No matter who wins, he wouldn't have a good outcome. Even if they lose, he could be brought out to be sacrificed to boost morale."
Gamma and the others were still in the mood to watch the battlefield live stream, primarily because the battlefield was far from them, on the other side of the planet.
Secondly, all the onlookers could tell that both sides had chosen the wasteland as their battlefield, clearly not wanting to receive a ruined Forge World; the more intact, the better.
Therefore, even though Gamma and the others wouldn't get credit for being among the first to follow, they weren't worried about being caught in the crossfire; no matter who won, someone would have to do the work, right?
Although the factory's supplies and food were limited, there wouldn't be any starvation for a while, but judging by the intentions of the warring parties, the war shouldn't last too long; there was a strong attitude of 'first battle is the decisive battle'.
The Temple side had to secure victory before other Imperial forces reacted and intervened, otherwise, with Archmagos Will's many years of cultivated connections and his label as Lord Regent Guilliman's staunch lackey, any intervention by other forces would inevitably favor Archmagos Will, which was something the Temple side did not want to see.
The Great Foundry Temple side, represented by Archmagos Will, also did not want other forces to intervene; he was Lord Regent Guilliman's lackey, but he was not the Empire's lackey, and the intervention of other forces would inevitably carve up his interests, so a quick decisive battle was the best outcome.
Both sides started with full power and firepower, wanting to defeat the other in one battle.
Although the Temple side had been secretly planning for many years and was well-prepared, the Great Foundry Temple, despite being caught off guard and having to purge hidden Traitors internally while under attack, had controlled the Forge World for many years, and even with damaged strength, it did not fall into a disadvantage on the battlefield.
Gamma watched the clash between the Adeptus Ministorum and the Tech-Guard on the screen; the Wild Donkey Dune Walkers and the Kreios Battle Tanks exchanging fire; the Dragonwing Soldiers and the pterosaurs competing in the sky.
"Awesome! This is so awesome! But who do you think is broadcasting this live stream?" Gamma felt he had discovered a 'blind spot' and a 'key point', and curiously asked Edd and the others beside him.
"They are all Tech-priest, who doesn't have some unique skills, but doing this with their heads on the line, they must be pretty crazy!"
"Is it that dangerous? Are there still inspectors with time to arrest people now?"
Gamma thought of the inspectors within the Adeptus Mechanicus; inspectors were the law enforcement and security forces within the Adeptus Mechanicus, combining police, city management, and Gestapo, usually responsible for catching unruly Tech-priest.
"No, they are probably all on the battlefield now. I just noticed a person with an inspector's insignia flash across the screen, melted into a pool of molten slag by a multi-barreled melta."
"Oh, then what was the danger you just mentioned?" Gamma asked.
"You see, on this battlefield, both sides interfere with each other, with mutual electronic attacks. Surveillance equipment like the servo-skull above your head definitely can't be used. What other way is there to film and broadcast images?"
Gamma thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "Drones can't be used, so do they rely on people getting close to film!?"
Edd shrugged and said, "What else? Unless their technology is several levels higher than that of the Sages on the battlefield, how could they be completely unaffected? I guess they even transmit data via cables to places unaffected by electronic interference before sending it to the communication network."
Gamma exclaimed, "That's truly insane!"
Louis then said, "No matter how crazy they are, they can't be crazier than the two sides currently on the battlefield."
"Indeed, did you just see the Electric Monks from both sides? One side discharges electricity, the other absorbs it. Shouldn't they all belong to the Temple side?" The foolish Adept Leia asked a foolish question.
Gamma, who was quite familiar with the situation, generously and mercifully explained to the Tech-priest Girl, "A major characteristic of the Lightning Monk Brotherhood is internal strife. The ones discharging electricity are from the Dharma Body Faction, and the ones absorbing it are from the Flash of Lightning Faction. The two factions consider each other heretics and have been fighting for thousands of years. This time, with such a good opportunity, they certainly wouldn't miss the chance to kill heretics."
Leia exclaimed, "Ah! Is that so?"
Just as the few of them were chatting, the live stream screen's brightness suddenly increased, accompanied by violent shaking, before the signal was interrupted.
"Was it hit by an explosion?!"
"It should be!"
"Alright, I wonder when the next crazy warrior will appear?"
"It's about time for me to go on patrol anyway."
Saying that, Gamma waved at the servo-skull projecting the image above his head. The servo-skull, which had been suspended motionless in mid-air, descended and began circling around Gamma.
Seeing this, Louis said with an envious tone, "That's really a convenient good thing. Where did you get it?"
"I picked it up from the black market, a second-hand scrap. I originally wanted to take it apart and see, but I found it was nothing special, so I just fixed it casually and put it in the cabinet. Now that it's useful, I'm taking it out. It's just that I don't like the skull shape; it's quite scary."
Gamma didn't like this real human head, but he didn't dare to change its appearance. After all, servo-skulls all have skull heads, and this skull head represents human purity. If his didn't have a skull head, what would others think when they saw it? Would an Inquisitor think he was a 'little heretic'?
Louis and Edd's faces twitched when they heard Gamma's humblebragging. How could they not think it was simple to fix? Was that miniature anti-gravity engine just for show? What did he mean by 'nothing special'? Was the gap between Priests really that wide?
Leia felt differently when she heard Gamma's words, because she also had a broken servo-skull that she could only keep as a display item. Now, the chance to reawaken its machine spirit had come.
"Gamma, I happen to have a broken one too. Can you help me fix it?"
"No problem, I'll come get it from you after my patrol," Gamma said, then drove his mecha off to patrol.
"I think Gamma can really become a Archmagos in the future," Edd said, watching Gamma's receding figure.
Louis said, "It's not a question of whether he can, but how long it will take him to become one."
Seeing that they were all so confident in Gamma, Leia curiously asked, "Are you all so confident in Gamma?"
Edd looked at Leia, who was in her twenties and still had an innocent face, and thought about how much environment affects a person. So he patiently explained to her:
"Leia, you've been with Magos Lauster since you were little, and your father personally taught you, so you don't feel how difficult it is to learn and master advanced technical knowledge on your own."
Leia, feeling that her efforts were being denied, said huffily, "I also think it's really hard, okay? My father doesn't tell me everything!"
Louis then said with a chuckle, "Alright, don't be angry. You know Edd is clumsy with words; he didn't mean it that way."
"That's right, I didn't mean it that way," Edd explained in a panic.
"Hmph! Then what did you mean?"
"I meant that your environment makes your perception of Gamma less profound than ours, as ordinary Priests, and Louis's. He is a genius, a true genius!"
"I know he's a genius, and then what?"
"A child who was born only two years ago, with a physiological age of only eight, fixed a servo-skull with a miniature anti-gravity engine all by himself!"
"Oh."
"Now think about the changes in his mecha and the weapons it's equipped with, especially that mechanical great axe."
Leia thought back and said uncertainly, "Power weapon? Disintegration field generator!"
Louis interjected, "Not just that! Think about whether he has an extra necklace around his neck and an extra belt on his body. Have we seen them before?"
"No, we haven't, but..."
"Although Gamma is quite childish in personality and has done some amusing things, have we ever seen him do anything meaningless, Leia?" Louis asked Leia in return.
Leia said incredulously, "Uh, this... could it be a shield?"
"Rosary of Purity, Refractor Field Belt!"
"Impossible! Where would he get them from?"
"Don't forget, Gamma has collected quite a lot of 'junk' from others this past year!"
Leia said disbelievingly, "He fixed them himself? Where did he get the technology?"
Edd said, "Even if you put the technical data in front of me and give me a year, I'm not sure if I could master it. Louis, can you?"
Louis rolled his eyes and replied, "I'll master it one hour and thirteen minutes before you. Leia, what about you?"
"I... I'll also master it earlier than Edd, hmph!"
Edd shrugged, indicating that being earlier was fine. He said, "I don't know how Gamma obtained the technical knowledge, whether someone taught him or he found an STC. The key is that he understood it, he mastered it, and he practiced it!"
After Edd finished speaking, he looked at Louis and Leia with a wry smile, remembering the hour and a half of devastating blows Gamma dealt them recently, that comprehensive blow of low-end technical knowledge, and now this stimulation of advanced technology.
"Compared to Gamma, what's the difference between us and an Ogryn?"
Gamma, who was unaware that he had already revealed his hand, was now gleefully firing at stones on the open ground.
"Human Cannon, Level One, ready!"
"Human Cannon, Level Two, ready!"
"Human Cannon, Level Three, ready!"
"Fire!"
"Target destroyed!"
What boy can refuse the joy of driving a mecha and firing a cannon! Gamma certainly can't!
With the servo-skull doing the work for him, he just had to wait for the servo-skull to finish scouting and scanning the surroundings, then move to the next location and continue. The servo-skull's built-in auspex detection efficiency and accuracy were much higher than his 'meat scouting'; he didn't have the function to detect spectrum, heat, or radiation.
"Hmm? Life signs detected! Where is this?"
Gamma felt it was better to stay far away and see what was happening before deciding whether to raise an alarm. If he raised an alarm directly and it turned out to be nothing, he would become like the little boy in the 'Boy Who Cried Wolf' story, and Leia and the others would probably laugh at him.
He dodged left and right, moving gracefully. The servo-skull took the lead while he was responsible for logistics and battling the air for a while, finally arriving at the location where the life signs were detected.
"The factory's wastewater discharge well? What kind of thing can roll around in chemical toxins and radioactive waste!" Gamma said, astonished, looking at the destination.
But he wouldn't be foolish enough to go in himself. It was like he had never seen a movie; for a creature that could still be lively and active in such an environment, who knew what kind of nasty tricks it had? He needed to call for backup.
"Hey, Louis, I have something good too. Call Leia and a few more people to come."