The bizarre scene of chaos and silence existing simultaneously was all caused by Archmagos Will.
The guests who came along were silent.
Ventris: My Primarch father, your son has learned something new today!
Griffon: Where am I? Who am I? Who is the son? My Emperor! Could this be a Chaos plot?
Aleksei: Still going strong! Still going strong! Still going strong!
Forging Magos: What is real? What is truly real?!
It was Magos Lauster and the others who were in chaos.
No sooner had the Archmagos finished speaking than a Magos flew straight at Magos Lauster, who was still in a daze. After tackling Magos Lauster, he grabbed his collar and roared:
"We swore to share weal and woe, to be brothers for life, but you joined the Archmagos and forgot all the oaths we made together! You hid it from us so well! Why didn't you help your brothers when you had the connections?"
"Lauster, how could you do this to us?!"
But when it came to handling things in the chaos, it had to be Chief of General Staff Doug, who had been trained in the Imperial bureaucracy—he was very familiar with such scenes! Wasn't it just the typical scenario of a noble experiencing life incognito? He had seen several such incidents every year before. He knew exactly what to do at this moment. One could hear him raising both hands and shouting hoarsely:
"Long live Archmagos Will!"
Upon hearing Doug's shout, everyone immediately began to imitate him.
"Long live Archmagos Will!"
Gamma: Is this old guy really that shameless? Do I need to pay such a huge price to be recruited? Am I suffering from amnesia, or did a perverted Tech-Priest rape the steel womb of the cultivation tank?
He looked around, seeing bewilderment from Magos Lauster, jealousy from the chaotic Magos, shock from the Forging Magos, schadenfreude from the accompanying guests, "Holy cow" from the Priests in front of the crowd below, and "call me daddy" from Archmagos Will…
To be or not to be, that is the question; to call or not to call is also a question. Gamma was now stumped by the second question.
"I know it's hard for you to accept right now. You can continue to call me Archmagos."
Whew… Gamma breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
"But you must call me father now!"
So this is what it feels like to be forced into prostitution? Gamma thought.
He then had a change of heart. Isn't it just acknowledging a foster father? If it feels uncomfortable, just think of Lu Bu.
"I, Gamma, have drifted through half my life, regretting only that I have not met a wise lord. If Lord Will does not abandon me, I, Gamma, am willing to bow to him as my foster father!"
Gamma dropped to his knees with a thud, prostrating himself completely, and shouted dramatically:
"Father, please accept your child's bow. Your child offers his greetings!"
Archmagos Will: This child is like me, discerning and sincere in his attitude. It's just that his speech is a bit odd; perhaps he's too excited.
There's nothing more to say about what happened next. One phrase to describe it would be: a benevolent father and filial son, with hosts and guests all enjoying themselves. Aside from everyone's slight aversion to "Catachan Salad," everyone was very satisfied with the trip.
The Archmagos originally wanted Gamma to return to the Great Foundry Temple with him, but Gamma was reluctant. He used the excuse that the settlement couldn't temporarily do without him, postponing it and saying he would accompany "Dad" after handing over his current work. Before leaving, the Archmagos explained the origins of his identity to him, and Gamma's expression at the time was hard to describe.
"Young Master Gamma, I will certainly complete the tasks you have assigned."
Gamma rolled his eyes at the awkwardly flattering Magos and said grumpily, "Magos, can you not be like this? Magos Lauster has already explained it to me, and I'm not angry anymore. Can we go back to how things were before?"
The Magos responsible for taking over Gamma's original work praised Gamma while not forgetting to diss Magos Lauster:
"Young Master Gamma is as magnanimous and approachable as ever, unlike that shameless scoundrel Lauster. How else would we have done such a thing?!"
Gamma: You guys have had enough! So, you used to diss the Forging Magosevery day for only flattering the Archmagos because you were angry that you wanted to flatter him but didn't have the chance?
Magos Lauster's reputation is now ruined among his friends, and his years of accumulated credibility have been wiped clean into negative values. No matter how he explains it now, it's useless. Even Leia's gaze towards her father regarding Gamma's matter was: How could you hide it even from me?!
If Gamma hadn't helped explain, Leia, after being disappointed and disheartened by her old father not trusting her, might have brought a "blond Tech-Priest" back to Magos Lauster.
Furthermore, there were Magos who publicly ridiculed Magos Lauster more than once:
Lauster didn't really lie to us. He always told us, "It was issued by the Great Foundry Temple," didn't he? He just didn't say the other part, "received from the Archmagos." How can you say it's deception? Right?!
Gamma and Magos Lauster are now the most speechless and mutually understanding people in the settlement. When they meet now, they don't speak; they just exchange a wordless glance, then sigh together, lamenting the impermanence of life.
Leia, Jacob, Louis, Ed, and Paul are now also objects of envy among the Priests. Fortunately, they trusted Gamma the most. After hearing his explanation, apart from breaking down significantly, they treated him no differently than before. It's just that this breakdown was quite severe, and the recovery time was much slower than previous times.
The entire Engineer Corps is now full of fighting spirit, eager to immediately find the mastermind behind the Plague Zombies and drag him out to be chopped into mincemeat. A bright future awaits them, and they have no time to waste with the walking dead.
Gamma also realized that his "new dad" was aiming for a double win. No matter how disgusted he felt deep down, for the sake of everyone, he, as the "prince," had to "marry" himself off. Being stubborn wouldn't benefit anyone. Accepting his fate as the biggest "second-generation rich kid" in Forge World meant everyone would have a bright future.
The underground ruins were temporarily sealed by Archmagos Will's order, to be "archaeologically explored" once Forge World returned to peace. Magos Lauster and the others dared not utter a single word of objection to this matter. The Archmagos's power and status were one aspect; on the other hand, since this ruin was on Thedan, its legal owner was Archmagos Will. Not pursuing Magos Lauster and the others for theft was already an act of clemency.
"Magos, we have completed all the handovers. The Orks underground have been annihilated, but people still need to be sent to clear them out regularly. Most of the corps will be deployed for combat, a small portion needs to ensure the factory operates normally, and they also need to clear out Orks. The pressure is not small, so you must pay special attention!" Gamma emphasized to the Magos, referring to the only unstable factor in the settlement.
"Don't worry, Young Master Gamma!"
Gamma : Whatever, call me what you like…
With all handovers completed and his mindset adjusted, Gamma planned to set off for the Great Foundry Temple to live as his "second-generation rich kid."
Accompanying him were Magos Lauster and his group, half of Leia's Priests, and most of the Engineer Corps.
Hundreds of thousands of people marched majestically across Thedan's desolate, radiated wasteland, heading directly for the Great Foundry Temple.
…
It had been several years since Gray became an Astra Militarum soldier. His excellent survival skills allowed him to survive multiple meat-grinder battlefields, making him the longest-serving veteran in the regiment. The reason he hadn't even become a company commander was precisely because his survival skills were too strong; he even dodged the Commissar's bullet when he tried to "kill a chicken to warn the monkeys."
The Commissar had wanted to fire another shot, but the Regimental Commander stopped him, saying that although Gray was shameless and cowardly, he was experienced and still useful to the Emperor.
This prevented Gray, who was already held down by the arms and kneeling on the ground, from having his head blown off by the boltgun pressed against his forehead.
After that escape from the Commissar's gun, Gray even began to fantasize about surviving his Astra Militarum service until retirement, living a stable old age with his pension.
But ever since he came to Thedan, he no longer thought about those impossible things. He felt certain he would die on this Forge World, which was full of radiation and poisonous gas everywhere, not to mention the walking dead that his lasgun couldn't kill.
"Old Gray, I heard reinforcements are coming!"
Gray, wearing a protective suit and a respirator, sneered and said, "They're all just former factory workers from Forge World. Do you really expect them to help?"
"Well… it's better than nothing, right?"
"If you ask me, it'd be more practical to have them make more protective suits and produce more guns in the factory," Gray replied.
"More people, more strength?"
"Heh, wait until they get scared by the walking dead next to you and start shooting wildly and running around everywhere. Then you won't think that way."
"…"
Gray admonished the new recruits in his company: "Remember, stay far away from them during combat, or don't blame me if you get hit by a stray bullet and die."
"…"
"Didn't you hear me?!"
"Alright, alright, we know. We'll listen to you."
A useless teammate is more dangerous than an enemy—this was one of Gray's 800 battlefield survival rules. He had no expectations whatsoever for these workers, but reality often doesn't unfold as people imagine, whether for better or worse.
Looking at the Chimeras, Leman Russ, and Sentinel walkers driving into the camp, as well as the several aerial vehicles circling overhead, and the thermal machine guns almost everyone carried, along with many unseen pieces of equipment, Gray felt that the "Iron Content" of their Astra Militarum, who were known as the "Hammer of the Imperium," was too low.
While Gray and his comrades were observing the "Engineers," in the center of the camp, inside the Regimental Command Post, the foreman-commander of this Engineer Corps was reporting the corps' equipment configuration to the Astra Militarum Regimental Commander and Commissar.
"Regimental Commander Ivan, Commissar Zahn, the information I reported earlier is all in this manifest. Please take it."
Regimental Commander Ivan took the manifest with a look of joy. He had originally held no hope for the so-called reinforcements; it would already be a blessing from the Emperor if they didn't cause trouble. Who would have thought that an armored regiment would arrive?
Commissar Zahn poured the foreman a cup of instant coffee and said, "Foreman Marvin… Regimental Commander, thank you very much for your arrival."
The weapons and vehicles emptied by Gamma were originally intended to supply millions of Astra Militarum, but now, concentrated in the hands of hundreds of thousands, how could it not startle the poor grunts?
Except for a portion allocated to support the heavily damaged front lines, most were placed under the direct command of Ventris's battle brothers.
The lack of command experience among the engineer officers was one reason, and another was to quickly catch up with the original operational plan, which was now too far behind; this force had to be maximized.
Gamma's individual heavy firepower stood out particularly in the most dangerous urban combat. The laser weapons equipped by ordinary Astra Militarum grunts had very limited lethality against living corpses whose only weakness was their heads, leading to many instances in previous battles where the grunts had to engage in close-quarters melee with plague-carrying living corpses, resulting in many infections.
Now, with Gamma's RPGs, they found that when facing a horde of corpses, they could first fire a high-explosive round. Even if it didn't kill the living corpses, it could cripple them, making them much easier to deal with.
In places with narrow passages where vehicles couldn't enter and there were many living corpses, a few people carrying rocket launchers and recoilless rifles could easily clear them out with a barrage of explosions.
Reconnaissance no longer required people to sneak into the industrial zone; flying around in the "Hawk" above provided a clear view, as the corpse hordes couldn't fly and were helpless against them.
From Commanders to grunts, the Astra Militarum highly praised Gamma's individual weapons—calling them "urban combat artifacts."
The only discordant voice came from a Technical Sergeant among the Space Marine who had studied on Mars. He was quite indignant about Gamma's conversion of promethium to electricity, but it was just indignation; the Tech-priest' affairs were not for an outsider like him to manage.
The operational progress not only caught up with the plan but also allowed it to be completed ahead of schedule, which greatly relieved the high-level Commanders of this operation, as the war situation was looking very good.
Gamma's days in the Great Foundry Temple were quite comfortable; he was almost "stealing" until his eyes blurred, and he successfully upgraded himself from "Little Genius Gamma" to "Little Prodigy Gamma." It wasn't that he wanted to show off; if he didn't reveal some strength, he wouldn't even be qualified to access some of the black technologies in the Great Foundry Temple, and without access, how could he happily "learn"?
This also made Archmagos Will exclaim repeatedly: "I knew I still had 'potential' that hadn't been unearthed! My mentor led me astray!"
"Gamma, come help me examine this technological relic."
"Alright, MagosLyra, but on one condition: if I guess correctly, you have to let me play with it for a few days," Gamma replied, running towards the female Magos who had called him.
As mentioned earlier, due to the overall decline of humanity and the resulting civilizational discontinuity, Tech-priest often couldn't ascertain the specific purpose of the technological relics they unearthed, which led to situations like a "nuclear power plant" being used as an "atomic bomb."
During his time at the Forge Temple, Gamma demonstrated to the Magos a sort of intuitive communication ability with machine spirits, allowing him to instinctively guess the approximate function of technological relics. This provided the Magos with the correct approach for reverse engineering the relic. His condition was simply to be allowed to study it for a period, returning it promptly when due.
It was quite difficult at first. After one Magos, unable to resist Gamma's persistence, brought out a technological relic he had already thoroughly studied, Gamma gave him an answer consistent with his own research. After several more skeptical attempts, Gamma's plan to exchange relics smoothly unfolded among the Magos.
Of course, Gamma displayed not only his "intuition" but also astonishing "learning ability." Any technology he came into contact with, he would soon be able to converse shallowly with Magos deeply involved in that technology, even offering novel ideas.
This also confirmed to the Magos of the Great Foundry Temple that Archmagos Will's "crooked gourd" had indeed grown into a "large, round, good gourd."
Archmagos Will: "My bloodline power is terrifying!"
Gamma followed Magos Lyra into her laboratory. On the workbench lay a square machine. He focused his gaze: a high-tech toaster.
Gamma: "Heh, the joke has become reality... Is a high-tech toaster not a toaster?"
Honestly, the technological content of this "toaster" was truly high. Atomic-level molecular reconstruction technology could directly form starch molecules from elements like carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, leaving "biological protein reactors" far behind.
Its function was bizarre, and its energy consumption was incredibly high. It was clearly the creation of a "tech fanatic" in a fit of madness. The machine itself was useless, but the technology was incredibly impressive.
Gamma pretended to inspect the "toaster" for a long time before saying, "This instrument seems to be able to directly manipulate atoms."
He dared not reveal the truth directly; reality was too absurd, and Magos Lyra would not believe it at all.
Hearing Gamma's selective answer, Magos Lyra's bionic eyes brightened by a few degrees. This answer perfectly matched one of the nearly a hundred hypotheses she had made.
"But it seems to have other functions. As for what they are, I can't tell."
"To achieve this much is already remarkable, Gamma. Your talent is truly enviable."
"It is all the blessing of the omnissiah."
"Gamma, could you tell me what your ability to communicate with machine spirits feels like?" Magos Lyra asked.
"Of course, no problem. We are all followers of the omnissiah; we should share the omnissiah's blessings."
"You are much more generous than your father."
"Heh heh, what does it feel like exactly? How should I put it? It's like the machine is telling me what it can do. I can't distinguish whether the machine spirit is speaking, or if it's just my unilateral imagination and speculation."
Magos Lyra said with an envious tone, "It's not your imagination. How could you guess correctly every time? Some people truly have a talent for communicating with machine spirits that others don't, and you are among the best of them."
Gamma: "Of course I'm the best! If they didn't exist, I wouldn't dare to reveal it."
Gamma then asked expectantly, "So, Magos Lyra, are you satisfied with my answer just now?"
"Alright, you can take this relic back and study it. Remember not to damage it, and you must share your research results with me." Magos Lyra waved her hand, urging the little rascal who was about to take her beloved item to disappear quickly.
"No problem, Magos."
...
No one would have expected that the source of this "Unbelief Plague," the Plague Prophet Vik, as called by the plague-ridden wanderers, the mastermind whom all living beings on Thedan wished to eliminate, was now hidden in a secret corner within the Great Foundry Temple area.
The Plague Preacher's appearance was completely different from his initial emaciated living corpse form. His body had swollen and bulged due to the father's power of decay, emitting indistinct gurgling moans.
Corroded and rusted armor was forcefully torn open by the rapidly growing rotten flesh inside, and decaying, discolored organs oozed from his necrotic body. Fangs and long tongues grew from his wounds, and the continuously flowing pus and mucus corroded the ground he walked on, leaving one pit after another.
Nurgle is the Chaos God most directly associated with the human condition, especially humanity's intense fear of death.
Although Nurgle is the Chaos God of disease, decay, despair, destruction, death, and putrefaction, he is also the god of rebirth; decay is merely part of life's cycle, without which no new life can grow.
Similarly, Nurgle is the god of perseverance and survival; those who endure and survive his blessings will become resilient enough, their undead bodies and the plagues coexisting within them becoming the best weapons Nurgle bestows upon his followers.
Wrapped in green-brown toxic mist, the Plague Preacher spoke to the former Technical Magos:
"See what delightful suffering I have wrought! In the father's name, I have brought such abundant decay and plague to desolate Thedan, but it is not enough. More is needed, until I am worthy to journey to his garden and reunite with my family!"
The Traitor, who had willingly defected to Chaos, said to the monster before him, "Of course, father's favored one, great Plague Preacher, we will dedicate the entire world to him."
"Now, the followers of those false gods, the running dogs of the Corpse Emperor, are obstructing me. They will not have their way; the outcome that this world belongs to the father will not change, but it has indeed caused an obstruction. Now, I need your help."
The Technical Magos, who had been secretly researching Warp evil forces, had long had his mind corrupted by Chaos. He had forsaken the omnissiah, succumbed to desire, and become a follower of Chaos.
He held considerable disdain in his heart for this fool who had stumbled into Nurgle's bestowed power and status through sheer luck. If it weren't for his behind-the-scenes strategizing, the so-called great undertaking would have long been vaporized into nothingness by lance strikes.
If he hadn't hidden this fool in the most dangerous yet safest place, using his hidden artifacts to interfere with the Inquisitor's psychic predictions, the so-called "Plague Preacher" would have died countless times over.
But Vik was the one chosen by the father. For eternal life, and to explore more mysteries of life, the Technical Magos had no choice but to feign submission and help him.
"I came to see you, Prophet, to present you with a gift!" No sooner had the Technical Magos finished speaking than the servitor behind him pushed something resembling an incubator in front of Vik.
"Oh? This is! What a beautiful wail!" The Plague Preacher exclaimed, staring intently at the incubator.
"This is an xenos artifact I unearthed by chance. Based on the clues I found in the ruins, that xenos civilization was destroyed by a virus that escaped from this incubator. Prophet, are you satisfied with this gift?"
"Hahaha, satisfied! More than satisfied! With it, the sacrifices will be enough to summon a Warp portal directly to the father's garden, and my brethren and other family members can descend upon this world to help us complete the great task of dedicating Thedan to the father!" Plague Prophet Vik said excitedly.
"Then I congratulate you in advance, Prophet, on reuniting with your family."
"Hahaha, I know your purpose. The moment the plague army conquers this world will also be the time your wish is fulfilled."
With 777 elders, 777 adults, and 777 children as sacrifices, and using creations that destroyed xenos civilizations as a medium, a Warp Rift connected to Nurgle's domain suddenly appeared near the Great Foundry Temple, completely unforeseen.
Nurgle's Demon Army, surging like a tide, poured out of the rift. These demons, covered in inflammation, phlegm, blood, and internal organs, boils, rot, and pus, blisters, weeping sores, and festering wounds, slowly and unstoppably advanced into every corner of the area, accompanied by maggots and flies.
From the mouths of these demons came joyous songs praising father Nurgle. They regarded plague as a gift, and the cries of victims as expressions of gratitude for the strength to overcome mortal obstacles, rather than pain.
They wished to be as benevolent and selfless as their father, bestowing this 'gift' upon more people, allowing more people to feel how great and benevolent their father was.
"It's over, it's over, it's over! I haven't even gotten used to being a pampered heir, and now I'm going straight to the stomach, becoming a mad European in a sea of faeces! I refuse!"
Gamma, hiding behind the Great Foundry Temple's multi-layered shields, was now scared out of his wits, his little face pale. If he had to choose an opponent from among the demons serving the four Chaos Gods, he would undoubtedly choose a "Khorne demon"; at least he would die quickly. Nurgle's Demon Army was something he could not accept, both physiologically and psychologically.
"There must be a Traitor, otherwise, how could it not be discovered so close to the Great Foundry Temple? I need to tell the Archmagos quickly, or if the Traitor destroys the Great Foundry Temple's shields, it will truly be over!"
Gamma immediately thought of this and hurried back, simultaneously trying to contact the Archmagos via communicator, but he couldn't get through.
As he pushed the Gamma to maximum speed to rush back, Fabricator-General Will had already brought all the Forging Magos gathered in the hall under control.
"Now I am going to inspect each of your private laboratories. This is not asking for your consent, but an order!" Archmagos Will sternly told all the Magos present.
Upon hearing this, the Magos immediately became uneasy. As seasoned Tech-priest, who didn't have a few 'little secrets' that couldn't see the light of day?
The Archmagos also knew what this action meant for the Tech-priest, but if he didn't find the Traitor, everything would be ruined.
Magos Lyra was the first to step forward and say to the Archmagos, "Archmagos, I think I know who the Traitor is!"
"Are you trying to say that scoundrel, Sac? Since he can't be reached, it's already confirmed he's a Traitor!"
"Since..."
"But who can guarantee he doesn't have accomplices?"
"..."
"I will delete this memory after the inspection; your little secrets will not be known to anyone!" The Archmagos promised the Magos.
"..."
The Great Foundry Temple occupied a vast area. By the time Gamma rushed back, the Archmagos had already finished deleting the memories under the Magos' supervision. Gamma, who only later understood what had happened in his absence, now felt that his 'wild father' who appeared halfway through could achieve great things not just by flattering the Regent, but by his decisive courage and resolve, which were not something ordinary people possessed.
Gamma wandered aimlessly in the hall, muttering to himself, "I wonder how Magos Lauster and the others are doing now? Sigh, they've been operating with the army these past few days, so there shouldn't be any problems. I should worry about myself being surrounded by the sea of faeces first..."
Those who knew him would describe Gamma as a coward and a wimp, but giving up was never an option for Gamma. He was the kind of person who could be a snivelling crybaby on one hand, and on the other, hug a bomb and die with the enemy.
Everyone in the Great Foundry Temple was defending against Nurgle's Demon Army's attack. Although no one asked Gamma to do anything, he still tremblingly stood on the Great Foundry Temple's defensive fortifications with his castellan robots.
Void shields can deflect ranged weapon attacks before overloading, and even if they overload and collapse, they can be reactivated. However, void shields cannot prevent close-range attacks.
Although the defensive force field generated by ion shields is powerful, it cannot be strung together into a 360° impenetrable shield like the void shields produced by void generators. Furthermore, their defensive method relies on deflecting the direction of attacks, making them equally ineffective against close-range assaults.
Therefore, sturdy and reliable city walls and defensive fortifications are indispensable. For a central landmark of a Forge World like the Great Foundry Temple, its walls and defensive works were constructed to the highest standards from the very beginning, which is why the Great Foundry Temple can still hold out against the tide of demons.
However, even if the multi-layered shields could defend against the ranged attacks of Nurgle's Demon Army and the various demonic war engines wielded by Chaos warbands, a large number of personnel were still needed to prevent the enemy from destroying the city walls. Once the city walls were breached layer by layer, Nurgle's Demon Army could directly slaughter their way into the Great Foundry Temple, and at that point, everyone would have to face these plague-ridden, undead demons in close combat.
Demons cannot be killed; they can only be banished back to the Warp, and after recovering their strength, they can reappear. In the entire galaxy, the only weapon confirmed to be able to kill and harm demons is the Emperor's Sword, which burns with golden psychic flames, held by Lord Regent Guilliman.
If no reinforcements arrived to destroy that Warp Rift, Gamma and his companions were destined to be swallowed by the demonic tide.
"I can't kill demons, but I can kill you!" Gamma stood on the tall city wall, unleashing a furious barrage against the Fallen Space Marine trying to breach the wall.
Under the concentrated fire of Gamma, who suffered from a fear of insufficient firepower and constantly sought ways to increase his offensive power, the Death Guard was reduced to a mosaic-like puddle before even letting out a cry.
"What are you looking at, you stinking plague pig! Come up here if you dare!"
Gamma cursed at the few Death Guard roaring at him.
"When the Emperor was peeing and setting fire in the sea of faeces, your master didn't even dare to fart. Why weren't you howling then? All that loyalty you spout usually is just to play with that green fatso, right?" Gamma, having rediscovered his soldier-thug persona in the heat of battle, continued to verbally abuse the Death Guard.
(The Emperor: Hmm! Well said, but I only set fires, I didn't pee. Also, quickly show your head so your Uncle Emperor can catch... can protect you.)
The reason Gamma only dared to mutter the Emperor's name and never dared to speak the names of the four Chaos Gods was his fear of attracting their attention. Such conceptual-level Chaos Gods could sense it simply by having their names uttered, and being noticed would lead to their power influencing him.
He was a loyal and devoted little Tech-Priest; dying and going to the Emperor was his fallback option.
Why was it a fallback option?
Because Gamma didn't want to die and still have no peace, having to work like a dog; it was better to have his soul scatter! Much, much better!
...
Outside the Great Foundry Temple area, Captain Ventris was trying everything to break through and provide aid, but with little success. He was currently discussing countermeasures with high-ranking commanders and the Magos accompanying the army, with Magos Lauster among them.
"Everyone, please share any intelligence or ideas you have now," Ventris said to those present.
"The airspace above the Great Foundry Temple area has been affected by Warp energy and cannot be observed by the fleet's augur arrays. Orbital bombardment is also ineffective, and the affected area is rapidly expanding," said Imperial Navy Admiral Aleksei.
Inquisitor Griffin of the Inquisition added, "Warp energy weakens the veil between the real universe and the Warp, placing the affected area in a superimposed state that is neither entirely in the real universe nor entirely in the Warp. Energy weapons like lance beams cannot directly attack targets within that area from the real universe."
"Does this mean we must attack from the ground and will not receive support from naval ships?" a commander asked.
Inquisitor Griffin continued to explain, "We can force a breakthrough with landing craft, but the Warp energy raging in the airspace there is very dangerous. To advance safely, powerful psykers are needed to accompany us."
"Understood!"
Ventris said, "We don't know the situation inside right now. Forcing a breakthrough is meaningless. We must first determine the situation inside and the location of the Warp Rift after landing on the ground before we can formulate the next course of action."
"Those Warp demons have too great a mental impact on the soldiers; many have already lost their will and combat effectiveness."
At this point, Magos Lauster said, "We can provide an Gamma-modified faith-enhancing device. This instrument can enhance the devotion of faith and willpower without harming the brain."
After a pause, Magos Lauster chose to reveal a small secret of the Adeptus Mechanicus. He said, "The original version can brainwash people into fanatics, thereby greatly resisting the mental influence of demons, but it will cause brain damage."
Inquisitor Griffin's eyes lit up when he heard about Gamma's "Faith Enhancement Room." He had always known that the Adeptus Mechanicus had this kind of "physical faith method," and he also knew about the side effects; just look at the Adeptus Ministorum to understand the consequences of those side effects. Now, hearing about a "monkey version" without side effects, his mind immediately became active. He decided to test it out first before making a decision.
"Can the target of faith be chosen?"
"Yes," Magos Lauster replied.
"To what extent will the original version cause damage?"
"Average intelligence will decrease by 20 points, but it won't affect the operation of simple weapons. There are thousands of soldiers left by Gamma in the gathering area; they used the original version because they were infected with the Unbelief Plague. You can have them transferred over, observe them, and then choose whether to use which version."
"Have all the engineers used it?"
"Yes, they have all used the modified version."
After getting the information he wanted, Inquisitor Griffin turned to the Ultramarines Captain and said, "From what I understand, the mental state of the engineer corps after encountering demons is far better than that of the Astra Militarum. After their initial panic, they quickly regained their original combat effectiveness."
Ventris nodded at the words. His battle brothers had also reported the situation of the combat engineers to him. He had originally intended to privately ask Magos Lauster for the reason, as it involved a small secret of the Adeptus Mechanicus and was not suitable to ask directly in public. He hadn't expected Magos Lauster to choose to reveal it himself.
Ever since he met the young Gamma, he felt that this kid was a bit… off. He was a Tech-Priest whose mind worked differently from ordinary Tech-priest. Ordinary Tech-priest focused on efficiency and effectiveness, but Gamma would consider "people" before anything else.
He was an annoying kid, yet one couldn't bring themselves to truly dislike him.
"Equip all soldiers with the improved version. For soldiers infected with the plague, explain the side effects of the original version and let them choose for themselves."
"Understood."
"Magos Lauster, please produce enough instruments for the soldiers as quickly as possible. At the same time, I need to transfer the thousands of soldiers from the gathering point here. We now need a heavy hammer with unwavering will to open a breach for us."
"Understood, Captain Ventris," Magos Lauster replied.
After the meeting, Magos Lauster returned to his quarters in the command center. Lyra and Jacob were already waiting anxiously inside. Seeing Lauster return, Lyra eagerly asked,
"Father, how is Gamma now?"
"There's no news yet."
"How..."
"No news isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's not his turn to fight demons in the Great Foundry Temple. The only way to help Gamma now is to quickly complete the task assigned to us by the meeting."
"Yes, Father."
"Understood, Magos."
...
Gamma, whom Magos Lauster claimed wouldn't be fighting demons, was currently piloting the "Gamma" and using a borrowed gravity gun, a relic of the Magos, to unleash firepower on the demons.
Trapped in a sea of filth, Gamma no longer cared about secrets. After realizing that the health bars of these Nurgle's Demon Army were too thick and his "gadgets" couldn't achieve the effect he wanted of "making the demons scream," he turned his attention to the damaged relic weapons in the hands of the Magos.
He was well aware of the good stuff the Magos had in their pockets, so he directly approached the owner of the gravity gun, saying he suddenly had an inspiration to repair it. The Magos, busy fighting the demons, simply assumed Gamma was tired from the battlefield and found this excuse because he was too embarrassed to say so. Thus, they had a servo-skull deliver the relic to Gamma.
Gamma, who had long figured out what was wrong with this heavy gun, went back, slept, and then began to repair the weapon. For materials he lacked, he simply took them directly from the warehouse in the Great Foundry Temple. Having a Fabricator-General as a father allowed him to be that willful.
This gravity gun could be traced back to the Dark Age of Technology. Such gravitational projection weapons were extremely precise, and even during the Great Crusade ten thousand years ago, very few were preserved. Those that were unearthed were mostly damaged.
By manipulating the nature of gravity itself, gravity weapons could use a target's own mass to counteract it, crushing the target into a pulp under its own weight.
The one in Gamma's hand, once repaired, could cover an area of fifty square meters at once. Its drawback was high energy consumption and long charging time. If powered only by the weapon's built-in miniature atomic reactor, it would take ten minutes to charge for one shot.
However, Gamma had a way to overcome this drawback: just install an energy interface and connect it to the energy pipelines on the city wall. Problem solved, right? Oh, and add a cooling device, just in case he got too excited and it overloaded and exploded, sending him to the Omnissiah.
When Gamma reappeared on the city wall, this gravity gun from humanity's peak era returned to its peak in 42K, surpassing its former glory, astonishing the Magos.
"Scared now, huh!" Gamma, after clearing all enemies within the gravity gun's attack range, contemptuously sneered at the demons who dared not approach the area.
"Gamma, this..." The voice of the weapon's owner came through Gamma's communicator.
"Magos, it's yours."
"My Omnissiah, you really fixed it?"
Gamma, no longer caring about secrets, reverted to his boastful nature, puffing out his small nose and proudly saying, "I even improved it."
"Improved it too! By the omnissiah!"
"Otherwise, where would such power come from?" Gamma continued to show off.
"How did you do it?" The Magos asked incredulously.
"The grace of the Omnissiah, the blessing of the Omnissiah. I thought of it and did it." Gamma could only answer this way; otherwise, if he said he cheated, the Magos probably wouldn't understand.
...
Only silence came through the communicator.
There were no enemies in sight, and the Magos remained silent, which made Gamma, standing on the city wall, a little awkward. So he said into the communicator, "How about it, Magos, do you want to take it back and try it?"
"Good!!" The Magos agreed quickly and decisively.
"Shameless!" Another Magos's voice came through the communicator.
"Your mother is open source, what's it to you?"
"I just want to curse."
Gamma: Why is someone eavesdropping? Oh, it's a public network, no wonder...
Seeing the Magos about to argue, Gamma thought that at such a moment, internal unity should not be broken, so he advised:
"Magos, don't argue. It's just a weapon, isn't it? I remember Magos Connaly, you have a broken Needle Blaster. I just had an idea, you..."
"Here!" Magos Connaly replied just as quickly and decisively.
"Truly shameless!" This time it was Magos Lyra speaking.
Unlike most other solid projectile weapons, the Needle Blaster fires fine needles made of liquefied metal. This weapon can use almost any raw material; the user simply places a metal block or projectile into the ammunition port at the rear of the weapon. Its internal battery then melts it into ammunition and fires it. Each shot can fire 4-6 superheated, super-sharp short spikes.
...
For them, who could only passively endure demon attacks and were powerless to fight back, enhancing their strength by repairing relics was the only method Gamma could think of at the moment.
So, for the next period, Gamma's daily routine became fighting demons (finding inspiration) and repairing relics (dealing with the increasingly 'thirsty' Magos).
Not all relics could be repaired by Gamma. Some relics used materials whose refining processes had been lost, and there were no substitute materials.
There were also some relics that were the insane creations of techno-heretics, like that high-tech toaster.
Basically, every Magos would ask Gamma how he did it. Gamma's consistent answer: The grace of the Omnissiah.
He only knew the general principles, and his ability to repair was purely by intuition. If Gork could 'think it,' why couldn't Gamma 'think it'? How were the omnissiah and the omnissiah inferior to gork and mork?
As for whether the Magos would try every means to unravel Gamma's secret later, that would depend on whether there was a "later." Now, it's only about "now."
The only thing that made Gamma feel uneasy was that besides being 'thirsty,' the Magos now looked at him with a strange feeling. He knew this feeling too well; he saw it every day when he was in the gathering point, the workers all looked at him that way. He was genuinely afraid that one day someone would 'snap' and kneel before him, shouting "Omnissiah."
If anyone could give Gamma a sense of security when he was a little scared, it had to be his "father." After discovering yet another of his "buried" talents, Archmagos Will, besides complaining about the unreliable mentors his parents found for him, immediately multiplied Gamma's material costs by 100, added an "son's usage fee," and charged it all to the Magos, to be settled after the war.
Gamma: "Wild Dad" truly never changes!
But even with the blessing of "Gamma's power," the city walls and defensive fortifications were still being breached section by section, point by point. The Adeptus Ministorum suffered nearly half their losses, and the Priests also sustained significant casualties.
The good news was that by being forced to shrink their defensive perimeter, they could allocate more personnel and firepower to each defensive point.
The bad news was that this was the last layer of the city wall. If they lost it, they would have no defensible terrain and would be forced to retreat into the Great Foundry Temple for a deathmatch with Nurgle's Demon Army.
Outside the Great Foundry Temple area, inside the Thedan Allied Forces Command, another operational meeting was convened. At this meeting, there were several unfamiliar faces of Space Marine. From the paint schemes on their power armor, it was clear that they were not Space Marine of the Ultramarines Chapter, but rather from other Chapters.
The meeting was still presided over by Captain Ventris of the Ultramarines Fourth Company. At the beginning of the meeting, he introduced the reinforcements who had come to support them.
"This is Isaac, Chapter Master of the Iron Knights. He and his battle brothers have come to support us in response to our plea for aid."
Everyone in the conference room stood up and saluted Chapter Master Isaac. This stern and weathered warrior silently returned their salute.
"This is Chief Priest Colin Coffman from the Fire Covenant Chapter. He and his 300 battle brothers, upon receiving our plea for aid, abandoned their original mission and rushed here to support us."
Everyone present once again stood up to show their respect to this Chief Priest, who wore orange and gold power armor. This Chief Priest, who had not removed his helmet, also stood and returned their salute.
Iron Knights Chapter founding time: M32, before the Fourth Founding. Parent Chapter: Imperial Fists. Power armor paint scheme: Gunmetal gray armor, black helmet and shoulder pads. Chapter emblem on the left shoulder: a black shield. Chapter battle cry: Vigilance! Courage! Vengeance! Or "Assault, Death, Silent as Swans." Specialty: Siege warfare!!!
(Gamma: Are you sure they're Dorn's sons? Not Ork's?)
The Fire Covenant Chapter is a successor chapter of the Salamanders, created during the Ultima Founding by Archmagos Cawl.
Archmagos Cawl, without informing the Salamanders Chapter, took it upon himself to create this Chapter. When the Salamanders learned of the existence of this successor Chapter, they began to establish contact with it. Once contact was made, the Salamanders dispatched a Chapter Priest to teach their successor Chapter the Promethean Creed.
The Fire Covenant Chapter eagerly embraced it and quickly applied the wisdom from their genetic progenitor, Vulkan!!!
As one of the Imperial Chapters, the Fire Covenant yearns for any Imperial knowledge they can fight for and seeks it wherever they can. In this process, the Chapter hopes this information can help them bring light to the darkness, but instead, they will purge any signs of heresy they find, for they know such knowledge will only lead to destruction. The Chapter's emblem is an open book with a golden flame burning in the center!