The 33rd Expeditionary Fleet and the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet gathered in the Sidai System, near Vostonia.
Gabriel and Amadeus DuCaine boarded a Stormbird together, bound for the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignity.
The war council began at once. Arsena Dunn held a data slate and gave a report to the two Primarchs.
"According to intelligence provided by the Rogue Trader Lewis von Valancius and the results of the Augur-Matrix scan, the Fra'al fleet fields eight battlecruisers."
"Given that Fra'al raiding fleets usually appear in pairs of battlecruisers, and that before my lord's return to the Imperium they had been repelled from raiding the Vostroyan System, I infer that they have once again gathered strength, waiting for the chance to strike."
Nareth nodded slightly, approving the "Student of Ratiocination's" deduction. He turned toward Ferrus Manus, his finger tapping the eastern and western edges of the Sidai System's hololithic projection.
"Manus, in the Sidai System, the Fra'al hold two strongholds, one to the north, one to the south."
"Our fleets will strike from both flanks."
The fleets were stronger than the Fra'al. The battle's outcome was not in doubt; the only question was the scale of losses.
What concerned Nareth more was what he might learn from the Iron Hands during this operation.
Manus's silver eyes glimmered, and his voice, heavy as lead, resounded:
"Two daggers, thrust into the Sidai System. Let us purge these foolish xenos."
After the council ended, Manus and DuCaine returned first to the flagship of the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet. Gabriel remained behind to brief Nareth.
"My lord, the Iron Hands and I have jointly developed the Simulus Chamber. It is expected to be used in the war against the Fra'al."
Nareth inclined his head: "Record the operational data as reference, and study a version suited for the Shadows of Order."
He knew the Shadows of Order were unlike the Iron Hands. The latter, with their widespread cybernetic augmetics, could process torrents of information.
Among the Shadows of Order, only "Savants" could barely cope with such volumes of data.
And Nareth would not make his legion into another Iron Hands, for that would strip them of their own unique strengths.
Whether in equipment or tactics, what he sought was to borrow their advantages, then integrate them into his own legion.
"By your will," Gabriel answered. "I will develop our legion's own Simulus Chambers."
He continued: "By your inspiration, our study of the Golden Garuda has made initial progress. Thirty-one techmarines under my command are already equipped."
The Golden Garuda perched upon Gabriel's left shoulder turned its head toward Nareth. When its golden wings came into sight, its neck stiffened.
Its proud head immediately lowered, twisting backward.
"In the coming battle, the Golden Garuda will undergo live-field testing," Nareth ordered.
"As you command," Gabriel bowed, then drew from behind his back a wrought-iron staff.
"Following your command, Adams uncovered an ancient ruin on Medusa. In the second site that DuCaine and I explored together, we discovered ten of these staves."
"Our study revealed it to be named the Heart-Forced Staff."
"I, the Medusans, the Iron Hands, and the Librarians of the Fourth Chapter all examined it, but none of us could activate it."
At that moment, Nareth recalled his knowledge of the Heart-Forced Staff. Such a relic was fit only for those born with both psychic talent and augmetic strength.
The Iron Hands had long treated the staff as a relic weapon until, in the 41st Millennium, the Chief Librarian, Lendrick, became its first wielder.
As Nareth pondered, Gabriel went on.
"Our only result thus far is discovering that within are etched not only psychic circuitry but also a rudimentary machine-spirit, semi-sentient."
"The science of coexistence with it has been lost."
Nareth nodded faintly. "Send them to the legion's armory. Let every Librarian attempt it. Whoever can awaken a Heart-Force Staff shall claim it."
He added, "I have chosen thirty members from the Honor Guard. They will accompany you, serving as adjutants to the Iron Hands' commanders in this joint operation."
"I have already spoken about this with Manus. You will take them with you."
Gabriel accepted at once, first ordering seven of the staves delivered to the armory.
Because it was "Mystery Pryer" who first discovered the ruin and later co-led the excavation, his claim to a greater share of the spoils was acknowledged.
Then Gabriel, with the Honor Guard, returned to the flagship of the Tenth Legion. When he arrived in the strategium, Manus had just finished DuCaine's briefing.
Manus turned to Gabriel.
"You aided in the development of the Simulus Chambers, showcasing data processing power equal to my sons, the Iron Hands."
"But you have not undergone the augmetic transformations; you cannot wholly match their capacity."
"Yet I have already, in agreement with DuCaine, chosen commanders for your Honor Guard."
"My thanks, Lord Manus," Gabriel answered.
Led by Iron Hands, the Honor Guard were assigned across companies and squads.
Gabriel accompanied Manus and DuCaine to the Simulus Chambers. They shed their power armor for comfortable robes, entering a chamber where massive banks of cogitator-machines formed walls like a secondary deck.
Amid the hum, Gabriel seated himself in a chair encircled with cables like a drop-pod.
Runes in the alcoves lit, electronics flaring with blue light.
The instant Gabriel linked his spine into the neural interface, he was engulfed, swallowed by a sea of data.
Every warship of the Tenth Legion, its position, velocity, billions upon billions of telemetry streams, surged through his mind.
It was unlike reading figures from a viewscreen. There was no process of interpretation. In an instant, everything was present in his brain.
Before, he only ever received key data filtered through sector commanders.
So was it across most of the Imperium's fleets. But not so with the Iron Hands, nor with the Mechanicum.
Manus demanded that his sons bring all data into calculation. Augmetics gave them the capacity. The Simulus Chambers gave them the means.
The Iron Hands sat immersed in the data-sea. Though bound to their chairs, their thoughts spanned the fleet entire.
Gabriel lacked augmetic implants to aid him. But he was an "Archaeologist", twice-strengthened in the mental body, his mind surpassing most Astartes in data-processing might.
His gyrinx crouched at his feet, further amplifying his computations.
Within heartbeats, the "Archaeologist" adapted, keeping pace with the Iron Hands.
Elsewhere, the Shadows of Order Savants struggled far harder, having only one mental-body enhancement.
Luckily, the Iron Hands adhered to the basic laws of war: different ranks had different levels of data access.
Non-flagships held only their relevant segment of the sea, their torrents of data far less than the flagship's.
The 52nd Expeditionary Fleet turned like precise gears, slotting into the Sidai System's northern and southern planets.
Data from augury-instruments surged into the Chamber, into the Iron Hands' minds.
Every participant knew the positions of friend, foe, and ally.
{Enemy ship A–J, range 507,429 kilometers, phase 8-0-5, inclination 2… …}
Within ten breaths, they adjusted the battle plan to the live situation.
In the strategium, a hundred minds raced within a shared virtual cognition-space.
Each drafted plans, passing them between one another, each tested and evaluated.
'Ultimately, Lord Manus's scheme was judged optimal in nearly every analysis.'
Gabriel realized: this was not Primarchal authority, it was cold, absolute calculation.
And every member of the Chamber comprehended Manus's plan in full detail.
Within twenty breaths, the orders spread to other Chambers. Within ten more, every Iron Hand had grasped them.
The 52nd Expeditionary Fleet spun like meshed gears.
Decoy ships drew Fra'al ether-cannons. The main force struck with precision.
Gabriel saw that Manus and the Iron Hands' plans accounted for every Fra'al reaction.
The Fra'al fleet, like puppets on strings, was destroyed by the flawless coordination of the 52nd.
Even when a warship strayed from prediction, within breaths, new plans were computed.
Every battlefield uncertainty is strangled by the Iron Hands' cold logic.
Gabriel noted: except for the destroyers and escorts drawing Fra'al battlecruiser fire, unavoidable losses, no capital ship was struck by Aether fire.
With the first Fra'al battlecruiser's destruction, the Archaeologist felt a whole section of the data-sea vanish.
And while observing and recording, he had enough focus left to turn his attention at last to the 33rd Expeditionary Fleet's front, which until then he had overlooked.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu