Chapter 287: Hitting Me is Like Kicking Cotton Wool
Vigilus, Hyperia Hive, Aquila Council Government District, Romulus's Office
The heavy oak doors opened slowly, driven by silent hydraulics. A silent figure, guided by an Invictarus Suzerain, entered the room. Arthur gave Romulus a slight nod, then led Ramesses to the observers' seats. The two newcomers watched with cold eyes from the side as the newly-summoned Forge Master of Vigilus, Vosch, took his place.
'Someone's going to die.'
Magos Vosch felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles. He couldn't for the life of him figure it out. The combat power in these Primarchs' hands was more than enough to sack Agrippina. What was the point of tormenting him, an off-world Forge Master? So I'm the soft persimmon, is that it? I'll have you know, if you kick me—
"It's not easy to get a meeting with you, is it, Magos Vosch," Romulus said with a casual greeting, a half-smile on his lips. He was looking through the documents submitted by Azrael. He thought to himself that these Dark Angels had finally produced someone who didn't cause him a headache. This Forge Master had only appeared after Trazyn had dealt with all his tomb-raiding colleagues. Of course, if he hadn't only shown up after the "armed handover of administrative power incident" in Oteck Hive, he would probably be buried in the Blackstone mines under the Dragon's Hive right now.
"You are too kind, my Lord," Magos Vosch replied, hastily and stiffly, and adjusted his posture slightly, making sure the servo-skeleton on his back wouldn't wrinkle the cushion made of rare animal hide beneath him. "I promised you in our previous communication that once the situation in the Oteck sector was officially stabilized, I would personally invite you for a tour of inspection. How could there be any reason not to see you?" his voice was tinged with a deliberate humility.
Hitting me is like kicking cotton wool.
Romulus wasn't one to hold a grudge. At least, despite their conflict, he hadn't arranged a small stool for this not-so-heavily-modified Forge Master to sit on. For these guys who liked to watch from the sidelines, although Romulus was not happy, he could somewhat understand. It was human nature to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. After all, they had a big family and a big business. If they bet on someone who couldn't handle things, they would be done for. So it was inevitable that the Dawnbreakers would have to show their muscles to get their support. At the very least, you had to prove that following you would lead to victory. Otherwise, if you failed, you would have nothing.
And this Forge Master was not bad. His style was quite humane, he was good at communication, and he had a clear understanding of himself and a flexible mind.
"Then I wonder if I still have the authority to inspect?" he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly, a hint of a probe in his tone.
"You are too kind, my Lord," Magos Vosch was startled. He instinctively leaned forward, making a humble gesture, for fear that he would be cut down on the spot for the crime of 'presuming to grant a Primarch authority.' "A right that is yours by birth, how can there be a question of whether you have it or not?" Stygies VIII's interests are Stygies VIII's. My life and my forge-city are my own. Those Dark Angels didn't show any mercy when they were cutting down the other Magi. The Forge-Director of the starport was gone just like that.
"Mm," Romulus nodded with satisfaction. He once again felt that their decision to蹭 the identity of a Primarch was the right one. He then presented a detailed document and pushed it to Magos Vosch on the other side of the table. "Take a look at this."
The other did not stand up. The aperture of his bionic eye contracted slightly, and he turned to Drakus, who was standing at his side, with a pleading look. Drakus then strode forward, his master-crafted power boots leaving a slight indentation in the carpet, and presented the heavy document to Magos Vosch with both hands.
"Heh heh~" Ramesses couldn't help but laugh at this scene. As expected of a Magos who could, in the future, trick the Dark Angels into going to Fort Vigilus to purge the Fallen and still get out in one piece, and in the end, had even obtained ancient technology and achieved his own goals. His flexibility was maxed out.
He survived! Dammit, these politicians are all so dirty!
He took the document with a slightly trembling bionic limb. Magos Vosch cursed in his mind, but on his face, he was cautiously reviewing the contents of the document. When he saw the first item, he couldn't help but lose his composure.
[1. RECOVERY STRATEGY FOR OTECK FORGE-HIVE: The Dawnbreakers will formulate a clear policy line and directly control the personnel appointments and production projects of the forge-hive. In the process of taking over Oteck, the policy of "original position, original salary, original system" will be adopted for the technical positions to ensure the stability of the production order. Subsequently, the Dawnbreakers will conduct a detailed review of every tech-priest and gradually implement production reforms to conform to the Dawnbreakers' standards.]
You might as well just create your own Adeptus Mechanicus and call it the Dawnbreakers.
Magos Vosch's lip twitched as he complained internally. They were allies of the Imperium, not subordinates. But to the Dawnbreakers, they had become stinking migrant workers.
"The Dawnbreakers must lead everything," Romulus's voice suddenly rang out. He had keenly captured Magos Vosch's dissatisfaction. "The Adeptus Mechanicus has been too lax for too long." This was a matter of principle. What's the point of having something you can't even control?
If it had been a thousand years earlier, they would have really intended to create their own structure. Romulus sighed internally. Now there were endless wars. He couldn't just push these people to Chaos. For now, he could only use the Imperium's existing system to patch things up. Everything would be solved in a civil war in the future.
"I understand," Magos Vosch quickly nodded, composing his expression and continuing to review the document, preparing to see the rest before deciding if he still wanted his life.
He was a little relieved when he saw what followed. The subsequent clauses were indeed much milder, and there were not so many demands. It was just the necessary technical exchange. The Dawnbreakers not only promised to provide a series of cutting-edge technical support, but also generously issued production licenses for the Mark X series of equipment, the "Glaive" and "Falchion" super-heavy vehicles, and many other ancient-technology weapons.
He carefully checked the list of technical parameters. The comprehensiveness of the production technology shocked him. As the data-stream cascaded on his retinal projection, he was already quickly calculating the profit margin in his mind. Because the Mechanicus always liked to hide things, aside from completely open-source technologies like the Land Raider, the other forge worlds, aside from their shipbuilding industry, were mostly crippled. Some could build a chassis, some could build a cannon, and some could stick a super-charged plasma emitter on a Leman Russ chassis.
Forge worlds like Agrippina, which could independently support the entire Cadian warzone's logistics, were extremely rare in the entire galaxy. And things like the Glaive's Volcano Cannon and the Falchion's Volkite Culverin were extremely valuable technical reserves. He could take them apart and install them in his private models of armed vehicles, and incorporating them into his Skitarii legions could also greatly enhance his own power.
'Lord Primarch is quite generous, just giving away STCs.'
Magos Vosch immediately felt that this sweet-date was quite fragrant. There was no need to seek death. He was suddenly a little grateful to the colleagues who had taken the beatings for him. To be honest, if not for the fact that Vosch himself didn't have the technical reserves to build large warships, and his relationship with the Knight Houses and Titan Legions was average, just with these technologies, if he went back to Stygies VIII, he would likely be in the running for the next Fabricator-General.
Yes, the Glaive and the Falchion, these vehicles that were practically holy relics, were a waste on the Astra Militarum. The Imperial officials wouldn't agree to give these good things to the mud-feet. After all, if these people were to rebel, who knew if they would turn them on the suppression forces. But they could sell them to other forge worlds! The conflicts between the various forge worlds would often involve Titan Legions and Knight Houses. These anti-Titan super-heavy vehicles, which only required a few people to operate, were hot commodities. Anyway, the Imperium couldn't use them. They could use them to fight their civil wars.
And then there was this technology exchange platform.
Magos Vosch scratched his head. He didn't quite understand what this was. The inheritance system within the Mechanicus was usually a master-apprentice system. Stygies VIII was a bit of a heretic, so they hid things even more fiercely. After all, on Stygies VIII it was fine, but if they were to go out and be seen by Mars... you'd be done for. At that time, every little thing you hid was another lifeline. And internal technical exchanges were usually conducted through trade or war.
"My Lord, I don't quite understand this proposal," Vosch said, feigning ignorance and pointing to the proposal for the construction of a technology exchange platform. Although he actually understood the concept of open-source, he was more aware of the hidden dangers that open-source brought, which were far more than what was on the surface.
The distribution of benefits was certainly key, and the various forge worlds paid great attention to this. But compared to the chain reaction that might be triggered, that was a secondary issue. Not all Magi, in ten thousand years, cared about so-called benefits. But even pure scientific researchers like Cawl were extremely cautious about the dissemination of technology.
First was the issue of their own safety. The technology that a tech-priest mastered was literally their life. If your enemy knew the cards in your hand, you wouldn't even know how you died. And it was easy to arouse jealousy. Open-source technology would easily harm the interests of other forge worlds that had mastered this technology. Without a certain amount of strength, it was difficult to survive their physical attacks.
Secondly was the warp problem. The concepts of inspiration and creation related to machinery were monopolized by many warp-entities. The Mechanicus also had to rely on the faith of the Omnissiah to protect themselves, let alone the knowledge. Open-source meant frequent communication, which meant the publisher would be watched by more eyes, and Chaos could interfere.
Both problems were fatal. This was also the reason why the Adeptus Mechanicus had become more and more conservative over time. Before these two problems could be solved and the safety of the vast majority of researchers could be guaranteed, so-called open-source was just empty talk.
"We have considered these issues," Romulus said, listening to Vosch's explanation and nodding in understanding. It was inevitable that there would be many problems. They were also in the exploratory stage. Everything could only progress with the continuous advancement of experiments. But it didn't matter. He was just selling a concept for now, showing the good side, arousing interest, and pointing out the future path.
"You can take a look at this system first," he said.
Any empty talk would only make people laugh. Only a physical object could move these calculating Magi. Romulus signaled to Ramesses.
The wizard with the golden mask nodded at once. His rune-inscribed fingertips pointed in the air, and then, with a turn, the soul-circuit circling behind him turned in sync, like a key turning. A faint blue energy wave rippled through the air.
Almost at the same moment, the scene before Magos Vosch completely changed. An unprecedented clarity enveloped him.
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