Chapter 94: New Product: Weapon-Bug
The negotiations with the T'au also officially began shortly after. The requirement that Calgar and Gaius had given Omega, the moderator, was "fairness." He just needed to be impartial and stick to the facts. The meaning of his existence was to tell the T'au that humanity's choice of a moderator who had a relationship with them and was also fair was a sign of sincerity, that humanity wanted to cooperate with them.
The Rogue Traders, meanwhile, had already set out with the Astra Militarum on their ships before the negotiations began. Accompanying them were the Space Marines and the Ordo Xenos Inquisitors. They would cooperate with the Astra Militarum to suppress the Genestealers, and at the same time, ensure that if the target was not completed within the specified time, an "Exterminatus" would be carried out on the target planet.
Bang, bang!
Omega used the wooden gavel in his hand to stop the arguing humans and T'au. This was one of his roles as the moderator, to prevent the conflict from escalating. He put down the gavel and said, "Commander Shadowsun, further argument will not yield any results. How about I say a few words?"
"Alright, Magos Omega," Shadowsun, the supreme commander of the T'au Empire's Fifth Sphere Expansion Fleet, nodded. The reason she did not refuse Omega's request was that in the several similar situations that had occurred before, this human Magos had always been very fair.
"My lords of the T'au Empire, even if you do not want to, you must admit that humanity has paid the price of several planets to create an opportunity for the allied fleet to defeat Hive Fleet Gorgon. This will save you a great deal of sacrifice. The request for you to make compensation is reasonable. Even if these planets have had Genestealer rebellions, the Imperium of Man is not without the means to suppress them. If you are still unwilling to make concessions and continue this stalemate, we will need to fight several of Gorgon's tendrils at the same time, and in a situation where it can replenish its biomass at any time. Even if we finally defeat it, you are well aware of the price that will be paid. Most importantly, this Gorgon is the descendant of the survivors of the last Gorgon. If this happens again, we will have to face an even more difficult Hive Fleet Gorgon in a few decades!"
Omega's other role was to give those who were unwilling to make concessions a reason to do so. It wasn't that they didn't know the logic; it was that their status made it impossible for them to say such things. It was the same for the T'au, and the same for the humans. Omega had used the same method to make the humans make concessions before, so the T'au could find no fault with him.
But even so, the negotiations were still at a stalemate. The T'au Empire was too small. The interests represented by a few habitable planets were too great for them. Unfortunately, the despicable humans had a trick up their sleeve. For example, a certain Grand Inquisitor had a way to attract the Tyranids. He had lured a tendril of Hive Fleet Gorgon towards a T'au Sept world, forcing the T'au to make concessions.
Omega was very curious about the Grand Inquisitor's methods. He had specifically asked Gaius if it was convenient to reveal them. The reply was that the method and principle were simple, but the "raw material" was rather difficult to obtain. The Grand Inquisitor had been saving it up his whole life, and it was only enough for two uses. "The person who came up with the idea of stringing up a Genestealer Patriarch and using him as firewood is a genius!"
"Err... why does that feel so familiar? Hmm!"
After the negotiations and the war council were over, the joint fleet set out in a mighty host. In the Far East Sector, besides the Tyranids, there was no force that could contend with this fleet. They would burn every tendril of Hive Fleet Gorgon like a scorching torch, leading this monster step by step along the path of destruction drawn for it.
Omega, who had chosen to continue to act with the fleet, was now being pestered by Ventris. He had not yet given up on the idea of "borrowing" things. It wasn't that Omega was really interested in these little things. He had already hinted to Ventris that he should at least pay a little something. He could not set such a precedent. Otherwise, he would be "borrowed" into bankruptcy in the future. But Ventris was pretending not to understand, determined to get it for free.
"Not willing to pay anything at all?"
"Really, I have nothing."
"What did Chapter Master Calgar say to you?"
"Err—"
On a dark and windy night, a certain Chapter Master had sought out his young and promising subordinate, pouring out his heart about the hardships of being a Chapter Master, and the difficulty of maintaining the Chapter's glorious image without tarnishing the name of his forefathers. At the most emotional point, he had just raised his head, so that his subordinate would not see his predicament. As he left, he had not forgotten to say in a hoarse voice, "A qualified Chapter Master knows how to manage his household. Young man, work hard. The future is yours!"
In the end, Omega, with no other choice, had to make Ventris pay with his body—by making him a new product tester. The Captain of the 4th Company had originally thought this would be a good job. He had not even asked Omega for an advance on his "salary" to feed his waiting battle-brothers, because he thought the "new product" would be even better.
But when he got Omega's "new product," he realized he had been rash. Because a "new product" was not necessarily better; it could also be more heretical. What kind of respectable power sword had a mouth?
"Omega, this sword?"
"A work from a few years ago, back on Teyedan. The performance and cost are undeniable, but the design was not very popular, so it was sealed. I think that to deal with Gorgon, which can resist energy weapons, we need a large number of high-performance melee weapons. So I've revived this project. Your next task is to carry this sword with you, train with it, and spar with your brothers. Then, write me a 100,000-word evaluation report."
"Err, I..."
"By the way, don't forget to feed it. If it starves to death, your salary will be docked."
With that, Omega had left in a hurry. He had more important projects. A project that had been completed a few years ago was not worth his attention. If the evaluation was fine, he could have the mother start laying eggs.
Ventris, left behind, held the "sword" in one hand and the data-slate Omega had given him in the other. His expression was difficult to describe: three parts twisted, three parts helpless, three parts regretful, and one part self-abandonment. After standing there for half an hour, he finally took the "sword" back to the Ultramarines' battle barge.
The moment he boarded, he was surrounded by his brothers, who already knew what he had been up to. At a time like this, brotherly love could be temporarily forgotten. It was first come, first served.
"Well, if it isn't my beloved brother, Ventris. Is this... hmm? What the hell is this thing?!"
"I'd f***ing like to know too!" Ventris finally exploded.
"Err... the little Magos gave it to you?"
"Yeah."
"This design can no longer be described as heretical. It's simply blasphemous!"
Ventris's new sword quickly attracted the attention of the other Ultramarines. Their reactions were all similar. A few of the more extreme ones even said, "To die by this sword would be a blasphemy."
Although they were disgusted by the sword's appearance, the Ultramarines were still curious as to what it was. They began to study the product data Omega had given Ventris—the Weapon-Bug.
The inspiration for this "Weapon-Bug" had been born one day when Omega, bored, had a sudden whim to try the "joy of riding." He had gone to the "Grox ranch," which had been preserved after the war, and had asked the supervisor to pick out the most docile Grox calf for him. And so, the scene had occurred: Omega, riding the "Grox-bunny" under his own control, "galloped" through the ranch, with the supervisor and workers, who did not want to be "executed by cannon," chasing after him.
Fortunately, Omega had only broken his leg in the end, saving the workers from being torn apart by the enraged Archmagos and cog-heads. But Omega had also been grounded for a month because of this.
Lying in bed, recovering from his injury, Omega had had an idea in his boredom: animals as weapons of war had a history almost as long as humanity itself. In 42k, there were the Death Korps' bio-engineered steeds, but they were all used as vehicles. Why couldn't he design a "biological weapon" that could be held in the hand, to fill a gap in the market?
With this idea, Omega had begun to consider the feasibility of the plan. He found that "large-scale farming" was itself a manifestation of industrialization. And the biggest advantage of a "biological weapon," if successful, was its low cost. It didn't require precious rare materials; it just needed to be fed. The cost advantage was something even a lasgun couldn't compare to.
The next day, the able-to-run-around Omega had immediately launched the "Living Weapon Project." At the same time, he had chosen his target for imitation: Tyranid creatures.
The melee bio-weapons of the Tyranids are the product of genetic programming. Like the boneswords used by Tyranid Warriors, which have their own small brain, a bonesword is essentially a Tyranid creature. This allows it to continuously grow, extend, and repair itself in battle, and to maintain a deadly monomolecular edge. At the same time, it can also channel a powerful psychic torrent through its internal neural synapses, creating a psychic field around the blade, thus becoming a bio-version of a power weapon. Ceramite was no different from vellum in front of the Tyranids' bio-version of a power weapon. So, in Omega's eyes, there was no better target for imitation than the Tyranids' bio-weapons.
Of course, he wasn't going to create Tyranids. What he needed were the genetic fragments of these bio-weapons. He would then combine these genetic fragments with the genetic fragments of other creatures to create a creature that fit his vision. For Omega, who had received the Emperor's personal instruction through the observation of the gene-seed, this was no difficulty at all. It was much easier than enhancing the "spaghetti code" of human genes. It was like repairing an ancient monument being more costly and time-consuming than building a new one. And Omega didn't need to consider the "layout of the house"; as long as it was strong enough and had the functions he wanted, it was fine.
Even so, Omega had spent a lot of time and had gone through hundreds of failures before he had created the creature he wanted: a creature that combined the genes of Tyranid creatures, parasitic creatures, shelled mollusks, social insects, and psychic creatures—the Weapon-Bug.
The mother of this Weapon-Bug could lay eggs continuously, like a queen ant. By injecting it with hormones, he could control whether it produced a mother egg or a soldier egg. A mother egg could hatch into a mother bug, and a soldier egg could hatch into a Weapon-Bug.
The Weapon-Bug is a soft-bodied creature with no fixed appearance. You just need to put the egg and a monomolecular material nest into a nutrient solution. After it hatches, it will grow along the pre-reserved space in the nest, eventually enveloping the nest and forming a diamond-hard chitinous shell on the surface of the nest. This shell is a monomolecular structure and can self-repair.
When the Weapon-Bug matures, it can be taken out of the culture medium. At this point, it can be used as a sharp monomolecular blade. With a little modification to the handle, and by connecting electrodes to the Weapon-Bug's brain, you can stimulate its psychic power with an electric current, and a power weapon is complete. And a mature Weapon-Bug can adapt to most extreme environments, can survive in space for a long time, and has the long lifespan and characteristics of a clam. The thickness of its chitinous shell and the strength of its psychic field will grow with the age of the Weapon-Bug.