The Ringing of a Forge of Stars [Warhammer 40k/ Celestial forge V3||OC...ish]

[Slider Zero]

Replies and Stuff.

It's hard to make optimizing a power core sound cool, but you somehow managed it.

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This is really good even the info dumps are interesting and makes me want to read it all which is surprising for a lot of tech focus fiction in other words, Fucking amazing writing.

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*blushes Heavily*
Err...thank....you..?

I'm not really good at getting compliments like this, sorry...

Whelp.

Looks like the Warp Tumors are havin' a giggle.

Bastards.

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no a moment of a break for the mc true 40k
still me thinks that space ship is looking good to get the fuck of planet ^^

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Contrary to popular belief, the world does NOT revolve around Satori. there are events that can and often will happen completely without his involvement. That being said, the Tumors are not above being opportunistic fucks if given a chance.

Can't Harry just flash his Badge and be good? This is also why you don't just inject yourself with pskyer juice and go for a stroll

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Good idea,if he belong to the same branch of Inquisition.And SI just get another reason why he should say fuck IoM and go find lonely planet and create his own state there.IoM is not only stupid,but also kill all who try save it.
Why die for nothing if he could instead made something worthy?

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Remember that Harry faked is own death and is in hiding. Coming back out of his "retirement" will bring some very pointed questions, which he might not want to answer...and will draw levels of attention that are very much contraindicative of being allowed to live.

What? Clarketech Perk? well now the MC only needs time before he can shutdown the warp and the chaos fuckery in 40k, since this is I Win Perk. Anyway nice chapter.

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I'm pretty sure shuting the warp down would lobotomize everyone, himself included. Like it or not, the warp is a natural part of all living creatures in W40k.

(He should totally kick the Chaos Gods however. Fuck 'em.)

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Yeah, welcome to hell. This is why those particular methods do not work very well. Clarketech allows him to dream up a solution, or at least work towards it in a reasonable manner if it has a chance to work, but it does NOT just hand him the W. there will be some work involved to make sure it doesn't accidentally destroy everyone's souls.

An inquisitor can be corrupted, why would they trust him ? Especially since their orders seems to be shoot on sight (sadly a sane policy in W40k), and there is some obvious Chaos fuckery going on.

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Shoot on sight is kind of Standard Witch Hunter doctrine when dealing with an active chaotic psyker, especially one who you think has taken thralls. Unlike most of the more questionable practices of 40k, this one is actually both reasonable and justified., which is sad in and of itself.

He didn't inject Psyker juice, he checked time and time again that his new psy powers weren't powered by the Warp. No risk of corruption here (and to prove it, Harry got corrupted before him)

Yes, adding new powers without training yourself on how to use them is a biiiiit stupid, but then he didn't expect to find Cute Cultists Doing Chaos Things when all he wanted was to buy groceries.

(Seriously, Satori is either extremely unlucky or he draw way too much attention. He got attacked each time he put his nose outside.)

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To be fair, the Psionics were a blatant attempt to get a means of properly defending against Psykers. The lack of training was a given, and there was intent to rectify it as soon as he could confirm that the powers had successfully been awakened. That a very simple milk run got interrupted by a Major Chaotic Psyker is out of his hands.

It really was just bad luck, for that one.

-N-Ways Fusion Plant (Endless Space) (200CP) (NOTE: Acquired Chapter 7)
Refueling? What's that? You have mastered the art of Endless power generation, and any device you possess or can claim as yours never runs out of power.

That plus the computation orb is an insane combination. His shield will never run out of power to defend him.

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Incidentally enough, part of this run that got them ganked was satori needing more materials to test on power core designs, one of which would have been an attempt to integrate the infinite power generation tech into his mana/photon reactor designs. he literally got stomped on before he had the chance to actually implement anything.

Also, I would like to point this out here, since I doubt that it will come up in-story later: The chaotic Psyker that just ripped an entire hive level a new asshole was at a MINIMUM Delta-level. They were very likely higher rated than that.

you may speculate on that as you see fit.

 

[TwilightHakumei]

Yeah, welcome to hell. This is why those particular methods do not work very well. Clarketech allows him to dream up a solution, or at least work towards it in a reasonable manner if it has a chance to work, but it does NOT just hand him the W. there will be some work involved to make sure it doesn't accidentally destroy everyone's souls.

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No wonder your saying this. I thought its the old Clarktech but the new nerfed one then. Any thinking about the Old Version of Clarktech which is I WIN Perk.

 

[Slider Zero]

No wonder your saying this. I thought its the old Clarktech but the new nerfed one then. Any thinking about the Old Version of Clarktech which is I WIN Perk.

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This statement here prompted me to do a lookup for versions of the Generic Space Opera Jump....and I could not find "old" versions for Clarketech. The version I have is, unfortunately, constrained by research times and similar, so while it may (eventually) be possible to do something about the warp, Clarketech only allows that solution to be found irrespective of anything else. it is not the solution itself.


EDIT: yeah, found the 1.0 doc just now...and Sheesh was Clarketech busted. granted, it was also a capstone booster in that version, but still.

In either case, I'm stuck with the version I have.

 

[Aedenvuur]

Can't Harry just flash his Badge and be good? This is also why you don't just inject yourself with pskyer juice and go for a stroll

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Except that the guy who owns said badge is supposed to be dead. I'm pretty sure deserters get shot in the Empire no matter what rank they are.

 

[RangersteveP]

Pfft, I'm sure if he comes up with a decent story about deep cover fake out to root out genestealer cult it could workout....maybe? Lol

 

[Slider Zero]

I floated alone in an endless expanse of darkness.

I don't know how long I've been here, or where everyone or everything else has gone. Hell, the only reason I knew I wasn't dead was because I could hear my own heartbeat, pulsing steadily as I floated in this odd place. As far as I knew, I was currently the only occupant of here as well.

I tried to organize my thoughts and ran into...something. What it was, I do not know. But it was there, and every time I brushed against it, my mental cohesion blew apart like dust in the wind. I wasn't insane, not yet anyway, but if this kept up it would be close.

That I had no clue if the force behind that particular event was malicious or benign was very concerning to me, but there was nothing I could do about that. Right now, I needed information...which was being very elusive.

I tried (again?) to reach out with my magical power, and hit what felt like a brick wall. Seemed pretty sturdy, too. Adding to this, my attempts to focus mana into a more complex structure would fail nearly immediately as I was brushed against whatever that thing was that kept disrupting my focus. Even something as simple as a chant would get blasted out of my mind all but immediately.

Crap. I wasn't sure if this was some form of enemy attack or just me being in a weird spot, but I needed to figure out how to actually affect my environment, if for no other--

Ugh. That thing again...every time I try to focus myself, it steps in and breaks it. Getting around that is likely to be nearly impossible. Maybe try to work ar--

I winced as my thought chain was once again disrupted, this time a bit more forcefully than before. I lashed out on reflex against that thing, trying to push back enough to be able to actually think.

And it worked? The hell?

Okay, I need to figure out what I just did and repeat that. So, I was getting tired of not being able to think, and struck outwards at it to try and get it to stop. But how? Did I swing a fist? Use magic? What did I--

There was no noise in this blank abyss, so I was unsure if I just screamed out in pain. I do remember that I PUSHED against whatever that thing was beating on my mind.

The surrounding black retreated, just a bit. It was only enough for me to notice the change, but even that was enough encouragement for me to keep pushing. All I needed to do was isolate what the hell I just did and repeat it.

So what did I do? I kinda just swung...but it wasn't a physical thing, was it? It was more...no, not like that...kind of in a more--

The darkness ate another attack as I finally twigged on to what I was doing to actually defend against it. It was kind of instinctual, definitely supernatural, but also very much a part of me. It acted out even when I was unable to lash out physically…

And then it clicked. I knew exactly what I was doing. And the knowledge that my little experiment had actually worked, had actually granted me psionic abilities, was a very nice bit of uplifting news in my current bleak state.

It also gave me a clue as to what might be happening to me. It was disrupting mana, so that meant that it knew of and possibly was trying to counter whatever magic powers I could throw up (like the Mage Barrier I used to barely survive the debris storm). Maybe it was operating off of what I'd demonstrated? I had no way to actually know for sure, and no desire to find out.

Instead, I focused on the "feel" of my newfound psionic powers. Sorting around them, working to consciously control them, direct them as a part of my will. Another attempt to disrupt my focus came and was repelled, this time with my full awareness, and I began to get an even better feel for my mental power as a result.

I continued like this for who knows how long, constantly stretching and stressing my mental ability, and attacking the source of my pain every time it attempted to interrupt me. It was not always successful, and I had the headaches to prove it...but slowly, I gained a full awareness and control of my new power. It was still very raw and unrefined; weak, really. But it was mine, and now that I knew that it was there I could train it just as I could train the rest of my skills. But first…

I focused myself, and started shaping psionic power. This time, instead of a preemptive counterattack, I would instead defend against the push, and work to be able to shield myself from whatever the hell this is. Just need to shape things just right…

...Gaaah. That hurt...but I managed to keep my thought train this time!! Progress is made!

I freely admit that the first several attempts were failures. And by several I mean several dozen. My mind was wracked with almost every ailment under the sun and then some, and fighting them off in turn became ever more difficult as they stacked on me. But slowly, surely, I learned. I began to figure out the patterns needed, the ways to shape my power to effectively shield my mind. I learned not only how much power was safe, but also where the fault lines were.

And eventually, I was able to weather the storm without any negative effects.

Naturally, this caused my opponent to turn up the heat, and my hard-won defenses were tested...and proved to be too weak to withstand the onslaught. Fortunately for me, I had progressed past the point where I would have my conscious thoughts battered out of my mind, but it was still a painful experience. The evidence was clear, at least in this regard: my psionic power alone would not be enough to break the tide. But it raised a legit question: if that was not enough, then what was? What did I have to do to get out of this place?

Maybe try attacking and defending at the same time? Worth a shot.

More time passed, more experimenting proceeded, and more failures piled up as my mind grew more and more stressed by the assault. I was not sure how much more of this mess I could take before I actually did break under the strain, but I did not want to find out.

The experiments yielded success...for all of maybe three waves, before the hurt came back even stronger, and when I learned how to blunt that a bit, from multiple "directions".

Honestly, if my very sanity was not on the line, I would call this one hell of a training session. But my mental health did hang in the balance, and that meant that I needed to find a way to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible. I had ample proof that I was not overpowering whatever was attacking me, so that meant I had to get tricky. But tricky by what?

A fragment of a fragment of a memory flashed past me then, little more than a fleeting glimpse. But it was enough.

My magic. I had gotten hit by that mind scramble thing every time I attempted to use my magic. This likely meant that it was the key to breaking free from this place. Alrighty then, I need to just focus a bit--

OWWW. Okay, I cannot drop the shielding or else my brain will fry. Which meant that I also had to somehow throw out conscious psionic attacks while channeling mana and shielding from attack.

The joys of multitasking.

Again the cycle continued, completely unbroken by any measurement of time. I attempted to channel mana while also doing multiple psionic things, and would often fail miserably, with the price being another fragment of my mind. The few successes only brought down more pain and suffering, hastening my end. I was running out of time to figure out this damned puzzle. And too much depended on me not failing here--

I missed the attack, and in my scramble to adjust to blunt the worst of it, I flubbed up the control of my energies. A wave of something that felt magical, but I somehow knew was also psionic, flowed out from me. The result was very noticeable, as the gloom of the place lifted from pitch black to actually dim light.

It also confused the ever-loving fuck out of me.

I had...combined? The two sources of power into one stream. This was a pretty major discovery, even by my standards, but the main issue is that it nearly broke whatever the hell is holding me down here. Even now, as the darkness rushed back in to trap me once more, I could feel something different about the environment...but placing exactly what it was remained outside my grasp. Instead, I focused on repeating the previous effect, with the hopes of breaking free before another major wave hit me.

I unfortunately failed in half of that objective when the waves returned with an almost murderous vengeance, and was once again fighting for my life against my foe.

Unlike the previous attempts, though, the combination technique came much easier and faster than the individual ones, likely as a result of my own skill in wielding them, as minimal as they were. The pushback I was getting for getting ever closer to the solution was intense: a constant pressure beating against my head, and seemingly my very soul as well, unrelenting in its attempts to destroy me.

In return, I pushed back even harder, drawing upon more and more of my abilities as they seemed relevant, as minimal as they seemed. Originium arts joined with the mass of magical and psionic energies as I warred with the darkness, and although they seemed to do little, even that small amount was more precious than gold. I fought onwards, knowing that even the slightest hesitation at this point would mean the shattering of my mind, and with it my death.

But no matter what I did, the waves just. Kept. Coming.

Nothing I did seemed to actually hold them back for longer than a moment, even though I managed to blast what looked like most of the way clear to the "surface" of this game a few times. It was getting both frustrating and tiring to have to keep up this kind of offense for this long. Maybe if I could get some light it would be easier, but…

Wait. Didn't I have an ability that allowed me to generate light?

Well, it was worth a shot. At least then I could say I tried everything. Besides, the power was oddly instinctual, anyway, so it wouldn't affect much.

And so, I pulled on my light.

And the screech of pain that resulted was absolute music to my ears. More to the point, I now knew what it was reacting to. Me subconsciously pulling on, and adding this light to my various attempts to break free, or at leas t until I gained conscious control over the powers I was using at the time.

But now? Now that I knew that the light was what it was afraid of? I dumped it wholesale into every single effort I made. And the screams of terrified pain were my vindictive proof that it was working.

I have no idea how long I was trapped under the influence of that shadow. But once I started grasping my light, that shit ENDED. And with the lifting of the veil of darkness, came something else--

---

I awoke to a scene of utter ruin.

Jagged spires of ferrocrete stood around us, strewn completely haphazardly. Mixed in with the mess are seemingly random bits of steel, poking up everywhere that could be found. Rubble stretched as far as the eyes could see, for almost the whole level. I myself seemed to be in some kind of crater made out of the assorted debris, more or less laid out on a random slab like a corpse. The lip of my crater was too high to see anything out of, but from what little visibility I did have from my position I could not see Harry, or the other person that had grabbed on to me at the last second.

And my everything hurt. Oh dear god, did it hurt. It felt like I had gone up against some kind of demented bear that only bludgeoned people. Everything was sore and tender, and what I could see of my clothes were battered as well.

How the fuck did we survive that? I don't remember much after being thrown into the eye of the storm, being too busy with trying to keep the shield keeping us alive up for as long as possible. I think somewhere along the line I actually ran out of mana, and started overdrawing from my own physical stamina, possibly even my life force to keep that barrier up.

The result? The can of smashed ass that I currently was. At least the pain radiating throughout my body was a good indication that I was whole...actually, I have a better idea. Thoth?

[//ERROR//]

The fuck?

I got hit so hard that even THOTH is down? How the fuck is that even possible?

Dear god, just who the hell WAS that guy?

Well, that wasn't good. Thoth is my best tool for this kind of madness; without him, I am significantly reduced in effective firepower, especially with most of my gear likely being busted in some way from the demented merry-go-round that we were on. Worse still, that means that any potential followups I had to face down as little old me, and not hyper power armor me. Which was going to suck, and quite massively too.

In any case, I needed to move, now. I needed to find Harry ASAP, and preferably our third as well, just so she doesn't go spreading rumors of a rogue psyker around. I do not need that kind of attention.

I slowly dragged myself off of my slab, body protesting the entire way about the state it was in. which was tough shit, as I didn't have anything I could do about it at the mom--

Wait.

Didn't I have a basic healing spell? Why the hell am I just sitting here and suffering? Damned mess is throwing me off more than I expected if I missed that…

I focused my mana, finding to my shock that there was barely any left at all, and as carefully as possible marshalled a portion of it to the purpose of a cure spell. The effect took hold, and immediately a large portion of my aches and pains simply vanished, leaving behind a far more manageable dull ache everywhere, more akin to doing a good workout than anything else. I would have popped of another one, but I didn't know if I would need that sliver of mana for later.

Looking around, I saw nothing left of interest in the crater I was in, other than note the semi-spherical shape. I found the shape itself somewhat weird, but surmised that it was a part of some weirdness happening around at the moment.

I carefully moved myself to the lip of the crater, and made an attempt to peek over the edge.

What I saw horrified me.

The once relatively vibrant streets, alleyways, and few plazas were completely annihilated. Everything was scrubbed down all the way to the underlying structure of the hive level, and nothing remained standing save the seemingly endless piles of rubble. Smears of blood and gore were strewn everywhere, like a kind of macabre painting. And throughout it all, I could hear noises of something moving.

Searching.

I had no desire to find out what it was searching for. I needed to find Harry and get somewhere I could lie low Immediately. This was a bad hand all around, no need to let the big boys get involved and have them twig to his presence.

Fuck, me and my mental monologuing. I Gotta MOVE.

I climbed out of the ditch, managing to keep my balance as I moved about on the very large (and unstable) piles of debris that used to be buildings. My objectives were twofold: Find Harry, and Return to base and decide from there. Potential secondary objective is to find the woman that rode the storm out with us. With luck, I can convince her to not turn me over to the witch hunters that were no doubt coming.

Right now, though, all I saw was ruin. How the hell was I supposed to find anything in this mess? I would try to sniff out Harry with literal smell, but even with my enhanced nose, there's too much blood spattered around for me to really get anything. And the woman, I had no clue of how she smelled whatsoever. Hearing was similarly out unless Harry was awake and stable now instead of whatever coma-like state he hit during the attack.

...Fuck. These were the exact type of situation that Thoth was best at. And I had jack and shit.

I idly ran a hand over my Amiga orb as I thought of a way to quickly run a large search grid. Magic was right out, as I barely had any mana left as it was, and would need all that I could get as a just-in-case measure. Psionics? Maybe, but I was woefully untrained at those, and would likely do more harm than good. Originium Arts were looking like the best bet, but in that came the issue of me not being sure just how long my body could hold under the strain. As it was, the low-level healing field that I had started up to ease a bit of the pressure off wasn't doing much if anything at all, meaning that there was some serious deep-tissue damage that was getting fixed up first,

Sometimes I hated Healing Arts. They tended to prioritize stabilizing the patient and keeping them in the fight as walking wounded more than outright miracle heals like I was expecting. It was basically slightly supernatural Self-Aid and Buddy Care, for all the good it did, at least at my level. There was at least one stronger art that I was intentionally not using just because of the potential control issue involved in using it on myself, which could be utterly disastrous without Thoth to clean up for my messes, but even that would have only been a way to fix the worst of it, not do a lightspeed heal of the whole shebang. Again, this was more my lack of experience coming back to bite me in the ass, something which I was going to have to rectify as quickly as possible LATER.

Right now I needed to focus and not get sidetracked in my own thoughts like just now. Now what was I doing?

Oh, right. Looking for Harry. Options were down to O.Arts and I had jack and shit that could work for the setup.

Fuck it, then. Mark One Eyeballs it is.

---

My impromptu search grid was getting me a whole lot of nothing so far, with the noted exception of the grisly remains of the victims of this nightmare, which were spread rather liberally across everything that I could see. The smell was getting really bad, too, and far faster than what should be normal for decay of this nature, too. Warp-related? I had no desire to find out.

Something moved out of the corner of my vision, and I focused on it as the...okay, what the hell is that?

It looked like some kind of shambling mass of some sort, rife with odd pustules and pus everywhere...and was that some kind of fungus? The hell? At least there was a face of sorts in that mess, even if it was kind of hard to make out.

Alright, Definitely warp related. Which one was it that pulled shit like this?

The Shambler (which is what I would be calling them for now) towards me with a look of murderous intent, and surged towards me with a speed that I would not have thought possible from such a being.

Unfortunately, I had no time for the games, and no reason to play around with chaos spawn. I deliberately flew upwards, out of reach from the thing, and began plotting my next move.

...Or I was until a tentacle slashed by where my head used to be.

"The Plaguefather has need of your services, mortal. Worry not, for all are equal in his embrace."

Oh HELL no.

Fucking NURGLE?!? And after me personally?

Nope, not happening.

"Sorry, but I believe that I will decline that offer."

Another tentacle joined the first as I began a shockingly intense session of "don't die". This thing was good, damn it...needed to disengage somehow.

Wait. I could use some really basic Caster arts and mix it in with my weird light property, couldn't I? If nothing else, it gave me a ranged option against this thing. And while my control was not the best, I was second only to a freaking Draco in terms of power.

"However, I do have a counter-offer." An orb of power gathered in my hands, bled through with a shining, almost golden light. The Shambler visibly flinched at even the sight of it, and I smirked in response.

"Super special offer, here, for the healing of all those nasty diseases and such. The Doctor Prescribes…" and here, I raised the orb above my head, "a lot of SUN!!"

My newly dubbed sunlight orb hit with all the force of a Mack truck, knocking the Shambler completely ass over teakettle in the process. The screams of agony it was letting out were equally pleasing to me, though I didn't waste any time hanging around to find out how bad the reaction was. Instead, I beat feet with the quickness.

This, people, is why you train even your lowliest abilities whenever possible. You never know what use you might have for it when the time comes.

Speaking of which, what the hell was that odd depression over there?

I touched down practically on top of the weird bowl carved almost horizontally out of the debris stack in this area. A quick look over confirmed that this...really should NOT be stable. At all. I would need to investigate and leave as quickly as possible, preferably without disturbing anything…

So hovering it is.

My incredibly brief search bore fruit almost immediately, in the form of a crumpled body stuck in an odd alcove that was somehow still intact in all the mess. More surprisingly to me, I could hear both breathing and a heartbeat, although there was something mechanical-sounding as well mixed in. Checking closer, I found that it was actually the same woman from before, and in a pretty bad state no less. It was nothing that I couldn't fix, at least from first glance, but if she was anywhere near as bad off as I was, then she's probably critical right now.

I carefully lifted her out of the small alcove she was stuck in, and wrapped her up with one of my tails as an idle thought as I considered my next action.

...wait a minute.

I glanced down at myself again, this time actually paying attention, and sure enough, my regular disguise was fucked, the belt that was used to hide my tails destroyed. Well, it's not like it's that big of a deal anymore, what with a literal chaos spawn running around the hive proper. I ran a hand over my head, just to make sure, and to my relief my hat was still there. So there was that much, at least.

Anyway, back to business. I placed my erstwhile passenger on my back, and secured her there with my now freed appendages before getting a move on. I still had to find Harry and get the fuck out of this place, and the sooner I did so, the better. I had no allusions that the fucking Nurgle spawn was the only daemon running about, and the genestealers were still a threat even before all of this. With the mess we have now? They were likely to make a move in a BIG way...and I did not want to be in the open when that happened.

At this point I had helped enough to make use of some physical boosting O.Arts (My new shorthand for Originium based/boosted arts; this was subject to change if needed) that I knew without killing myself in the process. Activating them with a bit of focus, I returned to the task at hand with now enhanced senses.

I almost wished I hadn't. The smell of rot was everywhere, seeming to choke out everything in reach. It was only a small area surrounding myself that seemed to have a "clear" smell to it, and even that was tainted by the equal smells of spilt blood, wrecked buildings, and the various smells of a once active industrial sector. Hearing didn't do much better, as the very air carried the sounds of "rot" and "decay" somehow. It was actually quite ridiculous how entrenched this shit was.

And It had me asking a question: how the fuck did anyone miss this happening? This was a MAJOR incursion here, from the feel alone. How the hell did it get set up under everyone's noses?

Oh. right.

The same way that shit like this gets set up all the time, along with the genestealer infestation. No one at the top cares outside of what it would do to their personal power...meaning that by the time someone was willing to act on the threat, it was usually too late to do anything but grant mercy to the survivors.

There was something odd about this, though.

My knowledge of the four was general and largely came from 40k memes than anything else, but the basics were clear. The storm of blood and slaughter is more the work of Khorne, but I'm out here in a field choked in rot. This makes no sense, at all. Were they working together? And if so, for what? I sure as hell was not in the mix for this until it actually started, so what the fuck?

Ugh. this is not good. If two of them were willing to work together on a project like this, then there is a possibility that the others are in on it as well. I need to stay vigilant.

It wasn't but five minutes of searching later that I found Harry, half-buried under the rubble of an old shack, solely from the thrumming sound of the prosthetics I had installed earlier. Getting him clear of the mess was easy, and from the looks of it he had somehow managed to avoid the worst of the mess, unlike myself (and I was STILL healing, even now).

The problem was that something was still attacking his mind, if the grimace and twitching was any indication. If it was similar to whatever the hell the blackness was for me earlier, then it was going to keep him trapped there unless he could overpower it somehow...or he got help.

I decided to cut out the middleman and just channeled as much light as possible into the general area, and tried to direct it at Harry. Unlike even my barebones psi abilities, I had absolutely ZERO experience at manipulating my mystical aura and attendant it's powers like this, and there was much in the way of flailing as I tried to find a way to boost Harry's resilience.

Whether or not it worked was a moot point, because it was around that time that ANOTHER fucking Daemon decided to make itself known. This one was odd, though, looking like some kind of bird-thing and cloaked in blue robes of some kind. It stared at me with a mocking gaze that I clearly felt, even from here.

"Well. the prey has decided to take the trap. Intriguing."

...Okay, what? How does that even...whatever, I need to get out of here, NOW. I quickly formed another blast of energy--

I have never seen ANYTHING move that fast in my life. EVER. One moment, it was staring at me, the next it was pinning me down with a clawed foot, my hand useless against my side.

"No, no. None of that, morsel. You are far too clever to be allowed any form of advance."

I struggled to get free, to no avail. This thing was strong as fuck, and had me trapped good.

"Yes, you are far too clever, and best removed before you do anything more clever. Enjoy eternity in theAAARRRRGGGG!!!"

Yeah, it's called improvising, dumbass. And you were literally right on top of me, thus free real estate to channel every scrap of power I could into hurting you.

The daemon fell away from me with more agonized screams, clutching at itself in pain. I wasted no time in grabbing Harry and our mystery guest (who I finally got a decent look at just now, and I think those robes she's wearing are red?) and getting the fuck out of dodge.

As much as I wanted to try and help the people here, I could not do so if I was dead. And unfortunately, this zone was outside of my current power to affect.

It sucked, having to retreat from a loss, but it was better than dying for honor and dooming those left behind. Besides, I had some toys I could pull out back in the workshop that could be useful, and if nothing else, those spaceships were an option to just get the hell out of dodge.

But here? Now? Staying in this mess was suicide, and I had no intention of killing myself or my charges.

Now to get out without calling down every fucking daemon in the zone…

---

Well fuck. Getting out of here is going to be even harder than I thought.

I tried flying at my current top speed to the nearest exit point, or at least to a place that wasn't devastated by the chaotic psyker.

The Daemons (and there were several of the fuckers, including the ones I had run into) pounced on me almost immediately, and I was forced back to the ground in an evasion pattern.

Going for the side tunnels was equally out, with many of the entrances being cut off by massive piles of rubble, and my last attempt at shifting those brought bird boy back into the fray. I had to invent a form of magic missile with O.Arts in order to drive him off, but I was certain that this would not last much longer.

The plus side was that Harry seemed to be winning his battle with the thing in his head, as the grimace had lessened considerably. If not for me trying to dodge the daemons everywhere, I would see about helping him out, but every time I tried, I got jumped almost immediately.

It was almost as if they were trying to prevent me from helping...FUCK.

That wasn't Harry winning, that was him losing. And the daemons were keeping me occupied, so I didn't see it until it was too late.

Yeah, FUCK THAT.

I set Harry and the Currently dubbed Red Woman down, and focused myself. I didn't know how much time I had left, but I would make the most of it.

A ball of light appeared in between my cupped hands as I focused more, and brought out my other powers.

The sound of shifting debris announced the arrival of our usual troublemakers as they came back in for another run. Too bad for them.

The light I was holding was like a miniature sun at this point.

The blue bird daemon, hereby christened Birdy, made his usual move o disrupt me, utilizing his blinding speed.

Sorry, Birdy. you're too late.

A vicious smile spread across my face as I held the awesome power in my hand...and immediately detonated it.

I may have thrown in a taunting shout as well, something along the likes of a certain solar boy.

The result, however, was exactly what I had wanted.

The daemons were thrown back in agonizing pain as the light scoured at them, burning away the taint inherent in their being.

The surrounding gloom and "rot" were dispersed and brutally purged as the energy wiped clean the mere fact of the taint.

and, most importantly, the until-now unseen aura of darkness (and was that pink?) that surrounded Harry shattered like glass under the sheer power, especially with it being nearly at ground zero.

Surprisingly, the light was absorbed by the Red Woman, and an odd sense of familiarity came over me as I watched it. Weird, but I'll deal with that later.

Harry jerked awake with a yelp, quickly scrambling to his feet and placing his back against a wall. His wide eyes searched wildly around the area, seeing everything and nothing as his panic attack rode out it's course...before finally narrowing slightly and settling on me.

"Welcome back to the land of the waking, Harry. You enjoy your nap?"

Harry's plasma cannon arm was fully formed and directly in my face within a mere half a second. I didn't even bother with the gesture of flinching.

"What in the emperor's name are you?" Harry spat. "What kind of scion of run are you to bring this down on us?"

"The kind that is pissed off at the four. The kind that has been getting chased by daemons all fucking day." I hissed back. "The kind--"

The Shambler rushed out at us, clearly intent on taking my life in a wild charge. I didn't even bother paying the fucker any attention as I sliced it apart with contemptuous ease. "--that is fucking tired of these motherfucking daemons in this motherfucking HIVE!!"

Harry just stood there with a look of absolute shock on his face as I almost casually bisected a daemon in front of him. For my part, I didn't notice the softly glowing claws of psionic energy that had surrounded my hands until the remains of the Shambler tried to come back and I shredded them even finer for the trouble. Even then, I didn't let it get in the way of my arguments.

"As you can see, we have some fucking ISSUES here that need to be addressed, preferably by someone other than me. I'm wiped out, and I have no clue how many of those daemons there are hanging around. So, if you are quite fucking DONE being paranoid, AGAIN, then can we please get the fuck out of here?"

Oh no. I wasn't mad at the situation. Not at all.

Harry held the plasma cannon to my head a little linger, then dropped it with a snort. "Figures you of all people would have the blessings…" He was technically muttering this under his breath, but, well, ears. "Alright then, let's get a move on. You got a better plan than "other than here?"

I shook my head even as I picked up the red woman again, re-wrapping her in my tails after settling her on my back. "I've been TRYING, but the fucking daemons keep playing grox herder whenever I make a move. With you up and mobile, this might change a bit, but as far as I know we're stuck unless we find a way deeper...and I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

Harry muttered a curse under his breath even as he started scanning the surrounding piles of debris. "And the woman? From the robes, I'd say she was Mechanicus. You know anything on her?"

I was scanning the debris as well, and after considering for a moment, I chose a direction that I thought would help and started off, with Harry following. I spoke up after we were moving. "Nothing. She was clinging to me during the storm event, and managed to be within the protective shield that I put up when it was all going down. All I know is that she seems...familiar somehow."

"Tch. so much for easy comms. She could have gotten a message out of here for help."

That caught my attention. "Wait, she could have? How?"

Harry was rather brief on the explanation. "The Implants. They have their own communication system, the Mechanicus, and the higher members of the order are almost always in contact if possible. If nothing else, we could have gotten a report out."

I considered it for a brief moment. I had completely forgotten about that particular ability, one that came to me when I had gained the Enemy Tech Progression powers. I was near-constantly connected to a datanet of come kind, even if I suppressed it for the most part. This included the AdMech Noosphere, which I had left alone out of a combination of fear of retribution and respect for the organization. But if poking that bear was what it took to get some actual response down here, then so be it.

But first, its bad form to keep allies in the dark, especially when it is unnecessary.

"I might have a way to punch through a message. Gimme a bit."

I had expected harry to be looking at me in some kind of shock or something, but instead he had a look of resignation on his face, as if he had fully expected that I would be ale to just hack the fucking Mechanicus NOOSPHERE just because I can.

By god, I think he's beginning to believe.

In any case, I needed to find a signal...which there normally would be one, but due to the clusterfuck there was some very understandable interference happening. Getting to the Planetary datanet was basically a wash.

The Noosphere was swarming with activity, though, even with my connection being so far "out" from the node. The various agents of the Mechanicus were bustling around in an agitated mess, and scanning a few of the info codes, once I'd figured out how, revealed why.

Apparently, the upper management knew that SOMETHING had gone wrong with the scheduled extermination mission by the witch hunters, and they were dispatching forces to assess the damage. The Mechanicus was mobilizing its senior engineseers as part of the hive systems repair task force, with the objective of rebuilding that level to a point where structural integrity was not threatened, and the industries of war that drove Hive Primus could continue.

I personally had no clue how to interject into that, especially since from the datatags in the various clouds roiling around the people here, they were doing what they could until the heavy hitters got ready to come in and level the place. As in, the Imperial Fists were being deployed to this area. ETA currently unknown.

I decided to throw a single message out into the open with a group of what looked like engineseers, the message being both simple and to the point, detailing the situation, the events that had happened, and the fact that there was a daemonic incursion in progress.

Hey, best I could do under these circumstances. At least now they knew what was going on...and would probably send Skiitari after the unauthorized person in the Noosphere as an accused Heretek. No matter.

"Alright, mission complete. Let's get the fuck outta here before we get flattened by something new I haven't seen yet."

Harry nodded. "Alright, and I think I have a plan to get us at least into a safer zone than we're in…"

---

As much as it sucked, we had to go deeper into the underhive to get around the bullshit. How the hell harry knew that shortcut was there I have no idea, but we managed to use it, collapse it, and get clear before any more of the uglies could put in an appearance…

Only to run smack dab into a group of chaos cultists who were having a field day. And were very much not up for negotiations to let us pass.

Another cultist was blown away by Harry's plasma cannon as I darted around the battlefield as a lite version of a murder blender, severing limbs and heads as I zoomed around the underground chamber that we were in. O.Arts were proving to be quite useful as a general purpose booster for a lot of things, and Harry was his usual disgustingly good shot, but now with a weapon worth the effort. My weird psionic claws had been joined by a set of psionic blades on and around my tails after I figured out what was going on with the setup, and I suspected that I could enhance my bites as well if it came to that, which I dearly hoped it would not.

Our third had yet to awaken for reasons unknown to either of us, but we were not complaining too loudly at the moment, instead focusing on getting clear of the incoming purge strike that was going to cleanse the area of daemon taint.

Our general objective was to get to an old House Delaque safehouse here in the underlevels, and use that to reorient ourselves and plan further ahead. I would also like to figure out exactly what the hell had knocked Thoth offline, so I could help remove that particular weakness as quickly as possible.

Harry was busy sweeping the room as I focused myself once more, using a small portion of my regenerating mana to "pulse" outwards as a crude form of auspex. I found nothing, and reported as such.

"Well, then, seems like we're shaking them a bit, at least." Harry quipped, and I didn't blame him for the bit of sarcasm in his voice. This was the twenty-eighth group already, and they were, until now, showing no signs of slowing down. It had the both of us wondering just where the hell they were coming from...and why they had chosen now to reveal themselves.

"Seems like it, anyway." I quipped back. "You got a better read on our path to that safehouse yet?"

"not...quite. " was Harry's response. "The paths here...a lot of them collapsed during the storm up top, what with all the shaking and such. The few stable tunnels are almost surely to be watched, and we are, even with your rather prodigious skills, not suited for a direct engagement right now."

He had a point, as loath as I was to admit it. We didn't have the gear needed to break any kind of barricade that would get put up on the better paths, and I didn't have the tools I needed to actually repair the stuff we would need to get the gear to do so. It was a nasty little spot, but we were making do.

"Don't sell yourself short, Harry. I'm not the one that they're hiding from."

Harry chuckled, darkly. "Well, let's say I have a bit of frustration to work out, eh?"

Yeah, I could Definitely see that.

I mentally ran through what was left of my loadout. The Amiga was in surprisingly good condition, having somehow taken the beatings I'd thrown at it and come back stronger for it...and I couldn't use it beyond defense because of my mana being tied up elsewhere.

Similarly, both of my omnitools were in relatively good condition, or at least were serviceable, but the advanced functions of each had been disabled by an emergency override from Thoth just before whatever that error was hit him. I'd tried bypassing it and had ZERO luck, as the encryption key was specifically set to require a bonded valkyrie core to unlock. So for now, both of them were advanced holocomputers and medigel dispensers. Hell, I couldn't even access the omniblade, and that was saying a LOT.

Everything else that wasn't in Thoth's storage space was just gone. Even the damned Hellpistol that I'd modded. I had another one, but it was the principle of the matter, dammit.

Harry was better in that he had the built-in weapons of his prosthetics, and damned good ones at that. The issue was more that he lacked in any real defensive options, as he hadn't really gotten used to his gear just yet and could not pull out all the options available to him.

We were still badasses, but we were also in a very tight bind. It didn't help that our AdMech tag along refused to wake, but was siphoning off my mana for some reason, and did so even faster if I added in my light-aspect to it. I suspected it was related to her fighting off a daemon of sorts, but somehow I knew this was not the case at all...weird. But that was where most of my mana was going, meaning that I had to time my usage of even the mage barrier lest I endanger the one life we had managed to save in this madness.

"Found the way. Looks like this one is going a bit further down...older shaft. Watch your step." Harry's voice carried from the corner he had been inspecting just now, and he waved me over.

I took a moment to look down, and try to figure out just where the hell we were going, but so far, nothing. At least we were getting away from the cultist territory for the moment, and definitely out of the daemon kill box.

The bottom of the access shaft was an open cavern, with oddly breathable air for being at or below surface level in the hive. Usually this low you need a filter mask, but somehow the paths we were on stayed breathable. Might be due to the lack of use...who knows.

From what I could see with my enhanced eyes, the way was clear. I waved Harry over as I used a telekinesis art to pull Red down the shaft. Usually if there was an ambush planned, they would happen about now…

…

…

…

Oh thank god.

I was getting tired of those happening like clockwork.

"The cavern here should run for about two, two-five kilos until we get to an access point near where the safehouse is at." Harry spoke, guiding us on to the correct path. "With any luck we should be able to make it within the next three hours."

"Here's hoping," I replied. "At least then we can try and hunker down and see what the winds are...I do not like having my ass swinging in the breeze like this, dammit."

We traveled in silence for the most part, both of us heavily on edge for anything that might trigger the avalanche once more upon us. Fortunately, nothing happened along the way until we were about two-thirds of the way there, when I managed to somehow trip over my own fucking feet and plow straight into a secret room of some sort.

"Ugh...my freaking head." I moaned, and with good reason. That fucking HURT, dammit!!

"Huh. interesting. This place was never on any of the maps. I think we managed to find one of the old treasure troves, My friend."

I blinked. "Wait. You mean there's old-school literal pirates treasure type bullshit going on here?"

"Harry, by now, had one of his more or less trademark smug looks on. "Something like that, anyway. Might as well check what you managed to find"

The cavern here was significantly smaller and filled to the brim with stuff that looked interesting. VERY interesting.

Picking up what looked like a weapon of some sort, I examined it closely, trying to figure out what the hell it was.

Wit, there as an engraving here. I ran my fingers over it slowly, trying to get a clear picture of what it said in the dim light.

"...Aether pattern Volkite pistol, model 7, mark two. Manufacture 551.m24"

Holy fuck.

Was this a legit Dark Age of Technology cache?

I made a deliberate motion of checking the pistol for a safety, and then carefully aiming it at a wall that wasn't important to anything...and then fired.

The noise was odd and startled Harry a bit, who was over near something else and taking notes with what was left of small notebooks. He floated over to examine my find.

"Huh. a volkite pistol? Those are extremely rare, I'm sure the Mechanicus will give you a good sum for it."

"Honestly? I'm not sure I'm in the mood to let them have it." and my response to Harry's question was the truth. I wasn't really sure if I just wanted to let them just do as they pleased, if for no other reason than because I suspected that what would happen is that the Mechanicus would just hoard the weapons for themselves instead of trying to produce new ones...and I'm not sure if there was a good reason for them to do that.

Something I would have to ask about later on.

The continuing search within the alcove found something even more incredible: if what we were looking at was right, this was a legit, no shit Standard Template Construct. And from the looks of it, it was in damned near perfect condition.

You fuckers are SO lucky Thoth is down right now…

Harry said nothing, knowing full well that other matters took priority over even this treasure trove. He simply moved back to the "front" of the chamber, guarding our exit with a volkite rifle that he managed to find, and a few power cells to help.

I, however, moved around to the back of the chamber to explore more before we had to leave. And there was an odd statue thing back here, positioned in such a way to be sitting with its back almost connecting to the wall behind.

It was about maybe a full half again as I was while I was standing, and the hands were positioned as if it was trying to hold something. In fact, I thought I saw an odd glow from those hands…

Intrigued, I moved in closer, climbing a bit until I was finally standing in the hands themselves, where something looked like it was just...there. I tried to touch it...and nothing. Oh well…

[ERROR: UNKNOWN INTRUSION ATTEMPT. COUNTERING]

Wait, that was Thoth' When--

[Error: unknown information database downloaded to memory. File types unknown, Secondary data package is self-extracting...attempting to terminate...cannot terminate]

What the hell? What is so good that it can just straight rootkit an active valkyrie core?

[Error: unknown data installed to core kernel. Analyzing...analysis of data failed. Systems check indicated that data is currently benign. Cross-checking with known databases...error. Invalid or unknown file type or file.]

And now Thoth is fighting, and apparently losing, to whatever that data packet was. I was confused, and looked closer at the statue to try and figure out the mystery. Lessee, claws, boots...no swords, maybe an old spear over there...wait. That face...it's a…bird?

The hell?

A shot rings out through the cavern. I curse and run back to the entrance to cover our escape, before getting a move on. I would have to investigate the place later, if there was a later.

---

Harry and I had managed to fight our way though the underlayers of the hive after that tussle where the scout teams caught up, and were currently on the last small trek towards the safe house. More importantly, we were back in civilization, or what passed for it down here. The people were harsh, mutants were surprisingly common, and the general Idea is that there is not much value in a life.

At this point, we were in full fucking "armed and dangerous" mode. Staring down the people here with a look that dared them to try anything, anything at ALL, before we dropped them. It had the decency of ONLY being partially because of the neighborhood.

The safe house, when we finally got to it, was tucked in an out-of-the-way corner in a spot that most people would never think to check, and the rest would never bother with at all. The exterior had everything it needed to blend in with the environment: run down, seedy-looking, and generally in a poor state.

The inside was a different story, being in good repair and well -stocked, if minimally furnished. We were probably going to be sharing beds for a bit.

"Alright, we're here. Finally. So, mind explaining what the hell is going on that I'm a giant weirdness magnet, Harry? This shit is getting old." My voice reflected just how DONE I was with it all, too. I needed to actually relax for a moment.

"We should be alright here, unless someone or something made a point of being an asshole." Harry replied after a moment of thought. "That being said, we might want to have a plan for getting the hell out of dodge soonest, just in case."

As usual, Harry had sound advice.

A sudden sensation of my mana returning to me caught my attention, and I looked over to one of the cots that we'd set up, where Red was laying. Seemed she'd stopped pulling mana from me for the time being. Did that mean she was about to…

With a groan, the woman moved and slowly stirred herself to wakefulness.

"Where...where am I?"

I decided to answer. "Currently? You're in the underhive, in an old Delaque safe house." I paused for a moment to let that sink in. "we managed to fight our way clear with you after the storm. As far as either of us know, we are the only survivors."

The woman grimaced at the reminder of the hellstorm, before turning to me.

"Thank you, for protecting me from that nightmare." Her voice had a kind of...perkiness to it that contrasted with its huskiness. It was a really pleasant sound, I thought.

She continued on without so much as a care. "My name is Miolala Granliss. I am an Engineseer with the Adeptus Mechanicus, currently on explorator duty. And I believe," and here she stood, and walked towards me, "I have found what I've been looking for."

I blinked.

Then I turned and started walking towards the door. There was a keyhole on it thanks to a quick mod from myself, and I entered the workshop with absolutely no fanfare whatsoever. The part that confirmed my suspicion was when this Miolala person followed without any issue whatsoever, with Harry bringing up the rear.

She laughed softly, that itself a warm and welcome sound after all that had happened today.

"Honestly, I had expected it to be a bit...bigger."

Dammit. That was a connection I felt between us. Guess she's a part of this mess now too. Now, then, I just need to--

A near flood of green rushed outwards from the hangar area, and quickly presented themselves in a very neat row for inspection, each one decked out in something with an old-time space decal on it.

They were short, green, and cute.

Harry started shooting almost immediately.

Miolala just laughed.

I merely facepalmed as the Kerbals started dodging around Harry's Plasma fire like it was a game.

Well, I could have been worse. They could actually be getting hurt right now….

---

This chapter just did not want to end for some reason. I managed to squeeze in an ending here, though.

As a special note, this is the first chapter where I have intentionally placed a perk that has not been rolled up yet as part of the story itself. I'm trying to not do it often, even though I have laid the seed for the second to happen later on.

As for the Kerbals...they have been described by some of the Discord guys as Orks with a space fetish instead of war. Besides, they think Harry is fun, anyway, and they just respawn back in after they die.

Spoiler: Perks for this Chapter

Miolala Granliss - Engine-sister (Warhammer 40k - Adeptus Mechanicus) (100CP)

Spoiler

Voluminous red robes cannot hide the curves beneath to this woman's eternal embarrassment. Friendly and perky in conversation to both man and machine, she is torn between her desire to be closer to the machine and her attachment to humanity. The possibly of a harmonious union between the two has inspired her to follow you. She has all 100, 200, and 400cp engineseer perks. She also has 'subtle bionics' 'artisan' and one pick of 'magos designation.'

-They're Like Legos, Right? | This Is How I Want It (Kerbal Space Program) (600CP)

Spoiler

They're Like Legos, Right? (200CP)
There's robust engineering, and then there's modularity. Pick one. Except for you - you seem to have the gift of designing methods that allow for seamless mixing and matching of modular technology that lack none of the partsincompatibility and fragility you'd except from such a design paradigm. While this seems focused on Kerbin technology in specific, a little work should have you applying such a paradigm to all sorts of technologies…

Spoiler

This Is How I Want It (400CP)
Your capability of mentally designing items is vastly boosted. It's almost as if you have a mental idea space in the fashion of a construction bay with a lists of parts you have on hand that gives you an idea of what you can build at that moment... actually, that's pretty much what you have. As a bonus, you can mix and match parts in a manner roughly akin to legos, and giving you an idea of what would work and what wouldn't (and how much resources it would take to build). Mind, this doesn't mean that your mental creation will perform successfully, but it will function. As a final bonus, you can mentally hand-off the resultant creation to your Kerbals to build, and they'll do so without a mistake or screwup - meaning any snafu that results will be on your own head.

Spoiler: KSP Freebies

This Is, Actually, Rocket Science (Free)
You gain an instinctive grasp and understanding of Delta V and orbital mechanics.\

Speak English, Dammit! (Free)
You gain perfect understanding of Kerbals and the way they speak in thier burbling, whack-ass mix of swedish meatball chef... something. Conversely, you can pick this to have them all speak english.

Some Old Friends (Free)
Hey, what are you - wait a minute! How did you four get in here!? Oh, well. Looks like you're going to get some help in this jump, wether you want to, or no - Bill, Bob, Jebediah, and Valentina are all up and raring to go. As a bonus, all four come with the 'I Am A Pilot, Actually' perk for free.

Espirit de Kerbal (Free)
While you're going to have no end of volunteers of Kerbals to go into space(seriously, where the hell are they all coming from?), it's understandable that you're going to want a special group of Kerbals to count on in a pinch - an elite force you can trust to get the job done. Twenty Kerbals have stepped up to the plate to fill that role. This group of Kerbals doesn't seem to let mishaps keep them down; while crashes, explosions, and other shenanigans will, uh, result in Critical Kerbal Existence Failure, they'll pop back up in a week or so, right as rain and raring to go for another try. All 20 of these Kerbals will automatically gain whatever perk you purchase in this jump from the Pilot, Engineer, and Scientist perk tree - Drop-In, however, doesn't count for this.

 

[Cheetored20]

Was that a FREAKING CHOZO STATUE! I hope so otherwise it's the planner at work. I am hyped either way.

 

[Lotor]

Well fuck.

A direct attack from Chaos Undivided.

Yeah. They don't like the Forge, do they...

...and our hero clearly has a LUK stat out the ASS.

And getting your own personal Enginseer that is also a waifu? Works for me! Hey, she might have some interesting modifications... ...oh damn, this isn't the NSFW section. Still!

...and now 40k has Kerbals.

...yeah, this is all fucking crazy. But hey, fiat-backed workforce and an amazing new ally and everything else. And safe back in the forge.

...and did Thoth just get Daemon'd? Fuuuck. ...unless that was part of a perk... I mean, that was either a chozo statue and you got some metroid shit going on. Because holy hell.

Makes me wonder what the AdMech are going to do with the guy hacking the Noosphere... ...also, I wonder how the Warp Tumors react to getting smited? Heh. Bitches. The Forge has only BEGUN to fuck you over! Also... a fucking SCT... yeah. shit is about to Escalate.

 

[TwilightHakumei]

Did Thot got possessed a Deamon? and a Companion which is nice.

 

[Squid]

I don't think that was a daemon, I'm pretty sure Thoth just downloaded either an STC database or a Chozo database. So, Valkyrie/ Samus suit, get?

 

[Hadrian.Caeser]

I hope this was an STC database, or a man of stone. Mostly for the historical knowledge which should be part of both though

 

[kienlong49]

Just now realize it kind of hard to make wonder tech in 40k when a forklift or wench can at anytime get possessed and try to kill you or just shutdown altogether.

 

[stads]

will be interesting to see what got THOT on the frits
yay for loot of pirate style
nice combat scene's and letting henry think the mc is a emp blessed saint

 

[Ghost in a Wall]

I love the comparison about Kerbals being Orks obsessed with SPACE rather then War. I can't stop snickering at the thought, it's halarious.

 

[Nimeroni]

A direct attack from Chaos Undivided.

Yeah. They don't like the Forge, do they...

Click to shrink...

I mean, could you blame them ? The Forge is utterly overpowered, but it take some time to get going. The best way to deal with the Forge is to act early against the Forge holder.

Did Thot got possessed a Deamon? and a Companion which is nice.

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't be surprised if Thot had an emergency shutdown measure if it detect Chaos corruption (as a last resort, it's better to lose Thot than to get Thot turned against you).

 

[RIversand]

the statue is Chozo referencing. Back against a wall, hands as if holding something. it's a freaking CHOZO Reliquary. They'd be the kind of Magi-tech that could probably do that to a valkyrie core.

 

[ryune]

the statue is Chozo referencing. Back against a wall, hands as if holding something. it's a freaking CHOZO Reliquary. They'd be the kind of Magi-tech that could probably do that to a valkyrie core.

Click to shrink...

So what you are saying is that Satori just acquired a Morph Ball?

 

[RIversand]

So what you are saying is that Satori just acquired a Morph Ball?

Click to shrink...

more like chozo techbase acquired.

 

[Mandabar]

And there was an odd statue thing back here, positioned in such a way to be sitting with its back almost connecting to the wall behind.

It was about maybe a full half again as I was while I was standing, and the hands were positioned as if it was trying to hold something. In fact, I thought I saw an odd glow from those hands…

Intrigued, I moved in closer, climbing a bit until I was finally standing in the hands themselves, where something looked like it was just...there. I tried to touch it...and nothing. Oh well…

Click to shrink...

And now Thoth is fighting, and apparently losing, to whatever that data packet was. I was confused, and looked closer at the statue to try and figure out the mystery. Lessee, claws, boots...no swords, maybe an old spear over there...wait. That face...it's a…bird?

The hell?

Click to shrink...

That's fucking Chozo. Best tech birds anywhere!

Ok crazy chapter. I don't know if our MC grabbed the STC or not. Are they even man portable?

Fucking Chozo statue, like what the fuck!? That wasn't forge nonsense it seems from the perk list so I'm intrigued on how author will explain this in 40k.

On the companions I'm a bit weirded out with her not appearing in the workshop or next to him when it rolled... which if I recall don't roll till he wills it? Or the knowledge download doesn't I guess hmmm. So either she appeared near him right before the disaster and he didn't notice or an actual person got shanghaied into being his companion and was drawn to him. Which is a bit skeevy.

Kerbals meh

And getting your own personal Enginseer that is also a waifu? Works for me! Hey, she might have some interesting modifications... ...oh damn, this isn't the NSFW section. Still!

Click to shrink...

I'm disappointed everyday all my stories aren't in NSFW. Plot before smut by all means, but no need to be smutless!

more like chozo techbase acquired.

Click to shrink...

The literal bullshit that could be done with actual Chozo techbase is amazing. Just look at what their adopted step daughter Samus can do with a singular power suit, and some understanding of some of their tech base. (She did build her own space ship after all)

 

[Cheetored20]

That's fucking Chozo. Best tech birds anywhere!

Ok crazy chapter. I don't know if our MC grabbed the STC or not. Are they even man portable?

Fucking Chozo statue, like what the fuck!? That wasn't forge nonsense it seems from the perk list so I'm intrigued on how author will explain this in 40k.

On the companions I'm a bit weirded out with her not appearing in the workshop or next to him when it rolled... which if I recall don't roll till he wills it? Or the knowledge download doesn't I guess hmmm. So either she appeared near him right before the disaster and he didn't notice or an actual person got shanghaied into being his companion and was drawn to him. Which is a bit skeevy.

Kerbals meh


I'm disappointed everyday all my stories aren't in NSFW. Plot before smut by all means, but no need to be smutless!


The literal bullshit that could be done with actual Chozo techbase is amazing. Just look at what their adopted step daughter Samus can do with a singular power suit, and some understanding of some of their tech base. (She did build her own space ship after all)

Click to shrink...

So this is a modified version of the forge that includes Chozo tech. Note that the following is from the transcript that added it.

how does this sound for a metroid jump perk that can go in the forge (note price just selected at semi-random):
Chozo Remenaint (600): You know all the base theories of chozo tech, not only how they work but how to work them into other things. At this level of aplication you can make Samuses power suit, or something similar. With enough reaserch you can mass produce them easily. You also have the assention theory....just dont get stuck in a ghost form like those other poor chozo. (Note, you can choose whether or not you are a Chozo for free, or get an alt form of one with this perk)
Chozo Database (400, free Chozo Remenaint): A heavily encripted database that unlocks based on the users understanding of the tech stored inside, complete with warnings against things that really shouldnt be tried. You can also choose weather or not to let someone else be able to use in on an per individual basis

The Tower (400): This weapons/armor testing facility if fully automated, and recycles at a 95% efficiency rate. It developed the standard versions of the beam weaponry, and can probably do the same with any esoteric effect you give it given time. It includes self repairing testing drones that will work security in a pinch, after all there should be more than one TESTER in such a facility.

 

[Mandabar]

So this is a modified version of the forge that includes Chozo tech. Note that the following is from the transcript that added it.

how does this sound for a metroid jump perk that can go in the forge (note price just selected at semi-random):
Chozo Remenaint (600): You know all the base theories of chozo tech, not only how they work but how to work them into other things. At this level of aplication you can make Samuses power suit, or something similar. With enough reaserch you can mass produce them easily. You also have the assention theory....just dont get stuck in a ghost form like those other poor chozo. (Note, you can choose whether or not you are a Chozo for free, or get an alt form of one with this perk)
Chozo Database (400, free Chozo Remenaint): A heavily encripted database that unlocks based on the users understanding of the tech stored inside, complete with warnings against things that really shouldnt be tried. You can also choose weather or not to let someone else be able to use in on an per individual basis

The Tower (400): This weapons/armor testing facility if fully automated, and recycles at a 95% efficiency rate. It developed the standard versions of the beam weaponry, and can probably do the same with any esoteric effect you give it given time. It includes self repairing testing drones that will work security in a pinch, after all there should be more than one TESTER in such a facility.

Click to shrink...

Interesting, so that's in the v3 forge or a modified version of it anyways? Ok then... but it wasn't rolled so why was it found in the world? I guess I'm used to physical things appearing safely stored/separated from the 'real' world in the warehouse.

By it not being rolled I take it to mean the Chozo were actual Xeno's in the(or this) 40k universe and now are dead/exterminated by wars/humans/history/their normal ascension type issues. And this is one of their data caches that no one could use till now.

 

[Cheetored20]

Interesting, so that's in the v3 forge or a modified version of it anyways? Ok then... but it wasn't rolled so why was it found in the world? I guess I'm used to physical things appearing safely stored/separated from the 'real' world in the warehouse.

By it not being rolled I take it to mean the Chozo were actual Xeno's in the(or this) 40k universe and now are dead/exterminated by wars/humans/history/their normal ascension type issues. And this is one of their data caches that no one could use till now.

Click to shrink...

It might have been rolled just not activated yet. Also modified version of the forge, I'm the one one who made those perks.

 

[ATP]

I like Kerbals - and they are still more close to science then Mechanicus.
And Mechanicus cute girl...all SI need now is busty Sororita and flat Eldar to made his harem complete.

 

[Cheetored20]

I like Kerbals - and they are still more close to science then Mechanicus.
And Mechanicus cute girl...all SI need now is busty Sororita and flat Eldar to made his harem complete.

Click to shrink...

A what and a what?

 

[Slider Zero]

Mostly because of people getting it right, I'm here with some replies.

Well fuck.

A direct attack from Chaos Undivided.

Yeah. They don't like the Forge, do they...

...and our hero clearly has a LUK stat out the ASS.

And getting your own personal Enginseer that is also a waifu? Works for me! Hey, she might have some interesting modifications... ...oh damn, this isn't the NSFW section. Still!

...and now 40k has Kerbals.

...yeah, this is all fucking crazy. But hey, fiat-backed workforce and an amazing new ally and everything else. And safe back in the forge.

...and did Thoth just get Daemon'd? Fuuuck. ...unless that was part of a perk... I mean, that was either a chozo statue and you got some metroid shit going on. Because holy hell.

Makes me wonder what the AdMech are going to do with the guy hacking the Noosphere... ...also, I wonder how the Warp Tumors react to getting smited? Heh. Bitches. The Forge has only BEGUN to fuck you over! Also... a fucking SCT... yeah. shit is about to Escalate.

Click to shrink...

I mean, could you blame them ? The Forge is utterly overpowered, but it take some time to get going. The best way to deal with the Forge is to act early against the Forge holder.



I wouldn't be surprised if Thot had an emergency shutdown measure if it detect Chaos corruption (as a last resort, it's better to lose Thot than to get Thot turned against you).

Click to shrink...

Attack of Opportunity. The Choatic psyker thing was meant to be an unrelated incident...and then the psyker roll came up fucking HUGE. So shit got wrecked on a massive scale because that's what major chaos psykers DO. The Tumors piggybacked in on it once they realized that Satori was in range.

Think of it as a Hasty Ambush. REALLY Hasty.

will be interesting to see what got THOT on the frits
yay for loot of pirate style
nice combat scene's and letting henry think the mc is a emp blessed saint

Click to shrink...

Did Thot got possessed a Deamon? and a Companion which is nice.

Click to shrink...

I don't think that was a daemon, I'm pretty sure Thoth just downloaded either an STC database or a Chozo database. So, Valkyrie/ Samus suit, get?

Click to shrink...

I can go ahead and confirm NOT a daemon, but the reasons why will come later. I will note that it was an unplanned perk interaction that allowed for it. I have been subconsciously doing that while writing the last few chapters for some reason...

I hope this was an STC database, or a man of stone. Mostly for the historical knowledge which should be part of both though

Click to shrink...

There was a whole, uncorrupted STC in that chamber. You may speculate on the contents.

I love the comparison about Kerbals being Orks obsessed with SPACE rather then War. I can't stop snickering at the thought, it's halarious.

Click to shrink...

yeah, once that got pointed out to me I was snickering pretty hard myself. Those Kerbals are going to be fun, especially since they will likely work to develop the space tech that is already there...

the statue is Chozo referencing. Back against a wall, hands as if holding something. it's a freaking CHOZO Reliquary. They'd be the kind of Magi-tech that could probably do that to a valkyrie core.

Click to shrink...

So what you are saying is that Satori just acquired a Morph Ball?

Click to shrink...

more like chozo techbase acquired.

Click to shrink...

That's fucking Chozo. Best tech birds anywhere!

Ok crazy chapter. I don't know if our MC grabbed the STC or not. Are they even man portable?

Fucking Chozo statue, like what the fuck!? That wasn't forge nonsense it seems from the perk list so I'm intrigued on how author will explain this in 40k.

On the companions I'm a bit weirded out with her not appearing in the workshop or next to him when it rolled... which if I recall don't roll till he wills it? Or the knowledge download doesn't I guess hmmm. So either she appeared near him right before the disaster and he didn't notice or an actual person got shanghaied into being his companion and was drawn to him. Which is a bit skeevy.

Kerbals meh


I'm disappointed everyday all my stories aren't in NSFW. Plot before smut by all means, but no need to be smutless!


The literal bullshit that could be done with actual Chozo techbase is amazing. Just look at what their adopted step daughter Samus can do with a singular power suit, and some understanding of some of their tech base. (She did build her own space ship after all)

Click to shrink...

Interesting, so that's in the v3 forge or a modified version of it anyways? Ok then... but it wasn't rolled so why was it found in the world? I guess I'm used to physical things appearing safely stored/separated from the 'real' world in the warehouse.

By it not being rolled I take it to mean the Chozo were actual Xeno's in the(or this) 40k universe and now are dead/exterminated by wars/humans/history/their normal ascension type issues. And this is one of their data caches that no one could use till now.

Click to shrink...

And now to the meat and potatoes of this post.

Yes, that was a Chozo Statue. The data packet that Thoth got was not perk related...at least not directly. As to why it's there? Its because Chozo are Bullshit. And they are trolling for some reason.

 

[Hadrian.Caeser]

There was a whole, uncorrupted STC in that chamber. You may speculate on the contents.

Click to shrink...

One STC? As in one blueprint? Meh, unless it's something extremely advanced or useful against the warp I don't see its value to us... Unless he could use it to learn how to face them. Trading lots of real ones from forge worlds for fakes would be extremely helpful, as he would learn more about humanity's old technology. This would in turn make it easier to pretend to be part of it.

As for the content, maybe a super advanced pleasure item for women? That would fit right into the universe

 

[Cheetored20]

One STC? As in one blueprint? Meh, unless it's something extremely advanced or useful against the warp I don't see its value to us... Unless he could use it to learn how to face them. Trading lots of real ones from forge worlds for fakes would be extremely helpful, as he would learn more about humanity's old technology. This would in turn make it easier to pretend to be part of it.

As for the content, maybe a super advanced pleasure item for women? That would fit right into the universe

Click to shrink...

Lol, to my knowledge it's uncorrupted meaning it has MORE THAN ONE BLUEPRINT.

 

[RIversand]

Of course the chozo are doing something. They want to make places better, and are superb precogs normally. They knew where to put things for Samus when she would need them. And now they have another hatchling to aid, as they would put it. With a monumental task.

There already was precidence for something like this to happen, as like with the phantasy star online perk, it had actual interactions from it's native settings powers that be, with the real light/photon energy rewarding him for his success against the dark trying to take him.

Of course other powers from outside have taken interest in helping that universe that Satori finds himself in.

I am looking forward to what he comes up with with all that tech. Turn his fighter into a gunship? I can see that happening.

 

[Cheetored20]

Of course the chozo are doing something. They want to make places better, and are superb precogs normally. They knew where to put things for Samus when she would need them. And now they have another hatchling to aid, as they would put it. With a monumental task.

There already was precidence for something like this to happen, as like with the phantasy star online perk, it had actual interactions from it's native settings powers that be, with the real light/photon energy rewarding him for his success against the dark trying to take him.

Of course other powers from outside have taken interest in helping that universe that Satori finds himself in.

I am looking forward to what he comes up with with all that tech. Turn his fighter into a gunship? I can see that happening.

Click to shrink...

Bruh, chozo gunships are op, they are immune to all detection methods exept eyesight.

 

[ATP]

If Chozo are trolling,then they must be alive.Good for WH40 galaxy.