Mechanicum:The Horus Heresy Book 9 Part 1/7

AUDIOLIBRARY

Transcript

00:00:00Mechanicum by Graham McNeill, narrated by Toby Longman.

00:00:30BEHOLD! THE COMING OF THE ONE SUPREME MASTER OF MACHINES.

00:00:45He comes to you from heaven in the drops of rain.

00:00:48Sons of Mars, listen well, for one will come, mighty and strong, holding the sceptre of

00:00:53power in his hand. Clothed in light and fire, his mouth shall

00:00:58utter eternal words, while his mind shall be a fountain of knowledge and fact.

00:01:04When the Saviour shall appear, ye shall see him as he is, a man like ourselves, and yet

00:01:10greater by far. This will be the first step in the greatest

00:01:14endeavour of man. It shall begin on the highest peak of the dominion of Ares.

00:01:20When Deimos and Phobos are at Apogee and Perigree, there thou shalt see the face of the Omnisire.

00:01:28And in a body of gold and wreathed in the firmament of the storm, the Lord of all machines

00:01:32will stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all the dominion of man.

00:01:38Great shall be the glory of his presence, that the sun shall hide his face in shame.

00:01:44For verily I say unto you that he shall be the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the

00:01:51End, the Master of Flesh and the Forger of Metal.

00:01:57He shall be a light that shineth in darkness, and a banisher of ignorance. He shall be the

00:02:02object of devotion and love, which kings might envy, and emperors sigh for in vain.

00:02:09He shall desire the good of Ares's realm and the happiness of man. All must become one

00:02:15in loyalty, and see all men as brothers. Ruinous wars shall pass away, and peace shall reign

00:02:22among the stars. Strife and bloodshed and discord will cease. All men shall be as one

00:02:29kindred. The divisions of the stars shall all be one.

00:02:36The Coming of the Omnisire

00:02:38Exloaded by Pico de la Moravec

00:02:40Primus of the Brotherhood of Singularitarianism

00:02:420.01

00:02:50It never rained on Mars. Not any more. Once, when Mars had first known life, back in an

00:02:56age long unknown to man, mighty storms had torn across the landscape, gouging channels

00:03:01in the rock and carving sweeping coastlines from the towering cliffs of the Great Mons.

00:03:07Then the world had endured its first death, and the planet had become a crated red wasteland

00:03:12of empty dust-bowls and parched deserts. But the red planet lived to breathe again.

00:03:20The terraforming of Mars had begun in the earliest days of the golden age of man's expansion

00:03:24to the stars, bringing new life and hope. But in the end this was a remission, not a

00:03:31cure. Within the span of a few centuries the planet had died its second death, choking

00:03:37on the fumes of volcanic forge complexes, continent-sized refineries, and the effluent

00:03:42of a million weapons-shops. It never rained on Mars.

00:03:48That thought was uppermost in Brother Verticorder's mind as he guided the battered bipedal form

00:03:53of Aris Lictor up the gentle slopes of Olympus Mons towards the colossal volcano's caldera.

00:04:01Resembling a brutish mechanical humanoid some nine metres tall, Aris Lictor was a paladin-class

00:04:07knight, a one-man war-machine of deep blue armour-plates, with a fearsome array of weaponry

00:04:13beyond the power of even the strongest of the Terran Emperor's Astartes to bear. Aris

00:04:18Lictor walked with an awkward, loping gait, thanks to a stubborn knee-joint that no amount

00:04:23of ministration from the tech-priests could restore to full working order. But Verticorder

00:04:29handled his mount with the practised ease of one born in the cockpit.

00:04:34It never rained on Mars. Except it was raining now. The brushed orange skies above were weeping

00:04:43a thin drizzle of moisture, patterning Verticorder's cockpit, and he felt the cold wetness through

00:04:49the hard plugs in his spine and the haptic implants in his fingers. He realised that

00:04:54he too was weeping, for he had never expected to witness such a sight—the heavens opening

00:05:01and precipitation falling to the surface of the red planet. Such a thing had not happened

00:05:06in living memory, and on Mars that was a long time.

00:05:12Two other war-machines followed Verticorder, his brothers-in-arms and fellow knights of

00:05:17Taranis. He could hear their chatter over the manifold, the synaptic congress that linked

00:05:23their minds, but had not the words to convey his own sense of wonder at the sight that

00:05:28greeted them on this day of days. The sky above Olympus Mons raged. Billowing storm-clouds

00:05:36heaved as though ancient, forgotten gods battled within them, slamming their mighty hammers

00:05:42against wrought-iron anvils and hurling forked bolts of lightning at one another. Mars's

00:05:47largest moon, Phobos, was visible as a yellowed irregularity behind the clouds, its crated

00:05:53surface at its closest point to the surface of Mars in decades.

00:05:59The mighty volcano, the largest mountain in the Tharsis region, and indeed the solar system,

00:06:04soared above the Martian landscape, the dizzyingly high escarpments of its cliffs rising to almost

00:06:09thirty kilometres above the surface of the planet. Verticorder knew this region of Tharsis

00:06:15intimately. He had marched Aris Lictor from the fabricated General's Forge on the eastern

00:06:19flanks of the mighty volcano three decades ago, and he had led his brother-warriors across

00:06:24its slopes uncounted times. More lightning flashed, and the thousands gathering at the

00:06:29base of the volcano gazed fearfully into the building tempest from the towering habstacks

00:06:34and ironclad bulwarks of Kelbor Howell's domain. Abused skies cracked and roared, distorting

00:06:41under the overpressure of something unimaginably vast, and the atmospherics lit up the sky

00:06:47as far as any eye, fleshy or augmatic, could see. Crowds in their thousands, in their tens

00:06:54of thousands, were following the knights up the slopes of Olympus Mons, but they had not

00:06:58the speed or manoeuvrability of the war-machines. This wonder was for the knights of Taranis

00:07:04and for them alone.

00:07:06A shape moved in the clouds, and Verticorder halted his mount at the sheer edge of the

00:07:11caldera's escarpment with a release of pressure on his right hand. The bond he had forged

00:07:17with it in years of battle was that of two comrades-in-arms who had shared blood and

00:07:21victory in equal measure. Verticorder could feel the anticipation of this moment in every

00:07:27sizzling joint and weld within Ares Licta, as though it, more than he, was anticipating

00:07:33the glory of this day. Golden light flashed above, and the drizzle of rain became a downpour.

00:07:41A zigzagging pathway had been cut into the cliff, leading to the base of the caldera,

00:07:46only two kilometres below. It was a treacherous path in ideal conditions, but in this deluge

00:07:52it was close to suicide.

00:07:54''What do you say, old friend?'' asked Verticorder. ''Shall we greet these new arrivals?''

00:08:01He could feel the machine straining beneath him, and smiled, easing up the power and walking

00:08:06the knight towards the edge of the cliff. The steps were designed for the long strides

00:08:10and wide treads of a knight, but were slick and reflective with rain.

00:08:15It was a long way down, and not even the armour or energy shields that protected a

00:08:19knight in battle would save him from a fall from this height.

00:08:24Verticorder guided Ares Licta's first step onto the cut path, and felt the slipperiness

00:08:28beneath its feet as though he walked upon it himself. Each step was dangerous, and he

00:08:33took care to ensure that each one was taken with the utmost reverence. Step by step, inch

00:08:39by inch, he walked Ares Licta down the path to the cratered plain below.

00:08:45Golden light suddenly burst from the clouds above, dazzling and brilliant, and bolts of

00:08:50scarlet lightning danced like crackling spider-webs between the ground and sky. Verticorder almost

00:08:55lost his footing as he instinctively looked up. A mighty floating city of gold was descending

00:09:01from the heavens. Like a mountainous spire sheared from the side of some vast continental

00:09:07landmass the city was studded with light and colour, its dimensions enormous beyond imagining.

00:09:13A vast, eagle-winged prow of gold marked one end of the floating city, and colossal

00:09:19battlements like the highest towers of the mightiest Martian spire rose like gnarled

00:09:23stalagmites from the other. Rippling engines flared with unimaginable power on the colossal

00:09:29edifice's underside, and Verticorder stood amazed at the technology required to prevent

00:09:34such a monstrous creation from plummeting to the ground.

00:09:38Flocks of smaller craft attended the larger one, its dimensions only growing larger the

00:09:42more it emerged from its concealing clouds.

00:09:45"'Blood of the machine!' hissed Jelzik, rider of the night at his back. "'How can such a

00:09:51thing stay aloft?'

00:09:53"'Concentrate on your descent,' warned Verticorder. "'I don't want you losing your footing behind

00:09:57me.'

00:09:58"'Understood.'

00:09:59Verticorder returned his attention to the pathway, negotiating the last three hundred

00:10:04metres bathed in a cold sweat. He let out a long, shuddering breath as he took his first

00:10:10step onto the surface of the Olympus Mons caldera, enjoying the strange new sensation

00:10:14of mud sucking at his feet.

00:10:17By the time the knights reached the base of the cliff, the enormous craft had landed,

00:10:22its gargantuan bulk surely offset by some dampening field to prevent it from collapsing

00:10:26under its own weight, or sinking deep into the Martian surface.

00:10:31Roiling clouds of superheated steam and condensing gases billowed outwards from the ship, and

00:10:36as they swept over Ares Licta, Verticorder smelled the scents of another world—hard

00:10:41radiation, the ache of Homeland's long-forgotten and thin, achingly cold mountain air. He told

00:10:49himself it was ludicrous to sense such things from a ship that had just made the fiery descent

00:10:53through a planet's atmosphere, yet they were there as plain as day.

00:10:58"'Spread out,' said Verticorder. "'Flank speed!'

00:11:03The knights, loping alongside him, moved into a combat spread as they strode through

00:11:07the hot, moist mists. Verticorder felt no threat from the unknown craft, yet decades

00:11:13of training and discipline would not allow him to approach it without taking precautions.

00:11:18At last the mist thinned and Verticorder pulled up as the enormous golden cliff of the vessel's

00:11:23flanks rose up before him like a mountain freshly deposited on the planet's surface.

00:11:29That scale was awe-inspiring, more so than even the fastnesses of the Titan legions or

00:11:34the Data Mountains of the Temple of All Knowledge. Even the mightiest forge-temple of Mondus

00:11:41Gamma on the Syria Planum paled in comparison to the scale of this vessel, for it had been

00:11:46fashioned with deliberate artifice and not the combined forces of millions of years of

00:11:50geological interaction. Every plate and sheet of the enormous vessel was worked with the

00:11:56care of a craftsman, and Verticorder struggled to think of a reason why so many would labour

00:12:01for so long and with such devotion to ornament a vessel designed for travel between the stars.

00:12:07The answer came a moment after the question. This was no ordinary vessel. This was a craft

00:12:14built with love, a craft built for a being beloved by all. No ordinary man could inspire

00:12:21such devotion, and Verticorder suddenly felt an overwhelming fear that he was in the presence

00:12:25of something far greater and far more terrifying than anything he could ever have imagined.

00:12:31A shrieking blast of steam vented from the ship, and a colossal hatchway was limbed in

00:12:36golden light. Huge pneumatic pistons, larger than a Titan, slowly lowered a long ramp,

00:12:42easily wide enough for a regiment of jean-bulks Qatari to march down in line abreast. The

00:12:49ramp lowered with no sign of strain on the vessel, and the brightness within poured out,

00:12:54bathing the Martian landscape in a warm, welcome glow. Verticorder twisted Iris Lictor around

00:13:00on its central axis, and felt a shiver travel the length of his spine as he saw the entire

00:13:04rim of the volcano's crater lined with onlookers. With a thought, he increased the magnification

00:13:11through the view-screen and saw thousands of robed adepts, menials, tech-priests, low-guy,

00:13:17and workers gathered to watch the events unfolding below.

00:13:22Rackling voltaic viewing-clouds coloured the sky behind the crowds, and flocks of servo-skulls

00:13:28buzzed overhead, though none dared approach within the swirling electromagnetic field

00:13:33that surrounded the craft. The huge ramp crunched down, and Verticorder squinted into the light

00:13:40that blazed from within. A silhouette moved within the light, tall and powerful, glorious

00:13:47and magnificent. The light seemed to move with him, and as Verticorder watched the figure

00:13:53descend the ramp, a shadow fell across the surface of the plain on which the craft had

00:13:58landed. Though he was loath to tear his gaze from the magnificent figure, Verticorder looked

00:14:04up to see a convex ellipse of darkness bite into the glowing outline of the sun. The light

00:14:11from the storm-wracked skies faded until the only illumination came from the figure as

00:14:16he stepped onto Martian soil for the first time. Verticorder knew immediately that the

00:14:21man was a warrior, for there could be no doubt that this sublime figure had been made mighty

00:14:27by battle. Verticorder felt the collective gasp from the thousands of spectators in his

00:14:33bones, as though the very planet shuddered with pleasure to know this individual's touch.

00:14:39He looked back down and saw the warrior standing before him, tall and clad in golden armour,

00:14:44each plate wrought with the same skill and love as had been lavished upon his vessel.

00:14:50The warrior wore no helm, and was fitted with no visible breathing-augmentics, yet seemed

00:14:54untroubled by the chemical-laden air of Mars. Verticorder found his gaze dwelling on the

00:15:01warrior's face, beautiful and perfect, as though able to see beyond the armoured exterior

00:15:06of Ares Licta and into Verticorder's soul. In his eyes, his so very ancient eyes, Verticorder

00:15:14saw the wisdom of all the ages and the burden of all the knowledge contained within them.

00:15:20A crimson mantle flapped in the wind behind the giant warrior, and he carried an eagle-topped

00:15:25sceptre clutched in one mighty gauntlet. The golden giant's eyes scrutinised the blue-armoured

00:15:31form of Verticorder's mount, from its conical glasses to the aventailed shoulder-plates

00:15:36upon which the wheel and lightning-bolt symbol of the Knights of Taranis was emblazoned.

00:15:43The warrior reached out towards him.

00:15:45"'Your machine is damaged, Taemon Verticorder,' he said, his voice heavy and yet musical, like

00:15:52the most perfect sound imaginable. May I?'

00:15:57Verticorder found himself unable to form a reply, knowing that anything he might say

00:16:01would be trite in the face of such perfection. It didn't occur to him to wonder how the sublime

00:16:06warrior knew his name. Without waiting for a reply, the warrior reached out, and Verticorder

00:16:12felt his touch upon the joints of Arislichter's knee.

00:16:16"'Machine, heal thyself,' said the warrior, the purpose and self-belief in his voice passing

00:16:23into Verticorder as though infusing every molecule of his hybrid existence of flesh

00:16:27and steel with new-found purpose and vitality. He felt the warmth of the warrior's touch

00:16:33through the shell of his mount, and gasped as trembling vibrations spread through its

00:16:37armoured frame of plasteel and ceramite. He took an involuntary step back, feeling the

00:16:42movements of his mount flow as smoothly as ever they had. With one step he could feel

00:16:48Arislichter move as though it had just come off the assembly lines, its stubborn knee-joint

00:16:53flexing like new.

00:16:54"'Who are you?' he gasped, his voice sounding grating and pathetic next to the mighty timbre

00:17:01of the golden warrior's voice.

00:17:03"'I am the Emperor,' said the warrior.

00:17:09It was a simple answer, yet the weight of history and the potential of a glorious future

00:17:13were carried in every syllable. Knowing he would never again hear words spoken with such

00:17:18meaning, Verticorder and Arislichter dropped to one knee, performing the manoeuvre with

00:17:23a grace that would have been impossible before the Emperor's touch. In that moment Taman

00:17:28Verticorder knew the truth of the being standing before him.

00:17:32"'Welcome to Mars, my lord,' he said.

00:17:36"'All praise to the Omnisire!'

00:17:42Principia Mechanicum

00:17:441.01

00:17:51Swathed in faded and tattered robes of rust-red, the six Mechanicum Protectors stood unmoving

00:17:56before her, as still as the towering statues of the Magi that had stared down upon the

00:18:01thousands of scribes within the great hall of transcription of the Librarium Technologica.

00:18:08Their iron-shod boots were locked tight into the ship's deck restraints, while she had

00:18:12had to hold on to a metal stanchion just to avoid cracking her head on its fuselage or

00:18:17tumbling around the hold when it had taken off.

00:18:20The interior of the ship was bare and unadorned, as functional as it was possible to be.

00:18:26No unnecessary decorations or aesthetic elements designed to ease the eye were included in

00:18:31its design, perfectly epitomising the organisation to which it belonged.

00:18:37Dahlia Sithera ran her hands through her cropped blonde hair, feeling the dirt and grease there,

00:18:42and longing for one of her weekly rotations in the windward sumps' ablutions' block.

00:18:47She had a feeling, however, that her cleanliness was the furthest thing from the minds of the

00:18:51Protectors.

00:18:53None of them had spoken to her other than to confirm her name when they had removed

00:18:56her from the cell beneath the Librarium, in which Magos Ludd had locked her a week earlier.

00:19:02He had discovered the enhancements she had made to the inner workings of her cogitator,

00:19:06and had hauled her from the work-line in a rage, angry hashes of binaric static canting

00:19:12from his vocaliser.

00:19:14Seven days alone in complete darkness had almost broken her.

00:19:18She remembered squeezing into a tiny ball when the cell door finally opened and she

00:19:22saw the bronze death-masks of the Protectors, their gleaming weapon-staves and the unforgiving

00:19:27light of their eyes.

00:19:30Ludd's blurted protests at the Protectors' intrusion soon ceased when they invited him

00:19:34to scan the biometric security encryptions carried within their staves.

00:19:39She was frightened of the Protectors, but then she guessed she was supposed to be.

00:19:44Their masters in the Mechanicum had designed them that way, with their enhanced bulk, weaponised

00:19:49limbs and glowing green eyes that shone unblinking behind bronze skull-faced masks.

00:19:56Within moments she had been hauled from the cell and dragged through the cavernous echoing

00:20:00scriptoria where she had spent the last two years of her life, her limbs loose and weak.

00:20:06Thousands upon thousands of robed scribes, ordinates, curators, and form-stampers filled

00:20:12the scriptoria, and as she was carried towards the enormous arch that led to the world beyond

00:20:17she realised she would be sad to leave the knowledge that passed through it.

00:20:22She would not miss the people, for she had no friends here and no colleagues.

00:20:26None of the pallid-skinned adepts looked up from the monotony of their work, the sea-green

00:20:31glow of their cogitators and the flickering lumen-globes floating in the dusty air, leeching

00:20:36their wizened features of life and animation.

00:20:41Such a state of being was foreign to Dahlia, and it never failed to amaze her that her

00:20:45fellow-scribes were so blind to the honour of what they did.

00:20:49The recovered knowledge of Terra, and the new wonders sent back from across the galaxy

00:20:54by the thousands of remembrances accompanying the expeditions of the Great Crusade, passed

00:20:58through this chamber.

00:21:00Despite the glorious flood of information, carefully logged and filed within the great

00:21:04libraries of Terra, every one of the faceless minions ceaselessly, blindly, ground themselves

00:21:10into old age, repeating the same bureaucratic and administrative tasks every waking hour

00:21:15of every day, oblivious or uncaring of the wealth of information to which they were privy.

00:21:23Without the insight or even the will to question the tasks they had been given to perform,

00:21:27the scribes shuffled from their habstacks through the same kilometres of well-trodden

00:21:31corridors every day, and performed their duties without question, thought, or awe.

00:21:38The rustle of paper was what Dahlia imagined the ocean to sound like, the clatter of adding

00:21:43machines and the rattle of brass keys on the typesetters like the motion of uncounted pebbles

00:21:48on a beach.

00:21:49Of course, Dahlia had never seen the things she imagined, for the seas of Terra had long

00:21:54since boiled away in forgotten wars, but the words she read as she copied text from the

00:21:59reams of paper and armfuls of data-slates carried in daily by muscled servitors had

00:22:04filled her mind with possibilities of worlds and ideas that existed far beyond the confines

00:22:09of Terra's mightiest scriptorium. Emerging from the musty darkness of the Librarium Technologica,

00:22:16she had been blinded by the brightness of the day, the sky a brilliant white and the

00:22:20sun a hazy orb peeking through scraps of clouds the colour of corrosion.

00:22:27The air was cold and thin at this altitude. She could just make out the tips of the slate-coloured

00:22:32mountains that crowned the world over the teeming roofs and spires crammed together

00:22:36in this part of the Imperial Palace. She had longed to see the mountains in all their glory,

00:22:42but her escorts marched her through dark streets that sweated steam and oil and voices towards

00:22:48an unknown destination without pause.

00:22:52That destination turned out to be a landing-platform, upon which sat a vapour-wreathed starship,

00:22:58its hull still warm and groaning from the stresses of an atmospheric entry.

00:23:03She was led into the cavernous hold and deposited on the floor, while the protectors took up

00:23:07their allocated positions and the maglocks secured them to the deck. With a juddering

00:23:12roar and sudden lurch the starship lifted off, and Dahlia was thrown to her knees by

00:23:17the violence of the ascent. Fear gripped her, and she clung to a protruding stanchion as

00:23:23the angle of incline increased sharply.

00:23:27The thought that she was leaving the planet of her birth struck her forcefully, and she

00:23:31experienced terrible panic at the thought of venturing beyond her known horizons. No

00:23:36sooner had she chided herself for such timidity than the panic subsided and she felt her stomach

00:23:41cramp as she realised how hungry she was.

00:23:45The roaring of the starship and the vibrations on its hull grew louder and more violent until

00:23:50she was sure the craft was going to tear itself apart. Eventually the noise changed in tone

00:23:56and the starship began to level out, powering through the void at unimaginable speeds.

00:24:02She was travelling on a starship.

00:24:06With a moment free to think she now wondered where she was going, and why the mechanic

00:24:10and protectors had plucked her from the Librarium's cells, and for what purpose. Curiously she

00:24:16felt no fear of this strange voyage, but she attributed that lack to the mystery and interest

00:24:21of it being enough to overshadow any wariness she felt. Over the next day or so her escorts

00:24:28— she did not now think of them as captors — resisted her every attempt at communication,

00:24:34save to instruct her to eat and drink, which she did ravenously, despite the food's chemical

00:24:39artificiality. They did not move from their locked positions at all during the journey,

00:24:45standing as mute guardians and offering her no diversion save in the study of their forms.

00:24:51Each one was tall and powerfully built, their physiques jean-bulked and augmented with implanted

00:24:57weaponry. Ribbed cables and coloured wires threaded their robes and penetrated their

00:25:02flesh through raw-looking plugs embedded in their skin. She had seen protectors before,

00:25:08but she had never been so close to one. They smelled unpleasantly of rotten meat, machine

00:25:14oil and stale sweat. They were armed with giant pistols with flaring barrels and tall

00:25:20staves of iron topped with a bronze-and-silver cog, from which hung a scrap of parchment

00:25:26that fluttered in the gusting air within the cold compartment. A set of numbers was written

00:25:32on the parchment, arranged in a four-by-four grid, and Dahlia quickly worked out that each

00:25:36line added up to the same number, no matter which way they were combined — vertically,

00:25:42horizontally or diagonally. Not only that, but each of the quadrants — the four centre

00:25:47squares, the corner squares, and many other combinations — added up to the same figure.

00:25:52Thirty-four, she said. It's always thirty-four. The design was familiar to her, and Dahlia

00:25:59knew she had seen it before. No sooner had she wondered where than the answer came to

00:26:04her.

00:26:05The melancholia, said Dahlia, nodding at the parchment.

00:26:11What did you say? asked the protector.

00:26:14His voice was human, but echoed with a metallic rasp beneath his bronze mask, and Dahlia was

00:26:20momentarily taken aback that he had actually responded to something she said.

00:26:24The symbol on your parchment, she said. It's from an engraving. I saw it in a book I transcribed

00:26:30two years ago.

00:26:32Two years ago. And you still remember it?

00:26:36Yes, nodded Dahlia hesitantly. I kind of remember stuff I've read, and don't forget it.

00:26:44It is the symbol of our master, said the protector.

00:26:49It's from an engraving of one of the old master-prints, said Dahlia, her eyes taking on a glazed look

00:26:54as she spoke, talking more to herself than to the protector. It was so old. But then

00:27:01everything we transcribe in the Great Hall that's not from the expedition fleets is old.

00:27:05It was a picture of a woman, but she looked frustrated, as if she was annoyed at not being

00:27:11able to invent something ingenious. She had all sorts of equipment around her, weights,

00:27:17an hourglass and a hammer, but she looked sad, as if she just couldn't get the idea

00:27:21to take shape.

00:27:23The protectors glanced at one another as Dahlia spoke, each one gripping his stave tightly.

00:27:29Dahlia caught the look and her words trailed off.

00:27:32What? she asked.

00:27:35The protector disengaged the mag-lock clamp securing him to the deck and stepped towards

00:27:39her. The suddenness of his motion took her by surprise, and she stumbled backwards, falling

00:27:45on to her backside as he loomed over her, the green glow of his eyes shining brightly

00:27:50within his tattered hood.

00:27:52I begin to see why we were sent to fetch you, said the protector.

00:27:58You do? asked Dahlia.

00:28:01And you were sent for me?

00:28:03Me? Dahlia Sithera?

00:28:05Yes, Dahlia Sithera. Rho-mu-thirty-one was sent to fetch you from Terra.

00:28:12Rho-mu-thirty-one?

00:28:14That is our designation, said the protector.

00:28:18What all of you?

00:28:19All of us. Each of us. It is all the same.

00:28:25All right. But why were you sent to fetch me? asked Dahlia.

00:28:30We were sent to fetch you before you were executed.

00:28:33Executed? exclaimed Dahlia.

00:28:35For what?

00:28:38Magos Lud invoked the law of the divine complexity, explained Rho-mu-thirty-one. Individuals so

00:28:45accused attract the attention of our master.

00:28:50Dahlia thought for a moment, her eyes fluttering beneath their lids, as she recalled what that

00:28:54law concerned.

00:28:55Let me think. That's the belief that the structure and working of each machine has been set down

00:29:01by the Omnissiah, and is therefore divine, and that to alter it is—

00:29:06Oh! You see now why we came for you?

00:29:10Not really, admitted Dahlia. Anyway, who is your master? And what does he want with me?

00:29:17I'm just a transcriber of remembrance. I'm nobody.

00:29:21Rho-mu-thirty-one shook his head, making a fist and placing it over the silver and bronze

00:29:26cog atop his staff.

00:29:28You are more than you realise, Dahlia Sithera, he said, but that and more will become clear

00:29:35to you when you meet our master.

00:29:38High Adept Coriel Zeth, Mistress of the Magma-City.

00:29:42The Magma-City? asked Dahlia. Where is that?

00:29:48At the edge of the De-Dahlia Planum, on the southern flank of Ossiah Mons, said Rho-mu-thirty-one,

00:29:55lifting his stave and touching it to an opaque panel on the vibrating hull of the starship.

00:30:00A flickering light crackled, and the panel began to change, slowly becoming more and

00:30:05more translucent, until finally it was virtually transparent.

00:30:10When this transformation was complete, Dahlia gasped at the sight before her, her face bathed

00:30:15in a fiery red glow from the planet below. Its surface was clad in fire and metal, its

00:30:21atmosphere choked with striated clouds of pollution. Teeming with gargantuan sprawls

00:30:26of industry larger than the continents of Old Earth, the world seemed to throb with

00:30:30the heartbeat of monstrous hammers. Plumes of fire and towering stacks of iron rose from

00:30:37its mountainous southern regions, and networks of gleaming steel spread out like cracks in

00:30:42the ground through which fractured light spilled into the sky.

00:30:46Is that—?

00:30:47Mars, confirmed Rho-mu-thirty-one. Domain of the Mechanicum.

00:30:55Supersonic shells tore through the gaggle of servitors feeding on the dead technomats,

00:31:00obliterating one instantly and blowing the limbs from another. Three others staggered

00:31:05back, chunks of flesh blasted from their emaciated frames. They refused to fall, however, their

00:31:11damaged brains unable to comprehend how grievously the guns of Cronus' knight had wounded

00:31:15them.

00:31:16All yours, Maven, said Cronus, cutting off the stream of shells.

00:31:21So glad you left me something to do, replied Maven.

00:31:25Maven moved Equitas Bellum in behind the bloody servitors, the energized blade in his war

00:31:30machine's right fist reaching down and slicing through the servitors in one sweep. Old Statoff

00:31:36finished off the stragglers with a short, perfectly controlled burst of laser fire,

00:31:41their wasted bodies exploding in puffs of vaporized blood and scrap metal. Standing

00:31:46five times the height of the feral creatures, the three knights towered over the battlefield,

00:31:51though Maven knew that to call it such was to vastly overstate the nature of the deaths

00:31:55they had caused. The knights were armoured in thick plates of plasteel and ceramite,

00:32:01protected by layered banks of power field strong enough to weather the impact of a much

00:32:05larger engine's wrath, and armed with weapons that could kill scores at a time. The plates

00:32:11of their armor were a deep midnight blue, the right shoulder of each one painted with

00:32:16the design of a wheel encircling a lightning-bolt. The same design was repeated on the long cream-coloured

00:32:22banners hanging between the mechanized legs of all three war machines, the heraldry of

00:32:27the Knights of Taranis. Maven rode in Equitas Bellum, an honourable mount with a host of

00:32:33battle honours earned in the earliest days of the Great Crusade. It had fought the enemies

00:32:38of the Imperium beneath a dozen different skies, and even marched alongside the Salamanders

00:32:43of Primarch Vulcan. The design of a fire-drake carved into the skull cockpit of the knight

00:32:50recalled that campaign, and Maven never tired of telling the stories of that glorious ride

00:32:55into battle. His studious brother-in-arms, Cronos, rode in Pax Mortis, and old Stator

00:33:02commanded the august majesty of Fortis Metallum. All three war-machines had earned their share

00:33:09of glory on the battlefields of the Imperium, marching ahead of the Titan engines, the God-machines.

00:33:17The Knights of Taranis were feted among the warriors of Mars for their martial achievements,

00:33:21revered for their place in Martian history, and lauded for the wisdom of their commanders.

00:33:28Even the mighty princeps of the Titan legions were known to seek the wise counsel of the

00:33:32Order's masters, for Lords Verticorder and Catarix were known as leaders whose shared

00:33:37command blended the warriors' heart with the diplomats' cool.

00:33:41"'So why in the name of the Omnissiah are we stuck out in the arse-end of nowhere culling

00:33:47feral servitors?' he asked himself, before remembering that the manifold link between

00:33:51the knights was still open.

00:33:53"'We're here because those are our orders, Maven,' said Stator.

00:33:58"'Do you have a problem with that?'

00:34:00"'No, Preceptor,' replied Maven, his tone contrite.

00:34:04"'I just meant that it seems like such a waste of our strength.

00:34:08Can't Magos Maximals protect us before their own culls?'

00:34:11"'Not as well as we can,' said Cronos, his answer sounding like it came from a training manual.

00:34:17Maven felt his lip curl in a sneer at his brother's sycophancy.

00:34:22"'Exactly, Cronos,' said Stator.

00:34:25"'We've been given a duty to protect this reactor complex, and there is honour in duty,

00:34:29no matter how far beneath us it might seem.'

00:34:33Maven sensed an opening and said,

00:34:35"'But the Knights of Taranis once marched with a crusade.

00:34:38We've fought alongside heroes of the Imperium, and now all we do is shoot feral servitors

00:34:42that come up out of the paladus.

00:34:45There's no glory in this work.'

00:34:47"'These days the threats to the Warmasters' campaigns require forces stronger than us,'

00:34:52said Stator, but Maven could sense the bitterness beneath his words.

00:34:56"'The Great Crusade is almost over.'

00:34:58"'And what will be left for us?'

00:35:01demanded Maven, emboldened by Stator's words.

00:35:04"'There must be expeditions that need the skills of our order.'

00:35:08"'The expeditions do not ask for knights,' said Stator.

00:35:12"'They ask for the god-machines to walk with their armies.

00:35:15"'Our role is to protect Mars and maintain the traditions of our order,

00:35:19and part of that tradition is honouring our obligations.

00:35:22Is that understood, Maven?'

00:35:25"'Yes, Preceptor,' said Maven.

00:35:28"'Now let's finish this sweep and make sure there are no more of them.

00:35:31Maximal needs this facility kept safe,

00:35:34and Lord Catarix swore that we would do so.'

00:35:38Maven sighed and walked his knight to where humming power cables jutted from the hard,

00:35:43orange earth and spat sparks where the Servitors had dug at them

00:35:47to feed the machine parts of their ravaged bodies.

00:35:50The corpses of the Technomats and Artificers sent to fix the damage lay in pools of blood

00:35:55that were already congealing in the heat that bled from the fusion reactor

00:35:59further back in the gorge.

00:36:01"'Check for more of them out there, Cronos,' ordered Stator.

00:36:05"'They usually hunted bigger packs than this.'

00:36:08"'Yes, Preceptor,' replied Cronos.

00:36:10Marching his knight past the dead Servitors

00:36:12and through the gap torn in the barbed, chain-link fence that surrounded the reactor,

00:36:17Cronos guided his machine up the rocky slopes

00:36:19to check the ground behind an outcrop of boulders.

00:36:23To manoeuvre so large a machine as a knight over such rough terrain was no mean feat,

00:36:27and Maven was forced to admire his brother's skill as a pilot.

00:36:31Fortis Metallum's upper body swivelled around on its gimbal waist-mount to face Maven,

00:36:36and though he couldn't see his Preceptor's face through the red visor of the cockpit,

00:36:40he could feel the stern, unflinching gaze through the softly glowing slits.

00:36:45"'Keep an eye on our rear, in case any slipped past us,' ordered Stator,

00:36:50his voice once again as grim and inflexible as the posture of his machine.

00:36:55"'I'll hold you responsible if they have.

00:36:57"'Yes, Preceptor,' replied Maven.

00:37:00"'I'm on it.'

00:37:02It was a Martian truism that if a warrior and machine spent enough time linked together,

00:37:06they would begin to take on aspects of the other's character.

00:37:10Fortis Metallum was an old machine, cantankerous, flinty, and utterly without mercy.

00:37:17It was the perfect match for Stator.

00:37:20Maven had met countless Titan drivers,

00:37:23and it was easy to tell which machines they commanded within moments of talking to them.

00:37:28Warhound drivers were belligerent wolf-like daredevils,

00:37:31whereas the men who fought from the towering Battle Titans were arrogant and ego-driven warriors,

00:37:36who often appeared to hold those around them in contempt.

00:37:40Maven knew that such conceit was forgivable,

00:37:42for marching to war so high above the battlefield and unleashing such awesome destructive power

00:37:47would naturally swell a man's ego,

00:37:50but it was also a necessary defence against the engine's character overwhelming that of its commander.

00:37:56Maven walked his machine backwards in a bravura display of skill,

00:37:59watching as Stator turned away to follow Cronus through the mangled remains of the security fencing.

00:38:06A knight was much smaller than a Titan,

00:38:08but the mechanics in its construction and operation were no less incredible.

00:38:13A Titan had a crew to maintain its systems,

00:38:16a servitor to man each weapon system,

00:38:18a steersman to drive it,

00:38:20a tech-priest and minister to its bellicose heart,

00:38:23a moderati to run the crew,

00:38:24and a princeps to command it.

00:38:27A knight was the perfect meld of flesh and steel,

00:38:30a mighty war-machine at the command of a single pilot,

00:38:33a warrior who had the confidence to wield its power

00:38:36and the humility to know that, despite that power, he was not invincible.

00:38:42Maven strode back towards the reactor complex,

00:38:45spreading his auspex net wide to pick up any of the feral servitors that might have broken away from the main pack,

00:38:51though he suspected he would not find any.

00:38:54Even if he did, what threat did a few servitors represent?

00:38:59Broken and irreparably damaged servitors, or those whose cranial surgery had failed to take,

00:39:04were often simply dumped in the Pallidus,

00:39:07the name given to the toxic, ashen hinterlands that existed between the Martian forges.

00:39:13The vast majority died, but some survived,

00:39:16though to call their doomed existence life was overstating the reality of it.

00:39:21Most simply attempted to carry out the task for which they had been created,

00:39:25marching back and forth through the wastelands,

00:39:27with their fried brains unable to comprehend that they were no longer in service.

00:39:32In some cases, the damage to their brains allowed them a fragile degree of autonomy,

00:39:36and those unfortunate creatures survived by feasting on the dead.

00:39:41Drawn by warmth and power, many banded together in unthinking packs and infested mechanicum facilities,

00:39:47attacking workers and draining current to sustain their wretched experience.

00:39:53Such creatures required culling, which brought Maven's thoughts full circle.

00:39:58He lifted his head, the motion of the night's cranial carapace following exactly.

00:40:04The crags around the reactor were empty and desolate,

00:40:07the red volcanic peaks scoured by dust clouds,

00:40:09blown up by the high winds funnelled along the northern fossil.

00:40:14The heart of the reactor facility sat 600 metres back from the fencing that surrounded it,

00:40:19a collection of intricate buildings of pipes, cables and crackling antenna towers.

00:40:24A huge domed structure sat in the middle of the complex,

00:40:27its surface studded with plugs and vents.

00:40:30The air rippled around the building, and intense waves of heat and electromagnetism

00:40:35washed from it in tidal surges.

00:40:38The trench of the Gigas Fossi was dotted with several fusion reactors,

00:40:42but the facility upon the rocky slope surrounding the northern impact craters of Ulysses Patera

00:40:47was the largest and had been built by Magos Ipluvian Maximal.

00:40:53Adept Maximal was one of the most senior magi of Mars,

00:40:56and his fusion reactors supplied power to a great many vassal forges

00:41:00dotted around the Tharsis uplands.

00:41:03Such arrangements were common across the Red Planet,

00:41:06ancient treaties binding the clans and forges together

00:41:09in reciprocal pacts of protection and supply

00:41:12that allowed such varied groups with conflicting needs to co-exist.

00:41:17As well as allied forges, Maximal had exchanged bonds of fealty and supply

00:41:22with a number of warrior orders, including many of the most revered Titan legios.

00:41:28So why aren't they here? Maven muttered to himself.

00:41:32Too busy arguing amongst themselves is why.

00:41:35Maven put thoughts of the increasing tensions on Mars from his mind

00:41:39and made his way forwards, swinging the auspex around by twisting his mount's upper body,

00:41:44pulverising boulders as its enormous weight crushed them beneath its stride.

00:41:50He needed to cover every approach to the reactor complex,

00:41:53and threat or not, Stator would haul him over the coals

00:41:56were any feral servitors to get past him.

00:41:59He felt the rocks break beneath Equitas Bellum's feet,

00:42:03the sensation akin to having his body and senses magnified to the size of the knight.

00:42:08Mechanic and protector squads at the edge of the reactor complex

00:42:11saw him and bowed respectfully as his knight shook the ground with its heavy strides.

00:42:18Menials and servitors laboured to maintain the giant reactor functions,

00:42:21their movements slow and sluggish in heavily reinforced hazmat suits.

00:42:26A huge transformer crackled with energy flares,

00:42:29metres thick cabling and a lattice of conductor towers linking it to the reactor.

00:42:34Blue lightning sparked from the transformer,

00:42:36rippling along the length of ductwork that was visible before the cables delved beneath the regolith

00:42:41and bedrock towards destinations all across the quadrant of Tharsis.

00:42:46Maven blinked as he felt a tremor through the auspex return,

00:42:50a fleeting impression of something moving on the far side of the reactor.

00:42:54He focused his attention on that part of the cockpit display,

00:42:57enhancing the imagery in an attempt to see what he was receiving.

00:43:02Blood of the machine, he swore, as the auspex connected with something big,

00:43:07something throwing off a spider-like pattern of electromagnetic energy,

00:43:10much larger than a servitor.

00:43:13For the briefest second it appeared as though a great many other signals accompanied it.

00:43:18An instant later and it was gone, blinked out as though it had never existed.

00:43:24More ghost returns faded in and out,

00:43:26and Maven was suddenly unsure as to whether he'd seen anything at all.

00:43:31A knight's auspex was hardwired into the pilot's senses via a spinal plug,

00:43:36and interpreting the incoming data streams was an artform in itself,

00:43:40a blend of intuition and hard fact.

00:43:42In any case, it was difficult to be sure of anything in this region,

00:43:46the flare-offs and radiation bleeds from the reactor playing havoc with the veracity of auspex returns.

00:43:52Then the spider pattern flashed again, and this time he was certain.

00:43:57Something was out there, and it wasn't squawking on any friendly channel.

00:44:02Preceptor, I think I have something, said the voice.

00:44:06Define something, Maven, came the voice of Preceptor Stata.

00:44:11I'm not sure, but it's coming from the opposite side of the reactor complex.

00:44:15More servitors, asked Cronus.

00:44:18Maven chewed his bottom lip, willing the sensor return to come again

00:44:22so he could report something more concrete,

00:44:24but the portion of the manifold dedicated to auspex returns

00:44:27remained steadfastly awash with background radiation.

00:44:31Still, he was sure that whatever was out there was more than simply feral servitors.

00:44:36No, he said.

00:44:38Something bigger.

00:44:42The starship banked as its pilot adjusted the angle of attack

00:44:45to allow it to enter the atmosphere safely.

00:44:48The view through the panel that Rho-Mu-31 had rendered transparent slid away,

00:44:52and Dahlia wrapped her knuckles against it.

00:44:55I'm assuming this isn't glass, she said.

00:44:58What is it?

00:45:00Photomalleable steel, said Rho-Mu-31.

00:45:05A burst of current from my stave alters the structure of the molecular bonds

00:45:09within the metal to allow certain forms of light waves to pass through it.

00:45:14I haven't heard of anything like it, said Dahlia,

00:45:17amazed at the potential for such a material.

00:45:20Few beyond the magma city have, said Rho-Mu-31.

00:45:25It is a creation of adept zeth.

00:45:28Dahlia nodded and returned her attention to the view through the transparent metal.

00:45:33No sooner had she done so than she found herself staring in wonder

00:45:37at an array of enormous structures,

00:45:39surely too large to have been created by the artifice of mere humans.

00:45:44Colossal orbital constructions filled the heavens above Mars,

00:45:47a near contiguous array of gigantic shipyards and construction facilities.

00:45:52Dahlia pressed her face to the cold panel,

00:45:55craning her neck to see how far the unbelievable conglomeration stretched.

00:45:59Try as she might, she could see no end to the gleaming docks,

00:46:03one end of the arc of steel rising up beyond sight above the ship she travelled in,

00:46:08the other vanishing around the curve of the red planet.

00:46:12The Ring of Iron, said Rho-Mu-31.

00:46:16The original exploratory fleets were constructed here,

00:46:19and much of the expeditionary fleets were built in these docks.

00:46:23It's huge, said Dahlia, cursing herself for stating something so obvious.

00:46:29They are the largest space docks in the galaxy,

00:46:33though the shipwrights of Jupiter will soon lay claim to the largest ship ever constructed

00:46:38when they complete the furious abyss.

00:46:42Dahlia heard wounded pride in Rho-Mu-31's remark

00:46:45and smiled at the notion that a servant of the Mechanicum would display envy.

00:46:50She returned her gaze to the sight beyond the starship's hull,

00:46:53seeing firefly sparks dotting the Ring of Iron

00:46:56where new vessels were being constructed by armies of shipwrights.

00:47:00What's that? she asked,

00:47:02pointing towards what appeared to be a nebulous cloud of dust and reflective particles

00:47:06just over the horizon.

00:47:08That is the remains of an active construction site, said Rho-Mu-31.

00:47:13The latest ships to be built here have but recently departed.

00:47:17Where have they gone? asked Dahlia,

00:47:20eager to learn what far-off place the new vessels were bound for.

00:47:24They were commissioned for Battlefleet Solar, explained Rho-Mu-31,

00:47:29but the Warmaster issued a new tasking order to have them dispatched

00:47:33to take part in the Istvan campaign.

00:47:37Dahlia heard the note of disapproval in Rho-Mu-31's voice,

00:47:40as though it were the greatest sin imaginable to change procedure

00:47:44and alter previously issued orders.

00:47:47Look, there is the fleet they were to join, said Rho-Mu-31,

00:47:52indicating berths high above them,

00:47:54and Dahlia's mouth dropped open as the mighty warships of Battlefleet Solar came into view.

00:48:00Distance rendered the fleet small,

00:48:02but to even recognize them and identify individual vessels from so far

00:48:06told Dahlia that they were craft of unimaginable scale.

00:48:11From here they were sleek darts with sloping angular prowls like plows,

00:48:16and long gothic bodies like great palaces hurled into the heavens

00:48:20and wrought into the forms of starships.

00:48:24The ships were soon lost to sight as creeping fire slid along the length of the starship,

00:48:29the heat of passing through the atmosphere of Mars

00:48:32rippling along the shielded hull of the vessel.

00:48:35Dahlia felt a steadying hand on her shoulder,

00:48:38a heavy metallic hand that gripped her tightly as the starship continued its descent.

00:48:44Flames and heat distortions soon obscured the view,

00:48:47but within the space of a few minutes it faded,

00:48:50and Dahlia saw the surface of Mars in all its glory.

00:48:55Vast cities of steel, larger and more magnificent than any of the hives of terror,

00:49:00reared up from the surface, gargantuan behemoths that vomited fire and smoke into the sky.

00:49:07It was called the Red Planet,

00:49:09but precious little remained of the surface that could be identified as that hue.

00:49:14Mountains had been clad in metal and light,

00:49:17and cities and districts perched on the peaks and plateau

00:49:20of the world named for a long-forsaken god of war.

00:49:24Glittering streams of light twisted and snaked through the few areas of crated wilderness

00:49:29between the unimaginably vast conurbations, transit routes and maglev lines,

00:49:34and towering pyramids of glass and steel reared up like the tombs of forgotten kings.

00:49:40I've read about Mars, but I never thought to see it, breathed Dahlia.

00:49:46To see so many wondrous things in so short a time was nothing less than overwhelming.

00:49:51The Martian priesthood does not encourage visitors, said Rho-Mu 31.

00:49:57They believe the soil of Mars to be sacred.

00:50:00Isn't the idea of things being sacred, well, not allowed any more?

00:50:07In a manner of speaking, yes, agreed Rho-Mu 31.

00:50:11The Emperor advances the credo that belief in gods is a falsehood,

00:50:15but a condition of the Treaty of Olympus was that he swore not to interfere with our structures and society

00:50:21when Mars and Terra were joined.

00:50:24So the Mechanicum believes in a god?

00:50:28That is a question with no easy answer, Dahlia Sithera.

00:50:33I do not believe in faith, but ask no more,

00:50:36for we are coming into land, and you will need to hold on tightly.

00:50:42Dahlia nodded as the ship banked sharply, and she watched the world below tilt crazily

00:50:48as the pilot brought them around a shining pyramid bathed in light and topped with a great carving of an eye.

00:50:54The Temple of All Knowledge, said Rho-Mu 31, anticipating her question.

00:51:00Dahlia felt her stomach lurch as the ship dropped suddenly,

00:51:04and a thick curtain of yellow smog obscured the view outside.

00:51:08They flew through the smog for several hours, until, as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished,

00:51:14and Dahlia cried out in terror as she saw that they were heading straight into the glassy black flanks of a towering mountain.

00:51:251.02

00:51:29Once again Dahlia's stomach lurched as the craft's altitude altered rapidly,

00:51:33climbing at a sickeningly steep angle as the black cliff face drew closer with terrifying rapidity.

00:51:40Sulfurous fumes wreathed the top of the mountain and the craft plunged into them.

00:51:45Dahlia closed her eyes, expecting any moment to have her life ended, as they smashed into the immovable mass of rock.

00:51:52At last she opened her eyes when the feared impact didn't come,

00:51:56and peered breathlessly through the transparent panel in the side of the craft.

00:52:01A sea of glowing red lava heaved and swelled beneath her,

00:52:05the volcanic heart of the planet bubbling up within the giant mountain.

00:52:10Her view of the volcano's caldera shimmered and danced in the incredible heat radiating from the lava,

00:52:16and though she was insulated from the unimaginable temperatures,

00:52:19Dahlia felt uncomfortably warm just looking at the molten rock.

00:52:23Alsaia Mons, said Rho-Mu 31.

00:52:27A dead volcano, brought back to life to serve the Mechanicum.

00:52:32It's incredible, breathed Dahlia, looking over to the far side of the caldera,

00:52:37where a huge industrial city structure, fashioned from what looked like blackened steel and stone,

00:52:43rose from the lava like the broadside of a submerged starship.

00:52:47Enormous gates steamed in the lava,

00:52:50and mighty pistons of gleaming ceramite hissed and groaned as they rose and fell.

00:52:55Billowing clouds of superheated steam roared and vaporized like the breath of a host of great dragons,

00:53:01and Dahlia saw that they were gaining height to fly over the bizarre structure.

00:53:06Closer now, she could truly appreciate its enormous size and complexity.

00:53:11A precise series of sluices, overflow channels and pressure gates to keep the lava in motion,

00:53:16and circulating through the system that fed the incredible sight on the far side of the volcano.

00:53:22Guided down the flanks of the mountain in enormous chasms a hundred meters wide,

00:53:26the lava from the volcano fed a vast artificially constructed lagoon,

00:53:30an inland sea of glowing, hissing, bubbling molten rock.

00:53:36Built upon this sea was the Magma City, and what a city it was.

00:53:41Dahlia's breath was snatched from her throat as she saw the mighty forge,

00:53:45surely the domain of Rho Mu 31's master, Adept Coriel Zeth.

00:53:51All across the bubbling, flame-wracked surface of the lava,

00:53:55blackened cylinder towers soared from the magma beside giant structures in the shapes of flat-topped pyramids

00:54:01that belched fire and steam.

00:54:04Twisting roadways, boulevards, open squares, wide platforms and entire industrial complexes

00:54:11sat upon the raging heat of the lava in defiance of the awesome caged power of the planet's molten fire.

00:54:18A golden route traced a path towards a mighty structure of silver in the centre of the colossal metropolis,

00:54:25but it was quickly lost to sight as the craft descended.

00:54:28Thick retaining walls of dark stone surrounded the lagoon,

00:54:32such that it resembled a lava-filled crater and a colossal plain of sub-hives,

00:54:37hab-zones, landing fields, runways, control towers and a vast container port filled the horizon behind it,

00:54:45abutting the cliff-like walls of the volcano.

00:54:49Continents of steel-sided containers sprawled outwards from the magma city,

00:54:53towering skyscrapers of materiel, weapons, ammunition and supplies

00:54:59manufactured in the factories of Mars for the Warmaster's armies of conquest.

00:55:04Fleets of enormous vessels filled the skies over the port,

00:55:07rising and descending to the surface of Mars in a veritable procession of steel and retro-fire.

00:55:14Each one was destined for worlds far distant from the solar system

00:55:18and as valuable to the Great Crusade as any warrior or battleship.

00:55:23A forest of lifter cranes swung and groaned over the container port,

00:55:28their heavy, counterbalanced arms moving with leisurely speed in an intricate ballet

00:55:33as an army of servitors, loaders and container skiffs packed the holds of the enormous bulk conveyors

00:55:39with as much as could physically be contained.

00:55:42Dahlia held on to the stanchion as the ship banked, heading towards a landing platform within the city,

00:55:48a glowing cross of light sitting on a boom of metal that jutted out into the lava.

00:55:53The view through the photomalleable steel rippled in the heat

00:55:57and Dahlia found herself becoming nauseous with the disorientation.

00:56:01Rho Mu 31 placed his stave against the wall and once more the side of the vessel became opaque.

00:56:07The hull began to vibrate and screech as they descended through the blistering thermals.

00:56:13''Do they ever have crashes here?'' asked Dahlia, knowing that such accidents could have no survivors.

00:56:19''I mean, have any ships gone into the lava?''

00:56:23''Sometimes,'' said Rho Mu 31. ''It is best not to think of it.''

00:56:29''Too late,'' muttered Dahlia, as the noises of the ship's engines changed in pitch from a low rumble to a high-pitched shriek.

00:56:37Attitude thrusters firing to correct the riptide air currents.

00:56:42The pilot was clearly having difficulty in lowering their ship to the landing platform

00:56:46and Dahlia closed her eyes, trying not to think of what would happen if they went into the lava.

00:56:52She tried not to picture the lava searing the meat from her bones,

00:56:55the fumes choking her and the agonising pain of watching her body disintegrate in front of her.

00:57:01Of course, she would not live long enough to experience these things,

00:57:04but her mind delighted in tormenting her with these dreadful visions of catastrophe.

00:57:10Dahlia took a deep breath and forced the images from her mind, fighting to keep them from overwhelming her.

00:57:17She felt a thump on the underside of the craft and her eyes flashed open.

00:57:22''What was that? Has something gone wrong?''

00:57:24Romu 31 looked at her strangely, and though the bronze mask concealed his features,

00:57:30Dahlia could sense his amusement at her panic.

00:57:32''No,'' he said, ''we have simply landed.''

00:57:37Dahlia let out a shuddering sigh of relief, pathetically grateful to be on terra firma once again,

00:57:43though should that more properly be Mars firma.

00:57:47Having said that, how solid could the ground be considered

00:57:50when it was somehow supported on an ocean of liquid rock that could burn her to cinders in the blink of an eye?

00:57:56A hiss of escaping gases drew her attention to the ramp at the rear of the vessel

00:58:01as it began to lower with a squeal of pistons.

00:58:04A wall of hot air rushed to fill the compartment and Dahlia gasped at the sudden heat.

00:58:09Sweat immediately prickled on her brow and her mouth dried of saliva in an instant.

00:58:16''Thrown alive it's hot,'' she said.

00:58:19''Be thankful for the heat exchangers and gas separators,'' said Romu 31.

00:58:25''You would be overcome by the temperature and fumes of this place in moments without them.''

00:58:30Dahlia nodded, following Romu 31 from the interior of the starship.

00:58:35The other members of his squad moved in behind her as she made her way down the ramp,

00:58:40shielding her eyes from the vivid glare of the lava lagoon and the brightness of the rust-coloured sky.

00:58:47After a day or so in the belly of a starship, she realised how starved of the sight of the sky she had been.

00:58:54Even as a scribe in the bowels of the Librarium Technologica,

00:58:57she had been able to see a sliver of sky through the high liturgical windows.

00:59:02The sky here was low and threatening, the air thick and heavy with particulate matter

00:59:07billowing upwards from flame-wreathed refineries in the far distance.

00:59:12Though she knew the clouds gathering in the distance were not those of weather patterns but pollution,

00:59:16she could not help but shiver to see them squatting on the horizon like a quiescent thread.

00:59:22High railings surrounded the landing platform, and tall silver poles topped with buzzing, hissing machinery punctuated the barrier every few metres.

00:59:31The heat exchangers and gas separators Romu 31 had spoken of, she presumed.

00:59:36A swirling cloud of steam surrounded each one, and dripping pipes ran the length of each pole,

00:59:42vanishing into the decking of the platform to dissipate their heat elsewhere.

00:59:47It must take vast amounts of energy to disperse such huge quantities of heat, she said,

00:59:51pointing at the machines on the silver poles.

00:59:54What method do you use to filter the harmful gases from the air?

00:59:57Synthetic membranes?

00:59:59Adsorption? Or cryogenic distillation?

01:00:03You know of such things? asked Romu 31.

01:00:07Well, I've read about them, explained Dahlia.

01:00:11A number of the old texts from the ruins of the American deserts mentioned them, and, as with everything I read,

01:00:17it's slotted home in the archive of your memory as a fact to be recovered at a later date.

01:00:22I guess so, said Dahlia, faintly embarrassed by the reverent tone she heard in his voice.

01:00:28She looked away from him as she saw an ochre-skinned vehicle emerge from the nearest structure,

01:00:33a tall tower of black metal, and make its way along the boom towards them.

01:00:38It moved on a number of thin, stilt-like legs, moving with a quirky mechanical gait, like a stubby centipede.

01:00:46As it drew nearer, she saw the wide-bodied mass of a servitor fused and hard-wired into the front section

01:00:52where one might otherwise expect a driver to sit.

01:00:56The vehicle came to a halt beside them.

01:00:58The multitude of legs twisting it around on its central axis and lowering it to the deck plates.

01:01:04Rho-Mu 31 opened a door in the side of the vehicle and indicated that Dahlia should climb aboard.

01:01:10She stepped onto the centipede vehicle and took a seat on the metal bench along its side,

01:01:15feeling a thrill travel through her at the thought of making a journey on such an outlandish mode of transport.

01:01:21Rho-Mu 31 joined her, but the remaining mechanic and protectors did not board.

01:01:26�Where are we going?� asked Dahlia, as the vehicle rose up onto its legs once again

01:01:30and set off with a scuttling, side-to-side motion towards the dark tower.

01:01:35�We are going to see Adep-Zeth,� said Rho-Mu 31. �She is most anxious to meet you.�

01:01:42�Me? Why? I don�t understand. What does she want with me?�

01:01:48�Enough questions,� Dahlia Sithara, cautioned Rho-Mu 31, �not unkindly.

01:01:54Adep-Zeth does nothing without purpose, and you are here to serve that purpose.

01:02:00What manner your service will take is for her to decide.�

01:02:05The walking vehicle drew near the tower of black metal, and as Dahlia looked back towards the gathering clouds,

01:02:11a sliver of fear wormed its way past her wonder at all the new and incredible sights.

01:02:17She had been brought to Mars with a purpose in mind.

01:02:20But what might that purpose be, and would she live to regret the journey?

01:02:26The shadow of the tower swallowed her, and Dahlia shivered despite the awful heat.

01:02:33Maven�s first warning was the Transformer exploding in a cascade of flames and whipping electrical discharge.

01:02:40A hammering volley of laser fire, like a hundred lightning bolts ripping from the rocks,

01:02:44soared through the looped coils of metal and liquefied them in an instant.

01:02:49His display dimmed to protect him from blindness, but before the Transformer blew he saw the outline of the Aggressor.

01:02:57Easily as huge as Aquitus Bellum, it was spherical and heavily armoured,

01:03:02a pair of monstrous weapon-arms at its sides and a myriad of flexible metallic tentacles

01:03:07crouched over its shoulders like scorpion�s tails.

01:03:10A trio of convex blisters glowed like baleful eyes on its front,

01:03:16a fiery yellow glow burning from them with a hateful, dead light.

01:03:20The white heat of the explosion obscured the unknown attacker,

01:03:23and by the time the glow had diminished and the Knight�s auto-senses had recovered,

01:03:27the War Machine had vanished.

01:03:30With a thought, Aquitus Bellum was on a war footing,

01:03:34weapon-generators firing from idle to active,

01:03:38and the high-energy cells that drove his Knight switching to battle-mode.

01:03:42He immediately stepped his Knight to one side,

01:03:44crouching low as he saw scores of figures pouring from the rocks with weapons raised.

01:03:50His eyes narrowed as he recognised them as Protector-squads,

01:03:53servants of the Adepts of Mars.

01:03:56Things were really getting out of hand.

01:03:58�Stator, Cronus, are you getting this?�

01:04:01�Affirmative,� barked Stator.

01:04:03�Engage enemy forces at will. We will be with you directly.�

01:04:07�Enemy forces?� hissed Maven.

01:04:09�They�re Protectors, and they are attacking a facility we are duty-bound to protect. Now fight.�

01:04:16Maven cursed under his breath and shrugged,

01:04:19the huge bulk of Aquitus Bellum attempting to match the gesture as he marched the machine into battle.

01:04:25He leaned forward in his command seat,

01:04:27lifting his arms and twisting his head as he sought out the enemy War Machine.

01:04:32�What was it?� he wondered.

01:04:34�Some new form of battle-robot or servitor-manned automaton?�

01:04:38Maven shivered as he remembered the dead light in the machine�s sensor blisters,

01:04:42feeling as though it had been looking at him, assessing him, and then dismissing him.

01:04:48That thought alone angered him, and he could feel the intemperate fury of Aquitus Bellum

01:04:53meshing with him in a desire to do harm to the attackers.

01:04:57The Protectors in grey cloaks were advancing with relentless pace through the reactor complex,

01:05:02gunning down unresisting servitors with quick bursts of laser fire,

01:05:06and engaging Maximal�s Protectors as they sought to defend their master�s holdings.

01:05:11Maven unleashed a torrent of las-fire from his right arm,

01:05:14and the ground erupted in a storm of metal and earth.

01:05:18The ruin of the enemy corpses geezed upwards,

01:05:20a knot of attackers reduced to puffs of exploding meat and boiled blood.

01:05:26A flurry of gunfire rippled towards him,

01:05:28and he flinched as he felt a power field flash out of existence.

01:05:32Like a Titan, a Knight had a finite bank of energy shields to protect it,

01:05:37but where a Titan�s reactor could replenish its shield�s strength in time,

01:05:40the Knight�s battery could not.

01:05:43Aquitus Bellum was effectively immune to most individual weapons,

01:05:46but the Protectors were combining their fire with accuracy of timing

01:05:50that spoke of a communal battle link.

01:05:52Another shield winked out of existence,

01:05:54and Maven turned his war machine to face the new threat.

01:05:58A cadre of Protectors armed with long-barrelled high-energy weapons,

01:06:02Maven saw silver bands around each Protector�s skull,

01:06:05recognising the hard-wired component of a targeting web.

01:06:09He stepped sideways as a blistering beam of light leapt from each of the Protectors� weapons

01:06:14and achieved confluence where he had been standing not a moment before.

01:06:18He had seconds to act.

01:06:20Maven�s weapons blazed in a hurricane of light,

01:06:22enveloping the Protectors in a firestorm that obliterated them in an instant

01:06:26and left virtually no remains.

01:06:29He pushed onwards, past the flaming wreckage of the Transformer

01:06:32as its spat arcs of lightning and secondary explosions detonated within its ruined shape.

01:06:38Where the hell had the war machine that had done this gone?

01:06:42And where, in the name of Taranis, were Stata and Cronus?

01:06:46An explosion mushroomed skyward from deeper within the complex,

01:06:49and Maven turned Aquitus Bellum towards it,

01:06:52the heavy, thudding strides of the Knight shaking the ground with the weight of its tread.

01:06:57Another explosion roared, and Maven guided his Knight around the curve of the reactor dome

01:07:02to see his foe with its back to him, unleashing solid spears of plasma flame

01:07:07that ripped through the armoured skin of the fusion reactor�s dome.

01:07:11The machine�s bulk was enormous, almost as wide as it was tall,

01:07:15and it was equipped with a fearsome array of weapons,

01:07:18some Maven recognised and some that were a mystery to him.

01:07:23Where a Knight�s mode of locomotion was its legs,

01:07:25this machine was mounted on a heavy track unit, blood and oil coating it,

01:07:30where it had crushed unfortunate servitors beneath its bulk.

01:07:34Sheets of molten armour cascaded like burnt paper from the flanks of the reactor dome,

01:07:39and Maven saw it wouldn�t be long before the shielding around the caged fury of the fusion reactions within

01:07:44would be breached.

01:07:45Screaming sirens and flashing emergency lights warned of impending doom.

01:07:50Despite the heavy crash of his Knight�s footfalls, Maven didn�t think his foe knew he was there.

01:07:56Maven siphoned power from non-essential systems as he prepared to open fire.

01:08:01One of the metallic weapon tentacles swivelled around on its mounting,

01:08:04and Maven had the sick feeling that it was looking right at him.

01:08:08Instantly, the rest of the weapon arms, not already reducing the armour plating on the reactor to vaporised slag,

01:08:14whipped around to face him.

01:08:16Maven opened fire at the same time as the attacking war machine.

01:08:20His lasers impacting on a number of powerfields before tearing one of the weapon arms from its mounting.

01:08:26The return fire struck Equitas Bellum full in the chest,

01:08:29collapsing the last powerfield and ripping through its armour.

01:08:33Agony roared up through the manifold, and Maven screamed,

01:08:36his hands jerking towards his chest as though the wound had been done to his own flesh.

01:08:41The Knight staggered, and Maven fought to control its motion through the mist of jarring pain that seared through his every nerve ending.

01:08:48He wrenched his consciousness from the damage done to Equitas Bellum,

01:08:52and felt his vision clear as he saw the enemy war machine preparing to fire again.

01:08:58Maven sidestepped and lowered his shoulder,

01:09:00as another rippling beam of light seared towards him, burning through the edge of his shoulder armour.

01:09:07He flinched, but the damage was superficial, and he locked in with his weapon arm,

01:09:11unleashing a stream of laser fire at his enemy's back.

01:09:14Got you! he shouted, as the impacts marched over the machine.

01:09:19A shout died in his throat as he saw that his shots had done absolutely no damage.

01:09:25A rippling sheath of invisible energy surrounded the machine, where none had existed a moment before.

01:09:31Only one explanation presented itself.

01:09:34The machine was void-protected.

01:09:37Damn it! he hissed, and his hesitation almost killed him,

01:09:41as the machine spun around on its axis,

01:09:43and took time out from its unravelling of the reactor's armour to fire on him.

01:09:49Dazzling lasers sleeted past him, and Maven desperately walked his knight back out of the line of fire.

01:09:55Flames boomed to life around him as fuel stores exploded, and he felt the heat wash over his mount.

01:10:01A lucky shot grazed the pilot's compartment, and a sharp crack sliced down through his vision.

01:10:07Maven screamed in pain, his hand reaching up to his eyes,

01:10:10where it felt as though a hot needle had been shoved through to the back of his skull.

01:10:14His vision blurred, but he kept moving, backwards and from side to side,

01:10:19to throw off his assailant's aim.

01:10:21Fresh streams of laser fire seared the air around him, but none touched him,

01:10:26and as the pain of Equitas Bellum's wounding diminished,

01:10:29he dodged the machine's incoming shots, its fire patterns following textbook sweeps.

01:10:35But Raph Maven was anything but textbook.

01:10:38He swung his knight around the corner of the reactor, sweat streaming down his face,

01:10:43and a thin trickle of blood dripping from his nose.

01:10:46"'Stator! Cronus!' he yelled.

01:10:48"'Where in Arras's name are you?'

01:10:51Then the reactor exploded.

01:10:55The stilt-walking vehicle moved through a city of wonders and miracles.

01:11:01Everywhere Dahlia looked, she saw something new and incredible.

01:11:05Once lost in the midst of the towers and forges,

01:11:07she realised she had never seen anything like the domain of Kyrielezeth,

01:11:11its design and scale quite beyond anything she had imagined before.

01:11:17Though the imperial palace on Terra was much, much larger,

01:11:20she appreciated that the Emperor's fastness was not so much a piece of architecture,

01:11:25but rather a hand-crafted landmass built upon the world's tallest mountains.

01:11:30Even on the rare moments she had been permitted to venture beyond the confines of the Librarium,

01:11:35she had only ever seen a fragment of the palace's majesty.

01:11:38But this place she had seen in its entirety.

01:11:43Even then, she suspected that what she had seen from the air wasn't the whole story.

01:11:49Romu 31 kept his counsel throughout the journey,

01:11:52content to watch the spires and smoke-belching furnaces pass without comment.

01:11:57Nor was this a city without an organic component.

01:12:00For thousands paraded through its razor-straight thoroughfares and shining boulevards.

01:12:05Hooded menials, grey-skinned servitors and glittering, hollow-wreathed calculi

01:12:10mingled on the metal streets of the magma city.

01:12:13Robed tech-adepts moved like royalty through the crowds,

01:12:17carried on floating palanquins or wheeled chariots of golden metal,

01:12:21or borne aloft on what looked like gilded theatre boxes with slender stilt legs.

01:12:27All of them bore the number-grid symbol of Adepzeth somewhere about their person.

01:12:33How any of them didn't collide was a mystery to Dahlia,

01:12:36though she presumed that each one would have some kind of on-board navigational system

01:12:41which linked to a central network that monitored speeds, trajectories and potential collisions.

01:12:47She shook her head free of the thought and forced herself to concentrate on enjoying the journey.

01:12:52Too often she was being distracted when she saw something new and incredible.

01:12:57Her thoughts would seize on this unknown factor,

01:13:01searching her memory for something similar before sending the creative part of her mind

01:13:04into a free-wheeling spin as she attempted to account

01:13:07for the technological explanation of this new phenomenon.

01:13:12They were heading for the centre of the magma city.

01:13:15That much was obvious.

01:13:16The unmoving, unblinking servitor fused with the vehicle's control mechanisms,

01:13:20conveying them unerringly through the heaving mass of bodies.

01:13:25Their course took them onto the golden boulevard she had seen from the air,

01:13:29its sides lined with statues and thronged with robed acolytes.

01:13:33At the far end, Dahlia saw a towering structure of what looked like bright silver or chrome.

01:13:40As if fashioned from precisely machined blocks of silver steel,

01:13:44the forge was etched with geometric patterns like those of a circuit diagram,

01:13:48though Dahlia had no idea what manner of circuit was described in its design.

01:13:53The servitor increased the speed of their vehicle,

01:13:56and the enormous building soon grew in stature

01:13:59until Dahlia's neck hurt with craning to look up at its blocky enormity.

01:14:04A portion of the wall at the base of the forge slid apart

01:14:07and sections of the building seemed to retreat within its structure,

01:14:10forming a gleaming ramp that led up to a vast portico halfway up the building's side.

01:14:16Dahlia gripped the handrail as their vehicle began the ascent,

01:14:19looking behind her as the ramp disappeared as soon as they passed.

01:14:23The portico loomed large above them, and now she truly appreciated how enormous it was,

01:14:29each column fashioned in the shape of an enormous piston and capped with cog-shaped capitals.

01:14:35The entire building was designed as if it were a moving machine,

01:14:38and for all Dahlia knew, perhaps it was.

01:14:41At last the vehicle levelled out, and the clacking of its many legs

01:14:45ceased as it came to a halt on the portico's wide plinth.

01:14:49The floor was milky-white marble, with dark veins running through it,

01:14:53and the columns towered above her.

01:14:55The underside of the pediment was decorated with unknown equations

01:14:58and diagrams picked out in glittering mosaics of gold.

01:15:02The sheer visual splendour was overwhelming.

01:15:06A wall of bronze doors led into the mighty structure.

01:15:09All were open, and from them poured a host of robed figures.

01:15:14Each wore its hood drawn forward to cover its head,

01:15:17and each wore the number grid of Adept Zeth as a veil.

01:15:22Many carried strange devices in open boxes or upon their backs.

01:15:26Leading the figures was a tall, slender Adept with a lithe, muscular physique

01:15:31and a cloak of golden-red bronze that billowed behind her in the swirls of hot air.

01:15:37Without introduction, Dahlia knew that this must be the Mistress of the Magma City,

01:15:42Adept Coriel Zeth.

01:15:45Her body was sheathed in a flexible skin of bronze armour,

01:15:48her attire more like that of a warrior woman than a master of technology.

01:15:53Her features were invisible, hidden behind a studded headmask and opaque goggles.

01:15:58Puffs of steam exhaled from her re-breather mask,

01:16:01and a skirt of bronze mail hung low over her shapely armoured legs.

01:16:05Though her body armour obscured all traces of Zeth's humanity,

01:16:09there was no doubt as to her sex.

01:16:12Every curve and every plate of armour had been designed to enhance her natural form.

01:16:18Her slender waist, the curve of her thighs, and the swell of her breasts.

01:16:23Fully a third of a metre taller than Dahlia, Adept Zeth approached,

01:16:27and a delicate mist of atomised perfume came with her.

01:16:31She leaned down to stare at Dahlia.

01:16:34The glossy black orbs of her goggles like those of an insect,

01:16:37regarding some interesting morsel that had just wandered into its lair.

01:16:42Zeth's head cocked to one side,

01:16:44and a burst of static hissed from the bronze mesh to either side of her re-breather.

01:16:49Moments passed before Dahlia realised that the static had been directed at her.

01:16:53A blurted hash of machine noise, intelligible to the binaric fluent.

01:16:58I can't understand you, she said.

01:17:01I don't speak linguotechnis.

01:17:04Zeth nodded, and her head twitched as though a switch had flicked inside it.

01:17:10What relationship does the ideal gas law represent? asked Zeth,

01:17:14her voice rasping and the words sounding as though they had been dredged up

01:17:18from a little-used repository of linguistic memory.

01:17:23Of all the welcomes, this was one Dahlia had not anticipated.

01:17:27She closed her eyes, casting her mind back to one of the first books

01:17:30she had transcribed in the librarian,

01:17:32a textbook recovered from beneath a ruined tech fortress of the Indonesic bloc.

01:17:38It describes the relationship between pressure and volume within a closed system,

01:17:43said Dahlia, the words recited by rote from memory.

01:17:47For a fixed amount of gas kept at a fixed temperature,

01:17:50the pressure and volume are inversely proportional.

01:17:53Very good.

01:17:55I am Adept Coriel Zeth, and you are Dahlia Sithere.

01:18:01Welcome to my forge.

01:18:03Thank you, said Dahlia.

01:18:06It's very impressive.

01:18:08Did it take long to build?

01:18:10Zeth looked her up and down,

01:18:12the sound of electronic laughter crackling from her voice unit.

01:18:16She nodded.

01:18:17It did, indeed.

01:18:18Many centuries of work were needed to build this forge,

01:18:23but even now it is not complete.

01:18:27It isn't?

01:18:28It looks complete.

01:18:30From without, perhaps.

01:18:32But within there is much yet to be achieved, said Zeth,

01:18:36her delivery growing more fluent as she spoke.

01:18:40And that is where you come in.

01:18:43How do you even know me?

01:18:45I know a great deal about you, said Adept Zeth,

01:18:49looking at the space above Dahlia's head.

01:18:52You are the only daughter of Tethys and Moraria Sithere,

01:18:56both deceased.

01:18:58You were born in Medicaid Block IF55 of the Ural Collective,

01:19:02seventeen years, three months, four days, six hours, and fifteen minutes ago.

01:19:08You were trained to read and write at age three,

01:19:11indentured to the Imperial Scriptorium aged six,

01:19:14and trained in the art of transcription aged nine.

01:19:18You were apprenticed to Magos Ludd, aged twelve,

01:19:21and assigned to the Hall of Transcription aged fifteen.

01:19:25You have six commendations for accuracy,

01:19:27twelve citations for inciting behaviour deemed to be incompatible with working practices,

01:19:33and one instance of imprisonment for violating the laws of divine complexity.

01:19:40Dahlia looked up,

01:19:41half expecting to see illuminated letters displaying her life story for Adept Zeth.

01:19:46She saw nothing,

01:19:47but it was clear from the tone of Zeth's voice that she was reading these facts from somewhere.

01:19:52How do you know all that? she asked.

01:19:55Zeth reached down and brushed a metallic fingertip across Dahlia's cheek,

01:19:59and she felt a warm glow as the electew implanted beneath her skin

01:20:02upon her induction to the Hall of Transcription came to life.

01:20:06She reached up and placed a hand on her skin.

01:20:10You can read my electew?

01:20:12Yes, but I can discern much more than simple biographical knowledge, replied Zeth.

01:20:18All data can be read, presented, and transferred with a glance.

01:20:23Though invisible to you, I see a liminal skein of data filling the air around you,

01:20:29each ghost of light a fact of your life.

01:20:32I can see everything about you,

01:20:35all the things that make you a person in the eyes of the Imperium.

01:20:40I've never heard of anything like that.

01:20:42I am not surprised, said Zeth with a trace of pride.

01:20:46It is a function of data retrieval and transfer that I have only recently developed,

01:20:51though I have great hopes for its eventual employment throughout the Imperium.

01:20:56But I did not bring you to my forge only to impress you with my technological developments.

01:21:01I brought you here because I believe your understanding of machines and technology

01:21:07runs parallel to mine.

01:21:09What do you mean?

01:21:11The Martian priesthood is an ancient organization and is learned in the ways of technology,

01:21:17but our grasp of such things is limited by blind adherence to dogma, tradition, and repetition.

01:21:24I believe that our future lies in the understanding of technology,

01:21:29that only by experimentation, invention, and research will our progress be assured.

01:21:35This view is not widely held on Mars.

01:21:38Why not?

01:21:39It seems perfectly sensible to me.

01:21:42Zeth made the crackling, static laugh again.

01:21:45That is why I sought you out, Dahlia.

01:21:48You have a skill I believe will prove very valuable to me,

01:21:53but one that others will fear.

01:21:55What skill's that?

01:21:57You understand why machines work, said Zeth.

01:22:02You know the principles by which they function and the science behind their operation.

01:22:07I accessed the schematics of what you did to your cogitator station

01:22:11and followed the methodology you employed upon the circuitry.

01:22:14It was quite brilliant.

01:22:16I didn't really do anything special, said Dahlia modestly.

01:22:20I just saw how I could make it work faster and more efficiently.

01:22:24Anyone could have done it if they'd put their mind to it.

01:22:27And that is why you are special, replied Zeth.

01:22:31Few could have made the mental leaps to see the things you saw,

01:22:34and even fewer would dare.

01:22:37To many of the Martian priesthood, you are a very dangerous individual indeed.

01:22:43Dangerous?

01:22:44How? asked Dahlia, quite taken aback by the notion that she might be thought of as a danger to anyone,

01:22:50let alone the priests of the Mechanicum.

01:22:53Mars enjoys a preeminent position within the Imperium,

01:22:56thanks to our grip on technology, continued Zeth.

01:23:00Many of my fellow Adepts fear the consequences of what might happen

01:23:04were that advantage to slip beyond their control.

01:23:08Oh, said Dahlia.

01:23:11So what is it you want from me?

01:23:15Adept Zeth drew herself up to her full height,

01:23:18the bronze of her armoured skin gleaming red in the reflected glow of the orange skies.

01:23:24You will be part of the salvation of Mars, she said.

01:23:28With your help I will perfect my greatest work.

01:23:31The Akashic Reader.

01:23:371.03

01:23:41Ascreus Mons was a volcano,

01:23:43yet the atmosphere within the Chamber of the Firsts was anything but warm.

01:23:48The fortress of Legio Tempestus had been one of the earliest established on Mars in ancient times,

01:23:54and as one of the highest volcanoes on the Red Planet,

01:23:57it was fitting that it housed one of its most ancient and respected Titan orders.

01:24:03Carved within the basalt rock of the mountain,

01:24:05the domain of Tempestus was known as a place of courage and wisdom,

01:24:09a place where warriors of honour came to settle their disputes without violence.

01:24:14Indius Cavallerio, watched from the Princeps Gallery,

01:24:18as emissaries from many of the great Legios took their seats within the great amphitheatre,

01:24:23carved into the cliffs of the enormous caldera of his order's fortress.

01:24:27Knowing the smiles and warm greetings being exchanged,

01:24:30hid undercurrents of mistrust and widening divisions.

01:24:34Divisions that were becoming all too common on Mars.

01:24:38There was Grand Master Maxon Vledig of the Deathbolts,

01:24:41conversing with Princeps Senioris Ulrike of the Deathstalkers,

01:24:45their apparent bonhomie masking decades of disputes involving ancient territorial rights

01:24:50along the borders of the Lunae Palace and Arcadia regions.

01:24:54Across the hall, encased in his life-sustaining exoskeleton and aloof from all others,

01:24:59was Princeps Grain of Legio Destructor.

01:25:03A dozen others had answered the call to attend the Council of Tharsis,

01:25:07as Lord Commander Verticorda had already dubbed it with his usual taste for the grandiose.

01:25:13Only Mortis was yet to appear.

01:25:16Verticorda stood in the centre of the grand echoing amphitheatre,

01:25:20leaning on his ebony thunderbolt-embossed cane,

01:25:24and swathed in the shadow of Deus Tempestus, the first god-machine of Legio Tempestus.

01:25:31Towering over the assembled warriors, the great steel engine had stood sentinel over

01:25:35the deliberations of Legio Tempestus for half a millennium,

01:25:39its majesty undimmed and its power tangible,

01:25:43though it had not moved so much as a single joint in over two hundred years.

01:25:47Next to Verticorda was Lord Commander Catoryx,

01:25:50the hunched ancient warrior's brother-in-arms and fellow-master of the Knights of Taranis.

01:25:56Where Verticorda was aged and revered for his wisdom,

01:25:59the newly appointed Catoryx was beloved for his fiery passion,

01:26:03which complemented his fellow-commander's more cautious temperament.

01:26:08Ever since Verticorda had bent his knee to the Emperor nearly two hundred years ago,

01:26:13the joint commanders of the Knights of Taranis

01:26:16had served as the princeps conciliatus between the warrior-orders of Mars.

01:26:22It would be their job to ensure that the coming gathering was conducted

01:26:25in a manner befitting the most ancient warrior-guilds.

01:26:28That tradition was upheld, and honourable discourse permitted.

01:26:32Cavallerio did not envy them that role, for tensions were running high,

01:26:36and this latest insult to an adept of Mars

01:26:40had pushed the mightiest warrior-orders of Mars close to open confrontation,

01:26:45a state of affairs that had not transpired on the Red Sands for uncounted centuries.

01:26:50Not only that, but warriors from the Knights of Taranis

01:26:53had been involved in this latest combat, so they were hardly likely to be objective.

01:26:59Verticorda could be trusted to keep his anger in check,

01:27:02but Catoryx paced the mosaic floor of the chamber like a caged beast.

01:27:07Skirmishes between orders were far from uncommon.

01:27:10Warriors needed outlets for their aggression to develop their skills

01:27:13and ferment the proper bellicose attitude needed to command the god-machines.

01:27:19Lately these had threatened to boil over into outright warfare.

01:27:24The sheer affront of the attack on a Pluvium Maximals fusion reactor

01:27:27on the slopes of Ulysses Patera had sent shock-waves through the Martian community.

01:27:33Though to call such a competitive, uncooperative,

01:27:35suspicious and insular organisation as the Mechanicum a community seemed perverse to Cavallerio.

01:27:43He ran a hand over his scalp, the surface hairless and punctured by sealed implant plugs at his nape

01:27:49that allowed him to command the mighty engines of Lygio Tempestus.

01:27:54Similar implants were fused to his spine, and haptic receptors grafted to the soles of his feet

01:27:59and along the tactile surfaces of each of his hands allowed him to feel the Titan's steel body

01:28:05as though it were his own flesh.

01:28:08Cavallerio's frame was tall and wiry, the dress uniform that had once fitted his

01:28:13well-proportioned frame snugly now hanging from his thin body, the result of decades spent

01:28:19vicariously exerting himself through the actions of a warlord battle Titan instead of in the gymnasium.

01:28:26As he looked over at the mighty form of Deus Tempestus he found himself longing to ascend

01:28:31the elevator to his own venerable war machine, Victorix Magna. The glowing iron face of the

01:28:37ancient war machine stared down at him, the head of a mechanical god of war that lived in his dreams

01:28:43every night. In those dreams he would be striding across the ashen red plains of Mars on his last

01:28:50march, Deus Tempestus responding to his every command with a familiarity of two warriors who

01:28:56had fought shoulder to shoulder since their earliest days. Each time he would wake and,

01:29:02finding sleep impossible, walk through the dark and sparsely populated hangars of the Ascreus Mons.

01:29:09The hangars were largely empty since the bulk of the Legio's strength was deployed throughout the

01:29:14Warmaster's expedition forces, pushing the extremities of the Emperor's realm ever outwards

01:29:19and bringing the last worlds of the galaxy under the sway of the Imperium. His steps would unerringly

01:29:26lead him to the Chamber of the First, where he would watch the sunrise, staring up at the

01:29:30shadowed form of the colossal war machine, its weapons silent and its war banners fluttering

01:29:35in the downdrafts from above. Cavallerio's brothers fought under the command of Lord

01:29:41Guilliman and he could think of no better warrior to lead so august a Legio. He and the few battle

01:29:48titans now back on Mars were approaching the end of their refit after campaigning in the

01:29:52epsiloid binary cluster against the greenskin and would soon rejoin the war to assure humanity's

01:29:58birthright to rule the stars. He eagerly awaited their redeployment, for life beyond the cockpit

01:30:05of a titan was made up of long moments of incompleteness, every experience deadened.

01:30:10His physical surroundings were bland and tasteless without first being filtered through the manifold

01:30:16of his battle titan. The moment of connection with an engine was painful, as though it

01:30:22resented the time spent separated from its commander, and it took time to wrestle the

01:30:26warlike heart of the machine to compliance. But once that union had been achieved, oh,

01:30:32how like a god did it feel to be master of the battlefield and lord of so terrible and mighty a

01:30:38power. Separation was no less painful. The angry need of the titan to walk made it disinclined to

01:30:45allow its commander to leave without punishment. Aching bones, thudding headaches and searing

01:30:50dislocation were the hallmarks of a separation, and each time was harder than the last.

01:30:56For now it was possible for Cavallerio to retain some semblance of humanity, to walk as a man,

01:31:02but he knew it was only a matter of time before he would require a more permanent emeshing within

01:31:06an amniotic float-tank of liquid information. The thought terrified him. He shook off such fears

01:31:14as he saw a ripple of motion near the floor of the chamber and heard a murmur of agitation pass

01:31:19through the chamber of the first. Cavallerio looked down from the gallery, seeing two warriors

01:31:24in long dark cloaks and grinning skull-faced helmets stride into the chamber with purpose

01:31:30and strength. Legio Mortis had arrived.

01:31:35You deny that your order took part in the attack on Adept Maximal's reactor,

01:31:39demanded Lord Commander Catarix, that engines of the Legio Mortis willfully destroyed an

01:31:44artefact of technology and endangered the lives of warriors from the Knights of Tyrannus?

01:31:50Of course I do, snapped Princeps Camulos, his hooded features making no secret of his

01:31:55disdain for the accusation and his accuser. Despite Verticorta's cautious welcome to the assembly,

01:32:03Catarix had wasted no time in setting the tone by marching straight towards the senior

01:32:07Princeps of the Legio Mortis and all but calling him out for the damage done to his warriors

01:32:12in the reactor's explosion. Cavallerio watched the young Lord Commander, the youngest in the

01:32:18history of the Knights of Tyrannus, sneer at Princeps Camulos's answer, plainly disbelieving

01:32:23what he was hearing. He watched as Catarix circled like a shark in the water with the

01:32:28scent of blood, forced to admire his nerve in facing down so senior a Princeps.

01:32:34Men had been rendered down into servitors for less. Legio Mortis's disdain for the Knight

01:32:40orders was well known, as was their reluctance to share power in the Tharsis region from their

01:32:45fortress within Pavonis Mons. With the destruction of Adept Maximal's forge, it would be difficult

01:32:51for many of the local warrior orders to remain viable, leaving Mortis the undisputed masters

01:32:56of Tharsis, one of the most abundant and productive regions of Mars. All of which was

01:33:02enough for the finger of suspicion to point squarely at Legio Mortis, but not enough to hang

01:33:07them. Mortis and Tempestus had long been rivals for dominance of Tharsis, but was that enough

01:33:13to condemn Camulos and openly damn his Legio with this new atrocity? Camulos was a towering

01:33:20bear of a man, more suited at first glance to be the chieftain of a tribe of bloodthirsty

01:33:25barbarian warriors, but his sheer self-belief and aggressive nature made him a natural titan

01:33:30commander, easily able to bend the will of a war machine to his own. His armour was black

01:33:36and glistening as though lacquered, the Death's Head emblem upon his broad shoulder guards a

01:33:41gruesome testament to his Legio's famed ruthlessness.

01:33:46I did not come here to be barked at, snarled Camulos. Keep your young pup on a tight leash,

01:33:51Verticorda, or I may break him for you. Verticorda nodded slowly.

01:33:57The question is withdrawn, Honourable Princeps.

01:34:00Catarix whipped his head around to face his fellow Lord Commander, but a stern glare from

01:34:06Verticorda silenced the angry outburst that Cavallerio saw gathering in his throat.

01:34:11This, Council, is not a trial, or indeed any kind of inquiry, continued Verticorda,

01:34:18his voice laden with centuries of authority and redolent with wisdom. It is an organised debate,

01:34:25whereby the warrior-orders of the Tharsis region might gather to discuss the troubles

01:34:30afflicting our world, and decide how to meet them without further bloodshed.

01:34:35Adept Maximal has suffered a grievous loss to his holdings, but we are not gathered here to assign

01:34:41blame, but to see how we, as the Guardians of Mars, might avoid such things in the future.

01:34:49Cavallerio looked over to where the robed form of Epluvium Maximal stood, in the shadow of

01:34:53Deus Tempestus, as though he took comfort in the nearness of so complex and revered a machine.

01:34:59Adept Maximal had joined the proceedings immediately after the arrival of the Legio

01:35:03Mortis, his corpulent machine-frame wreathed in icy puffs of air, vented from the layers

01:35:09of thermal barrier fabrics that cooled the spinning data-wheels that made up the bulk of his body.

01:35:14His head was an oblong helmet of gold, fitted with a multitude of lenses upon telescopic armatures,

01:35:20and a morass of sheathed coolant cables emerged from beneath his robes like black tentacles,

01:35:25upon which sat hololithic plates streaming with glowing lines of data.

01:35:31So far Maximal had said nothing, save to acknowledge the primacy of Verticorder

01:35:35and Catarix in the proceedings, content simply to watch and record events as they unfolded.

01:35:41"'And how do you suggest we do that?' asked Camulos.

01:35:45"'By accusing honourable orders of warriors of acts of piracy. To suggest that we would

01:35:50stoop so low as to attack the holdings of an adept so highly regarded as Adept Maximal is outrageous!'

01:35:56Cavallerio looked over, as Maximal inclined his golden head at Camulos' compliment.

01:36:01The words felt too tacked on to be believable. For all his bluster, the raid on Maximal's reactor

01:36:07bore all the hallmarks of Legio Mortis—swift, brutal, and leaving virtually no survivors.

01:36:14Only the three knights had survived to speak of the attack, and all of them had suffered severe

01:36:19damage to their machines in the reactor's detonation. Gun-camera footage of the confrontation

01:36:25had been lost in the explosion, and the only clue to the identity of the attacker was a brief

01:36:29description from the sole knight who had seen the machine.

01:36:34"'In any case, what possible reason could Legio Mortis have for undertaking such an act?

01:36:39We are all servants of the Warmaster, are we not?'

01:36:43Mixed murmurs of assent and disagreement spread around the chamber, and Cavallerio felt his

01:36:47collar rise that so many could blindly agree with so facile a statement. Rivalry or not,

01:36:53such a comment could not go unanswered. Cavallerio rose from his seat in the

01:36:58Princep's gallery and said, "'You mean the Emperor's forces, surely?'

01:37:02Heads turned as he rose to his feet, and awkwardly descended the steel steps

01:37:07towards the chamber's floor. Camulos watched him approach,

01:37:11squaring his shoulders as though they were about to brawl.

01:37:14"'The Warmaster is the Emperor's proxy. It is one and the same.'

01:37:18"'No, actually,' replied Cavallerio, taking the floor.

01:37:23"'It's not.'

01:37:25"'The chamber recognises Princep's Cavallerio, the Storm Lord of Legio Tempestus,'

01:37:31said Verticorder, using the war name his Legio had given him in the early days of his command.

01:37:37Cavallerio gave a respectful bow to the Lord Commander, and then to Deas Tempestus,

01:37:42before turning to Princep's Camulos. The man's wide shoulders and enormous presence dwarfed him.

01:37:49"'Pray tell, why is it not the same thing?' demanded Camulos.

01:37:55"'The armies we serve are those of the Emperor, not the Warmaster,' said Cavallerio.

01:38:01"'No matter that Horace Lupercal commands them, every man,

01:38:04woman, and machine that fights in this crusade is a servant of the Emperor.'

01:38:09"'You are splitting hairs,' spat Camulos, turning away.

01:38:13"'No,' repeated Cavallerio,

01:38:16"'I am not. I know that your Legio has pledged a great deal of its strength to the 63rd Expedition

01:38:22and to the Warmaster. I believe that to be dangerous.'

01:38:26Camulos turned back towards him.

01:38:29"'Dangerous? To swear loyalty to the glorious warrior who commands the military might of the

01:38:33Imperium while the Emperor retreats to the dungeons beneath his palace? To swear loyalty

01:38:38to the hero who will finish the job the Emperor is too busy to finish? That is dangerous?'

01:38:45"'The Warmaster is a sublime warrior,' agreed Cavallerio,

01:38:49"'but it would be a mistake to think of those armies as belonging to him.

01:38:54Our first loyalty must be to the Emperor,

01:38:57and only a blind man could fail to see how this division is affecting Mars.'

01:39:02"'What are you talking about, Cavallerio?' snapped Camulos.

01:39:06"'You know what I am talking about. Nothing is said and nothing is ever recorded,

01:39:11but we all know that lines are being drawn. The divisions between the adepts of Mars grow

01:39:17ever more vocal and bitter. Long-buried schisms are stirred and ancient feuds reignited.

01:39:23The attack on Adept Maximal's reactor is just the latest example of violence

01:39:27that's rising to the surface and spilling out onto the Red Sands.

01:39:32The factions of belief are mobilizing, and our world is on the verge of tearing itself apart.

01:39:38And for what? A semantic difference in belief?

01:39:41Is such a thing worth the bloodshed it will no doubt unleash?'

01:39:46"'Sometimes war is necessary,' said Camulos.

01:39:50"'Did not the Primarch Alpharius say that war was simply the galaxy's hygiene?'

01:39:54"'Who knows? It is certainly attributed to him. But what weight do his words carry on Mars?

01:40:01Any war fought here will not be for hygiene, but for misguided beliefs and differences in theology.

01:40:08Such things are anathema to the Imperium, and I will not be drawn into war by the

01:40:12beliefs of religious madmen.' "'Madmen!' said Camulos,

01:40:17with exaggerated horror. "'You speak of the senior adepts of Mars! Such words from a respected

01:40:24princeps!' Cavallerio ignored the barb and addressed his next words to the assembled

01:40:30princeps and warriors of the Titan orders. "'Every day the legios and warrior orders

01:40:36receive petitions from forges all over Tharsis, begging our engines to walk. And for what?

01:40:42Differences of opinion in belief? It is madness that will see us all burn in the fires of an

01:40:49unnecessary war, and I for one will not lead my warriors into battle for such things.

01:40:54The legios have always been the defenders of Mars, and we have always stood above the

01:40:59squabbles of the Mechanicum. We have always done so, and must do so now.

01:41:05We must not allow ourselves to be baited.' "'True sons of Mars know that the fire of the

01:41:10forge burns hottest when it burns away impurities,' retorted Camulos.

01:41:16"'If blood must be shed to preserve the glory of Mars, then so be it.

01:41:20Kelbor Hal, the fabricator-general of Mars himself, receives emissaries from the Warmaster,

01:41:26and the great forge-masters Urzi Malevolus and Lucas Crom have already

01:41:30pledged their labours to Horace Lupercal. Who are we to doubt their wisdom?'

01:41:35"'Then this is not about belief,' said Cavallerio.

01:41:39"'It's rebellion you're talking about.' A gasp of horror swept the chamber at

01:41:43Cavallerio's words. To even speak of such things was unheard of. Camulos shook his head.

01:41:49"'You're a naive fool, Cavallerio. The things you speak of have been in motion for centuries,

01:41:55ever since the Emperor arrived here and enslaved the Mechanicum to his will.'

01:42:00"'You speak out of turn,' cried Lord Commander Verticorder.

01:42:04"'This is treachery!' An angry hubbub filled the chamber of the First, with Princeps,

01:42:10Moderati, Engineers, Steersmen, and Armsmen rising to protest, either at Camulos's words

01:42:16or at Verticorder's accusation. Following Cavallerio's example, the senior Princeps

01:42:22of Legio Mortis turned to the shouting warriors and said, "'We are shackled to the demands of

01:42:27terror, my friends. But I ask you, why that should be? We were promised freedom from interference,

01:42:34but what freedom have we enjoyed? Our every effort is bent to the will of the Emperor,

01:42:40our every forge dedicated to fulfilling his vision. But what of our vision? Was Mars not

01:42:46promised the chance to reclaim its own empire? The forge worlds, long ago founded in the depths

01:42:52of the galaxy, are still out there, awaiting the tread of any Martian sun. But how long will it be

01:42:57before the Emperor claims them? I tell you now, brothers, that when those worlds are held by

01:43:03terror, it will be next to impossible to reclaim them." Camulos turned his gaze upon Deus Tempestus

01:43:11and said, "'Princeps, Cavallerio is right about one thing, though. A storm is approaching where

01:43:17our vaunted neutrality will not stand. You will all need to choose a side. Choose the right one,

01:43:24or it will devour even you, Storm Lord." Dahlia stared at the complex lines radiating from the

01:43:33plans before her, the notations in a tightly wound Gothic script that made reading them

01:43:38next to impossible. Numbers, equations, and hand-written notes conspired to make the

01:43:43confusing arrangement of circuit diagrams, build arrangements, and milling plans almost

01:43:48unintelligible. "'Give it up, Dahlia,' said Zeus, with his customary angry tone.

01:43:54"'We've all been over this a hundred times. It doesn't make any sense.' Dahlia shook her head.

01:44:00"'No, it does. It's just a case of following the path.' "'There is no path,' said Medicine,

01:44:06her voice arch and weary. "'Don't you think I've tried to follow the plans? It looks like

01:44:11Adept Alterimus didn't think the standard methodology applied to his own work.'

01:44:15Dahlia rested her arms on the wax paper upon which the plans had been printed. These, of course,

01:44:21were not the originals which had been drawn many thousands of years ago, but copies transcribed

01:44:26by later adepts over the centuries. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. She knew she

01:44:31ought to be used to the defeatist carping of her fellows, but their daily negativity was beginning

01:44:36to get to her. She took a calming breath, picturing the oceans of Leran, as described by the poet

01:44:43Edwin Moore in his Ocean Cantos, which she had transcribed nearly a year ago. The image of that

01:44:49far-distant planet's world oceans always calmed her, and she badly needed that calm now, for time

01:44:55was running out. No sooner had Coriel Zeth welcomed Dahlia to her mighty forge than the adept had

01:45:01turned on her heel and marched deep into the sweltering depths, announcing that Dahlia was

01:45:06being taken to where she would be tested. Dahlia had never been comfortable with tests, knowing

01:45:12she tended to clam up and her mind go blank whenever she was asked a difficult question,

01:45:17let alone made to sit any form of exam. She often wondered how she had managed to pass her

01:45:22transcription assessments. The gleaming halls of the magma city were spacious and functional,

01:45:29geometrically precise and machined with a smooth grace. Though there was utter devotion to function

01:45:34in its architecture, form was not overlooked, and there was great beauty in the mechanisms of Zeth's

01:45:40forge. Menials and lowly adepts threaded the halls, chambers and cavernous workspaces,

01:45:45every one according adept Zeth the proper respect as she passed. Each new chamber brought fresh

01:45:52wonders of engineering and construction. Enormous cogged machines surrounded by crackling arcs of

01:45:58lightning, thudding pistons driving unknown engines and enormous caverns of steel where

01:46:03thousands of technomats toiled at bronze workbenches on the tiniest mechanisms with

01:46:08delicate silver calipers and needle-nosed instrumentation. At last they came to a wide

01:46:14chamber lined with rack upon rack of gleaming tools and fabrication devices that she could not

01:46:19even begin to name. A tall plan-chest stood at one end of the chamber, and four robed individuals

01:46:26stood around a workbench at its centre, each one shaking her hand and nodding as she was introduced

01:46:31to them. First was Melusine, a tall handsome woman of middling years from the American continent,

01:46:39with smooth brown skin and a grafted augmented faceplate over the left side of her face.

01:46:44She had been coolly welcoming, her remaining eye sizing Dahlia up and down with the look

01:46:48of a professional assayer. Next was a swarthy, stunted individual by the name of Zouche,

01:46:54a native of what had once been known as the Indonesic Block. His handshake was curd,

01:46:59and his bruce welcome had a hollow ring to it. Dahlia was not tall by any means,

01:47:04but even she towered over Zouche. She estimated his height at no more than a metre.

01:47:10Next to Zouche was a woman named Severine, who had the look of a teacher about her.

01:47:14Her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, and her pale-skinned features looked as though they

01:47:19might crack if her thin lips creased open with even the fraction of a smile.

01:47:23Last was a smiling youth who went by the name of Caxton, perhaps a year or two older than Dahlia,

01:47:29with a boyish face and a tonsured mop of unruly black hair. His features were open,

01:47:34and of all the greetings she had received, his felt the most genuine, and she recognised his

01:47:39accent as having its origins somewhere not too distant from her own homelands,

01:47:43possibly the eastern slopes of the Urals. With introductions made, Adept Zeth had lifted a

01:47:50number of waxy sheets of paper from the plan chest and laid them flat on the workbench in

01:47:54the centre of the room. This, she announced, is one of the last great unrealised designs of Adept

01:48:01Alterimus, developer of the Sigma Phi desolator engine. Data Appalachians name it as a theta-wave

01:48:09enhancer designed to stimulate long-term potentiation in humans. Ignoring their blank

01:48:16looks, Zeth continued, It has been transcribed faithfully by the tech-archivists of Epluvium

01:48:22Maximal from the data fragments recovered from Adept Alterimus's tomb below the Zephyria Tholos,

01:48:29and you are going to build it. You will have access to workspace, tools, materials,

01:48:35and servitors to perform the manual labour. Within seven rotations you will demonstrate

01:48:40a working prototype. With that, Adept Zeth had departed with a swirl of her bronze cape,

01:48:46leaving the five of them alone in the workspace. The first day had been spent in working out what

01:48:52the device was intended to do. No small feat in itself, given that the transcribers had been

01:48:57literal in copying out Alterimus's spelling mistakes, corrections, and the exact shape

01:49:02and texture of his many crossed-out workings. Sketched images and rough diagrams scattered

01:49:07throughout the plans gave some clue to the device's function, but it was a painstaking

01:49:12process just to divine what requirement this unrealised device was intended to fulfil.

01:49:18A pecking order had quickly established itself within their group, with Zeus and Caxton

01:49:23deferring to Severine, who in turn took her lead from Melusine. Dahlia found her place within that

01:49:29hierarchy when she alone was able to decipher the notes and diagrams enough to understand

01:49:34the device's purpose. It's a machine for enhancing the communication between neurons in the brain,

01:49:40said Dahlia, after a frustrating hour of unravelling a thread of randomly scrawled notes.

01:49:47According to these notes, Alterimus seemed to believe that a process known as long-term

01:49:51potentiation was what lay at the heart of the formation of memory and learning. It seems to

01:49:57be a cellular mechanism of learning, where the body is induced to synthesise new proteins that

01:50:02assist in high-level cognition. How does it do that? asked Severine, looking up from redrawing

01:50:08the circuit diagrams and synaptic flow maps. By the looks of this molecular formula, it achieves

01:50:15its function by enhancing synaptic transmission, said Dahlia, her eyes darting rapidly over the

01:50:21drawings. This wave generator vastly improves the ability of two neurons, one pre-synaptic and the

01:50:27other post-synaptic, to communicate with one another across a synapse. Dahlia's fingers spiralled

01:50:34over the drawing, her eyes flitting back and forth across the paper and her own notations,

01:50:39oblivious to the looks she was receiving from her fellows as she spoke, the words sounding as

01:50:44though they came from the deepest recesses of her brain. Neurotransmitter molecules are received by

01:50:50receptors on the surface of the post-synaptic cell. When it's active, the device improves the

01:50:55post-synaptic cell's sensitivity to neurotransmitters by increasing the activity of existing receptors

01:51:01and vastly increasing the number of receptors on the post-synaptic cell surface.

01:51:06Yes, but what does that actually mean? asked Caxton. Isn't it obvious? asked Dahlia, looking up

01:51:13from the plan. The silence of her fellows told her it was not. She tapped the plans with her fingertips

01:51:21The device is designed to enormously enhance a person's ability to tap into areas of the brain

01:51:26that we almost never use, increasing their ability to learn and store information at a rate

01:51:31way beyond anything human beings have ever been able to achieve before.

01:51:35But it doesn't work, pointed out Caxton. Not yet, agreed Dahlia, but I think I know how we can make it work.

01:51:42Do you think she is right? asked Epluvian Maximal, watching Dahlia explaining the function of

01:51:49Alterimus's device on a flickering holoscreen. Can she get it to work? No one else has succeeded

01:51:55in a thousand years, and you think she can do it in seven rotations?

01:52:00Coriel Zeth didn't answer her fellow adept for a moment, letting the chilled gusts of air that

01:52:04wafted from his permanently cooled data frame tease the few organic portions of her flesh

01:52:10that still face the world. Maximal's words were artificially rendered, but Adept Lungquist had

01:52:17crafted his vox unit, and the sound of his voice was virtually indistinguishable from an organically

01:52:22created one. Such an affectation seemed ridiculous to Zeth, given the artificiality of the rest of

01:52:28Epluvian Maximal, but every adept had his own particular idiosyncrasies, and she supposed hers

01:52:34might seem no less ridiculous to others. I believe she can, said Zeth. Her voice was still

01:52:41created by human vocal cords, but rendered hollow and metallic by the studded face mask she wore.

01:52:46She wasn't used to employing her flesh voice, but indulged Maximal's peccadillo without complaint.

01:52:53You saw the schema of the device she altered on Terra? How could she have done that without some

01:52:58unconscious connection to the Akasha? Blind luck, suggested Maximal. A million servitors

01:53:06working on a million plans might eventually hit upon something that works by accident.

01:53:10That old truism, smiled Zeth. You know that's impossible.

01:53:15Is it? I've seen a few of my servitors perform tasks that weren't included in their

01:53:20Doctrina Wafers, though admittedly my servitors do not function as ably as I would prefer.

01:53:26Only because Lucas Crumb outbid you for the services of adept Ravachol,

01:53:30but that's beside the point, said Zeth, irritated by Maximal's digression.

01:53:35Dahlia Sithara made intuitive leaps of logic, and where she found gaps in the technology,

01:53:41she filled them with working substitutes. And you believe that is because the organic

01:53:47architecture of her brain is attuned to the Akasha?

01:53:51Given that I have eliminated various other factors that might account for her innate

01:53:55understanding of technology, it is the only explanation that fits, replied Zeth. Though

01:54:02she does not know it, she unconsciously accesses the wellspring of all knowledge and experience

01:54:08contained within the Akasha, encoded in the substance of the Ether.

01:54:12By Ether you mean the warp? Yes.

01:54:16So why not call it that?

01:54:18You know why not, cautions Zeth. There is danger in such association, and I do not want

01:54:24prying eyes misunderstanding the concept of what we are trying to do here, not before

01:54:29we fully understand the processes by which we can access the Akashic records and learn

01:54:35that which our ancient forebears understood without the need for dogma and superstition.

01:54:41The source of all knowledge, sighed Maximal, and Zeth smiled beneath her mask.

01:54:48Appealing to Maximal's obsessive hunger for knowledge was a sure-fire means of quashing

01:54:52any concerns he had regarding their work.

01:54:55Indeed, said Zeth, baiting the hook some more. The history of the cosmos and every morsel

01:55:01of information that has ever existed or ever will exist. If she were to be able to understand

01:55:09If she can build this device, then we will be able to unlock the full potential of the

01:55:15Great Reader. That is my hope, agreed Zeth, running a golden hand across the icy surface

01:55:21of Maximal's chill body. She could feel the subtle vibration of the data wheels churning

01:55:26within the mechanisms of his body, as though in anticipation of learning the innermost

01:55:30workings of the universe. If she can build Alterimus's device, then we can enhance

01:55:36the Empath's mind to the degree where it will be fully receptive to the knowledge

01:55:40impressed upon the Aether. Then we will know everything.

01:55:45Yes, the Empath, said Maximal. The use of a Psyker disturbs me. If Dahlia Sithra already

01:55:54has a connection to the Aether, why not simply use her as the conduit?

01:55:58Zeth shook her head. Prolonged exposure to the Aether eventually burns the conduit out.

01:56:05There are plenty of Psykers to be had, but Dahlia is one of a kind. I would not be so

01:56:10careless with such a valuable resource as to squander her.

01:56:15Her answers seemed to satisfy Maximal, and he said,

01:56:17It is great work we do here, but there will be those who seek to stop us if they should

01:56:22learn of it.

01:56:24Then we must ensure that they do not.

01:56:27Of course, nodded Maximal. But already I detect the interest of the Fabricator General and

01:56:33his cronies in the work carried out in your forge. Info feeds gossip on the air, and data

01:56:39packets are like bodies. They do not stay buried forever.

01:56:44You are a brilliant technologist, but you make few allies with your open scorn for Kelbor

01:56:49Hal. Be careful you do not make too many enemies and attract undue attention.

01:56:55Such things may cost us dearly.

01:56:58You speak of the attack on your reactor?

01:57:01Amongst other things.

01:57:02replied Maximal, watching the holographic image of Dahlia as she organised her fellow

01:57:07workers in their tasks.

01:57:09At the Council of Tharsis, Prince Serp's Camulos denied involvement in the attack, and,

01:57:14much as it surprises me, I believe him.

01:57:18Really? From what I gather, Mortis are agitating for open warfare between the factions.

01:57:25True. And the destruction of my prime reactor would be a logical first step in weakening

01:57:29their strongest opponent, Legio Tempestus, for they greatly depended on its output.

01:57:36The Magma City will cover their shortfall.

01:57:39I told Prince Serp's Cavallerio that very thing, said Maximal. But you and I both know

01:57:45that is only a temporary solution. Mortis and Tempestus are rivals of old, and, with

01:57:50the reactor gone, the strength of those friendly to our cause grows weaker.

01:57:55So why do you not suspect Legio Mortis' involvement?

01:58:00Maximal sighed, another affectation since he had no lungs to speak of, and a mist of

01:58:05cold air billowed around him.

01:58:08Camulos' bluster was too confident. He knew we couldn't prove anything, because

01:58:13there was nothing to prove. He may have helped plan the attack, but I do not believe any

01:58:19engines from Mortis took part.

01:58:21Then who did?

01:58:22I believe Crom was behind the execution.

01:58:26Crom? Because you do not like him?

01:58:30I find his manner insufferable, that is true.

01:58:33But there is more to it than that, said Maximal, with a precisely modulated conspiratorial

01:58:39tone of voice. There are rumours of the work he is pursuing in his forge—experiments

01:58:45on engines designed with artificial sentience.

01:58:49Rumours? What rumours? I have heard nothing of this, said Zeth.

01:58:57Few have, said Maximal slyly, but few things escape my data-miners. It is whispered that

01:59:03Crom has even built such an engine. Supposedly it matches the description given by the night

01:59:09pilot who saw the machine that attacked my reactor.

01:59:12Zeth shook her head.

01:59:15If Crom has built an engine with artificial sentience, he would be a fool to let it be

01:59:21destroyed.

01:59:23Perhaps it wasn't destroyed, said Maximal.

01:59:27If it escaped into the Pallidus, we could search for a hundred years and not find it.

01:59:32Zeth sensed hesitancy in Maximal's manner, as though there were other facts he was aware

01:59:37of, but was unsure about sharing.

01:59:40Is there something else? she asked.

01:59:43Maximal nodded slowly.

01:59:45Perhaps.

01:59:46Each time a rumour of this machine surfaces, the data conduits whisper a name.

01:59:52Kaban.

01:59:54Zeth ran the name through her internal memory coils, but found no match for it.

01:59:59Maximal—

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