55 The Meeting
[Author's recommendation: Warhammer 40K Mechanicus OST - Children of the Omnissiah]
"There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal."
"There is no strength in flesh, only weakness."
"There is no constancy in flesh, only decay."
"There is no certainty in flesh but death."
- Credo Omnissiah
The Adeptus Mechanicus is one of the factions of Imperium of Man. They are scientists, engineers, technicians, and keepers of technology which they rarely share their knowledge with Imperium.
Imagine if your standard mechanic or engineer has a bachelor's degree in engineering and a Ph.D. in theology (Study of religion and the nature of God in this case Machine God).
Due to their ancient treaty with the Emperor of Mankind early during the Unification Wars, The Adeptus Mechanicus maintained their religious beliefs of Machine God and authority for 10,000 years.
Suppose anyone has a problem with their authority, religion, or simply how they look. In that case, Imperium of Man will experience a sudden delay of war supplies such as weapons, ammunition, and even heavy vehicles such as Baneblade, the super-heavy tank. In other words, Admechs (Short for Adeptus Mechanicus) is one of the critical cogs for the never-ending war of the 40K universe.
Most citizens of Imperium knew Tech-priests with their strange and heavy modification of their bodies. There is also their signature red robe which signifies their pledge and dedication to Omnissiah. Unknown to many, red isn't the only color. Depending on the location of Forge World, where the Tech-priests came from, the color of the robe is different.
The Tech-priests from Mars and many Forge Worlds put upon red robes while Forge World of Metalica wears white robes with little red color to indicate their dedication to Mars.
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[01101000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111...mmmmmmh…..aaaaahhhhh…] Magos Valadus Callias of Metalica made weird mechanical sounds for short seconds until he cleared his throat and spoke with a natural voice.
"My apologies. We haven't spoken with our true voice for a half-century. How may we assist you, Champion?" Mangos Callias spoke with curiosity while his fellow Tech-priests looked around as if they were studying everything, including building itself.
"We discovered the existence of Necron within this New World. I need your help with the removal of the mind-shackle scarab from the local king. Of course, you can keep the scarab for your research." William further explains the situation to Magos Callias which at the end the Admech nods his head. While this is going on, many nobles attempt to understand the situation but can't due to their inability to comprehend who these people are. The white-robed beings with strange tools aren't something ordinary people can simply move on as Admechs are otherworldly.
"Fascinating. The first Necron tech in the New World and the potential first step to counter mind control devices. We will handle this procedure with extreme care to undamage the subject." The head Admech said with excitement as if he was about to open Christmas presents.
"You mean your priority is to save the king's life, right?" William reminds the Magos why they are here and sends them away to handle the king's health issue. After six Tech-priests left the throne room, William wondered if he made the right call. Admechs are famous for two things.
One: They do not invent. They improve upon already existing versions to make it work. As long as they can obtain data pieces of STC (Holy Grail from Dark Age of Technology), Adeptus Mechanicus can manufacture anything and modify it to fulfill their needs.
Two: The Adeptus Mechanicus are notorious for touching everything they don't understand. One time they found a strange ruin in one random planet and decided to explore with itching fingers (All six hands, including Mechadendrite ones). Next thing you know, the entire Necron tomb world awoke and started blasting gauss rifles. The point is, Admechs will risk everything as long as they can obtain already existing technology even if they end up awaking 60 million years old undead gods killing machines.
The process of removal of mind-shackle scarab took about 30 minutes. With six Admechs in one room, William thought it would be much faster, but he doesn't know much about Necron tech, so he waited outside with the rest of the nobles.
During the wait, many of the nobles from the minor faction decided to halt their plan to take William's head after realizing it would be an impossible task. But due to their ego and pride as noble, William is confident they won't give up no matter how long it takes. For this reason, William decided to make the first move after solving the current issue with the king and establishing relationships with the major noble faction.
When the door to the meeting room opened, everyone came out except for the queen and king. By the looks of their face, the removal process was successful, and with confirmation by the Magos Callias, everyone in the throne room (Except for a certain number of minor nobles) finally took a breath of relief.
"Thank you Magos Callias. I did not doubt your ability to remove the Xenos device. If all of you are done here, I have troops who need your expertise." William's words Prince Benton signal one of the guards to guide the six very tall and weird men to the rest of strangely dressed soldiers of Knight Lord of the Metal.
After Magos Callias and his Admechs are gone, the Crown Prince dismisses the nobles from both sides of the faction. With the Prime Minister gone, half of the palace on fire, and King Benton in his sickbed, the kingdom of Alderim must reorganize before moving forward.
With all these problems stacked, Prince Benton stepped forward with authority and leadership never shown before. After sending away unnecessary and unimportant nobles, the Crown Prince sent the capital city on high alert to maintain the peace.
While this was happening, he also sent emergency messages to the forts between Alderim and Legellan border for possible invasion once again. There are few other issues Prince Benton has to take care of, but with his newfound confidence and backing of William, the prince managed to maintain the control of the capital without resistance from ambitious nobles.
Three days later,
"As of now, you are no longer a member of the adventurer's guild and wouldn't be able to use our resources, including taking quests. This is directly coming from the guild master." Mia, a former guild receptionist from the Greenhill branch, said to William as she passed a stack of papers with additional information on it.
Ever since Mia arrived in the capital, she reported back to the main guild headquarter regarding what happened to Greenhill and residents' whereabouts. The guild master decided to send an official guild party to investigate and coordinate with the royal court if the court decided to recolonize the ruined town.
As for Mia, she is assigned as a guild representative to William and his military force. After William officially declared war against Legellan, the guild had no choice but to excommunicate William to maintain neutral status. From the guild's point of view, they can't have one of its members go to war against an entire nation without receiving political backlash from multiple sides. The guild revoked William's membership to maintain neutrality but still maintained their relationship with him through Mia, who has a history with William.
"Well, I saw this coming since I obtained my troops. I wasn't so sure if the guild would allow me to have my forces and take most of the quests simultaneously. I don't mind losing the membership, and it's not like I have time." William said to Mia while pointing his thumb at guardsmen doing various tasks, including vehicle maintenance, physical training, etc. At the same time, Mia and William can hear the religious hymns and musical instruments similar to organs as three Admechs are performing rituals on Cain's Chimera.
"Right now, I'm more focused on the war effort than doing some hunting quests. Not to mention I have my battle brothers to worry about since I will be bringing more of my brothers later today. Well, more like cousins than brothers." William said with a nervous voice and ended the meeting with Mia due to his busy schedule. According to Mia, the guild will watch in the sideline until the war between William and Legellan ends. Until then, William won't receive any help from the guild, including submitting quests (To prevent anyone from participating in war-related quests).
"I understand. It's just that I was pushing for your promotion and reestablishing guild branches to Greenhill and Deron since you would be heading back there. You just had to declare war, didn't you?" Mia sighs because she knew William would do something incredibly outrageous, and this was coming from someone who registered William on his first day as an adventurer.
"I'm sure the Crown Prince will send someone to handle Deron and Greenhill. I'm just happy to stay away from politics. It gives me a headache just by thinking about it. Now, if you excuse me, I have my politics to take care of." With that, William left with Mia wishing him luck. Knowing what is to come, William needs all the luck he could get as he opens the door to a large meeting room where four different Space Marine chapters currently are.
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Inside the large meeting room provided by the royal family, representatives of the four different Space Marines chapters sat quietly while servants poured fine wines to their cups. Out of five chairs, four were occupied as each representative sat without their helmet while two of their chosen Space Marines stood behind their respected leader.
Black Templar, Blood Angel, Ultramarine, and Salamander, last time this kind of gathering happened was during Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade, where it took multiple Space Marine chapters to defend the Cadia.
As the room's atmosphere intensifies with silence, the door opens as William, the Emperor's Champion, enters the room with two people accompanying him behind. The first person is Commissar Cain, the Hero of the Imperium who saved multiple Imperium worlds from Xenos to Chaos forces.
The second is an old military commander wearing a Cadian style uniform and smoking a thick cigar in his mouth. The man is also missing one arm as one of his shirt sleeves is folded to maintain the professional appearance of a military leader.
Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed of Cadia made his entrance as a representative of the Astra Militarum with a special invitation from the Emperor's Champion. The campaign meeting for the New World began as each group discussed military strategies, mission objectives, and most importantly, who would be the leader of the entire military force once and for all.
