The Lord of the Forge's Fortress Flagship, the Forge-Ship

In the 7th Sun month of 850, Rosicky Czech's ship arrived in the Squat System.

He immediately went to the Shadow of the Throne and met Nimrod in his private office.

"My Lord, I have been working with Primarch Vulkan on research into Saturn's defense technology, and we recently created the first batch of prototypes."

"On my ship, there are ten prototypes of the Saturnine Terminator and one prototype of the Saturnine Dreadnought."

Rosicky bowed and began his briefing.

Nimrod nodded slightly. He knew that the Saturn type was not as mature as the Cataphractii-pattern and had not yet been put into formal production.

The current prototype version is deployed to the battlefield to be tested in actual combat, and improvements can be made after any shortcomings are discovered.

The truly mature version of the prototype was not seen until the Battle of Isstvan V.

At that time, the escort ship Hearth-Fire would be equipped with twenty sets of finalized Saturn -shaped prototype armor.

Vulkan originally intended to send the prototype to other legions, including those renamed "Sons of Horus," at that time.

Before the Great Birthday Celebration, even the "Iron Hands," which was part of the experimental legion of various Terminator models, was not equipped with a prototype of the Saturn type.

However, due to Mars's thirst for Squats technology, the "Shadow Iron Hands Shadow of Order" has preemptively deployed the Cataphractii Terminator on a large scale.

Furthermore, because Nimrod agreed to Vulkan's request to send Tech Sergeant to provide Bastion-class Energy Shield to the world protected by the 18th Legion in order to counter the threat, Vulkan specifically agreed to let him send personnel to join the research and development.

"In that case, equip the First Chapter with Saturnine Terminator and tear through the Hearth-Fortress's defenses."

"Besides teaching the Tech Sergeant how to manufacture the Saturnine Terminator, you will also work with Malevolus to research the Hunt-Master Suit technology and develop armor suitable for the Royal Court Friar."

"My lord..." Rosicky frowned and looked at the Black Emperor.

The armor of the Royal Court Friar should be top secret, and allowing an outsider like Malevolus to come into contact with it would pose a risk.

"It's alright, he, like Czech Berek and Rian Ramirez, can already be considered a member of the legion."

The "Baron of Corruption's" "Corrosion" has already won Malevolus's loyalty, and he has also made the Tech-Priest a "Savant" to lead the armor development work.

"I hope that the Royal Court Friar's armor will be based on the Hunt-Master Suit, Power Armor, and Terminator armor, combined with the Necrodermis of the Necrons, Rangdan's personal energy shield, the Squats' Leijin Alloy, Void Armor, and Shield-Weave defense technology, as well as the Aeldari's related technologies, to develop different types of armor."

Upon hearing this, Rosicky realized that the Legion had already mastered many technologies related to armor.

Technologies such as Necrodermis did not exist before he was ordered to go to Saturn.

During my time on Mars, the Legion continued to grow and expand under the leadership of our Lord.

I will take the knowledge I have learned from Primarch Vulkan back to the Legion to serve my Lord.

While Rosicky was pondering, Nimrod continued.

"We need not only models with enhanced defense like the Terminator, but also models with enhanced attack and agility."

The Lord of the Forge noted down the Black Emperor's request and readily agreed.

As you wish.

Nimrod smiled and said to Rosicky, "The Squat Fortress Ship I captured is yours. It's not only a powerful warship, but also a warship that integrates exploration, mining, and forging."

"Thanks be to my Lord." Rosicky knew that not only on Mars, but also in the Saturn technology conference he had previously attended, many people were impressed by the Squats' forging capabilities.

Before he returned to the Legion, he often heard the monks at the Technological Conference speak of the Squats' magnificent underground cities, their heavily fortified Hearth-Fortress, and their fortified ships that combined mining and forging.

Compared to the Imperium's ships, the Squats ships are larger; even their smallest ships are cruisers of the Imperium. This short-statured race, ironically, has no frigates or destroyers.

Moreover, their ships have thicker armor, just like the species itself.

The alliance's flagship will likely be even more magnificent.

Rosicky then followed the Black Emperor, boarded a landing craft, and flew to his warship.

Through the viewing window, Rosicky saw the enormous object in the void.

He saw the enormous object in the void and instinctively felt that it was over twenty kilometers long, reaching the level of the Gloriana-class Battleship.

The mechanical tentacles behind Rosicky moved rapidly above his head, activating the head-mounted integrated scanning matrix.

A moment later, the compiled scan results were fed back to Rosicky's private Logis-Engine.

[25.41 kilometers long...]

[It really is a battleship of the same class as the Gloriana-class Battleship.]

He examined the stereoscopic images compiled by the Auspex and immediately noticed their difference from those of the Gloriana-class Battleship.

Compared to warships like the Shadow of the Throne, this warship was much heavier, wider, and taller.

After the landing craft landed on the deck, Nimrod placed a Data Crystal in Rosicky's hand:

"Lord of the Forge, go and inspect your ship. From this moment on, it is yours."

"When the Squats come into contact with others, it doesn't always involve war; they also engage in trade with other factions."

"Many of these items are of unknown use. I have ordered them to be collected and stored in warehouses. Use your spare time to examine them; this is the best way for you to master the power I have bestowed upon you."

Nimrod told the "Appraiser" that the things he was referring to had all been examined by the "Baron of Corruption," and were neither potion ingredients nor anything he knew of.

Although the League of Votann is a young alliance that has only been established for 490 years, the items discovered by the six participating legions still fill three decks, along with some items inside the Primarch's Palace, all awaiting processing by the "Appraiser".

"Yes, my lord." Rosicky picked up the Data Crystal and placed it in the mechanical tentacle.

The mechanical tentacles placed the Data Crystal into an external playback device on its chest and began a rapid review.

Rosicky then discovered that the Data Crystal contained information compiled by the Honor Guard after their exploration of the ship.

Two thousand mineral storage decks and four hundred and ninety mineral refining decks.

Of the 1,200 Forge Deck, 380 were removed and 520 were remodeled.

[The product storage deck has 2,000 units and is awaiting replanning.]

[Demolition? Renovation?]

With a sense of doubt, Rosicky walked toward the nearest Forge Deck, number thirteen.

The relevant information recorded in the Data Crystal is: [The two decks were dismantled and merged.]

Rosicky walked onto the Forge Deck and immediately saw thousands of workers busily working on the production line.

After a little observation, he realized they were manufacturing Bolter.

The Lord of the Forge discovered that more than a dozen of the processes were very different from what he knew, and the finished product had a wider and thicker gun body.

"Lord Rosicky," the legion servant in charge of management had received orders that the Lord of the Forge would arrive at the ship today.

Upon seeing the black-armored giant with Mechanical Arm behind him, he immediately ran over and knelt on one knee.

"Are you from Vostonians?"

Upon hearing the thick Vostonia accent, Rosicky asked.

"Yes," the legion servant said, "Not only me, but all the workers on this Forge Deck are from Vostonia."

"We are fortunate to have been chosen to depart from Vostonia and arrive on this ship to serve the Monarch Majesty."

"The deck I manage is responsible for producing the new Bolter model, known as the Bedrock-pattern, with Standard Template Construct from the Squats."

"When we first arrived, we found that this deck was not suitable for us. At that time, the deck ceiling was only slightly higher than me. After I reported it, I received permission from the Great Shadow of Order Tech Sergeant to connect the upper and lower decks and make adaptive modifications to the machines."

Rosicky nodded, looking up at the nearly five-meter-high ceiling, understanding the meaning of dismantling and modification within the Data Crystal.

The Squats' Hearthkyn are shorter than humans, and their working environment and equipment cannot be used directly, requiring adaptive modifications.

The Ironkin are in charge of mining; equipped with mechanical devices, they are tall and require no modifications.

"Continue working," the Lord of the Forge commanded.

"Yes, sir."

Rosicky used two ship standards to quickly grasp the ship's situation.

He then went to the Ancestor Shrine at the bottom to report to the Black Emperor.

"Thanks to my Lord for this gift, I will certainly make good use of this warship to research and provide more equipment for the legion."

"You should give it a name," Nimrod said with a slight nod and a smile.

"The entire ship is like a giant forge, encompassing the entire process from ore to casting and storage; laboratories and other facilities also serve the casting function."

"Let's call it the Forge-Ship."