A Young Adeptus Mechanicus Priestess

"Hehe, see that red-robed one over there?"

Damian patted Lin Fan on the shoulder and chuckled nastily.

Following Damian's gesture, Lin Fan saw a figure nearby, completely covered in a red robe emblazoned with skulls and gears, teaching the regiment's soldiers how to maintain their equipment.

Most accompanying Adeptus Mechanicus priests looked like this. Delia's character design was still being drawn by the author, so don't rush.

"That's an Adeptus Mechanicus priest, right?"

"That's right, but she's still a rookie apprentice."

"Why are you telling me this?" Lin Fan asked curiously, turning to look at Damian.

Damian shrugged. "Nothing much. I was just wondering whether she's human or not. I heard the Adeptus Mechanicus types modify themselves in all sorts of ways, turning themselves into humanoid engines leaking machine oil."

"So you're planning to walk up to her and say, 'Hey, buddy, can I see what's under that robe?'" Lin Fan stared at Damian in disbelief. This guy's nerve seemed a little too great.

Damian looked at him as if he had just heard a joke and patted Lin Fan's shoulder. "If you mean her face, we've already seen it. She's a pretty blonde girl, and she looks quite young. Honestly, that's nothing like what I heard from the squad leader, so I got curious."

"Even physical augmentation comes in heavy and light varieties. Maybe she's a new apprentice tech-priest, so augmentation hasn't even been put on her schedule yet."

Damian rubbed his chin, thought for a while, then nodded in agreement.

"But her voice really is nice."

Lin Fan curled his lip disdainfully. He had no doubt that even if the tech-priest had replaced her entire body with machinery, Damian would still want to invite the pretty machine to dinner. Still, taking someone out to a restaurant on this planet was a decent choice. Although all kinds of civilian goods and luxuries were scarce, the locals had long since put their ingenuity to work, creating a rich variety of distinctive foods.

"Enough of that nonsense. We've got orders from above. We're accompanying that tech-priest to Area 447 of the Karmaklan Green Basin to help repair a giant combine harvester."

Old bald Jock walked over and interrupted their idle chatter.

"Our job is to protect the tech-priest until she reaches the site, then bring her back in one piece."

"Is this really a mission? It sounds more like a suicide run."

Damian asked carelessly. Karmaklan World had been peaceful for far too long, to the point that even the Kasare Legion recruiters who came here felt that Karmaklan's people were unfit for military service. But since the Imperium never lacked cannon fodder, they still screened and reviewed the planet's defense forces, stuffing them into the legions that were forever short on manpower.

Old Jock raised his left fist in displeasure. "Sounds like our dear soldier has objections. Want me to send you to the commissar so you can get a proper feel for military discipline?"

Damian immediately dropped his slovenly attitude. His combat boots clicked together, and he gave a perfect salute, suddenly looking every inch the proper soldier. "Orders acknowledged, sir!"

Old Jock burst into laughter at Damian's abrupt change in attitude, then pointed at Lin Fan. "Soap, you'll lead the team."

Over the past month or so, Old Jock had clearly sensed that Soap was no ordinary man. He had outstanding endurance, tremendous strength, nearly flawless close-combat skills and marksmanship, not to mention a quick mind and remarkably knowledgeable speech. More than once, Old Jock had wondered whether he was some young Imperial noble who had joined this newly established regiment just to experience something novel.

But after getting to know him better, Old Jock decided that Soap might simply be another excellent soldier who loved learning and was loyal to The Emperor. After all, soldiers like that had never been rare in his military career. There was no strongest, only stronger. The Imperium's vast territory and astronomical population would always produce countless outstanding individuals. That was why Old Jock hated the idiots in the Departmento Munitorum but liked his superiors and NCOs so much. Anyone who could reach that kind of position and still be alive was no worthless fool. Every one of them was a battle-hardened brute with a glorious service record.

Still, Lin Fan's performance was a little too exceptional. It reminded him of the old Cadian in his former squad, just as precise and lethal, with only one flaw: terrible humor.

Even now, Old Jock had not forgotten that Cadian's bad joke. "May my blood splash across the enemy's faces and block their vision."

Lin Fan accepted the order and led half the assault squad—ten bald, muscular men in all—in a heavily armored transport toward Green Basin 447. As the temporary commander, Lin Fan naturally rode in the same transport as the Adeptus Mechanicus member they were assigned to protect.

Feeling the faint vibration of the transport's engine beneath him, Lin Fan studied the apprentice priest. Just as Damian had said, beneath that red robe was a cute, pretty face rather than a cold mechanical visage covered in electronic compound eyes and cables.

The apprentice priest noticed Lin Fan's gaze, looked up from the data-slate in her hands, and asked in a pleasant voice free of electronic distortion, "May I ask if you need something?"

Lin Fan waved his hand. "No, no. I just thought Adeptus Mechanicus priests would all be... wouldn't they be... you know?"

The apprentice priest's expression did not change at all. Apparently, plenty of people had asked her the same question before. "I'm only an apprentice priest. I don't have the technology or funds to support extensive mechanical augmentation. Though I do have a little." As she spoke, she showed Lin Fan her mechanical arm, engraved with prayers praising the Machine God and the skull-and-gear emblem of the Adeptus Mechanicus. But to Lin Fan, it looked more like an ornament a young girl had added for appearance's sake, like the girls from his school days who always found ways to alter their uniforms.

"Uh, you're my bodyguards for this mission, right? What should I call you?"

To Lin Fan's surprise, the apprentice priest before him was unexpectedly human, and he relaxed a little. "I think escort would be more accurate than bodyguard. I'm Soap, temporary commander of the Kasare 37th Regiment's assault squad."

"Soap? That really is a..."

"Very low-tech name."

"Haha, you're funny. I'm Monroe Diliya, an apprentice priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus temple stationed in the Casare Sector."

Lin Fan's humor made Diliya laugh. This sort of joke with a technological flavor really hit her funny bone. Though the Adeptus Mechanicus possessed an extraordinary reverence for machinery, considering that what they encountered most throughout their lives were ancient black technologies whose principles had been lost to time, along with high-energy weapons whose effects were almost magical, it was not difficult to understand where that reverence came from.

The Adeptus Mechanicus would not regard even the basic mathematical and scientific knowledge Lin Fan could casually explain as divine creations worthy of worship. But when weapons such as the Cause-Before-Effect Gun, miraculous devices that transcended fundamental physical laws and had been developed by ancient humanity, appeared before them, how could one not be deeply puzzled by their operating principles and eventually believe them to be sacred artifacts bestowed by the gods?

Some fanatical Adeptus Mechanicus priests might shout that all technology was a blessing from the gods, then use that as an excuse to tear the disrespectful Lin Fan into pieces and turn him into a mindless servitor to atone for eternity. But at least Diliya did not seem like one of those fanatical lunatics.

The amazement on Damian's face was practically overflowing as he shot Lin Fan a look of wholehearted admiration.

Lin Fan merely shook his head with an amused smile. Seeing that Diliya had nothing more to say, he began observing the surroundings through the firing port on the side of the armored transport.