Obtaining the STC Template

The massive mine cart descended all the way to its destination: the Temple of the Machine God, three kilometers underground.

The cart stopped in an unloading bay. Many other mine carts stood there, thick with dust. No one had used them in a long time.

The soldiers disembarked and stood guard. Sage Rob approached the platform, where a man was embedded in the wall. He managed the nearby Cogitator Array—in plain terms, he was a humanoid computer.

Several connectors extended from one of Rob's mechanical arms and slid into the humanoid computer's mouth.

More than ten minutes later, Rob withdrew the data connectors and said to Li Qinwu,

"I've breached every network defense in this Temple of the Machine God and obtained the highest level of access. Follow me."

He beckoned and led everyone toward a great iron door.

They passed many iron doors and factory halls.

Most of the doors had gaping holes as though heavy artillery had struck them. A few remained shut.

As Rob led the way, he said,

"This Temple of the Machine God was an Armament Temple. The entire complex existed to produce Walking Mechs.

"Twenty years ago, the Orks arrived and occupied it.

"The sage in charge activated the self-destruct sequence at the last moment. Ninety-five percent of the Temple of the Machine God's factories and seventy-five percent of its products were destroyed. The Orks got very little."

Li Qinwu's eyes lit up.

"So I might get the remaining twenty-five percent? How many Walking Mechs would that be?"

Rob dampened his excitement.

"Statistically, there should have been more than four thousand Walking Mechs left.

"But you saw how many Orks were piloting Walking Mechs on our way here. Many of these iron doors also show signs of being forced open. We have no way