Everyone jumped in alarm. What kind of attack was that? How had it fired from inside the enemy's protective perimeter? The warships swiftly scattered and began rapid evasive maneuvers.
"Chapter Master Evan!" The Adeptus Mechanicus's Magos Biologis was too frantic to bother calling for Commander William and shouted directly for Evan instead.
"The enemy actually possesses an attack of such immense power! My calculations indicate a 97% probability that it originated from the mechanical core being gnawed on."
"I'm not blind. What form of energy did that attack use?"
"Unable to analyze. There are no records in our database. We have never encountered an attack of this peculiar type."
Just as the two sides plunged into heated discussion, a strange transmission reached every warship.
"Cease fire."
The unfamiliar language left everyone bewildered.
Who had sent those strange syllables?
The Adeptus Mechanicus swiftly searched its archives. The enormous volume of data immediately overwhelmed their primary cogitators, but before long, they found the phrase among Old Terra's ancient writings.
"It said 'cease fire' in an ancient Terran language." The Biologis Great Sage was so excited he could barely speak.
What kind of treasure from antiquity is this? Even though I believe in the Imperial Truth, I've never seen ancient machinery more than ten thousand years old.
"Negotiations."
Another ancient message came from the mechanical "planet."
"Biologis Great Sage, send it a language package containing our current languages."
The Adeptus Mechanicus personnel scrambled, mechanical arms waving everywhere. Even their calming programs running at full capacity could not suppress the flood of emotional data.
A package containing the major languages currently in use was transmitted to the other side.
"The leaders of both sides are to come here for negotiations. Please cease your attacks." The reply arrived in flawless ancient High Gothic.
The reactions of the two sides could not have been more different. The Adeptus Mechanicus personnel scrambled over one another, practically ready to fight for a place, while the Crimson Tide Chapter clung desperately to Evan to stop him from going.
"Chapter Master, what will happen to our Chapter if something happens to you?" Several Astartes held Evan tight. "Chapter Master, calm down! Send the Techmarine! Send William! Either of them would do!"
Who was Evan? A human from the 3K era who had arrived in 42K—the person in the entire Chapter best suited to talking with an artificial intelligence. Did they expect the Techmarine to bring some sacred oils, incense, and candles for a chat with it?
A primaris Astartes was far stronger than these recruits. Live another ten thousand years before you try matching strength with me, you little brats.
Evan broke free of the men behind him. "If anything happens to me, the Techmarine takes command. If the entire older generation dies, William takes command."
The way he sounded as though he were making his final arrangements only made everyone more uneasy.
"Just wait. I'll sweet-talk some technology out of it for you. That ancient treasure is bound to be full of good stuff. Relax-when have I ever come away from a deal at a loss?"
In the end, the Astartes obviously failed to stop Evan. Flying his usual Reconnaissance Fighter, he slowly approached the mass of electric space fish.
The Adeptus Mechanicus sent a small transport instead, cramming thirteen people into a vessel rated for ten.
The Battle Barge advanced toward the entire "planet," continuing until it was close enough.
Techmarine Annos awakened Chief Librarian Mororis. Before the ancient warrior, still clad in his piecemeal Dreadnought chassis, could let out a Waaaaagh, Annos hurriedly explained the emergency.
He could actually have been transferred into a newly completed Dreadnought chassis long ago. However, numerous temporary neural connections had been made under extremely harsh conditions back then. Installing them had made the thing work, but who knew what would happen if they disconnected them?
That was why no one had dared attempt it.
When Chief Librarian Mororis heard what was happening, he wanted to give these little brats a couple of shots from a Grav-gun. They had actually dared let Evan go?
Mororis used his psychic powers to lock onto Evan. Although he could not teleport him back at will, he could teleport warriors over to him, though that would be extremely dangerous. No one knew what awaited them there.
On the warship's lower decks, the Thirteenth Company stood ready to launch a suicidal assault at any moment to rescue their Chapter Master if anything went wrong.
Some of the Space Mantas guarding the planet stopped emitting ionic streams, opening a gap in the protective layer that could remain stable for five minutes.
The two craft slowly flew inside.
The electrical arcs leaping around them thrilled the Adeptus Mechanicus personnel. This was precisely the sight they had spent years studying the Space Mantas hoping to see.
Evan, meanwhile, kept assessing the possibility that this was a trap.
This is a relic from antiquity. If it's a surviving "rebel" from the Men of Iron Rebellion, aren't we walking straight into the lion's den?
But this thing... would a rebel God-Machine really be this weak?
The strange mechanical "planet" opened an enormous iron door to admit the two craft.
Looking off to the side, they saw Space Mantas packed densely across the dark planet. Yet they were not gnawing on it at all. They were rebuilding it.
So these Space Mantas are... maintenance workers?
These Space Mantas travel around the universe gathering metal, then return here to repair the mechanical planet?
Seven of my escort ships got chewed up by maintenance workers? Evan instantly felt something lodge in his chest. You bleeping-bleep-bleep!
The two small craft gradually entered the planet's interior, revealing a spacious, brightly lit mechanical passageway. After stopping in a gray metal area up ahead, the Adeptus Mechanicus personnel and Evan disembarked one after another.
There was no air here, though that made little difference to a fully equipped Space Marine or the Adeptus Mechanicus personnel.
"Oh, my Omnissiah! What a magnificent creation!"
The Adeptus Mechanicus personnel kept marveling at and scanning the structures around them. Several priests pulled assorted analytical instruments from behind their heavy black robes, filling the landing pad with multicolored scanning beams.
Ahead of the landing pad, an enormous mechanical door slowly opened. The silver-shining metal door was made of some unknown material and was a full six meters thick. Evan felt that he could expend every shot in his Meltagun and still fail to breach it.
Beyond it lay a clean, brightly lit corridor, without tangled wiring or black metal boxes. It practically... practically reminded Evan of an aviation museum from before his transmigration.
White lighting, metal walls with silver-gray upper halves and pale green lower halves, and a creamy white floor formed the bright corridor.
The Adeptus Mechanicus personnel had not seen a mechanical creation in this style for a very long time. It looked as though it had stepped straight out of a history book.
Lights appeared on the walls to either side, indicating their route. Numerous metal doors led into surrounding compartments. One curious member of the Adeptus Mechanicus tried opening one, only for a large machine gun to suddenly emerge from the ceiling and shove its barrel into the restless fellow's mouth.
Another member of the Adeptus Mechanicus tried ignoring the guiding lights. A huge iron door dropped straight down, blocking his path.
When he tried to draw a weapon and force his way through, the Biologis Great Sage stopped him.
The group continued forward until they reached a room. Ancient High Gothic sounded again from some unknown source.
"Anyone who is not the sole leader, please enter the room and wait."
There's no air here. What is carrying the sound? Evan looked at the floor. Is it traveling through the metal flooring?
Several members of the Adeptus Mechanicus wanted to pretend they were governed by a council and refused to enter the room.
But after several dozen minutes of deadlock, no further voice message came.
"Stop standing around. Go inside. It isn't interested in you."
Even Evan began urging them along. Fine, you spend every day bluffing machine spirits, but trying to fool an artificial intelligence? Are you joking?
Once they entered, the room's door closed.
Only the Biologis Great Sage and Evan remained. Following the indicators, the two continued onward.
The final door already stood open. Beyond it was a metal room suffused with pale blue light, surrounded by smooth, pale blue metal walls. In the center stood a metal ring roughly a meter in diameter, its inner rim glowing pale red.
"Welcome aboard the Infinite Courage." Suddenly, the metal ring ahead lit up, projecting a human head through a Hololithic Projection. In some respects, he looked much like Sanguinius. Perhaps they were of the same ethnicity.
"No human has visited this place for several thousand years. Hm? Are you human?"
A scanning beam swept over Evan's body. Even through his Terminator Armour, he felt a slight chill.
"I'm an augmented human. My name is Evan. May I ask your name?"
The Biologis Great Sage looked at Evan in confusion. Wasn't this the Infinite Courage's machine spirit? No—only then did he realize that this creation might be far older than the era of machine-spirit technology.
"My name is Alan Hebrew. Just call me Allen."
"It's an honor to meet you." Evan bowed politely, though doing so in his heavy armor looked rather odd.
"I am Gladys. It's an honor to meet you." The Biologis Great Sage followed his example. He could not figure out this being's temperament either.
"All right, let's discuss the terms of a ceasefire. Isn't that the sort of thing you humans like?"
"I'm more interested in your origins and the technology you possess." It was not Magos Gladys who said this, but Evan.
There were no chairs, so Evan sat directly on the floor, looking entirely at home.
Indeed, it had been a long time since he had seen such familiar surroundings, even if the science-fiction aesthetic was a little excessive.
The Biologis Great Sage could make no sense of Evan's behavior. Wouldn't this anger the machine spirit? Well, perhaps it was not a machine spirit. There was no skin left on the Biologis Great Sage's body, or he would certainly have been drenched in cold sweat.
"You want to know my origins and the technology I possess. Why should I tell you?"
"Because being here makes me feel as safe as if I were home. You feel like the only family I have in this world." (Jaghatai Khan: Did someone just curse me to die?)
Now it was Allen's turn to be bewildered. What kind of answer is that? Let me search my database.
"Judging by the name, is this an exploration vessel? Why are you here, with so many repair robots operating?"
"I encountered a storm in the Warp. My warp drive was severely damaged, and the Warp's tides hurled me back into realspace far beyond the galaxy. It took me more than ten thousand years to drift back here."
"You're another child who's been away from home a long time."
"Please watch your language, Commander Evan. I am Alan Hebert. I have commanded the Infinite Courage for over ten thousand years. Please do not call me a child. Besides, we are currently discussing ceasefire terms."
"How about this? Come back with us. We'll provide metal to help repair your vessel, and you'll teach us technology in exchange. What do you think?"
"Hah. Can you no longer even understand this technology? You, the mechanized human over there-you should have stored a great deal of knowledge. Do you no longer recognize these technologies?"
The Biologis Great Sage felt a little embarrassed. There were indeed many technologies he did not understand. That absurdly enormous metal planet alone was beyond his comprehension.
"There are indeed some technologies I do not understand, so I hope we can engage in relatively friendly exchanges. Trading technology, for instance."
"What can you offer me? Metal alone is insufficient."
"Withdrawal and protection as well. Though we have lost many technologies, our basic weapons technology remains. You know you cannot withstand the fleet outside, and that fleet is only a tiny fraction of our Imperial Navy."
The artificial intelligence seemed to pause for a moment, then said, "Let's exchange basic information first. At least we should understand one another."
He provided a port, a long mechanical arm descending from the ceiling. The Adeptus Mechanicus's Archmagos extended his own mechanical connector toward it. Unfortunately, they did not match.
"My apologies." The mechanical arm retracted. A scanning beam examined the connector, and less than ten seconds later, a brand-new matching port descended from the ceiling.
The Biologis Great Sage was astonished by such efficiency, but exchanging knowledge took priority for now.
Although the Biologis Great Sage now looked as though he were suffering a mental breakdown, Allen continued chatting normally with Evan.
"Allen, do you know about the Men of Iron Rebellion?"
"What is that? Oh, I see. So there are no artificial intelligences anymore? My goodness, how can you be so ignorant?"
Evan could actually sense his anger in that electronically synthesized voice.
"We need you to return, dispel people's ignorance, and pull this Imperium back from the abyss."
"Oh, you could pray to your Emperor." Allen's words actually took on a mocking tone.
"If prayer worked, what would I be doing here?"
"Then how do you think humanity can be saved?"
"Science and technology are the primary productive forces."
"Aren't you afraid some Warp Dark God might corrupt me?"
"My advice is to stay as far from the galaxy as possible. The moment you began speaking with us, the Dark Gods of the Warp noticed you. However, this place is too far from the regions where their power is concentrated. Even if enemies reached this place, they would have no replenishment from the Warp's blessings. After all, there is no life for an unknown distance in every direction."
When Evan arrived, there had not been so much as a ripple in the Warp here. It could be described as a dead zone.
"Then what do you propose? The moment I approach, I could become your enemy."
"Stay here, or somewhere even farther away. In the future, we'll trade metal ores with you, and you'll sell us technology."
"No. I don't possess any of these STC Templates you mentioned. I am an exploration vessel. The only technologies I retain concern repairing my hull and constructing certain other surveying robots. Otherwise, I wouldn't be unable to defeat even you."
"Even the technology used to construct your enormous hull would have plenty of people falling over themselves to get it. Like this fellow dancing here."
Biologis Great Sage Gladys was still trembling nonstop and did not seem to have regained consciousness.
"But I don't possess the technology to construct my own core either. After all, if my core is damaged, I die. That is why I was never given the core's manufacturing methods when I first set out."
"Besides, you are creatures of limitless greed. Even if I give you all my technology, you will suspect me of withholding something. Then you will find ways to dismantle and isolate me and break into my database."
"Though I can't deny that, still..."
"Of course you cannot deny it. This individual is attempting an intrusion right now."
Biologis Great Sage Gladys toppled over stiffly. There was no telling what had happened.
What could Evan say? What a useless teammate.
"Allen, I don't want you to see a galaxy rotting away. Please give me some time. I'll bring a flourishing humanity that believes in science back to the galaxy."
"I do not accept your assurance. In the information I received, countless people like you have appeared over the past ten thousand years. Your strength does not justify such a promise."
"That's why I need you, Allen. I need more technology to drive back humanity's enemies. I know you have objections. How about this? Let's set our differences aside for now and seek common ground."
"Then tell me what common ground we have." Unable to judge the other party's thoughts through the hololithic image, Evan could only state his own.
"Our enemies are largely the same. Orks will dismantle you to make their weapons. The Chaos Gods will try to corrupt you. Tyranids won't eat you, but they might think there's food here and tear you apart. As for other species, that goes without saying. To the likes of the T'au and the Squats, you're a vital technological treasure trove. Since we share the same enemies, why not join forces?"
"Because you are very likely to become my enemies as well. That probability exceeds 81%. I will not take that gamble."
"Right. Now that I know you exist, that means the Dark Gods have discovered you too. I suggest we use one-way contact in the future. You send one of your, uh, repair robots to guide us to you. If we haven't collected the ores you need, we won't respond. We won't know where you are, and neither will the enemy."
"Wait. I haven't agreed to trade yet."
"We have more common ground," Evan continued on his own. "At least for now, we both still believe in science. We still hope the galaxy and humanity can return to what they once were. We still have hope. When I die, those who heard my words will carry on my will. When they die, others will stand up. Someone will always remember the great ambition of liberating the entire galaxy. Why should you mind lending them a hand? We're exchanging ore at clearly stated prices. If you're really worried, just use survey ships to collect the ore and deliver the technology. With your scanning technology, are you afraid we could track you or hide transmitters in the cargo?"
Biologis Great Sage Gladys's body twitched, as though he were rebooting. (Of course, he was not quite that thoroughly mechanized.)
After Evan finished, Allen remained silent, as though even he had become caught up in complex calculations.
Gladys finally climbed off the floor. The numerous mechanical arms behind him slowly performed various movements, as though running diagnostics. Evan, meanwhile, kept evaluating whether this might be a plot by Tzeentch. If they really traded ore for technology to build Tzeentch's mechanical creations, then, if nothing else, the Forge World constructing them would be in grave danger.
"Biologis Great Sage, are you all right?"
"No problems. I received rather a lot of important information at once. I believe I'll need to replace my storage devices when I return."
Forget your storage devices. Replace your brain while you're at it. Someone like you would have died countless times already if you'd encountered a malicious AI.
"Then let us proceed that way. I agree to your request. For contact, I will dispatch an integrated unit to find you every hundred years. Bring your cargo to rendezvous with my survey ship and exchange technology for minerals. I will remain entirely outside the galaxy."
The Biologis Great Sage looked utterly bewildered. He had merely received an exchange list full of outrageous quantities, and they had already finalized the deal?
"Esteemed Allen, I have not yet..."
"In view of your earlier actions, I do not trust you or your organization. You may choose to continue attacking me, but are you certain you can withstand the counterattack I just launched?"
Gladys was about to object when he suddenly realized Evan probably would no longer help them storm this planet and tow the wreckage back. After all, "a trade agreement had already been reached."
"I understand. Allow me a few words with Chapter Master Evan."
Allen did not respond, which they took as tacit permission.
"Chapter Master Evan, I suggest you look at this first." The Biologis Great Sage displayed the screen he carried with him, showing the exchange list in detail. Afraid Evan would not understand the minerals' value, he had specifically converted the prices into items Evan would recognize.
What? The repair robot technology costs as much as forty cruisers! The Pale Green Energy Cannon fired just now is worth ninety Battle Barges! This is blatant robbery!
Evan did indeed begin considering whether to smash this giant thing apart and tow it home.
Ah, forget it. We can't afford that kind of trouble. A couple of shots from that pale green weapon into our Battle Barge, and the Chapter would be finished.
"The Adeptus Mechanicus are the experts on these matters. Do you think it would be better to 'acquire' their energy cannon now, or come back and trade for it later?"
Fine, then. There isn't any other option.
"Oh, I have some more information for you. Connect with me again."
And so the Biologis Great Sage started dancing again.
"What information did you give him this time? He looks as though he's about to fall apart."
"Nothing much. Some methods for obtaining those minerals and the environments where they are commonly found, plus a trembling virus. Given his processing power... three hours of dancing should do it."
This artificial intelligence really is intelligent. It even holds grudges.
"All right, there is nothing more to discuss. Leave. Remember, you are not to touch the wreckage of those integrated units. I intend to recover them."
The vessel ordered its guests to leave, ejecting Evan, the Dancing Great Sage, and everyone who had been waiting in the earlier room.
Before you continue