978.M30.
Third Layer of the Kingdom of Disorder. Nareth picked up the Dice of Prophecy.
"Besides the Ark Reach Cluster and the Progenitor domain, I have only one flexible choice for this millennium."
"So, what to divine?"
A series of events from the Great Crusade era flashed through Nareth's mind:
992.M30: The Luna Wolves discover a complete map of ancient Terra on a dead world.
...
999.M30: The Alpha Legion responds to the request of the 670th Expedition Fleet to assist in pacifying Nus.
After the Nusians activate the Chaos artifact, the Black Cube, the planet was immediately destroyed.
More than half of the Imperial forces and six Titans failed to make it to the emergency evacuation in time.
The Cabal agent, John Grammaticus, made contact with Alpharius, warning him to evacuate before the Black Cube is activated and pursuaded Alpharius Omegon to meet with the leaders of the Cabal on the third planet of the 42 Hydra Tertius, known as Eolith to the Cabal.
The twin Primarchs decide the future of humanity: annihilation to destroy the Chaos Gods, or extinction by falling to Chaos.
'Hmm, when the Alpha Legion rebels and kills the Expedition Fleet's Commander-in-Chief, Teng Namatjira, Dinash Chen of the Lucifer Blacks even wounds' one of the suspected Alpharius, with his masterful swordsmanship.'
Nareth thought of Zos, a world he had already acquired and assigned to the Lucifer Blacks as their exclusive recruiting world.
He focused his thoughts. A piece of information grew clearer in his memory:
981.M30: After a prolonged campaign, supported by the Mechanicum, the Luna Wolves destroy the Overseers of Dasinta.
"The Overseers are very likely a main potion ingredient for the Paragon pathway, above Sequence 4."
"Even if not, acquiring their AI technology and upgrading our robots would help in dealing with the Khraves."
The Dark Angels had an advantage over the World Eaters, Blood Angels, and Raven Guardin their fight against the Khraves, thanks to the Exterminatus-class weaponry granted to the First Legion by the Emperor.
Though Nareth had not received such weapons, and didn't plan to acquire the Iron Men prematurely, combining Dasinta's technology with that of the Olamic Quietude would allow him to build a formidable machine army.
With this decision made, he recalled what he knew of Dasinta.
'During the Dark Age of Technology, Dasinta was a human colony.'
'The Dasintans built a glorious culture and cities, creating intelligent machines to serve them.'
'Later, for unknown reasons, humanity vanished, leaving only their perpetual, indestructible machine stewards to oversee the mechanical legions.'
'...'
After the known information about Dasinta flashed through his mind, he silently intoned:
'The star chart from the Kalium Gate to Dasinta.'
'...'
After intoning it eleven times, he tossed the Dice of Prophecy.
The triangular prism tumbled through the air several times before smoothly falling into Nareth's open hand, projecting a brilliant vision.
Nareth memorized the star chart and transferred it to a data crystal.
He stepped out, arriving at the Fourth Layer.
"The Luna Wolves struggled in the Dasinta campaign, only winning with the support of the Cybernetica Legion."
"The First Chapter, for capturing potion ingredients with 'Imprisonment'; the Second Chapter, for 'Contracting' the machines; the Seventh Chapter, for their fire-based tactics; and the Tenth Chapter, the largest, which has not missed any major campaign recently."
"Hmm, and Gabriel, who has been studying the Ymga Monolith of the Necrons on Atilla; he is the most skilled in robotic-related fields."
Nareth extended his spirituality, notifying each in turn, then rose.
"The Emperor won't grant me Exterminatus-class weaponry, so I'll just have to build my own."
...
The Tenth Chapter's Sovereign-class heavy lander flew from the black fleet, surrounded by the Chapter Lord's Honour Guard, accompanying Ramsey, whose face mirrored their gene-father's.
Sasebo Tezuka, recently elevated to "Spirit Medium by their father, had just returned from Sodheim VIII.
Lord Ramsey had personally intervened with Death Lord Adams to secure him a place in the 4th Chapter's exclusive recruiting world.
"Our target is the ruined city designated as Number Five."
Sasebo Tezuka watched as Lord Ramsey's jade-like right hand traced across the holographic image, zooming in on a hive-city-sized ruin.
Streets paved with exquisite, colored tiles, now faded and dim from the ravages of time, their once-vibrant patterns barely discernible.
Rank upon rank of automaton-like machines marched through them. They were more colorful than the similar machines used by the Thousand Sons, Iron Warriors, Luna Wolves, or the Mechanicum, but equally faded by time.
Flickering lights showed them futilely repairing building after building.
A slight tremor underfoot signaled the Sovereign-class heavy lander's slow descent.
Cold mist billowed as the landing ramp lowered.
The "Spirit Medium," fully encased in Tartaros-pattern Terminator armor, had a xenos wraith floating beside him, its wing-membranes spread, drifting in the dim starlight.
It glided through the air, leaving a trail of faint, greenish light.
Rat-tat-tat...
It raised its limbs, firing a spray of wooden bullets, spitting a pale green curtain of fire.
Projectiles, half-real and half-ethereal, hammered against the steel hulls.
Sasebo Tezuka, the "Spirit Medium," activated his psychic vision, staring at the cables and mechanical frames within the shells.
"They have no organic parts." His voice was as cold as a corpse's, like most Court members of the 4th Chapter.
Ramsey, a biomancer and full-fledged "Rose Bishop," kept a smile on his face. A glance confirmed the machines contained neither flesh nor soul.
"As our Lord said, they are a mechanical race."
"Their very nature is an artificial intelligence that the Imperium cannot tolerate."
"The Emperor has long forbidden it. The Treaty of Olympus he made with Mars explicitly extends the Crimson Accord established at the Mechanicum's founding, which forever prohibits the creation of soulless intelligences known as Silica Animus, Abominable Intelligence"
He shifted his gaze, continuing. "Archmagos Arkhan and Archmagos Anacharis recently told me that many within the Mechanicum on both Mars and Xana II resent the restrictions of the Crimson Accord. They covet the forbidden pursuit of artificial intelligence."
The Crimson Accord permitted the creation of sanctioned synthetic life forms, the smaller and just works only if they were based on living beings.
The Cybernetica Legion and some Legions' automata were examples of this. But Dasinta's machines were the abhorrent intelligences.
"This is just one of the many restrictions they seek to lift. They strongly oppose the numerous bans imposed by the Treaty of Olympus."
"Conflict is inevitable!"
Ramsey said with certainty, raising his archaeotech pistol as he spoke.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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