Cawl stared at Axion, his ocular lenses dilating as he processed the torrent of data the other had just unleashed.
"Is Doom's Hammer the true name of this fortress?"
Axion nodded silently.
"This construct is designated the Doom's Hammer, a Titan-class vessel. Though corruption in certain data sectors prevents me from pinpointing its exact date and shipyard of origin, the armament configurations and the historical records I have recovered lead me to a high-probability conclusion: this vessel dates back to the period following the collapse of the Federation."
Cawl hesitated, uncertain how Axion could be so adamant that this was not a relic of the original Human Federation.
Axion, of course, detected the skepticism in Cawl's posture.
Even with only half a biological face remaining, Cawl's micro-expressions could not evade the Iron Man's emotive detection and heuristic logic systems. Furthermore, Cawl's thirst for forbidden knowledge was so palpable it was practically a broadcast signal.
To any citizen of the Imperium, Belisarius Cawl was a paragon of erudition. Yet, when confronted with the true depth of ancient science and technology, even his vast intellect found only fragmented truths.
"According to the Federation technological parameters stored in my core, had this ship been birthed during the Federation's height, it would almost certainly have been equipped with an Iron Man control lattice and far more efficient sub-systems. This vessel possesses neither. Based on current schematics, I hypothesize that this ship was a half-completed hull from the Federation era, later retrofitted and finished by lesser powers with inferior resources."
"While several weapon batteries align with Titan-class specifications, much of the primary superstructure suggests a series of desperate, compromised engineering choices necessitated by limited technical capability."
As he spoke, Axion projected a series of holograms before Cawl.
The flickering azure images revealed the colossal vessel's individual modules. Axion then initiated a simulation, demonstrating a standardized replacement of the ship's current components with those of a theoretical, complete Titan-class vessel.
The data made Cawl's optical sensors flicker with intense interest.
"Could you... perfect this vessel? Without the use of sapient control, of course. If such a thing is possible?"
The light in Axion's mechanical eyes pulsed as he ran the permutations.
The hologram shifted once more. Tens of thousands of molecular control structures were mapped out. Each bridge and command node was redesigned to independently manage small sub-sectors of the ship, but such a modification meant the Titan-class vessel would require a crew of hundreds of thousands to operate effectively.
This shift would result in at least one percent of the internal volume being wasted on life support and manual interfaces, necessitating a massive workforce for manual overrides.
"Calculations suggest your proposal is viable," Axion stated, his voice flat. "However, the efficiency is abysmal. This is a nonsensical, regressive design."
Cawl remained unmoved by the critique. His concerns occupied a different plane of logic than those of the Iron Man.
"Axion, if this ship is retrofitted according to my specifications, would it remain vulnerable to hostile takeover by other Iron Men? Or perhaps... an intrusion by a Warp entity, such as the one that breached the hull earlier?"
Cawl understood the strategic weight of such a leviathan. Should the Imperium master such a Machine God, it would provide a vital margin of victory in any future conflict, even if the Iron Men ever rose again.
Of course, Cawl could not voice his true thought: If your kind ever turns on the Imperium again, can I use this to blast you out of the void without you simply hijacking it back?
The Iron Man did not speculate on hidden agendas; the world of the machine was starkly linear.
Axion found nothing strange in the inquiry. The vessel had, after all, just suffered catastrophic data loss and total loss of control due to the interference of the Empyrean.
To an Iron Man, this was a logical paradox.
A Silicon Soul, a Sapient Intelligence, could not be "deceived." Its quantum core ensured operational stability. A mechanical will followed its own internal directives, immune to external indoctrination.
But Cawl insisted on manual control. Axion could not vouch for the stability of the human heart; even the Creators were prone to mercurial whims. The Iron Men were not.
Finally, Axion responded.
"The machine is governed by law and linearity. Once a stable pattern is established, it can shield against external interference. However, I cannot guarantee the psychological state of the operators."
Cawl had his answer. Axion's phrasing was archaic, but the meaning was clear.
A data intrusion could be blocked by the ship's shielding, but the operators themselves remained the weak point, especially Tech-Priests, whose bodies were a patchwork of cybernetic components vulnerable to scrapcode or possession.
"Perhaps we could install an emergency override? A failsafe to ensure the vessel can be shuttered in the final extremity?"
Cawl was unaware that his words caused even Axion to marvel at the grim fatalism of these modern humans. An Iron Man's "emergency device" was simple: nearly every mechanical entity possessed a self-destruction protocol.
Upon detecting an uncontrollable state, an Iron Man would choose self-annihilation, ensuring maximum lethality to the enemy in its final nanosecond. These directives were hard-coded into the deepest layers of the sapient core.
Cawl, however, envisioned a master protocol, a high-level override that would strip all personnel of control in an emergency.
Axion's response left Cawl somewhat bewildered.
"If you insist, I shall maximize the lethality of the emergency device."
"Wait… lethality? Why would a master control protocol require lethal output?"
Axion looked at Cawl with a rare moment of mechanical confusion.
"Master protocol? You are referring to a software override?"
Cawl nodded.
"I suggest you abandon that line of reasoning. An emergency self-destruction mechanism is far more direct. When a vessel loses structural or logical integrity, a master protocol is often the first thing to fail. It is irrelevant."
Only then did Cawl realize what Axion meant.
Self-destruction, a miracle of the Omnissiah turned into a funeral pyre?
To Cawl, such a suggestion bordered on techno-heresy. He would rather pack the Fortress of Enlightenment with thousands of Skitarii to retake the bridge by force during a crisis than follow Axion's suggestion to turn the ship into a gargantuan, volatile bomb.
In Axion's machine-logic, the issue required no debate: when an intellect can no longer command its own form, it is already dead. Self-destruction was simply the most logical conclusion.
The negotiation concluded. Cawl pledged a tithe of resources nearly equivalent to the cost of constructing a new Titan-class ship in exchange for Axion's labor in repairing and retrofitting the Fortress of Enlightenment.
Furthermore, Cawl shared the secret schematics of the Mechanicus Throne, demanding that this relic-tech be installed at the very heart of the great ship.
As a functional "tool," Axion raised no objection. Ultimately, it was Cawl who would be wielding the weapon.
What followed was a spectacle that left the attendant Tech-Priests in a state of stunned silence.
Three fleets detached themselves from the twenty standard mechanical battle groups, drifting toward the Fortress of Enlightenment.
Without docking clamps or tethering, they simply "collided" with the colossal hull.
Instantly, millions of nanites within the ships began to dissolve the fortress's outer plating. As the vessels entered the hull, they rapidly dematerialized into a shimmering silver mist, vanishing into the very bones of the ship.