Chapter 339: The "Sincerity" of the Eldar |
Beneath the Golden Throne, within the Webway city of Calasta.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Archmagos Land pressed the red button on the console.
Hum—
A piercing drone erupted from the bloated apparatus. Pale blue plasma currents looped through its transistors, rapidly illuminating an experimental bay choked with cables.
As the load index rose, the device's shaking grew increasingly violent.
The surrounding cogboys held their breath in tension, their artificial vocalizers leaking low, uncontrollable static hisses.
"Quick, apply sacred oil to the transmission structure of component three!"
At Land's command, a servo-skull flew forward with a spray gun to apply lubricating oil to the creaking joints.
"And over there, the powder injector on component five is clogged. Clear it, quickly."
"Report. What are the parameter levels across the modules?"
"My lord, Module T-3 is nominal."
"Module T-17 is nominal."
"..."
"Module BTEE-13 is nominal."
Land had asked over the internal Mechanicus vox-network.
Communicating entirely via electronic signals, he and his colleagues calibrated hundreds of modules in mere seconds.
After confirming the device had no critical flaws, Land decisively ordered:
"Evacuate the servo-skulls from the testing ground, raise the shields, and inject the PCSII powder. Set the device's operation mode to Protocol 1. Move quickly."
The servo-skulls finished their tasks and retreated with their tools, pulling away from the spire-like apparatus.
Hum————
Shield fields resistant to electromagnetism, explosions, and fire rose from the ground, isolating the testing area.
Two Magoi chanted "Blessings of the Omnissiah" as they pulled down their levers simultaneously.
Clang!
A surging plasma stream pushed the powder into the device, causing the underground pipeline hubs to let out a deafening roar.
"Device operating at full capacity!"
"Mode set to Protocol 1. Currently executing phase B1!"
On the pixelated display screens, the progress bar next to B1 climbed steadily.
Once the bar filled, B1 shifted to B2. The progress bar immediately reset to zero and began charging again.
But after several seconds, B2's progress bar remained at 0%.
Everyone's expression drastically changed.
"Damn it, it's hung up on B2!"
"It's over, it's over, we're doomed!"
"B1 is the source-power conduit diagnostic, and B2 is the logic circuit diagnostic. I'd rather get stuck on B1 than B2!"
The crowd erupted into panicked murmurs and wails. Some even squeezed their eyes shut and prayed incessantly to the Omnissiah, hoping for a miracle.
Land roared:
"Silence! Check which module is reporting an error!"
"My lord, the failing module is the Particle Cyclotron Acceleration Module! The Cogitator reports that its voltage has exceeded the rated standard by 1.5 times. Six cables have burned out due to the extreme current!"
The Magos responsible for that module broke into a cold sweat and cried out, trembling:
"Impossible! How could this be? I swear in the name of the Omnissiah, every one of my operations strictly followed the Source-Power Channeling Instruction Manual. I-I-I..."
"Quiet!" Land snapped coldly.
"Shut down the device first and inspect the cyclotron module."
"Yes, my lord."
The two Magoi operating the source-power pipelines yanked their levers up in unison.
Clank!
The underground hubs shut down, but the device continued to run. Its glow grew brighter, and its shaking more violent.
The Magos monitoring the parameters screamed:
"Bad news! The machine spirit of the sacred conduits is enraged by the power deficiency! It is forcibly siphoning source-power!"
Even Land lost his composure at this.
An enraged machine spirit meant a total loss of control.
A massive explosion was inevitable.
"Reinforce the shields!"
Bzzzt—Bang!
The apparatus disintegrated from the inside out. A tidal shockwave instantly blasted outward.
The shields protecting the perimeter bulged under the pressure of the plasma storm.
Fortunately, the Magos controlling the shields reacted quickly, overcharging the barrier right before the explosion hit. Otherwise, every single person present would have perished.
After a long while, the blinding light and tremors subsided.
The spire device had been vaporized into ash. A massive crater marred the floor where it had stood, surrounded by scorched earth.
The shield generators crackled, finally shutting down in a shower of sparks. The force fields subsequently dissipated.
"Damn it! This is all your fault! Couldn't you have checked the accelerator's parameters a few more times?"
"You are taking full responsibility for this! We painstakingly prepared for three months, and all we got was a giant explosion!"
"I... I-I-I..." The offending Magos was speechless, the logic circuits in his brain fizzing with static.
"Enough." Land grasped the Axe of the Omnissiah and stood on an elevated platform, looking down at the agitated crowd.
"Reverse-engineering xenos technology is an arduous task to begin with. Failure is inevitable. The wrath of the Omnissiah means the error lay in more than just the cyclotron module. Clean up the site and search for clues. I... sigh, I must go report our progress to the Emperor."
The crowd fell silent. Saying no more, they bowed their heads and used their scanners to search for valuable fragments and wreckage.
Land boarded an anti-gravity vehicle and flew toward the Golden Gate.
Constantin Valdor, Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes, was waiting before the gate.
"Land, another failure?"
"Yes, my lord. As you can likely see, the work of cracking the Webway gate access tech is fraught with difficulties. If possible, I hope the Emperor can grant us more time. Our personnel numbers also need to be at least doubled."
Land and Valdor walked side-by-side toward the Golden Gate, Land's calm tone betraying a hint of frustration.
For someone who considered himself a genius, this was the first time he had stumbled continuously over the reverse-engineering of a piece of xenos tech.
"How rare. To think there is actually something in this world that can make you hang your head in dismay," Valdor teased, before his tone abruptly shifted.
"I have good news for you. The Emperor has procured some technological data from the Eldar for you. I am taking you to verify its authenticity right now."
"Eldar technical data? Is it related to the Webway access technology?" Land asked, thrilled.
"Exactly."
Land was so excited he almost broke into a wide grin, but he suddenly stifled his laughter, his expression turning serious as he asked:
"Why would the Eldar be willing to share Webway technology with us? That is completely unlike them."
Valdor dropped his smile, a gloomy shadow falling over his polished, bald head:
"Because of an Eldar blunder, the Imperium suffered catastrophic losses in an external campaign. Four primarchs fell in battle, and over 500,000 Space Marines were sacrificed."
Land stopped dead in his tracks, staring at Valdor in shock. Voice trembling, he asked:
"Is that true?"
"Yes. It is absolutely true."
Land asked:
"Since it was an external campaign, who was our enemy? The Chaos Orks? Or some other powerful xenos?"
Valdor answered in a deep voice:
"The Palu Orks. They detonated a dying star, triggering a supernova. At the cost of damaging over three hundred of their own warships, they obliterated one thousand two hundred Imperial vessels. The Eldar's prophetic abilities likely foresaw this supernova. To placate us, they are willing to hand over a portion of their Webway technology."
Land was struck speechless.
His logic circuits calculated a conclusion within a single second.
This battle had vaporized the productivity of Mars and several Forge Worlds over the past dozen years. Trillions of throne coins were annihilated in a single supernova explosion.
The conflict between the Palu Orks and the Imperium would undoubtedly become a war of absolute annihilation.
But here was the question: why did the Imperium suddenly clash with the Palu Orks?
Pondering this, Land voiced his question.
Valdor replied frankly:
"Because they assassinated Malcador. Half a month ago, we held a state funeral. Since your experiments were at a critical stage, I did not summon you."
"What? Malcador is dead?" Land's heart pounded wildly. "Are the Palu Orks insane? Why would they assassinate Malcador?"
"Because..." Valdor paused, suddenly remembering that the Palu Orks had not actually assassinated Malcador at all. It was a complete fabrication he had invented specifically to incite the Imperium's fury against the Palu Orks.
If he kept explaining, he would likely just dig himself into a hole, and Land would notice something was off.
Valdor considered for a moment, then changed the subject:
"The specific reasons are highly complicated. For now, come with me to verify the blueprints."
"Oh, alright." Land saw Valdor's hesitation, but he did not think much of it.
The two passed through the Golden Gate, journeyed past the Golden Throne, and arrived at an expansive reception chamber.
A troupe of Harlequins was waiting there.
Perhaps out of a guilty conscience, even though they had been waiting for quite some time, they did not show any annoyance. Instead, they were incredibly mild-mannered toward Valdor and Land.
Land's grief over the Imperium's grievous battle losses was quickly diluted by a large tube of scrolls laid out on the table.
The more he read, the more exhilarated and absorbed he became. Time flew by as he pored over the texts.
Two hours later, Land finished going through all the data, utilizing his formidable memory to commit the knowledge to mind.
He closed his eyes, restructuring the knowledge in his mind and comparing it with his own research findings.
Another hour passed. Land snapped his eyes open, his gaze brimming with joy:
"I see how it works now! I have to go test it right away!"
"Wait, Land." Valdor hurriedly stopped the Archmagos, who was about to rush out the door. "Is this data authentic?"
Land halted, thinking for a moment before saying:
"Give me a bit of time first. I am going to replicate the experimental steps listed in the data. If the experiment succeeds, it proves this information is authentic."
Valdor gestured to the Harlequins. "No issues there, right, everyone?"
The leader of the Harlequins was a Troupe Master. She bowed gracefully:
"No issues at all. We will defer to your arrangements. We came with nothing but the utmost sincerity this time."
Land immediately ran off, calling for an anti-gravity vehicle to pick him up.
With the technical data in hand, replicating the Webway access device was much easier.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
Operating at two hundred percent enthusiasm, Land's team constructed a brand-new Webway access device within three days. The Harlequin troupe in the Imperial Palace waited for him for three days as well.
Before the device's test run, Land invited the Harlequins over to observe.
The activator was triggered. The source-power module passed its self-check, the particle acceleration module passed its self-check, the directional laser emission module passed its self-check...
The diagnostic codes progressed from B1 to Z10. Every single step flowed effortlessly.
As the final self-check concluded, the device officially entered its activation state.
By this point, most of the mortal researchers and Magoi at the site had relaxed.
The device accumulated energy amid mild vibrations.
When the needle on the energy readout reached the green mark, Land signaled the Magos at the console.
Click.
The switch was pressed.
The metal sphere atop the spire began emitting ball lightning. Bound by force fields, the arcs of electricity condensed into a brilliant beam.
Hum————
The pillar of light bridged a distance of tens of millions of kilometers, landing precisely on the Webway gate. The door to another expanse of the Webway slowly opened.
Outside Calasta lay the vacuum of space. The laser's attenuation rate was extremely low, and there was no air to carry the deep rumble of the opening gate, but everyone's blood still boiled with excitement, as if they could hear the ringing of an ancient, distant bell in their ears.
"It's a success!"
"Hahaha!"
"We did it!"
"Praise the Omnissiah!"
The crowd cheered and jumped for joy, the jubilant atmosphere lingering for a long time.
"Today's experiment is worthy of being recorded in the annals of the Imperium of Man," Valdor remarked, hands on his hips. His normally rigid face beamed with delight.
Land, on the other hand, was rather calm.
With a smile, he reviewed the data logs and spotted a few minor errors:
"Lord Valdor, the experiment is a success. Only a few details need further modification. I believe the technical data provided by our allies is genuine, completely devoid of flaws or omissions."
Valdor turned to look at the Harlequins behind him:
"Thank you all. I shall escort you back."
"No need to trouble yourself. We brought a teleport homer."
The Troupe Master retrieved a crystal flashing with prismatic light. Bidding farewell to Valdor and the others, she led her troupe into an open space and opened a portal to the Black Library.
After the Eldar departed, the atmosphere at the site grew even more feverish.
Land said:
"My lord, I plan to run a few more experiments today, which will require opening the Webway gate repeatedly. I have heard that demons frequently prowl the Webway. Please deploy some warships and Space Marines for me, just in case any demons try to slip into Calasta while the gate is open."
"No problem." Valdor nodded slightly and pushed through the noisy crowd to leave.
Warships and Titans arrived at the scene together, accompanied by a considerable number of Skitarii and Space Marines.
Once everything was absolutely secure, Land calmed the crowd and immediately initiated the second experiment.
As usual, the self-check came first, followed by activating the device.
This time, Land keenly noticed that the self-check took three seconds longer than before.
This was an acceptable margin of error, so Land paid it no mind.
The second experiment ended in success. The crowd celebrated again, though their excitement was slightly more subdued.
Next came the third time, the fourth time, the fifth time...
After six consecutive experiments, Land, who was glued to the data, could not help but let out a soft sound of surprise. Something felt off.
"Why is the second coefficient of the Alcubierre metric collapsing while the first expands? The cylindrical cavity's compression coefficient in the nano-cavity clearly hasn't changed, yet the negative energy field's readout has increased? What's going on here? ...Could it be that a parameter of the cylindrical cavity underwent a change undetectable during the experiment? Yes, that must be it. I need to use the Casimir cavity to test the stability of the nano-cavity module."
Lost in thought, Land instructed:
"Reduce the scale of the Casimir cavity from 12 μm to 7 μm, apply appropriate pressure, and run the experiment one more time."
"Yes, my lord."
The experimental parameters were adjusted, the self-check protocol passed, and the Webway access device was activated.
The ensuing sight filled everyone with absolute terror.
The device, which had been operating stably, suddenly spewed billowing black smoke.
Boom! Crack!
An earth-shattering explosion erupted, and gale-force winds swept across the entire chamber.
A Magos in charge of monitoring the environmental readouts screamed:
"Disaster! The Warp energy readings just breached the Alpha-Plus Class! We... we seem to have accidentally torn open a Warp rift!"
The chaotic light unique to The Warp spilled from the tear in the device, illuminating the deathly pale faces of everyone present.
