Chapter 16 Part 1

Chapter 16: Tenuous pacts

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Part 1

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Victory Bay

Kronus

To my utter relief, Selene arrived happily riding on the back of a Necron Destroyer along with her mechanical bodyguard shortly before we retired to the HQ. Naturally, the first thing I did was to check on her and hug her. If her grin was anything to go by, she either wouldn't know what bullet she dodged or didn't care. She got a ride out of this mess after all. Her arrival did gather a moderately sized crowd, a few of the citizens even cheered uneasily until they saw me pick up the munchkin at which point the predictable rapturous screaming began.

The whole circus made the Propaganda Department in general and a Lieutenant Regina in particular very happy with the pictures they got. I made a mental note to check up on what insanity they were cooking later, however, for now, I had more immediate concerns.

"Bron, good you're here," I noted the surviving Ogryns shuffle slowly through the Guardsmen surrounding us. "I've got a job for you. You're to keep Selene here safe and tear to pieces the next thieving bastard who tries to take it. Can I count on you?"

The giant of a man beamed as if the Emperor himself stepped from the Golden Throne to give him orders and nodded vigorously. That's how Selene ended up on the Bonehead's shoulder, still wearing her armor and with Kneecapper in tow.

"This is precious!" The Propaganda Lieutenant was grinning too and directing a camera crew to record everything. She was giving Scipio a run for his money in the bouncing department.

"Leftenant Pickos, I want a heavy weapons platoon in Selene's vicinity at all times. I will no longer be accepting excuses from people who can't stand to be near her. Am I clear?" Recent events drove home the point that I had to straighten up my retinue status, not that getting shot wasn't something I had to necessarily worry about. In practice, that meant getting Selene as much protection as practical.

"I'll see to it, sir! We won't fail you!" The Leftenant promised and meant it.

"See to it that you don't."

With this hopefully handled for the moment, it was time to go deal with another headache. Politics.

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We gathered for a last-ditch brainstorming session before the next round of negotiations with the Necrons. At Amberley's suggestion, we included General Alexander, Captain Thule, and Scipio for a simple and obvious reason – so we could use them as a litmus test on how the Imperium at large might react to some of the so far proposed points.

Among the small group, only Scipio looked like he didn't want to be here. He could barely stay in one place and was ready to start bouncing off the walls in impatience.

"That's how it is." Inquisitor Vail summarized the Necron's proposals. Even that wasn't enough to keep the Magos steady, however now we had his attention.

"Necron suggestions will force various doctrinal issues to come into open conflict." Scipio began. "Some numerous elements within the Adeptus Mechanicus consider the study of profane Xeno technology a Tech Heresy, and those who conduct it Hereteks." He explained with distaste. "At the absolute best, they can be convinced to review Xeno devices to learn how to better neutralize them. This faction is large and numerous. Even just conducting a proper study on the Pylons, reverse engineering them, and building our own versions will be a tough sell no matter how useful they would be to the Imperium at large."

He didn't need to convince us. All but Amberley saw first hand how useful those Pylons were.

"Also, attempting to study and then build weapons and devices based on either Necron or Tau examples, will prove too much for too many traditionalists. This isn't technology recovered from a Holy STC. It hasn't been created by human hands with the blessing of the Omnissiah." Scipio elaborated.

"However, you disagree, do you not, Magos?" Captain Thule cut to the chase.

"I'm what you might consider Xenarite, even though I don't see myself as such. I am among those who see the blessings of the Omnissiah in all technology, human or alien. It's how the technology is used and to what ends that is the primary constant that divides Tech Heresy from the normal study of technology. While not quite a minority, our group, and our allies are outnumbered by the other Mechanicus factions. Not all of them are hostile to our ideas. Unfortunately, many are."

I was sure that this summary barely scratched the surface of the problem. However, it was good enough to illustrate what we would be facing if the alliance panned out.

"In that case, we should be careful how we present anything we gain from the alliance we're discussing. Will it help that we won't be actually building the Necron Pylons but our versions?" I inquired.

"Perhaps. It would be a distinction lost too many a Tech-priest. However, I must raise a different point. I heard no mention of Holy STC. I must request you make the return and recovery of any such relics of the Omnissiah a high priority during the negotiations."

"That is an oversight we'll repair with utmost haste. STC recovery will be the first thing we'll negotiate tonight." Amberley vowed.

"Praise the Omnissiah!" Scipio's Mechadendrites danced in glee.

"General, Captain, how do you see the consequences of a long-lasting alliance with the Necrons unfold?"

Lucas Alexander frowned mightily at us.

"Well, they're Xenos." He grumbled. "With this out of the way, I can assure, you that there are elements in the Guard who will appreciate not having to face them before we can get appropriate counter-measures to their technology."

Which went contrary to what elements within the Mechanicus would find acceptable. Upgrading what the Imperial Guard had as a standard kit with gear reverse-engineered from captured Tau stocks and anything the Necrons might offer would do nicely to lower the gulf of capabilities between the two sides. The damning thing was that I was sure the Mechanicus had the real nice toys, many more than they needed to, and kept hoarding them instead of offering the Guard better gear.

Now, I wasn't born yesterday and knew that at least in part the issue was the fragmented and fucked up state of the Imperium industrial base. However, I had the nagging suspicion that this was less than an issue than the Mechanicus claimed. In that regard, trying to incorporate reverse-engineered alien tech on a limited basis might prove useful in judging how much the AdMech were fucking with the rest of us.

Needless to say, that was a suspicion I've been keeping to myself.

"Some of my peers would be glad we can preserve forces that would otherwise suffer greatly, in order to use them against other, more immediately dangerous threats. Others will find it hard to swallow not shooting at any alien they could see. The presentation will matter a great deal. Open backing from the Inquisition as well." So no one shoots him out of hand.

"You'll have our backing in that regard," Amberley reassured him. "Captain Thule?"

"The Blood Ravens has had to ally with aliens in the past to combat greater treats. This is no different. My primary concerns are how long this alliance might last and is it a mistake to give our allies time to consolidate their position."

"Those are concerns we share," I told him bluntly. "However, we're all aware of the military realities that caused this alliance in the first place, and of the existing correlation of forces."

Thule wasn't happy at that but let it go. It might have been different if we knew about the Necrons earlier and could catch them early in their awakening. The Eldar and Tau ensured such a thing didn't happen, and then there were the Chaos forces. There was no use to dwell over what-ifs. We had to play with the cards we had.

"General Alexander, what are your thoughts about a few of your units field testing reverse engineered Tau war-gear? I'm aware that the troops who fought with us in the Deimos Peninsula will be under extreme scrutiny. Thanks to the Necron Pylons, we can avoid having to purge them out of fear of corruption, however, we'll have to keep a close watch on them anyway."

Because anything less would have our Hereticus and Malleus colleagues going ballistic. Amberley hinted at that much.

"I think that we can work out something." Alexander nodded, showing the barest hint of relief. He knew what the Inquisition often did to forces who survived encounters with Chaos. They either purged them or drew them in for their own use. Sometimes the Inquisition did both.

"That's good. Scipio? I'll be frank. The Pylons are a potential game-changer for the Imperium at large. I'll be doing my best to push for their accelerated testing, revere engineering, and widespread usage after any unpleasant surprises are accounted for." I said bluntly, so there would be no misunderstandings.

"On that point, we're in complete agreement. This brings us to the second point. As you said, Magos Scipio, what we are proposing will be seen as Tech Heresy by elements of the Mechanicus. Because of that, we might as well go all in. We're considering agreeing on the Necron proposal for aid in capturing and reverse engineering Tau technology to use as our own if feasible." Amberley added.

"Personally, I agree. Those of my faction will likely back you up. However, you must be ready for a serious backslash. That is the best-case scenario."

"Duly noted."

It was almost time to meet the Necrons and hammer down an agreement. Then we would have to figure out how to sell it to the Imperium at large...