NOVEL NEXT Chapter 154: Grand Exodus and To Known
"Look at me. Look at me! This is home now, Trooper! This is the zone! It doesn't like you, but by the Throne, it's where you are! The Emperor wants you, boy! Did no one ever tell you that? The Emperor wants you to make his glory for him! And if you're scared, I'm terrified. The archenemy is no playmate. You're going to see things, and be expected to do things your poor mother would have a fit at. But the Emperor expects, and the Emperor protects, all of us, even you. Especially you - I promise you that." - Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt
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The peaceful morning is filled with the busy noise of mass gatherings and operations of enormous proportions. Men and women of the Imperial Guards made their last check before readying themselves for space travel.
The Sisters of Battle gathered into one large group to conduct one massive service with prayers and cries that could be heard beyond the wall.
The tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus went around each holy machine to bless with holy oil while blessed incense smoke cleansed the impurity of the weak flesh that touched it previously.
The Knights and Titans previously shipped to the loading ship with their pilots while their representatives and a small army of support teams made their way to the airfield with the remaining cargo.
The Astartes of the Blacksouls went through a thorough inspection of every piece of equipment including their armour and weapons. No mistakes are left unattended as every possible gear are checked and ready for shipping. Afterward, the Emperor's finest warriors made their grand entrance to the departure airfield while the rest of the factions stood ready with full attention.
Finally, the supreme commanders of the Imperial guards and Captains of the Astartes made their entrance as a grand ceremony of departure took place in the temporary landing area. With a massive number of exodus of unstoppable forces in the New World, many of the natives came to witness the event including the Crown Prince Benton from Alderim and the main family of the Becketts.
Meeting each head of the state took only a few moments as there was a schedule to keep so farewells weren't that long. Except with the Becketts as they are witnessing the departure of their daughter, Rana Bassilo Beckett. While Rana and her family say farewell and wish, William discusses with Crown Prince Benton what will happen to the fortress-palace.
"The palace and everything around will be used as Alderim's secondary capital and secondary army's post." Crown Prince Benton said to William as he accepted the keys to the palace and a thin book that contained all the secrets of the palace such as hidden tunnels and hidden vaults.
"Good thing I emptied all the arms rooms and vaults for potential dangers it poses. The only things you will find are a few of my gifts my men made such as swords and armor." William spoke in a neutral tone but changed to concern as he remembered something very important.
"Please watch over Cain's daughter until she is ready. I'm not asking you to raise her as your daughter but she is something of importance to Cain and that means to me as well. I hope she will find peace here rather than out there."
"I understand. She is welcome into my kingdom and under my protection. I assure you, when she is ready to learn the truth of her lineage, she will also receive her birthright including this letter." The Crown Prince ensures William as he places his right hand into his chest where the sealed letter is. The letter contains Cain's final words to his daughter and deed to his property including a bank account with enough fortune to live in luxury for ten lifetimes.
"Very well. Thank you, my friend. You are forever my brother in arms and will be remembered by my legion eternally. Stay in good health and may the Emperor protect your kingdom." With that William left to unite with Rana.
Rana, who was wiping her tears from her face, turned to William and gave a small smile but her red eyes couldn't hide her sadness. This was the same for her family members as both her father and mother couldn't stop their tears. With great sadness, William extended his right hand to Rana, in exchange Rana accepted William's hand with her own, and before she joined William, she gave last farewell to her family.
"Don't forget to eat daily nutrition with green vegetables. Also, watch your health since fall is coming soon." Rana said with an overly concerned voice and expression as if she is the parents.
"We know dear. Don't worry about us. You make sure you take care of yourself and the little one." Rana's mother spoke with the same tone as Rana but couldn't hold her tears as she embraced her husband's shoulder in the end.
In the end, Rana broke the farewell as she joined William's side and took a step towards the transport ship where honor guards and the rest of the officers of the Imperial Guards waited in silence. Shortly after, William and Rana embark on their transport ship and the main door closes as the last natural light of the New World slowly disappears.
The ships make their departure and lift from the ground. With amazed faces shown by the natives of the New World, the ships flew towards the sky and soon all of the ships left the orbit.
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The first phase of the departure was rocky as the ship shook intensely as it is leaving the atmosphere of the New World. Eventually, as the ship completely left the atmosphere, shakiness died down and from the outer window, the blue sky turned into a black void.
Inside, the light turns from red to regular light, indicating normalcy as well as smooth sailing towards William's new flagship, the Beast of Caerbannog which she and the rest of the fleet will meet very soon.
While William and his men are in the transport ships, the sensitive equipment isn't in the cargo as William personally took them into his inventory. From his personal war gears to STC itself, William made sure no item of importance will be missing, especially STC with secondary Mother AI within.
To utilize the STC, William needs help navigating the vast library of the knowledge deposit and its uses. This means that STC comes with a primary AI system and a copy version of that AI originates from the Ark Ship known as Mother of Salvation.
The STC AI isn't Mother herself but a copy of the ship but rather a lower version since secondary Mother doesn't need ship navigation or capability to operate the most advanced ship such as Ark. The great example is Belisarius Cawl's AI known as Cawl Inferior. The original Cawl's inferior copy that possesses Cawl's thinking knowledge but is still a lesser version of the Archmagos himself.
When William arrives on his flagship, he plans to integrate the STC with his mothership's AI making sure that the two AIs communicate to perfection. With Mother Inferior's production and the ship's AI navigation in the void, William's ship will be powerful enough to conquer the star system and mass enough weaponry without the need for Imperium's support.
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William's transport fleet made its destination. The two fleets join together after an exchange of identity codes and a short time later, William's ship enters the Beast of Caerbannog's hanger with two more ships transporting the honor guards behind it.
The ship is massive beyond William's imagination. With plating clear as black silver metal but still possessing the classic gothic symbolism, the ship itself is a massive city, no, a country.
From the outside, the ship has enough weapons to level the planet's surface and if she wants to, split the continent out of curiosity. Inside, the ship has enough men to launch an invasion of its own and possesses enough ships to transport from army to heavy machines such as Titan legions. In conclusion, whoever possesses the Beast of Caerbannog in any fight will come as victor, that is if the ship herself allows it to be.
When William took his first step onto his flagship, the ship itself scanned William and gave the green light. Just as William realized that he had been scanned and passed some kind of identification process, multiple defense weapons attached to the walls and floors retracted to their hidden compartments as if they were never there before.
"Holy shit, even though the ship already confirmed my arrival before landing it leaves no spot for any potential attack from a possible enemy.' William thought to himself and continued his walk as others joined him behind him. In front of him, Lord Admiral Raphael Montaal welcomed William and his group by forming an Imperial eagle with both of his hands. Signify the loyalty to the Imperium and to the Chapter Master.
"Welcome to your flagship, Beast of Caerbannog, Chapter Master. All your troops have safely boarded the ships accordingly and the fleet is ready to leave the system at your command." Said Lord Admiral Raphael Montaal as he gestured his hand towards the exit to the massive hangar while seven hundred ship security forces welcomed Emperor's Angels with salutes of arms.
William steps forward but stops himself to make sure he can be heard. As if the ship knew what William was thinking, it opened all vox channels to broadcast William's every word to all ships and its crews.
"Prepare all fleets to embark on warp travel. We are going home."
The entire hanger cries in cheers and at the same time, every ship in the fleet joins as ships of all kinds and slowly join the formation to be one massive fleet. The Imperium's finest make their directional changes as all ships' engines glow in blue and red as they start moving toward the warp portal.
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While ships are on their way to the massive warp portal, William and Rana take their time in their chamber as William plans to deposit all his wargears to his personal heavy duty reliquary and Mother AI STC into a lower level where it was designed to hold the secondary STC.
The ship already has an STC of its own and ships' main AI have its secondary inferior AI to manage its operation. William's STC and Mother AI will integrate itself into Arthur, the ship's AI, making it into one full system.
At first William was worried how two main AI from different ships would react but to his surprise, Mother Inferior easily accepted into the ship's main system as if it was a perfect piece of the puzzle. It turns out that the Ark ship and Beast of Caerbannog came from the same mega corporation back in the Dark Age of Technology.
'Wow, I guess ship engineers made sure their products are universal.' William compared this to a certain car company he knew back home where parts are easily obtainable and compatible to all models.
With important matters taken care of, William rejoins Rana in his main chamber where Rana placed their son into a brand new pod where he is safe inside. The newly made pod for the Henry was designed to protect him from potential danger with a built-in distress call to track the location if needed.
When William entered the room, he was welcomed with familiarity and a new atmosphere he hadn't experienced in a while, a feeling of home. William embraced Rana as she jumped onto him and with a smile, she kissed him. Finally, the hardship is over and now the only thing that's left is travelling through the warp, into a world of 40k and to reunite the forces with Imperium.
Even though both William and Rana aren't from Imperium originally, the task and responsibility given to them are directly from the Emperor himself. By indirectly, both of them are important figures to the Imperium, making them significant to the Golden Throne more than individuals who originated 40k itself.
Just as William was about to signal his vox channel to Lord Admiral Raphael Montaal. The message came to his terminator armor. The message indicates that the fleet will enter the warp portal in one hour and all ships will activate their warp drive as well as Gellar Field.
William ready Rana and his son for the warp travel but unsure what to do as he himself never travelled through warp before. Still, William made sure Henry is sleeping and his pod is secured as he doesn't know what will happen during warp travel.
As one hour finally passed and the ship began to activate its Gellar Field and shield itself to protect itself from foreign entities, the ship went into the warp portal. William received all green light from all ships as well as all personnel counted for.
As the last ship from William's fleet entered the massive portal, the warp closed itself as if powerful and divine nature knew what to do. With the warp portal closed permanently and cutting the connection between the New World and the 40k universe, no trace of Chaos or residue of the laughing gods can be found as Overlord of native gods, Ao made sure nothing is left behind.
Completing the promise with foreign human god known as Star Child, Ao kept the warp portal open until William went through the portal while preventing more troubles coming out from it. In the end, the moment the metal fleet left, the Star Child also disappeared, returning to his own realm as well as taking all of his power with him.
"The deed is done and the world will heal itself." A sentence from Ao isn't simple words as reality reshapes itself according to Ao's will. With that New World returned to how it was before William's arrival and once again, adventure began for those who seek a new.
The End...