Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor

The concept of relics was broad, with varying definitions across the Empire's institutions.

Relics could be lost ancient technology, weapons left behind by powerful beings, or even mundane items like basins used by the Emperor or living saints.

However, anything the fleet commander deemed worth hiding had to be exceptional.

This fleet had collected the tithes from nine planets.

Following the Emperor's directives, the fleet commander had also looted the planets' nobles, seizing their treasures.

To ensure safety, the most valuable treasures were stored aboard the massive flagship.

The most precious of these treasures, however, were secretly hidden away by the commander, intending to keep them for himself.

Among them were said to be relics.

The fleet commander refused to disclose the treasure's location unless he could meet with the governor in person.

Clearly, he hoped to bargain for his life using the treasures.

Eden arrived at the interrogation chamber to find the disheveled fleet commander, who burst into tears upon seeing him.

"Governor, please spare me! I will pledge my loyalty to you and reveal the treasures' location!"

"Spare you?"

Eden shook his head:

"What makes you think you deserve mercy?

When you ordered an orbital bombardment to kill me, did you think about the consequences?

And loyalty? Do you even understand the concept?"

Though the commander looked pitiful, he had suffered no real harm.

He had already confessed much before any torture had begun, using the promise of treasures as leverage to request a meeting.

Eden doubted whether this man had even graduated from the Navy Academy.

The commander's opportunism was well-known, and no one would trust his loyalty.

"But don't you want the treasures? They're worth more than planets!"

Seeing Eden's unwillingness to spare him, the commander grew desperate.

"Of course, I want them. But what leverage do you have now?

Knowing your nature, you probably hid them aboard your flagship. The ship is mine—I'll find them eventually."

Eden glanced at the Tribunal interrogators standing nearby, who were in training to become full-fledged Inquisitors.

"Continue the interrogation. Increase the pressure—I don't care if he dies."

Turning to leave, Eden was stopped by the commander's frantic cries:

"Wait! Even if you find the vault, you'll need the special passcode to access it. Without it, the failsafe will destroy everything inside!"

The commander explained that forcing the vault open without the code would trigger a heat-melt device, reducing the treasures to ash.

Eden smiled faintly.

"Thanks for the information. That's all I needed to know."

All Eden wanted was a general idea of the vault's location and its mechanisms.

As for the so-called special passcode, he had no intention of relying on it.

The risks were too great—who knew what other traps it might activate?

Instead, he trusted Webby, machine spirit, to bypass the vault's systems.

The commander, realizing Eden had left, fell into despair. He refused to disclose further details, believing the governor would eventually return for the code.

Meanwhile, the Tribunal continued interrogating other prisoners, gathering more reports to cross-reference the commander's claims.

Search for the Vault

Eden instructed Webbyto search the flagship for the hidden vault.

Finding a secret room aboard a 10-kilometer-long ship, akin to a small city, was no easy task.

Fortunately, the commander's hints suggested the vault was in an area without surveillance.

Webby focused on blind spots in the ship's monitoring system, quickly identifying several potential locations.

The first search, near the bridge, turned up nothing.

The second team moved to the ship's lower decks, a labyrinth of pipes and compartments resembling a hive's underbelly.

Here, the search team encountered mutated maintenance workers, who had succumbed to corruption and become abominations.

The mutants were executed on the spot.

Further exploration revealed several groups of Chaos creatures, which the team eliminated.

Tales of hidden demons aboard ancient ships were common. These incidents underscored the need for a thorough cleansing of all captured vessels.

As the number of blind spots dwindled, Eden grew increasingly tense.

Was the vault truly hidden among these areas, or was this all a ploy to buy time?

Finally, the search team found the vault in the last blind spot.

Standing before the vault's entrance, Eden wore a gas mask to block the putrid stench.

"Quite the hiding spot…" he muttered, marveling at how the vault had been disguised as a waste pipe.

Without a specific purpose, no one would have discovered it.

Nearby, tech-priests busily installed scanning devices and signal boosters, while Thunder Warriors dealt with any emerging Chaos creatures.

When the golden-tinged signal booster activated, Webby's presence manifested nearby.

"Father, did you miss me?"

The golden energy flickered as Webby's voice emanated from the speakers.

Eden, focused on the vault, replied:

"Stop joking and crack this vault's system. Be careful of the heat-melt failsafe—I don't want anything inside destroyed."

"Understood!" Webbychirped, directing the surrounding machines to interface with the vault's system.

The process was time-consuming, and the team waited in tense silence.

"Father, the vault system has been successfully breached!"

Eden sprang to his feet, asking:

"Great! Is the heat-melt device completely disabled? Any surprises I should know about?"

Webbyexplained that the vault didn't have a special passcode, but rather a booby-trapped "activation code."

Had Eden trusted the commander and used the code, the resulting heat wave would have incinerated everything—and anyone—nearby.

The commander's final act of defiance had been thwarted by Eden's caution.

As the vault doors creaked open, Eden stepped onto a soft carpet made from the fur of a rare white feline species.

The passageway was lined with dormant heat-melt devices, which would have been catastrophic if triggered.

Inside the Vault

The vault was a state-of-the-art storage facility, its walls and floors crafted from advanced protective materials to shield its contents from all forms of decay.

Rows of storage containers housed ancient artifacts, exuding an aura of solemnity and reverence.

The air carried a faint, aged fragrance that evoked peace and serenity.

At the vault's deepest point, Eden found a glass case containing an ancient stone tablet inscribed with intricate runes and patterns.

In the center of the tablet lay a parchment made of aged sheepskin.

The moment Eden saw the parchment, he recognized it.

His eyes fell on the blood-red fingerprint mark in the lower-right corner.

"By the Emperor… Is this genuine?" Eden exclaimed.

(End of Chapter)

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