Warhammer: The Worst Start There Is (40k)

In the vast council chamber, only Guilliman and Cawl remained; everyone else had left.

As a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Cawl, with his mechanical body, stood tall and was in no way inferior in height to Guilliman, the Primarch being.

Over the past ten thousand years, Cawl had undergone multiple rounds of technological enhancements, and there was hardly any flesh left on his body.

On his back, a massive shell-shaped metal contraption stood, with energy field generators mounted on it. Several metal mechanical arms were in motion, and a few suspended metal skulls connected by neural cables adorned it.

In addition to these, numerous high-energy weapons collected from various parts of the galaxy were embedded on him, connecting to his brain and spine.

Cawl’s lower half had also been entirely replaced with machinery. Every step he took produced a mechanical hum and the sound of pistons moving back and forth.

Cawl’s chest emitted a glow. It was evident that this madman had installed a nuclear fusion energy source in his chest to power his numerous weapons.

Even if one had encountered members of the Adeptus Mechanicus before, Guilliman couldn’t help but marvel at his appearance.

It truly embodied the saying, “The flesh is weak; embrace the machine.”

The Adeptus Mechanicus had indeed cast aside humanity, completely.

“Cawl, come to me,” Guilliman said, his tone a blend of authority and familiarity.

Cawl was crucial to his potential resurrection and one of the most reliable people at the moment.

At least for now, Guilliman had reason to believe that Cawl would not betray him.

For over ten thousand years, Cawl had kept his promise and roamed the vast galaxy in search of lost technology buried in the annals of history.

People like him were not to be trusted. What good was loyalty if it couldn’t be relied upon?

Of course, in this treacherous universe, Guilliman had to be prepared for the possibility that everyone might betray him, regardless of their loyalty.

“Regent, how may I serve you?” Cawl stood up, and his heavy metal body left marks on the marble floor. His electronic eyes emitted a mechanical gleam, and if you stared into his eyes, you could faintly see the gears turning within.

Cawl’s eyes were no longer mere flesh and blood; they were a fusion of electronics and organic material, equipped with various scanning functions.

Guilliman remained silent for a moment, then produced a data storage device, saying, “The contents of this storage device are all from ten thousand years ago, knowledge I secretly gathered. This knowledge can help us create a completely new army, one that will allow us to regain control of the galaxy.”

The contents of the data storage device were not actually from ten thousand years ago but were organized by Guilliman from the database.

Calling it knowledge from ten thousand years ago was just a convenient excuse to deceive the Mechanicus, should they try to obstruct him.

If they didn’t believe it, they could go back ten thousand years and verify it themselves.

Avoiding the Mechanicus and building a completely new army was one of the most important reasons Guilliman wanted to stay on the Five Hundred Planets of Ultramar.

As an important ally of the Imperium, the Mechanicus, the primary supplier of machinery, had become increasingly conservative and inflexible over the past ten thousand years. Creating a new product, from testing to establishing production lines, took hundreds of years.

Guilliman couldn’t afford to wait that long for the Mechanicus to validate the technology he provided.

By the time they finished their validation, the Imperium would have already fallen, and he would likely have become a plaything of the Chaos gods.

It made more sense to stay in Ultramar. This was his main base, and the influence of the Adeptus Mechanicus was not as strong here.

With the support of individuals like Calgar and Celestine in Ultramar, he had more room to maneuver and could quickly build a powerful new army using the resources of the Five Hundred Planets.

This formidable army would be the key to pulling the Imperium back from the abyss.

Given the current complexity of the Imperium’s situation, this was Guilliman’s best choice.

The Imperium was too vast, with various factions intricately intertwined and interdependent.

The Imperium is indeed vast, with a complex web of power and interdependence among various factions.

The Supreme Lords of Terra, planetary governors across different Planets, nobility on various planets, the Starfleet, Imperial Navy, the Imperial Guard, the Inquisition, and other Space Marine chapters, among others, all have their internal struggles and conflicts.

On the other hand, the Adeptus Mechanicus, despite claiming to be allies of the Imperium, often acted in its own interests without heeding Imperial orders.

The infamous “War of Beasts” had deceived the Imperium several times, nearly resulting in the invasion of the Imperium by the Greenskin Orks.

Additionally, the Imperial Ecclesiarchy posed another significant problem, with power struggles and corruption rampant within its ranks. The so-called “Crusades of Atonement” launched by the Ecclesiarchy had often sent numerous Space Marine chapters into the maw of the Warp, essentially delivering them to the forces of Chaos.

To maintain the Imperium’s rule, successive leaders had continuously patched up these problems. Now, the entire Imperium was riddled with patches, appearing both ugly and bloated.

The Imperium was ailing, and mere patchwork solutions were no longer sufficient. What it needed was a complete overhaul, a sweeping reform to breathe new life into the Imperium.

However, for Guilliman to undertake such reforms, he needed an absolutely formidable military force.

As Cawl looked at the data storage device provided by Guilliman, he appeared puzzled. He didn’t believe that Guilliman possessed any remarkable technology.

Out of respect for the Primarch, Cawl accepted the storage device and inserted it into the data interface on the back of his head.

The data from the storage device flooded into his processors. His previously puzzled expression turned into one of ecstatic excitement.

This was knowledge he had never encountered before.

It included genetic modifications and blueprints for building entirely new warships.

When he saw the plans for the Death Star, Cawl’s face flushed with excitement.

This was a Planet-ending level of weaponry!

This type of battleship, called the Death Star, was definitely not a technology held by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

The Mechanicus had lost a lot of knowledge over time, and what was worse, much of this knowledge was irreplaceable. Once lost, it meant that the Imperium had permanently lost that technology.

Most of the Mechanicus’s technology wasn’t developed through research but was acquired through the discovery of Standard Template Constructs (STCs).

In other words, their approach was more archaeological than innovative. While they did have innovations, they were minor and didn’t fundamentally alter the technology. If they strayed too far from the Primarch designs, they risked being accused of heresy against the Omnissiah, the Machine God, and could face execution.

“These technologies don’t have STC templates?” After reading the information in the storage device, Cawl looked up at Guilliman.

“No, all of this knowledge was acquired through ten thousand years of study,” Guilliman replied, not concealing the truth.

The Mechanicus would not allow the application of any technology without an STC template source. Otherwise, they would wage wars against industrial planets in the name of heresy, preventing the use of such technology.

Guilliman looked at Cawl and remembered that Cawl was part of the faction within the Mechanicus known for radicalism and reform.

Today, the Mechanicus had seen the emergence of a new faction that advocated for innovative and reformative thinking rather than blindly following ancient doctrines. This had led to significant conflicts with the conservative faction within the Mechanicus, who believed that the radicals were betraying the glory of the Omnissiah.

“What do you need from me, Regent?” Cawl asked.

Hearing this, Guilliman smiled slightly, as he knew that Cawl was not part of the conservative faction within the Mechanicus.

When it came to technology, Cawl didn’t care whether it had an STC template source or not.

“I need a completely new army, from warships to individual equipment. We need a comprehensive upgrade to ensure that we can crush the forces of Chaos and the Xenos when facing them. I’ll grant you authority to mobilize all the industrial planets across the Five Hundred Planets, and they will cooperate with you. Cawl, give me a confident answer. Tell me you can handle all of this. Once I’ve cleared the remaining Chaos forces in the Five Hundred Planets of Ultramar, I’ll be able to obtain an army to pave the way for my return to Terra.”

“I will fulfill your request, Regent. I will do my best to upgrade your army.” Cawl bowed slightly, and his mechanical body emitted the distinctive sound of metal grinding.

“Excellent. Remember, prioritize the development of this Thought-Steel technology and keep it strictly confidential. Do not disclose any related information,” Guilliman whispered.

“Understood, Regent.”