Steel & Oil: Warhammer 32K

"Magos Lifar has indeed fulfilled his assignment, Forge Director." Lin did his best to appear courteous.

"We are not Space Marines attempting to force our way onto a Forge World without permission. We are Magos Lifar's evidence — we are here to corroborate his momentous discovery."

Forge Director Augustus shifted his gaze to Lin — this Mechanicus Magos he had paid no attention to until now.

His eyes passed over the Magos badge pinned to Lin's chest, and he identified him at a glance.

"Interesting. A Biologis Magos from Forge World Huangquan VIII, travelling in the company of the Imperial Fists."

His gaze lingered on Lin for a moment, then returned to Lifar.

"A question. Magos Lifar — what discovery requires you to bring these Space Marines as corroborating witnesses?"

"A Greenskin invasion! One that is almost upon us!"

Lifar threw both hands wide, trying to convey the sheer scale of the coming tide: "We must prepare at once, or the entirety of this Forge World will be swallowed by the Greenskin flood! In the name of the one who rang the bell on this crisis — by the Omnissiah above, let us in!"

Forge Director Augustus said nothing.

The silence stretched. The only sound left on the bridge was the erratic staccato of binary code chirping from the Cogitator systems.

Lin knew this was a contest of patience. He caught Kurande's eye and gave him a calming look, silently urging him and his warriors to smother the anger that had flared up when the Forge Director dismissed them so contemptuously.

The Imperial Fists met Lin's expectation. Their iron constitution drove the fury deep, buried beneath the surface. They simply stood in silence, giving their hosts nothing to seize upon.

Seeing no viable means of expelling the Space Marines, the Forge Director's projection finally gave a slow nod.

"Displeasure. My emotion-processor informs me that, at this moment, I should be angry at your duplicity, Magos Lifar."

And yet his tone remained utterly flat. In truth, a man who had rebuilt himself to this degree had long since forfeited any right to savour human emotion.

"But logically, your request conforms to the standards and procedures of the Cult Mechanicus. Bring these stray dogs along — we shall discuss this Greenskin invasion in the Forge Council."

With that pronouncement made, he cut the projection. The survey vessel's systems unlocked. The weapons-lock alarms fell silent. The ship proceeded through the standard tractor-docking sequence as originally planned.

Magos Lifar let out a long breath and went limp, collapsing to the deck. But the crack of Kurande's fist slamming into the conference table jolted him back to his feet in an instant.

He scrambled up from the floor and rushed to the table, finding the holographic projector smashed to splinters by Kurande's blow. He yelped in dismay: "What do you think you're doing?! This isn't even my ship! If you break something, I'm the one who has to pay for it—"

Kurande shot Lifar a look. The fury blazing in his eyes made Lifar's words die in his throat.

"Your Forge Director had the audacity to humiliate the honour of the Imperial Fists!"

"That's no reason to make me foot the bill for his mistakes and your temper..." Lifar muttered, voicing his objection in the meek, self-interested way that was the only kind of bravery a member of the Cult Mechanicus could muster when their own purse was at stake.

"The Mechanicus is a union of self-interest and opportunism, and the Forge Director at its apex is the greatest exemplar of all those qualities." Lin read the situation with clear eyes. "A Chapter that has suffered catastrophic losses — even a freshly founded one — he does have grounds to look down on you. Kurande, right now we are the ones asking for a favour."

"I understand that." Kurande sighed. "I just don't know... how much longer I can endure."

The weight of defending Terra now rested on his shoulders, and he had not yet fully emerged from the shadow of his Chapter's near-annihilation. Even a son of Dorn, for all his stoic resilience, had limits to his patience.

Lin gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"It won't be much longer. Trust me."

Though Lin kept the rest of his thoughts to himself.

In truth, it was genuinely rare for a Forge World's Forge Director to show such open contempt toward an Astartes Chapter.

Under normal circumstances, even if a Forge World privately looked down on some impoverished Chapter rattling a tin cup, they would still conduct business with them civilly enough to earn goodwill. For Astartes — who held honour and obligation sacred — a single act of generosity in a time of need was enough to bind them to a debt of honour, compelling an entire company to serve the Forge World on demand. And which among those much-loathed cog-heads wouldn't want a pack of Astartes working for them?

This Forge Director, who dared to disregard a newly founded Chapter so openly, almost certainly had his own calculations running — and his own secrets.

The survey vessel completed its docking with the spaceport. Led by Servitors, the group disembarked and entered the spaceport's transit lifts. As agreed, Lin's party was to be escorted directly to Cath Maximus's Forge Council.

Maximus was not a large world. As a Tier Three Forge World, it possessed only a single primary hive and two subsidiary hives clustered close beside it.

Wherever vast populations gathered there would be hive cities, of course — but hives that the Mechanicus had fitted with production lines were far more orderly than those on an ordinary Hive World. Beyond the hive boundaries, the planet's surface was given over entirely to vast, sprawling mining districts.

Most of the planet's structure was impossible to make out from the spaceport — but the location of the Forge Council was a conspicuous exception.

It was the most magnificent structure on the entire planet. As a place of both practical and religious significance, it was the one location where the production lines that should by rights have blanketed every centimetre of the Forge World had been pushed back, preserving a rare and precious open space for the Forge Council alone.

The great mechanical palace rose from the barren red sand, its cold metal walls etched with arcane binary litanies. Tens of thousands of lumen globes glimmered across its hemispherical dome, casting a perpetual dim radiance upon the grand statue of the Omnissiah that stood before the Forge Council entrance — making the Omnissiah Reborn, cast in auramite, appear at once mysterious and divine.

Lin quietly clicked his tongue.

This kind of opulence was not what you'd expect from a Tier Three Forge World.

Beyond the temple itself, however, Lin was afforded no opportunity to see any more of what this Forge World had to offer. The surrounding areas had been cleared of bystanders and all roads were sealed off. Only a single straight avenue was left open for Lin's party, leading directly to the Forge Council. Kurande surveyed the scene and curled his lip in disdain.

"I can only hope they apply this much effort when dealing with the Greenskins."

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed." Lin looked at the sealed-off roads around them, designed to keep their group from straying. "My guess is they only go to this much trouble when dealing with the Imperial Fists."

After all, the last time the Imperial Fists had set foot on a Forge World as an organised force had been a thousand years ago on Mars — and on that occasion, the Imperial Fists had walked away with over forty thousand sets of Power Armour and an incalculable quantity of fabrication equipment. The "losses" inflicted must still be seared into every cog-head's memory to this day.

Magos Lifar, however, detected something unusual in all this unusual ceremony: "Maximus hasn't conducted a formal reception like this for anyone in a very long time."

"That's a good sign — it means the Forge World takes the intelligence you've brought back seriously. Your path to glory and advancement is right there in front of you." Lin offered an encouraging word.

"Whether they take it seriously or not remains to be seen." Lifar wore a funereal expression; he still hadn't abandoned the notion of packing his things and making a run for it. "All I feel is that there's truly no way out for me now..."

There wasn't much time for further conversation before entering the Forge Council. Before long, they passed through into the palace's statue-lined corridor.

The air inside this deeply devotional structure resonated with the low, rhythmic thrum of machinery, as though the building itself were a living organism breathing steadily.

Deep within the palace, a vast sapphire energy core floated above an altar-like control console, pulsing as it pumped power into every extremity of the great structure.

"That energy core sits at the apex of this facility's primary power system, and it also serves as the central nexus controlling all of the Forge World's major production lines." Lifar explained this landmark feature of Cath Maximus to the group.

"Every major production line on the planet channels a fraction of its output energy into this core — supplying power to the Forge Council, and symbolising, under the witness of the Omnissiah, the Forge Council's absolute dominion over the entirety of the Forge World."

Lifar had barely finished speaking when the elevator platform before the control console began to rise with a slow, deliberate groan.

The Forge Director — previously seen only in projection — now stood before them in person.

Flanking him on both sides, positioned a step lower than his elevation, stood eight Magi and senior Magi in total, accompanying the Forge Director in formal array.

From their vestments and insignia, Lin could identify them as the senior leadership of the Forge World, responsible respectively for fabrication, biologis, military affairs, data, and other domains.

But this was ultimately a modest Forge World. Of the eight, only the military representative — a Magos Militant who bore the rank of Forge Vice-Director — and the senior fabricator held the elevated rank of Magos among the high council. The rest were ordinary Magi, without the distinguished titles of Logis, Genetor, or similar specialisations. Furthermore, based on their insignia, the Magos Militant overseeing military affairs also served concurrently as the Forge Vice-Director.

They stood on the raised platform, looking down at Lin's group assembled in the centre of the hall, their eyes filled with scrutiny.

Compared to the grandeur of the palace itself, this entrance was decidedly understated. But the final figure to step forward drew Lin's attention.

She was a woman with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in a white coat, with virtually no signs of augmentation on her body. She was conspicuous among the assembly of half-flesh, half-machine Magi.

Noticing Lin's puzzlement, Magos Lifar leaned over and murmured in his ear: "Christina. The heart of the Titan Cult — the pilot of the world's sole Warlord-class Titan, and the Legatus of our planet's Titan Legion."

Lin nodded, understanding at once.

Silence!

It seemed Augustus had noticed Lin and his companions whispering amongst themselves. The Forge Director rapped the haft of his Omnissiah's Axe — the symbol of his office — against the floor, producing a dull, resonant boom.

"This is the Forge Council — a sanctuary dedicated to upholding the will of the Omnissiah. All that transpires here is witnessed by the great Machine God himself."

The Forge Director's voice was cold. "A question. Magos Lifar, you claim that a Greenskin tide is about to consume our Forge World. Under the witness of the Omnissiah — can you provide sufficient proof?"

____

________________________________________

If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)

👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉