Corius stood before a large imperial bulk head door, he knew what was on the other side and he felt awed to be the first in millennia to see them. The Large Bulkhead doors slowly rumbled open revealing a large open space behind them, so vast the even Corius infrared optic settings barely illuminated the space, but it was enough for him to see them, four Imperial Knight chassis, still locked in their transport docks. Of course it remained to be seen what the knights' state of repair was like but the fact that they were all armed and in one piece was reassuring. Moving into the space Corius attempted to reactivate the hanger lights, with moderate success, some flickering on and off while others blew out after such a long time of disuse.
Doctor Charles had never seen anything like it before, the hanger was massive, it could hold several large bullheads and still have room to spare and that said nothing of the other four very large occupants in the hangar. The Knights as Corius had called them put the new Atlas paladins to shame, standing somewhere near the ten metre mark, it was truly humbling to stand before such a magnificent creation. "Doctor" Corius started "you wished to see another demonstration of machine spirits yes?" Charles could only nod as he looked over the first knight that Corius had managed to climb up to the head of. Corius studied the Knight before him, identifying it as a Paladin pattern with a Battle cannon and a reaper chainsword, all of which looked to be in almost battle ready condition. Corius steadied himself and withdrew an incense burner from within his robes, lighting it he began to chant in binary, to the doctors surprise once again he did not speed up this chant at all, as Corius chanted his hands folded into the sign of the Omnissiah and he bowed his head in prayer.
Corius stayed like this over an hour, not once stopping his binary chant and the doctor had taken the time to inspect the rest of the hanger, finding the remains of several humans and the partial skeletons that were fixed to bits of machinery. It's while trying to read the inscription that was written next to the door they entered through that he heard a deep growling engine start up, turning he found the Knight Corius was praying to powering up, the lights in its head lighting up giving it a glowing glare that seemed to promise destruction of everything that stood in its way. "So doctor, did that satisfy your curiosity about my religion, or would you like another demonstration?" Corius asked, Charles shook his head no, "no that won't be necessary, but tell me if I go through with this, what will be my task, surely you need me for something specific" Corius regarded the man, and internally praised him for figuring it out on his own, "yes doctor, it has occurred to me that while I am capable of doing a great many things here on this planet, I need the assistance of others to increase the speed at which I can produce the elements need for the world coming folding into the imperium. The first task being removing the Grimm from this planet. That is where you and these knights come into the picture, to expand my army" Corius finished standing in front of the man, "the question is" Corius brought his glowing eyes level with the doctors, "are you willing to devote yourself to a higher state of being?" Corius waited for the doctor to reply.
Doctor Charles quickly tried to think of everything about his current situation, from the promise of an extended life to being involved with some of the most advanced technology he had ever even dreamed of, and it was with a nervous voice he answered "how do we start?" and Corius let out a mechanical laugh, "first we initiate you into the Cult Mechanicus, which will require you to receive augmentations" Corius turned back to the knights, "that however can wait, I have three more knights to activate." Corius strode over to the next knight and began the process again, leaving the doctor to think about his choice.
Cinder fall was angry, not just angry she was furious, the plan to invade vale had to be moved forward when a first year huntress team found out about it, and then that Mechanicus man showed up and utterly devastated the Grimm hoard. She watched the limited footage her subordinates Emerald and Mercury had filmed, the weapons he used and those of his soldiers were truly impressive, and that aircraft it decimated an elder deathstalker with just a few shots. The idea that this power was not hers is what had incensed her so, she was aware of the ultimately ill-advised plot to kidnap his so called daughter and that ended with one thug dead and another missing. She had other plans, the white fang had recently traced him to the coast of vale, his craft being seen leaving and returning several times to a remote valley far from any villages or even trade routes. This to cinder meant either he was building something or he found something, this wold have to wait as she was informed by a lowly white fang member that their raid on the vale Mechanicus facility was about to start.
Storm was wolf Faunus with pointed grey ears that sat on top his head and were currently straining for any sound as he crouched within the shadows just across the street from the rear wall of the factory, his eyes allowed him to see that the wall had razor wire running the entire perimeter, the entire place looked more like a fortress than a factory. He and several other fang members were waiting for the go ahead to sneak in and take as much tech as they could carry before detonating explosives to wreck the production capabilities of the factory. The order was given and he was running, gaining the speed needed to clear the wall with an aura enhanced jump, clearing the razor wire he landed softly hearing the others doing the same, the raiding force was made up of only five fang members but they were all experience infiltrators, ensuring the success of this operation. Storm hid behind crates that seemed to be empty but did once contain an ore of some kind, pushing that thought to the back of his mind Storm pushed deeper into the factory.
Storm froze, in front of him no more than fifteen meters from him where two of the mechanical soldiers guarding one of the doors into the factory, Storm thinking they were just dumb robots treated them as such, thinking they had just search and destroy programming he found a large piece of rubble and hurled it away from his position and towards the far wall. It appeared to work and when the Soldiers moved off to investigate he broke cover and made for the door. Reaching the door he found it to be locked and had some sort of keypad next to it but he couldn't understand any of the symbols on it, deciding he was to exposed Storm turned to get back into the cover of the shadows when movement out of the corner of his eye made him look to the left just as a rifle butt rushed at his face, he saw stars from the impact and then another blow landed and he saw nothing.
"What!" Adam Torus Shouted loudly, "what do you mean they didn't return?" he questioned angrily as the deer Faunus before him trembled with fear, "that's just it sir, they went in with no problems but didn't come back in the time allotted, and the explosives didn't go off either" at this Adam flared his aura, drew his blade and cut a table clean in half. "Find out what happened to them, they were some of our best infiltrators, I want to know how they were captured." Adam ordered having calmed down somewhat from the news. The deer Faunus scurried off to avoid any further wrath that Adam may have in store, "it seems that your use of force has failed" the figure of Cinder fall appeared in the room, "perhaps it's time for a more subtle approach" Adam scoffed, "he's more machine than man, what makes you think he'll negotiate with you" Cinder stopped and her eyes glowed orange, "Because my dear Adam, if he refuses, I'll just melt him down" and then the glow was gone and the temperature returned to normal. "Fine, but I'm not risking more men than needed, I've lost too many already with your little schemes." Adam said placing his hand on his sword hilt, Cinder just smiled and walked out the room.
Storm woke up in a dark room, so dark even his Faunus night vision failed to see any details of where he was, he vaguely managed to hear the machinery in the factory operating. He sat there in the darkness for what felt like days but very well could have been only minutes, then after an indeterminate amount of time a hidden door snapped open blinding the Faunus with the wall of light that flooded into prison cell. Storms eyes barely adjusted to the light when he was hit with a jolt of electricity as the skitarii hit him with a low powered Taser goad shock, Storm's body convulsed with the electricity running through him, suitably disabled the skitarii then grabbed him by his shirt and dragged the paralysed Faunus out of the cell and down the hall. Storm still reeling from the effects of being tasered only just managed to catch the screams that the soldier dragging him was heading towards, he fought to get his body to move, to fight and escape, he just managed to move his legs and then his arms when the skitarii threw him through a door where he rolled to a stop. Storm waited for the soldier to approach him when he leaped, reaching for the weapon he clasp his hand around the handle and tried to pull it out of its hand, but it didn't budge, fear welled up inside Storm at that moment as the Taser ignited and slammed into his stomach. It launched him across the room where he impacted the other side, the skitarii marched calmly over to the twitching Faunus and picked him up again this time dropping him onto a table, and strapping him down. Storm was really panicking now, the adrenaline flooding his system allowing his body to overcome the paralysing effects of the shock. "What the Fuck are you going to do to me!" he yelled at the skitarii, his reply was a back handed slap across the face, sending him into a daze. A mechanical voice filled the room, "begin conversion procedure" and with those words Storms fate was sealed as several figures entered the room all brandishing different sets of medical tools. The Servitors' tools descended on the Faunus, cutting and butchering as they went, the young man's screams filled the air but the occupants of the room paid it no heed and then it was silent as the now ex-White fang member passed out.
Rick Silver was surprised to see the red robed figure that approached the village centre, flanked by several of his skitarii and holding the hand of a once smaller little girl rick instantly recognised. Greeting him as he reached him rick stuck out his hand, "it's been a long time Corius, trust you have been well?" Corius accepted the hand and gave a firm shake, "yes I have been well, along with Lilly" the girl gave a quick hug to Rick who smiled and hugged her back. Kneeling down to her level he spoke to her, "you know, there are some other kids, not much younger than you just over there" he said pointing to a group of three children, two boys and a girl "why don't you go play, while me and your dad have a talk, as long as its ok with him of course" Lilly looked up and saw her father nod slightly, she hugged him and walked over to the children, two Skitarii following behind at a respective distance.
The two men watched Lilly go before Rick turn back to Corius, "so what was so important that you came all the way out here to see me?" Corius' eyes adjusted slightly, "Inside if we could" Rick nodded and the two entered the large building. Rick moved into his office and sat behind the desk, gesturing to the seat in front of it, surprising to Corius it was a large metal chair seemingly designed with him in mind, sitting he turned his attention back to Rick, "so what was it that's so important?" Rick asked again, "I wish for your help" at this Ricks eyes boggled, "what could you need help with?" Corius withdrew a small hologram projector and activated it showing a image of a Knight Paladin, "I need a Pilot, specifically a Knightly house to pilot four of these war machines" Rick just stared dumb foundered. After what seemed like an eternity, but was only about five minutes, "why me?" was all rick could say, Corius started intensely at him, "because you have the required personality and I trust you" Rick adopted c confused look, "personality?" Corius sighed, noting how often he seemed to do that on this world, "you are selfless, noble and you desire to protect civilians when they cannot do so themselves and this is what makes you eligible to bond with the Knight." Rick stilled, trying to take this new information in, he would be lying if he said he wasn't excited by the idea of piloting that Knight, but he also thought of his family, his wife and son. "What about my family?" Corius would smile if he was capable of doing so, "they would still be with you, and when he came of age, you son would either join you or if it ever happens replace you at the time of your death, which disregarding war, would not come for a long time for you and yours" Corius explained, Rick sighed thinking of everything he could not to do it and found little to counter, "what do I need to do?" Corius once again lamented not being able to smile, "Come with me."
Rick could only stare at the towering suit of armour before him, it was huge, certainly bigger that the armour that Atlas had started showing of lately. "So how do I get in?" rick asked the nearby Corius, "oh you won't be able to use it yet, I'll need to give you some Augmentations" seeing the apprehension appear on Rick he continued, "nothing major, at least nothing on my scale, you just need to be able to link your nervous system with the Knight, your body and it will become one during combat." Rick grimaced "sounds painful, but I'll still be me right?" Corius nodded "yes it is only a minor operation and no, you will be completely under, you are not some lowlife bandit, you are Remnants first Knight and you will be treated as such. You will be the first Knightly High King, your wife the queen and your son the Knight Prince, and you will have full control over your House, second only to me if you chose to swear alliance of course." Rick stared up at the Knight, "let's begin then shall we."
Rick woke up several hours later, not feeling any different, reaching around the back of his head he felt it, the new neural interface, he touched it and winced at the raw skin around the device. "Careful, the skin is still tender and will heal with time" came Corius warning as he stood nearby, "when you feel up to it I will be waiting outside" and Corius left the surgery room. Rick laid there for several moments still doubtful of his decision but decided to trust his instincts with it, leaving the room he found Corius waiting with another red robed figure, nowhere nearly as modified as Corius but had the beginnings of it, "Rick, I would like to introduce newly indoctrinated Magos Charles, he shall be your Mechanicus support for you knight along with a plethora of servitors devoted to maintaining and repairing the knight." Rick walked up to the pair and extended his hand, "it's a pleasure Magos" Rick was surprised to find not a mechanical hand but a flesh and blood one grip his hand. "The pleasure is mine, Corius has already explained my duties to me, and im excited to begin" the newly minted Magos said smiling brightly. "Yes, about that how long until I can try this bonding as you put it" Rick asked turning to Corius, "as soon as we get back to the 'Wraith' and create an opening to extract the knight from within." Corius turned and walked off the new High king and Magos following.
The Atlas archaeologists had made a good effort to expose the hanger bay doors on the exterior of the ship to allow the Knights to exit the ship. Corius, Rick and Charles all made their way into the ship to begin the process of connecting Rick to the knight, Corius left the process with Magos Charles, as he had uploaded the full process to the local noosphere for the Magos to download to his newly implanted cogitator. The magos and Rick had just started the connection process when Alfie contacted Corius over the Noosphere, "Archmagos, There are three civilians here who wish to speak with you, they appear unarmed but we have them covered" Corius didn't know what to make of the message, civilians had found them in the middle of nowhere, "I am on my way up". Corius exited the ship to find his squad of skitarii half encircling the three teenagers, walking up to them he spoke, "you are on Mechanicus Land, I suggest you leave before I detain you" he powered up his weapons to emphasise the threat. The dark haired woman seemed unfazed even as the other two flinched at the sight, "now why would we leave when you are here, and do you really need the weapons we just want to talk" Corius didn't like this, the thought that three random teenagers found them was just impossible, and her calm demeanour in the face of overwhelming power meant she was confident that she would win if it came to blows, unless he could dispose of them first. "I'm afraid that I have to decline, I'm in the middle of something and I'd rather not talk to you children" the girl with green hair was staring intensely at Corius, then he felt it a tingling at the back of his kind, it appeared she had a mind manipulation semblance. "You can stop trying to trick me girl it won't work" the girls eyes widened in surprise, "now I ask again leave before I force you" and as though to further reinforce his point the newly uncovered hanger doors opened slowly, drawing the eyes of the three. The door fully retracted leaving a vast empty black space, from within came giant heavy steps, and then out of the gloom strode forth the towering Knight, it stopped just behind the gathering and its War-horn blared its fury shacking the ground and forcing the teenagers to flinch at the noise. The Black haired girl's eyes flashed golden and fire shot towards Corius, and just before impact there was great flash of light blinding the three and forcing the Skitariis' eyes to auto-adjust to the flare.
The light faded and to Cinders shock and for the first time in a long time her fear, Corius was still standing and pointing every weapon at her, "you have made a great mistake" and he fired, the eradication ray striking her in the chest and instead of disintegrating she was thrown backwards. The Skitarii then fired on the other two and found them just barely dodging and then fleeing picking up their unconscious leader and running into the woods. Corius let them go, he had sent his message well enough and had new data to sift through as it seemed that some people on this planet could withstand the deadly power of the eradication ray, although it appeared to still render her unconscious. Corius turned his eyes up to the Knight, standing proud once again it proved to him and the world that the Omnissiah had truly blessed him in his time of need.
A/N: I dont own 40K or RWBY, Now we've moved into the space between the last episode of Vol. 2 and the First episode of Vol. 3, the war with the white fang is ramping up. Read and Enjoy
Some story idea credit goes to Deeed22