Manric was still staggering under the weight of the information Ahmakeph had revealed to them, but he knew he did not have time for things like shock. He needed to process, evaluate and make recommendations. He needed to employ his mind, not emotions.
So he spent the next several hours with Itolyx in the training room, pouring over all the information Ahmakeph had supplied. He'd done his best, given he was working entirely from memory, and the map was reasonably detailed.
"This situation is nightmarish," Manric muttered as he gazed at the blazing red scar that was bisecting the galaxy. He knew very little about Chaos, but Itolyx had enlightened him about things he'd seen during the War in Heaven. And Manric did know about the nature of interstellar travel and the necessity for Geller fields. It was fascinating, putting the pieces together, and he was sure the STC was adding information to its data files. (although probably tagged as requiring confirmation)
"It is not as bad as you fear," Itolyx said and Manric gave him a dubious glance. "Truly. Your colony has existed for five thousand years. Why should the Imperium of Man suddenly realize you have an STC?" Well.
"The drukhari took many prisoners. If they gave a damn, which is admittedly doubtful, they would know we have the STC. And if they wanted to completely screw us with no effort on their part, they could just make sure that information reaches the Imperium." There was a long silence.
"You don't think that is likely to occur?" Itolyx asked and Manric grimaced.
"Honestly? No, I think it's extremely unlikely. But more than that, we need to start trading and connecting to the larger galaxy and sooner or later, we're going to slip up. Sell something a bit too far beyond the Imperium's ability to make, but obviously human made, that sort of thing. And that's ignoring the Tyranids…" Manric traced what Ahmokeph thought had been the path of the Hive Fleet. It hadn't missed Hope by as much as he would have liked.
"It is fairly bad," Itolyx conceded before resting a hand on the table. "But what can we do? Our resources are very limited and your people's industrial base is not advanced." Manric drummed his fingers against the table, staring at the holographic map of the galaxy. He knew the price of what he was going to propose, but…
"STC?" Manric asked and received a beep of acknowledgement. "Can you please plot out a path for Hope to achieve full Terran technology in the least amount of time?"
Query: What societal and physical damages are considered acceptable? That was a loaded question and Manric thought very hard about it.
"Well, worker safety is non-negotiable. Also, any environmental damage should at least be possible to clean up later and we want people to be able to walk outside without using a rebreather. Human rights must be respected, as laid out in the Code of Terra. However, a great deal of environmental damage and social chaos will be permitted." That was just a trade off for the kind of plan he was asking for.
Working, STC said and Itolyx tilted his head to one side.
"You are suggesting improving your industrial base? Surely that cannot be done quickly," he observed and Manric hesitated, rubbing a thumb along his jaw as he thought.
"Well… quickly is a relative term. Without the drukhari kicking our feet out from under us, I think it might be faster than you imagine. Still, at least a few hundred years." That was still unimaginably swift for such technological achievements. Then there was a soft chime.
Tentative plan for full industrialization to Terran standards will require two hundred and fifty years, +/- 20 years. Not bad… not bad… but…
"Does that plan include the extensive use of Canoptek scarabs for various tasks?" The scarabs were a bit limited, to be sure, but they could do a lot of things. One use Manric could easily see for them was to clear out areas for building and convert the materials devoured into building materials. Even erecting factories and other facilities themselves, they should be able to do that when given the appropriate plans. And one thing the scarabs were very good at was replicating themselves, so there would be no shortage of them.
Working. There was another pause, as the STC recalculated. Assuming the use of Canoptek scarabs, the new estimate is 200 +/- 50 years. Manric noted that the degree of uncertainty had gone up, probably because the STC wasn't entirely sure of how valuable the scarabs would prove to be.
"I see… STC, can you compile a full report of the threats we face, then append your second plan for industrialization, and forward everything to King Reinhart with a urgent flag?" Reinhart was going to have a complete fit when he saw it. It was just as well for him to have that fit far, far away from Manric and hopefully get it out of his system before they had to discuss it.
"I do not know what I can do that is comparable. There is no way to increase the number of Necrons," Itolyx said and Manric nodded sympathetically. That was a hard limitation. "We will have to produce more AI based machines to bolster our ranks. I will need to consult with Simokh."
"If only there were a way…" Manric murmured to himself. There was so much… raw material in the Tomb world. The bodies of the dead Necrons, their minds irreparably damaged, a billion of them. If only there was a way… to…
Manric paused as a thought came to him. He was sure it verged on lunacy, and was surely greatly offensive to the necrons. So instead of saying anything, he filed that thought away in his mind for later. He would ask the STC if it had any information on such a thing and if it did… if it did, he would be duty bound to mention it to Rahkaak. He would have to be very, very careful about how he did that though.
Then the coreworld AI spoke.
Incoming request to speak from King Reinhart. Damn! He was just going to yell at them immediately? Manric sighed audibly before speaking to Itolyx.
"I'll take this somewhere else." He surely didn't want to listen to Reinhart having an aneurism. Itolyx nodded.
"I would prefer not to hear it," he said with a humming laugh. Manric nodded mournfully before showing himself out and finding a good, secluded location before accepting the call.
MANRIC! What is this pile of garbage?! Do you have any idea what this kind of plan would do to our society?
"No, I am an ignoramous. Do you have any idea what a brace of heavy nukes would do to the surface of our planet? Do you know what forces would be required to crack the mantle and destroy the Tomb World? Because I do know that. I'm told it even has a name… 'exterminatus'." Manric quoted.
Yes but… but there must be another way! What is the point in preserving ourselves at the cost of everything we hold dear? Manric frowned. That was a good argument, but he'd done his best to take it into account.
"That is why I told the STC to assume we are maintaining basic standards. Reinhart… instead of yelling at each other this way, can we please call a meeting of the Council? We might as well get the yelling over and done with all at once." There was going to be a lot of yelling and carrying on.
No! Get yourself to the surface this instant. We need to formulate a strategy to take on the Council. Reinhart cut the connection but to Manric, that was a wonderful sign. That meant Reinhart was actually going to do it. He was just going to quibble about the details, and maybe push the time frame back as he held out for greater worker protections, but he was going to do it.
The adamantium rose would bloom again.
Several weeks later.
Rahkaak was rather confused by Manric's request for a private talk, with just herself and Simokh. There was an odd feeling of furtiveness about it, as though he wanted no one else to know. But what could that be about? Manric was practically a Second to Itolyx these days. It was very strange for the human to want to meet them without him.
"Phaeron, thank you for this meeting," Manric said with a bow and Rahkaak cocked her head to one side. She could already detect a strange tension in him. It was unlike anything she had ever seen in the normally unflappable human.
"It is nothing. But what is wrong?" Something was clearly very wrong. Manric hesitated before bowing again, his hands put together in front of him. It was a gesture that seemed… supplicating?
"I am going to say something I know will offend you. I fear it is even taboo," Manric said carefully and Rahkaak was baffled. Necrons did not have taboos, not really, aside from organic fecal matter. "There is a great resource in the Crownworld that we can use, if we can bring ourselves to do so. I only bring this up because STC already has the plans to do so."
"Please stop circling your point – Simokh?" Her Cryptek had stirred and was now looking at her.
"I know what he is referring to. I shall state it for he is right, this is taboo." What could they possibly? "He is referring to the bodies of our dead." Rahkaak froze, her mind almost misfiring. Engrams formed but then dissolved into chaos as she tried to absorb the – the sacrilege of the suggestion. "STC contains plans for human biotransference."
"You both…" Rahkaak could hardly comprehend the depth of what they were suggesting. First, the defilement of the corpses of their people. Second, the lighting of the fires of Biotransference once again. "Get out before I order your deaths!" She snarled and they both bowed before showing themselves out. Manric hastily, Simokh with a more measured step. When they were gone, Rahkaak rearranged her thoughts again and again, trying to banish the idea. But it came back, slithering up from traitorous engrams, and Rahkaak felt a moment of despair.
Was she truly desperate enough to contemplate this?