Iplanen was having an excellent time in his new career as an apprentice Cryptek.
He wasn't a true apprentice Cryptek, of course. He would not have that distinction unless he chose to completely give up his body of flesh, taking up the machine. Iplanen was seriously considering it, but he was waiting for something. Jan had no objections to fully Necron technology, but Iplanen found the idea of taking a shell far more appealing if it were human made. Soon, they would have civilian-level Hope made shells available. He could wait for one of those, even if it was technically inferior to a Necron body. Perhaps it was foolish, but it meshed much better with the beliefs of the Cult Mechanicus.
In addition to spending a great deal of time learning Necron technology, Iplanen found himself dragged out of the lab by Jan. He seemed to think it was necessary, for some reason.
"You know, you really should see more of Hope." Did he have to? Iplanen thought it was just a waste of his time, time that could be used on valuable technology. "Also, you can meet some of my family. We don't live in Hope's Landing but my father is here right now to give lectures." Lectures? "He's considering getting biotransference but mother, ah, mother has said if he does it before she's dead, she'll kill him."
"Why is your mother so opposed to biotransference?" They could maintain their souls now, so Jan's father would be the same person he'd always been. Jan mumbled something and Iplanen couldn't hear. "Jan?"
"I wish you could see glyphs." Yes, he wished that too. Iplanen had been fascinated to learn that Necrons made up for their lack of facial expressions with a complicated language of emotion glyphs, that could be used and combined to convey various feelings. Also glyph poems ranging from the simple to the extremely intricate, and they could also be wordplays and puns. One great advantage of biotransference would be the ability to perceive all of that. "Iplanen… my mother has only six children living, but she actually had twelve." That was an impressive number. Wait, did he mean? "I'm sure that if she weren't far too old, she would still be at it. Every time it's brought up she says NO and father mentions that he'd miss it too." Oh. Sexuality. Iplanen was bemused at the thought. "It's so awful for us children. No one wants to hear about it anymore." Yes… Iplanen really had no idea, since the Mechanicus did not reproduce that way, but it was a trope of fiction that children never wanted to hear about their parents having sex. Apparently, it was well rooted in reality.
"What subjects is your father giving lectures on?" He asked instead and Jan was more than willing to explain, in depth. It seemed his father was deeply involved in biotechnologies, prosthetics and implants. Iplanen was intrigued, because that was something the Mechanicus was truly expert in. And Jan mentioned that.
"He might want to pick your brain. The STC's knowledge is remarkable but ancient Terra never really embraced this level of transhumanism. Frankly, most of the implants and prosthetics we have plans for are very…" Jan paused a moment. "Basic is unfair. But meant to replicate normal functions to the best of their ability, not enhance them."
"They had an ethos of replacement, not improvement," Iplanen supplied and Jan nodded.
"There's absolutely no reason we can't develop those if we want to, though. Most people are going all in on shells, but as father points out, a majority of the population will never be allowed to have them." Hmm, yes… Iplanen did understand the problems with that. Immortality had to be earned, although there would be many routes to that. There were also many social issues that would have to be addressed.
Iplanen put that aside – he was no specialist in such things – and paid attention to Hope's Landing. The city really was beautiful. In the relatively brief time he had been in Hope, the city had expanded quite a bit. The monorail system was quite new and Iplanen felt an odd kind of sadness as he watched it. He could see just from the way it moved and operated that it was superior to similar systems on Mars, created and maintained by the Mechanicus. And he knew why… the basic components that had gone into it were superior. More efficient, better engineered, simply superior. One he could think of off the top of his head were the ball bearings. The ones the STC had plans for, and that were now in production, were virtually frictionless. Something so incredibly small made a vast difference in ultimate performance.
They were not taking the monorail, however. It was designed with humans in mind so it would be uncomfortably cramped for Jan, and nearly impossible for himself. Instead they took a lovely little glider, specifically designed for those who needed no seating and preferred to go without. As they flew through the city, Iplanen observed the Necron designed navigational aides. Depending heavily on genuine AI, not servitors, they directed the flying traffic with perfect efficiency and safety. They looked like floating pillars, made out of dark stone, but instead of the glowing green glyphs the Necrons would have used they had been purposed towards advertisements. Very expensive ones, screens showing luxury goods that those with access to flying transport might be interested in. Iplanen was a bit surprised the Necrons had consented to that. He mentioned that to Jan, who had a bit of an explanation.
"The money from that goes to the government, since it's a public installation." Jan tilted his head to get a better view of the current advertisement as they went past, which seemed to be a perfume. "Mother wears that… and Phaeron Rahkaak believes very strongly in fiscal responsibility. Necron Dynasties will extend credit to other Dynasties but as a rule, you do not want to get in that position." Ah… yes, he could see that. "And for a Dynasty this small, it is critical to not be encumbered that way."
"I see." That did also tend to be true of planetary governments in the Imperium. Oh, it could be very different on a local level, but you did not want to get into such debt that you started having difficulty making the tithes. The overarching government would not be kind. Also, it was dangerous for those who dared to extend that kind of credit, as the Adeptus Administratum might see fit to nullify it. Entire systems had been ruined by such carelessness. "Where are we going?" He trusted Jan, but he was curious.
"The Duleth Botanical Gardens. As the name implies, they were founded by the Duleth family… they've been expanded though, and now they're frankly a bit misnamed. We're having an argument over what the name should be changed to, though." How familiar. "They have great flower beds that pick out the crests of every Noble House and now the Uhnashret Dynasty as well. Since they've fully come back, even House Arondar has a display, although it's a bit on the small side."
"What is the story behind that?" Iplanen didn't know, no one would tell him, and the STC records were completely sealed to his level of access. Jan paused for a moment.
"I really don't want to say, but let me put it to you this way… if I told you, you would think they got off very lightly. As a Mechanicus tech priest, you would want them all put to death."
"Oh, surely not." Iplanen did not consider himself bloodthirsty at all. "Did they try to destroy the STC?" That was the only thing he could think of that would cause him to immediately condemn the perpetrators to death. There was a dead silence from Jan and Iplanen looked at him sharply. "What?!"
"Uh, as I said, we don't talk about it and they have served their sentence." They HAD gotten off too lightly! "The gardens have a surprising amount of room to expand in. The Duleth family used to own all this land personally, they were the great family of Hope's Landing, so they deeded quite a lot of it to the Gardens. Right now the unused portion is an ordinary park… honestly, some people oppose any expansion of the Gardens because they quite enjoy the park." Iplanen wanted to go back to what had nearly happened to the STC but Jan clearly didn't, so he decided to let it go. Although, something else puzzled him.
"You know, Jan, something has been bothering me. Why do your people not have rejuvenation?" They clearly didn't but Iplanen hadn't been able to get a straight answer out of anyone. And he knew there were some research teams working on it, but they were strangely disinclined to discuss their work. There was another silence and Iplanen really wished Jan still had expressions. He was sure that he would be making quite an illuminating face.
"You're hitting all the sore points today… I won't go into the reasons, but STC has indicated that when we create an acceptable version without help, she will return the perfected version." What? Why? "And we're here." The glideship came to a stop and Iplanen felt truly vexed with Jan. What great incident was he hiding? It was clearly something quite scandalous!
Still, if Jan didn't want to discuss it, it would be gauche to pry so Iplanen let it go. Perhaps he would ask Simokh? He might know the answer and be willing to give it. Leaving that aside, Iplanen gave his attention to the gardens.
The Botanical Gardens were quite beautiful yet oddly alien. Iplanen realized, as he gazed over the flower banks, that humanity had lost their native Terran flowers. He recognized almost none of them but given the history of Hope, they were unlikely to be native blooms. From what he had heard, the planet had been very barren when they'd found it.
"These are Terran flowers?" He asked to confirm. Sure enough, Jan nodded.
"We were lucky we kept a full seed and bulb collection. A lot of colony ships didn't, since flowers are completely unnecessary for survival." Oh. That made him feel a bit better about it. "If it weren't for that, all we'd have is fairy knots and love bells. They're about the only native flowers that have developed." Those were pretty names. "These are daffodils." Jan's hand touched a strikingly yellow flower. It had a rather unique structure and if Iplanen hadn't known better, he would have assumed it was from some far away world, rather than ancient Terra.
"Fascinating. Now I know where that term comes from." There were colors of yellow named daffodil in the Imperium. He'd never known why. "Is rose a flower too?" Rose pink was also a color.
"Yes, but it's too early in the season for them to bloom. They're typically red and pink, although they can sometimes be yellow or even white, depending on the lineage." It was all foolishness, really, but Iplanen found the talk about flowers oddly relaxing. And Jan clearly enjoyed it.
"Do you garden?" Iplanen asked, wondering if this was a hidden passion of Jan's. He made the buzzing sound of Necron laughter.
"Oh no! I kill plants just by looking at them." He did too, honestly. "But my mother was a deeply passionate gardener. Now her knees are bothering her, and she hires someone in to help her, but then she always says they didn't do enough and starts doing it herself. Father has given up." HAH! "At least she doesn't need to do quite as much as before… ah, here is the Duleth crest. These are annuals that bloom all summer, so the crest won't get patchy like some of the other beds." The crest was gold and blue, from what Iplanen could see. "The yellow flowers are marigolds and the blue are petunas."
"Marigolds…" He'd never heard that word before. Iplanen did know petunas though, although the flowers he'd heard called that were clearly something else.
They spent a very pleasant time in the Gardens and Iplanen was left thoughtful, as they returned to the Necron Tomb. It was in most ways a waste of time, but perhaps he should spend more time exploring Hope.
Captain Anton wasn't entirely sure about his new instructions.
The Spires of Hive World Antioch were as they always were, and this time Anton barely paid any attention to them as he chewed over all the information that had been dumped on him barely a day ago. It was all… quite a lot, and he questioned the wisdom of some of it. What bothered him the most was he did not consider anyone on this planet actually trustworthy, not really. Although the plan did not need them to be trustworthy, just compliant, and they were that.
Either way, though, Imotekh had approved it and the Phaeron wasn't going to ask a mere Captain for advice. Although maybe he SHOULD, since Anton actually knew these people, but water under the bridge. He'd follow his instructions and hope it all worked out.
This time, he'd called for a meeting with not only the Council of the world, but also the head figures of the Mechanicus. They still had a strong presence on Hive Antioch, keeping all the machinery functional. And that was no joke, given that without all the air scrubbers, the Hive cities would choke to death. Just surviving on the poisoned world required vast, working technology.
So when he arrived in the Council chambers, there were three Mechanicus tech priests already present. Anton gave them a curious look. The work of his people rarely intersected with them, but he'd seen a few from a distance, so he wasn't too surprised by how inhuman they looked. One of them had a lower body that resembled a crab. Another made him think of a rather beautiful woman, or she might have been without the mask and the tentacles. The third was bipedal and male, but his body appeared to be almost entirely metal. Oddly enough, Hope really didn't have the capacity for such insanely deep cybernetic augments. Anton thought that ancient Terra would have regarded it all with a bit of horror.
"Greetings to the Council, and the most esteemed Mechanicus. Thank you for attending this meeting, I know you have a lot to do," Captain Anton said easily. "I bear new orders for all of you, from Imotekh the Stormlord, Phaeron of the Sautekh." It was important that they understood this came from the highest level. The Mechanicus would probably be utterly delighted soon, but the Council could be a problem.
"We are always pleased to hear what the Stormlord requires of us." The Planetary Governor said with that utterly falseness and Anton wondered. Had he done this to his superiors in the Imperium too? Had they also decided they just didn't care?
"Well, you should be in this case… let me begin my presentation. First, I will start with the changes to your overall security." Anton was sort of leading into the main event, the thing that would distract the Mechanicus from everything else. He pulled out a holographic projector, throwing up the image of the system. "Firstly, your system is going to be getting an enhanced picket of ships as well as defensive emplacements…" Anton ran through all the military improvements the system was going to get, which were significant. There was some interest at the table from the brighter sparks. "Second, you will no longer be permitted to directly interact with any ship that is not official Sautekh dynasty. Shipments from any sanctioned but other affiliated ships will need to be unloaded at the emplacement on Tiaka, then transshiped to the world." Essentially, no contact with Rogue Traders or Tau would be allowed. "Ships from other worlds within the Sautekh dynasty will only be permitted to unload their cargos then leave. No interaction with the planet will be allowed."
"This sounds like we're going to be used for a military project," one person ventured to say and Anton nodded.
"Yes, that is largely correct. You recall how I mentioned your planet is useless? The Stormlord has chosen you for a pilot program to see if Hive worlds of this type can be used to produce Necron level military technology." There was a dead silence as they all understood, and the Mechanicus made some odd sounds to each other. Anton couldn't understand their binary cant. "And to facilitate this, you will be the proud recipients of a great gift." Anton shifted the screen to a new one, that would probably cause the tech priests to go into shock. It was emblazoned with a simple message… STC00679 "Your brand new STC will be arriving within the next three months."
"STC?" Murmured the woman tech priest, her metal tentacles moving in ways that Anton could not begin to interpret. The Mechanicus tech priests began to furiously buzz at each other. "Do you truly mean the holy STC? The font of all human knowledge?" Anton had known they'd react like this but it was still odd to see.
"I believe that's what you would call it, yes," Anton said before going onto the next slide. This one was a cross section of the design of the STC, and also the workers who were putting it together. Humans and pwi-Necrons, mostly, but also a few Crypteks. Anton could recognize Simokh. "Before you get too excited, I should caution you… our colony, and thus our STC, apparently left Terra quite early in the Dark Age of Technology. So our technical base is overall slightly inferior to Necron technology."
"Slightly inferior is vastly better than what we have," the Tech Priest with the crab body said. "And this is so we can produce Necron quality goods?"
"Indeed!" Anton moved to the next slide, which showed the new ships. "These are a design based on the Doom Scythes. After a great deal of testing, they have been perfected and named the Short Knives… that name makes more sense in Necron." It rhymed with Doom Scythe in that language and indicated similar, but inferior. "They are specifically designed to be used in worlds that are friendly to Sautekh. We believe that with work and refitting your facilities, and retraining your most skilled technicians, you should be able to produce these." Anton wasn't going to delude himself. He knew it would take a lot of work, both by the Mechanicus and the new STC. But it could be done and that would be the first step towards the ultimate goal of rehabilitating Hive Antioch to Terran Standard.
(Anton wasn't sure that COULD be done, but he knew it was part of the new STC's directives to gently nudge everyone onto a better path)
(it was understood it might take hundreds of years)
"Wait, I have a question. How do you have an STC from the early part of the Dark Age of Technology?" The third tech priest asked and that was a bit off topic, but deserved at least a short answer.
"Well, you see, our colony ship hit a warp storm that seemed determined to rip the Halo stars to pieces. To put it in perspective, one of the Uhnashret's coreworlds was lost. Completely. As in, the star and the planet are not there anymore, it's nothing but empty space." Anton paused for a moment, thinking about it. "We're not entirely sure of the date we left Terra, and how it relates to the present day, but our colony is only five thousand years old. We skipped a very large segment of time."
"Incredible… such things have been known to happen, although usually not that severely. I believe the longest time gap recorded for a ship in warp was five hundred years." Must have been fun for that ship and crew. "Please continue." They were all taking it rather well, Anton thought.
"We are proposing to install the STC in Hive City Jeroah." Anton had been allowed to pick the Hive City, and he had picked Jeroah because it was run by Matron Magdela, one of the few people on the Council that he thought had good sense. "I know it doesn't have the best manufacturing facilities, but I believe it still has room to grow and frankly, your current facilities might not be the best for this. We believe it will be more feasible to start from scratch." That was because of the insane lack of automation the Imperium practiced. For the kind of production they were going to engage in, that simply wasn't going to work. Necron technology could be insanely picky about meeting tolerance standards… the gauss flayers were the absolute worst for that, but everything they used was similar. Human touches from skilled technicians would be needed, but when everything required close to perfection, machines were just more practical. "We will be sending skilled technicians and Crypteks from Hope to help you get these new lines into production."
"Now, I am afraid I will be blunt… this is an example of the kind of production line we will be creating." He switched his display to a similar production line on Hope. The Mechanicus tech priests would immediately see things that were tech heresy, by their standards. "I admit to not understanding anything about your creed, but it will not be allowed to get in the way of this." The tech priests were buzzing at each other again. Anton wished he could understand that. "You can talk it out with the STC… she is very good at explaining the ethos and knowledge of ancient Terra."
(Anton couldn't know, but two of the Mechanicus tech priests were all in favor of embracing tech heresy. And the third was likely to come around)
(many tech priests had long been frustrated by the dogma of the Cult Mechanicus)
"I see… what are the time frames for all this?" The Planetary Governor asked and for the first time in forever, he actually seemed interested and engaged. Anton pulled up a different display, showing their projected timeline and while it was early days, he overall felt pleased.
There was still a lot of room for failure, but everyone on Hive Antioch seemed to be taking it well, which gave him hope.