Chapter 33Forge
Whilst Zeta was talking to her mother and aunties the production of the forge world never ceased.
While some might assume that the majority of production by tonnage was destined for the Imperial Guard this actually wasn't the biggest consumer, far far FAR bigger by tonnage were the various branches of the local and allied navies. The average (relatively) tiny Cobra class destroyer massed around 5.7 MILLION tons of steel and steel based materials, and a Cobra destroyer was a piddling little minnow compared to the hugest ships in a given fleet.
Orbiting the planet of Ferrous Prime were found shipwrights and space docks on a mind numbing scale. Huge pressurised dry docks hundreds of kilometres in length housed assembly halls where literally billions of servitors toiled day and night to assemble vast ships from parts manufactured down on the surface.
These shipwright dry dock facilities numbered more than just one, the orbit littered with the huge things. Everything from warships to civilian ships were made here, Ferrous Prime was the main shipwright planet for the entire Pax Sector, with only a few other planets in the sector capable of building ships and all on a far humbler scale with only the more simplistic types of ships capable of being manufactured.
The super majority of the shipwrights were currently manufacturing civilian cargo ships by the thousands to help in the war logistics, with many different classes of transport vessels from the humble Tarask and vagabond class merchantmen to the impressive and high performance Carrack class transports, and everything in between. Huge specialised fuel tanker ships were welded together by the hundreds, blockade running fast clippers and Orion clippers were being built in smaller but still significant numbers.
Fewer in number but still vast were the military ships being manufactured by the low hundreds, mostly small escort ships like frigates and destroyers of various classes but also in smaller numbers were being built some much larger vessels ranging from light cruisers all the way up to battleships and everything in between.
Inside one of these 200 kilometre long blockish rectangular gothic architecture embossed pressurised dry dock facilities, literally billions of micro gravity modified servitors flew around in perfect synchrony with the help of surgically implanted air thrusters spread out behind their backs like angel wings, the servitors all working together in precisely timed movements and tasks to assemble huge prefabricated slices of the ships that would later be joined together. Every last screw and bolt and wire was accounted for, the execution flawless with mathematical precision.
Inside this huge dry dock were being manufactured 28 Gladius frigates for their space marine allies, as well as 5 strike cruisers, 15 hunter class destroyers, and most impressive of all a single Adeptus Astartes battle barge dubbed the Ferrous Maul. The frigates and destroyers and strike cruisers were all still being built, but the battle barge Ferrous Maul was days away from being completed enough to begin her pre-commission void trials and shakedown tests before her formal commissioning.
The Ferrous Maul was already painted blood red and painted with the black and red hand symbol heraldry of the Red Talons space marine chapter, for whom it was destined to serve, but currently there was a row blowing up onboard that might change this fate.
In one of the already fully completed great halls of the Ferrous Maul the beneficent Iron Father Sotertax Tag of the Red Talons chapter stood indignantly, electromagnets in the soles of his tech marine power armour boots gripping the deck floor in the microgravity to keep him upright.
Before him stood the electromagnetic feet of an entire committee of disgruntled tech priests of various ranks.
"Yet another day passed and your Red Talons chapter is yet to send any forces to aid in the defence of our sector. Omnissiah so help me, I will repaint this vessel right now and give it to the Marines Errant instead if your chapter does not come, for the Marines Errant alone have come to our defence!" One of the Magos warned threateningly.
"You dare to threaten to break faith with my chapter over a simple delay?! I give my assurances that my chapter will arrive presently!" Sotertax Tag said indignantly.
"It has been over 6 months that you have said this and still they have not arrived! If they do not arrive by the time the Ferrous Maul is fully commissioned then the vessel will be used in the war WITHOUT the Red Talons, in the service of whatever Astartes chapter is present to use it in immediate combat operations." The metal faced Magos warned.
"For one HUNDRED YEARS my chapter has awaited the completion of this battle barge! Generations of Iron Fathers have assisted in the construction as I myself have! The Ferrous Maul is ours by right!" Sotertax Tag snarled furiously.
"For 100 years Ferrous Prime has invested the daily labour of billions of servitors and millions of menials, as well as thousands of tech priests of various ranks labouring every single hour of those hundred years. It has been the iron of our planet that has been mined and smelted to produce this vessel as well as the other metals that we imported at our own expense. The Red Talons have not reimbursed the price of these considerable costs, ergo the ship is not yours by right, merely yours by gift. We will keep this gift if your chapter will not help us in our time of need." Sotertax Tag was warned.
Iron Father Sotertax Tag held up a palm to silence the truculent tech priests and held two fingertips to the temple of his head to concentrate. Sotertax Tag had been a psychic librarian before he was sent to Mars for decades to learn the machine god secrets to become an Iron Father of his chapter, and he still retained the ability to use his psychic abilities to communicate with his chapter telepathically over interstellar distances.
The local warp was filled with the green background static of over a hundred million orks infesting this sector during a full scale waaagh, the psychic turbulence from these latent psychic aliens was a loud distraction but nothing so bad that it hindered using the warp in any way. The daemonic "wildlife" of the local warp was excited and agitated by the widespread war in the mortal realm, the daemons of Khorne were exultant at the war, the daemons of Nurgle were amused by the widespread misery and despair, the daemons of Slaanesh were despondent from the lack of excess in this starving sector, the daemons of Tzeentch were inscrutable as always. The various daemons barely noticed Sotertax Tag's psychic mind in the green static.
Sotertax Tag searched the warp and found a familiar mind far away, he immediately spoke to the mind.
"The Magi of Ferrous Prime will give our new battle barge to another chapter if our forces don't arrive in the Pax Sector before commissioning! Send some forces!"
There was a pause as this message was received.
Then came a reply.
"Acknowledged. The Iron Council will send three companies to the Pax Sector as soon as possible to comply with the Magi demands."
Sotertax Tag sighed with relief and replied.
"Which three battle companies will be dispatched?"
There was a pause, and then the reply.
"No battle companies will be sent, only 7th, 8th and 9th companies will be sent."
Sotertax Tag was astonished by this.
"But 7th 8th and 9th are reserve companies not battle companies."
The reply came.
"Correct."
Sotertax Tag paused, then replied.
"Why send only reserves without even one battle company?"
The reply came.
"The battle companies have far more important wars to fight at present, none can be spared. The 3 reserve companies are available, it is logical to send them when the alternative is no companies at all."
Sotertax Tag paused before replying.
"That is logical given the circumstances. Are the 7th 8th and 9th companies ready for the task of fighting the orks by themselves with their limited experience?"
The reply came.
"What better way to gain valuable experience than in the fires of war. Those that are worthy will rise to the challenge, those who are not have no business calling themselves Astartes sons of Ferrus Manus."
Sotertax Tag replied.
"Very well, your logic is sound and your words acknowledged. I will inform our Adeptus Mechanicus allies of this good news."
Sotertax Tag stopped using his warp powers and looked at the various tech priests.
"I have contacted my chapter via astro telepathy. They are sending 3 companies of battle brothers to the Pax Sector immediately to help in the fighting. They will arrive as soon as possible." Sotertax Tag informed the tech priests.
"If they arrive before the commissioning and stay in the sector and assist in the defence efforts to an adequate degree then the Ferrous Maul will be gifted to the Red Talons as agreed." Sotertax Tag was coldly informed.
"They will, don't worry."
"Worry is a weak emotion, we suffer not such weakness regardless of your chapter's actions. We care solely about actions."
"I mean to say, my chapter will act in the manner that you have proscribed." Sotertax quickly amended.
The tech priests accepted these words and left the great hall, leaving Iron Father Sotertax Tag fuming with anger at this entire situation.
The Red Talons chapter were descended from the Iron Hands chapter, the blood of Ferrus Manus filled their gene seeds and the grand traditions of the Iron Hands endured in everything the Red Talons did. Among these traditions was the worship of the machine god rather than any form of the Imperial Cult, viewing the Emperor as the machine god's Omnissiah just as the Adeptus Mechanicus did.
Due to this religious tradition the Red Talons chapter (and the Iron Hands before them) replaced their traditional chaplains with special tech marines known as Iron Fathers, who functioned both as technology specialists and religious leaders. Iron Father Sotertax Tag was technically speaking a fully ordained tech priest of Mars, having attained the priestly rank of tech priest enginseer after long decades of training and devotion on a pilgrimage to Mars. Sotertax Tag was deeply devoted to the Machine God and steeped in the rituals and traditions of his religion.
This devotion to the Machine God made the Iron Hands and all their successor chapters the beloved darlings of the Adeptus Mechanicus, letting these chapters enjoy special treatment such as getting first priority in new equipment and enjoying free gifts of battle barges and land raiders and other unimaginable boons. The Red Talons simply took for granted that forge worlds like Ferrous Prime would give them stuff for free for sharing their religion.
The mighty battle barge Ferrous Maul was one of these free gifts of unfairly favourable treatment from the Adeptus Mechanicus to their favoured ones. The Red Talons had taken it for granted that they would get this battle barge without any consideration that it might not be given to them. For 100 years the Red Talons had stationed at least one Iron Father on Ferrous Prime at all times to aid in the construction of THEIR SHIP, the thought of it going to another chapter was unthinkable!
The Red Talons were a busy chapter, they were specialists in hunting down and murdering the traitor legions who had betrayed the Iron Hands on Istvan V, they were obsessed with vengeance against the Night Lords, the Iron Warriors, the Word Bearers and the Alpha Legion who had betrayed the Iron Hands during the Istvan V drop site massacre. The Red Talons chapter battle companies were forever hunting the elusive Alpha Legion cells hidden throughout the galaxy in particular, working closely with the Inquisition to find targets for the Red Talons to kill.
Until their vengeance was fully complete they couldn't stop hunting the traitor legions, they were consumed by their need for vengeance and justice for the betrayal at Istvan V, as well as for the death of their primarch Ferrus Manus, they would not stop until every traitor Astartes lay dead and their taint expunged from the universe. They didn't have time for some petty Ork invasion when they had so many traitors left to kill.
This wasn't supposed to happen. The Adeptus Mechanicus was supposed to just constantly give them free stuff for practicing the same religion so that the Red Talons could focus on their personal vendetta for vengeance. They were not supposed to have to EARN their constant free gifts by fighting to protect forge worlds!
The Red Talons would come, reluctantly come, with their three reserve companies that had just been training back home in their fortress monastery on the nearby planet of Raikan in the Segmentum Tempestus, interrupting their important training to embark upon this wild ork chase just to ensure they got their battle barge after 100 years of waiting for it to be completed. But the Red Talons certainly wouldn't ENJOY this tedious duty, the sooner this nonsense was over the better.
…