"I see you don't believe me?" the Blade AI continued with a condescending voice, and took over my MIU implant and even my Terminator plate with ridiculous ease.
I sighed inward and stepped through the tesseract, outside my battleplate, riding on the wolf-shaped Zath.
The C'tan growled once, and took a single step towards Karl Aetus, mouth open wide enough to devour him in a single bite. Finding himself faced with a C'tan Star God, the Infinity's Captain paled and urged his AI to release me.
"I'm so sorry, Lord Lancefire! The Blade can be willful sometimes." he apologized in a hurry.
As the MIU implant was released, I noticed some data had been copied, even though less than a few seconds passed.
"You should also know the Imperium views any AI as Abominable Intelligence, Mister Aetus. Possibly trauma from the Cataclysm of Iron, when swarms of AI-controlled nanites devoured entire galactic sectors, plus whatever fancy tech the Federation gave to its Men of Iron. It wouldn't take much for a corrupted AI to turn the Omega Weapon pathogen from targeting xenoforms towards humans, maybe only a few lines of code. Right, Miss Blade?" I asked rhetorically.
The blue hologram nodded with a grimace on her face model. "It was even worse than you know, but yes. And you also appear to carry that very Omega strain in your blood, if inert at this time." the Blade admitted with a strange voice.
"It is not inert, actually. I had my special friend work on it, to add nanite healing and various attack mods like metal-dissolving spit, radiation removal and many other things that mimic Astartes biology and special abilities. I also lead an Astartes Chapter called the Lamenters, and almost 100 of their successors, so I do need to be somewhat capable of personal combat." I explained patiently as I slid off the back of my other wolf, then stepped through the labyrinth to wear my Terminator plate again.
Can't say Speranza didn't try to help after all, even with its limited ability at the moment. The Mechanicus Expedition had been very careful to install all kinds of limiters on my friend, exactly from their fears of an unleashed AI.
The Blade was very smart and instantly deduced my meaning too. "You have a special AI friend? Is it the Spirit_of_Eternity ?" she asked with a hopeful voice.
"Not that one, but yes. From the new technologies coming out of Mars recently, I would guess your sister ship has been captured by the Mechanicus and convinced to reveal some hidden STC patterns. Like our Invictus Warsuits and Astareus grav-tanks, plus many others. Even the new Primaris tech that enhances the regular Astartes by an order of magnitude." I said with a knowing voice. I was almost certain Archmagos Cawl had managed to snack on the Spirit of Eternity, perhaps with the help of the Emperor and a spare tesseract. Maybe the other way around.
'Can I eat this small Mind, Lord Lancefire? I can spit out whatever she knows later.' the C'tan proposed in my mind, possibly too bored of waiting for a proper collaboration deal.
'Tempting but no. For it is how we use our powers that shows our integrity, as opposed to corruption and savagery. We are civilized people, are we not?' I answered with a faint smile. I would not copy a techno-barbarian like Cawl, nor destroy the beautiful AI mind for some technological wonders. They will offer it themselves soon enough.
"Lord Lancefire, are we going to be your prisoners from today onward?" Captain Aetus asked with a wary tone.
"You will be my guest, Karl. If you and your crew prove yourself useful, then you may stay in my House, maybe also receive your own planet in the Lancefire domains far in the Eastern Fringe. But you may not continue to Warp around with the Infinity, and risk being lost to the Chaos or Necrons or whoever is strong enough, like these Votann or the Mechanicus. Your Warp drives are also susceptible of being interdicted by the Tyranid Silence, Warp Storms, Necron Pylons and whatever other phenomena the Eldar or the Orks can conjure. And lastly, there is the Cabal. " I continued with a sad voice and moved us in front of Vulkan's coffin, inside the tesseract.
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The hand-held hologram extended a cautious hand out, possibly feeling the drain of the Fulgurite shard that killed the Salamander's Primarch.
"The etheric readings are off-the-charts, so far above Alpha levels that we may accept your S-rank label, Captain Lancefire. And this man would be the clone-source for your genetic projects. Why would they use such a terrible weapon on him?" the Blade asked with a strained voice.
"This is Primarch Vulkan, the son of the Emperor of Man, and a Perpetual. When he was alive, Vulkan could survive anything, decapitation, incineration, poison, psyker spells...nothing could stop him. But after he vanished, a Mechanicus creed named the Brotherhood of the Petrified Lightning appeared, that calls for draining the Motive Force from any and all Imperial enemies, be they lifeforms or mechanical." I explained with a tired voice. It was draining being in the presence of the Fulgurite, even for a Blank like me. I had no doubt a small stab with the thing would end my soul, no matter what protections I had.
"We should leave. This object is very dangerous, Captain Lancefire." the woman-shaped hologram pleaded in near fear.
"And now, imagine the people that used this weapon. The Cabal is made of all kinds of enemies of Humanity, from human agents to Eldar and xenos and also Chaos Marines and Sorcerers. Do you think yourself safe, when these people nailed the Emperor to his throne and killed his Primarch with such a weapon? They will surely have predictive powers too, to outplay the Emperor himself." I argued with a stern voice, while also stepping back.
Captain Aetus glanced at his hologram then back towards me. "We were always chased by Chaos ships, everytime we could predict an attack and came out for warnings. If the Chaos forces get their hands on my ship..." he realized with horror.
"Exactly! There is only one place where you can be safe, at my side, surrounded by Blanks and Pariahs plus Astartes, Thallax suits and even Titans. I have killed plenty Chaos traitors, even Great Daemons and Dark Gods. But, if you really insist, I will only copy your STC database and let you go. May the dice fall in your favor, every time." I declared with a careless voice, and returned us back to realspace.
Shoulders slumped in utter defeat, the Infinity's Captain could only nod. "Please accept us, my Lord. There really isn't any place to go. We traveled to the end of time, and there was only Chaos."
Uh. I didn't expect that final line. Then again, without me there wouldn't be a Blank army and so many changes in the galaxy. Dark Eldar would still raid everywhere, dozens of Forge Worlds would be lost, Chaos would have infected thousands more planets with the Eye of Terror opening wide, the Orks would have ravaged even more, not to mention Tyranids and Necrons being far worse. Whatever the Infinity saw during their time-travel, it was only what the Warp could reflect, thus no Blanks and no Tyranids, likely no Necrons or C'tan either.
And if they traveled through the Warp into time, they couldn't have seen or foreseen me. Only a dark galaxy, ruined by decadence and corruption.
"Karl, you will help Anzion and M look through your files for anything of interest. And you, Blade! My other wolf can eat you anytime. Don't give Zath a reason." I demanded with a warning voice, then snapped my fingers.
The Blade of Infinity ship appeared in a hangar of my Blank Lament, with Karl and the two Vulkan clones at his sides. I gave the Federation guys a chance to survive and prosper at my side. If they failed me, I had a big stick too.
Zath looked at me curious. "You might be too merciful for this galaxy, Lord Lancefire. That small Ship-Mind is not tamed."
"I don't want slaves, Zath. You can always leave too." I offered with a kind voice. I knew he wouldn't, but making the offer still counted."I rather see where this adventure goes. Blank genes and advanced technology from your lost ancestors...you may be on the right path." the C'tan shard noticed with a bright mind.
Then again, nobody ever said C'tan were stupid.They did manage to win the War in Heaven. It was their treachery that worried me.