The next day, I proceeded to give Forge Ryza their gift, a pair of smaller Titan models of the Lancefire-J pattern, now called Castigator-B pattern, with the Titan's head tucked inside the armor like the Terminator Dreadnoughts. They were still 8 kilometers tall, with the head and bridge reaching 7 kilometers in height, which was a decent altitude to serve as a battlefield command center.
However, beside the obvious protection from side fire, the cowl of the Titan served another purpose. A Void Shield screen could be deployed in front of the Titan's head, both for battlefield protection and space navigation. A pair of Macharius-engines allowed the new Titan to travel towards other star systems, with the engine vector-nozzles coming out of a giant powerpack on the Titan's back.
Was it absurd? Was it too big and a waste of resources? Of course! Did I care? You guessed right. I cared not a single bit.
The two Titans were rapidly named the Twin Pillars, mostly because I named them Pillar of Autumn and Pillar of Winter.
"They shall hold sky for your Forge, Fabricator, like the Pillars of Heracles from our history. I hope you don't mind I nominated two of my daughters as their Princeps. Better make sure a Blank has command of the mighty god-engine." I said as the Fabricator and I stood on the Forge's spire and eye to eye with the giant walkers.
"...They are smaller than your wedding gift, but we also get two of them. They shall be our pride and joy, Autumn and Winter." The Fabricator mused in a deep voice, his optic lenses still locked on the tall window with the amazing view.
"And they also have 40 plasma mortars to bombard any infantry around the legs. The Weavefield generator can be configured for Flare and Ion Shield modes, or both. And you also got the power fist to cover the barrel of the Plasma Annihilator unless it's firing. Though I doubt they'll ever need to punch something." I added as the Fabricator turned around, a single tear dripping for his last human eye.
"It is true Lord Lancefire, I would have prefered a pair of experienced Princeps from our own Titan Legion, but Blank pilots are even more valuable. Especially since they will have to double as Ship Captains if we deploy to another world." the Tech-priest answered while storing the tear into a vial like it was a precious relic.
"Aren't you bothered by the weakness of your flesh?" I asked quite curious.
"...It is my first ever tear of joy, Emissary. I shall treasure it for all time, and remember your deed from it. Now, you said there was something more?" the Fabricator asked in a serious voice, once the tear vanished under his robes in a small stasis box.
"We'll displace onto the Singularity now, Fabricator. I will need the gravity gun for my next miracle." I explained and moved us to the bridge of my battleship.
People on the bridge just nodded at me and went back to their posts, while Canis sniffed at my well-oiled armor again. What can I do? Tech-priests love their aromatic oils.
"Right, so a bit of old knowledge first. Inside of any star, there is a core of metal, created by the fusion process of that star. For a sun like this one you have here, the metal core would be 1000 times larger than your Forge World. Our wise Ancestors could mine this metal, using large Particle Excavators, which is how Forge Metalica got their metal planet." I began to speak, and at the same time dumping a part of the metal inventory I got from the Galactic Core. Not too much, and mostly iron and nickel, but also other elements useful to any Forge World.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Once the dump phase was complete, the Blade fired our Void Claw towards the clump of minerals, inserting a singularity with the exact precission expected from an advanced AI.
The metal began to gather and fall into the new gravity well, forming a perfectly spherical planet. Then the Blade fired our lances at an angle, sending the new world on an orbit around the sun,
and spinning gently as the metal evaporated into hot vulcans spewing molten lava.
'Orbit achieved with 99.89% accuracy, Captain. Orbital decay will send the new planet into the sun in a million years or less. Should I continue firing?' the Blade asked in a worried voice.
'I'd say Forge Ryza will mine out this planet long before it falls into the sun. Humanity itself was dropping from trees a million years ago.' I answered just as the Blade fired once more.
'I don't like doing a crap work, Captain. There, 60 million years until orbit decays.' the AI said in a satisfied tone.
I sighed inward. Damn Necrons were going to sleep 60 million years ago. I wasn't used to the timescale of this place even now.
The Fabricator ran to the nearest console to check the auspex sensors. "There is enough metal here for a trillion battleships! We will only need to import rare minerals from other mining worlds." the man calculated at high speed.
"That was the point of this demonstration, Fabricator. Humanity needs ships and vehicles to rule the galaxy. Now go home and start mining!" I encouraged the tech-priest and sent him home.
The Blade hologram appeared at my side, while I was sending mental orders for the Halo Fleet to form up for void travel.
"You are showing the Imperium too much of your power, Lord Captain. Your astrophysics knowledge was not quite right, but still better than what these tech-priests know." the AI admonished me in a gentle tone.
I raised a finger, then let it drop. What little science I knew from my highschool and internet lessons was far below what an AI from the 25th millenium knew. Anyways, that's exactly why a ruler needed to have smart advisors in various fields. I only had to have a vision, and have other people work for it.
"I'll be in my bedroom now. My fucking duty never ends." I muttered and walked away, as my daughter Genifer ran to jump in the Command Throne.
"...Father is such a badass!" I heard two of my Astartes sons gossip as I left the bridge.
"Extra sword training!" I yelled while pointing two fingers at them.
"Yes, sire!" they both answered in a mirthful voice. People weren't supposed to be happy when punished. Damn idiots!
Lady Valyene waited for me in the bedroom, while Captain Khan was already inspecting the future concubines in the antechamber. Alaric and Semnai stood silent, and nodded at me without entering. Ah, this was going to be one of those talks.
"Husband, my dear. We're changing course towards Hive World Necromunda? Is there something important there?" my other Inquisitor wife asked while dropping her towel to entice me to talk.
"Maybe an STC. Maybe something else. But anyways, a lot of killing to be done." I answered as my battleplate and underarmor vanished in my inventory.
"Hmmm. Delightful! Tell me more. " she whispered as her tongue began to tease me expertly.
I steeled my mind, and endured her vicious interrogation without giving anyway anything. For an entire minute. A new record.
"I suspected something like that. You're lucky with your smarter wives, Pef Lancefire. These people have high connections. The kind to excomunicate your House or Virus Bomb your worlds, maybe both. Clean up the underhives and search for that STC fragment, but leave the Inquisition to me. This will require a subtle touch." Velayne whispered as she climbed on top of me and began riding.
Well, I was a lucky guy. Plus, we will enter the range of the Pharos soon. My C'tan friend would be keeping an eye our for things like that.