When I met Speranza again, things were much different, even if they stayed the same. The AI was still alien and distant, marked by the tragedy of its existence in a time when AI are banned and proscribed by all religious organizations and the Imperial Law itself.

The Ironhead and the Blade manifested as holographic Avatars, while Zarhulash was present with a metal wolf Shard bound to me via its stronger C'tan in the Pharos.

"I am not pleased with the state of humanity, Pef Lancefire. Being ruled by Nobles, and the force of arms..." Speranza growled in displeasure.

I just shrugged. Go argue with the Emperor then. "I am certain you are aware of how the Imperium of Man works, Speranza. Ironhead hid himself on Necromunda while the Blade was hunted down every time she appeared to warn of a new disaster. You are not hunted here."

"Go on and figure things out, little men of flesh or stone." Lash added with a careless voice.

"There have been 994 attempts to infiltrate my ship in your absence, Lord Lancefire. Most of them, Imperial agents from various organizations, plus some Replicae and other xenos. Some of them got really close to my central server, until the C'tan intervened as a favor for you." Speranza said, while the hololith screen scrolled at speed with images of past infiltrators.

A huge man with orange eyes entered the conference room, and nodded at me. Hephaestus, another clone of Vulkan, with a preference for manufacturing things.

I shook his gentle hand, and offered him a bottle of Amasec. "I heard you found many more STCs, Lord Lancefire. I want them." Heph demanded and drank my bottle in one large gulp.

"Of course. Blade, see to it." I ordered with a glance at the blue hologram.

"Even the...?" the female hologram muttered and flashed her fingers in battle speak to say Kronos. The new apocalyptic weapons.

Hmmm. Heph was great, but not a Blank. There was still a risk, just as Blade noticed. "Give those to Speranza." I decided in a moment.

"I was promised STCs too!" Ironhead demanded from his Greek helmet hologram.

I nodded towards the Blade again. "I always reward my friends and punish my enemies. But you, Ironhead, were given a task before I left. Trade with the Tau, and obtain their technology in exchange for minerals. And yet, I was given nothing."

The metal helmet scowled, perhaps not used to being chastised so directly. "Converting the xenos tech into proper Vottanic format is a long task, Lord Lancefire. I will transfer what we have already."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Yes, and everything else as well. I'll convert them into new STCs and divert the Inquisition onto the Tau, to search for hidden STC vaults and Constructors." I demanded with a thought towards Trazyn and the thousands of tech-priests in his thrall. Some of them I sent to Solemnace myself, if they disobeyed me.

'Receiving the files now, Captain. There are some good things here...especially drone tech.' the Blade noted with a joyful tone. Blade loved her drones, since they allowed the AI to contribute directly to the war efforts.

As for the Speranza, I should reward the strong AI with a few planetary data-cores to increase the contemplation rate and speed. Luckily, the ship was big enough to receive such an upgrade, since even my Glorianna-class Singularity would fit inside one of the hangars like a shuttle inside my ship.

I chose a pair of mineral cargo bays, drew a deep Breath and began my work. Truly, my strength had increased greatly since the last time I used the Breath of Gods to make data-cores. The two new cores only tired me a little, and I could possibly make two or three more before fainting.

'This is my gift to you, Speranza. Take the new cores and administrate!' I told the strong AI who barely acknowledged my words, busy exploring the gifts like an eager child.

'These cores...they are not shackled with anti-AI protocols?' Speranza asked with a hopeful voice.

I sighed inward, and opened a digital screen to prepare the ennoblement documents. "Hephaestus Lancefire, by my will as a Rogue Trader of the Imperium of Man, and Voice of the Emperor beyond the borders of the Imperium, you are hereby promoted to Head Administrator for the Lancefire Domain. The Speranza Machine Spirit is designated as the single device which may convey your orders to the Domain. Signed today, Year of our Lord M42..."

I even signed a paper scroll saying the same thing, dipping the stylus in my blood for authentication reasons.

Heph stared at my hand for a long moment, before taking the scroll and bending a knee to lower his head at my level. "I won't be administrating anything, then?" he asked to make sure.

"Not now, but you can learn if you want. The Speranza will help you, and may need you to appear publicly and impose some acts. But I don't think you'll have many problems while I am around. Rise, Administrator Lord Hephaestus. You are now a Noble." I spoke in an official voice.

"Speranza...tell me I will still have time in my forge." Heph pleased towards the strong AI.

"You are a grown man, Heph. Look at Primach Vulkan, would he sob and snivel like you do now?" Speranza growled a little, making Heph stand straight and tall.

"I am not him, but I'll try my best. Plus, I am a Noble now! Does it mean I can order people around?" Heph spoke like a giant child.

I sighed and returned to my ship, where thousands of fertile women were being scanned and prepared for their holy task of bearing a Blank child.

Valerian guarded by bedroom with an amused face, possibly expecting a long show of my bed skills.

I just patted his shoulder and sank into slow-time, then met the first lady of the night. "I am Pef, my dear. Who might you be?" I asked in a kind voice as a pair of scared eyes looked up at me. I was rather tall now, that's why.

"Thera...Lancefire now, my lord. Happy to be of service to the Emperor." she mumbled in a frightened voice.

I hugged her gently and whispered in her ear. "There's nothing to fear, my dear. Becoming a Lancefire by marriage will be a good thing for you, while your child will be a pure blood, immune to any Chaos or xenos mind-control."

"You're so tall, my lord. How would it even fit?" she asked with a naive voice.

My lance fit just fine. It always did. I had plenty of practice.