Preparing for a Crusade is always difficult and time-consuming.
The logistics of moving and feeding a billion soldiers are so great, I was glad Margos and Spartan, the Admiral and General clones were around to organize the stuff here at Machine Forge.
But the main star of the operation was the Strategos clone, already overseeing the recruitment and training of the Catachan and Blanks Auxilia at Illevar. Also upgraded with the planning brain lobe, the man overhauled the entire star system into an efficient war machine, and took charge directly of the transport fleet. At least supplies would be arriving on time from here onward, as Strategos also commanded an entire clone clade of logisticians, the training cadre, repair depots, food packaging factoriums for nutri-bars and anything else he deemed necessary.
It helped I also gave him the spare tesseract from the Omega Vault, to speed movement of material and troops without using time and fuel. Plus he was an extra defense insurance as Victor had moved to Forge Retribution with the Victorious Lancefire Blackstone Fortress.
At Forge Retribution we had an entire university complex dedicated to rediscovering proper science from the first principles, now lead by a Vulkan clone calling himself Aristotle. The same name as the teacher of Alexander the Great, so he should do great. It was all in the name. They already started photo-electric cells and uranium fission piles, so I had great hopes for that project.
Even if they only produced regular atomic weapons one day, those were still very useful for ship combat via teleport, or torpedo warheads.
As I already received the Tau Horizon engine from Trazyn, so it was only a matter of long days with the STC template to adapt the engine for various space moving vehicles and torpedoes. We may not reach 90% of lightspeed like the Tau could do for their fragile warships, but even 40 or 50% percent would be a major advantage, as the Imperial Navy's plasma engines could only reach 25% of light speed in realspace, while missiles and torpedoes were so slow one needed to be quite close to actually hit anything.
Torpedoes engines were actually the easiest to obtain, the converse of the Necron's Macharius-warpless engine who worked better at larger sizes. The smaller the mass, the easier it was for a Horizon engine to accelerate it, as it was proper and scientific in my view. With the new Ares engines I installed on a few prototypes, the torpedoes could actually reach 70% lightspeed, bringing them close to actual hit ratios obtained with beam weapons.
Plus, the speed itself converted mass to energy, such that solid iron warheads were just as effective as atomic ones, and certainly more safe to carry.
I saved the finished engine on another data-slate, and transferred over to Fabricator Gemma quarters, eager to show her the good news.
"Lord Lancefire. This is not what you think!" Gemma exclaimed in surprise, as I saw her drain a damaged servitor of life and electricity, leaving him quite dead.
"It is not a capital punishment for a failed servitor?" I asked a bit curious.
"...Not really. Some of the imported tech-priests have brought with them a new creed, the Brotherhood of Petrified Lightning. They wish to harness the animus of their foes and bind it to the Omnissiah, reclaiming the Motive Force."
Gemma explained in an eager voice.
What? "Tell me more!" I demanded with a wary voice.
"These Fulgurites believe only those found worthy in the eyes of the Machine God should possess the divine grace of his galvanizing power. They would willingly render every civilization that did not praise the Omnissiah totally inert, plunging their civilizations of the unenlightened into eternal night. Imagine, it works! Enemies such as Necrons would find their devices inert, their xenos robots falling to the ground without power!" Gemma gushed and pointed at the dead servitor.
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"It also drains life force, not just electricity?" I asked even more horrified.
"All energy is Motive Force, lifeforce or holy electricity. Praise the Ominissiah!" she chanted in near-total religious ecstasy.
"Order your mind, Gemma! Who is the Omnissiah?" I asked rhetorically.
"The God of all Knowledge, the Machine God!" she declared with zeal.
"...Is it though?" I hummed to myself, and tapped the twin Aquila on my chest. Her bionic eyes froze on the Aquila as she slowly regained her senses.
"The Emperor is the Omnissiah. But...what does it have to do with the creed?" she wondered a bit more logical.
"There are many things wrong with it. I just had to hear it once, to realize the purpose of this creed is to target the Emperor himself. Do you even know what the Petrified Lightning means?" I asked a bit harshly.
"...Only the advanced creed followers know." she murmured a bit chastised.
So I showed her. The Vulkan coffin appeared beside me, impaled with the same Petrified Lightning these Fulgurites worshiped.
"Omnissiah's holy son, killed by the Fulgurite?" she realized in a mere second. "That's how you keep producing gene-seed for the new Primaris!"
I stored away the coffin, and pointed at her. "The Avengers. Why did you think they were avenging?"
"But, this would mean there's a giant conspiracy, right inside the Machine Cult! Aimed at the Emperor, perhaps? Trying to dis-entangle the worship of the Omnissiah from the Emperor, by killing his body..." Gemma muttered as her logic processes went further.
"And they found the perfect test subject. Not only a Primarch, but one bestowed with infinite Motive Force. A Perpetual, just like the Emperor himself." I continued with a sad voice, as more insights developed into my mind.
Vulkan wasn't placed in the Omega Vault as a reward, but hidden away at the edge of the galaxy, far beyond the Astronomican's reach. And who would have the knowledge and power to construct a Watch Fortress then move it at Erioch? Who had access to the Noctis Labyrinth, to copy the data for the C'tan weapon? Who made the Star Fort into an Ordo Xenos base, guarded by deadly Deathwatch and a Machine Spirit that might also be a minor AI?
Who had knowledge of the Federation's Omega Weapon, the nanite plague inside the vault?
The reach of the Cabal was so long, it went before the Horus Heresy. Plans withing plans...
"I'm already locking everything with anathema-class over-rides." Gemma muttered in a subdued voice.
"Just make a list with the known Fulgurites. I'll have my people extract the information from their minds." I said in a tired voice, and placed the STC slate on her desk.
Damn it all to hell. Not even my friendly Mechanicus allies were free of this Cabal. Then again, Mars itself was split in two sides during the Heresy. And with tech-priests being functionally immortal as they replaced failing organs with bionics, there would be living remnants among the older tech-priests.
Another ship needed to go to Terra, and warn the Emperor of this conspiracy. The new Black Falchions then, as they had the safe Khan gene-seed. Plus, I did have a whole lot of valuable STCs and Necron artifacts for the Emperor to use. My Ares-pattern Void Bike armed with the Gnostari Volkanite Cannon will do great for his Custodes. As would the better Invictus Warsuit. Make Archmagos Cawl spit in his soup, hopefully.
Some more natural Blanks as well? And some young Rambo clones. At least 10000 of them, armed with Phase Blades. I'm sure Sly Marbo will be impressed if his clones become Blank Custodes. Not if, when. The Emperor wasn't stupid.