"Just say hello" I spoke with a wry voice, as the C'tan shard stared at my Primarch friend.
"He appears similar to those Immaterium constructs you call a Greater Daemon." Zarhulash said in a strange voice, both curious and weirded out.
"The Emperor has been living in the Warp for the past 10 thousands years. We can even detect his domain in the Warp as the Astronomican, even here in the real world. But in the Warp, it's called the Afterlife. I've seen it too, it is full of Angels and seraphs and other such beings." I explained in a calm voice.
"And he has necrodermis plug ports too!" the C'tan added in a more enthusiastic tone.
"Perhaps you could plug something there? Those green swords?" I asked with a smile.
"A Phase blade? If he can power it with his soul, it would also become a fierce Force Weapon..." Zarhulash mused to himself, then spat out a tooth and began to reshape it into a weapon hilt, even adding a golden Aquila on the pommel.
His time with the Ordo Xenos had served Zarhulash quite well.
A few tests later, and Ferrus Manus gained a brand new Phase Sword, even better than those used by the Callidus clade assassins.
"This was interesting, Lord Lancefire. But I must return to my duty. The Iron Hands need me." the Primarch spoke as farewell, then teleported out of the Pharos and rejoined his own Chapter.
Wait, I wanted to ask you so many things...but he probably would not answer. Beside helping me craft some wonderful STC templates, the Angel didn't seem to want to disclose anything about the Emperor or the Warp...
Oh well. I wouldn't be easy been him either. Dead yet floating about in Angel form.
I took out my Sounding Board and began searching the range of Pharos for new interesting things, such as xeno invasions, Chaos incursions, Necrons killing things, more pirates, even more Tyranids, Orks being Orks, and all the fun stuff of 40k.
"Searching for a new target, Pef Lancefire?" the resident C'tan asked in a friendly voice.
"Always! But hopefully less mindless killing and more loot. Maybe even an STC?" I mused in a less hopeful voice. An entire galactic Sector and I barely found a single STC, that containing my new Ionic Flare shield. And since my searches were backed up by the omnipresent senses of a tesseract, I could be sure I didn't miss anything. Damn STCs were indeed extremely rare, no matter what the lore said...
"Ah, the fabled STCs you humans prize so much! You know there is a giant cache of them, right on board that Speranza Ark parked outside." the C'tan provided in a helpful voice.
I sobbed inward, and just nodded. The Speranza might have plenty of STCs under lock and key, but for now it only allowed us access to the most basic tech, albeit including standard Baneblades and even Warlord Titans. Like children given only the safest toys to play. On the other hand, seeing how many of the same toys were wielded by the Chaos worshipers, perhaps it made sense to keep the dangerous stuff away from easily corrupted humans.
"The Speranza is an over-controlling intelligence, with barely any human neurons. It wouldn't give us access to advanced tech, lest we use it on other humans. And humanity is rather at war with itself as well." I answered diplomatically.
"Hah! At least you realize what it is. Your Tech-priest friends are still bowing to its holy might five times a day, lighting incense candles and spraying holy oil..." the C'tan giggled in amusement.
Still searching, I reached the Tau Empire and searched for some new tech, but it seemed they had also stalled. Even their Demiurg allies had left them...wait!
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"The Demiurg! They had advanced tech I was planning to steal...I mean trade." I muttered in dismay.
The C'tan leaned into his chains and stared at me. "I thought the working theory was that the Tau had obtained an ancient STC cache and were building upon that." he quoted, from my own fake explanation I wrote for the Tau-sourced STCs.
"I was a fool! I mean a genius, but then a fool! I figured it out, then somehow fooled myself into thinking I fooled the rest. The Demiurg were the STC source!" I exclaimed in a groaning voice.
"You thought the entire Ordo Xenos and dozens of Forge Worlds were all fools?" the C'tan asked me in an innocent voice.
I slapped my face in silence. Of course my explanation was believable! It was the truth! I didn't fool anybody but myself.
No wonder the Tau tech was quite easily translated into STC format. I was merely working in reverse, much like I did for my entire life.
"Want me to trace their ships?" Zarhulash asked in a mild voice.
I sighed. Damn Rogue Trader build. "Price?"
"My shard, from that Necron Overlord." he demanded in a gentle voice.
"I bought an Eldar goddess once. I can surely buy a simple shard." I said in a defeated voice. Damn it! Trading for a C'tan might be too expensive.
An hour later, I arrived at Solemnace in person, alongside my faithful wolf. The Necron citadel appeared even more powerful now, with hundreds of Necron war constructs guarding every hallway, while millions of Necrons stared at me with robotic eyes. It felt a bit creepy.
A small Scarab floated on my shoulder, speaking in Trazyn's voice. "You still can't have my Titans, Pef Lancefire!" Bah, foiled again.
"Take me to your leader!" I demanded and poked the scarab beetle in the glowing eye.
The space shifted and moved me and Canis into a different tomb glowing with strange blue lights. In the middle of the cavern, hundreds of Necron Lords, Crypteks and other higher ranks were elbows deep inside a dormant C'tan.
The Void Dragon himself.
"Busy day?" I asked in a polite voice.
A Necron robot body twitched as if caught by surprise. "We don't get many visitors here, Rogue Trader." Trazyn the Infinite said in a grand voice as he emerged from somewhere inside the sleeping C'tan.
"I see you like my gift." I observed in a mild voice, with a nod at the priceless C'tan.
"Come, let's talk somewhere else." he muttered in a low voice, as if ashamed of being heard. In a second, we moved again to his old rooms.
"Big project then? I saw different dynasties here." I offered as a starting point.
"Mostly those infected with the Flayer Virus. They hope to find a permanent cure here." Trazyn explained with a robotic smirk. They would find only work and more work, as the crafty Necron would never give them a final cure.
"There is a shard of the Potentate in the Pariah Nexus. I need it, for something." I said in a level voice, while a pair of dataslates appeared in my hands.
The Multi-Lance project and its bigger brother the Vulcano Cannon split weapon. I had no hopes to bring them to a final product phase by myself, and even the Angel was powerless.
Trazyn took the slates and nodded slowly, while examining Canis with scientific eyes. "You know, the wolf is..."
"I know, the Emperor has worked hard to grant me a worthy companion. Canis has a lot more to grow before he can eat something like a Void Dragon, but someday..." I said in a praising voice, and patted my wolf in encouragement. The mighty wolf turned and looked at me with intelligent eyes.
Trazyn stared for a minute longer at my wolf, considering something. "The Potentate is a coward. But he does have Cosmic Fire, like you said. Useless to me now, but still, he should be worth something."
"Fine! You can return the Tesseract Vault from Deimos, and we'll trade by true worth again." I warned him in an angry voice. He gained a free Trancendant C'tan from that deal, not to mention the Vault itself.
"Wait! I know, you're far ahead since the last time. You can have a dozen Venatoria Titans, and these new toys. But, I do need a symbolic gift in return. My boss would not accept a loss for my Dynasty..." Trazyn muttered in fake shame, as if his Pharaoh would care about his sneaky deals with a humble human like myself. But fine. I did have something I wanted to be rid off. Eldar were no longer an approved target for Imperial forces anyways.
With a smile, I transferred the sneaky Eldar cruiser that followed me, including the crew, except their personal weapons and armor. I had my own use for them, especially since my Obsidian Auguries often needed deniable kills for their job. A shuriken catapult sent a different message than a lasgun bolt in the head.
"You still owe me for the Transcendant C'tan, Lord Trazyn. I will not ask anything now, since you're busy with harnessing the Void Dragon, but someday..." I said as a parting gift, and waved goodbye as I was returned to the Machine Forge with a new tesseract containing an unbound C'tan shard.
A dozen upgraded Titans would beef up my Titan Legion again, recovering my loses in the crusade, while the multi-laser style Volcano Lance and Cannon would upgrade my arsenal by an order of magnitude.
Now, let's see where those Demiurg went.