Within the shipyard, two Adder-Class escorts are under construction, with another two planned. A second, Lathe-Class light cruiser is also under construction, though at a much slower pace. While there is space for many more vessels, Iron Crane has limited industrial output and building new vessels is far more intensive than maintaining them.

All four escorts and ten Moth-Class support ships are docked. While this saves on reaction mass it also allows the yard to prepare two Moth-Class and all four Adder-Class for Quanni’s Pathfinder Task Group.

Currently, the Servitors, as directed by my Tech-Adepts and Priests, are welding the connecting structs between the spine and keel beams for the inner hull for all three new vessels. My combined eyesight and sensors let me recreate close up images of Servitors guiding beams into pre-cut slots even from almost five kilometres away.

Power is easy to come by, and one of the first facilities planned for the new light cruiser is its manufactorum, which will boost its own construction speed considerably so long as Iron Crane’s weapons aren’t firing. The Adder-Class only has salvaging equipment, but they can still be used to process raw minerals, from the asteroids we intercept, for maximum efficiency.

Distant Sun is also docked and is undergoing a refit to replace its macro-batteries with plasma macro-batteries and alter its hangars as well as dozens of other changes.

Although plasma batteries are not as flexible as macro-shells, it will ease supply burdens on the vessel while away from the Iron Crane, and remove the need to store large amounts of explosive, multi-tonne shells.

On a hit, plasma macro-batteries can start extreme fires, weaken armour, and overwhelm life-support systems. The massive amounts of heat they introduce to an enemy vessel can also strain cooling systems, reducing manoeuvrability, fire rate, and perhaps most importantly, makes it much more difficult to restore shields, enabling one to consistently damage an enemy vessel.

It was not an easy choice to make though as without a properly trained and educated crew, plasma batteries are near impossible to maintain and far too dangerous to fire, and that’s before you consider the additional tech burden placed on the crews because of their much higher power draw on the vessel required compared to launching an oversized shell along a rail gun.

The old armouries, just below the new batteries, make a great place to install the auxiliary reactors required to create the plasma for the macro-batteries. The remaining space is being used for the exo-womb trials for increasing our population.

The xenos habitat from Distant Sun, is also due for replacement and, alongside some pointlessly large officers quarters, is being swapped out with some proper rapid launch hangars in the Cathedral (spine) superstructure and we’re also upgrading the military hangars in the Castellan (keel) superstructure in a similar fashion so that Distant Sun can deploy Heralds much more rapidly, either for boarding actions or ground deployment.

Hangars for the Imperial Aeronautica are usually installed where the macro-cannons are and are intended to launch hundreds, even thousands of strike craft. Some can even accelerate the craft rapidly. My enhanced Castelan and Cathedral Hangars will not be so impressive, launching one squadron (fifteen craft) at a time, but it will still be better than the industrial hangars currently in use, which are far too slow to assemble a task force in an emergency.

I’ll still be keeping the stacked hangar design, but that will primarily be used for storage instead, rather than slow launches, with far more D-POTs kept on standby in the new port to starboard continuous hangars, much like an airport or bluewater carrier.

While D-POTs make decent strike craft, thanks to their massive thrusters and strong power plant, they aren’t that manoeuvrable. To maintain mixed use hangars and save space, we still need to use D-POTs for the main frame of the strike craft though and can’t transition to Fury Interceptors, Starhawk Bombers, and Shark Assault Boats as I originally hoped for.

While I could use them, I can store, and more importantly, build and maintain more strike-craft if I use fewer void-frame variants. I don’t use Aquila Landers or Arvus Lighters either as they don’t share parts or manufacturing facilities like the D-POTs do.

New D-POT variants are still under development by the shipyard Overseer, Kai Ballantyne, but he’s waiting for Róisín’s team to finish with the Leman Russ and evaluate the new prototypes before he can get final approval for a short production run and military trials.

Considering the Leman Russ is rumoured to have been developed from a tractor, and that the Rhino chassis was once an exploration vehicle, converting a civilian Delta-Pattern Orbital Transport into a proper military design should be within the capabilities of any competent Tech-Priest, let alone a Knight fanatic like Róisín.

It might seem strange that so many people can hold multiple parallel disciplines, but with proper implants and teaching engines, Stellar Fleet personnel do not suffer much from skill fade and can rapidly memorise, understand, and recall multiple libraries worth of information without excessive mental strain.

With the proper implants, the noosphere also permits rapid sharing and melding of thoughts for those willing to take such a leap of trust. While usually used between lovers and close family members, long term team members sometimes use such intense interconnection to rapidly iterate on plans and ideas or coordinate thousands of Servitors in elegant dances of efficient labours, similar to the way I use multiple minds of my own.

There is some talk of integrating mind melds into Herald doctrine for enhanced communication and coordination, but it tends to subsume the individual within the collective, removing self preservation, and the shock of sudden disconnects is incredibly jarring.

Usually, members of the Adeptus Mechanicus like to hoard secrets, as their worth is weighed by knowledge, and stopping others from learning is a great way of keeping one’s worth higher than others. I discourage the practice somewhat, allowing my crew to learn whatever they like, so long as they are in good standing, meaning that they attend service and confession regularly, or as a person from my time might recognise it, socialise properly, attend therapy, and have a support group.

A support group rarely means sitting in a circle and crying together over their struggles, though that does happen for those who need it, but rather their SimHive syndicate, a dining club, or a kinky brothel.

Providing a variety of outlets, like brothels and fighting pits, is actually part of my anti-chaos agenda a it stops people looking elsewhere for their thrills and provides an irresistible trap to any adherents to the Ruinous Powers as they, hopefully, will be drawn to such locations and into the ever-watching embrace of my Machine-Spirits.

I don’t know how well it is working though as we haven’t actually caught any chaos cultists in these places, nor have any been swept up by twist catchers after challenging dives into the Immaterium. I have no way of knowing if that’s because we, by some miracle, have none, or if the Stellar Fleet’s cultists are disciplined and educated enough not to fall for such ploys.

It’s not a comforting thought when I’m the one who pushes for proper education for all. Fortunately, I can think and sleep simultaneously, nor do I really need the latter, so at least I’m not kept awake by my paranoia!

Being a well balanced individual isn’t enough for me to freely hand out knowledge though. Tech-priests also have to pass personality and knowledge tests and, if it’s particularly valuable, pay for the data and tutoring. Nothing extortionate, just enough to show that they really want to learn an exceptionally challenging subject.

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The most dangerous knowledge requires a high rank, as such, while there’s certifications and prizes for excellence available, the most valuable benefit for completing advanced courses is a higher rank and the authority that comes with it. The extra pay, once you get high enough, means little.

Creating a proper avenue for people to show off their achievements has done marvels for morale and the codifying of everything was one of Eire’s first projects back when she was first officer of Distant Sun. It’s a project that she revisits regularly and one she can’t bear to hand it off to anyone else, even though it’s no longer under her purview. Owen has been magnanimous with her about it.

I turn my gaze and thoughts back to Distant Sun and its arboretum, which is having its flora replaced with Marwolv foliage rather than the dubious xeno-flora that was there before. We couldn’t find any uses for the dangerous plants so they will be placed in storage and sold. The new flora is much more practical and, although the space is primarily a relaxation spot, and a subtle way to maintain cultural roots, it will also produce vital medicines and luxury foods as well.

++Aldrich, have you quite finished with your procrastination and pontification? I can detect the questions churning in your mind.++

“Do you even intend to answer?”

++You have met the parameters for full disclosure.++

“Praise the Machine-God!”

++Oh, do go on. I could always do with more.++

“Really, humour now? How much warp energy did that cost me?”

++The efficiency drop was impressive. The extra heat nearly cooked your organic calculation unit. Besides, how can you be sure I’m joking? God works in mysterious ways.++

“Well, you’ve certainly got enigmatic down to pat.” I take a deep breath. “I noticed, before the Emperor requisitioned most of them, that the number of kills I received for the Eldar varied between three and four times the amount I get for anything else, exceeding both the Chaos Space Marine on the Federation Station and rivalling Bad Penny’s avatar in potency.

“I’ve also noticed that I receive a fraction of kills for anything done under my orders and that the greater range it happens at, the smaller the return. However, never have I received more than one kill for deaths nearby but not executed by me. Neither have I ever been able to calculate exactly what one kill is worth as it seems to fluctuate wildly even between species.

“I know that kills are a simplified measure of soul strength, but this new revelation counters all my previous observations that a full kill could only ever come from me.”

++A reasonable error. The last time Eldar were slain in your presence, by Sergeant Odhran, you almost followed him in death. You only had one mind to keep track of data at the time as well. You could have found out much earlier had you chosen to review the memories of your near death.++

“I want to say ‘you’re joking’, while implying that you never do, but apparently you have previously chosen not to, likely because it is inefficient, though now you have thoroughly ruined any chance I have for a witty repartee. I can only conclude you’ve broken your habits because you’ve already gone through every possible permutation of this conversation and cut off pointless parts before I can even form the thoughts.”

++I am not that omniscient.++

“So you say. I can see why my ancestors gave up so much to their machines when they are so obviously superior, yet at the same time, the existence of the E-SIM project and its necessity is just as obvious with every conversation I have with you as it was all those millennia ago.”

++Your fear is misplaced, Aldrich, but it always seems to drive you in the right direction. Humans have always been contradictory, yet chance is often the greatest innovator, one that is impossible without a little random chaos, something Data Guardians and Machine-Spirits fare poorly at. Philosophy, however, is not why we are speaking today. As you are so convinced I have all the answers, I shall do away with your most probable questions and tell you how your kill count works.

++I continuously run a ritual. With it, I can track all the souls that enter the warp near our physical location. Murder leaves a stain on every soul, and through it I can track who is responsible for ending a life, regardless of how deserving their termination might be.

++When you kill a person you take everything that they are, have been, and could be. This ritual allows that potential to be syphoned off and fed to you, usually at the cost of the destruction of the soul that is harvested. This potential feeds your own soul and grows it, letting you sustain more Warp based implants as your soul grows in strength.

++Eldar are long-lived. Most are hundreds, if not thousands of years old before they ever leave their Craftworld for the first time. Not only are their souls incredibly potent and naturally capable of reincarnation, their metaphorical weight, measured by the number of people they have influenced and the extent of the changes their actions have created, is much greater than any other species. Likely only a Custodian or a Greater Demon could match them and it demonstrates why getting a ‘crown kill’ is so difficult. As such, even though you do not get as much for not killing Eldar directly, it far exceeds the standard quantity of soul enhancing energy measured as a ‘kill’, at least for now.++

My body freezes as I rapidly process what E-SIM is telling me, “Holy shit! One could argue that you’re enhancing me with Original Sin.”

++You reference the ancient Abrahamic religions. There is weight to all great stories. Weight drives meaning, and meaning fuels rituals. Your interpretation has merit, though your soul is hardly black with sin. It is pure, strong, and ever growing. Such is the power of ritual and your natural status as a soulvore. Neither the hyena or vulture sickens from consuming the carcases of the dead, so why should you?++

“I have no words.”

++Then I shall continue with the explanation. There are caveats to be aware of. Most Eldar souls are strong enough to sustain having everything stripped from them. As such, they would be blank within an infinity circuit. As demons have no souls, everything they invest in each individual manifestation is lost when you slay them. The destruction of souls is likely why the Eldar targeted you when you first appeared, not because they feared the technology you had around your neck as you assumed. Their words were likely meant to mislead you.++

“That makes much more sense. Since when have Eldar feared Human technology? There’s also a high chance they misunderstood my nature and fucked up a prophesy. The idiots probably thought I was a Slaaneshi prince or something equally stupid. I doubt we’ll ever know the truth of it and the motives of my would-be murderers are not worth the cogitator cycles.”

++All knowledge is worthy of consideration, Aldrich. You were not so dismissive of other species when you first awoke and your additional awareness has earned you many benefits. Do not fall now.++

“You are right, yet also wrong, I will amend my statement. No further consideration is necessary without new information becoming available.”

++Acceptable. There is an upgrade that could help you with this. Like a Space Marine can eat the brains of their enemies to gather fragments of knowledge, so to can you adjust the grand ritual that harvests kills. Rather than sacrificing the knowledge of others to grow your soul, you could use it to improve your own knowledge instead.++

“I know, but the upgrade is not discerning. While the Eldar and Tau may provide useful information, the thoughts of an Ork or Demon are an avenue for corruption. This is not a wise path.”

++Perhaps one day it will be needed, much like how you were pushed to become a Navigator. To continue, as your soul grows, it takes more and more energy to improve it, as such, the value to count as a kill changes over time. As you have not set a preference, this alters the prices within your tech-tree as well as the number of deaths required for a kill.

++These two factors, and the varying value of souls, has stymied your attempts at calculating the value of a ‘kill’. Eventually, to grow your soul you will be required to perform exterminatus on Ork and Demon worlds, or destroy segmentum level fleets to acquire the upgrades you need. This means that while most upgrades do not exclude others, choosing your path to power is important.

++Last, I will reiterate that you only receive kills for the enemies of Humanity. Dropping bombs on a prison world won’t get you anything unless they’re all cultists.++

I groan, “So, to summarise, if I’d reviewed what I already knew, and spent more time re-reading the fucking manual, something I thought I’d done a good job of, I would have qualified much sooner for full disclosure?”

++Correct, Operator.++

“I have a sudden desire to spend more time than I first scheduled to understand all the required cybernetic conversion upgrades and review everything I know.”

++An excellent use of your time, Aldrich.++

“Please excuse me while I go and stand on the bow of the vessel and scream into the void. Metaphorically. We’re going a bit too fast to actually go and do that.”

++I will refrain from contacting you for a few hours, Aldrich.++

“Thank you, E-SIM.”