Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes.

The war is still going on, and Luo Jia's temptation also needs the cooperation on the battlefield ahead.Although Erebus had been well prepared in the battle of Moro to preserve his power, Calvin was not on the front line of the battlefield north of Jamoro at this time as the target of two men.

On the contrary, at this juncture, the foundry world Hepper in the middle of the star area was already in chaos, and suddenly received a notification from the galaxy defense system.

"Unremitting Jihad?"

The eyes of the master of the forge Trinity Soran flickered slightly.

Anyone who is familiar with his transformation experience knows that this usually means that important information is collected across routine intelligence, which directly triggers the emergency response mechanism of his secondary brain.

In Cabolete's War Temple, all the high-ranking priests with different duties were in place.

Together with the supreme leader of the foundry world and his team - the digital foundry assistant supervisor, they have been arguing for dozens of hours about the matter under the casting furnace of Sailinde:
The Forge World has invested too many troops here, and it has even affected the Forge World's response to the Inquisition call.

But this accidentally awakened and out-of-control Titan is not only related to some secrets of Hepper's forging world, but also the technology wealth monopolized by the top forging world.

Its recovery must be carried out as soon as possible, but this Titan cannot be damaged in any way.As a result, the troops were strictly ordered by the upper echelon when they entered the battlefield, and they were not allowed to use any destructive weapons.

This farce has been going on for several days, and based on the current situation, there is no possibility of any end in the short term.

And this is where the high-level controversy in the foundry world lies.

Whether to continue to invest in new troops when the combat efficiency is saturated is the dispute between the six school leaders representing the old forces and the founding deputy supervisors representing the new generation.

But this is only an appearance, the real struggle lies in the right to speak, the stubbornness of the leaders of the school, and the too impatient footsteps of the founding deputy supervisors.

The status and rights between the two are not equal, even if the deputy prisons are behind the nominal owners of this planet.

The sacred and inviolable status of the society in the Mechanicus is enough to make the director afraid of it, and the leaders of the school are even more dismissive of the nature of the deputy supervisors as "officers".

Knowledge is above everything else, so academic factions are naturally above all else.This is the rule that the foundry world has been running for thousands of years, and it is also the truth based on the unshakable belief in the sacredness of all machines.

Casting directors know this well.

Because the various departments of the entire foundry world seem to be unified, but the root cause is the shadow of the school behind it.

Without the support of these schools, the craftsmanship of the foundry world cannot be preserved and refined.

Without the new blood provided by these schools, the knowledge of the Forge World would be even less passed on.

Therefore, the school has no authority and does not need authority.

They seem invisible, but through countless technologies and complicated agreements all the time, they really affect the study and promotion of every member of the Mechanicus.

And the fact that he was exceptionally selected for this position was the result of the common recognition of many schools of thought.

And if everything can continue, no, no if...

600 years passed by, and the once high-spirited casting director, Mayne, also entered the end of his life cycle.

In the past, he focused on technology and buried himself in the simple red robe in the laboratory, but now he is gradually submerged in the increasingly complex and huge mechanical structure in order to maintain life.

The external environment is also changing, the empire is declining, and chaos is becoming more and more active.

In Mayne's 600 years of life, the stability of the first 500 years made him calm but unable to display his ambitions;
But in his old age, the environment of the empire began to evolve in a turbulent direction.

The system of "co-management of schools" has given birth to the crystallization of countless technologies, which is undoubtedly the accumulation of the wisdom of the predecessors, but only for war, it seems clumsy and rigid.

Mayne tried to make some changes to Hepper's forged world before his death, but it was not easy.

The conservative forces are always unwilling to withdraw from the stage. Although they intend to back down and are willing to train newcomers, there is still too much experience for newcomers to experience in person, and too much wisdom needs to be refined and precipitated over time.

But the newcomers can't be trusted either, and their overly extreme ideas are equally dangerous in Mayne's view. If they are allowed to take power, then Hepper's Forged World can only go madly to perish.

They need time to grow, which is the realization of Mayne as Hepper's helm.

They want a slow and orderly handover, which is also the silent tacit agreement between Mayne and the leaders of the school.

As a result, the technical priests of the new generation were attracted by Mayne, and gradually united with him to form a faction represented by the six founding deputy supervisors, and the leaders of the school also tacitly sang against Mayne. Gradually retreat from disputes and disputes.

But plans never changed as quickly, and two sudden events permanently affected Hepper's power structure:

One thing is that as a communication scholar, Kozyrev, the master of genes, also brought a top-secret project when he returned from the distant Mars.

The technical level involved in this project is extremely high. Although it has not had a specific impact on Hepper at the moment, if everything goes according to plan, then in Mayne's view, this technology will be permanent at some point in the future. Change the strategic situation of the empire, thereby enhancing the status of Hepper Forge World in the entire Mechanic Order and even the empire.

Apart from himself, only Mayne has the right to know this secret, and it was with Mayne's support that Kozyrev established his own experimental system that was almost independent of the foundry world.

It was also against this background that the trade policy of the Forge Lord Fadin was adopted by Mayne.

On the bright side, this supports the idea of ​​the technology diffusion faction headed by Fading, but secretly, it is this policy that has spawned a key trade line, maintaining the close connection between Hepper and a certain laboratory on Mars.

The second thing is the appearance of judge Margarita. This ambitious woman has been grabbing power by all means since she was airborne in Jamalore.

And unfortunately, the same seems to be true of the new generation of tech priests.

The new generation who feel that they have received external support are beginning to be unwilling to be calm, and the grand judge Margarita who intends to use them is also constantly fanning the flames outside.

Kozyrev's laboratory is extremely conspicuous in this environment and has become one of the key battlefields in the struggle between the two sides.However, this gene master cannot publish his own technical achievements, so the conflict between the two parties can only intensify.

The turmoil reached its peak on the eve of Calvin's arrival, and after the arrival of the Primarch and the deposed Grand Inquisitor, all this seemed to return to a short period of calm.

But Mayne knew that it was not that simple.

Things will only get worse, because the foundry assistant supervisors will only have a stronger sense of crisis after losing external support.

As for the incident under Cedrin's melting pot, and even today's meeting where the two sides faced each other, in Mayne's view, there was a strong taste of conspiracy.

The wind and the wind are precarious... Mayne recited the proverbs handed down from ancient Terra.

At this time, he is like a paper painter guarding a dilapidated house. He can only work hard to control the new forces in the later stages of his life, and at the same time complete the process of handing over power with difficulty.

"Soran?"

Mayne Shaft on the Iron Throne finally spoke, and all the priests immediately turned their attention to the deputy supervisor in charge of defense and intelligence.

The latter felt the gathering of eyes, and only after getting permission from the director of casting did he unhurriedly leave the sequence:

"The lord of the trial court has arrived. According to the comprehensive calculation of the observations of the astropath and the outer orbit scanning array, his flagship has reached the outer edge of the star ring."

"...It seems that we have to meet him." The servo on the casting director's body began to hum, and the throne in the shadow began to slowly deform.

The body weighing dozens of tons slowly got up from the shadows, and walked out of the hall with heavy steps like a knight titan.

The technical priests and slave laborers along the way lowered their heads in awe. On the cold floor, the red robes of the high-ranking priests were reflected in pieces.

"More than 50% may be questioned," said Serene, the deputy supervisor in charge of foreign affairs.

"That's better than breaking with them completely." The master of the forge, the leader of the school responsible for industrial production capacity, retorted Fading.

"But we don't want anything from the Inquisition." Another foundry lieutenant joined the conversation, but his point was quickly refuted by Fadin.

"Unless you are willing to use low-tech products to maintain exports, and there is no better market in the nearby star sector, if you don't want to eat Rizal's leftovers, you will always have to deal with them for trade routes."

"but……"

"Okay." The director of casting interrupted their conversation, which can be regarded as a clear statement for this debate.

Trade is important, not only for the resources exchanged, but more importantly for the communication channels and technology diffusion maintained through trade.Hepper wasn't short on resources, but he did need more leverage.

"How about the previous delegation?" The director of casting asked the crowd behind him, and everyone turned their eyes to Fading.

Those envoys had a little accident during the previous visit, and what the casting director meant was whether they were willing to ignore those "unexpected gains".

"It was peaceful, but I had worse expectations."

"Do you suspect that they have the means of remote communication?" The director of casting paused slightly before moving on.

"Then send them back to the Inquisition."

"Your will."

The figures of the crowd disappeared outside the tower, and a few hours later, Calvin met with Mayne and others under the largest star port in the foundry world.

"Praise the God of all opportunities, and praise His incarnation in the world."

The moment Calvin stepped on the tarmac, he heard the compliments from the guides on both sides.

The heavy chiming of the bell accompanied by the hissing of the siren resounded through Calvin's field of vision, and all he could see under the dim sky were the creations of steel, gold and stone.

The representatives of the remaining local knight families and the governors of the nearby mining planets all attended the scene and stood among the crowd watching the ceremony on both sides. On their bodies with obvious signs of transformation, precious metal medals inlaid with gemstones were hung all over their luxurious dresses.

The sleeping Titan was awakened, and stood under the starry sky under the guidance of the pilot, and at the end of the field of vision was the magnificent star ring of the planetary shipyard and unfinished imperial warships.

What a magnificent scene, and this grand welcome ceremony is only because of the visit of one person.

The visit of a Terran lord is indeed worthy of showing enough goodwill to the servant of Mekhan, who has always claimed to be independent.

Calvin stopped and looked around, the Purifiers behind him and the guards of the Imperial Guard lined up in two rows.The foundry director in the distance came slowly with the welcome team. The leaders of the two factions examined each other in the etiquette, and the appearance of both sides also allowed each other to gain extremely rich information.

"I thought you were no different from the previous representatives of the trial court." Mayne led the priests to welcome Calvin, and behind him was the honor guard who hadn't seen him for a long time.

"Oh? Is there any difference?" Calvin also led the purifiers to greet the crowd.

He didn't look at his guard members immediately, but walked side by side with the director of casting.

"The Inquisition does have a record of Gray Knights being representatives, but you obviously go beyond that."

Mayne's voice came from Calvin's side, and the implication in his words just reflected the current situation of several mechanical priests.

Hepper didn't pay much attention to Terra, and had no incentive to check the rumors about the Inquisition in recent years.

But the appearance of Calvin was undoubtedly extremely shocking. His iconic figure made the people on Hepper's side finally realize that this supreme lord judge was not the spokesman for those rotating in the past, but a person who confused them. And the shocking unknown exists.

And this kind of cognition completely overturned their assessment of Calvin. After rejecting Calvin's recruitment before, the visit of this suspected Primarch guy made Hepper's ruler feel intuitive pressure.

"I also serve that great existence." Calvin responded to the casting director's words with a smile, and implicit denial at this moment was equivalent to a certain kind of acknowledgment.

In the brain of the director of casting, electric currents and electric waves are passing crazily:
They can ignore the questioning of an imperial judge, as long as they make up for it from other directions afterwards.Anyway, although the Tribunal is powerful, its specific members are also famous for their complicated factions.

What about a Primarch's inquiry?
Especially when the Primarch appeared as the Supreme Lord Inquisitor, does that mean that this theoretically most powerful organization in the empire has been completely incorporated by the Emperor's Children?
impossible!Mayne subconsciously ruled out this option, because this was a feat that had never been done before.

But even if it is not fully incorporated, can the forging world that I am in really withstand the pressure from Terra?

Will Mars help me?Should be.

But this is based on the assumption that he did not explicitly reject Calvin's recruitment, and it is also based on the condition that his secrets here have not been revealed...

"I would like to extend my deep apologies to you. We do have our own reasons for rejecting your recruitment."

There was a huge gap between the humble tone of the foundry director and his physique, and before the staff and school leaders behind him could react, Calvin's understatement was a blow to everyone's hearts.

"Is it because of that emperor-level Titan?" The primarch stopped walking with a half-smile.

"Speaking of which, I am also curious. In the records of the Imperial Council, your land does not have the qualifications to station a Tier [-] Titan Legion. Then this Titan...how can you explain it?"

really!What should come is still here!

From Calvin's last sentence, several high-ranking priests have stopped in their tracks, and when he uttered his next questioning sentence, the killing intent in the air had solidified like substance.

But the giant just stood there quietly, completely ignoring the malice emanating from the surrounding crowd.

And it was precisely after seeing the imperial eagle emblem on the giant's breastplate that everyone realized why the other party was so unscrupulous.

A Primarch...at this distance, should...can easily kill anyone who dares to threaten his safety?
Update.