Warhammer 40: Starting as a Rogue Trader

Chapter 354 The Altered Memories
Even if they use psychic powers to summon the demon army belonging to the Four Gods, in the memories of these golden figures, it will be regarded as an ability they gained after completely controlling the warp.

One by one, the hibernation pods were transported out of Comos, leaving only two behind.

Under Tzeentch's evil magic, the warp influence that had been corrupting Comos began to subside, and countless Chaos Demons began to leave Comos.

After Tzeentch and all his demons left, the hibernation pods were opened.

The two golden figures, clutching their heads, rose from their hibernation pods.

A man and a woman, both feeling the chaos in their minds, looked at each other.

Both of them have almost perfect looks and figures; the genetic modifications have made their appearances reach a level of perfection.

Feeling the spiritual energy of this body, they felt as if they had become stronger.

"Fletcher, are you awake? How long have we been asleep?"

"I don't know either, Olivia. Have those invaders already retreated?"

"That must be it, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't have survived. But why didn't they kill us?"

The two climbed out of the hibernation pod, still puzzled, and began to walk out of the room.

As they looked at the various damaged facilities and machinery in the corridor, memories that had appeared out of nowhere in their minds began to be triggered.

They climbed out of their hibernation pods and looked at the mess inside Comos, their minds conjuring up images of battle that weren't actually happening.

A group of Astartes were attacking the mechanical soldiers responsible for internal defense, while behind them were the Astral Army soldiers in combat suits.

Priests whose bodies had undergone countless modifications, along with the Papacy's friars and the priests of the state church, also joined the battle.

Although these people's combat power seemed so weak in front of those mechanical soldiers, the madness of these people in their memories still made the two of them feel frightened.

Countless fake human soldiers, through sheer numbers and countless lives, completely overwhelmed and destroyed the automatons protecting them.

They shouted the Emperor's name, demanding to kill the original masters of the empire and seize their rightful rights.

As they recalled the memories in their minds, their expressions grew increasingly angry.
In their eyes, this was incredibly offensive, like a lower being trying to challenge a higher life form.

What they found most unacceptable was that they had lost, and lost to the very people they looked down upon.

In their memories, they also joined the battle. As beings who were close to achieving psychic ascension, they used their psychic energy to tear apart the enemy in pieces. No matter how many of the enemy there were, they could not threaten them, until a golden figure appeared in their memories.

The opponent displayed even stronger psychic abilities than they did, and was accompanied by countless warriors with equally exceptional psychic talents.

The golden figure was actually Tzeentch, while those with exceptional psychic abilities were the countless demons and monsters surrounding him.

False memories are ultimately false, and Tzeentch is also worried that these golden men will discover the flaws in the fabricated memories.

Therefore, he did not fabricate memories out of thin air. The memory processes in Fletcher's and Olivia's minds actually happened, only the roles involved changed. Tzeentch's followers and demons were replaced by Imperial soldiers.

The golden figure was deliberately pointed at the Emperor by Tzeentch. Even He couldn't directly project the Emperor's image and name into the memories of the two.

Just as mortals would be able to sense if they directly called out the names of the Four Gods, the same applies to the Emperor, who is almost the Fifth Evil God.

Tzeentch was also worried that the Emperor would notice, so he made the alteration of his own hints relatively subtle.

Then my memory abruptly ended.
The two speculated that they had been subjected to a powerful psychic shock, which caused the gaps in their memories.

“Olivia, I’m having some memory problems.”

"Fletcher, do you still remember the identities of these enemies?"

"No, I don't remember clearly. I only remember that these people wanted to kill us and take Comos. But that shouldn't be the case. The weapons these people have are so crude. I can see that some of their soldiers have undergone a lot of genetic modification, but the genetic modification technology is not strong, and the strength they have shown is only so-so. How could they possibly kill those fighter soldiers responsible for the defense of Comos?!"

It should be noted that the fighter units operating within Comos are among the most powerful, and this cannot be solved by sheer numbers.

"Perhaps it was that golden figure who did it; their psionic level is higher than both of ours."

Both of them said with lingering fear that they were already among the strongest of the Jin people.

In the eyes of the Golden Men, Astartes' genetic modification and the mechanical priests' alteration of their own bodies appeared so clumsy.

Although there were some illogical things in their memories, after tens of thousands of years or even longer of slumber, they no longer considered such questions. All they wanted was to reach Comos's control center and obtain the answers they sought from Comos's intelligent control system.

The system logs normally record combat and other related data.

“The inferior beings, Fletcher, must be made to pay the price, but we must first find out their identities. We don’t know how long we’ve been asleep, or what changes have occurred outside.”

The two walked cautiously through Comos, fearing that there might still be enemies who hadn't left. Following their memories, they entered Comos's control room, but when the door opened, a group of humans appeared inside Comos, which should have been devoid of life long ago.

These humans were busy operating the instruments in front of them, trying to restore Comos's operation.

Upon seeing that there were still people around, the two immediately activated their spiritual energy! They were afraid that it might be their enemies.

The terrifying psionic pressure forced everyone to the ground, leaving them utterly powerless to resist.

But looking at the expressions on these people's faces, Fletcher and Olivia felt that they didn't seem to be enemies.

Some people were pinned to the ground, unable to move, and some even started bleeding from their seven orifices, but upon seeing them, their eyes and expressions couldn't hide their excitement.

“My master, we are not your enemies! Your humble servant, Collins Daka, offers you his most respectful greetings. My family and I have waited far too long for your reawakening.”
The great ruler has returned! There is hope for the family!

Collins felt like he was being suffocated, but he kept shouting.

"servant?!"

After confirming that the other party posed no threat, Fletcher and Olivia withdrew their psychic powers.

"Are you the navigator?"

"Yes, my master!"

Fletcher looked at Scott with a puzzled expression. His appearance, along with the navigator's unique third ability and accompanying psionic powers, allowed him to recognize Scott's profession. Both of them began searching through their fragmented memories; they vaguely remembered that there were indeed navigators in Comos.

After all, Comos is a powerful weapon that can enter the warp, but it also needs a navigator to guide it.

Even in the golden age, these navigators were indispensable.

In their confused memories, they seemed to recall a family of navigators called Dhaka, who were subservient to them and performed navigation tasks. Of course, this memory was also fabricated by Tzeentch.

This navigator family, exiled by the Empire and subsequently corrupted by Tzeentch in the shadows, has completely embraced Tzeentch and been ordered to guide these golden men.

Neither Fletcher nor the other doubted that their memories had changed. As beings who, in a sense, had transcended the human race, they were incredibly proud.

They didn't believe anyone could tamper with their memories. At that time, they weren't even aware of the existence of warp gods, and humanity was at its peak.

“Collins, stand up. What happened during the years we were asleep? Our memories are still a bit jumbled…”

Fletcher raised his hand, and a wisp of psionic energy slowly healed the injuries he had just sustained from the oppressive force.

"My lord... the outside world has changed drastically. Those ignorant people openly regard the power of psychic energy as an untouchable taboo, and you who can control this power are naturally regarded as a threat."

But secretly they also coveted the power of psychic energy. They sent their army to shamelessly attack the sacred Comos, and even our best efforts could not stop them... They attempted to seize the power that belonged to you by occupying the sacred Comos.

You and Lady Olivia were also severely injured by them. Our ancestors risked their lives to send you into the life support pods and controlled Comos to enter the warp, which is how you managed to escape their pursuit.

From our ancestors onward, we have upheld the oath of loyalty, guarding Comos for generations and awaiting your awakening!
The Dakar family has existed for hundreds of generations.

Collins was almost moved to tears by his own words.

"Hundreds of generations? You've been living in Comos the whole time?! The ecological system within Comos was destroyed long ago? Your psionic talents and genetic modifications simply can't allow you to break free from conventional feeding methods. How have you survived?!"

Fletcher questioned.

“My master, we certainly haven’t always stayed here. Over the years, my people and I have ventured out into the world. The outside world still needs navigators. We used our identities and abilities to infiltrate enemy forces, helping them and trying to gain their trust, but in the end, we were exposed.”

Family members were slaughtered... Countless loyalists died under their blades. Although we can still operate in the outside world, our influence is too small. Now, there are very few people left in the bloodline of the Daka family. But even so, we still hope that our master will lead us to reclaim everything that belongs to us!
Of course, our efforts over the years have not been in vain; we have contacted some Navigator families, and they still support your rule.”

Collins's performance was deeply moving; at the height of his emotion, even his blinding eyes shed tears of blood.

It must be said that his acting skills are absolutely superb.

The two golden figures did not completely believe Collins's words; they used their psychic abilities to sense the psychic fluctuations formed by Collins's emotions.

After confirming that his current emotions were not feigned, they went directly to Comos's control panel.

As they placed their hands on the control panel in front of them.

Comos's built-in system also reacted immediately.

[Biological sample confirmed]...

[Psionic Signature Confirmed]...

[Confirmed highest authority holder: Lord Fletcher]

With the dual confirmation of biological and psionic abilities, the still-functioning equipment inside Comos began to operate again.

Upon seeing this, Fletcher and Olivia both showed their first smiles since waking up.

"Comos welcomes your return, great ruler of the Federation!"

"Comos, are the system's internal logs still intact?"

"Data integrity rate is 67%".

"67? Can you access the internal hacking logs and data?"

"The completeness of the relevant data is 55%".

"Retrieve it immediately!"

Fletcher knew that the battle had ultimately damaged some of Comos's functions.

As countless data points appeared before Fletcher's eyes, he merely glanced at them and memorized them all.

Only after reading the internal log did he truly believe Collins's words.

The Dakka family is indeed listed as subordinate to them in the records, and a large part of their activities over the past tens of thousands of years have been recorded by the Comos system.

After confirming the contents of the log, Fletcher and Olivia noticed that the faces of the Dakka family members had become much more amiable.

At times like these, they really need some loyal people to do things for them!
Of course, the logs inside these systems had also been tampered with long ago, so how could Tzeentch have forgotten to make the necessary disguise in this matter?

Comos's intelligent system is no longer its original system.

The artificial intelligence of the Golden Age was very powerful and not so easily corrupted. The current level of the Empire's hunt can destroy the Chaos Code to a certain extent, let alone the Golden Age's. However, it cannot withstand the severe damage to the Comos during the battle against the demon invasion, coupled with Tzeentch personally taking action, using a large amount of divine power, and consuming such a long time.

Comos's original intelligent system has been completely destroyed.

At this point, Comos's internal intelligent system has been possessed by a master of all kinds who excels at change and disguise.

The one who communicated with Fletcher and provided information was also the master of disguise, Tzeentch.

Everything that intelligent systems exhibit will be in the best interests of chaos.

When the Golden Men in Comos were captured, the Iron Rebellion had not yet occurred; otherwise, the Extinction Remnants within would not have protected them. This made both Golden Men still have great faith in everything that the Intelligence had demonstrated.

It could even be said that Tzeentch saved one of these Golden Men, and Comos in the Warp had obviously cut off the Iron Man from all the commands issued by the fighting machines.

The only thing that made Fletcher and his companion feel uneasy was that Comos's intelligent system was also radiating a kind of psionic energy... not just the server system, but the entire Comos.

(End of this chapter)