Warhammer: Empire Reboot

The hatch opened, and a blinding cold light and a deafening roar of machinery rushed out.

This is the heart of Agrippina, where temples are forged.

Lawson stepped off the ramp, with Er Gou and San Gou flanking him like two mobile steel fortresses.

The interior of the temple was devoid of superfluous decorations, consisting entirely of massive pipes, gears, and arrays of thinkers.

On both sides of the main passage, hundreds of mechanical sages were neatly arranged.

Some of them floated on anti-gravity bases, while others had multiple metal limbs, and countless electronic eyes flashing red light locked onto Lawson.

The air was filled with a high concentration of binary code and information flow.

This was a silent show of force, with the Mechanics attempting to break down Los Angeles's psychological defenses through the pressure of playing at home.

However, under the overwhelming computing power of swarm intelligence, this level of electronic interference was like a gentle breeze across a hill, without causing the slightest ripple.

Standing in the center of the hundreds of sages was a bloated metal aggregate nearly five meters tall.

His lower body is a tracked chassis like an armored vehicle, his upper body is covered with data cables, and six thick servo robotic arms slowly wriggle behind him.

Agrippina casts General Belissa Kur.

Lawson's steps were steady.

As long as Agrippina still flies the double-headed eagle flag and remains within the Empire's camp, she must abide by the Empire's order and political rules.

Lawson strode up to Kur and stopped ten steps away.

He performed the Imperial Eagle salute with utmost care.

“I am Cole Lawson. Holding the seal of Dante, the Dark Regent and Commander of the Blood Angels, I have been entrusted by the Imperial High Command to temporarily assume the role of the Dark Regent.”

Lawson's voice drowned out the mechanical roar in the background.

He preemptively set the tone for the conversation: I represent the imperial orthodoxy and the emperor's will.

"Homage to Omnisaya. Homage to the Emperor."

Kur emitted a series of complex, synthesized mechanical sounds: "Agrippina welcomes the special envoy representing flesh and blood. Your troops' actions at Position One saved the production capacity of Forging Plant Three. Logical calculations show that your local kinetic energy intervention was highly efficient."

Messenger of flesh and blood? Local kinetic energy intervention?

Lawson accurately detected the trap in Kur's words.

Kur attempted to downgrade Lawson's identity to that of a flesh-and-blood mercenary who had come to provide support, downplaying the earth-shattering victory in saving the front lines as a localized piece of fire support.

If Lawson continues down this line, he will automatically lose his eligibility for strategic-level dialogue.

"Correct your data, forge the general. I am not a special envoy, I am the seal bearer. My intervention is not localized fire support, but rather, on behalf of the Imperial Defense Ministry, taking over the crumbling defense line."

The optical sensors in Rosen's eyes are looking directly at Kur's face.

"First, on behalf of the Dark Regent and the Empire, I must thank the Forging General and all the Sages present for their contributions to the Empire's defenses. After the Gate of Cadian shattered, it was you who used steel to hold back the onslaught of Chaos. Agrippina's production capacity is the lifeblood of the Empire's Dark Side. History will remember this."

First, flatter the other person to calm them down.

Sure enough, the frequency of the red light flashing in the eyes of the surrounding mechanical sages slowed down.

"The will of Omnisiah is not to be profaned; the operation of the machinery needs no praise, only fuel and resources."

Kur responded coldly. "But Lord Sealholder, you forcibly stripped the Commander of Position One and violently obstructed the Tech Priest's recovery of biological resources. You interfered with Agrippina's micro-management. Your actions are filled with the illogical impulses unique to flesh-and-blood beings."

Lawson sneered, "I'd like to understand first just how difficult the current war situation and resource situation on the main star are, that forging a general would require such extreme and wasteful methods to fill the defenses?"

Kuhl didn't hide anything; in his logic, data doesn't need to be concealed.

"After the collapse of the Gate of Cadian, Agrippina absorbed 47 percent of the Chaos power spilled from the Eye of Terror. Fourteen secondary foundries were destroyed, and the Apostolic Guard suffered 82 percent casualties. More devastatingly, the warp storm severed shipping routes, and we lost supplies to five agricultural worlds and three mining worlds."

"Food reserves will be depleted in thirty-four standard Terra days. The influx of refugees exceeds the planet's carrying capacity by three hundred percent. They consume heat, take up space, and spread panic, but they do not provide any equivalent military defense value."

Kuer's six robotic arms opened simultaneously, projecting a dense array of data holographic projections.

"Please look at these data, Master. A twelve-year-old Kadian refugee needs to consume two thousand calories a day to maintain vital signs. His bone density cannot withstand the recoil of a heavy bomb gun, his neural reaction speed is insufficient to dodge the firepower of a knight mech, and his brain is easily affected by fear, leading to a rout. His expected survival time on the battlefield is fourteen seconds, and his damage output is close to zero. Conclusion: This is a liability."

"But if we remove its useless frontal lobe, remove its digestive organs that consume extra energy, and implant a half-track chassis and a multispectral scanner, the unit's calorie consumption will be reduced to two hundred per day, its fear will be completely eradicated, and its loyalty will reach one hundred percent. The unit can endlessly clear a minefield of four and a half square kilometers every day until its physical structure is completely destroyed."

“We have transformed our liabilities into substantial positive assets that keep the front running. We have stripped them of hunger and fear and bestowed upon them the pure form of loyalty to the Emperor. The mercy of the Seal Bearer, Omnesiah, is built upon ultimate efficiency.”

From the Mechanicus’s cold, utilitarian standpoint, Kuhl’s reasoning is perfect.

The hundreds of sages present simultaneously emitted low-frequency binary sounds of approval.

If it were an ordinary Star Guardian general or a battle nun, upon hearing this chilling theory of efficiency, she would surely curse the other party as a heartless monster.

"Your mathematics is perfect; you're a general."

Lawson slowly began, “But your macro-strategic vision is like that of a newly manufactured, defective thinker.”

Upon hearing this, the air pressure inside the temple plummeted.

Kur's electronic eyes flashed a dangerous red light: "Explain your rudeness, Sealholder. Omnesia's servants do not accept illogical slander."

"I'm saving your metal head, which is about to be purged by the Empire's high command!"

Lawson stepped forward, his aura overwhelming the hostility of the hundreds of sages.

"You just said that those refugees cannot generate equivalent military value. Okay, let me ask you, do you know what kind of people you're sending to the minefield and into the rehabilitation surgery table?"

“Biological code name: Refugee. Origin: Kadian,” Kur replied curtly.

"wrong!"

Lawson roared, "They are not refugees! They are the orphans of Kadian! They are the Empire's most valuable military asset and a symbol of loyalty!"

Lawson raised a finger, pointing it directly at Kur's face.

"The Cadian Empire is shattered, but its bloodline continues to fight across the galaxy! Countless star sectors and tens of thousands of Astral Legions are watching these survivors! They are the spiritual totem of the Empire, the cornerstone of faith in resisting Chaos!"

"You've turned the Empire's totem into mindless errand boys who serve dishes and step on landmines? If this news reaches other sectors, other Cadian legions, do you think they'll continue firing at Chaos, or turn their guns on you mechanoclers, smashing your metal shells one by one? Your so-called efficiency is destroying the foundation of the Imperial Astral Army's rule and its morale! You're creating a mutiny for Chaos!"

Kur's processor raced, attempting a counterattack using his forte: data. "Emotions are superfluous variables. Once the front lines collapse, the entire sector will fall. Totems and faith cannot withstand the Chaos Knights' molten cannons. Only a physical defense line composed of servants can buy us time!"

"Then let's talk about practical value!"

Lawson didn't give Kur a chance to change his mind.

“Every Cadian, even a cripple or a twelve-year-old child, receives the most rigorous military training in the fortress world from a young age! A twelve-year-old Cadian boy can disassemble and assemble a standard laser rifle in fourteen seconds with his eyes closed!”

“Send a Kadian survivor to the rear, and he can train a hundred qualified Planetary Defense Force recruits within a month! They are the Empire’s best replenishment pool, the best grassroots military instructors, and the core backbone for rebuilding thousands of battlefronts!”

"And you, the forging general. You've removed the brains from these high-value tactical backbone personnel, turning them into low-level laborers who can be replaced simply by inputting basic code! You're using the Empire's elite firepower to fill mines that could be cleared by a cheap clone or a death row inmate from the hive?!"

"You dismantled a plasma reactor just to use the parts to boil water! You're talking to me about efficiency? This is a criminal-level waste of production capacity! You're mortgaging the Empire's future war potential to cover up the incompetence of the Agrippina Line's command!"

Lawson's relentless pressure caused Kur's logic processor to freeze for two seconds.

Kuhl discovered that his proud mathematical model was forced to reveal logical fallacies by the opponent's more multi-dimensional "macro asset accounting model".

From the perspective of resource optimization, using tactical instructors as mine-clearing machine servants is indeed an extremely poor and degraded use of resources.

Unable to refute logically, Kur immediately switched to a defensive strategy.

"The Olympus Treaty granted Mars and its subworlds a high degree of autonomy!"

Kur's thick mechanical arm slammed heavily onto the ground, sparks flying everywhere.

"As the Foundry World, Agrippina has the right to deal with all unarmed personnel who land on this planet! This is an inviolable internal affair of the Mechanicus!"

"In peacetime, you can use treaties to argue. But in the dark side of the Empire, in the desperate situation after the Great Rift, there are no treaties, only survival and ironclad laws!"

Lawson did not back down.

"The premise of autonomy is that you can fulfill your obligation to forge the world and provide weapons for the Empire. But you just admitted that you not only cannot hold the line, but you even need to steal the Empire's strategic reserves to fill the gaps in the line!"

"According to the Imperial Code and the Wartime Coordination Law of the Ministry of Military Affairs, any large-scale conscription of soldiers and transfer of colonial population must be authorized by the Ministry of the Interior or the local highest star sector command."

"Without any authorization, you have irreversibly converted millions of Imperial citizens, including reserve personnel belonging to the Astral Army, into mechs. You are stealing the Empire's war assets! You have overstepped your authority over the allocation of the Empire's overall war resources!"

“The survival of Agrippina is paramount! Without the weapons we produce, the entire sector will fall! I have the authority not to explain myself to the bureaucrats of the Ministry of the Interior!” Kur retorted.

"That's your logical trap, Kur."

Lawson was like an inquisitor examining heretics.

"You used the excuse of Agrippina to cover up the fact that you were sabotaging the Empire's overall war effort."

“You have gone too far. Your actions have not only disrupted the Empire’s subsequent recruitment and supply, but have also made me seriously suspicious of your motives.”

Lawson delivered the most devastating blow.

"Why target the Kadians specifically? Why waste valuable manpower to turn them into mindless machines? At a time when the Chaos army is pressing in, you are frantically wiping out the Empire's most steadfast loyalists from the rear."

"Can I reasonably suspect that within Agrippina's high command, there is a faction plotting to weaken the Empire's military strength? Forging General, are you purging the Empire's loyalists for Chaos?"

"Nonsense! Omnesia's loyalty is beyond question! This is an insult to the entire Mechanicus!" Kur roared angrily, his synthesized voice becoming shrill and piercing.

"Then prove it to me!"

Lawson had calculated correctly: under the dual pressure of Chaos's army at the city gates and the Empire's political purge, Kur would never dare to openly fire on a high-ranking Imperial official who held the seal of office.

To open fire is treason.

Lawson took out the seal of the Dark Side, bestowed upon him by Dante, and held it high.

The golden double-headed eagle emblem exuded an unassailable majesty in the dimly lit temple.

That is the supreme imperial power belonging to the legitimate human empire.

"Given that Agrippina's current command logic has seriously jeopardized the overall war situation of the Empire, and there is a serious waste of resources and a potential crisis of loyalty."

Lawson decisively cut off all of Kur's escape routes.

"I, Cole Lawson, in the name of the Dark Side Master, reclaim the macroscopic dominion over this world on behalf of the Emperor!"

"From this moment forward, the current Casting General Belissa Kur of Agrippina is suspended from his military, political, and production control over this world, and his loyalty will be verified and audited by the Dark Regent's Direct Review Committee!"

"I hereby declare, in the name of the Emperor, in the name of the Dark Order before the Light of Santa Terra has reached, by the authorization of the Regency, and by the necessity of the war to continue, that I hereby declare the complete takeover of the world-building of the Agrippina system."

"From this moment forward, the Casting General and his directly subordinate Casting Council are stripped of all military and political authority, population control, external liaison authority, and the right to deploy Divine Machine Armaments."

The Casting Dome, the Master Data Vault, the Orbital Defense Array, the Military Industry Headquarters, and the Refugee Conversion Factory are all sealed away by us.

All priests, sages, overseers, data priests, and armed mechs, remain in place and await identification.

Those who disobey orders will be treated as rebels.

Those who conceal data will be punished for dereliction of duty.