Warhammer: Empire Reboot

However, the Cult of Mechanics is not just comprised of fanatics.

Chapter 159 Seizure of Power! Seizure of Power! Control of the Agrippina Galaxy Changes Hands!

Near the inner ring road stood a group of prudent, technically-minded wise men.

They are the logical deducers who truly control the core database of Agrippina.

Is it true or false? Is there subspace contamination? Is this a trap? Is this so-called perfect logic just bait thrown out by the Abomination Intelligence? Does it harbor a logically invalid virus capable of paralyzing the entire Forging World?

Will acknowledging the existence of an STC brought about by a wanted Dark Sage lead to a full-scale investigation and purge by the higher-level Martian Court?

The chief maintainer of the Agrippina Master Thinker Array raised a scepter engraved with antistatic runes and slammed it into the ground three times.

"Stop pointless worship!"

"First, we need to perform verification. The naked eye and optical sensors can deceive us, but the underlying data cannot."

"If its data structure conforms to the standard hierarchy of the former Empire, if its redundant logic is perfectly closed, and if there are no traces of forgery by human tampering or subspace contamination in its process chain... then it is qualified to be called a holy template. Before that, it is just a suspicious unknown data packet."

The antivirus and heretical technology reviewer then stepped forward.

"Anything that is too perfect may be a desecration of the Warp. The closer something is to a divine appearance, the more rigorous the verification it needs to undergo."

"I request a triple physical isolation network, a seven-layer Holy Seal firewall for filtering, and independent data chanting verification. Any attempt to connect it to the mainnet before these are completed is a betrayal of Omnisaya."

Although the pilgrims and the technologists had drastically different attitudes, at this moment, a common point emerged in the hall.

That is, their continued adherence to the will of the current Forging General Belissa Kur has irreversibly created a rift.

The reason is simple: within the Mechanicus cultural system, the sanctity and core values ​​of the complete STC far outweigh the administrative authority of any individual superior.

No matter how powerful a general is, he is still just a bureaucrat who climbed up the ranks based on political and technical qualifications.

STC is the truth, something that comes close to being a divine proof.

Sensing the drastic change in the atmosphere within the hall, General Belissa Kur's internal logic system issued a piercing red alert.

His power is slipping away at a rate of terabytes per second.

"Seal off the Temple!"

Kur let out a deafening roar, his main gun already aimed at Kexas.

"Take them down! Take down that heretic and that blasphemous box! No one is to approach that sealed box! Activate the defense protocol!"

A bizarre scene unfolded.

The highest order was issued, but it was not executed immediately.

The visual optics of the two thousand guardsmen flickered violently between red and blue light.

Their combat logic has become severely sluggish.

Although the Guardians of the Faith obey the general network commands of the Casting General, they are simultaneously controlled by the local network nodes of their respective chief sages within the Great Hall.

When the Forging General ordered the firing, the sages in charge of them simultaneously issued the commands to "stand by" and "lock the data interface".

Two conflicting highest-level instructions caused a deadlock in the mech's processor.

Inside the main hall, the tense atmosphere that was about to erupt into chaos was now reduced to the low hum of countless processors overloaded and the futile spinning of cooling fans.

An elderly sage, whose body was severely aged, slowly maneuvered his tracks forward.

He stopped three meters away from Kexas, his metal knees bent, kneeling down in an extremely humble posture.

"I beg..."

"Request to view the first column of the verification".

Kur's body, heavy as a war chariot, lurched forward a step: "Stand up! Sage Magnus! This is a direct command order!"

The old sage did not turn around, but calmly looked at the blue holographic projection.

“General, if it is a fake, I will personally detonate the core and perish together with this heretic, and personally burn this blasphemous thing.”

“But if it is true…” the old sage’s voice became as firm as a rock, “then I cannot obey your command. My gears turn only for the truth.”

The sage Ding, who had previously requested to undergo antiviral isolation, took half a step forward and crossed the safety line drawn by Kur.

"I request to use the Agrippina III secondary computing array to independently verify the hymns."

"I guarantee with my main neural cord, my two-hundred-year memory bank, and all my clean records during my service that I am willing to bear all the risks of logical collapse and code contamination for the first verification."

The high priest who controlled the distribution of energy in the temple's main furnace whispered instructions to his communication array.

"Disconnect the weapon terminal power supply. Change the main reactor core authority and temporarily suspend all armed orders from the general."

Kur suddenly spun his heavy torso, his mechanical arm pointing at the third sage: "What did you say? You're going to betray the Martian appointment?"

“General, if the Holy Template is genuine, then any physical or electronic attack against its holder could constitute an irredeemable blasphemy.”

"What if it contains Omnesia's true gift? Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance, if we destroy it with artillery fire..."

"I refuse to let my mark be tainted with such an irredeemable sin until the verification is complete."

The tide is gone.

Administrative power is incredibly fragile in the face of religious miracles.

As Krus looked at the group of sages who had temporarily defied their superiors due to their thirst for knowledge and religious fanaticism, a short, electronic laugh emanated from beneath his black crystal helmet.

"very good."

"Finally, there's still a little lubricant in Agrippina's gears. Finally, someone is starting to think logically like a true sage, instead of just fighting over political scraps like a hyena."

Xabi exposes a generic data interface.

"Here are two standard Terrans for you. Connect your computing power and face the truth."

Verification has begun.

This was a battle fought without gunfire, but one no less dangerous than the Agrippina 1 meat grinder battlefield.

Sage Ding and the old sage Magnus led twelve high-ranking technical priests to access the outer buffer area of ​​the box via physical cables.

They dared not read it directly, but instead cautiously deployed the detection code as if facing a nuclear bomb that could explode at any moment.

The lights in the temple dimmed, and all the energy was diverted to power the Thinker array behind the twelve sages.

For the first ten minutes, only the monotonous "tick-tock" sound filled the temple. That was them performing the most basic code scanning.

"No subspace mutation algorithm was detected."

"No latent characteristics of the Chaos Logic virus were detected."

"The underlying protocol conforms to the grammatical structure of the early period of the Emperor's Great Crusade—no, even earlier, it conforms to the late Age of Strife, and even bears the hallmarks of the late Golden Age."

With the peripheral scans completed, the sages began to delve deeper into the core data layer.

"Logic gates... are too perfect. This redundant design... doesn't require prayers to compensate for the computing power gap. Its physical structure itself forms an absolute closed loop. This is the blueprint for a weapon, this is a gun, but its ammunition feeding system design..."

At the sixtieth minute, Sage Ding suddenly pulled out a spare data cable from his wrist and plunged it into the neck connector, forcibly overclocking his brain.

"A two-stage delayed detonation fuse, an adaptive rifling variable formula... That's impossible. Our current forging technology simply can't achieve that level of precision, unless it's combined with the micron-level servo machine tool's reprogramming code that comes with it!"

"It not only gave us the blueprints for the gun, but it also included an upgrade plan for the assembly line to manufacture this gun! It's systematic! It's living knowledge!"

120th minute.

Once the final encrypted verification code was compared with the millennia-old core database deep underground in Agrippina and confirmed to have no logical conflicts, the verification process ended.

The twelve high-ranking sages simultaneously disconnected from the physical connection.

The temple was completely silent.

The old sage Magnus did not stand up.

"Omnisiah above..."

"Perfect. Not a trace of contamination. Its exquisite craftsmanship and pure logic are unparalleled in our lives."

Sage Ding turned around, facing all the sages in the hall who were anxiously awaiting the results, and broadcast at full power:

"Verification passed. Triple isolation did not trigger any alarms. Redundant logic closure rate is 100%. No forgery traces found in the process chain."

"It's real. This is a complete, uncontaminated standard construction template for the 'Suppressor Storm Bomb Gun' and its associated production line!"

Completely boiling over.

Hundreds of sages in the temple simultaneously burst forth with a unified binary hymn.

A grand electronic chorus echoed between the metal walls, making Lawson's eardrums tingle.

The unprecedented fervor eroded the foundations of Belissa Kuhl's rule built up over many years.

The old sage Magnus raised his head and turned to Lawson.

"Your Excellency, the Master of the Seal."

"Your will is the will of the Empire. Agrippina's gears will forever turn for the Golden Throne. We will always be the Empire's most loyal builders."

"As for the internal administrative changes... General Belissa Kur's recent command logic has indeed deviated seriously, leading to irreversible waste of resources. Our entire Council of High Sages is willing to accept the review and judgment of the Dark Regent."

The old sage stood up and gave Xerath a perfectly standard and solemn gear-shaped bow.

"We are willing to accept the leadership of the acting casting supervisor. The past warrants and accusations of heresy were clearly serious errors in data statistics, and we will completely erase them during the next system maintenance."

The other sages echoed this sentiment, looking at Xerath as if he were a true saint.

“But, Lord Seal Holder.”

The old sage raised his head and looked directly into Lawson's eyes.

"As long as you leave this sacred template in Agrippina."

"From this day forward, Agrippina's entire production capacity will be prioritized to fulfill any allocation orders from the Dark Side Master. Your will is the fuel of our furnace."

This is the bottom line of loyalty.

Lawson stood there, watching these mechanical sages who would not hesitate to betray their superiors for the sake of technology, and the smile on his lips gradually widened.

Inside the temple, layers of electronic hymns created a tangible sonic wave.

General Belissa Kur stood frozen in place, coldly watching the sages around him kneel, defect, and worship.

Kuhl's logic engine is performing high-speed calculations.