Warhammer: Empire Reboot

The machine spirit needs to be appeased.

Then calm them down within three minutes.

Lawson turned around and looked at Kexas and T-001.

When will the first phase begin?

T-001 replied: "It's already started. The first batch of subcontracting orders has been issued to the twelve planets. Within seventy-two hours, the first batch of standard bulkheads, pipelines, supports, and deck gratings will begin production."

Krusas added: "The Agrippina core dock has begun adjusting production lines. Production of the Flying Bear-class heavy motorcycles is still accelerating, but it does not affect the keel repair of frigates. Heavy motorcycles occupy the vehicle factory and small anti-gravity component line, while warship production mainly occupies the rail dock and large casting line."

Lawson asked, "What's the Flying Bears' progress?"

T-001 said, "Of the first batch of 300 vehicles, 24 have completed their basic chassis, and 6 have entered the swarm navigation interface testing phase. Xiong Wei's driver eye enhancement plan is being scheduled."

Lawson nodded.

The war zone is indeed very busy.

The Flying Bears are taking shape.

The Imperial Guard is specializing.

The green-skinned culture tank is now in operation.

The Starsector Fleet is undergoing reorganization.

The Qingtian Project is underway.

Now, modular production of warships is also about to begin.

Individually, these things are all just engineering projects.

Taken together, they form part of Agrippina's future fangs.

Lawson walked to the track window.

Outside the window lies the orbital dock complex of Agrippina's World of Creation.

Countless flames shone in the darkness.

A cruiser under repair lay at a distance, beside which sergeants and foundation stone sequences moved like ants. Further away, several old keels hung in the deep dock, like the skeletons of a sleeping behemoth.

In the past, they might have remained dormant for decades during the long process.

Now, Lawson is going to wake them up.

In future wars, warships will be the main force.

Agrippina had to learn to make it herself.

Let's start with the frigates.

To the cruiser.

To battlecruisers.

Finally, we come to the actual battleships.

Ships will emerge from a production chain supported by 318 planets.

Years later, when the enemy looks at Agrippina again, they will see more than just a world-building machine.

Instead, it was an entire star sector transformed into a shipbuilding hive.

Just then, Kxus suddenly spoke in a low voice.

“My Lord, Agrippina can forge standard warships.”

Lawson turned his head to look at him.

“But if you want the future fleet to exceed the standard, I have a clue.”

Lawson turned around.

"explain."

Krus's mechanical eye contracted, as if retrieving a long-forgotten memory.

“When I was still the Dark Sage, I heard something.”

"This matter is only known within the Dark Mechanicus and is circulated among a few high-ranking sages."

Lawson did not interrupt.

Krus continued, "The Lord of the Great Vortex, Blackheart Huron, likely possesses an extremely complete ancient shipbuilding template."

"It is closer to the STC fragments of warship construction left over from the golden age, and may even be a complete hull system template with a high degree of preservation."

Lawson raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Hurron?"

"Yes."

"There are many sources of rumors, but they all fit together," Krusas said.

"The Great Maelstrom has long devoured ships, stars, abandoned space stations, and ancient debris. After Huron became the Pirate King, he not only stole ships and slaves, but also systematically looted ancient artifacts that were swept into the Great Maelstrom by warp storms."

"His flagship, the Ghost of Destruction, is itself a mobile treasure trove."

"And hidden within the Great Vortex are star cities, ship graveyards, and colonial wreckages dragged to the edge of the storm, a great deal of stuff that the Empire, the Dark Age of Technology, the Aliens, Chaos, and even the Mechanicus all covet."

Lawson asked, "Where did you get this STC chip?"

Krus replied, "There are three versions of the rumor."

"Some say that Huron found it in the wreckage of a Golden Age colonial ship that was caught in a whirlpool."

"Some say that the Red Pirates stole it from a great sage's sealed casket when they raided a Mechanicus expeditionary fleet."

"Some people also say that a certain abandoned star city in the Great Vortex was originally the shipyard hub of the Dark Ages, and that the template was hidden in the core of the star city. Huron obtained it after clearing out that area."

"The authenticity of these three versions cannot be confirmed."

"But subsequent events showed that Huron did indeed possess some kind of shipbuilding technology that the Mechanicus desperately desired."

Lawson became interested.

"The Mechanics Cult wants to trade with him?"

"I've looked for it."

Krus's voice was even lower.

"Huron himself did not fully forge the world."

"He has shipyards, the Dark Mechanicus, slaves, stolen engineers, ship graveyards, and countless technicians forced to serve him."

"But he lacks a truly stable, complete casting core that can absorb STC technology in the long term."

"So he tried to make a deal with the Mechanicus."

Lawson smiled.

"Huron is making a deal with the Mechanicus? He'll probably ask for a very high price."

"Extremely ugly."

"The conditions Huron proposed reportedly included: a large number of core warship components, several mobile docks, thousands of technical priests, reserves of Blackstone and adamantite, legalization of trading rights in some Red Pirate-controlled ports, and the Mechanicus' recognition of the technological autonomy of certain docks in the Great Maelstrom," said Krus.

After hearing this, Lawson couldn't help but chuckle.

"He does have a big appetite."

"The Mechanic Church cannot accept this."

"The Cult of Mechanics proposed a compromise: exchange a heavy technology fleet, a batch of core reactors, and some Dark Age relics for the complete scanning rights to that template," said Krus.

Huron refused.

“He knew very well that once STC gave away full scanning rights, it was equivalent to losing his biggest bargaining chip.”

"He doesn't want a one-off deal."

"He wants the mechanical cult to provide him with a long-term supply of resources."

That's very Huron.

Huron the Blackheart is the Pirate King.

He understands extortion, leverage, and long-term returns.

If he really had a Shipbuilding STC, he would never use it to worship evil gods like an ordinary Chaos Warband, nor would he throw it away like the Devourer did because he thought it couldn't kill people.

He will lock it up.

Use it to negotiate with the Mechanicus, the Dark Mechanicus, the Traitor Legion, and the Pirate Fleet.

Krusas continued, "Later, a faction within the Cult of Mechanics came to believe that the negotiations were no longer going to yield results."

"They launched a secret expedition."

Lawson asked, "Beat the Great Whirlpool?"

"Attempting to enter the outer perimeter of the great vortex."

Krusas corrected, "The Great Vortex isn't an ordinary sector. It's the second largest subspace storm region in the galaxy. It's chaotic with shipping lanes, time-shifted, and contains demonic tides, ship graveyards, Red Pirate ambushes, and the Dark Mechanicus's false beacon."

"The expeditionary fleet carried apologists, technical priests, several heavy warships, and a mobile data shrine."

"The result was terrible."

"The fleet was lured into a ship graveyard by the Red Pirates during the second phase of the voyage."

"The frigate was dismantled. The capital ship was forced to withdraw. The mobile data shrine lost contact."

"The records brought back by the survivors were incomplete, and only one thing was confirmed."

Lawson asked, "What?"

"Huron is indeed protecting something that the Mechanicus desperately wants."

The light in Xerox's mechanical eyes was intense.

“My lord, if that template is genuine, and if you can obtain it, the Agrippina shipbuilding system will undergo a qualitative change.”

"Specific improvements?"