Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor

Chapter 231 - 232 – Will Eden’s Clone Dream of the Goddess Isha?

They actually hit someone over there? Eden was floored.

He knew letting that eccentric Tech-Priest do something like that was asking for trouble.

"Initiate Search-and-Capture Protocol!"

The unknown Tech-Priest on the other side was apparently furious about the sudden "assault" and vowed to find the attacker.

Buzz—

Before Eden could react, with a mechanical whir, a servo-skull zipped across the portal toward them.

Fortunately, Carter was quick on his feet. The second the skull emerged, he smashed it with a single powerful punch.

Damn, they needed to close the portal—now!

Simultaneously, Eden snapped out of it and swiftly commanded his real body on the Blackstone Throne to shut down the portal.

He watched the energy fade from the gateway, feeling a bit uneasy.

The servo-skull had made it inside momentarily, which might have let it record or scan something.

"I assure you, it was purely accidental. How was I supposed to know that someone over there was standing right in front of the opening?"

Kaul scratched his head in vexation.

Eden glared. "No more flinging random junk around, understood?"

"Yes, Lord Savior. Should I go over and handle it?"

Carter asked. The servo-skull might have collected important info; better to destroy it.

"Let's not stir up more trouble," Eden said, shaking his head. Rushing in now would only expose more intel and risk creating greater hostility. On top of that, a forge world was effectively a Mechanicus stronghold, armed with an entire defense force.

This was just a minor mishap. If they went in and started a fight, it would blow up into something serious.

As for any leaked information, well, that was unfortunate but couldn't be helped. Eventually, once they began fully utilizing the Webway, there would be no hiding it anyway.

Fortunately, Eden's domain lay in the "dark side" of the Imperium. Even if other Imperial powers coveted the Webway, they wouldn't locate his territory for some time. And even if they found it, they couldn't simply force their way in.

All he really had to worry about was Chaos and aliens. ...Though of course, attacks from within the Webway were still a concern.

Forge World "Stygia-VIII"

A giant ring of brownish dust orbited the gas giant in the Vulkanis Binary Star system. "Stygia-VIII" was the eighth massive satellite within the planet's rings, known as the Sleepless Eye.

Thick smoke choked the entire Forge World. Enormous furnace complexes devoured minerals day and night. Colossal monuments to the Omnissiah and the Machine loomed, while truly enormous weapons factories dotted the horizon.

This Forge World had fallen to traitors during the Horus Heresy, only to be saved by mysterious Aeldari intervention, forging a hidden Mechanicus faction here dedicated to studying alien technology—heresy in most Tech-Priests' eyes, but vigorously pursued by these rebellious minds.

Various Inquisitors considered them blatant heretics, but the Forge World's importance—and the political clout of the Machine Cult—meant no open punishment was forthcoming.

A-VIII1248 Mechanical Plant.

Dozens of black-robed Mechanicus Skitarii Rangers searched the facility, wearing deep red armor (representing the Omnissiah and Mars) beneath black cloaks (symbolizing secrecy).

"Still no sign of the intruder. Could they have vanished into thin air? Keep searching!"

Tech-Priest Parus was frustrated by their inefficiency. He was sure someone had attacked him with a strange can just now. Even though it didn't hurt him, it had interrupted his train of thought, making him lose a precious spark of inspiration.

He was furious. The culprit must pay!

Zzt—

A half-destroyed servo-skull spat sparks, finally dropping to the floor.

They even destroyed his mechanical creation! Outrage flashed in Parus's eyes. He grabbed the servo-skull with a mechadendrite and plugged in a data cable.

Luckily, the data core wasn't entirely wrecked. He extracted residual images from its memory and projected them midair.

It showed the servo-skull colliding with a distorted pocket of space. The moment it crossed over, a gigantic fist punched it. Then the feed cut out.

That was all?

Parus was baffled. The other side was completely hidden, but evidently possessed some kind of spatial technology and monstrous strength.

He also found it odd that they didn't continue attacking—just gave him a quick knock.

The only explanation was that they bore no strong malice.

Still, Parus stowed away the odd can that had struck him and placed monitoring devices in that region of twisted space. If it ever fluctuated again, he would know immediately.

He chose not to report anything. This mechanical plant was effectively his personal fiefdom, and he had no desire to let outsiders poke their noses in.

"'Authentic Mechanical Fuel Drink'?"

Returning to his workshop, Parus placed the bizarre can under various instruments to examine it thoroughly.

It was printed with symbols of the Mechanicus, plus an unfamiliar crest—a combination of a holy cogwheel and a radiant sun? He had never seen it before.

Yes, it seemed to be a Mechanicus product from some unknown Forge World. The words on the can read, "Stay sharp and awake—drink Authentic Fuel! (Tastes better than any 'Improved Fuel!')"

No data about it existed in the known database, but that wasn't entirely surprising. Some Forge Worlds were unregistered or had had their records expunged.

Parus carefully studied the can, mumbling, "Hmm, so this is a special beverage for Tech-Priests..."

He was curious about its taste but also cautious. So he placed the can in a sealed container that could withstand a potent explosion, letting mechanical arms open it and take a sample.

After confirming it was nontoxic and posed no threat, Parus retrieved the can and took a light sip.

Zzt—

His dark-red mechanical eyes glowed intensely, old parts revving in high gear.

Parus swore it was the most delicious drink he'd ever tasted. He felt his mechanical components become more lubricated, the sweet but cool "gasoline" flavor rushing straight to his organic brain. The sensation was indescribable!

His muddled thoughts instantly clarified. He regained the muse he'd lost earlier—even more perfected now!

"Praise the Omnissiah!"

Parus was amazed that merely a sip of the beverage restored his creative spark.

And it was no coincidence. Mechanicus tech-savants valued "fuel drinks" for their real, powerful effects. Not only did they serve as a special lubricant for a mech-body, they also brightened mental faculties.

Initially, these "fuel drinks" had been nothing special. But once the two Urth Tech-Priest Grand Savants, Kaul and Mos, started competing over them, it became a mad arms race. They repeatedly tweaked formulas, sparing no expense to incorporate beneficial substances. They even employed Webby to run tens of thousands of iterative optimizations on the recipe.

Now, these drinks had gone beyond typical beverages into the realm of potent health supplements. Indeed, they included everything from micro-lashes of solar energy to exotic bio-stimulants, all carefully balanced so as not to ruin the taste.

The can in Parus's hand was the very latest version of "Authentic Fuel," a source of pride for Kaul . It temporarily had the upper hand over Mos's "Improved Fuel." But Kaul wasn't slacking off—he suspected Mos was soon launching a new product line.

Thus, Parus had effectively gulped down a top-tier mental booster, infused with micro doses of "solar" power. Its potential was terrifying.

"How precious...they used such a valuable concoction just to attack me? They must be decent people indeed," Parus sighed, overjoyed. He decided not to drink any more, carefully storing the rest within a sealed stasis device.

With that settled, he went back to researching his xeno-tech project, quite enthralled. Nothing thrilled these "secret-tech" priests more than dabbling in forbidden knowledge.

...

Back on the survey ship:

Having collected data from a few more portal gates, Eden and his party returned onboard. The first phase was complete. The Interior Ministry was forming a Webway Operations Department of several million personnel, who would later move in to manage, monitor, and maintain the Webway—cataloging gates, regulating travel, and so on.

Eden had scarcely seated himself in the lounge before catching a whiff of sharp engine fumes. Fuel drink again—Kaul was at it once more.

Eden still didn't understand the Tech-Priests' obsession with that sticky stuff. Recently, Kaul had begged Eden to endorse the brand—he wanted to put Eden's likeness on the can.

Ugh, a sponsorship?

Eden, citing a desire to "maintain fair competition," had sternly refused, mostly because he genuinely disliked that stuff.

He rubbed his nose and went back to reviewing Stygia VIII's data. It was a renowned Forge World in the Imperium, so it'd be vital for future contacts. Possibly they could obtain key Imperium tech from there.

At present, Eden's domain was advanced in some areas (like Warp research and mini-suns) but still lagged behind the Imperium's core. They lacked the truly apex technologies: Terminator armor, Titan fortresses, melta weapons, etc. Even the power armor worn by their Space Marines was an improvised interim design. They needed the top-tier patterns to optimize further.

One major hope for the initial Webway exploration was to find leftover advanced relics to fill these technology gaps. However, Eden so far was disappointed—this region had been largely empty except for the ubiquitous warp beasts and endless gates. He lamented that the ancient Aeldari seemed to have left nothing behind. Not even a shard of scrap.

He sighed, shelving any grand illusions of easy relic-hunting. Then, after the squads led by Duke had finished clearing Chaos creatures, the survey ship took flight again.

They headed deeper into the main passage of the Webway.

"Not much to see, is there? It's kind of repetitive," Eden remarked, leaning by the porthole and propping his chin up to watch. The main corridor was vast and unchanging, no debris or ruins in sight.

But that was a good sign—this stretch of the Webway was intact.

Still, the monotony bored him. Soon, Eden felt drowsy and dozed off in the Warp-charged atmosphere.

Inevitably, it led to another nightmare courtesy of Slaanesh.

He dreamed of all sorts of top-tier beauties from his past life, plus Slaanesh itself, and a goddess figure like the Aeldari deity Isha.

Huh? A new scene?

This time was different: in the dream, he was on a weird planet of soft, cotton-candy-like whiteness. He saw Slaanesh and a goddess reminiscent of Isha. They held hands with him, drifting to a fluffy bed of clouds.

The goddess—like a pure, noble spirit in translucent veils—gazed at him with longing eyes.

Wait, how was he dreaming about Isha? She was supposedly in Nurgle's garden...

Isha was a rare wholly "good" Warp entity. Yet her story was tragic. First imprisoned by Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Aeldari god of war, then snatched away by Slaanesh for endless torment, until Grandfather Nurgle fell in love with her and took her for himself.

Nurgle "cares" for Isha in his plague garden, dancing about joyfully for her. He cultivates diseased flora for her enjoyment and constantly brews fresh plague soups for her, hoping to bring her cheer. But she's always weeping.

Eden realized that if he was seeing Isha in a dream crafted by Slaanesh, it might be another perverse scheme. Still, it felt...different, more real.

Moreover, Slaanesh's illusions were typically extremely explicit or torturous. Why was Isha so gentle?

Yet...he was drawn in. They'd already come this far.

Just as Eden leaned in to hold Isha, he felt a teardrop on his chest and heard her soft crying...

(End of Chapter)

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