Chương 69: Volume Two - Chapter Six - Titan

Sylvia wasn't prepared for one voice in her head, let alone two. She gritted her teeth and shifted her arm to the side, her attention slipping over to the weapon display. The Eternal Pride's volcano lance had just drained its capacitor, and while it was refilling, it wasn't going to shoot in a timely manner. In optimal condition, she could probably fire twice a minute. More than enough when the weapon could bring that much devastation. That was in optimal conditions.

The Eternal Pride was maintained to the lowest standards. The house couldn't afford better. She was also quite certain that some internal damage was messing with the knight's ability to regenerate its motive capacitance.

"Omnissiah, God Emperor, bless this valiant knight as it fights to protect your loyal servants," she muttered. If the volcano lance couldn't do it, then she would simply have to rely on other options. She switched over to the targeting controls for the twin siegebreaker cannon mounted on the Eternal's left pauldron. The gun's targeting auspex was out of whack, either knocked around by the fall or it was simply not functional. It didn't matter. She switched to visual aiming and squinted at the feed.

The ork vehicles were half-slagged. Of the ten rushing her way, four were flaming wrecks and a fifth was even now careening off into the distance on only two wheels. Ammunition was cooking off in those wrecks, sending pyrotechnics into the air. The remaining five were coming still, their riders and drivers hooting and hollering. She didn't have a targeting solution, but she did have ammunition to spare.

She fired the first shot, blowing up a clod of dirt in the distance, then based on that, swivelled the gun around and fired the next shot right into the front of the foremost vehicle. The ork truck tanked the hit, but the next two hits blew off the driver's head and detonated the truck's engine. The other vehicles wheeled around the carcass. They were being peppered by lasfire as they did. A good sign, though she was still worried.

"Come on, where are the squighog riders?"

"Vermin." On that, they agreed. She found that the riders had congregated relatively close by, using the wreck of one of the armigers for partial cover while they took potshots at her men. Even as she watched a frak grenade went off nearby, throwing one of them off their mount. They weren't running off, however. She suspected that they were supposed to, but her men were too juicy of a target, especially with the downed knights boosting their morale. She introduced them to one of the Eternal's meltas.

The beam came out with a sputter, then after a few false starts, blasted out as a coherent laser that she raked across the group of orks. The gun's mounting point was at too much of a strange angle to make the shot count for much, but she managed to cut a large ork in half, and blast a few others back. The rest of the orks either spun their mounts around and charged, or leapt off and started to run towards her men. She grunted. She couldn't turn her guns around enough to help.

Sylvia slammed a fist onto the command throne.

"Do you trust your people?" The question jarred her for a moment, but Eternal Pride was right, she had to trust her soldiers. She instead returned her focus to the weapons that she could bring to bear. The volcano lance was only at half-capacity. If she fired now, it would be a weak, sputtering shot, but it was better than nothing, and soon the riders would be out of her limited firing arc. She brought the arm with the lance around, then triggered another shot.

The cockpit warmed up, though not as much as last time. The beam still filled her auspex with fuzz and light. Moreso when the beam struck another ork vehicle and blew it up. Sylvia leaned back. That was it. That was all she could do. The amount of lasfire and the occasional, familiar whump of a frak grenade assured her that her men were still in the fight. She was almost surprised when she saw a trio of orks retreating. That was also very much unlike them.

The orks were chased by lasfire, and two of the three were taken down before the last, riding on an injured squighog, made it far enough that shot efficiency dropped and someone ordered them to hold back. Sylvia reached to the back of her neck, then paused. If she simply ripped her MIU out, it was very likely that she'd simply die.

"Shit," she muttered.

"I think that now may be a good time to discuss the possibilities my presence gives you. Specifically, as a Vanguard, you now gain access to points for eliminating threats to civilisation. These can be redeemed at any time for catalogues and the items within them." Sylvia waited for a moment, then leaned back into the throne. She had to trust that her men could handle this. It was only... maybe a dozen orks? With fire support coming in from the rear, they would live, probably.

The usual rule of thumb was three soldiers per ork. That was a good way to ensure victory in most small-scale conflicts. They had about that many here, plus the 56th lending some firepower from the trenches. It would be enough. That gave her time to consider the consequences. First, the near-term. Some of her men would be dead, others injured. That was the cost of war. Some would hate her for it, but most of those under her command were veterans of at least one prior siege. They knew what they were in for.

The defence of a knight was worth a lot of common soldiers. Some hated that, but others understood. Next, the repercussions from command. She hadn't defied any direct orders, and in the confusion, her actions made some amount of sense. There might be some repercussions, but unless she ran into a particularly ornery commissar, there wouldn't be too many issues there. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The civil war...

she didn't even know where to start with that. It was a problem for high command at the moment. Her House... That she could predict a little better. House Nekoton had just lost two knights, and two Knight pilots. The Eternal Pride was damaged, severely. Her uncle was out of the fight, likely for a long time. And now she, a mere squire, had bonded with their last remaining knight. It was very possible that they'd want her dead. It was also possible that some members of the family would simply flee.

Others might insist that if she wanted to be the knight's pilot, then all of the responsibilities that came with that would be on her shoulders. A headache, for sure. Finally, the voice.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Vyper. I am what you may call a Machine Spirit."

"Intruder! Though I feel the strength of your resolve, titan, I am no serf to the likes of you!" Titan? Sylvia had been coached on how to address and handle knights and their powerful spirits. Admittedly, she had cussed out the Eternal Pride and had done none of the things she was meant to do. Still.

"Oh, great spirit of a titan," she began, mind scrambling to remember all of the right terms.

"We thank you for your consideration."

"Think nothing of it. I am here to assist. I must warn you, a rapid-disconnect of your current MIU will lead to your death. I see two solutions to this. First, a personal implant upgrade. Second, an update and upgrade to the mechanical throne you are seated within. Both are, unfortunately, somewhat costly. Fortunately, I have registered several kills on your behalf. Here, this is your kill-tally and point total:" Kills Confirmed: 13x Orks 7x Gretchin New Point Total: 395"What are these?" she asked.

"Points. You earn them for eliminating enemies. Might I suggest spending a few now? There are certain items you will need if you expect to survive the coming minutes."

"Weapons?"

"I have several million weapon-types available, yes. From humble personal weapons to titan-class armaments to specialised planet-crackers. At the moment, however, most of these wouldn't be of any immediate use."

"Heed the words of the titan-spirit, fool pilot, but be wary. Traitors abound."

"The caution is warranted." Sylvia shook her head, then winced as it pulled on the jack of her MIU.

"Fine. You'll sell me a trinket to improve the throne?"

"Certainly! You'd need a catalogue first. Most of these are relatively expensive, but I believe something like Mechanised Super-Heavy Armored Fighting Vehicle for 300 points would give you a wonderful start. Followed by a Throne Mind-Link System Upgrade, for 90 points. It will bring you dangerously close to having no points left, but you will be able to safely disconnect from the throne." She frowned.

"No. Explain better, please." She tacked on that last after remembering that this Vyper was possibly the machine spirit of a titan. There were only a few of those on Chrysis, ancient machines, tens of thousands of years old, and venerated as the prized possessions of their houses. None of them were called Vyper, as far as she was aware.

"Shall I put it in Imperial terms?" A strange request. It made her ears twitch. She had grown up hearing stories about ancient knights. Some of them pre-dated the Imperium.

"Please," she said.

"In your terms... Unlocking a catalogue gives you access to one of my STCs. From that Standard Template Construct, I can produce goods and materials, then I use a teleportarium-like device to bring them to your side. These include anything from personal goods, weapons, clothing, to full-scale war machines, knights, and fabrication facilities." Sylvia swallowed.

"Ah," she said.

"Do not jeopardize this, pilot."

"Yes, I would like... what you suggested earlier," Sylvia replied.

"Certainly!" New Purchase: Mechanized Super-Heavy Armored Fighting Vehicle Catalogue New Point Total: 65 New Purchase: Throne Mind-Link Interface Upgrade - Self-Installing New Point Total: 5 Sylvia was surprised when a box simply appeared on the edge of her throne. It was roughly a hand-span long and wide, but thin, and was made of a dark, lacquered wood. Embossed on the front was a heraldic shield, with some sort of snake coiled around it.

She didn't recognize the heraldry, but it was done in a style that was ancient, with a banner that had some text in very old High Gothic. Above was a banner with OMNIA MENSURANTUR, and below was a second, with VITA PRETIUM HABET. She frowned, and opened the package, only to find a sleek, all-black data transfer device. The kind she'd seen some members of the Mechanicus use to transfer information from one cogitator to another.

"Simply insert the device into the throne, and it will implement the upgrade." She found the slot for it under a small panel to her side. There were already other drives within, but they seemed older, more grimy. The new one literally glowed from within, and she suspected that any proper member of the Mechanicus would stab someone for a chance to study it. Sylvia inserted it into the throne. Immediately, the throne shook, and a sweep of golden light washed through it. Every light flickered, then went stable.

Her MIU warmed up, and she gasped as the feed cleared up instantly. Her sense of the Eternal Pride sharpened, as did her connection to the knight's auspex and sensorium, and even the spirit of the knight itself went from feeling as though she was seeing it through foggy glass to being entirely clear.

"Good work! I'm afraid that if you want further upgrades, you may want to consider killing more foes."