Chương 11: Chapter 10: How to tune your Dreadnoughts

Location: The Argent Drake, Hangar bay POV: Nicole I tail along trying not to wander off as I follow Archmagos Doll through the hangar bay. It's a massive space and what makes it feel so expansive and impressive is the huge opening into the void covered by an energy shield. It reminds me a lot of Star Wars. What really shocks me is that according to the information The Argent Drake gave me this is not the same component that used to be here.

At some point the Drakios family paid to have Lathe-pattern Landing bays installed on both port and starboard slots. Not just any bays either but the best quality bays that they could buy. Each of the hangars can hold eighteen squadrons of craft. It looks like they have gone for a diverse loadout. Fighters, bombers, assault boats, Aeronautica, and shuttle craft. They have them all. The bay is large enough to ready six separate squadrons for launch at any one time. The bays aren't even full the whole way.

Each hold apparently has about ten squadrons in them right now with the port hold having three fighter squadrons of Fury Interceptors where the starboard hold has three bomber squadrons of Calixis Pattern Starhawk Bombers. Each hold has two squadrons of support craft like Arvus Lighters and the like. Each bay also holds two squadrons of Shark Assault Boats. They have one squadron of Aeronautica in each bay Lightning Strike Fighters and Marauder Bombers.

The reason the bays aren't filled isn't due to a lack of craft, they can apparently produce them thanks to the Small Craft Repair Deck and the Manufactorum but rather a lack of pilots. I also just found out the ship has a Drop Pod Launch Bay on the Keel! There are red robed Mechanicus individuals, servitors, Imperial pilots and military personnel moving all over as they prepare some of the empty storage bays for the Astartes vehicles.

I am trying not to vibrate with pure delight at the thought of finally meeting some space marines. A staple of the Warhammer universe if ever there was one. Given the ruinous appearance of the former light cruiser I don't blame anyone for setting up a quarantine area in the bay to screen people, gear and tools for corruption. Gertrude and a bunch of psykers and a few people from the navigator's spire are looking over the people with a fine tooth comb on the far side of the bay.

The marines will be arriving soon but apparently insisted on getting the normal people off first along with their most critically wounded who are being well taken care of. However that's off somewhere I can't see. Instead I follow Archmagos Doll and watch the rituals and methods he uses to screen for corruption. I actually get the hang of it after seeing it done just a few times. The ritual has minor variations for dealing with weapons, armor or vehicles.

"Master Doll, may I please try to do the next one?" I ask when he is moving between one pile of gear to another. He glances over and gestures for me to go ahead. I perform the ritual and reach out with my implants and quickly point out two of the items that have been corrupted by the warp. One with a minor daemon and the other infected with scrap code.

"Minor Daemon in the helmet. Scrap code trap in the generator cleaning program." Archmagos Doll is clearly interested in confirming my results. He tests the items in question to confirm my findings. Purifying the items is something I'm not confident in doing yet but Master Doll is more than willing to let me aid him. Especially after I prove myself more than capable and efficient at identifying problems. The machine spirits are all neutral towards me at worst.

Some are more than happy to divulge what ails them with minimal fuss. So I start giving all the items Noospheric tags stating what kind of maintenance each needs done or what needs fixed. Within an hour I've figured out that if I perform the ritual while going around a group of objects at a slow walk I can finish the ritual by the time I finish the circuit and tag all the items as needed before pointing out the corrupted gear to Doll.

"I was hoping that it might take you a little longer. I suppose I should have known better. You have been naught but exceptional." Doll tells me with a small wistful sigh.

"Acolyte Nicole. I am hereby promoting you to the rank of Technographer." He tells me.

"Huh? Wait, what did I do to earn this, Master Doll?" He holds up a mechanical finger "One, you already know the Lores. Two, you are actively communing with the machine spirits in front of me. Three, if I do not promote you I fear for the mental and physical well-being of the other Tech Acolytes that compare themselves to you." I blush faintly and nod "Oh… sorry?"

"Do not apologize for being exceptional. I have already cleared it with the other Magi and you meet all the criteria. Now we can move on to you exploring the various Divisio's after all this is concluded. Please continue as you were, Technographer Nicole." He reached over and adjusted the rank insignia on my robe in a manner of moments.

"Yes Archmagos!" I say saluting and bowing before turning back to a pile of Astartes sized bolters. It's less than an hour before the first shuttle comes back with the first proper load of Astartes. I just barely finish with my current task before Doll calls me over and heads towards the Astartes. Their armor is blue so I almost mistake them for Ultramarines but I see one of the pauldrons is a dragon's head and I smile. A quick peek at the signature of their armor reveals that the chapter is the Star Dragons.

"Greetings Astartes. I am Enginseer Prime, Magos Errant Akellonon Doll, Archmagos Fabricator. I would ask you to permit myself and some of my assistants to examine your armor and equipment for trace corruption before we send you off to be screened by the teams we have assembled. The secondary Barracks has been made ready for your use and we have prepared bays for your vehicles." The lead Astartes who has the Captain insignia nods.

"Greetings Archmagos. I am Captain of the Star Dragons ninth company, Bolaar Silvershield, well met. My men and I will comply." I keep my hood up for now and wait for Doll to wave me forward. I get to move up close along with a few other priests and Doll himself who makes a big show of scanning the Marine with an obvious dendrite with a visible laser.

"Sword." I say pointing to a chain blade on the hip of one marine.

"What's wrong with my sword?" The sergeant asks me firmly.

"Lingering taint, the blade needs anointing and cleansing. Three missing teeth. Engine is two cycles out of balance." Doll steps forward "May I see that blade please?" He examines it and nods "She is correct the multitude of foul creatures carved by this blade have left a residual taint. Minor, but one that could result in malignancy. Please allow us to repair it for you. I assure you it will be returned to you in a pristine state."

"Why was she so much quicker than the rest?" He asks, eyeing the priests who were still inspecting their marines.

"She's a gifted one. Her ability to spot identify might eclipse even my own." Doll admits proudly. I take that as tacit approval to keep going.

"Helmet systems are damaged. Life support is compromised in your armor." I tell another towering transhuman who grumbles a little but goes off to the side to take the armor off. The next individual is a Techmarine. His name is tagged Keraar Cogmane. He has a titanic servo arm hovering over his shoulder. I start to look him over and hum softly.

"What?" He asks me with his arms crossed.

"Are you aware your power supply is under-performing by seven point five percent?"

"I am. I lack the spare parts to fix it." He tells me with a bit more respect.

"We have the parts if you would like to perform the maintenance yourself they can be provided. Please proceed with caution with connectors epsilon fifty seven and spinal port three. You may also need to resole your boots they're not grounding you properly." I reach to my hip and fiddle with my Auspex that I have plugged into one of my smaller spinal ports.

"Also you have several injured organs. Your Betchers gland is swollen and your Geneseed is bruised as is your Larimans Organ." I inform the marine with a huff. The nearby Apothecary, Helveptus Sistus, stops to turn and stare at me. I decide to do him next since he seems to be volunteering.

"Your Narthecium needs to be re-sterilized against warp taint, two of the wards are worn. The extractor needs to be sharpened. One of the geneseed cases has micro-fractures. Also. All six of your grenades are chaos tainted please put them in the disposal pile." I say in a, I'm not happy with you, tone before moving on.

"Brother what just happened?" Helveptus asks Cogmane.

"I believe that small child of the Omnissiah just scolded us brother." The pair continue to watch me as I go to the next marine. Who after talking to the Machine spirit for his weapon I give a much louder scolding.

"You! Stop using your Bolter as a melee weapon! Get a bayonet! Or a power hammer! You bent the charging handle and the clip release!"

"Brother Mirpus does break his bolter far more often than he should." Cogmane mutters consideringly. That group of Marines being done with I look up just in time for the Stormbird to fly in and land in the adjacent bay. It starts to disgorge various vehicles when I spot the first one. The large lumbering machine steps out into the hangar and I let out an excited gasp.

"Is that a Contemptor Dreadnought?!" This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Archmagos Doll obviously noting my delight asks "Would you like to go do the honors of checking them over?"

"Them?! There's more than one? Yesss please Master Doll!"

"Then you may do so. Remember to be respectful." He tells me but I'm already moving at a very dignified jog. I start to poke the dreadnought with my sensors reading the name of the marine inside the sarcophagus as I skid to a halt in front of the wondrous machine.

"Hello! Brother Logen Silverfury! I will be checking your chassis over! Please try not to move much."

"... What?" comes the confused rumbling response from Brother Silverfury.

"So how did you end up in a Contemptor? They're Crusade Era Relics and your chapter isn't that old. Your combi-bolter is looking a bit off and your Multi-melta needs a heat exchanger replacement. Pardon me!" I say as I grab one of the handholds and start to climb up the side. —------------------------------------------------------------------------"Brothers I think I require assistance." Brother Silverfury states, his tone confused, as he messages the other three Dreadnoughts.

"Affirmative, we are leaving the Stormbird now. Converging on your position."

"Brother Silverfury, why is there a tiny human perched on your chassis?" asked Lodah Dragonmaw in the Deredeo-Pattern Dreadnought.

"I do not know."

"Why do you not remove them?" Solentor the Ironclad asked.

"I cannot."

"Ha, Do not worry I will remove them… Brothers? I seem to have encountered an error in my targeting software." Solentor said with some confusion. Baldos the Venerable Dreadnought was staring intently at his display screen. He was the oldest of the four. He had seen many things but this was a first. He knew the settings of his chassis inside and out. Baldos defaulted all new entities, even friendly ones, to neutral on his targeting array until he assigned them a friendly designation.

The individual on top of his brother was already highlighted as friendly. He attempted to change that designation and it reverted instantly. He attempted a multitude of ways to mark the Mechanicus child in front of him as anything else and summarily failed.

"Captain Bolaar. We have encountered a concerning anomaly amongst the crew."

"Does it have something to do with the child they sent over to inspect you."

"YES""What's wrong?"

"She is flagged as a friendly VIP in our targeting systems."

"I don't see why that's a big deal. She is friendly. Possibly too friendly." Captain Bolaar replied.

"We did not designate her as such. We cannot change her designation. Even the Archmagos next to you and you yourself I can target and change your designation should I desire it. Her designation does not."

"Oh… I shall query the Archmagos." Bolaar said.

"Do not worry brother, we shall have her removed soon."

"Venerable Baldos... I… I no longer wish for her to be removed."

"Explain yourself. She is defacing your artifice."

"No! She is performing exemplary repairs! She just fixed the actuator scraping issue I've been trying to get fixed for the last hundred years. She is currently repairing my internal temperature controls and noticed the itch one of my worn filter lines was causing."

Now that the three looked closer the little one had revealed a Mechatendril and pulled out what may be the most ornate looking tool kit any of them had ever seen and was performing the exact steps required to service the ancient armor their brother was wearing. She was also excitedly talking about something but they had all just tuned that out at first. Now that he was listening he realized she was explaining the repairs in detail that his brother was getting.

"Are you sure you want to keep the close combat claws? If so I will put in a request to have them sharpened and the power fields tuned. However the parts for your Multi-Melta will need to be specially made by one of our artisans. That might take a week or so before we can swap that out. Your Atomantic Shielding looks like it's not performing to its peak. Did you take a big hit on it recently? I'm gonna guess warp lightning? Don't worry I can fix it.

One of the capacitors just needs replaced and the emitter adjusted." When the small child clicks her tone tongue in annoyance while wrestling with one of the ammo lines she suddenly yells "Whoever installed this line improperly better not still be alive! Or I am going to shove a power blade up their rear!"

"Ha! She's a feisty little one."

"I think I am starting to like her."

"Captain Bolaar. We have elected to allow the child to stay for now. However, we would still like an explanation on her anomalous nature."

"Venerable, I asked the Archmagos about your issue. Why is the Archmagos expressing clear pity towards me?!" —---------------------------------------------------------------- I look up having finished my initial repairs on the lovely Contemptor.

"Let's see here. Ooh! We have a Venerable Castraferrum Pattern Dreadnought featuring a close combat Weapon with Storm Bolter and a Twin Lascannon, a classic! A Deredeo Dreadnought with the Anvilus Autocannon battery, Aiolos missile launcher, and Twin Heavy Bolters. A lovely loadout, very shooty. Last but not least we have an Ironclad Dreadnought with a pair of Hunter Killer Missiles, a Seismic Hammer, a Hurricane Bolter and a Meltagun." I muse out loud as I look the trio over.

"Brother Lodah Dragonmaw, in the Deredeo! You're next, come closer please! You're going first because it offends me and I am fixing that alignment issue with your twin heavy bolters right now!" I hop from one dreadnought to the top of the other with surprising agility, using the extended arms like a bridge and my dendrites to grab holds and leverage myself around. It's time to get to work.

"Venerable Baldos, would you mind if I get someone to spray you down? Your feet and most of your lower torso are covered in viscera."

"That is… acceptable." I spend the next few hours having a great time fussing over each dreadnought. From the top of their chassis down to the treads on the bottom of their big stompy legs. I keep working until I am satisfied with the level of repairs done. There are some fixes that will have to wait for specific parts but everything that we could do immediately gets done. The quartet of Dreadnoughts watch on as I got into an argument with one of their own tech priests.

"These are the wrong size bearings. I don't care what your dataslate says. Get me the size I asked for, those are not the right fit for an ancient Contemptor pattern! The machine spirit told me! You want to bet? I can wager a piece of archeotech. No? That's what I thought. Now fetch!" Once the confrontational Tech Adept eventually comes back with the proper bearings I allow myself to be just a little smug when we properly replace them, much to Venerable Baldos's delight.

I currently sit on Brother Dragonmaw's shoulder casing. My legs dangling as I kick them back and forth under my robe while resting my back on the missile launcher.

"Mmm you all could use a sandblasting and a fresh coat of paint. If I missed any issues you have to tell me right away!" Doll comes over to us inspecting my work and nodding in approval.

"Well done Nicole."

"Archmagos."" Yes, Venerable Baldos?"

"We have conferred. We wish to request this little one be placed in charge of our maintenance whenever possible. Her work has been... Ideal. This decision was unanimous."

"Well... There are things I can't do properly. Like a master artisan making custom parts or Gertrude who will be checking to ensure your sarcophagus suspension fluids are all balanced properly." I admit as I move to slowly climb down from my perch.

"You four don't mind that our Nicole is a little odd? Some might say her methods might come across as disrespectful." Doll stated.

"I am showing respect by making sure they are tuned to the highest grade possible! Their comfort and functionality is the most important thing!" I protest with a small whine.

"We find her outlook... Amusing and tolerable. Should someone else attempt similar actions without the requisite results... we would enact violence upon the offender. We still wish to learn about the… anomaly."

"I assure you I will look into this. This was the first I had heard of that effect as well." Doll says as I stand there looking confused and out of the loop.

"Oh! Good news! I noticed you all use bolters. We have all kinds of different ammo! Let me know your preferences. We even have a few rare types that you might like. I'll make sure you guys see the full list." I tell the quartet as they loom intimidating and stoic over my tiny frame though Doll is just about as large in his full suite of gear just not as broad.

"Now come along Nicole. We are about to unload the last shipment from the Hollow Star's armory. I would like you to accompany me. There are some unusual items that you may be able to help identify. Considering your innate knack for doing so."

"Yes, Master Doll!"