Chapter 232: Signing a Covenant with Graia (Seeking Saturday Follow-up Reads)

After the Crown of Graia arrived in the system, Forge Director Dege'aisi-12 hao of Graia led a team to the Shadow of Sovereignty.

Considering that both sides would be long-term allies in the future, Ninglu also accorded the Forge Director sufficient respect.

The Shadow of Sovereignty fired an eleven-gun salute; this was the highest level of respect the Eleventh Legion could pay to its guests.

Ninglu himself personally waited on the landing pad alongside Master of the Forge Rosicky Cech to welcome them.

Ninglu saw Dege'aisi-12 hao walk off the deck; only the upper half of his face showed human flesh and blood components.

The lower half of his face was covered by a respirator, and there was a mechanical implant on his left forehead, the surface plated with a layer of black chrome.

The decoration on his forehead was branded with the upper half of the Graia emblem: the sacred gear and the rising sun.

The sacred gear is the universal symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus, while the rising sun symbolizes the arrival of a new era and is a symbol adopted exclusively by Graia.

Dege'aisi-12 hao's mechanical tentacles swayed, one of them holding an Omnissiah staff.

Four Sages followed behind his flanks, and twelve Tech-Priests carrying incense burners walked at the end.

Their bodies were branded with the Graia emblem, the lower half of which was the abbreviation symbol for Graia.

The vocal array device on Dege'aisi-12 hao's chest sounded, emitting a mechanical synthesized voice.

"Primarch of the 'Order Shadow' // Monarch of Vostonia // Discoverer of the first Knight World, the Daxos Binary System // Ninglu / This unit // Forge Director of the Forge World Graia / Dege'aisi-12 hao / greets you!"

"Welcome, Forge Director of Graia, Dege'aisi-12 hao!"

Dege'aisi-12 hao looked toward the Master of the Forge.

"Rosicky / Cech, it is a pleasure to see you."

"Welcome, Dege'aisi-12 hao."

After the Primarch, the Master of the Forge, and the Primarch Attendant exchanged greetings with the Forge Director, Sages, and Tech-Priests of Graia, the group went to the conference hall of the Primarch Palace and sat opposite one another.

Ninglu looked at Dege'aisi-12 hao across from him and began to speak.

"Forge Director, we have reached a preliminary intention of cooperation regarding the Battle Moon; this is a good start."

"I hope we can finalize the transaction framework today, and for subsequent matters, my Master of the Forge will settle the details with Graia."

Dege'aisi-12 hao's mechanical tentacles swayed.

"Primarch // Ninglu's proposal is logical // High efficiency / This unit approves // Agreed."

Ninglu signaled for the Master of the Forge to speak, and Rosicky, holding a Data Slate, began to speak.

"First is the matter regarding the Battle Moon; it belongs to Graia."

"Our side will dispatch five Techmarines to study the Battle Moon together with your side."

"All research results from Graia must be shared with our side."

After a second of silence, Dege'aisi-12 hao began to speak.

"This unit approves / Intention already reached previously."

The Master of the Forge continued.

"Secondly, Graia shall provide supplies to the Eleventh Legion and its affiliated forces."

"Because Graia is located in the Storm, the core area for supplies will be that sector."

"The scope of supplies includes, but is not limited to, ship construction and maintenance, and the provision of various Graia-pattern equipment, including Xieweishi Daodan Fashiche, Trojan repair vehicles, Sword laser destroyers, Fuchou Liudan Fashiqi, as well as bolters and all other produced weapons and equipment."

The most famous vehicle manufactured by Graia is the Xieweishi Daodan Fashiche, with production numbers second only to Huangquan Ba Hao among the many Forge Worlds.

As for the other well-known vehicle, the Graia-pattern Hellhound armored vehicle, the Imperium has not yet developed the Qimaila Zhuangjia Yunbingche, let alone this variant.

The agreement includes all equipment that Graia is capable of forging, which naturally includes the future Graia-pattern Hellhound armored vehicle.

"Among these, equipment such as the Graia-pattern Xieweishi Daodan Fashiche shall begin to be supplied from the day the agreement is reached."

"Your side shall dispatch Tech-Priests to assist worlds belonging to the Eleventh Legion in mastering the manufacturing technology for equipment such as the Graia-pattern Xieweishi Daodan Fashiche, to achieve mass production."

Dege'aisi-12 hao again remained silent for only a second before speaking.

"This unit agrees / Graia will provide supplies to the 'Order Shadow' Legion."

"Third, the Crown of Graia must move to the war zone when necessary to provide supplies."

No sooner had the Master of the Forge finished speaking than Dege'aisi-12 hao spoke up.

"The nuclear fusion engine of the Crown of Graia / allows it to traverse the Warp / energy consumption is massive // traversing the Warp is dangerous // cannot be moved at will."

Ninglu, who had been letting the Master of the Forge speak on his behalf, explained.

"Forge Director, I will not summon the Crown of Graia at will."

"I will only issue a summons to the Crown of Graia in situations where supplies cannot be obtained from areas adjacent to the war zone."

"The Master of the Forge will discuss the specific circumstances with you in detail."

After fifteen seconds of silence from Dege'aisi-12 hao, the synthesized vocal array sound finally rang out.

"I agree / Details need to be negotiated."

The Master of the Forge continued.

"The final item: the armed forces Graia will provide to our side."

"We hope that the 'Morning Star Titan Legion' can dispatch half of its Titans to accompany the 'Order Shadow' in combat."

"When necessary, the entire Legion must be dispatched."

After five seconds of silence, Dege'aisi-12 hao spoke.

"Graia has the Planet // the Crown of Graia / two strategic points that need guarding / the 'Morning Star Titan Legion' will provide one-third of its Titans."

"Graia's Skitarii / never retreat / they will accompany the Eleventh Legion in operations."

Rosicky frowned slightly and looked at Ninglu.

Ninglu tapped his fingers on the table, pondering in his heart.

【It is necessary to let Graia retain essential armed forces; I remember that when the Crown of Graia traverses the Warp, it encounters the gluttonous Xenos Duononiya and nears destruction, and later it also encounters attacks from the Necron and Chaos.

Moreover, the tenacious will of Graia's Skitarii is legendary; as long as they firmly believe their own data predictions are correct, they, cold and rational, will execute their missions at any cost.】

Their brains are hard-wired into pure logical calculation, such that even enemy psykers are ineffective against these Warriors, unable to penetrate that wall of absolute rationality.

Ninglu then turned his thoughts elsewhere.

【Moreover, there are several Forge Worlds I know of that have not yet been discovered by the Imperium; I can use Divination to locate them and forge alliances.】

Thinking of this, he spoke aloud.

"I agree; I welcome the Morning Star Titan Legion and the Graia Skitarii to fight in coordination with the Order Shadow."

"The Master of the Forge shall represent me in negotiating the details of the alliance with Graia."

Arsena also joined the negotiation team to provide assistance to the Master of the Forge.

After eleven days of talks, the Master of the Forge and Graia finalized the details of the treaty.

On the day of the signing, the lords of the Sixth, Tenth, and Twelfth Chapters, the Chief Librarian, and six other lords including Adams and Thierry Viera, who had just arrived at the Wheel of Fire, all attended the ceremony.

Standing opposite them were the four Sages of Graia.

The Master of the Forge said in a loud voice.

"From this day forth, the Order Shadow and the Forge World of Graia shall be allies, never to abandon one another!"

The Master of the Forge then recited it once more in binary language.

Ninglu and Dege'aisi-12 hao walked to the long table.

After unrolling the parchment scroll, which was 5.2 meters in diameter, Ninglu wrote his name in the bottom right corner.

The Fabricator General used a mechanical tentacle to pick up a quill and signed his own name.

Subsequently, the two also left electronic signatures on a Data Slate.

After the signing, Ninglu, curious about the Gelaia zhi Mian, made a request to Dege'aisi-12 hao.

"I wish to go and visit the Gelaia zhi Mian."

From the chest of Dege'aisi-12 hao, a synthesized sound from an audio array rang out.

"Welcome, Primarch, to your visit."

Ninglu, Luoxiji, and Arsena boarded a Stormbird and flew toward the Gelaia zhi Mian.

The Gelaia zhi Mian shimmered like a gemstone in the firmament of the Wheel of Fire, connected by carbon-fiber highways into a spiderweb.

It was a network woven from nuclear-state cities and giant superconducting conduits, resembling a colossal beast.

The Skitarii of Graia patrolled every passage, while servitors continuously transported supplies.

After Ninglu and the others stepped off the boarding deck, they followed Dege'aisi-12 hao toward the observation window.

The Fabricator General impatiently issued orders in binary language, and the Keluozin Pianyi Tuijinqi of the Gelaia zhi Mian locked onto the stationary orbit of the Battle Moon.

It was like a mechanical tick attaching itself, climbing onto the Battle Moon.

The production subroutines of the Gelaia zhi Mian activated, and every minute, hundreds of newly produced combat servitors poured out from the production lines.

They boarded the Battle Moon together with the Skitarii to establish defensive strongholds.

The fleet descended to the surface of the Battle Moon, and the Sages and Tech-Priests stepped off the boarding deck.

Among them, five "Knowers" clad in black armor also walked off the deck with the team.

After watching the ceremony of the Gelaia zhi Mian landing on the Battle Moon, Ninglu immediately returned to the Shadow of Sovereignty.

At the end of the year 821, the Eleventh Legion purged the fourth and eighth planets.

At the same time, the Space Wolves Legion also purged the third and sixth planets.

Thus, the Eleventh Legion had purged a total of four planets, and the Sixth Legion had purged three planets.

822. M30, the Eleventh, Twelfth, and Sixth Legions launched an offensive against the primary planet of the Wheel of Fire.

(End of chapter)