Chapter 267: Simulacrum Sanctum (Seeking Monthly Votes for the Third Update)

The 33rd Expeditionary Fleet and the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet gathered in the Cydonia System, adjacent to Vostonia.

Gabriel and Storm General Amadeus Ducaine traveled together by Stormbird to the Shadow of Sovereignty.

The war council began immediately; Primarch Attendant Arsena Dunn held a data slate and reported to the two Primarchs.

"According to intelligence provided by Rogue Trader Lewis Von Valancius and the results of the auger matrix scans, the Fulao fleet has a total of eight battlecruisers."

"Given that the Fulao raiding fleets often appear in pairs of battlecruisers, and considering that my Lord repelled the Xenos raid on the Vostonia system before returning to the Imperium, I infer that they are once again amassing strength, seeking an opportunity to launch an attack."

Ninglu nodded slightly, acknowledging the "Knower's" deduction; he looked at Ferrus Manus, his fingers tapping on the east and west sides of the holographic image of the Cydonia System.

"Manus, the two strongholds controlled by the Fulao within the Cydonia System are located on the north and south sides, respectively."

"Our fleet will launch an attack from both flanks."

The strength of the two fleets was superior to that of the Fulao, so the outcome of the battle was not in doubt; the only question was how great the losses would be.

Ninglu himself was more concerned with what he could learn from the "Iron Hands" by taking this opportunity.

Manus's silver-coin-like eyes shone, and his leaden voice rang out.

"Two sharp blades, thrust into the Cydonia System; let us purge the foolish Xenos."

After the war council ended, Manus and Dukaien returned to the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet flagship first, while Gabriel remained to provide a briefing to Ninglu.

"My Lord, I have jointly developed the Simulacrum Sanctum with the Iron Hands, and it is expected to be used in the war against the Fulao."

Ninglu nodded slightly: "Record the usage data as a reference, and research a version suitable for the Order Shadow."

He knew that the Order Shadow, unlike the Iron Hands, could not process massive information flows after large-scale mechanical augmentation.

Among the low-tier Order Shadow, only a small number of "Knowers" could barely handle this level of data processing.

Ninglu would not let the Order Shadow become the Iron Hands, as that would mean losing their own advantages.

Regardless of equipment or tactics, he wanted to borrow their advantageous parts and integrate them into his Legion.

"Following Your will," Gabriel replied, "I will develop our own Simulacrum Sanctum for the Legion."

He continued his report: "Thanks to Your revelation, the research on the Golden Garuda has made preliminary progress, and the thirty-one Techmarines I lead have already been equipped."

The Golden Garuda on Gabriel's left shoulder turned its head to look at Ninglu; the moment it saw the golden wings, its golden neck stiffened.

Its raised head immediately lowered and turned in the opposite direction.

"In the upcoming battle, conduct field tests on the Golden Garuda," Ninglu issued the order.

"Following Your will," Gabriel acknowledged the order, then drew a cast-iron scepter from behind his back.

"In the ancient ruins that Adams excavated on Medusa following Your orders, Dukaien and I jointly discovered ten of these scepters in the second ruin we explored."

"After our research, we discovered it was named the Heart-Forging Scepter."

"I, the Medusans, the Iron Hands, and the Librarian of the Fourth Legion have all studied it, but none of us have been able to activate it."

Ninglu recalled the memories regarding the Heart-Forging Scepter at this moment; this scepter was only suitable for those born with both psychic talent and the talent for mechanical body enhancement.

The "Iron Hands" had always kept the Heart-Forging Scepter as a relic weapon, until the forty-first millennium, when Chief Librarian Lindrick finally activated the scepter and became its first master.

While Ninglu was deep in thought, Gabriel continued his report.

"Our only research result so far is the discovery that it not only has psychic circuits carved within it, but also contains a sentient, rudimentary Machine Spirit."

"The technology to achieve such coexistence has now been lost."

Ninglu nodded slightly: "Send it to the Legion Armory, and order every Librarian to attempt it; whoever can activate the Heart-Forging Scepter shall possess it."

He continued: "I have selected thirty members from the Honor Guard; they will return with you and serve as attendants to the Iron Hands commanders during this joint military operation."

"I have already spoken to Manus about this matter; you shall take them with you."

Gabriel immediately accepted the order; he first instructed his subordinates to send seven Heart-Forging Scepters to the Armory.

Because the "Psychic" Adams discovered the ruins and later jointly excavated them, he held a higher share when distributing the spoils of war.

Gabriel then returned to the Tenth Legion flagship with the Honor Guard members; when he arrived at the Strategy Room on the Bridge, Manus had just finished listening to Dukaien's briefing.

Manus looked at Gabriel, and his leaden voice rang out.

"You participated in the development of the Simulacrum Sanctum earlier and displayed the same data-processing capabilities as the Iron Hands."

"But they have not undergone the relevant augmentations and cannot complete the Iron Hands' data processing."

"I have just discussed it with Dukaien, and we have already selected the commanders for them to attend."

"Thank you, Lord Manus," Gabriel replied.

Under the guidance of the Iron Hands, the Honor Guard members headed to their respective companies and squads.

Gabriel went to the Simulacrum Sanctum with Manus and Dukaien; they removed their power armor, changed into comfortable robes, and then walked into a space that looked like a wall made of data equipment as large as a transfer deck.

Amidst the humming, Gabriel sat in a seat surrounded by cables that resembled a drop pod.

The runes in the alcove shone, and the electronic equipment activated, flickering with blue light.

As soon as Gabriel connected to the neural interface linked directly to his spine, he fell into a trance, swallowed by an ocean of data.

Trillions of sensor readings, including the position and flight speed of every warship in the Tenth Legion, surged through his mind.

Unlike reading data on a video screen in the past, there was no process of reading; all the data appeared in his brain in an instant.

Previously, he did not need to involve himself with the data of sector commanders; they handled that themselves and passed the key data to the upper levels.

Most fleets of the Imperium were like this, but the "Iron Hands" and the Adeptus Mechanicus were not.

Manus required his sons to incorporate all data into their calculations; mechanical augmentation gave them the corresponding computing power, and the Simulacrum Sanctum gave them the technical means to realize it.

The Iron Hands were immersed in the ocean of data; while they were physically in their seats, their minds reached every region of the entire fleet.

Gabriel was not like the Iron Hands; he had not undergone mechanical augmentation and had no implants to assist him in processing massive amounts of data.

But he was an "Archaeologist"; two enhancements to his mental body gave him a superhuman brain superior to most Astartes, possessing stronger data-processing capabilities.

At the same time, Gabriel's strong-brained cat curled up at his feet, further amplifying his computing power.

After a few breaths, the "Archaeologist" adapted to the massive data and began to keep up with the rhythm of the Iron Hands.

At the same moment, the "Knowers" on other warships, who had only undergone one mental body enhancement, found it much more difficult than Gabriel.

Fortunately, the Iron Hands also follow the basic laws of war, with different levels of data authorization for different tiers.

For non-flagship vessels, the data ocean of the Simulacrum Sanctum contains only the portion relevant to them, with the surging data being several orders of magnitude lower than that of the flagship.

The 52nd Expeditionary Fleet, like precisely operating gears, "rotated" without the slightest deviation, accurately inserting itself into the center point between the northern and southern planets of the Cydonia System.

Data captured by the Auspex surged into the Simulacrum Sanctum and entered the minds of the Iron Hands.

All members of the Simulacrum Sanctum grasped the status of enemy, friendly, and allied warships within the system.

{Enemy ships A-J, distance 507,429 kilometers, phase 8-0-5, inclination 2...

... }

Within ten breaths, they modified the battle plan based on real-time conditions.

The hundred members in the flagship's Strategy Room had their brains operating at high speed, conducting simulations in the virtual cognitive space.

The plans simulated by everyone were transmitted to one another, and each person evaluated every plan within the virtual cognitive space of the Simulacrum Sanctum.

Ultimately, the plan of Lord Manus was evaluated as the optimal plan in the virtual four-dimensional space of nearly everyone.

During this process, Gabriel profoundly realized that this was not based on the authority of a Primarch, but on absolute, cold calculation.

Furthermore, every member in the Simulacrum Sanctum deeply understood all the details of Lord Manus's plan.

The battle plan was transmitted to the other Simulacrum Sanctums of the fleet within twenty breaths, and was understood by all Iron Hands within another ten breaths.

The 52nd Expeditionary Fleet, like interlocking gears, "rotated" at Rapid speed.

Decoy warships lured the Ether cannons of the Fulao into attacking them, while Capital Ships conducted precision strikes against enemy ships.

Gabriel discovered that the battle plan of Manus and the Iron Hands calculated every reaction of the Fulao fleet.

The Fulao fleet was like a stringed Puppet, destroyed by the perfectly coordinated 52nd Expeditionary Fleet.

Even if a warship occasionally deviated from the projections, the Iron Hands could iterate a new battle plan within a few breaths.

It was as if every battlefield contingency was strangled by the cold logic and calculations of the Iron Hands.

Gabriel discovered that, except for the Destroyers and Frigates that attracted the fire of the Fulao Battlecruisers and could not avoid sustaining losses, no Capital Ship suffered an Ether cannon strike.

As the first Fulao Battlecruiser was destroyed, the "Archaeologist" felt a large chunk of the data ocean disappear.

While observing and recording, he still had the capacity to pay attention to the battle situation of the 33rd Expeditionary Fleet, which he had previously ignored.

(End of this chapter)