Chapter Sixty-Eight

His Glorious Aspirations. Fallout Universe

"How dare they, the alien filth!" I heard Del Arx yell.

It was so shocking for me to see the Archmagos express this much raw human feeling that I took a step back in surprise. The red robed man wasn't even standing still he was pacing the briefing room that he had requested that I meet him in at this time. I hadn't even known that someone as augmented as him could get mad like this and I was little worried when I noticed some smoke coming off him.

"Holy Mars!" the red robed cyborg figure called out.

My thinking was that he'd discovered something upsetting while checking this dimension's counter part the primary forge world. To cause this sort of an out burst it must have been something that would have driven others to a frothing rages where they smashed everything in sight.

"What is the matter Archmagos?" I asked.

If the cyborg had lungs I didn't know I'd certainly never heard him breathe yet he seemed to pause to take a breath before he worked to display a holo image of the red planet. By the looks of things it was a lifeless place with nothing of value to be found there.

"Upon reviewing the data gathered during your victory against the Xenos who dared sully the throne world of this universe with their presence a transmission was detected and followed back to Mars" I was informed "The vessel sent to inspect Holy Mars found only one feature of note".

The cyborg had to pause to settle himself. He was far more human than I'd ever realised.

"These xenos have built a base on Holy Mars" said the Archmagos "It is transmitting data to a nearby star system as far as we can tell. Not that its purpose matters. Lord Captain I must insist that you remove the blight from the surface of the red planet".

I saw no issue with this as the aliens were hostile.

"We can't simply bombard them" I pointed out "So we will need to attack with our support craft".

My cruiser carried no fighters or bombers, but we did have a number of smaller ships that could fight if needs be and the aliens had weak defences.

"The Priesthood will be grateful to you for removing this stain from the brother of our most sacred world" I was told "and once the xenos taint has been removed we can begin setting up on our operation on Mars. There are deposits of adamantium to be exploited, if we recover as much technology as I hope then your share of metal will be more than enough to cover the costs of this expedition with excess to spare. Perhaps even enough to purchase an larger vessel".

I knew that Adamantium is a metal that is perhaps the strongest substance known to the Imperium, and is invulnerable to attacks from most known weapons. It was the material used to construct the Imperial Palace's inner Eternity Gate, and is often used in conjunction with plasteel and ceramite to produce items that require incredible tensile strength, such as in the structure of Terminator Armour or in the construction of Imperial Titans.

As for purchasing a new ship if I was going to up against tougher enemies then perhaps a heavier cruiser with a fighter bay would be a good investment. My ship was a fine vessel and had served me well yet I was heavily tempted with the prospect of commanding a Lunar-class cruiser. But those concerns were for later.

"What kind of support will you need to claim the Omnissiah's bounty?" I asked.

Unlike when they Ad-Mech had claimed part of Planetos, and they still kept a small outpost there, I couldn't simply let the cogboys make use of the support craft to land people on the surface and assume that they would be okay because Mars was a very hostile world.

"There is one request" mentioned the Archmagos "We need a suitable craft for the journey to Holy Mars. A craft that can ferry large amounts of people and supplies across the solar system".

Since the cruiser would be staying close to Earth, in case more of the aliens turned up, moving materials to the red planet would be an issue as most of the support craft were only meant to travel to the surface of a world and back again.

"We require the use of your Pleasure Craft" stated the red robed cyborg "The model of ship was designed for travel within a solar system and can act as a ferry. We will compensate you for use of the vessel and repair any damage".

Since cooperation between myself and the Ad-Mech would only lead to greater rewards for me later I consented. I liked my Pleasure Craft and it was useful for impressing the natives of the worlds I visited, but I had shuttles that I could use to make trips down to the surface, they wouldn't be as impressive to the locals, it was just that this was a small price to play for future favours from the Ad-Mech.

"There is also the matter of the Lunar colony" mentioned Del Arx "It is the only sign of habitation on Luna".

If I remembered correctly, before the Great War, the Enclave built on the lunar surface, in the region known as the Sea of Tranquillity. How the base endured I had no idea since the moon lacked oxygen and surface water, but it had been picked up on scans once my ship had taken up a stable orbit around Fallout Earth. The moon base showed signs of life yet it hadn't replied to any of our vox transmissions or sent any of its own.

"Since our mission in this system is not to bring this brother of Earth or Luna into the Imperium then we'll leave them be unless they wish to contact us" I decided "This time we are playing the role of an expedition not an invasion force".

I felt sure that they have something interesting to trade stashed somewhere and while I'd considered simply landing a shuttle outside of the base to see what would happen I had a limited amount of time in this part of the multiverse and there were plenty of factions on Earth who would be willing to make deals with me.

Perhaps the Archmagos and I would have discussed matters concerning the red planet and the moon further if not for the fact that one of the ships many servo-skulls floated into the room so as to pass on a message.

"Lord Captain" said the pre-recorded message in the voice of the Master of Etherics "Your presence is requested on the bridge. We are receiving a vox transmission from the world we orbit".

Very few among us knew that we'd appeared a version of the Sol system. It had been decided during a recent meeting, one of many, that I'd had with the Colonel, the ranking battle sister and the Archmagos that most of the crew simply wouldn't understand that we'd travelled to an alternate dimension so it best to keep them ignorant of the truth.

They'd been left with the impression that both this world and Planetos were lost colonies of mankind that needed to be brought back into the Emperor's light. It also helped that gave my crew better pay and higher standard of living then they would be used to. I doubted any of the crew wanted to rock the boat and risk losing their jobs. Not when I kept them out of danger and well-fed.

Since the floating skull was playing a message there was no sense replying. Instead I spoke to Del Arx.

"Archmagos, we may have made contact with the Brother of Steel" I said "Would you care to come up to the bridge and speak with them?".

The robed figure gave me a short bow and then followed me.