Holy Terra

Walking the massive gothic halls of Luna's dockyards was awe inspiring as hundreds of thousands to millions of men and women moved around amidst tasks constantly. Imperial Guard and other forces collectively patrolled the docks and maintained a tight guard on everything coming in and out. 

Distant hymns dedicated to the Emperor cascaded through the highly arched and dark passageways. These sounds were further enhanced by the faint sound of distant tank tracks that ground against ceramite plating. Servo-skulls floated ominously from hall to hall with countless servitors and indentured Organic people flowing from one room to another in conducting their maintenances. Sparse lighting made the entire ambience spooky and frightening as every now and then the sound of screaming leaked from the cracks of guard rooms.

My women were getting closer to me as they constantly scanned our surroundings, all three of them becoming more wary by the second. I was already expecting this, the Imperium, whilst being a bastion for Humanity in the darkness, was a horror-filled hellscape of political machinations and warfare. Nothing was ever simple or kind here, life was miserable and the only reason to continue living was that the afterlife was even worse.

The entire dockyard was a hubbub of horror and life, the entire thing teeming with human life and barbarity. Looking over at one of the docked vessel's exterior I watched as a man fell to his death, other people around him crying out for a second only to quieten within the next second, going back to work. The Grace of the Imperium, was non-existent at this point. They were a roiling mass of thrashing humans fighting for survival no matter the cost. I didn't have disgust for them, in fact, I had respect... Only the truly strong and powerful could hold out in this environment and it seemed that the Imperium was full of people such as this.

Our journey through the docks took an hour, in which time my wives had settled down and had started paying attention to Guilliman and Cawl, who were conversing quietly amongst themselves. The halls started to become more narrow and focussed as we stepped deeper into the structure. No people could be seen or heard in this place as at the far end of the current hall we were traversing a small hanger bay door could be seen, with an Imperial transport sitting on a large launch pad, its engines lightly burning in activity.

Smells of incense and oils hit our noses next as the Tech Priests of Mars softly walked in the opposite direction to us. Their red robes swayed side to side as many litanies spewed forth in Binary, a language my abilities could easily understand. Jean was weirded out by the priests as Selene had her eyes open a little wider than usual. Hela was just paying attention to Guilliman and Cawl, who at this stage were not speaking and merely heading towards the transport. Passing by the tech priests with a casual gait the smells intensified as if it was their intentions to 'purify' us before me stepped down onto Terra.

Ignoring their rituals I just walked ahead towards the transport, my women following me closely as the screeching of Binary continued in low tones. Cawl looked at his 'brethren' for a few second before shaking his head and stepping into the transport. Guilliman straight up entered with me and my women following, Selene looking like she was seeing a ghost.

The hum of the engines picked up as the entire ship rattled, our forms being locked into seats with seatbelts. My women were all around me with Guilliman standing on the opposite side with Cawl toying with some small devices in his hands.

"Selene, what's wrong honey?"

She flicked her head in my direction her eyes meeting with mine. A small comforting smile radiated from her as she shook her head slightly.

"Nothing, just saw something from the time of the Romans..."

"The language?"

She nodded and gained a questioning expression, Hela and Jean also looking at me for an explanation. I chuckled a little as I looked at Guilliman who had his eyes closed in contemplation.

"Gothic, which is what they speak, is heavily based upon Latin, Greek and various other languages, this also includes English. You could say that It isn't hard to find influences from the past in the modern Imperium." Selene nodded, her eyes widening as she looked at Guilliman's armour, noting the script that ran over the pauldrons. 

"I see. Thanks sweetheart, that sets my mind at ease..."

"No problems, feel free to ask." We once again entered into silence as the transport ship entered into the atmosphere of Holy Terra. Our course was set for the Himalayas, or to be more accurate, the structure on top of the Himalayas. The Imperial Palace could not be seen through the insides of the transport but I was sure it was magnificent, the Emperor being a man of sheer opulence, as if to flaunt the might and tranquillity of Humanity.

Cawl continued to toy with the devices in his hand, many tools and instruments extending from his arms to poke and prod it. Looking at the device I could instantly tell that it was a design focussed on compactness and space. The entire structure of the device seemed to have small circuits that arced energy out into spatial nodes that condensed the contents of the device. 

'An STC?'

Noting my gaze Cawl's biomechanical eyes flickered back and forth between me and the device, his tools lightly clacking together as if in debate within himself. Finally, however, it seemed that he couldn't resist the possibility of releasing the secrets within the device.

"Prime Emelia, do you wish to examine this device? I have not yet been able to understand everything about it." The proposal surprised me as Cawl always seemed to be a very secretive and cautious individual within the books, even to the point that he kept the Primaris Marines project secret for over ten thousand years.

"Sure. If you so wish you can aid me." His mechanical arms and limbs moved as he extended the device out into my open hands, his body hunching forwards towards the device and me. 

Now having a chance to closely examine the entire device I could see that the spatial nodes were interlinked with a high connectivity material not too dissimilar to the materials used for the bodies of my AI wives. All of this then lead into a singular core that had a hexagonal pattern. My eyes zoomed in on the details of the structure and soon found that the entire device, which was spherical, was made of extremely advanced neutronium alloys.

"Neutronium alloys, Spatial condensing technology and superconductive alloys." Cawl moved his head to look at me as I worked, his instruments clicking once more as Guilliman now looked over, his eyes watching everything that was happening.

"This sphere is indicative of a technology that we have... Spatial expansion technology and compression. I can unlock the device, within a minute but I am sure that if i do that the contents will spill out. Seeing as how this is a spatial device-"

"You are concerned about the size of the things within and what it would do to the transport..." Guilliman was the one to finish my sentence as he looked at the device in my hands. Selene, Jean and Hela were all looking at me in pride as Cawl was oozing emotions close to elation and respect.

"Very efficient. Do your biological eyes surpass those of normal humans or are you augmented?" Cawl was practically frenzied emotionally, his mechanical elements responding by clicking and clacking as he struggled to stay seated.

"I am not augmented by technology, I am merely at an ascended state of existence. This change occurs when you get to the Primordial level of existence."

From there the conversation was cut short as the transport landed, loud horns and bells blaring out as the sound of cheering increased. With the conversation completely interrupted we all stood, Cawl seeming a little saddened at not being able to continue speaking with me. Guilliman rolled his neck for a few seconds before stepping towards the back of the transport, his hand hitting the button on the side of the transport. In seconds a cascading cacophony of cheers and yells filled the inside of the transport, citizens and Imperial Guard gathered around the landing pad for a chance to see the fabled son of the God Emperor.

My wives were stunned at the sheer volume and number as it beat every single speech I've ever held, just for a landing. 

'Fuckers out did me... I'll have to fix that...'

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I have another Fan Fic called: A New Life, Beyond Realms: Tensura x Overlord, please check it out here: https://www.webnovel.com/book/a-new-life-beyond-realms-tensura-x-overlord_29310820600463405

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