Chapter Fifteen: The Aquila and the Dragon (Part I)
Location: The Temple of All Knowledge on Mars.
Date: 792.M30
Billions of Martians cheered as the great gates of the Temple opened. A month ago word spread across the red planet that discussion between the Mechanicum Parliament and the Omnissiah. Pilgrims ranging from devout Cyber-Serfs to entire Titan Legions had come to Tharsis. With hopes of seeing the Omnissiah and to learn the outcome of the secret proceeding inside Olympus Mons.
Very little information had passed in or out of the Temple of All Knowledge. All that was known to the public was the preceding events. Such as the Omnissiah arriving in a Divine Chariot that even now hung over the Mountain, casting a literal and metaphorical shadow of the so-called Imperium.
Then after performing multiple miracles, including inspiring two god machines to kneel before him the Omnissiah entered the Temple and made his way to the Parliament within. Flanked by House Taranis Knights he had surprisingly politely asked the complete Martian Parliament to assemble.
It had taken some time and quite a bit of political cajoling on the front of various converted individuals to arrange this soon enough the entirety of the Martian Elite were under one roof with the Emperor of Mankind. Then his intent was declared plainly. To fuse the Empire of Terra and the Empire of Mars into one.
The initial shock and outrage were quelled when the Emperor had explained his goal of unification, not conquest. His goal was to bring humanity together as one great civilization capable of withstanding any horror the universe could produce. Terra and Mars were to be the twin Foundation and Keystone pieces of this edifice.
Soon the Adamantium vault doors of the Parliament were shut and negotiations began in earnest. The Martian citizenry was ignorant to whatever was occurring within the fortified heart of Mechanicum governance. Radical factions both supporting and opposing the newly declared Omnissiah were kept under control thanks to the twin threats of the Bucephalus and the various Cybernetic, Skitarii, and Titan forces brought by the Parliamentarians.
Over the next year Mars awaited any news, tensions continued to mount and three attempted breaches into the Parliament-Sanctum were stopped with extreme prejudice. Now, this period of unknown fearful possibility had ended with the Omnissiah and the Martian Parliament exiting the sanctum and making their way out of the temple of all knowledge.
The crowd's noise, a mix of organic voices, vox-projections and binary screams traveled far through even Mars's thin atmosphere. The closest to the opening gates watched the twin Titans kneel once again as the Omnissiah made his way to the center of the plaza outside of the Temple.
All 687 members of the Martian Parliament assembled around him in a great semicircle. The Emperor held his left hand aloft for the countless citizens and Pict-Capturers to see. In it was an ornate scroll emblazoned with a Twin-Headed Eagle. It unfurled and nearly reached the Emperor's knee. Written on the exquisite vellum in the Emperor's own hand the first copy of The Treaty of Olympus Mons was proudly displayed.
Speaking through every Vox transmitter on the hemisphere the Omnissiah addressed Mars. "Children of Mars, once in ages past humanity was scattered to the stars. Countless worlds looked to distant Sol as the cradle and nexus of the species. It was an era of wonders where we claimed the stars as our own. Humanity grew to never before seen height and unlocked the secrets of the cosmos."
The Martians like so many of Terras lost children carried ancient cultural memories of the Golden Age. Wistful tales passed down hundreds of generations that spoke of Utopia and its destruction. With those tales swirling through the mind of his captive audience the Emperor continued.
"Yet this Age of Glory came to an end when the twin threats of Metal and Flesh let the galaxy burn. Anima Silica, artificial minds created by us in our quest for knowledge and power brought unimaginable ruin. The threat of Metal shattered the once united worlds of Man."
For the Mechanicum the Abominable Intelligence was not a distant nightmare like on so many worlds, but an ever-present threat creeping below the Rust-wastes. Every year expeditions sent to scavenge long lost ruins disappeared. Even now some of the more remote Forges kept formidable defenses and security not to deter rivals, but keep the source of distant binary-screeches that traveled on Iron-flaked winds away.
Feeling the attention of billions upon him the Emperor continued: "This shattered domain was still reeling from the War against the Iron Ones when the threat of Flesh reared its head. Warp touched humans were once rare, not any longer. The Immaterium reached new frenzies of madness and isolated the shards of man. Their they were easy prey to things brought forth from broken minds, and Alien monsters"
"The Age of Wonders ended long ago and now we have survived an Age of Darkness. That age is at an end. No longer shall we cower isolated in the shadows, fearing parasites and scavengers. The time has come for a new age! An age of Unification! An Age of Imperium!"
"For far too long humanities twin homes of Terra and Mars have been alone in the dark. Today I come seeking unification. Not conquest, not subjugation but unity. Over the past year, the Lords of Mars and I have negotiated the first Treaty of Unification. Mars and Terra will be twins no longer but one! A heart to a new Empire of Humanity. One that will drive out the darkness and usher in a new and eternal Golden Age!"
"I have come not as a conqueror but a uniter. This treaty is not shackles or a surrendering of sovereignty but an opportunity to become part of the greatest undertaking in Human History! So I leave the choice to the Citizens of Mars. Will you join the newborn Imperium of Man and help claim our species birthright?"
For a few seconds loaded with the weight of destiny, all of Mars was silent. Not a single human voice, mechanical or otherwise spoke, and the great factories and industrial complexes seemed all the quieter for it. A single voice buried deep within the Tharsis crowd broke the silence. The young Tech-Priestess breathed in a deep breath only possible due to the Omnissiah's blessing and shouted as loud as her mortal vocal cords could: "THE OMNISSIAH WILLS IT!"
The minute those fateful words left her mouth The Red Planet erupted. Billions chanted that simple yet Galaxy-Changing phrase. Titan Warhorns blared, Industrial Vox-Emitters were repurposed, and translations of that phrase in the countless binary dialects of Mars echoed through the Data-streams of the Mechanicum.
Eventually, the Great Data-Stacks of the Temple of All knowledge would contain as many recordings of this moment as possible in a Data-Loom set aside singularly for recording the Year Long period known to the history books as The Aquilas Forging.
As the Chanting continued to shake Tharsis the Emperor handed the Scroll to the Fabricator General of Mars. The ancient cyborg bowed low and prepared to have the treaty copied and dispersed across Mars. Briefly locking eyes with the Speaker for the Parliament the Emperor could see the haunted look the 687 would all share till their deaths even through his extensive cybernetics.
The Emperor had originally not wanted to use his powers and memories to persuade mortals, it had the unfortunate side effect of causing religious zealotry and occasionally psychosis in those who were gifted visions. Experiences with Uriah and his new begrudging realization that stamping out religion was not feasible had made the Emperor more liberal with this particular use of Psychic power.
Negotiations had gone smoothly. This version of the treaty was based on a template he and Malcador had devised when the earliest plans for the Imperium were created. It contained a set of parameters and the more optimal outcomes within those parameters. The Treaty of Olympus Mons was almost perfect using those measurements.
Mars would be considerably less independent than in the God-Emperor's age, instead of The Imperium and Mechanicum being symbiotic civilizations the Adeptus Mars and Adeptus Terra would form the core of the Imperium. Mars was entrusted with manufacturing, innovation, and exploration. Dangerous technologies were regulated or strictly forbidden and records of all discoveries or innovations were given to Terra.
Each of these points and the hundreds of other articles composing the Treaty had been accompanied by a vision. Each was taken from the Emperor's own mind or that of a soul linked to his. The visions explicitly demonstrated the reasons for the article and its importance. The effect had been tremendous and Revelations could have probably pressed for complete subjugation if he wished.
As appealing as that sounded he knew the long-term effects of such a thing would be disastrous. Mars could not be subjugated through force of arms or will. It would need to join the Imperium willingly in order to prevent future cataclysms. A Martian Schism would be just as disastrous for humanity as a Heresy-War, if not more so.
Knowing it would take one final push to bring the Mechanicum fully under his sway the Emperor spoke again to the crowd that by this point was near-deranged in religious zealotry. The instant he motioned for silence it fell across the Plaza and Mars in a ripple of respect.
"Before this date, I wore a simple Bird-of-Prey as my sigil. This ancient mark of nobility represented humanities history and our power and ability to reach new heights. It has served me well but a new sigil is required! One to represent the unity of humanity! The age of the Raptor Imperialis is over, now is the Era of the Aquila!"
Crossing his hands over his chest in a salute that would be used originally secularly then eventually religiously in the God-Emperor's age The Emperor of Mankind formed the Aquila. When his palms touched the ornate Auramite of his breastplate the ignited with psychic power. Using a mixture of telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and technopathy he reforged the Raptor on his chest into a mighty twin-headed eagle.
Once the forging was finished he opened up his arms as to greet all of Mars, from his armored fingertips Psychic power flowed. A massive Aquilla formed of golden fire came into existence and flew from the Emperor's hands into the sky. It grew in size and complexity as it ascended. Slowly becoming a colossal double-headed Eagle with thunderbolts for plumage that circled the plaza.
It reached the size of an Escort Craft and soared over Olympus Mons. A trail of psi-sparks marked its path and it periodically let out a victorious screech. The Martians watched it with utmost reverence and responded with a content stillness to the sight, in major contrast to their previous reactions.
Confident the Mechancium had been secured the Emperor left the titanic Plaza. His honor guard of knights instinctually surrounded him as he made his way back towards the Bucephalus. The Crowd parted for him but still jostled to get a better view of the Omnissiah.
In a reverse of the procession, he had made one Martian year ago he ascended Olympus Mons and returned to his ship. With negotiations done soon the implementation of the treaty would begin. Then, at last, the great forges of Mars would start work on the tools of conquest needed to secure humanities future.
Subliminal hints had been instilled in the Martian Parliament and a select few his Psychic Aquila-Construct had identified as it soared across Mars before eventually fading. Those affected would subconsciously ease the Mechanicum in a more progressive direction. Another of the many steps that would be taken to wean humanity off of Religion and ensure its survival.
Yet now before anything else was to begin the Emperor would rest and learn of what was occurring on Terra. The Custodes greeted him with the closest approximation to relief possible to them. Communiques from the Palace and Terra flooded in. Update on Palace construction, infrastructure projects, the Legions and most importantly the Primarchs were presented to him.
Everything seemed to be going as planned on all fronts. Except for a few coded messages from Malcador. The appearance of the Nighthaunter was worrying but it had been dealt with. The Emperor wondered what possible twisted things were being planned by the Primordial Annihilator. It appeared they intended to use the shift of the timeline against him. Cutting their losses and hoping to get some sort of advantage it appeared.
The incident with Magnus was also troubling but appeared to have been dealt with and the results were optimum. Yet the Emperor was distressed by the many ways it could have imploded. The XVth primarch was far too important to risk in such a way. Taranis would need to be strictly forbidden from doing anything similar, without his or Malcadors permission that is.
Another was a strange long distance sensor readout. It appeared a flotilla of ramshackle Starships had transitioned at Sols Mandeville Point closest to Terra. The fleet had made a frantic dash for Terra. Xeno raiders had picked off a third of it before they reached Terra's orbital defenses.
The flotilla was captured and its crew was discovered to be thousands of refugees from a nearby star-system that had followed a Holy-Women's vision of the "Light of Salvation" The Emperor was not particularly surprised. This was going to be a side effect of the Astronomicons power. If used correctly this could significantly help unification efforts.
The last of these messages was a simple report. It told of a disturbance on Luna, where some sort of cogitator glitch had released the Guardian of the Lab by accident. The Gene-Cult representatives and Adepts stationed their both confirmed nothing was amiss and the situation was handled.
A faint smile crossed the Emperor's features. It was one of the few true ones in his time on Mars. Not a theatrical one or the way a human interpreted him, but an actual smile of pleasure. The Primordial Annihilator claimed to be a pantheon of Gods, yet they were far bigger fools than even the Master of the Webway who claimed to be the God of such things.
Throughout his very long life, Revelation had a taste for strategy games. Chess, Go, Shogi, Draughts, Crowns, Warfield, Naruag, Regicide and similar. The very first lesson of those games was utterly lost upon the self-proclaimed "Dark Gods." As beings of gluttony and insanity, the concept of sacrificing a lesser piece to win the game was beyond them.
Finishing reading the messages the Emperor continued on to his next ordeal, Cawls fate. The Parliament had been extremely harsh and wanted to messily execute or lobotomize the rogue Priest. Bribes, threats, logic and millennia of oratory skill did little to make them budge. Belisarius Cawl had managed to antagonize nearly all of Mars to an extreme degree.
Eventually, he had gotten them to the point where two options were offered to Cawl. First was the memory eraser and exile he had suffered in another age. The other was complete banishment. He would never set foot on Mars or another Forge World. His skitarii and other servants would be taken to Mars and mindwiped. If Cawl was caught working on any Mechanicum technology he would be tortured to death.
When he told Cawl his options he did not even hesitate before taking the first option. The Tech-Priest was confident his skills would keep him alive long enough to return to Terra and retrieve his Inferior. The Emperor thanked him for his service and wished him luck on his journeys. Belisarius Cawl bowed to his Master and simply responded "The pleasure was mine, the opportunity to study at the feet of humanities greatest mind, no matter the consequences is unparalleled"
He was escorted of the vessel and taken into Skitarii custody. After that, the Emperor retired to his personal chambers. His weapons and armor were removed and stored with utmost care. The new sigil was documented by his Armorers and word was already being sent to Terra to change the patterns on future Armor for the Custodes and Astartes. Once alone in his meditative chamber, he reached out psychically into the Ships heart.
Similar to the Astronomicon he was linked to the Bucephalus and could power its systems even from a considerable distance. The Cognatu Ferrum's design required far less energy than that great beacon but far more precision and could be remotely controlled by maybe a single AU away instead of the thousands of Lightyears of the Astronomicon.
The Cognatu Ferrum reacted instantly and signaled it was ready to fulfill his commands. The Emperor activated a unique program that only he and the Psychic-Intelligence knew of. It was an advanced piece of Psychic-Engineering that used the nature of the Cognatu Ferrum in a unique fashion.
The Ship was powered and controlled by a Psychic Echo of the Emperor and he intended to create an echo of that echo. Energy poured from the Emperor into the vessel and soon a flickering outline appeared before him. Focusing his power into the prism of the Cognatu Ferrum he watched the glowing shadow come into clearer detail. It was a copy of the Emperor.
The Cognatu Ferrum had created a Psychic hologram of the Emperor, it matched him perfectly in appearance, psychic signature, and aura. He could communicate through it remotely and no sensor, be it material or immaterial could detect it was not actually him. It would provide the Emperor a smokescreen.
No one, not even his Custodes could know what he was about to do. The Projection would ensure his secrecy as he went to deal with the other reason he had come to Mars. It was time for the man named Revelation and known by countless other titles and names to meet with an old friend and enemy. The time had come for him to revisit the reason for one of his oldest titles: Dragonslayer.
The Emperor's quarters were sparse, not yet holding the various mementos, trophies, and piles of official documents it would fill with throughout the Great Crusade. A Bed, meditation space, desk, small library, workstation, and wardrobe. The last of those items was now the focus of the Emperor's attention.
Within it was a collection of uniforms, robes and other garments the Emperor wore when not on the field of war. Of these clothes, he sought one in particular. It was an ancient relic from the worst days of Strife. It was another of the Emperors inventions, a suit of woven nano-gossamer inlaid with Psi-reactive crystals. It was known as the Shadow of Judgment.
It looked like a pool of liquid shadows suspended in a magnetic cradle. Revelation did not so much don it, as immerse himself in the inky material. It flowed over his bare skin and clothing like oil. Soon his entire body was covered with the substance. Taking a deep breath right as it covered his head the Emperor let his power flow into the Psychic-circuits carved into the very molecules of the suit.
Reacting to its master the material formed around him and molded itself into a suit of armor. Unlike the hulking warplate, he wore when leading armies to battle this was a more subtle tool. Designed to allow him unrestricted accesses and subtlety the Shadow of Judgment was arguably the single greatest piece of Man-portable stealth technology in human history.
Nanotechnology, scavenged Eldar relics, and the Emperors own genius had come together to give an Emperor the secrecy he needed to salvage as much as he could during Mankind's fall. He remembered viscerally the sights and sounds of the last times he had worn this armor. An age when humanity did not need a champion and ruler to save them. When the only salvation was to hide in the shadows and beg the storm passed you over.
*Sneaking through Hive-sized abominations of scrap metal and insanity, desperately searching for its Singularity Unit as it lumbered towards a refugee camp of 50 Million innocents.*
*Gangs of Drug-Addled and depraved Eldar stalking him through the burning Capital City of Eldaneshuri*
*Breaking into Vaults that were meant to survive an apocalypse, and had.*
The Armor finally settled around him, its design was reminiscent of a great bird of prey and combined with the Emperor's own skills and powers made him virtually undetectable. To those who he wanted to see him, he appeared like an Obsidian Eagle carved out of the shadows. Suitably intimidating for the line of work it was built for.
Letting his body and mind settle into routines not used in centuries Revelation became a phantom of the likes Konrad, Kota, and Kalib aspired to be. Even his Custodes were unaware as he slipped past them. Removed from their minds and auto-senses he was undetectable.
Soon he exited the Bucephalus through its open ramp. Right in between the Custodes and Knights who had spent the last few hours staring at each other from either end of the gantry. Into the Martian Night, Revelation flew. He rarely got to use his bodies full capabilities, the Emperors physical form was a highly variable thing that could be modified how over he wished.
Millenia of knowledge in the fields of Biomancy, Transhumanism, and simple biology had given him absolute control over every cell in his being. Combined with his psychic gifts the Emperor could appear as anyone and virtually anything. Now he was an Avian-Shadow moving as fast as Superhuman Muscle and Nano-fibers could.
Within seconds he had cleared the crater's edge and jumped dozens of meters into the air. Mars low gravity made his expedition that much quicker. Moving like a black bolt of lighting across the ancient peak of Olympus Mons the Emperor allowed himself a few moments of tranquillity.
Life had been a frantic, painful race against time over the last few millennia and moments of enjoyment like this were few and far between. A few decades ago he would not have allowed himself the simple joy of testing his own physicality, duty and stress had threatened to crush the humanity of the eldest human.
That message from a distant hopefully averted future had reignited the Emperor's humanity. While he had intended to have the Primarch project drain some of his more excessive emotions it would have only turned him into such a callous figure if he had allowed it. That version of the Emperor had been willing and wanted to give up his humanity to save the species.
The Emperor who now leaped between colossal industrial sites as if they were a gymnasium had realized that humanity needed a human leader. If he gave up his emotions and sentiment he would be a perfect machine to control the destiny of mankind. Gazing out across the pocked surface of Mars he was viscerally reminded of what had happened the last time something similar had occurred.
While the Memories were still blurry and partially concealed Revelation had a suspicion there was more to the story of the God-Emperor's decay and the cause of the Heresy. He could only hope the trust he had put in that living corpse and its decisions was the correct choice.
Any attempt to unlock Memories before the God-Emperor had wanted them to be had been met with Psychic warnings that they would be deleted if he continued. So now he could only wait and use the wisdom of the past and future to help forge a better present.
Keeping his speed to below Martian Mach speed in order to prevent notable air-disturbance the Emperor quickly approached the Edge of Olympus Mons. Here the ancient Shield Volcano's slopes dropped away into a twenty-kilometer cliff-face of time-worn stone. A different Emperor would have slithered down its side and crept through the industrial landscape below. Emperor Revelation: the Master of Mankind and Anathema of Chaos leaped off the precipice.
Armored Wings expanded from his shoulder blades and carried the Emperor aloft. The Martian atmosphere prevented mechanical flight but the wings served a purpose. The Psi-Crystals within the wings could be energized separately from the main armor allowing telekinetic propulsion that was subtle enough to remain undetected while powerful enough to allow Supersonic flight. This allowed the armors body to maintain its other functions.
Like a shadow of the great Aquila he had summoned a few hours previous the Emperor soared over Mars. The industrial landscape before him was a patchwork of craters, (both natural and unnatural) living habs and colossal Forges-Temples that belched ash and dust into the sky. He found it saddening how Mars had reverted to its earliest roots. When the Red Planet was first settled humanity had migrated nearly all of its industrial techbase to it. The move was what saved Earths rapidly declining biosphere and helped push humanity towards interstellar civilization.
Eventually, during the Golden Age, the second capital of humanities state as an industrial disaster zone was deemed unacceptable and massive cleanup and terraforming projects were put in place. Research centers and industrial complexes were buried far beneath Mars surface in great futuristic catacombs that held millennia of acquired knowledge and insight into the cosmos. After centuries of world-shaping miracles, Terra shared its title of Blue Gem of Sol with another.
That world could maybe live again if the galaxy and sanity could survive the oncoming storm. Eventually, the heavily industrialized landscape below started to transition to the Crimson deserts of Mars. He was close to his destination, it was a place that Martians had avoided for as long as humans had set foot on this planet. The Noctis Labyrinthus: The Dragons Tomb.
The twelve hundred kilometer long scar on Mars's face had originally been bought by a number of shell companies owned by Revelation during the early Martian expansion. It had been a major legal scandal when the media discovered the Companies were dumping radioactive, toxic and industrial waste into what was one of the wonders of the Solar System.
This had prevented the area from being declared a Natural Wonder and becoming a much-visited location along with helping galvanize the public to campaign for better stewardship of humanities cultural and natural wonders. These were both the Emperor's goals and the Labyrinthus had been protected successfully, until the living hell of the Cybernetic Revolt.
The Emperor had always known the day when the thing he had sealed below Mars's surface would awake would come. Yet it struck at the single worst moment, during the Lost War. Humanity was fighting a pitched battle against the Ancient Aeldari Empire.
The Solar Federation had reached never before seen heights of technological and societal advancement. None could question their might and wisdom. Countless species had been integrated or vassalized into this commonwealth. Seeing visions of the inevitable Fall of the Eldar and the horrors it would unleash Revelation had pushed humanity into crushing the only other contender on the galactic scale.
It was easy to do, the Aeldari Empire had earned the ire of all sentient life through their cruelty and sadism. The few human psychics along with their Xeno equivalents could sense the growing tumor within the Immaterium and knew action must be taken. Armadas and Armies greater than anything the galaxy had seen except for the War in Heaven amassed at Arcadia: the Last Harbor.
The Emperor himself, masquerading as a Transhuman General lead from the front during the conflict. It was a horrible period of death and destruction. Echoing the War the Aeldari were designed to fight the Masters of the Materium and Immaterium battled. Every battle was a pitched conflict that often ended in deadlock. Yet steadily, slowly the Solar Federation pushed deeper and deeper into the tainted heart of the Galaxies current rulers.
The sights they saw drove some of the weaker soldiers insane and would haunt even the most ancient and battle-hardened Veteran of the Beast Wars for the rest of their lives. Planet wide blood-orgies were legions of hunters, once followers of Kuronos continuously brought billions of innocents to be used in the maddening debauchery. Pocket Dimensions filled with living art that still screamed and begged for death even after gouts of Plasma had reduced them to cinders.
These and other nightmares had utterly validated the worthiness of their cause and invigorated the Federation Forces. The Knife-Ears would be put to the blade as punishment for their countless evils. Worlds that had been centers of Aeldari civilization before humans had even become fully upright were purged. Mechanical hosts battled Warp-Born abominations and for a scant moment it seemed the era of the Aeldari was at an end,
The Seers and Soothsayers of their enemy must have sensed it too for they devised a truly horrific scheme to cripple Humanity. It was brilliant, vindictive and utterly brazen. They intended to release the thing sleeping below Mars. Confident that after it had crippled the upstart Mon'keigh the Yngir Dragon would be easy to slay. For they had done it once an age ago, what was to stop them from doing it again?
Sensing their intent the Emperor rushed back to Sol to stop the insanity. He could still remember it viscerally, Eldar blood cooking on his blood as he moved through the ancient Metal tunnels. The deep bass hum of the emerald energy that started to seep through the cavern cracks. How the Eldar had looked at him when he entered the Dragon's Heart. Sadistic glee played across the vermins face as it screamed in heavily accented Gothic "Too late Mon'keigh! Your fate has been decided by your better. This is your punishment for daring to stand against the rightful masters of the galaxy!"
The Emperor still savored the memory of the Seers face contorting first in confusion, then mind breaking fear once it realized the power of the being before it. That was little consolation for the damage done by the Xeno's. After erasing it from existence Revelation attempted to keep the Dragon sealed.