novelhk Chapter 69 Performance of Contract
Chapter 69 Performance of Contract
The moment the Black Pearl's gangway descended, the airflow from the spaceport's circulating system, carrying a faint smell of ozone, rushed into the hangar. Liu En stood at the gangway entrance, watching the cool white lights of the berth area spread a uniform glow across the terrazzo floor.
He had a lot of messages piling up in his communicator, but he didn't rush to look through them. Prioritizing tasks, and remembering that the Resolute was about to arrive in Lucis for a transit, he sent brief notifications to two people—Vitellius and Vera Nazari. The notifications were staggered by half a day.
Vitellius arrived first. His old friend was still the same as always—a deep red robe, half-body power armor, and a mechanical prosthetic arm protruding from his sleeve. He walked over from the other end of the gangway, alone, without any servants. Standing at the foot of the Black Pearl's gangway, he glanced up at the five-kilometer-long hull, said nothing, and walked aboard.
"Here we are." Liu En stood at the top of the gangway.
Vitellius nodded.
The two walked through the corridor, bypassing the bridge and heading directly to the weapons bay at the rear of the hangar. The reinforced doors opened, and cold white light streamed down from the dome, illuminating the eleven silent steel colossi inside. The Starfortress mechs, four to five meters tall, had thick terracotta armor that gleamed a dull silver-gray under the light. Their heavy, punch-type explosive cannons on their shoulders had been reassembled, their short, stubby barrels pointing towards the ceiling. Powered gauntlets hung at their sides.
Vitellius stood at the hatch, his right mechanical eye zoomed out to its limit, the blue aperture expanding and contracting violently in the dim light.
"Star Castle type," he said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
Liu En didn't reply. Vitellius slowly walked to the nearest mech, stroking its metal thigh as if seeing a long-lost lover. The mechanical eyes zoomed in and out, the small Thinker arrays on its body hummed slightly, performing high-power calculations, and its mechanical fingers trembled slightly as well.
"How many?"
"Eleven units. Original and well-preserved."
Vitellius lowered his hand and took a step back. He glanced at the row of mechs again, then turned to face Liu En. "What do you plan to do?"
"Leave it for now. No rush. Let's go have a drink first. I've prepared your favorite wine." Liu En closed the cabin door.
Vera arrived in the afternoon. She was dressed in dark gray casual clothes, not the crimson robe of a second-tier technical craftsman, and her hair was tied in a neat high ponytail.
Liu En led her through the corridor and into the weapons bay. Eleven silent, massive steel machines stood in two rows, occupying most of the bay's space.
Vera paused at the hatch. She stepped inside and looked up at the nearest mech. The armor plates bore the slight marks of subspace corrosion, but were otherwise intact. The weapon ports' protective covers were tightly closed, and the casting serial numbers on the base were in the format of the Great Expedition era.
"Eleven. All of them," she said. Her tone was flat, but her fingers clenched at her side and then relaxed.
In the technical archives of the Lucis Forge world, she had read the blueprint number for the Starfortress-type intelligent mech—the standard combat unit of the intelligent legions during the Great Crusade, designed as the backbone of the legions, integrating a large amount of ancient technology recovered in the early stages of the Great Crusade. Lucis had its own Castellan mech production line, but the Castellan was a general-purpose model still in mass production for forty thousand years, and the Empire had more than one forge world capable of producing Castellan mechs; while the Starfortress was an older model finalized during the Great Crusade, and its core technologies—atomic deflection shields and multi-channel parallel data buses—were mostly lost technologies in the modern forge world, one less to be dismantled with each dismantled unit. Each complete Starfortress mech meant the possibility of reverse engineering, technological completion, and decoding of the Mech Soul Protocol. The eleven complete, sealed Starfortresses, in today's forge world where technology is increasingly lost, are a technological treasure trove enough for the Temple's technical priests to write countless papers and for the high-ranking members of the Order to use to claim credit with Mars.
"Vitley is here too, waiting in the lobby. Go over there and talk." Liu En turned and walked out of the armory.
Vera glanced at the row of mechs again, a slight smile playing on her lips, and followed them.
The reception hall was brightly lit, and the cauldron before the Imperial Shrine burned with frankincense, its smoke swirling slowly beneath the dome. A long table was already set. On the table were Grox steaks and scrambled eggs, along with several bottles of Vitellius's favorite Amigidton vintage.
Vitellius sat at one side of the long table, and Vera sat opposite him. The two did not know each other. Liu En did not make a point of introducing them, but simply asked them to sit down and had a servant fill the glasses on the table with wine. Vera picked up her glass first and raised it towards Vitellius: "Father Vitellius? I've heard so much about you. Cohen mentioned you."
"What bad things did he say about me in front of you?" Vitellius picked up his glass, his blue mechanical eyes swirling around.
"It's all nice talk." Vera grinned, took a sip, and said, "They said your connections in the archives department are as solid as refined gold."
Vitellius shook his head, ignoring the question.
Liu En sat at the head of the long table and picked up his wine glass.
"Gallos, as you all know. An industrial world under development." He put down his water glass and looked at Vera. "I need a sage title. Just an honorary one. Whether it's a forging sage or a technological sage, as long as I have the title, that's fine. That way, Gallos can become my direct territory, under the name of the Lucis Forging World. And the wartime requisition rights for the Black Pearl and future Gallos ships can be renegotiated, at least reduced to 'only effective when the Forging World enters a state of total war'."
Vera didn't reply immediately. Her fingers lightly circled the rim of her glass, her eyes brightening. She glanced at Vitellius, then at Liu En: "Those eleven Starcastles, to be sent to the Temple?"
“Yes,” Liu En said. “Vera, with your father’s connections in Terra and Lucis, you should be able to secure a position as an honorary sage.”
Vera leaned back in her chair, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Fine. I'll go back and talk to my father. Eleven Star Fortresses should be enough to keep him strutting around the archives for a while."
Vitellius leaned back in his chair, the blue halo of his right mechanical eye slowly expanding and contracting. "While you're merely an honorary sage, your qualifications would normally be far from sufficient. But those eleven Starfortress mechs—eleven complete combat units of the Great Crusade-era intelligently controlled legions—are enough to shut those old fogies in the Temple up."
Liu En didn't reply. He took a small, sealed gold box from the inner pocket of his robe, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Vera. A binary identification code was etched on the surface of the box. Vera opened the lid; inside was a fist-sized device with a gold casing that gleamed with a cold gray luster under the light.
"A stasis field generator," Liu En said. "This is something I found in the wrecked spaceship this time. It's a genuine creation from the Imperial Great Expedition era, military-grade. Not the inferior stuff that Agrippina and her world-casters barely managed to coax a response with incense and prayer."
He paused, tapping the box lid lightly with his finger. "Take this and sell it; use the proceeds for your next mission."
Vera picked it up and weighed it in her hand, her eyebrows slightly raised. She held the device up to the light to examine the etched code on the casing, then whistled. "Military grade? These things are extremely rare. I've heard my father mention them. Rumor has it that special envoys from the Inquisition are willing to pay the price of a fleet for one." She closed the lid and put it into the inner pocket of her robe. "I'll find some experts to take a look when I get back. This thing will be fought over."
Liu En continued, "The Resolute is already operating the Amegiddon route, but its single-ship capacity is limited. Garros needs more people. You should buy more transport ships and run the Amegiddon and Garros route regularly to bring in immigrants. You'll also need to handle the legal procedures."
"The Resolute?" Vera sat up straight and asked casually. She pulled a data tablet from her pocket and began jotting things down. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she muttered, "Transport ship...modification...crew training..."
Liu En paused, then added, "Yes, the Resolute is a Wanderer-class transport ship, captained by Hawke. He's a retired Imperial Navy veteran who spent half his life in the merchant fleet and is very experienced. This ship will be resupplying in Lucis in a few days, and Hawke will contact you then. You can discuss the specifics with him. Also, you need to equip all the transport ships with navigators, including the Resolute. Many privately owned transport ships in the Empire don't have navigators, which is risky. Moreover, the Resolute will serve as the lead ship for the transport fleet from now on, as it is familiar enough with the routes."
Vera looked up and gave Liu En a thumbs-up. "I'll get the route data for the Resolute from Hawke. As for the transport ships, I'll take care of it when I get back. I have several familiar dealers at the Lucis Spaceport Ship Exchange; finding ready-made transport ships isn't difficult. The key is the refitting and crew training. Those all take time. We also need to find navigators, and perhaps even, if possible, acquire a full complement of Astronauts." She glanced down at the data panel, made a few more scribblings, then took a large gulp of her drink and gestured with her chin towards Vitellius. "Father Vitellius, what about you?"
Vitellius finished his drink, put down the glass, and smiled. "I'm just here to bear witness and watch the show. Cohen's business is my business. You all go about your business; I can't be of much help, but I'll keep an eye on things at the Temple in Lucius."
Liu En added, "The elder has prepared a Moon-class cruiser for you, of the finest quality. For the initial missions, you'll pilot that ship to escort this fleet. A Moon-class cruiser's firepower is enough to deter most pirates, and it can also serve as a transport ship if necessary. With an escort ship, immigration will be much smoother for the fleet. This will also allow it to build up its combat capability more quickly."
Vera nearly dropped the data panel in her hand. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened and closed, and she suddenly turned to Liu En: "Month-level? Elite-level?" Her voice rose half an octave, then she quickly lowered it, cleared her throat, but still couldn't help shifting her position in the chair.
"Given by an elder?" she pressed. Seeing Liu En nod, she took a deep breath, leaned back in her chair, and slapped her hand on the edge of the table. "Okay. I guarantee I'll complete the task."
"Once you've assembled your team, go directly to Garros to take over," Liu En said.
"Does that ship have a name yet?" Vera asked, tapping her finger incessantly on the table.
"Not yet. Get it yourself," Liu En said.
Vera paused for a moment, then her smile stretched almost to her ears. "I'll get it myself? Sure." She picked up her glass, tilted her head back, and downed the remaining half-glass in one gulp. When she put the glass down, her eyes shone like two stars.
"The crew of the Truth Seeker are all our own people, it's just that their official status is still with Lucius." She raised her chin and nodded in Vitellius's direction. "I can only officially go there after your Sage title is issued. Father Vitellius, please let me know if there's any progress on the permit."
Vitellius nodded. "Don't worry."
Liu En put down his water glass. "Vera, your fleet and escort ships are Garros's first lifeline. Vitley, you keep an eye on the temple and administrative processes for us in Lucis. You two handle the permits and connections separately; come to me if you need any coordination."
Vera stood up, walked to the window, put her hands in her pockets, and looked out at the Black Pearl moored in its berth. Her shoulders were slightly tense, but it wasn't nervousness; it was excitement that she had to suppress.
"I'll go back and tell my father about Garros." She turned her head, her voice regaining its composure, but the final syllable still rose slightly. "I'll expedite the transport fleet's progress. The captain of the Moon-class has been appointed, and I can take the team there at any time. Once the Resolute arrives in Lucis, I'll coordinate the route data with Captain Hawke."
She glanced back at Vitellius, smiled, and extended her hand. "Father Vitellius, I'll treat you to a drink next time. Consider this a favor."
Vitellius grasped her hand, the prosthetic fingers gently closing. "I remember."
Vera released her grip and strode towards the living room door. Her ponytail swayed merrily behind her, and her steps were much lighter than when she arrived, almost as if she were skipping. Before the door closed, her voice drifted in from the hallway: "Cohen, wait for my good news!"
Liu En picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and didn't look up.
Only Liu En and Vitellius remained in the reception room. Vitellius leaned back in his chair, gazing at the chandelier hanging from the dome. The chandelier, composed of gears and a drive shaft, rotated slowly in the center of the dome, the sound of the gears meshing so subtle it was almost inaudible.
"She's good. She can be an asset," Vitellius said. "As a Mechanicus friar, her personality is rare, if not nonexistent."
Liu En picked up his glass and took a sip. He remained noncommittal about the topic. "Vitley, if you also want a boat, we can arrange that over there."
Vitellius paused for a moment, then waved his hand. "A ship? I've thought about it before. When you're young, who doesn't want their own ship, sailing through the stars? But after all these years in Lucis, I've realized I'm not cut out for it. You're better than me at sailing and fighting. I just want to work in management in Garros, managing files and equipment scheduling, sitting in an office, not having to worry about being in the warp."
He paused, the aperture of his mechanical eye shrinking slightly. "Besides, I can still be of help to you in Lucis. I know the people in the Temple's archives and logistics center. Whatever documents or permits you need here, I can get them faster than you. If you send me to Garros, there will be no one to keep an eye on things for you in Lucis."
Liu En didn't reply. He put down his wine glass and stood up.
"Come with me."
Vitellius followed him out of the reception room, across the corridor, and to the door of another cabin. The airtight, adamantine door slid open, and the lights inside automatically turned on.
The cabin was small, only about twenty square meters. In the very center stood a mithril pedestal, upon which rested a fist-sized device—its mithril shell devoid of inscriptions, the Imperial double-headed eagle emblem, or any other markings. Its cooling grilles were arranged in a ring, making it virtually silent in standby mode. A pale blue stasis field rose from the top of the device, maintaining a cubic space approximately one meter square above the pedestal. The field was extremely stable, its glow uniform and without a single flicker.
Within the force field, a document floated in frozen time. The parchment, edged in gold, was embossed with the insignia of the 24th Battalion of the Solar Auxiliary Army and the eagle emblem of the Terra Supreme Council. At the bottom of the paper, a handwritten signature was clearly discernible in the dim light of the static field.
Vitellius stood at the hatch, his right mechanical eye zoomed out to its limit, the blue halo repeatedly focusing on the signature. His mechanical arm hung in mid-air, his fingers trembling slightly.
"This is..." He lowered his voice, as if afraid of disturbing something.
"The incorporation document of the 24th Battalion of the Solar Auxiliary Army," Liu En said. "Signed by the Emperor himself. Found in a high-quality gold compartment deep within the wrecked ship, it was sealed with a static field at the time."
He walked to the base and placed his palm on the outer shell of the stasis field generator.
"There's more than one stasis field in the wrecked ship. I found several. This document is the most valuable. I kept the other generators, this one—is for you."
Vitellius turned his head, the blue halo of his mechanical eye slowly expanding and contracting as it faced Liu En. He didn't speak, but simply stared at Liu En for several seconds.
"Take it to the temple; it'll count as your contribution to technology recycling. How much you get promoted is up to you." Liu En leaned against the bulkhead, arms crossed.
Vitellius slowly walked to the pedestal, bent down, and examined the document closely. The fibrous texture of the parchment, the mineral composition of the ink, the distribution of carbon elements at the tip of the signature—his mechanical eye repeatedly focused on these details. After a while, he straightened up and took a step back.
"Cohen, do you know what Tier 5 means? Tier 1 to Tier 3, with a little effort, a few years of hard work, and a few good missions, you can eventually reach it. There are millions of Tier 3 in Lucis, crowding every corner of the temple. Tier 4—a few thousand people. I was hoping to make it to Tier 4 with those eleven Starfortress mechs. But Tier 5? That's a threshold I wouldn't even dare to dream of. In the entire Lucis Forging World, Tier 5 Sages are few and far between. That's a position that takes hundreds or thousands of years to accumulate. I've been stuck at Tier 3 for almost twenty years, which is nothing compared to Tier 5."
He turned around, looked at Liu En, and his voice was a little strained.
"Handing this over might allow me to cross that threshold hundreds of years earlier. It's not just about promotion. The Temple will write my name into the technology recycling archives, and people will remember me thousands of years from now. I, Vitellius, have retrieved the document establishing the Solar Auxiliary Army, personally signed by the Emperor."
Liu En did not speak.
Vitellius glanced at the document again, then walked to a chair in the corner of the cabin and sat down. His mechanical fingers tapped unconsciously twice on the armrest.
"Those eleven Starfortress mechs, plus this document—just how much did you find in the wrecked ship?"
"There are quite a few things, but these are the only ones I can proudly present," Liu En said.
Vitellius shook his head, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth—not a smile, but an indescribable expression.
"Alright. I'll accept the gifts. The contribution is on me. Once you're promoted, feel free to ask me for anything regarding Lucius."
He stood up, walked to the base, and carefully removed the stasis field generator from it. The fist-sized device had a cool, metallic casing. He held it in his hands as if it were a sacred relic.
"How do I turn this off?"
"No need to shut it down," Liu En said. "The stasis field is stable and can hold for several thousand more years. Just move the base along with it, and let their technical priests handle it once we get to the temple."
Vitellius nodded. He pressed the communicator, summoning two ceremonial servants. The servants lifted the entire adamantine base and smoothly moved it out of the cabin. The stasis field generator remained fixed to the base, the pale blue force field motionless, and the document continued to slumber in frozen time.
Vitellius followed behind the servant, paused at the door, and did not turn around.
"Cohen. Thanks."
He pushed open the door and went out. The footsteps in the corridor were heavier than when he came in, as if something had been removed from his shoulder.