Chapter Text
Orders have been received via Noospheric broadcasting.
The Skitaria 'named' Haixia-T6-Kappa was being called for a briefing by her Dominus-Auctor. Immediately, she used 2 of her 4 arms to return her rad-bullet rifles, which she had been cleaning for basic maintenance, back to their positions within the harness on her back. The weapons would have to do with only the most basic prayers and cleanings. She quickly stepped out of the maintenance line, the queue in which she had stood for 3.3 standard Terran day-night cycles now. Countless Skitarii and even lesser tech-priests stood in this line, a long line that began far out of her sight at a huge bank of maintenance booths that churned with mechanical force and heat. The origin of the Omnissiah’s healing and wisdom.
Stepping into the shadow of the dark mechanical lift, she crammed into the cabin of the mechanism, bowing to the two Magi who she was blessed to share a space with. They paid little heed. For a long time, the lift rose. The Tech priests droned endlessly in an unfamiliar dialect of Lingua Technis. She listened intently, as any word spoken by a Magos is a word that must be cherished in one’s cogitators. Eventually, they finished their conversation and got off the lift at 87 floors above surface level. Haixia-T6-Kappa continued until the 99th floor above surface level. A long way to come from the maintenance superstructure 106 floors below the surface of the forge world of Pupa-II.
She stood at the beginning of a dimly lit hallway, lined with many candles and scriptures of determination, strength, and loyalty lining the corridor walls. As is customary, she bows at and reads each and every one before she proceeds down the corridor towards the Dominus-Auctor’s office.
The twin security-Servitors at the massive door move to intercept her, taking long minutes to confirm her identity via scans and physical tests, before confirming whether or not she is meant to be here. Their programming confirms that she is. The Door-Servitor opens and she is allowed into the sanctum office of the Dominus-Auctor.
The one who issues administrative commands of her position, along with the positions and orders of countless, innumerable others like her, sits alone in this chamber, bound and mechanically connected in their entirety to a chair before a humongous desk. The Dominus-Auctor had been one with this room since long before Haixia-T6-Kappa’s artificial birth. They gave orders of absolute importance, but no more than that. They had no name besides their title, no face besides their featureless facial covering. They look down at her as she enters, and nod simply as she bows in reverence.
[You have come. Good] their voice radiates from various vox-casters around the chamber, surrounding the Skitarii with waves of their deep and slow Lingua Technis. She does not respond, simply holding her 4 hands together in front of herself as if in prayer.
[You are being redeployed by request. No details of reason were provided. You have permission to speak if you have any information to share as to this matter] The Skitarii remained silent. She had no idea what or who requested for her service. The Dominus-Auctor nodded in acknowledgment and continued, motioning for a Servitor to approach.
[Your service is requested by Magos-Secutor Jura Kinetikalis. You will serve as his personal guard until death or his satisfaction] He paused, motioning for the Servitor to give her a dataslate, which she accepted graciously. [That dataslate will direct you to him. You have permission to acknowledge and express gratitude. Go now, with the blessing of the Omnissiah]
“Affirmative. Thank you for your orders lord Dominus-Auctor” she replied before bowing and turning to leave. She moved with new purpose as she strode back towards the lift. The dataslate indicated that her new master would be found 14 manufactorum complexes away, on the 65th floor above surface level. A journey that would take approximately 2 standard Terran day-night cycles to complete on foot. She moved into the lift and began her trek.
Pupa-II is a forge world. It is a relatively new one though. The air is a little cleaner than most industry planets. The forge complexes and belts do not cover the world in its entirety. Given time though, this would change. In another 15 years this planet would be complete in its sprawling industrial majesty, ready to serve the Omnissiah’s will with every square unit of surface and more.
The Skitaria had been trekking across the industrial maze of complexes for multiple Terran day-night cycles. It had taken less time than expected to get this far, but still longer than any unaugmented human could manage. She finally stopped to rest at a menial sustenance station not far from her destination. This complex was built over a vast and deep underground water source. Hot, mineralized water fills a trough that stretches for hundreds of feet. Every inch of the space has menial workers struggling to drink from the hot and unpleasant-tasting liquid. They fight and jostle for it. Corpses pile up at the base of the trough, not just from the fighting, but from excess consumption of the water that they covet so much. The minerals are fine, even beneficial, in small quantities, but the desperate do not do anything in small quantities.
She holds the menials at bay with 3 of her arms and her armed servo-skull, and with the fourth, she fills a medium-sized canister that normally rests on her right hip. This would sustain her for many standard Terran day-night cycles. The menials shriek and whine in protest. They accuse and point, declaring her a tyrant and thief of precious resources. It is in her right to kill them if she would choose to. She does not. She reattaches her hydration component and continues on towards her destination. She is very close now.
It is simply one more complex to traverse, then she must find the relevant lift and find her new lord. She does not wonder who he is, why he called for her, or what she will do as his personal guard. An unaugmented female human might fear such close servitude. She might fear the imbalance of power between master and servant. But the Skitarii are not servants. They are augmented warriors born and raised for the Tech-Priests and their completion of the Omnissiah’s will. A Skitarii has nothing to fear or hide from the Tech-Priests.
She passes through a shackled line of menials who were being dragged past the trough despite their protests. Occasionally filthy and physically-failing hands attempt to grab her or her jacket. Before she can swat the hands away, one of the Servitors escorting the shackled workers brings its servo claw down card on the arms of any who attempt to grab her. She nods briefly to the Servitor. A sign of thanks that it does not ask for, require, or acknowledge. She departs, hearing the wails of the menials trail off behind her.
So close to her destination now, she finds that the nearest lift is not functioning. 5 Magi stand united in prayer as a 6th priest enacts repairs. However, If the dataslate is correct, this is the only commonly available lift in this complex. All other transports are preoccupied with the carrying of cargo and materials to and from the surface. There is a basically-functional, nigh-infinite metal stairway in case of this situation. She would simply have to make do with it. 65 levels of stairs. She began her way up the stairs. Each heavy step was a sharp clang that rang out like a rhythmic autohammer. Her climb feels endless, but she does not waver. It is simply part of her task. While her spirit does not falter, she can feel fatigue begin to take hold of her remaining biological components, and even her augmetics begin to feel tired.
Finally…at least 1 standard-hour later, she arrived at level 65. The 65th floor is very slightly different from those below it. The first 5 floors above the surface are often storage or testing. The 6th through the 120th are often reserved for Tech-Priests. The adepts rarely rested or took leisure, but they are allowed to, and they are given the spaces to do it. The floors given to their use are cleaner, having Cleaning-Servitors dedicated to their upkeep. The lighting is sparse, but present. Haixia-T6-Kappa wearily moved towards the room she was directed to many standard Terran Day-Night cycles ago.
She plugs her Servo-Skull into the door, letting it serve as her identification. It was once a particularly pious Skitarii Marshal she had served under. The marshal entrusted their skull to her as they died. The skull held no sentimental value to her, but it was very very efficient, and seemed quite attached to her in terms of what cognition it had left.
Without warning, the door opens sharply and a mechadendrite data-spike lunges from the dark interior of the room, striking her in the neck. It does not hurt though, she has just enough time to discern it as a cognition-mechadendrite before it glows in preparation for either sending or receiving data. The complex systems that restrain her less-efficient mental functions briefly short, and the rush of emotions that hits her like an artillery shell is…overwhelming. Her augmented vision goes dark as various systems short and she pitches forward. By the time she is gently caught by many metallic limbs of shapes and sizes, she is no longer conscious.
“Omnissiah bless you, loyal soldier. I apologize for the intrusive welcome. The goal was to ascertain your intent and identity for myself, but I have done more harm than good”
Magos-Secutor Jura Kinetikalis stands in the entryway to the place he occasionally calls his residence. He does not have free time usually, nor does he often use it to experience leisure when he does have it. What he does is read. He studies ancient texts of military doctrine followed by Old-World civilizations. Countless tomes of this topic lay on scattered desks and dust-littered furniture. If the Skitaria were conscious to observe this place, she would note its darkness, uncleanliness, and disrepair. But she is not conscious. The Tech-Adept held the Skitaria and brought her into the room to recover, for indeed, she must be quite exhausted.
“Rest, loyal soldier. You have done well to get here”