Imperium Ascendant

Chapter Fifteen: The Aquila and the Dragon.

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.

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