Chương 150: Chapter One Hundred and Fifty

With the Custodes backing negotiations, our trade is swiftly concluded with transfers between the fleets starting up before Eire and Tech-Marine Balor Roan even finish the preliminary agreement. The Custodes has not given his name and no one has asked for it either. The Custodes is clearly in a rush and he dictates much of the trade agreement himself then includes the seal of the Adeptus Custodes on the final document, so neither I nor the Barghest Chapter are getting out of it any time soon.

Eire and I sit together in a private cabin on the class three D-POT after the ordeal and I serve her some of the Tanna tea. The room is sparsely furnished with a couple of couches, a recaf table, and a few pict frames that cycle between different images and artworks. There is a distinct focus on labour within the art, from individuals to groups, all working upon grand projects, like void ships, big farms, or forges. I'm not sure where the Custodes is right this moment, but he is on the D-POT with us.

Eire sips her tea and sighs, "You know, Aldrich. I am rather annoyed."

"What has you so irritated?"

"You set everything up for me so that I could perform my main role as High Factor for the first time and it was snatched away from me by a third party."

"What about your time with the Eldar?"

"At best, that was practice. Ylien was the main liaison and the only other person the Eldar were willing to talk to was you."

"Willing is a strong word. Even 'tolerate' would be too much." Eire tuts, "Quite."

"You have told us about the Adeptus Custodes before. The Emperor's ten thousand companions who serve as bodyguards and errand boys."

"They are more than that, they are a representation of His power, an extension of His hand. They are immensely powerful warriors and generals. While I am likely stronger and faster than them, my martial and leadership skills have not been honed by ten millennia of war. Calling them errand boys does them a disservice. You don't have to like them, they will not care either way, but being polite is essential."

"Fine. I will play nice if I must. Why are they even here? An agreement between two minor parties cannot be the whole reason why a pair of such great men chose to stick their auramite faceplates in our business."

"I haven't been told to keep silent, but I'm going to anyway. Better safe than censured."

"Very well."

"Let me take another look at the agreement. Perhaps there is something I missed." Eire smiles, "Alright." She pushes a thick scroll and a data pad towards me. I pick up the scroll. It isn't real velum, even if I do have some goats on Iron Crane, but an artificial substitute that is even more hardy than the natural material. I unfurl the scroll. The final agreement is rather substantial with many appendices containing detailed definitions in tiny print, but the main clauses are rather brief.

The most important change is that the Stellar Fleet now has an external currency that does not expire, the Stellar Fleet Requisition Credit, or SRC for short. This is something Eire proposed in advance during one of our Fleet Command meetings and the Space Marines were happy to accept it as a unit of exchange. One SRC is valued at one Sword-Class Frigate, one of the most common and standardised vessels in the Imperium.

While it does include my high build quality, it does not include the many rare extras, like Castalan Shields, or Federation grade Jovian-Class engines, just the standard Imperial designs. As such, any Sword-Frigate or other vessels I create are always going to be more expensive because neither the Space Marines or I consider 'average' an acceptable option. Only the party who earned the SRC can cash it in, though the client can tell us to give the goods to a different party if they wish.

An SRC is not divisible into smaller units than one when completing a trade, but the excess in an uneven trade can be exchanged for bytes. SRC byte value fluctuates depending on the current cost for the Stellar Fleet to build a Sword-Class Frigate. One can't exchange bytes for SR either, so if they don't immediately spend them, the buyer would be on a five year time limit.

A light cruiser, like a mid range, uncustomized Lathe-Class is valued at seven point three SRC, and a Lunar-Class cruiser is twenty-two point two SRC. The price is based on volume of vessel compared to a Sword-Class frigate, so the prices become ludicrous rather quickly. For example, a Avenger-Class grand cruiser is one hundred and sixty-eight point seven five SRC. For our agreement, the Barghest Chapter will add a single light strike cruiser, a Mark III Vanguard-Class, to the Stellar Fleet.

It will be staffed by chapter serfs and the Space Marines' attached lex mechanics. It will also house a single mixed company of marines, their support marines, auxiliary forces and all their vehicles: one hundred and fifty marines and eight hundred and fifty Humans, some of whom are partially modified and won't survive additional geneseed implants.

The Stellar Fleet is responsible for all material upkeep of the attached Space Marine Force and we are obligated to respond to distress calls alongside them if we are within four weeks warp travel of the call. In return, the Space Marines will fight for me, so long as I am not the aggressor or have a legitimate casus belli. Helping out the marines seems like a big burden, but this is a great way for me to legitimately collect kills and was one of the concessions I planned with Eire in advance.

I can also borrow the Barghest Chapter's political clout at the discretion of the Force Commander, who has been ordered to be as accommodating as possible. In other words, I can use the Barghest Chapter's good name to clear away red tape in exchange for sponsoring their chapter and the Space Marines have their own upkeep reduced by up to ten percent per year. For every two years that the Space-Marines accompany me, in addition to me paying their upkeep, they earn one SRC.

The Barghest Chapter can trade in scrapped and badly damaged vessels for SRC at twenty-five percent of what they would cost me to build new ones. Outside of my own fleet, I am to give the Barghest Chapter favoured status, so long as they are travelling with me, and prioritise any orders that the Chapter has.

An STC for a vessel is valued at four times its cost in SR, which is likely way better than what I'd get out of the Mechanicus and the most advantageous part of the trade for me, especially as it comes with the STCs for the most common component loadout for that vessel. While I already have most standard component STCs, new copies are good as they provide more references and may show minor improvements depending on the Forge World that they come from.

I have given the Barghest Chapter all of my Adeptus Astartes wargear, and received all of the remaining Farseer wargear and the Eldar Serpent's scale in return. I have also been given the STCs for the Sword, Firestorm, and Nova class frigates, as well as the STC for the Vanguard-Class strike cruiser. I don't think I would have received quite so much if it wasn't for the Custodes authorising me as a trusted manufacturer of Space Marine wargear and vessels.

He even gave me a fancy certificate to prove it, signed by the High Lords of Terra. I place it in my null box and keep it on me at all times. This document is a great political shield, but it also ruined my anonymity. The Emperor seems determined to ensure that I am known. I don't know why and I don't care for it much, but once I trade some of my own STCs to the Mechanicus, it won't make much difference. At least with this I will be taken seriously, even if I don't have a Warrant of Trade just yet.

It will be particularly useful if the Navy starts throwing their weight around. The huge amount of wargear was valued at four SRC. Strategically and economically, it is probably worth one, but the prestige of owning ancient jetbikes is absolutely massive. Even so, I still owe the Barghest Chapter forty point seven SRC for the other STCs. Four point four-five for the Firestorm, nine point eight for the Nova, and twenty-six point four for the Vanguard, not to be confused with my Vanguard Armour mechs.

As its point three SRC under a valid trade, I have to immediately make up the difference and the Space Marines are not interested in bytes. Eire offered to trade some of our unique STCs to balance the trade and reduce our debt, like the Marwolv mark II lasgun, MOA alloy, and Vanguard Armour.

They weren't interested in the STCs, or buying our wargear separately, and instead put in a massive order for vessels, predominantly Nova frigates, as the Navy annoys the Mechanicus until they 'lose' the orders for Nova frigates. This forces Space Marine fleets to make do with Sword-Class frigates, or if they're lucky, the Sword-Class variant, Firestorm-Class Frigate.

For this order, I need to build two more light-cruiser strike groups, two light cruisers and eight escorts, pimped to the absolute maximum I can manage. Once the order is completed, our scales will be properly balanced. I put down the scroll, "I'm pretty happy with this and even on a second reading I can't see anything strange. You did well to make the most of our pre-arranged compromises." You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Thank you," says Eire. With the fake velum signed, the Barghest Chapter departs a week before us, leaving behind the Vanguard light strike cruiser, Red Knoll, as well as Sergeant Odhran, and his four brothers. The Space Marine strike force is led by Force Commander Verlin Tigernach and his second is Tech-Marine Balor Roan. Fleet command use the time to deploy the Macro-Ferry and redistribute supplies and personnel.

This includes a huge number of people that Quaani has gathered and trained during his travels, making up for the crew shortages incurred by staffing the Macro-Ferry and a second light carrier strike group. Once in orbit around the star, there is a big ceremony and the Macro-Ferry is anointed and commissioned as Charon. Meanwhile I fix up the Navigators from House Lafiel and who were living on their Lunar-Class Cruiser, Torchbearer.

The Custodes never leaves me alone no matter what I do, becoming a silent watcher and obliterating my sex life. He might be invisible a lot of the time, which is total bullshit, but I still know he is there, even if I can't detect him. The Custodes seems to take everything in his stride, including the rituals and my quick trip into the Warp for more Data Structures to perform them with.

I keep expecting him to speak up, but he's more reticent and immovable than His Majesty's black hatted Beefeaters, or Yeomen Warders if one is feeling official. I hate having a spy on my vessel, but I can't kill him or restrain him without ruining my biggest backer, so I have to put up with his intrusive behaviour.

After restoring the Navigators, and effectively turning them into my second cousins, two navigators remain on Torchbearer, while the other four pair up to take posts on our two Lathe-Class light cruisers, Distant Sun and the new Yonder Moon. Quaani and I remain responsible for Iron Crane. The navigators on Red Knoll are a family of four, but none of them are willing to interact with us so soon and are far too used to being imprisoned in their spires to dare a trip outside their vessel or accept visitors.

I'm hoping Quaani will get them to loosen up and that will be our 'in' with a more respectable house. All ten Moth-Class vessels are docked within Iron Crane for travel and our eight Adder-Class escorts dock with their assigned light cruiser using gravity hooks. Leith Madra, Captain of Red Knoll is most vehement about our risky jump method and argues that it's not worth the quick response on the other end when all the escorts could be docked inside Iron Crane, even if he is impressed we can actually do that.

The only problem with this is that it means we can't get started on even one of the Nova frigates even if the mining barges we manufactured for Lickspittle didn't take up the remainder of the space. Iron Crane starts up its Warp Drive, ripping a hole in the Materium wide enough for itself, and three light cruisers. Quaani is in the tank, and I am with Alpia, whom I am holding close to me in our living room.

It's her first transition and we were both nervous just in case something tried to sneak through or test her protections. Rainbow smoke pools at the edge of our room and rushes towards me like a flood and my kill count shoots up by thousands every minute.

"Dad, what's going on? What's that smoke?"

"It's my implants clearing out demonic corruption." Alpia exhales, "Good, that's good. I didn't know you could do that. Would your implants help me?" Last time I was mobbed by rainbow smoke I was inside the tank, away from prying eyes. I'm actually absorbing Warp energy from slain demons but it's inconvenient to explain any details to Alpia though, especially with the Custodes nearby. Even if I could tell her the truth, I wouldn't anyway.

I don't know how much the Custodes knows, and I see no point in adding my secrets to his knowledge by accident.

"I don't have another copy of it and I've never found anyone else who is compatible with this one. Your Dad is a bit special."

"I can't believe you said that, you are so embarrassing." Ha! Classic. I smile and hug Alpia, then step away, but she doesn't let go of my hand.

"I'm still scared. Why is there so much weird smoke?" Sadako manifests and screeches ++Magos Issengrund, the Neverborn are throwing themselves at the Gellar Field like flies. ++ I glance over to the door where I last spotted the big golden bastard but there is no sign of him.

"Data request: Field integrity," I say. ++Stable. They are not strong. It's like the Warp equivalent of a bird strike, or swatting insects. ++"I can't connect to the specialised sensors remotely, nor properly use my third eye with others about. What is the scale of this strike?" ++Our whole fleet is being swarmed and all CIWS are firing at full bore. No large entities are detected.

++"Inform me if the Gellar Field on any vessel drops below eighty-five percent and I will join the other navigators in boosting our defences."

"Dad, why is this happening? Seriously, are you really OK? That is a lot of smoke."

"Yeah, I'm fine. There isn't enough to make me sick."

"This seems really random."

"I think we're being used as bait, or we have bait onboard," I take another look at the doorway. Nope, still empty.

"What should I do?"

"Just stick around until this is over. Anywhere in the apartment will do, but closer is better. I'll inform your training officer so you won't get in trouble if it takes too long to return to the Heralds."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, Alpia. Try and meditate if you can. It will help." Alpia triggers the vox and it starts playing mechanicus chants, "Is the sofa OK?"

"The sofa is fine." Alpia hops over the back of the sofa and sits cross-legged right in the middle of it, "Can you sit with me?"

"Sorry Sweetpea, it's better if I stand. It will help me react faster if I need to. I can stand next to you if you like."

"No. You loom too much. It's distracting."

"Alright." So much power is coming towards me that frost starts to form on the walls. I glance at Alpia but her breath has calmed and her eyes are closed. After ten minutes, the smoke starts to peter out, but it never completely stops for our entire three week journey to Lickspittle. By the time we arrive, I once again have zero kills and the Custodes has left with three Resurrection Serums. No bet on which three poor sods will be getting those, even if one of them is just a hand.

Note: I have made alterations to ship crew numbers and how I calculate everything. The Moth-Class is now the same size as the Adder-Class. The Adder-Class has been increased an extra one hundred metres so it is the same length as the Sword-Class. This will bring everything inline with the new Stellar Fleet Requisition Credit (SRC) Crew numbers are now calculated as a multiple of the Adder-Class/ Cobra-Class optimum crew of 15, 000. Ship build times are based off of the Adder-Class' two year build time.

Build times are also based on the manufacturing capacity of the Iron Crane, as opposed to the output of a forge world. New strike craft variants have been added that will be described in detail in a later chapter. The key point is that they are half as tall and thus vessels can hold, on average, twice as many Class one and two D-POT strike craft as they could before. Class three D-POT numbers have only increased on the Origami-Class, not the Adder class. No other vessels carry the class three D-POT at this time.

The new variants are: Wrath, an interceptor (Class One D-POT), and Macross, a mass missile platform (Class Two D-POT). The Class Three D-POT is a torpedo bomber with four torpedoes and six, titan scale lance weapons. The Class Three is called the Vitrum Pattern. Servitors are no longer counted as crew and typically add an additional 30%. Civilians and Children are not counted either and are also typically another 30% of the stated crew figure.

Stellar Corps Heralds and Aeronautica personnel are counted separately and are not based off of a crew percentage. For example, a Lathe-Class, like Distant Sun, is 7. 3 times larger than an Adder-Class and would have a crew of 109, 500. Civilians, Children, and Servitors would add an additional 65, 700. A total of 175, 200. It would take 14. 6 years to build or average with a build time plus or minus 25% depending on local conditions and material availability.

A Lathe-Class would have one Stellar Corps regiment, usually a mixed regiment of 29, 700 Heralds. Other regiments like Void Assault (30, 600), or Battle Automata (23, 520) have different numbers and compositions. They are still arranged in the same manner as I described the first time, approximately chapter 75. A Lathe-Class has twenty squadrons of strike craft (based off the D-POT), requiring 1920 personnel.

It also holds twelve D-POT squadrons (shuttles) for the Heralds and another two D-POT squadrons (shuttles) for intra-system journeys, another 1, 344 personnel. That would place the number of people on a Lathe Class light cruiser at 208, 164. The Iron Crane's crew is calculated using the smaller value of its volume, not the expanded version, even though the ship spends most of its time as an expanded vessel. This gives it a crew (not counting civilians, children, or servitors) of 705, 000.

An Origami-Class sized vessel, like Iron Crane, would take ninety four years to build, with up to 50% off as it can partially build itself, so it's like having up to two yards working on the vessel at once, as soon as it gets its manufacturing going. As for the promenade, assume it now has four of them, identical to the one I first described, unless I update the descriptions again. I will inform you if I do.

As for how Aldrich built a shipyard and the Origami, in 30 years, with no established industrial base or trained personnel, rather than 47 years with an already established shipyard, assume that he spent a lot longer there than I said the first time around, with much longer time skips. Other options include finishing the vessel while travelling. Do let me know what you think of these changes.