A Monster in Hell: A 40K Story

Chapter-18

With the fall of Armageddon shortly after Khal's breakdown, the Sanctus Imperium was in even more dire straits than ever. This was followed by the fall of Lorin Alpha the day after, and Minerva four days later. Harkon fell shortly after. More defections occurred as systems and even entire sectors pledged themselves to my might, leading to the fall of the entire Pacificus Segmentum in all but name. The weaknesses of the Imperium and the Inquisition were even more exposed after Khal's breakdown. Karamazov frantically arranged a diplomatic meeting a month after the fall of Armageddon, but at this point there was nothing he could do. I still agreed to meet him, though.

A week after Harkon's fall, Heinz obtained the third Blackstone Fortress and Octavian entered negotiations with the Squats. The doom of the Imperium  Sanctus was greater than ever. Now Sagittarius launched his own Crusade in the east, closing in on Segmentum Tempestus, aiming to conquer the Bakka, the Naval Capital of that Segmentum, similar to Hydraphur in Segmentum Pacificus, the fleet of the Knights of Gryphonne, and the Forge-World Kiavahr and its moon Deliverance. His own subordinate Warlords, who would later go down in history as the Kings of the Tempest, captured the Reductus Sector and the Knight World Rapture, and advanced rapidly on Bakka. 

Some systems and even sectors stayed loyal because of the uncomfortable comparisons some of the Sanctus idiots made to the Hera Heresy, but most paid no heed to those. Cardinal Worlds were often subjected to Exterminatus with how much hatred ran against them. The faith of the people was rapidly eroding, and while they still worshipped the Empress, the thing known as the Awakening--- as in the disillusionment with the old Ecclesiarchy--- was setting in, with the military, Space Marines, and new Tech-Priests propagating this faith. The archaic and regressive Priests, Tech-Priests and Inquisitors were flayed alive, burnt alive and crucified, often with any families, friends or lovers they had.

I was unwilling to put a stop to this butchery. If I denied the people their just revenge I would myself be reviled. And  bringing change was impossible if you were dead.

Anyway...

Today was the day I was planning to see the construction of the Castigators. It was undergoing in a Dead World, namely Uralan. We had already decided on a scheme to convert Dead Worlds into Forge-Worlds, and Uralan was a beginning. Many other worlds were located, mapped and marked for similar conversion. The aim was to:

a. Create Forge-Worlds where the surrounding worlds were comparatively ill-supplied compared to their counterparts.

b. Make more Forge-Worlds producing materials which were usually rare and produced from a few places.

c. Utilize Dead Worlds and make them productive.

d. Maximize means of production and supply.

A single factory had been created by a swarm of nanites Annihilator Prime had stored in its pod. There was a second factory on the other world Annihilator Prime had brought out of hiding. Well, see, just like that other Titan which was corrupted, this one had been stored in a single, cloaked world while the Iron War had gone on around it, complete with labs and facilities and  factory to create more of its kind. This planet was called Bellum, which was basically High Gothic (Latin) for War. Considering that the Titan was a weapon of total warfare, this made sense. If I heard some more Dark Age bullshit like say Titan was common cavalry--- oh, wait, with the scale of the DAOT it probably was.

Putting that aside, it is important to note that both Bellum and now Uralan have planet-sized, all-encompassing factories and labs that could be easily put together in days by the use of nanites. These full factories can produce fifty Titans in a few months, each. And that gave me a hundred Titans. Considering Titans far inferior to the Castigators took centuries to manufacture per Titan (for the Imperium), the fact that millions could be produced in that time during the Dark Age was humbling. That gave you a true estimation of Mankind's capabilities, made you wonder what kind of enemies they had fought, and made you weep harder and more bitterly at their fall from grace. It made you truly comprehend why Mankind had stood supreme in the galaxy at one point.