Chapter 107: Nano-Scourge, Accompanying Priests, and the Snakebites
Omega hadn't been idle in his lab for so long. Having solved the problem of the nanites' endurance in a biological body, he could be said to be holding half a "nano-scourge." The day he also solved "self-replication," Omega's name would surely be on the Officio Assassinorum's dangerous persons list.
But Omega wasn't very worried about this. With what he wore, what he stepped on, what was hanging around his neck, and what was at his waist, an assassin could try to kill him and would probably die of exhaustion first. And any Imperial power that wanted to touch him would have to first consider Teyedan and the Regent behind him.
Hearing Omega's words, the Inquisitor's face lit up. "Oh, it seems the surprise you've prepared for the Tyranids is not small."
"Heh heh, I'll fire a small one for you to see in a bit," Omega said smugly.
The Inquisitor looked at Omega with surprise. The little cog-head wasn't being secretive at all. He had just taken it out so openly. It didn't fit her stereotype of a cog-head at all. Omega, sensing the meaning behind her strange expression, said annoyed, "If you look at me like that again, I won't give you a sneak peek."
"Haha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just didn't expect it," the Inquisitor quickly said with a fawning smile.
"Hmph."
The reason Omega was being so generous this time was mainly because he wanted to show off. The secondary reason was that this was originally a secret weapon prepared for Gorgon. Sooner or later, it would be exposed to everyone in the fleet. Who was he hiding it for? The Tyranids?
"What's the situation with the Greenskins here now? No strange changes, right?" Omega asked, still a little wary.
"No. But the Greenskins themselves are already strange enough. And the Snakebites here are an anomaly even among the Greenskin clans."
Hearing that the free-range Greenskins had really become Snakebites, Omega complained, "How amazing. The two clans that are looked down upon in Greenskin society, the Blood Axes and the Snakebites, we've met them both at once."
"Isn't that the truth? But it's precisely because the Greenskins on Korsa have the characteristics of these two clans that our plan can proceed smoothly."
The two of them chatted as they walked to the deepest part of the defensive fortress. This was a huge data center for the surveillance system. Hundreds of personnel were staring intently at their screens, and a dozen or so Tech-Priests were maintaining the equipment. Seeing the Inquisitor and a little cog-head only three feet tall come in, these cog-heads quickly came forward to salute.
"We pay our respects, honored Magos Omega."
"Hello. Who are you?" Omega asked, looking at the cog-heads in front of him, whose attire was clearly not from his fleet. His men had never been so shabby.
"We are the accompanying priests of the joint fleet," the lead priest replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I've been in the lab for too long and didn't react in time," Omega said, a little embarrassed at having forgotten about this group of poor Tech-Priests.
"Not at all, not at all."
The Tech-Priests, who knew the weight and achievements of the person before them, where would they dare to accept Omega's apology? In their eyes, the fact that he was willing to talk to them, and hadn't shown a look of impatience in the first place, already meant that this Magos Omega was easy to talk to. They were well aware of their own status in the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Seeing these Tech-Priests being so reserved in front of him, Omega consoled them. "Don't be nervous. All of you who are maintaining the Imperial war machine on the front lines are remarkable and great. You who dare to face the xenos and heretics, what is there to be nervous about when you see a Tech-Priest like me? Right?"
"Magos, you—"
"Alright, show the courage you have in war. Straighten your backs. We are all priests of the Omnissiah. There is no high or low."
The dozen or so accompanying priests looked at each other and slowly straightened their backs. But in their hearts, their respect for Omega had grown even more. They could feel that this Magos was different from the others they had seen.
"It was my mistake. I've been here for so long and I never thought of you. How about this? Go to my fleet's encampment and have an exchange with my priests. And while you're at it, upgrade the bionics on your bodies."
"Magos, we—"
"You can inform the other accompanying priests. I'm not deliberately taking care of you. In my opinion, you all possess a large amount of practical knowledge, which is very valuable. And don't worry that they will reject you because of the modifications you've made to adapt and for emergencies. My fleet is not so dogmatic."
"Equal treatment" and "a good sword for a hero" are the two great skills for winning people's hearts. To use these two skills, one also needs a passive skill: high status and strong strength. And Omega just happened to have this passive. Now, having self-taught and awakened these two divine skills, he did not yet know that he had just gained another circle of fans with a few words, nor did he know what kind of sparks would fly between the new fans and the old.
If it weren't for the Inquisitor rescuing Omega from the cog-heads who wanted to acknowledge him as their "foster father," the little cog-head would have almost gained a dozen "foster sons" who were older than him.
"Shouldn't the Imperium improve the treatment of the accompanying priests? Look how wronged these Tech-Priests are. They're grown men, and they're shedding tears."
Omega, who didn't know how to appreciate kindness, didn't thank the Inquisitor who had rescued him. After the Inquisitor had sent away the cog-heads who wanted to latch onto his thigh, the first thing he did was to speak up for his fellow cultists. Hearing this, the Inquisitor wanted to call the cog-heads back.
"Yes, yes, my great and generous Magos Omega. Why don't you, after your inspection, gather all the Tech-Priests and have a good exchange with them?"
"Err... let's go. I'll show you the secret weapon."
Seeing Omega change the subject out of guilt, the Inquisitor smiled. "You should first understand the Greenskins here. Save your surprise for the end."
"Alright. Your turf, your rules."
"Come with me."
After being led by the Inquisitor to a conference room in the data center, Fenni placed the compiled data before Omega and, at the same time, turned on the holographic projector and began to explain the changes in the Greenskins here since he had gone into seclusion.
"After we had driven all the scattered Greenskin tribes in the forest here and had them blockaded, these Greenskin tribes first started a civil war. These Ork tribes at first did not show the characteristics of the six major clans of Greenskin society. We will tentatively call them Feral Orks. Until an Ork warboss named 'Savage-fang' rose up."
As the Inquisitor spoke, she had the holographic projector play a recording of Savage-fang. Omega, from the comparison between Savage-fang and the Greenskin Boyz around him in the image, concluded that this Ork was at least twice the height of a normal Greenskin. He was the largest Greenskin he had ever seen. The giant Squig he was riding was comparable in size to a Knight.
"This Savage-fang and the Greenskins he leads have shown obvious characteristics of the Snakebite clan. He has led his Greenskins and various war beasts to defeat the other Ork leaders and has unified the Greenskins here."
As the Inquisitor spoke, a scene of a group of Greenskins riding Squigs that looked a little like wild boars, carrying melee weapons, and charging forward was played. Omega, watching with interest, also saw a slight difference between these Greenskins and the ones he had raised. "Are the Orks under Savage-fang physically stronger than the other Greenskins?"
"Yes. A stronger physique is also one of the characteristics of the Snakebites."
Alright, as long as they don't play with technology. If they want to build muscle, let them build muscle. Should I add a project for the Greenskins in the farm after I go back? Omega rubbed his chin and thought.
"After Savage-fang had unified the Greenskins, the other Greenskins were also quickly assimilated by them, and their physiques also began to become stronger. At the same time, we also began to harass the Greenskins, to weaken them and to stimulate them."
"Have they had any impact on our plans?"
"Not for now. Your plan of controlling the Greenskins with resources has been very successful. After these Greenskins became Snakebites, they began to pursue sharpened bone clubs, heavy clubs, and sharp choppas, and they are very hostile to technological weapons. Even the few simple ranged weapons they captured from other Orks have all ended up in the hands of the Gretchin."
"Good Greenskins," Omega said, raising an eyebrow.
"Haha, indeed, good Greenskins. I have another piece of good news."
"Oh? Let's hear it."
"According to our observations, these Greenskins will often let poisonous creatures bite them. This not only makes them immune to certain toxins, but it also allows their bodies to produce antibodies very quickly after coming into contact with a toxin."
"Hahaha! It feels like the whole world is helping us deal with Gorgon! Hahaha!"
Seeing Omega laughing so hard he was almost falling over, the Inquisitor also laughed. She had not expected everything to go so smoothly.
After laughing for a while, Omega began to read the data before him. He needed to understand the Orks here in more detail. After finishing the data, he closed his eyes and thought for a long time. When he opened them again, he said, "In that case, our plan can be even bolder."
The Inquisitor also nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. After carefully reading the data left by my predecessors on the Orks, I found that a single Ork clan has very obvious shortcomings and weaknesses. The reason why every Ork warboss's WAAAGH! can sweep through several star systems, or even several sectors, is because his Ork army contains all the Ork clans. The mutual complementation between the clans is what makes the Greenskins able to deal with any situation. Although we can now suppress the development of the Greenskins, if we want them to play a role in the war against the Tyranids, with the current situation, it is far from achieving the effect we want."
Omega also agreed with the Inquisitor's idea. "The original plan was to use the Greenskins to fight the Tyranids. If the Greenskins can't even block the first wave of the Tyranids' attack, we will have to divert our forces to protect them and give them time to develop. That would be a joke."
"That's right."
"The key is when the Tyranids will arrive. Only if we can estimate the time of their arrival can we act."
The Inquisitor thought for a moment and said, "Leave it to me. I'll try to use my psychic powers to predict Gorgon's arrival time."
"You have psychic powers?!" Omega showed a look of surprise.
Fenni, looking at this Tech-Magos who was exceptionally smart in most things but very slow in others, said with a helpless tone, "I am an Inquisitor, and a Xenos Inquisitor at that. How could I understand those xenos without telepathy? Do I have to learn the xenos' language and writing every time?"