Chapter 4: SCV Massage Technicians
Taking the elevator, the group ascended directly to the voidship's bridge.
Walking onto the bridge, Lucan finally understood why Verre had said things were "terrible." It wasn't just him; even the very nerve center of the voidship had come under attack.
Crew members were desperately trying to save the wounded, damaged equipment sparked continuously, and the ship's Tech-Priests were soothing agitated machine spirits while repairing the devices.
Bodies were being carried off the bridge one by one.
"Connie, help treat the injured!"
"I'll go at once!"
Under Lucan's command, Connie began injecting nanite repair-bots into one wounded crew member after another. Before the astonished gazes of the onlookers, crewmen who had been on the brink of death miraculously recovered, as if nothing had happened to them.
Witnessing this, Verre looked at Lucan again.
"Lord Lucan, what is this technology?"
"Technology from the Dark Age! You know I was a captain exploring voidships, Verre. Even this place was attacked?!"
Lucan didn't know how to explain, so he just attributed it to the Dark Age of Technology, a common catch-all for unknown tech in the Warhammer universe, where technology was often rediscovered through archaeology.
"Yes. Someone, somehow, cracked this voidship's security protocols. All elevators and doors were opened. The shipwrights and clans from the lower decks launched a rebellion. The cargo decks are also down below; someone must have been secretly supplying these traitors with weapons for a long time."
"Can't this ship's crew deal with the rebellion below?"
"We've suppressed the traitors who charged up here; they've retreated. And I've already dispatched Enforcer teams into the lower decks. However, the situation in the lower decks is far more complex than anticipated. It's not just these rebels; some kind of plague, an influence from the Warp, is spreading down there. Those who worship the Ruinous Powers can ignore it, but our crewmen cannot."
"Plague." Hearing the word "plague," Lucan immediately thought of Nurgle. The manifestations of Chaos worshippers were usually quite straightforward, leaving little room for guessing.
"And what's more serious is that before the rebellion broke out, Captain Ludwig took the ship's most elite warriors, her family household guard, down to the lower decks. Although I tried to stop her, she still chose to go."
"You're saying the Rogue Trader personally went down to the ship's lower decks?" Hearing this, Lucan also found it incredible. A high-and-mighty Rogue Trader going to the chaotic lower decks? For what reason? To inspect the work, to win the favor of the dregs in the bilges? This was the Warhammer universe!
"I don't know. But we have completely lost contact with Captain Ludwig."
"So, you don't even know if Captain Ludwig is still alive?"
"Although I don't believe Lady Ludwig would die… as Purser, I can only prepare for the worst-case scenario."
Just as the two were talking, the voidship suddenly shuddered violently.
A crewman operating a Cogitator shouted in terror, "Lord Verre! The ship's engines are critically damaged! The Engine Seer reports he can't possibly repair them in time! If this continues, the ship will lose all power!"
"Impossible to repair?!"
Losing power in the Warp was no different from a death sentence for everyone.
"Verre! Take me there quickly! Perhaps I have a way!!"
"You have a way?! Even the Tech-Priests can't do it, but you can?!"
"What's with all the talk? Do you want everyone to die?! Take me there, now!"
"Alright! Follow me!"
Hearing that the engines were critically damaged, Lucan immediately thought of SCVs. If the Medics worked just like in the game, could the SCVs, which could repair any machine, also perform just like in the game?
Regardless, Lucan had to try.
Rushing along, they arrived at the entrance to the engine room. Even before entering, they could hear intermittent explosions and roaring sounds from within. Arcs of blue electricity constantly flared out from the engine room. When they saw the scene inside, they realized the situation was even more severe than imagined.
Massive electrical arcs flashed across the Warp Engine, and continuous strange noises made it feel as if the engine could explode at any moment.
Tech-adepts frantically operated the machinery before them, struggling to maintain the engine's stability. The Tech-Priests were using every method at their disposal to soothe the machine spirit.
And the ship's Engine Seer Prime was loudly chanting praises to the Omnissiah.
The mechadendrites on his back were a blur of motion, but even so, the engine's condition continued to deteriorate.
"0100, 001001, 0010011, 0111001," Engine Seer Pavian commanded his underling tech-priests and servitors in the binary language of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
"Pavian! What's the situation?!"
"By the sacred Omnissiah, the machine spirit is agitated! Rampant energies are surging within the engine! In one Terran standard hour, the engine will overload! The machine spirit refuses to allow me access to its safety protocols!"
"You are Engine Seer Pavian! You must solve this problem!"
"Captain Ludwig isn't here! This voidship belongs to her family; the family's machine spirit recognizes her! If she were here, perhaps it would be possible! Verre! You must find the Captain!"
Listening to their shouts, Lucan had already opened the shop interface.
His Psy-crystal balance was currently at three hundred, enough for him to summon two SCVs.
As the crystals were consumed, two SCVs appeared behind the group.
SCVs looked small in the game, but in reality, they stood a full 3 meters tall. If it weren't for the sufficiently large internal spaces of a Warhammer voidship, these behemoths might not have even fit.
The commotion of the SCVs' appearance also attracted the attention of Verre and Pavian.
When the two turned and saw these large machines before them, they both instinctively raised their weapons. The plasma weapon held in one of Pavian's mechadendrites had even begun to charge.
"Don't shoot! I brought them! Perhaps I can repair this engine!"
Lucan quickly stopped them, genuinely afraid they might dismantle his SCVs.
"This is impossible… How on Terra did you bring such things in here so silently!" Verre felt his mind reeling.
"I told you, it's Dark Age technology!! You said this voidship's machine spirit serves the family. Does that mean my family bloodline might also be effective?"
"Perhaps. In the past, only the Captain had the authority to access it. No one else has ever done so."
"Let's try it! I don't think either of you have any other options right now, do you?!"
Lucan walked directly to the Cogitator before him and placed his hand upon it. The moment his hand made contact, Lucan truly felt the existence of the so-called machine spirit.
At this moment, the machine spirit was enraged, furious, and had completely given up on maintaining the Warp Engine's operation.
Lucan ordered the two SCVs to approach the Warp Engine. Their tool clamps and drills made contact with the Warp Engine and began to operate.
As the SCVs started working, a miraculous scene unfolded. The roaring of the engine began to subside, the overload index started to slowly decrease, and Lucan could feel the machine spirit's emotions; it was gradually calming down. Lucan didn't know if he misheard, but he thought he heard the machine spirit let out a sigh of comfort…
As if the SCVs were giving it a massage!
"It's working!" Lucan knew he had gambled correctly.
Beside them, Pavian was dumbfounded. He had seen it clearly: these two unknown machines, had they really done anything significant? Not really! They had just reconnected some pipes and circuits damaged by the overload – things he himself had already tried! It hadn't worked at all. But now, this chaotic fiddling with clamps and drills had somehow repaired the engine?!
Omnissiah preserve us! What in the name of blessed Terra was this technology?!
(End of Chapter)