The Emperor’s Angel of Death

As the lengthy ceremony drew to a close, the robed Mechanicus servitors positioned themselves throughout the structure, while the cherubs became the primary chanters of the mechanical hymns, almost every boy surrounded by three flying above their heads.

With tense expressions, the boys ascended the heavy and massive iron steps one by one, turning to sit before the throne at the highest point.

As soon as they sat down, heavy steel bands secured their ankles and wrists, and then a silver hood rose from behind the throne, smoothly covering their heads.

Sorskyan noticed that Matthias, who had been as still as water, finally showed some tension and anxiety, his right hand clutching an Aquila emblem tightly, clearly this father was not as cold and ruthless as he seemed; he worried about his son like any other father.

After all, the consequences of failing the Aptitude Test ranged from brain damage to brain death.

As the cable plugs hissed into the input sockets behind the boys' necks and spines, Sorskyan could feel the heat rising in the hall.

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"Praise the Omnissiah!"

The Tech-Sage uttered a deep praise, standing on the high platform at the end of the hall, his mechanical tentacles plunged into the massive array of cogitators like a predatory octopus; he was the only one who could save the boys' lives during the Aptitude Test, and he had to detect subtle disharmonies in the chaotic brainwaves in time and sever the connection before everything became irreversible.

This was not an easy task.

"Witness their Aptitude!"

In that instant, Sorskyan saw many boys twitch.

Then everything fell silent again, with only the hiss of various devices.

Having acquired some mechanical knowledge, Sorskyan knew that the mechanical throne was not just a device for piloting mechs, but also a necessary condition for mortals to communicate with the mysterious machine spirits of the Knight suits.

The machine spirit has always been a difficult topic to summarize in words. Even the most learned Mechanicus Sages find it difficult to accurately describe the state of the machine spirit, its causes, and its composition. Due to the religious sanctity, the Sages are not allowed to deconstruct the machine spirit. Therefore, to outsiders, the machine spirit is indeed a very ethereal thing, but some machine spirits are very real, such as those of Titans and Knight suits.

The Knight machine spirit is one of the very few mechanical consciousnesses with an external manifestation, because Knight suits, as war machines, should theoretically be identical if their construction and purpose are consistent. However, in reality, each Knight has its own unique 'personality'. These personalities determine that some mechs may have significant differences from the same model, and these differences are reflected in the attack methods and preferences for certain weapons. Therefore, the Knight and the mech are essentially a two-way selection process—while the Knight adapts to the mech, the mechanical throne also subtly changes their brains, gradually forming strong concepts of loyalty, responsibility, and conservatism.

So it was not that there were Knights before Knight suits, but that there were Knight suits first, and gradually the pilots formed the initial Knight traditions and strict rules in the combat process, eventually giving birth to Knight-like groups and families, and helping many worlds survive the long night of the Dark Age. (Equivalent to the Knight pilots initially being 'modern people' but slowly being changed into 'ancient people' by the Knight suits.)

Of course, Knight suits bring to the Knights not only loyalty, responsibility, and courage, but also arrogance, impulsiveness, and conservatism, as well as a dedication to family bloodlines. On the other hand, the machine spirit is also influenced by the Knight's personality, and may even merge with it, becoming more insidious and brutal due to the pilot's character.

Therefore, Sorskyan had considered organizing the Knights as soldiers, but as long as they piloted the Knight suits, they would be changed by the mechanical throne over time. This is also why the Adeptus Mechanicus is keen on finding pilots in feudal worlds. The mech influences the Knight, and the Knight influences the mech. Moreover, what is even more mysterious is that once a pilot is recognized and the two fight together for a long time, the machine spirit is more likely to accept the pilot's bloodline descendants, at least the success rate of Aptitude is much higher than that of a stranger, which is another reason why Knight families emphasize bloodlines.

About five minutes later, the connecting cables slid off the boys' backs one by one as if they were alive. The Mechanicus priests stepped forward with holy unguents and censers, and began to chant while applying the holy unguents to the backs of their hands and necks, making the air somewhat thick.

After another five minutes, the priests began to remove the restraints from the boys, and then the helmets rose. Many boys leaned forward and knelt on the ground, retching, almost everyone pale.

But very, very fortunately, all 45 boys succeeded in the Aptitude Test this time!

This made Matthias overjoyed, repeatedly praising it as a day of miracles, that Sorskyan had brought the Emperor's light and blessed the boys. Sorskyan was a little confused about this, but at least it was a good thing that there were more Knights.

Afterwards, Matthias immediately announced the good news to all the Knight nobles and subjects, which immediately triggered another round of revelry. Next was the banquet to celebrate the boys' successful Aptitude, but Sorskyan didn't have the mood to attend this series of banquets, because someone, or rather, an Aeldari, had found him.

"Your Highness."

In a secret chamber of the Avissta, Doral appeared before Sorskyan and bowed.

Sorskyan had received a message from Veronica saying that Doral wanted to see him directly, and considering that the other party was so anxious, he knew that something big must have happened, so he returned to the flagship under the pretext of having something to deal with.

"I really didn't mean to bother Your Highness, but it's a military emergency."

"Military emergency?"

Sorskyan frowned and thought for a moment, then remembered that Veronica had indeed said that Doral had military matters to discuss with him, but it had been delayed until now due to a series of events.

"Ah, I almost forgot, I've had a lot of things to do, sorry."

Sorskyan rubbed his forehead.

"Lord Doral, please tell me, what is it?"

"It's like this, Your Highness, some time before you returned to the Naison system, the Royal Court received a distress signal from the Maiden World Esroh, they were under attack."

Hearing the attack, Sorskyan's heart skipped a beat, and then he asked softly:

"Is it from the Imperium?"

Doral nodded, and Sorskyan felt a splitting headache.

What he feared most had come to pass.

But since it had happened, he couldn't avoid it. After all, he was in this position. However, Sorskyan now had a certain understanding of the Aeldari, and was not in a hurry to talk about rescue, but instead asked:

"Maiden Worlds are under attack, usually they seek help from the Harlequin Troupe first, right? Or the nearby Craftworlds, how did they find the Royal Court?"