Meddling of Monsters
She never realized it at the time, but she really should have used her head more than her instincts. Her rebellion against her father had failed so hard that when it was over, her ‘nation’ was erased off the map and barely had a hundred followers left in the end. Thankfully, those that were left had been some of her closest and loyal followers. They fled the engagement against her father, or rather was forced by her officers to flee, as they had stared down a barrel so large that one could fit a frigate-type airship into it.
When it fired… She never felt such fear from weapons that her father had a claw in developing, but when it had fired…
The shrill shriek of the charging process alongside the ear-shattering roar when it fired its deadly beam of untold heat had burned a hole into the nearby mountain while also erasing a majority of her ‘army’ which had included three Knights and eight Warglaives. Even now, two months on the run, the survivors of the failed rebellion would wake up screaming from nightmares of the weapon firing.
“Princess.” She turned her tired amber gold eyes to the voice and hid a grimace at the former Knight Titan pilot who had barely escaped the weapon firing when he had punched out just barely… All it had cost him was his left arm and leg. He was only walking on fours thanks to some prosthetics she had smuggled out of a hospital lab and had her medics install it onto the large Griffon that was nearly half as large as her. His dark brown plumage was dirty with mud, but his dark green eyes still aglow with untold will. “It is my turn to take watch.”
“Of course, Lord Greyclaw.” She muttered as she dragged her tired body to her tent, no different from her followers, but only located in the center of the camp they had briefly set up. Her head, covered in what used to be pristine desert tan colored feathers and the rest of her body covered in a dark autumn red fur with her forelegs covered in golden amber scales. As she laid down on her field pad to sleep, she could only regret acting so early despite being told to delay her attacks in both frequency and intensity. “What is done is done… There is no going back now…”
They were mostly injured, low on food, low on water, and only had enough ammunition to give everyone one reload before they would have to resort to knives and swords. Princess Anastasia Ravenwing fell asleep filled with worries about the future.
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Her amber eyes opened soon after as she noticed a change in her surroundings. Or rather, she thought she had, but woke up only to find herself in her old room in the Imperial Palace when she had been a fledgling. She looked around wearily as she attempted to reach for a hidden blade she always kept under her wing in a tight hidden harness.
Only to find nothing.
“There is no need for hostilities, young Ana.” A garbled voice that sounded neither male nor female spoke from the other end of her room just as she swiftly turned to the voice and threw the nearest thing she could grab. As the chair she threw simply vanished before disappearing before the voice, Anastasia observed the speaker with increased paranoia as it stood nearly two meters tall covered in a crimson hooded robe that was secured around its body to the point where nothing could be easily be seen with the face being shrouded in darkness with nothing but two glowing ‘eyes’ that made her uncomfortable to the skies. “Hmmm… Your father did the same thing when I entered his dreams.”
“My father?” Anastasia glared before understanding what it was saying. “What do you mean by that?”
“Did you really think you can go from simple muskets to your autoguns in a mere three years? Or did you think your father could develop the tanks, titans, and the design of your newest airships without some kind of help?” The figure spoke in a chastising manner as it began to chuckle afterwards. “No one is so… brilliant ever.”
“So you just GAVE him those things?” Anastasia’s mind immediately went back to that horrendous cannon.
“Gave? I only ‘gave’ him memories of the weapons. Their weight, power, and the memories associated with them!” The figure cackled as it raised its arms, but all she could still see was shadows. “It was his decision to implement them in the ways he saw fit.”
“T-then what was that cannon he used on h-his own daughter!” She shrieked as unwilling tears fell from her eyes as the scenery of her room was torn away to reveal said ‘cannon’.
“Oh-ho!” The creature cackled as he looked upon the massive cannon. “A Plasma Annihilator! And so well-made!”
“A Plasma what?” She hissed as she saw her own memories replay as it charged slowly.
“The core is still unstable as you can clearly see it’s overheating in various sections.” The shadow pointed out several locations of the weapon Anastasia could now see were armor plating melting at various locations. “But it is interesting. I’ve only shown him bare images of this particular engine, mind you…”
Anastasia glared at the shadowy figure before jumping straight at him with her talons outstretched, but was restrained by what appeared to be four mechanical tentacles that restrained all four of her limbs that had emerged from nowhere.
“Now, now. I was going to help you because you somehow survived events you were not supposed to.” The shadowy figure chuckled at the struggling Griffon. “When that cannon fired, it was supposed to erase you from existence; but you are still here. Can you tell me how you escaped alive?”
Anastasis glared at the shadowy figure before shaking her head. “I don’t know. I only heard something akin to a song and found myself with a few of my followers away from the field of battle.”
“A song…?” The figure shifted his head to the side seemingly thinking. “Hmph. Another one…? It doesn’t matter now anyways.”
The figure dropped the Griffon onto the ground and pulled out two strange symbols from within the robes. “You want to see your father fall, do you not? Choose one.”
Anastasia rubbed her wrists where the mechanical claws had held her in place. She glanced at the two ‘pendants’ held in shadowy hands. One was a strange strange circle split in half with a small circle on the top while the other was a simple circle that was colored gunmetal grey to the right possessing a mechanical skull while the other half was a cruel looking skull. Both symbols sent raw fear down her spine as she stared at them.
“W-what are they?” She whispered, but was ignored as the ambient sound of the cannon charging seemed to drown out all sounds.
“Choose, Anastasia Ravenwing.” The shadow said with a certain coldness that reminded her of the fierce cold of her former home. “Both offer you knowledge, but you may only choose one. And if you survive the information…”
That sent a chill down her spine as she finally got a good look at the two symbols of ‘power’.
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“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh-----!” Anastasia screamed awake as she threw off the thin sheet to keep herself warm in her sleep and was startled out of her shock by a firm grip. Greyclaw looked worried as he had his tent beside hers and had heard her struggling in her sleep. He had rushed over only to hear her scream and wake up with wide, scared eyes.
“Calm, Anastasia…” Greyclaw said in a low voice as he embraced the nineteen-year old Princess. “Was it another nightmare?”
“N-no.” Anastasia cried into the larger Griffon’s chest as she cried and tried to catch her breath at the same time. “I-I found out how my father gained such wonderful technologies.”
“What?” The larger Griffon whispered as he looked down at the smaller Griffon. Anastasia gathered her breath and asked to gather everyone as this was not news she could hide. No, she owed it to her followers on what was going on. As she looked at the gathered Griffons, both wounded and alive, Anastasia began to explain in great detail as to what was going on. The information about the shadow giving her father the ‘idea’ of weapons via memories of the weapons was grim news as the rebel group began to realize the scale of what they were facing. And when she explained why she had woken up screaming, they also realized that she had gotten the same deal.
“So, which of the two did you take, Princess?” A young Griffon officer inquired as she adjusted the bandages that surrounded her eye. “If those memories you received were so horrible that you would wake screaming, one must ask which you took.”
“I-I….” The gathered Griffons felt apprehensive that their Princess was now stuttering. Hesitating. Things that she had never done. “Machines. An endless sea of machines all wielding weapons that far eclipses the autoguns we use. Every last soldier is grown in tanks, clones of their past selves, and were enhanced by prosthetics designed to make them into lethal killing machines. Mindless machines guided by augmented leaders, their tanks lacking armor and yet nigh impervious to fire, and their weapons... “ She took a deep breath. “Imagine a simple bullet that is far more intricate than the mechanical circuits in the Knights, but can kill anything in a single shot as it causes all of the target’s body to burn out in a blast of electrical force as it ignites their nervous system. Imagine an energy weapon not associated with magic of any kind that can fire a beam of energy that can pierce even the toughest tank armor, but also produce a pulse of energy that can fry any living or mechanical circuits to kill them indirectly. Imagine a large rifle that can shoot through and through a Malcador tank from the front. Imagine weapons that will kill its user, but the enemy would die from unseen energies that poison them in ways that treatment is impossible.”
“W-what mad beings would create such horrors?” Another Griffon muttered in shock as many looked uneasily at the tired looking Princess.
“The Mechanicum, as they are called.” Anastasia grabbed the sides of her head as the memories resurfaced. “An order of mad beings that think machines are imbued with spirits of their own and only listens to the cold logic of the machine.”
“What will you do then, Princess?” Greyclaw asked in a deep voice that brought her back into reality.
“...My father must be stopped.” She said in finality. “And I have the knowledge to level the field. If he completes that machine, nothing in this world will ever be able to stop him from flattening everything. Not even the pony princesses would give him a challenge.”
“...What do you plan to do, Princess?” A young private asked as he looked at her with bright eyes. Such a young soul…
“We build.” She said in a low voice. “We replace our numbers with augmented clones. We make weapons to combat my father. And we go silent.”
Greyclaw nodded firmly as he didn’t question his leader. As barbaric as it seemed, they would have to resort to cloning their new army and build up an army capable of absurdly incredible amounts of damage using an equally absurd technology. In the back of his mind, he hoped this would allow for a new Knight Titan to be built. One that could trump anything the Griffon Imperium could throw at them that wasn’t bigger than he was.
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Anastasia looked at her new right hand with wonder in her eyes as the mechanical talons flexed as she would her original ones. She had, at one point, doubted the true power of such modifications of the body; but seeing it now gave her a sense of familiarity. Narrowing her eyes, she idled on her new bed within the location she and her followers had taken over and had gone straight to acquire the necessary equipment to begin basic production of blueprints she drew up that would serve as basic components for larger projects.
When the first cloning tanks went up seven months ago, she had her medics trained in the installation of the numerous cybernetics that would make them durable, see in various different ‘sights’, and other prosthetics that would in the end make them harder to put down. Their ‘Skitarii’, also known as the Tech Guard by her normal troops, would be shocktroopers that had advanced gas-masks permanently integrated into their heads along with enough electronics that made them merciless and relentless troops that could not be stopped without severe losses as she had seen when they had raided an outpost at the edge of the Griffon Imperium near Equestria. None had really perished in the raid, but most of the ‘first generation’ skitarii were maimed to a lethal degree. But none stopped. She had even seen a Ranger missing an entire arm maul a Griffon soldier to death with its rifle’s butt as ‘it’ could not shoot their weapon. They were additionally augmented to return to service.
Of course, the augments barely bothered the cloned Griffons as they could fly into the air just like any Griffon as their wings were also strengthened with cybernetics to support their increased weight from their armor.
She turned to look at Greyclaw looking pleased with the new type of Knight Titan that had been fast tracked to completion. The Knight-Lancer pattern. It possessed a short range ‘lance’ that could bypass any armor with its crackling lance, but was also capable of firing short range blasts of plasma to combat any who would try to escape the advanced melee/ranged weapon. And to complement the ‘lance’ was a powerful focused ion shield that shrugged off even the powerful battle cannon of the standard Knight Titans possessed. She, at the suggestion of Greyclaw, had gotten herself trained to pilot a Knight Titan of her own. The Knight-Castigator pattern she would pilot was a nightmare for both infantry and tanks. Armed with the Castigator Bolt Weapon, it was a horrifying repeating weapon that fired self-propelled mass-reactive rounds at insane speeds to annihilate entire platoons of infantry in seconds while it wielded a Tempest Warblade capable of shearing through other Knight Titans with utter ease, nothing to say about tanks. Both were also fitted with the new ion shields that standard Griffon Knight Titans lacked as her father did not ‘see’ them.
It was an exciting time for her new organization, the Griffon Mechanicum. A counter to the Imperium she faced. An order of griffons wielding arcane machines led by the Arch Magos Anastasia. She looked at the cold metallic ceiling of her room in the underground fortress with cool determination as her war machine built up and up.
Her father could not complete his ambition. No one should have such power.
Not even her.
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“Ugh.” A distorted voice spoke from the void as it seemed to be snarling and groaning at the same time. “Damn assholes who can’t respect their betters are trying to interfere with my fun?”
The sound of shattering glass echoed in the void.
“What I do here doesn’t even mess with the wider universe.” It growled as the sound of endless machinery grinding away could be heard ever so slightly as the unknown seemingly paced around here. “But whatever. If they want to get to me and this world…”
Hundreds of Imperator Titans lined a darkly lit void as a frightening visage of fused metal and flesh with glowing amber eyes and openly smiled/snarled at seemingly nothing.
“I will NOT go silently into the night…”
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oh...fuck...not even a nuclear fallout bunker will save me from what is coming...
Deus Est Machina
Hum, I am sure we will find out who and what this shadowy figure is much later in the story. It will make for an interesting reveal.
This appeared on the featured list... You have peaked my interest and combined two things I enjoy - changeling-focused stories, and W40K - I don't know much about Battletech but interesting read is still interesting read
I think....this feels a little fast paced.
Suddenly having the motherbucking Omnissia in this funhouse feels...a bit too soon.
10208450
You might. But-
Wait. Did I not make the time passing not long enough?
Eh, don't forget that she has their schematics drilled into her head. You could say that a Forge World's advancements is slammed into her head.
10208361
When isn't this ever in any story ever?
Ohhhhhhh HOLY EMPEROR!!!!! the mechanicus is here, what's next ?
The necrons? Tau? Eldars? or Chaos?
Flesh is weak.
10208465
That still leaves a 'small' power difference. I mean the Mechanicum has the highly advanced mashinery to shoot further then 5 kilometers :grin: (and a whole concept of 'fuck what ever other universes tec you use because we are a little over the top :D)
By the way: are we talking a 30k or 40k forgeworld here? Those are not synonymus :D
10208619
You will see.
They will be using Krios battle tanks and the battle-automata though.
10208466
You misunderstand....
God is the machine
Ok I loved the story at the beginning as tech was advancing as time passed but now....it’s sorta just random leaps of tech they should have zero understanding of,I’m sorry but I can’t keep reading this anymore it’s fallen under the trend of *everyone is suddenly advanced after being shown *insert random sci fi image here* by a god/alien* and I’m sad it has become this
10208707
Well, I apologize for the sudden advancements, but I would like to think that it is due to the fact that they are all desperate in their own ways to have an advantage over each other. Yes, the 'random god' was a bit of a stretch, but considering there is a wider narrative that involves more than seen right now; I hope you would give my story a chance despite the progress right now.
Also, I don't think reading chapter after chapter of tech build up would be as fun as before. I should have timed the 'arcs' better and I apologize for that. I most likely will rewrite the 'new' chapters when I am done with the story (Sorry if it looks like a 'live-service' game...), but for now...
Thank you for reading though.
10208767
Happens to the best of us, so far you have me hooked on this story, I'm just wondering about what this BattleTech universe that's been crossed over is exactly?
I am a little surprised that her father doesn't have the full knight plans shown but can build Titans.
The Titan legions are a staple of the Mechanicum, as the Titans are the only pure land based weapons that are not made with an STC so only the Ad Mechs can create them. But then he has no shields? one of the things that made Titans so fearsome as they had shields of space craft size, and this are the ones the Ad Mechs can still remember.
Or did the King to a Baneblade Variant?
But oyu are a mad man, how long can you keep this speed up? See you next chapter.
10208773
I would say to check out the BEST wiki site in existence, Sarna ; but hey...
Its a hard science- science fiction series with big stompy mechs and tanks. Oh, and space ships. And so much fucking lore.
10208781
Well I know ad mech does handle titans, but I am thinking that he would keep said ion shields for his most trusted commanders. If everyone had it, they could easily think they are the 'hot stuff' and try to take the throne (As stupid as that sounds). Not to mention that the Griffon Emperor is treating the Knight Titans as nothing more than expensive tanks with swords.
Don't worry. The larger Titans will have their fearsome Void shields, albeit without the alternate dimension diverting part of it.
10208794
To be Fair, in a Titan Legio it is normal to treat knights like infantry so seeing them as Tanks is a step up XD.
But Ion Shields are not something that makes knights really hard to beat, Knights have a single side shield that they project and need to move if they want to protect specific parts of their body. They are in this regard different then Titans who have Void shields that cover most of their body at the same time. It is similar to a normal hand hold shield in this regard.
But this part also makes them lesser to real titans. Also, what kind of dimensions do you use for your titans? Old lore or new lore?
10208798
New lore. I'm using the 8th Ed. here.
And yes, I am aware of their use of ion shields. But as I said, the Emperor would like to use them as more expensive version of tanks and the ones with shields to his most trusted officers.
Don't worry, you'll see them soon enough.
So the one maniulating affairs is speaking out again
What do they want?
Blegh, 40k. I hate 40k. Its coarse, and gets everywhere.
So wait, is this a rogue/displaced mechanicus priest from the W40k universe?
When people say that something is moving too fast, it not a question of saying months or years passed in the setting.
They mean the jump between chapters, don't forget we aren't the characters so saying `five years passed` is not gonna make it any less jarring when a situation jumps from 'Mechwarriors Bugpones Vs Imperium Catburds...with ponies on the side' to. Oph got another faction that got contacted by some weird shadow spirit of knowledge that seems intent on manipulating and twisting everything.
You need to set up chapters that let us soak in these developments, just one or two of us just seeing how these new developments are affecting the world and how people are living. Right now it just like jumping from one new thing to another, and it just feels like the story is on fast forward.
Admittedly I'm getting worn out by the story slamming so many different sci-fi settings together, less MLP stuff and more these Sci-Fi settings vs one another with MLP races just happening to be behind the wheels. Only chapters that don't feel too much like that is the Pony based ones, but then they get hobbled by the massive idiot ball most of them are choking on.
Not gonna give a negative vote or say this story is bad, but it just not for me. I wish you well good author, though do get an editor that is able to pick through your chapters with a fine tooth comb. You still got a lot of grammar errors in your chapters that make it a little...difficult to read at times.