Rhodes never dreamed that an Inquisitor of the Empire would travel thousands, even tens of thousands of light-years, to Commorragh, the city of the Drukhari, in search of a Haemonculi to repair the Golden Throne.
And to think the person they found… was him!
So just how unreliable are those guys from the Adeptus Mechanicus?
No wonder humanity has had zero technological progress in the past ten thousand years—those people rely on chanting prayers to conduct scientific research. Utterly useless!
At most, Belisarius Cawl is slightly more competent—but only slightly. It took them ten thousand years just to resurrect the Thirteenth Primarch, Roboute Guilliman. The only remotely useful things they've achieved are the creation of Primaris Space Marines and their accompanying gear.
"Lord Loki, do you know much about our Golden Throne?" Damz asked.
"Hmm… So you want me to help repair the Golden Throne? I know about the Golden Throne. It's said to be a technological relic from over ten thousand years ago, created during humanity's peak of scientific achievement, correct?" Rhodes replied.
"That's correct! The Golden Throne is a product of the Dark Age of Technology. However, after the Emperor discovered it, He made several modifications and added His touch to it.
It became the sacred artifact of humanity, guiding our Imperium for the past ten thousand years. Because of the Golden Throne, the Astronomican can burn brightly, allowing humanity to navigate the perilous Warp." Damz explained.
"I see. I've heard that to maintain the operation of the Golden Throne and the Astronomican, your Imperium has to burn through a thousand psykers daily to provide psychic energy for the Emperor. Is that correct?" Rhodes asked.
"You're well-informed, Lord Loki. However, your information is a bit outdated. Nowadays, we have to burn at least three thousand psykers daily just to keep the Throne and the Astronomican functioning properly," Damz responded.
As early as the 36th Millennium, the standard of sacrificing 1,000 psykers per day was no longer sufficient, and the requirement has been rising steadily ever since.
Although this massive requirement might seem daunting, for an Imperium with such vast territories, it's still manageable. The Imperium can always find enough psykers—more than enough. They can even allocate the most exceptional ones to other branches of the Imperium.
All it takes is for the Black Ships to make a few more runs.
The real issue isn't the psyker sacrifice; it's the Golden Throne itself. The Throne is barely holding together and is expected to completely collapse within the next 300 years at most.
Once the Golden Throne fails, the consequences will be catastrophic.
"You've indeed made significant sacrifices to maintain the Golden Throne," Rhodes nodded in acknowledgment.
So the number of psykers burned daily has increased to 3,000, huh?
"Thank you for your recognition. Now, Lord Loki, would you be willing to travel to the Holy Terra to help us repair the Golden Throne?" Damz asked.
"I've never seen the Golden Throne, so I can't say for certain whether I can repair it. At the very least, let me see the actual thing—or provide me with the design schematics for the Golden Throne. Only then can I give you a definitive answer," Rhodes replied.
"Lord Loki is a descendant of the noble Eldar Empire of old, possessing technological knowledge far beyond our imagination. If you can provide him with detailed schematics of the Golden Throne, I believe Lord Loki will certainly be able to repair it," Lelith interjected.
Do you know how advanced his technological expertise is?
He can move through Commorragh completely unseen as if it were his personal backyard.
She had specifically investigated this: there were no official records of Lord Loki ever entering the Commorragh.
It was as if he had never set foot in Commorragh at all.
This means that he had entered directly through the Webway, unnoticed by anyone, and arrived in Commorragh undetected.
If he hadn't chosen to show himself, no one would have even realized he was there.
Do you understand the significance of this? Lelith knew better than anyone.
What's more, he also possessed teleportation technology that allowed him to appear and disappear at will.
This is a technology only the Necrons have mastered. Repairing a human artifact from the Dark Age of Technology would be child's play for him.
Rhodes smiled faintly and refrained from saying much, as he was also curious to see the design blueprint of the Golden Throne. As for whether he could bluff the two people in front of him, Rhodes felt it would be effortless.
"Could you please give us a small demonstration of your technological capabilities? It's not that we don't trust you, Lord Loki! It's just that this matter pertains to the survival of the entire human race, so we must take it seriously," said Kania, the Roque Trader standing to the side.
They had to confirm the other party's technological level before they would hand over the parameters of the Golden Throne. As for the detailed design blueprints, sorry, they didn't have any.
"Oh! Then I'll give you a brief demonstration. But you two better be mentally prepared. Although it's just a little performance, I'm afraid it might scare you," Rhodes said with a smile.
His Golden Teleportation Bracelet allowed him to teleport freely anywhere within the entire star region. Since that was the case, why not take a look at their spaceship?
Rhodes could easily locate the coordinates of their ship through his mothership's systems. After all, human ships had such a distinctive design—completely different from the style of the Dark Eldar vessels—making them incredibly easy to find.
Upon hearing this, Kania and the Imperial Inquisitor, Damz, exchanged glances before nodding to each other. They were ready to see just how capable this Lord Loki truly was.
After locking onto the ship's location, Rhodes smiled and activated the teleportation ability of his bracelet. Instantly, he, the Arena Queen Lelith, Kania, Damz, and four Deathwatch Space Marines disappeared.
In a flash of blue light, they reappeared inside the merchant vessel belonging to Kania. Their sudden appearance startled the crew on board, who thought something had gone wrong and immediately sounded the ship's alarms. A large group of combat personnel rushed out, only to see their merchant captain, the mysterious Imperial Inquisitor, and two unusual beings.
Naturally, they aimed their weapons at Rhodes and Lelith. However, Kania, as the ship's master, quickly stood up and scolded his crew.
"Put your weapons away! These two are our guests. Don't act rashly. Get back to your posts; this is none of your concern."
Meanwhile, the Imperial Inquisitor and even the four Deathwatch Space Marines stared at Rhodes in utter shock. Was this some kind of joke? They had just returned to their ship, with all these people, without even realizing what had happened!
There wasn't even the slightest psychic disturbance just now! What kind of technology was this?
"Your ship's defensive measures are a little lacking. If you encountered someone with teleportation technology, your ship would be far too easy to breach," Rhodes said, crossing his legs as he looked at the Inquisitor and the rogue trader.
This subtle display of superiority was, in fact, the most devastating.
"Lord Loki, please forgive my impudence! Are you saying that, to you, our ship is essentially defenseless?" Kania's voice trembled, and even his body shook slightly. If they encountered such an opponent in a space battle, their ship would essentially be doomed.
"Hahaha! What do you think? Alright, the demonstration is over. Let's head back!" Rhodes snapped his fingers again, and in an instant, everyone was back in the Arena Queen's room, as if they had never left.
The Imperial delegation was still struggling to process what had just happened. The sheer technological sophistication of this teleportation ability was utterly absurd—far beyond their wildest imaginations. It even surpassed the phase-shifting teleportation of the Necrons. They had no clue how it worked.
It was like a group of primitive people witnessing advanced warships for the first time—completely and utterly overwhelmed.
"This is just the tip of Lord Loki's technological iceberg! Hurry up and hand over the Golden Throne's blueprints; don't waste his time," said Lelith, standing beside Rhodes.
This kind of super teleportation technology was breathtaking no matter how many times one saw it.
"Lord Loki, we completely believe in your capabilities now," said Imperial Inquisitor Damz, nodding slowly as he produced a small box.
After entering a password, he and Kania used their DNA to unlock it, revealing an electronic datapad.
"Lord Loki, this is part of the Golden Throne's data schematic. This is all we can provide. For the full details, you would have to travel to Terra to obtain them," Damz explained.
The data schematics were something they had secretly brought with them. It had taken the Mechanicum a staggering 10,000 years to create this incomplete drawing.
"Hmm, these schematics are a bit crude, but they're barely passable. I'll keep them here and take a closer look. In three days, I'll give you a definitive answer," Rhodes said.
Of course, he couldn't make sense of the Golden Throne's schematics. This thing had to be sent to Balt for analysis.
"No problem, Lord Loki. We'll await your answer in three days. Please give us your decision as soon as possible," said Damz.
At this point, his confidence in repairing the Golden Throne had skyrocketed. The technological prowess displayed by this individual was beyond anything they had imagined.
"Lord Loki, how much compensation would you like?" Kania asked.
"As for compensation, I'll name my price once I determine whether I can fix this thing," Rhodes replied.
"Understood. Then we won't disturb you any further. See you in three days."
With that, Damz and Kania bowed to Rhodes, then stood up and left.