The Bizarre Adventures of the Oil Man, but Starting with Warhammer 32K

Victor didn't know what to say. All he could do was bury his head in the ground and whispered:

"I will obey your orders."

Chapter 77: The Black Oil Man's "Transfer"

Augustus was pleased to accept Victor into the family of the God of All Machines. Although his abilities were not outstanding, after all he had experienced, his life was deeply bound to Vashtor.

He will be loyal to the true God of All Things, and this loyalty will never be questioned.

But before that, he had to plan out their future prospects.

A broad blueprint, while not necessarily meant to be realized, can provide subordinates with goals and motivation. Their faith in the true God of All Things, driven by the blueprint, will be transformed into unpaid dedication and hard work.

"Rise up, Sage Victor. Now we are both believers in the God of All Things. You no longer need to bow before me."

He took Victor's hand, his tone no longer as cold as before: "The true power of the God of All Machines does not rely on the mundane rituals of the Mechanicus. Simplicity, efficiency, and unfettered thinking are the true embodiment of our dedication to the God of All Machines."

"But that would be susceptible to the corruption of the Warp."

Sage Victor was still a little hesitant. "Without those consecration ceremonies, some evil things would enter our production process..."

Without Augustus's intervention, the Forge Sage, who had also completed his prayer ritual, stood up excitedly and interrupted Victor:

"True believers of the Myriad God never rely on those rituals! Because the Myriad God is also a being in the Warp. All we need to do is invent, think, and forge. And He who is in the Warp will protect us from other evil threats in the Warp besides the Myriad God!"

The Sage Blacksmith was clearly impressed by Vashtol's efficiency: "This is true production, Vashtol! This is true forging!"

Victor was speechless, and the Director took over the forger's words.

"He's right. But the God of All Mechanics is still very weak, because the False Emperor, in the name of Om Messiah, stole the faith that should have belonged to the God of All Mechanics. The lack of faith has made our true God of All Mechanics extremely weak in the Warp."

"But even so, He still watches you with His eyes, Victor. The trials on Maxim have transformed you, allowing you to experience the power of the true God of All Machines. Now, we must spread this glory to more Forge Worlds, allowing more sages and priests to embrace the true God of All Machines."

Following the Foundry Director's guidance, Victor's gaze shifted to the star map. He looked in the direction the Foundry Director pointed and muttered their next destination:

"Mars……"

"Yes. We are heading to Mars. Although this was our planned evacuation location from the beginning, this destination has obviously taken on a different meaning now."

The foundry director opened the laboratory door and walked out with Victor and the deputy foundry director. They greeted the anxious group of sages and priests outside. Unaware of what was happening in the lab, they looked at Victor with strange eyes. They didn't know who this newcomer was, but the foundry director had no intention of explaining.

The auspicious chief came up to the director and said, "You finally appeared, Director Augustus! The imperial fleet is very close. Please give the order as soon as possible!"

No one paid any attention to Victor anymore. Everyone turned their expectant gazes to the Foundry Director, eager to quickly move their belongings aboard the ship to a safer location. The Foundry Director, however, resumed his usual indifferent demeanor. Facing the crowd's expectations, he simply gave a calm order:

"set sail."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the fleet commander's approval. Soon, the Forge Master's order was relayed to the entire fleet, and all Mechanicus fleets sped up, evacuating towards Mandeville Point on the other side of the galaxy.

-

Watching the huge Mechanicus transport fleet leave without sending any message, Commander Hayes, who was in charge of the Astra Militarum expeditionary fleet, drank a sip of water calmly.

His posture seemed as steady as a rock, but the trembling water surface in the cup still revealed his trembling hands and his inner unrest.

His gaze unconsciously shifted to the soldier being held on the bridge. The Astartes, calling himself Armidale, had surrendered all his weapons and was currently being held captive by several Imperial Fists Honor Company soldiers, yet he appeared unperturbed.

Perhaps noticing Hayes's gaze, Armidale turned around and nodded slightly at Hayes.

"On this planet."

He said.

The adjutant stepped forward at the right moment and quietly reminded, "There has been no response from Maxim Forge World yet. Their fleet in orbit just started its engines and departed for the other side of the galaxy."

Hayes waved his hand: "You don't need to remind me, I have my own eyes."

But seeing doesn't mean understanding. In fact, since arriving in the system where Diamond Star resides, Commander Hayes has experienced too many things he can't understand.

Following orders from the High Lords Council, he led the Astra Militarum and a small fleet from Terra, along with the Imperial Fists Honor Company originally stationed on the walls of the Imperial Palace, to investigate the loss of contact with the Imperial Fists Chapter on Diamond Star.

But when they jumped out of the warp, they actually received the news that the hive planet Endin behind them had fallen to the greenskins.

Greenskin? Isn't that a chrome beast?

Hayes still remembered the confusion he felt when he first received the star message. But soon, he discovered a large number of greenskin fleets around the Diamond Star.

He dispatched some frigates to conduct reconnaissance. Based on the intelligence gathered, he initially determined that this fleet, seemingly made of scrap metal, was manufactured on Diamond Star.

This discovery made Commander Hayes' heart drop to the bottom.

He was certain that the Imperial Fists would not allow the Greenskins to act so recklessly, but now that the Greenskins had assembled such a large force in orbit around Diamond Star, the Imperial Fists were nowhere to be seen. This could only mean that the Imperial Fists had most likely been destroyed by the Greenskins, or at least only one in ten survived.

This terrifying thought filled Commander Hayes with fear, but neither he nor the veterans of the Imperial Fists Honor Company would give up the possibility of finding survivors of the Imperial Fists Chapter.

After a brief discussion, they decided that Commander Hayes would lead the fleet to lure out the Greenskin Fleet, while the veterans of the Imperial Fists would lead part of the Astra Militarum to land on Diamond Star and try to search for any traces of the Imperial Fists.

Commander Hayes's fleet looked enormous, but in reality, most of it consisted of Astra Militarum transports. The only true space-based vessels were the expeditionary fleet, led by the Retribution-class battleships, supplemented by four or five cruisers and frigates. This fleet wasn't small, but the Orks already had three battleship-sized vessels.

Considering that the Retribution class is not known for its speed, Commander Hayes had already anticipated that this operation would basically be a zero-survival operation.

He was not afraid of his own death, he only hoped that the troops under his command could avoid unnecessary sacrifice. Just as he was about to arrange for most of the Astra Militarum forces that did not need to participate in this operation to return to Covenant Port, a communication request with the Imperial Fists emergency contact code was connected to Hayes's fleet.

The Imperial Fists veterans gathered on the bridge of the flagship did not see the long-awaited Chapter Master Morhan on the comms. Instead, a warrior wearing strange-looking armor, claiming to be an Imperial Fists soldier, appeared on the comms. This man, claiming to be Armidale, was unknown to any of the Imperial Fists present.

"It's normal that you don't know me. I was during the Horus Heresy..."

Armidale simply read the lines Leon had prepared for him in advance, but the communication ultimately failed to continue.

As soon as he opened his mouth, the communication was abruptly halted, and the ordinary crew members on the bridge were hurriedly pulled off for brainwashing and re-education. However, this did have a deterrent effect, because only those who had lived through that period could so easily discuss this topic, which has now become a taboo in the Empire.

What? Wasn't the Siege of Terra about nine Archdaemons laying siege to the Emperor and his only nine loyal children?

Who is Horus? Don't force all my soldiers to line up in the Inquisition!

Chapter 78 The Confused Imperial Fleet.

After all this back and forth, Hayes and the veterans of the Imperial Fists began to accept that Amidel was a veteran of the Imperial Fists who was lost in the warp and reconnected with the Imperial Fists during the battle of Diamond Star.

They agreed to engage Armidale. However, when the other party appeared in their sight, driving a ship with an identification code deliberately painted on its keel and engines and rams resembling demonic engines, the ship's machine spirit almost opened fire on its own without them even making a sharp explosion.

Oh my God, what the hell is this thing? It can actually fly in space!

The original crew responsible for receiving the ship after docking were urgently replaced by Imperial Fists veterans and the Navy boarding party, who were on high alert. However, the feared gunfight did not occur. Aside from the somewhat odd weapons carried by the people disembarking from the other ship, everything else was relatively easy to communicate with.

These people were taciturn and spoke sparingly, but they still briefly explained the situation on Diamond Star: the Greenskin invasion had almost destroyed the Imperial Fists, with Chapter Master Morhan killed in battle and Second Captain Kurland taking over as Chapter Master.

If we don't count these veterans who returned from the Great Heresy, there are only a dozen or so survivors left from the Imperial Fists who went out on the expedition, and they are now all recuperating on Maxim, the forge world near Diamond Star.

Although everyone was somewhat prepared, they were still surprised when they actually learned about it. Those with more flexible minds began to question why Armidale and his men were here, but the only answer they could get from the Second Legion was that "everything was according to Kurland's plan."

The scene then turned into a group of Imperial Fists veterans looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Is Kurland so smart?"

"I don't believe it. That kid has been stubborn ever since he joined the recruit company."

Regardless, it was clear that Armidale possessed a communication code unique to the Imperial Fists commander.

Although they still couldn't trust these "Imperial Fists veterans" who claimed to have returned from the Heresy, the news brought by Armidale and others gave them a better option than continuing to rashly attack Diamond Star as originally planned.

To demonstrate their sincerity, Armidale and his men agreed to be placed under house arrest by Hayes and his men without surrendering their weapons. The expeditionary fleet from Terra ultimately decided to reroute to Maximus.

Of course, they didn't completely trust Armidale, and they had even prepared for an ambush the moment the fleet jumped out of the warp. This preparation was so complete that when they jumped out of the warp and found that everything was actually calm, they felt uncomfortable.

Hayes was glad that trusting Armidale and the others proved to be the right choice. However, Hayes soon became unhappy about it.

As the saying goes, everything has its limits, and being too calm is not a good thing either.

But this galaxy is as quiet as if it were dead!

As a star system with a Forge World, most of the other planets in this system belong to the Mechanicus. After jumping into the system from Mandeville Point, Hayes's fleet discovered the Mechanicus outpost on the outermost planet of the star system.

Out of respect for the sovereignty of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Hayes ordered the fleet to send a clear request for a visit to Maxim's Forge World, but no matter how they called, the outpost seemed to have been abandoned long ago and did not respond.

But they could clearly detect the signal that this outpost was still operating!

This unusual situation made Hayes uneasy. He was no rookie. Before ascending to the rank of High Lord Commander of the Astra Militarum, he had been a seasoned warrior, having led numerous expeditions. His encounters with the greasers during these expeditions had long since taught him their selfishness and sensitivity to property rights.

If it were a normal forging world, and an entire expeditionary fleet arrived at the galaxy where the forging world was located without prior notice, then these territorially conscious oilmen would definitely want to put their gun barrels to the heads of the fleet and ask them clearly about their purpose.

But now? He couldn't even receive a single warning message from the Forge World!

But with the mission of searching for the Imperial Fists under his belt, Hayes had no choice but to force his fleet forward, no matter how strange the situation. The Empire's advanced chemical propulsion systems allowed them to reach Maximus in about a day.

During this period, they kept trying to contact the Forge World, but all the messages fell on deaf ears.

Hayes had some theories about the Forge World's situation—perhaps it had been attacked by greenskins, or perhaps something had happened to the Astronomican on the planet. However, all of these theories were shattered the moment they arrived near Maxim.

They all gasped at the sight of the Mechanicus fleet gathering in orbit around Maximus.

The reason for not replying to the message is that you are preparing to assemble a fleet to fight us?

What does this have to do with us?

Why does it feel like they've gone straight back to the Heresy, and they're about to start a fight with the Black Mechanicus that split from Mars?

Hayes couldn't help but confirm with Armidale, "Are you sure all the surviving Imperial Fists are on this planet?"

Amid nodded without hesitation. But even if Amid was so sure, Hayes did not dare to act rashly.

No one knows what these oil men are doing. If the actions of the fleet here cause them to misunderstand and conflict breaks out, then this war will only evolve into a complicated and serious problem.

The situation wasn't complicated by military factors, but rather by political ones. A civil war had broken out between the two eagle-headed factions of the Human Empire in the Solar Segmentum. This situation would undoubtedly be reported to the High Lords Council as quickly as possible, and then exploited by countless people with ulterior motives.

Hayes suddenly felt that it was not so difficult to turn back and fight those greenskins.

He was merely a representative of the Astra Militarum, temporarily serving as High Lord at the floating table, and was in no position to consider such complex political issues. All he could do was to temporarily halt the fleet and observe from the sidelines. However, Armidale urged them to advance the fleet as quickly as possible, assuring them that they would not come into direct conflict with the Forge World.

Armidale must know why some of the oil men were acting so strangely. Hayes was sure of this, but he couldn't get this information from Armidale.

However, during the brief reconnaissance he conducted, he learned that most of the Mechanicus' fleet in front of him were transport ships.

Rather than starting a war, these oil men seem to be trying to move away?

Chapter 79: An unexpected greeter.

So these guys didn't reply because they were planning to leave?

Considering the Greenskin frenzy on Diamond Star, Hayes, who knew the nature of the Oilers, was not surprised. After figuring out the situation, he tried to push his fleet forward, but the result was that the Oilers ran away in a flash.

Why does it look like he drove out the Mechanicus and forcibly occupied Diamond?

When Hayes thought about having to report the situation to the Council of High Lords after returning, he felt a headache because he didn't know how to organize his words to explain the current situation.

But no matter what, the gateway to Maximus was already open. Since Armidale was certain that the survivors of the Imperial Fists were on Maximus, he certainly had no reason to avoid it.

The expeditionary fleet approached the spaceport, but the docking procedures at the spaceport weren't initiated as planned, and Maxim's orbital defenses appeared to be down. More importantly, however, the expeditionary fleet, once nearing low Earth orbit, observed Maxim's current surface.

The intertwined flames of war raged beneath thick ash clouds. The shockwaves of the continuous explosions formed strange ripples that spread through the shattered atmosphere. In the planet's only major hive, the production lines that should have covered the ground were reduced to ash, revealing a scorched and cratered surface. And where the Forge Council should have sat, only a vast crater remained. The entire hive was ablaze, and columns of smoke drew dirty geometric lines across the sky.

Hayes turned around and looked at Armidale. He asked:

"What's happening here?"

Armidale shook his head honestly. He truly didn't know this time, but no one in the current expeditionary fleet apparently believed it. Adjutant Abbott, more skilled in analysis, did draw some conclusions based on the previous situation of the Mechanicus fleet.

"The Adeptus Mechanicus's evacuation fleet clearly doesn't have enough capacity to take away everyone on this forge world. Is there a civil war going on on this forge world over evacuation quotas?"

This would explain why Maxim was filled with smoke, but there was also a fatal logical flaw.

"You mean to say that these Adeptus Mechanicus greasers abandoned their Forge World without taking the Imperial Fists survivors with them, leaving them on this planet to fend for themselves?"

Adjutant Aibo was speechless. However, these words attracted the approval of Hayes' own adjutant.

"I think the oil men are really capable of doing this. After all, during our last expedition, we thought those oil men were here to support us, but they ended up looting something, dropping a whirlwind torpedo, and running away..."

Hayes glared at his adjutant, who immediately fell silent.

Of course they had to go down and find the Imperial Fists, but this Maxim looked more and more like a trap. Even if it wasn't, it was still a sinkhole. Hayes decided to continue imprisoning the group led by Armidale. Then he would personally lead a small team to the still intact spaceport to investigate the situation.

As expected, his decision was opposed by his subordinates.

"You are one of the High Lords, the supreme commander in charge of this operation! How can we allow you to go down in person?"

"There's no High Lord here, only the commander responsible for this operation. If I don't go down there myself, who else besides me can make a quick and decisive decision in the event of an emergency?"

"But……"

"No buts. I'm the commander of the Astra Militarum and can't command space battles. If anything unexpected happens to me on the ground, let the captain of this battleship take over the rest of the operation."

Hayes waved his hand. "Besides, the Imperial Fists will ensure my safety."