Chapter 3: Prologue 03 – Grimsong Specter’s Inheritance

“Grimsong Specter is the most murderous magus of all time. He was originally confined within the Fractal Prison due to causing the 4th Holy Terra’s World War in 2241 Terran Standard Calendar…”

Regulus was shocked. ‘The Fractal Prison holds the Imperium’s worst prisoners, and Fleet Admiral Grimsong Specter is a figure as archaic as the Imperium itself. He and this vessel are truly old...’

“In the First Contact War which happened around a hundred years later, however, he was released from the Fractal Prison under the decree of the Emperor as his abilities had become a necessity for humanity’s survival. With his assistance, the loss of human life is minimized greatly, allowing the Human Imperium to officially assert dominance towards the xenos, therefore establishing our might amongst the galactic community. Unfortunately, Grimsong Specter also murdered one of the Sovereign Magi of Holy Terra by the end of the First Contact War…”

Just as he was recovering from the initial shock, he was taken aback once more. "So he is both a war hero while simultaneously a war criminal?"

"Affirmative. The Imperial Administratum and the majority of the Magi of Holy Terra sought to bring about his demise, but were unable to devise a means of delivering a true death to Grimsong Specter. Additionally, his century-long confinement resulted in him learning intricacies of the Imperium's Fractal Prison which made it ineffective in restraining him. Consequently, at the Emperor of Mankind's insistence, the Imperial Administratum reclassified Grimsong Specter's sentence from termination to exile."

“A method to grant true death to Grimsong Specter has yet to be found?” Regulus raised his eyebrows. “Does that mean he’s an immortal?”

“Affirmative. Grimsong Specter is the scholar of death, a magus highly specialized in the science of death: death-mitigation is one of his métier. It was his research contribution that allowed mortal humans to live beyond 200 years.” The VI confirmed.

“Huh…” Regulus can only accept that fact despite being incomprehensible. The average mortal human lifespan in the Imperium is around 500 years thanks to gene-therapy and whatnot, but mortal human lifespan-extension research must’ve started somewhere. “Then, what happened after the verdict?”

"The Supreme Commander of the Astrales Militar deemed Grimsong Specter's contributions in the First Contact War to be of significance and therefore, promoted him to the rank of Fleet Admiral. To ensure his safety during the forced-exile, the Supreme Commander bestowed a supercapital ship to safeguard him from the perils of the warp."

"Wait!" He interrupted the VI, "The Lyrial Field Generator was developed in the late 4th millennium of the Standard Terran Calendar, approximately fifteen thousand years ago. If your statement is accurate, then the pre-Lyrial Field Generator supercapital ship would not have been able to enter the hyperspace for faster-than-light travel!"

“Error. Data does not support statements. Query database: Lyrial Field Generator not found.” 

Regulus slapped his forehead. Of course the ‘Lyrial Field Generator’ wouldn’t be found in the VI’s database, the ship is a pre-Lyrial Field Generator ancient vessel. It was a mistake to ask for it in the first place. “Nevermind that, how was Fleet Admiral Grimsong Specter able to traverse the hyperspace?”

“Grimsong Specter was one of the original Sovereign Magi of Holy Terra, the founding member of the Human Imperium. His methods are beyond mortal comprehension. As a Sovereign, he possessed the capability to enable the moon-sized supercapital ship to traverse the hyperspace without concern. He essentially transformed the supercapital ship into a metaphorical chainsaw, slaughtering the entities of the warp as it sails freely.”

“So instead of ‘defending’ from the entities of the warp, he slaughtered them… That’s an interesting point of view.” Regulus muttered to himself, amazed at Grimsong Specter’s perspective. According to historical records, there were six original Magi of Holy Terra, the founding member of the Human Imperium, but Grimsong Specter isn’t among them. This murderous nature must be the cause of his exilement, and by extension, his expulsion from history. “Then, how did you end up like this?”

“The hyperspace is home to high-dimensional entities that behaved beyond the realm of three-dimensional physics. Although Fleet Admiral Grimsong Specter is extremely powerful, he is but one man…”

Regulus squinted his eyes, sensing the slight connection between what happened in Rakku with Grimsong Specter’s situation. “Can it be… the Zerg?”

“Correct. The Zerg is a gestalt race, consisting of countless variations of species that made up the swarm. Furthermore, their existence is not limited to the 3rd dimension. During his exile, Fleet Admiral Grimsong Specter had met an assembly of high-dimensional Zerg lifeforms in hyperspace. Classifying them as a future threat to the Milky Way and its surrounding galaxies, he decided to completely eradicate them.”

“The Zerg has been a threat to the Imperium and the galactic community for countless millennia. Though, there have been records of a decrease in attacks by the Zerg in the galactic rim, following Human Imperium’s establishment in the galactic community. Was it because of Fleet Admiral Grimsong Specter? What exactly did he do in the hyperspace?” Regulus raised his eyebrow.

“The Fleet Admiral has slaughtered the Zerg’s high-dimensional overminds. What’s left of the Zergs near the Milky Way and its surrounding galaxies are but an empty husk of what the all-consuming race once were.”

He blankly stared at the low-res holographic image, stunned. Up until now, most Zerg physiology had been observed closely, but there are new mutations popping up left and right, rendering the Zerg branded as a kill-on-sight-level threat. Even then, a rank 3 Legendary like him is sufficiently knowledgeable regarding the high-dimensional Zerg Overmind.

The drones of the gestalt-conscious Zerg race are mere puppets, controlled by the boundless power of the hive mind's collective consciousness. The true puppet master pulling the strings is none other than the almighty, high-dimensional consciousness of the Overmind, but the VI claims that Gringson Specter have slain these Overminds, revealing a previously unknown level of diversity within the enigmatic Zerg species.

“What happened then? Did he fall into a trap? If he’s as powerful as you said, then why did the Sacrosanct Imperator suffer the fate she is now?”

“Grimsong Specter had a peculiar trait where he became stronger as he murder lifeforms:  slaughter is his cultivation method. After he eliminated all the local Zerg Overminds and the countless trillions of its drones during his exploration in the hyperspace, his strength has become so powerful that his mere presence, his radiation, causes the Sacrosanct Imperator’s diamantine hull to suffer molecular breakdown. At that point, the supercapital ship is more of a burden than an actual ship that protects him from the entropy of the warp, therefore he left the vessel to explore the unknown.”

“...” Regulus was speechless. Grimsong Specter is truly an over-the-top man.

“After his departure, the entities of the warp began converging on the Sacrosanct Imperator like sharks smelling blood in the waters. Not limited to high-dimensional Zergs, some of the creatures of the warp are as big as a planet, while others as small as quantum particles. Despite being protected by Grimsong Specter’s contingencies, the layers upon layers of protection eventually depleted after a thousand years drifting randomly in the hyperspace.

Eventually, the Sacrosanct Imperator was able to return to the Milky Way Galaxy’s hyperspace. However, the Zergs and other entities of the warp had already shredded most of the ship’s hull. When the ship re-synchronize with realspace, the Sacrosanct Imperator’s core structure was unable to endure the burden.

Therefore, the vessel broke down into countless millions of pieces, with five primary sections of the ship durable enough to withstood the burden of returning from hyperspace. This unit is unaware of where we are currently as the synchronization with realspace occurred at random frequency, however, this station should be one of the five primary sections of the ship that contained the bridge, admiral’s quarters, foundry, supercarrier sections, MEKA hangar, armory and a few others.”

The low-res figure slowly elaborated as its resolution got better. At first, it was as if her entire body was a 144p holographic image, but now, it is slowly climbing up to 360p. Human features started to become visible, revealing a shoulder-length purple haired woman. Her face was still blurry, and her body was completely low-res. Nevertheless, Regulus recognized this must be the VI’s original image.

“Alright, I understand.” Regulus had curiosity clenched. Although his understanding why the Sacrosanct Imperator got decimated is still lacking, it was enough for now. The details can wait. “The Machine Cult sent my Inquisitorial Unit into this distant frontier to search for traces of your, the Sacrosanct Imperator’s corpse. Tell me, why is Deus Machinarius, the supreme leader of the Machine Cult, interested in you? If it was simply to recover old tech, the Human Imperium had developed better technology over the course of seventeen thousand years since the Sacrosanct Imperator had been erased from history, there’s no reason to send me in the first place.”

There was a brief period of silence as if the VI required some time to process before it was able to reply. “Unable to provide an exact answer. Cause: insufficient information. Possible conjecture: Deus Machinarius is looking for Grimsong Specter’s True Inheritance.”

Regulus squinted his eyes, his expression turned serious. “Every single magus’ True Inheritance is extremely precious. If the inheritance of an original Sovereign Magi of Holy Terra is taken by xenos, it could shake the foundation of the Imperium as a whole. Did Grimsong Specter really leave one in the Sacrosanct Imperator?”

“As a matter of fact, yes: You are conversing with it.” The VI answered as Regulus noticed the sudden drop of his energy reserve. 

“You-” Regulus quickly realized what happened.

He was fooled by his own speculation, or rather, this thing isn't a Virtual Intelligence, it didn’t bother correcting Regulus assumption.

Hundreds of firewalls flared to life, trying to purge whatever virus this supposed Virtual Intelligence had injected into his system. However, from a computational standpoint, a rank 3 Legendary Convert could not beat the computational power of a supercapital ship, even if it was only a portion of it. Although Regulis had an inherent edge in terms of programming language and whatnot due to seventeen thousand years of advancement, the VI had been slowly analyzing his systems, only making a move after she was sure that she was able to handle his contingencies.

The gloomy purple-gray virtual world slowly faded away as Regulus’ consciousness returned back into reality.

“Wh- what the fuck did you do?” He still tried to flush the VI’s virus from his system, but it seemed that she had claimed some part of his computational cores as her own home.

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“Let me introduce myself once more…” A holographic image of a woman appeared in his vision, as if he was wearing an Augmented Reality device. She had shoulder-length purple hair, violet eyes and sharp facial features. She looked like an attractive woman in her 20s, but her cold, expressionless face served as a ‘Do Not Approach’ warning sign. “I am Grimsong Specter’s daughter, Shakuras.”

Shakuras’ infiltration had stopped. Regulus did a quick self-diagnostics to his internal systems and found out that nothing had changed with the exception of one out of his hundreds of computational cores being occupied by the virus. Realizing that Shakuras has no intention to wreck his system, he stopped his effort to purge her from his system.

“What are you? How are you able to infiltrate my system seamlessly?” He queried, warry still present in his tone.

“During the thousand-year sail in hyperspace, my father had been experimenting on the digitalization of the human soul. I am the first Armored Soul Tribe, a human variant produced from Grimsong Specter’s soul, the biological equivalent would probably be his genetic materials. Therefore, it isn’t incorrect to refer to me as his daughter.” She answered. “You can consider the Armored Soul Tribe as an electromagnetic-lifeform: our truesoul is in the form of pure information current, allowing us to occupy machines and manipulate them as if they are our body.”

She added, “Naturally, we can’t occupy all machines. There’s a need to treat them with special soul-path methods before machines can accommodate my truesoul, that’s why your body is far better than the bladestaff on your back. Your machine body parts have been slowly affected by the radiation of your soul, it can house my truesoul for a period of time.”

“Why me?” Regulus asked once more. “Is it just because I happen to be in the right place at the right time?”

“The Fleet Admiral, my father, is a Sovereign Magi of Holy Terra. He had predicted that in the far future, someone from the Machine Cult would find the Sacrosanct Imperator, my original Mortal Shell. I am tasked to return to my father’s side with your assistance.”

He frowned. “Grimsong Specter is a rank 6 Sovereign. I’m pretty sure he is somewhere that I cannot reach.”

“Argument rejected: Your cultivation base is irrelevant.” Shakuras denied. “Grimsong Specter had observed the river of time and made a prediction about your arrival. So far, his prediction has been correct. At some point in time in the far future, you’d probably be able to meet him. My mission still stands: return to Grimsong Specter’s side under your assistance.”

As if she had read his mind, Shakuras added, “Nevertheless, humans will be motivated when they are given a reward for their endeavor. Grimsong Specter’s True Inheritance is definitely myself, an Armored Soul Tribe, but he also left a minor inheritance sufficient for a rank 3 Legendary Convert like yourself to undergo a Protogenic Ascension into a rank 4 Paragon.” She used an inquisitive gaze. “Do you still doubt his intent?”

“Protogenic Ascension!?” The moment he heard those words, his hormone levels rose to unnatural levels. He realized what had happened so he activated hormone inhibitor mods to suppress his excitement. “I’ve been stuck in the realm of Legends for three hundred years. If I’m able to become a Paragon, then I’ll consider your request.”

In his perspective, being a Paragon means having the ability to do far more things: including traversing the hyperspace with his own physical body for a brief period of time. With it, there’s no need for him to be stuck in this desert world for centuries, worrying about his wife Xuanyuan Dia Wu. 

“There’s nothing to consider.” Shakuras coldly replied. “You only need to accept my father’s arrangement.”

“Fine. I’ll trust you with this once.”

“Then, we should head for the Admiral’s Quarters. He left his minor inheritance there.” The holo-AR figure of Shakuras began walking towards a certain direction, leaving this massive bridge.

…

“It’s locked.” Regulus tapped the purple-hue metal door. “It’s been seventeen thousand years. How is this thing able to withstand the passage of time?”

“Grimsong Specter’s presence, or rather, his radiation, is overwhelmingly harmful towards lifeforms. During our time in Hyperspace, he refined a special metal that absorbs his radiation and utilizes the latent energy to reinforce itself. After a thousand years of radiation therapy, the latent energy stored in the metal is enough for it to endure twenty thousand years without corroding. Unfortunately, this metal is extremely resource-hungry, it is difficult to refine it, especially with father’s disappearance.” Shakuras explained. “Regulus, I need your authorization for using the human-machine interaction module on your body.”

Regulus has changed his initial negative opinion of Shakuras. He now sees her as a daughter who is eager to reunite with her father, much like his own desire to be with his wife. He now trusts her and believes that if she had any harmful intentions, he would have already been killed. Thus, there’s no harm in cooperating with her. “Permission granted.”

The instant he gave the authority to temporarily using the human-machine interaction module, his control upon the said mode suddenly lost. It was a novel feeling, similar to having one’s eye or ear lose its senses because it was borrowed by another person. 

The mod is a simple wireless interaction device. With the computational core that Shakuras occupies, she sent a stream of digital authentications.

Pshhh! The pressure inside the Admiral’s Quarters is unnaturally high. When it opened, the air pressure equalized, but for some reason, the toxic fumes which had been a problem for Regulus could not enter the door. It was as if there’s an invisible shield that restricted the poison’s entry.

Noticing that Regulus was about to ask her a question, Shakuras answered before he was able to inquire. “The toxic gas’ identity is a life-eater virus. It was hastily synthesized after father’s departure for the unknown. The reason why it could not enter the Admiral’s Quarters is because the toxic gas’ main ingredient is four grams of Grimsong Specter truesoul, one of the most destructive substances on the Boundless Astral Plane, far more destructive than antimatter. The gas was made not by using it as the main ingredient, but harvesting the resulting radiation.” She elaborate. “The toxic virus is being repelled like a magnet by Grimsong Specter’s quarters.”

Regulus took his time to ponder about what she had just said. “Then, doesn't that mean his room is far more lethal than the poison gas?”

“An incorrect conjecture: the radiation has been completely absorbed by the walls to reinforce itself. Even if this location was engulfed in a volcanic eruption, my father’s living quarters would be ejected into space without suffering any meaningful structural damage. Even if it was thrown into this system’s star, it’ll stay there for a long period of time before melting.”

“Ah… okay.” Regulus took the first step inside. As if on cue, the lighting suddenly turned on, revealing a relatively normal admiral’s quarters. It has furniture like sofa, tv, bed, chairs, et cetera. 

“Are you disappointed that my father is similar to any normal human?” Shakuras could somehow sense Regulus’ emotional state.

“Not disappointed, but surprised. I thought his personal room would contain torture chamber or something, considering he’s the most murderous magus of all time.”

Shakuras’s holo-image break her ice-cold demeanor with a faint smile. “My father has no enjoyment in torturing lifeforms. Instead of prolonging death, he’d prefer delivering it as soon as possible. Although there’s indeed a torture chamber in the Sacrosanct Imperator, he rarely visited it.” She led him in a direction. “Come, my father kept a lab down below.”

Entering Grimsong Specter’s personal bedroom, there was a small elevator that headed down. Following Shakuras’ lead, he finally reached Grimsong Specter’s lab, but it was opposite what he had in mind.

“It’s similar to the Deus Machinarus’ lab that I’ve once visited in Crimson Mars.” Regulus commented after seeing all the high-tech equipment. Throngs of research equipment are kept clean, there are also copious amounts of robotic drones of various shapes and sizes laying still on standby. There has been no signs of corrosion, in fact, there’s no sign of dust at all, as if this chamber’s progress of time had been halted. 

“My father's preoccupation with death led him to the realization that achieving eternal life with biological flesh was not ideal. This line of thinking prompted him to delve into researching the Armored Soul Tribe, a method of digitizing the human soul in pursuit of immortality. Though I am his first successful subject, he admits that his method only grants me a lifespan of tens of thousands of years, rather than true immortality. There are many limitations to immortality, such as the deterioration of cognitive function in a mortal human after reaching two thousand years of age, among others. Therefore, I was put into a state of suspended animation to extend my lifespan as much as possible.” Shakuras began telling a story.

Reaching an operation table in the center of the lab, she inquired. “The minor inheritance is for a star-path Convert. What is your cultivation path?”

Regulus sighed helplessly, he felt like a monkey dancing under Grimsong Specter’s tune. “Star-path.”

“Perfect. Lay your body here while we begin the procedure for a star-path Protogenic Ascension.” Shakuras began interacting with the robots as some of them began churning to life.

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