My Little Xeno 2 - Equinox Knights

Antonius had just landed next to the northern camp when he received a vox call. It was Magos Gearhart.

“Greetings, Chapter Master,” he said.

It took a second until Antonius replied:

“I actually needed a second to realize that you meant me with ‘Chapter Master’.”

“Well, since we are going to use your meta-seed to create a new chapter of Space Marines you will be in charge of, the title is adequate.”

“It is… even though I think I’m still lacking the experience needed to be a proper Chapter Master.”

“You may not have the centuries of experience Astartes usually have when they become Chapter Masters, but as a Chapter Master, you have exactly the same experience even Lord Calgar had when he had just become Chapter Master of the Ultramarines: none.”

“That… is true. And also quite encouraging. Thank you. But anyway, why did you call me? Can I help you somehow?”

“I am on my way to the surface, to the ancient base, to be exact. Since I was told that you are there, too, I wanted to notify you of my arrival.”

Well, that was unexpected. While Al was about to start his journey to Ponyville, Aleksa was initially supposed to keep an eye on the procedure while Gearhart was busy with the ship - and especially the titan. He would inquire about this change once he met him in person.

“Thank you, Magos. I’ll wait for your arrival.”

In the meantime, Antonius had a look at the exposed door Al would use to leave the base. It really was gigantic, big enough to swallow a whole army - armor included.
As he was looking at it, it slowly opened and a dozen drones flew out, each one about twice the size of a Land Raider. The ‘heavy load lifters’ Al had told him about. They landed outside, lining the place in front of the giant door. The last preparations for Al’s journey.

Now, Antonius heard a Thunderhawk approach and returned to the landing area.
It touched down just as he arrived there, and Gearhart disembarked.

“I did not expect you to welcome me personally, Chapter Master” the Magos said.

“‘Antonius’ will do, Magos. And your timing was convenient.”

“In that case, you should use my given designation, too. Shall we enter the base?”

“Yes.”

“I suggest we use the STC system’s access tunnel. That way, we can check it for potential damage.”

“Agreed. I’ll tell Al.”

Antonius was sure that Al had already checked the tunnel, but if Gearhart wanted to have a look at it himself, he would not deter him. So, he voxed Al and they entered the tunnel.

“I actually expected Aleksa to overview Al’s extraction,” Antonius said after a while,
“I expected you to be busy with the titan.”

“That was my original plan,” Gearhart answered,
“my progress with the god-machine allowed me to attend this process, though. To be exact: I reached an impasse.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate. What’s the problem, if I may ask?”

“Since - according to Lord Calgar’s command - everything we discover on this planet and in orbit is at your disposal, you are of course allowed to inquire about the titan’s status. The systems were in very good condition from the start. With some maintenance and the adequate litanies, they are now in perfect condition. However, the time has come to wake up the ancient machine spirit. We need a princeps to do that, though, and there is none available.”

“Hmm… what about the Hastings? Is their neural interface compatible with that of a titan?”

“Not completely. I could rig an adapter, but they are attuned to their knights, which is likely to cause incompatibilities. For the same reason, I do not want to try and use brother Parvus to start the titan. Unfortunately, we do not have further personnel with a proper neural interface.”

“What about you?”

“I would have to adapt my interface. Furthermore, I cannot properly monitor the connection when I’m involved in the connection.”

That was a problem. Antonius thought about it as they walked down the tunnel. Then, he had an idea:

“What about Gentle Breeze?”

Gearhart stopped and regarded him:

“You suggest using a pony to command one of the revered god-machines of mankind?”

“Well, she does have a neural interface, and she is trustworthy. It would be better than not using the titan, anyway. If her interface is compatible, that is.”

Gerhart seemed to ponder this for a few seconds, then he said:

“Her interface is compatible. We could re-route her nerve pathways from her body to the titan. And since she is not attuned to a different machine spirit, the connection should be stable. But I do not think that the ancient machine spirit will accept her. For the titan, she is a xeno, after all.”

“You’re right. It was just an idea.”

They started walking again.

“A good idea,” Gearhart suddenly stated,
“if we share all of our information with the titan, the god-machine might come to the conclusion that the pony is an acceptable Princeps.”

“Really?”

“Gentle Breeze almost died fighting the forces of Chaos and we thought her worthy to be blessed with the sacred technology of humanity. It is worth a try. What is her current location?”

“She’s in Ponyville. Usually, she’s either in Twilight’s castle, or she’s going for a stroll with Parvus.”

“They have bonded over their reconstructed natures?”

“It was the ‘door opener’, so to say.”

Some time later, they arrived at Al’s module. They used an access hatch to enter it and proceeded to the main chamber.

“Greetings, Antonius, greetings, Magos Gearhart,” Al welcomed them,
“have you assured yourself of the tunnel’s integrity?”

“Affirmative,” Gearhart replied,
“it is in satisfying condition.”

“Are you ready to start the extraction?” Antonius inquired.

“Yes,” Al answered,
“all systems are checked and ready. I’m just waiting for your permission.”

“Then: permission granted. Let’s move to Ponyville!”

There was a gentle jolt, then, the floor became slightly angled.

“We’re on our way,” Al told them,
“do you want to work out the plans for your new base now?”

“Yes. While we do have more than enough time until we get to Ponyville, I do not want to procrastinate.”

So, Antonius, Gearhart and Al started planning the new fortress monastery while the STC system was crawling through the tunnel. Once it was outside, the heavy load lifters docked with it, lifted it a dozen meters into the air and set off for Ponyville.

The journey took a few days, and when Canterlot came into view, the planning for the fortress monastery was done. Antonius almost reflexively sent the plans to Calgar for a building permission, but he remembered that the former chapter master had declared this whole mission Antonius’ responsibility, so, the only one who could actually give Antonius a permission to start the construction was Antonius himself.
That still was a weird feeling. He was used to being a battle-brother, now he was a Chapter Master with all the responsibilities and privileges.

He still sent Calgar a copy of the plans to keep him informed. He did the same for Celestia, Luna, Twilight and her friends.

“So, that’s done,” Antonius said.

“While we’re on it,” Al remarked,
“would you like to create new plans for the armor your brothers are going to use, or are you going to stick with standard armor?”

“The plans for Mark X ‘Tacticus Armor’ are at your disposal,” Gearhart told them,
“however, if you wish to create a new type of armor to fit your special needs, I hereby offer my help in designing it.”

Antonius pondered that for a some time. While the standard armor was tried and tested, he had the inexplicable feeling that an altered design would somehow be more suitable for his chapter.

“We’ll use the Mark X as a template, but we’ll modify it. Probably up to a point the you could say we create new power armor,” he decided.

Celestia was just having dinner with her sister as their PDAs indicated a new message. They both took their devices.

“It’s from Tony,” she said.

“Yeah, the plans for his new fortress,” Luna added.

They both looked at the plans. While Luna started grinning, Celestia’s eyes went wide and she mumbled:

“What the… has Antonius succumbed to gigantomania?”

“Compared to the Fortress of Hera on Macragge, it is actually quite modest.”

“By our standards, it’s very big.”

“Big guys, big fortresses… have I not told you something like that already?” Luna replied.

“Luna… this fortress will be higher than the highest tower of Canterlot - even though it’s not built on the side of a mountain, but on the ground.”

“Tower envy, sister?” Luna smiled.

“What? No. I just don’t think I would like to wake up every morning and look at Antonius’ giant tower.”

“Oh, I definitely wouldn’t mind looking at Tony’s giant tower every morning,” Luna snickered.

Celestia raised an eyebrow.

“Umm… we are still talking about the fortress, right? Right?”

Antonius was - with the help of Gearhart and Al - busy coming up with plans for a modified type of armor as he got a call from Twilight.

“Hello, Twilight,” he greeted.

“Hello, Antonius,” she said,
“we’ve just looked over the plans you sent us. Impressive! How many ponies are you going to employ to build that giant fortress?”

“Actually, none. Al’s drones will take care of the construction.”

“Oh, so you don’t need my calculations on housing and food supply?”

“No, Twilight,” Antonius grinned,
“but thanks for your effort anyway.”

“No problem. What are you up to now?”

“We’re creating plans for new armors.”

Suddenly, a well known voice shouted
“You’re designing clothes?!”
and Rarity shoved her head into the coverage of the imager and continued:
“And you didn’t think of calling me?”

“Rarity,” Antonius smiled,
“we’re not designing clothes, we’re creating construction plans for power armor.”

“Oh, to-mah-to, tomato. You certainly want those new armors to look fabulous! I’ll be with you in a minute, darling!
…where are you again?”

“North of Ponyville,” Antonius sighed,
“already in sight of Canterlot.”

“Excellent! Let me quickly fetch a few things… Twilight, would you be a dear and teleport me?”

“Of course!” Twilight answered (with a slightly mischievous grin towards Antonius) and ended the call.

Antonius turned to Gearhart and Al:

“Guess we’ll get company.”

“Is Rarity aware of the fact that usability takes priority over design?” the Magos asked.

“Just let her make her suggestions,” Antonius replied,
“perhaps she will come up with some useful additions.”

“In the meantime,” Al said,
“we can make some basic decisions. Are we going to stick to ceramite?”

“For the time being… I’d like to test silversteel for its suitability, but even if it’s perfect, we’d still need a lot of it, and it is quite rare. There is only one known mine in Saddle-Arabia, and I don’t think they’d be too keen on increasing the output, as this would lower the material’s value. If they’d be capable of doing so at all, that is.”

“Then I suggest we take over the mine and increase its output ourselves,” Gearhart suggested.

“Well, they certainly wouldn't like that… but you’re right, we need silversteel and can’t make allowances for petty profit-seeking. But let’s not expect the worst. Who knows, they’ve already given us more silversteel than we would have been able to buy, perhaps they will continue being generous since this is for the benefit of the whole galaxy, and that includes them, too, after all.”

“We could offer them a share of the production,” Al recommended,
“and since the silversteel we use would not be thrown on the market, prices should remain stable.”

“Great,” Antonius grumbled,
“you start wanting to create new armors, and you end up in economics.”

“Those areas are interwoven,” Gearhart stated.

“And we cannot replicate such amounts of silversteel,” Al continued,
“as we do not have the required energy at our disposal. At least not at the moment.”

“We’ll visit Saddle-Arabia and ask them if we may use their mine,” Antonius told them,
“if we give them a share of the output - as you suggested - they should be fine with it.”

“Otherwise, we can still take the mine by force if necessary,” Gearhart said.

“Yes, but that’s what I’d like to avoid,” Antonius replied,
“I don’t want humanity to be seen as the powerful but scary aliens that blast everypony and just take what they want.”

“Understandable. I would also prefer a peaceful solution, but we should be ready for any contingency.”

“Back to the armors,” Al said,
“do you want to use a crystal structure reinforcement?”

“A what?” Antonius asked.

“A technology developed on this planet. I’m able to imprint a crystal structure into the material of the armors, increasing their resilience tremendously.”

“Sounds good, any disadvantages?”

“The build and repair process will take longer.”

“Well, I’d say that’s a disadvantage we can live with.”

Now, Twilight and Rarity appeared next to them - with some equipment.

“Hello!” Rarity chirped happily,
“I hope I’m not too late!”

“You’re right on time,” Antonius told her, then he turned to Twilight:
“Are you staying, too? In fact, I think we could use your magical expertise.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll stay,” Twilight answered,
“and truth be told: I’m really curious how all of this will be done.”

While Antonius, Gearhart and Al were discussing the armors’ systems and Twilight listened to them, Rarity prepared color samples and patterns.
When they were talking about the neural interface, Twilight intervened:

“Excuse me, Antonius, but do you really insist in drilling holes into your body?”

“How else are we supposed to connect the armor to my nervous system?” he replied.

“We could attune magic crystals to your mind. You know, just like the princesses did with their armors back then.”

“Doesn’t that only work with alicorns?”

“I’m sure it will also work with a sufficiently powerful psyker such as yourself.”

“Interesting… what about the reliability?”

“Well, if something is powerful enough to disrupt your connection to the crystals, your connection to the crystals will be the least of your problems.”

“Hmm… I get what you mean… well, let’s give it a try for my armor. Since - according to the files - none of the soon-to-be members of my new chapter show any signs of psychic abilities, we should stick to a traditional interface for them, though.”

During the next hours, they came up with a modified type of armor for Antonius’ new chapter. It was based on the Mark X, but looked somewhat different and was inscribed with protective runes. Thanks to the structural reinforcement, it was almost as durable as terminator armor, while being as mobile as standard power armor. In addition to that, they left the door open for exchanging the ceramite for silversteel, and Twilight suggested darksteel inlays as protection against hostile magic. The final decision in that regard would be made once the silversteel and darksteel were properly analyzed.
Since Antonius would have to get into melee range to use his sword, he opted for a heavier armor that was based on the revered tactical dreadnaught armor. While they had used mostly proven systems for the ‘normal’ armors of the chapter, Antonius took the liberty to equip his unique armor with some new - but not field tested - systems which allowed him to obtain a level of mobility far beyond that of traditional terminator armor.

“Well,” Rarity opined,
“that certainly is an interesting design. It looks very… ‘knightly’. Now, we just have to put some color into play. You can’t just leave them silver-grey, after all. Do you want to stick to the blue and gold of the Ultramarines?”

“No,” Antonius answered,
“I think we should use our own pattern… but which? And what name should I choose for my chapter? I have to admit, I haven’t really come up with either as of yet, there had always been more important things to do.”

“If I may interrupt,” Al said,
“we’re just arriving at our destination.”

A little jolt confirmed this as they touched ground.

“Very good,” Antonius said and turned to a cogitator terminal,
“I’ll inform Lord Calgar.”

He did just that and also told him of the plans for the new armors, then he called Luna and Celestia.

He had barely ended this call, as Luna teleported into the room.

“Hello, Tony!” she greeted and hugged him.

“Hello, Luna,” he replied and returned the hug.

“I am glad that you are back.”

“Well, I was only on the road for a few days, but I’m happy to see you again, too.”

“Do you have some spare time or are there some urgent matters that require your attention?”

“Actually, I need to find a name and color pattern for my chapter. Any ideas would be appreciated.”

Antonius wondered if every founding was like this; people came together and thought about the name and colors of the new chapter…

“Look no further, for I will help you. What are the other chapters called? Can you show me some names so that I can get in the right mood?”

Antonius turned to the cogitator and showed her a list of chapter names. It also included the original legions, as he had specified for his search. Luna took a look at the list and mused:

“‘Angels of Death’… ‘Dark Angels’… so, you like it grimdark and angelic, hmm?”

“Well, we’re warriors. The ‘Fluffy Rainbow Clouds’ wouldn’t be an appropriate name.”

“Hmm, true. Let us see… ‘War-born’? That is a little on the nose, is it not?”

“And it’s the original name of the Ultramarines.”

“Oh… hey! ‘Luna Wolves’! I like that name!”

“Congratulations, Luna,” Antonius deadpanned,
“you have unerringly picked Horus very own traitor legion.”

“Whoops,” Luna mumbled and blushed,
“I think I am inspired enough now… well, seeing your armors, I would opt for a knightly theme.”

“‘Luna Knights’?” Rarity suggested with a grin.

“That’s like naming them ‘The Chapter of the Guy who is Friends with the Princess of the Night,” Antonius said,
“I’d prefer something a little more balanced, otherwise some ponies might come up with new nonsense about a conspiracy or something.”

“Well, the balance of night and day would be an equinox,” Twilight interjected.

Antonius turned to her:

“‘Equinox Knights’? Hmm… Doesn’t sound bad.”

“And we can choose a silver and gold color pattern!” Rarity cheered.

“A little flashy… how about that: we use black as primary color, with silver and gold highlights.”

“Marvelous! Just as second, I’ll color the plans!”

A short time later, they all looked at the colored image of the new armors.

“Black as space, silver as the moon, golden as the sun!” Rarity rejoiced.

“Yeah, I like it,” Antonius said.

“You still need insignia,” Gearhart stated.

“And a gala uniform, too!” Rarity added.

“What?” Antonius asked.

“Of course, darling, you can’t attend formal festivities wearing that armor.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I can… but if you insist, you can add some removable elements to make the armor more… palatial. As for the insignia, I already have an idea.”

Marneus Augustus Calgar had just received Antonius’ message that the Standard Template Construct System had arrived at its destination. In addition, he had gotten access to the plans for the new armors Antonius, Gearhart and the system had come up with.

“I have to admit, I’m curious to see what Al is capable of,” Tigurius, who was standing next to him, said.

“You won’t have to wait for long,” Calgar answered,
“those ‘drones’ are already busy working on the construction site.”

“Hmm… AIs doing the manual work for humans… that’s how it supposedly was in the Goloden Age.”

“Before they went rogue and started trying to wipe us out. I’m not too comfortable with this, but since even Gearhart seems to have swallowed that pill, I’ll accept it as a necessity. But now, let’s have a look at Antonius’ armors and see if they can keep up with the fortress monastery.”

Calgar had been impressed by the plans of the new imperial base. Highly utilitarian, well fortified, armed to the ‘teeth’ and with just enough pomp to make it clear that it was the home of a chapter of Space Marines.
Now, he called up the plans for the new armors - and froze.

“What?” he mumbled,
“those armors almost look like…”

“The Aegis armor used by the Grey Knights,” Tigurius finished,
“just black.”

“Indeed. But how is this possible? He is not supposed to know… wait a second… how do you know about the Grey Knights? Their very existence is a secret only the Chapter Masters amongst the Adeptus Astartes are supposed to know.”

“Well,” Tigurius replied with a shrug,
“if you’re as… busy in the warp as I am - or was - you get to know this and that.”

At that moment, Chaplain Cassius entered the room.

“Lord Calgar,” he said,
“I wanted to inform you that the maintenance of the containment field generators for the anti-proton cannon’s reservoir has been concluded.”

“Good,” Calgar answered,
“we are on schedule.”
Now, he had an idea and continued:
“Ortan, have a look at those plans. They depict the new armors Antonius has come up with. Do they remind you of anything?”

Cassius stepped closer and had a look at the cogitator screen.

“They remind me of the Aegis armor of the Grey Knights. Antonius’ armor, for example, has a striking similarity to the suits of Terminator armor used by them.”

Calgar could barely believe it. Tigurius just grinned.

“How do you know about them?” Calgar wanted to know,
“first, Varro is in the know, and now you are, too!”

“Well, young Calgar,” Cassius answered without missing a beat,
“as I told you, once I stop knowing what’s going on, I’ll retire.”

“So, does everyone know about one of the best kept secrets in the Imperium?”

As if to make fun of him, Seneca now entered the room.

“Greetings, my Lords,” he said and peeked at the cogitator,
“oh… those are some fine armors.”

“Let me guess,” Calgar deadpanned,
“they remind you of the Aegis armor of the Grey Knights.”

“Umm… the what of whom?” Seneca answered a little confused.

“Oh, for Emperor’s sake,” Calgar mumbled and rubbed him temples.

“Yeah,” Tigurius smiled,
“another Space Marine who knows this secret… because you just told him.”

Gentle Breeze was helping Twilight reorganize her library. While in her opinion, the library already was perfectly organized, she still did Twilight the favor. In addition to being helpful, she could also practice her fine motor skills. Her new body really worked like a charm, and the overlay of her HUD provided her with useful additional information.
Yes, she had gotten used to this body by now.

There was a knock on the door, and Magos Gearhart entered.

“Hello, Magos,” Twilight and Gentle Breeze welcomed him.

“Greetings, ponies,” he said in his usual, somewhat mechanical tone,
“I would like to speak to Gentle Breeze if possible.”

The pegasus was not really surprised by that. Gearhart had checked in on her regularly since her surgery to make sure that everything ‘worked within operational parameters’, as he called it. She knew that her telemetry data already gave him every bit of information he needed and saw it as a courtesy that he still talked to her in pony… respectively person.

She walked up to him and inquired:

“How can I help you, Magos?”

“You could accompany me to the Gloriana. I need your help to activate the titan.”

“My help?” Gentle Breeze asked in surprise,
“what can I do in that regard? I know next to nothing about titans, and you’re a Magos of the Mechanicum.”

“Your second observation is correct,” Gearhart responded,
“as for the first observation: with the help of your database access, you can learn all relevant information about titans.”

“Right… still, how can I help you when it comes to titans? I mean, you have access to the same sources of information as I have and you have much more experience.”

“Correct, but I want you to act as the Princeps of the titan. That is a role I cannot fulfill with acceptable efficiency.”

Gently Breeze stared at him blankly.

“You’re joking,” she finally said.

“Your assumption is incorrect.”

“But… huh? You want me to pilot the titan?”

“An oversimplification, but acceptable for now,” Gearhart told her,
“I want you to connect to the titan and its machine spirit. You have the necessary neural interface.”

Gentle Breeze was at a loss. She had just gotten used to her new pony-like body, now she was supposed to get used to a very un-pony-like one? And what about the machine spirit?

“Will the titan accept me at all?” she asked.

“We will offer it every piece of information we have available. Then, the holy machine will make its decision if it accepts you or not.”

The pegasus was quiet for a few seconds, then she said:

“And you are sure you aren’t joking?”

“Your insecurity regarding the issue if I am joking or not demands an explanation,” Gearhart replied,
“have I unintentionally given you any clue that I might be joking?”

“No… it’s just that… your facial expression is somewhat hard to read,” Gentle Breeze attempted to quip.

“I have no facial expression.”

“Umm… yeah… that’s what I meant.”