Malechta's Treatise upon the Line of Saro.

Malechta's Treatise upon the Line of Saro.

Fifty Third Volume, Chapter Twenty Eight

In the previous chapter I described the discovery of the new vessel to which Talis Saro determined to transfer his command to. This vessel showed signs of having been sabotaged by the previous inhabitants.

Having completed their initial survey the officers of the Treasurer returned to their Lighter and Hedrion began to thread his way once more through the graveswarm back to the ship.

On the fourteen hour trip however the officers were not idle, instead they laid their plans for claiming the vessel as his own. They determined to send a group of their Techpriests and serfs over to the vessel to seal off some of the useful parts of the ship using compressed gas cannisters to fill these areas with air. Once there they would hopefully be able to begin repairing the air generation systems of the new vessel with an aim towards filling more sections and repairing them. However with no power they would be tied to using batteries that they would need to trade with the Fuellers for.

Unless, that was, they could restart the plasma generators of the vessel. To do so would not be a simple task, as it would require them to provide the silent generators with some plasma to begin with. This could be achieved, but the only way they could see at that time would be to physically carry the Plasma generator already on the vessel in the Fane of the Murder-servitors to the large generator and then vent it's plasma into to them. This would be dangerous however as the small generator had been running for a considerable length of time, and even the smallest knock could cause it to explode. Luna was confident that it could be carried by 20 cargo servitors, but even then only a single one had to stumble for disaster to occur. Additionally The Choirmaster determined to send some of his Choir over with the initial team so that they could keep in constant contact with each other. In the end  he sent a small group, selecting the bound siblings known as Haan-so'on, three astropaths from a desert planet in Segmentum Ultima.

However, no matter what they would still require some batteries to power the initial teams doors and lights. So they were resolved to having to deal with the Fuellers at least somewhat.

The next great question facing them however was what to do about the Hullrats situation. Von Hell's did not seem the most stable of leaders, and at this time he had control of the largest faction of the vessel, numbering more men on it's own than the entire crew of the Seleucaemi Treasurer. If they could remove him and take over this faction it would go a long way to aiding them in their endeavours.  However achieving this would be difficult, especially as removing Von Hells could result in the Hullrats splitting into smaller factions. Further thought was needed on this issue, splitting the Hullrats could have potentially made the situation worse.

When they returned to the Treasurer however they were greeted by their ship-master Jameson who informed them that there had been numerous incursions from the Fall of Dorn in the almost 2 days since they had departed. For the first six or seven hours these attacks had been light, however the attacks had slowly been becoming heavier, and the Armsmen were becoming fatigued despite Jameson's efforts in rotating them out. So far he reported that the attackers seemed to be from many different factions, and as yet none of them seemed to be Hullrat's. The Treasurers casualties had run to some twenty five or thirty dead and 200 wounded, with one of the dead being the Venerable Dod, mentioned in the previous volume. By this time the Venerable Armsman was well beyond his sixtieth birthday, however according to eyewitness reports he took an attacking servitor apart with the bionic arm he earned in his service to Mellencius Saro, before succumbing to the wounds he had suffered in the initial firefight.

With the Larger size of the Fall of Dorn's crew however meant that slowly the Armsmen were being worn down. However they finally determined a way around this issue. By taking their Gun crews which currently had noting to do, and arming them, they could be used to increase the number of troops they had available for defence. They also ordered a check on the stocks of weapons inn the holds, looking for Tarantula gun emplacements, that sadly they did not have, and heavy weapons which they did have. As the enemy had been attacking with primitive flame throwers and homemade explosives the addittion of both men and weapons was imperative for the Seleucaemi Treasurer to keep the raiders back.

The situation however desperate did achieve something useful as in such adversity the Line of Saro always thrives. Talis determined that at this time two of the major problems facing them, that of the Hullrats and the constant invasions into the ship could be used to cancel each other out. If the Hullrats could be persuaded to move to the Prow to defend against any other incursions it might be possible to bring them under control using the offer of trade and better conditions for them. Indeed, ever thinking of his men, Talis Saro resolved to improve the situation of the Bilge crews when the next vessel was recrewed, spending a not insignificant portion of his riches to provide them with a better standard of living. This combined with a possible position for Von Hells as Provost Marshal could bind the Hullrats to him, and indeed would put Von Hells in charge not only of morale but of the press gangs that would not doubt be needed to refill the ships complement once they had reached an inhabited planet. Indeed it seemed eminently possible that some of the other Hullrats could be moved into the Provosts as well.

However Talis Saro was not a backwater  trader, he recognised the possible danger of inviting the strongest faction of the other vessel into close proximity to his own ship. As such the trade conducted with the Hullrats would be in blankets and food and not weapons, ensuring that if Von Hells was unconvinced, he could be beaten back with the superior weapons of the Treasurers Armsman corps. Talis Saro was determined to undertake this task as soon as possible. Macharius however was adamant that Talis should not be placed in a situation where he could be taken prisoner, so he would undertake the trip to the Hull Rats with Talis remaining on the Treasurer. A Wise man listens to good council and Talis agreed.

Before that however they needed to ensure that if their offer was not well received they would be able to uphold their end of the bargain they had made with Captain Jalasas for the defence of the market. Gathering some of the Armsman officers they travelled to the Market of the Fall of Dorn, taking enough additional Armsmen that they could also take a trip to the holdings of the Hullrats if they could procure a guide..With this in mind they once more headed to the Fall of Dorn.

This time their greeting was much more functional, a few Greenshots were present around their designated landing pad but these were mostly there just to ensure no opportunist decided to attack them rather than as an honour guard. It soon became obvious why as Ichigo went forth to examine the defences of the Market. There were only six major entrances into the market, and at each of them the Greenshots had placed basic flakboard barricades, manned by some of their troops. However they could not make full use of these troops as their weapons were of too short a range. The weapons of the Treasurers Armsmen however were considerably longer however, and with concrete barricades a force of 150 Armsmen could stand off 1000 attackers with ease. However such a heavy force could represent a definite alliance with the Greenshots, something that Talis wished to avoid if he could. Instead they decided that placing 5 Armsmen at each barricade, which they would strengthen with concrete, would allow them to hold out for some time. Additionally they would petition to be able to set up a stall in the market which would have an additional force of 30 or so guards to act as reserves. Finally a further force of 15 would be guarding a lighter that would be permanently stationed in the market. This was not the sum of their preparations however as even more of the Armsmen would be positioned in another lander on the Treasurer ready to come to the aid of those in the market at a moments notice.

These plan's worked out the Officers took a brief stroll through the market with Luna utilising her Servoskull to gain information about the current situation. It seemed that many of the denizens of the Fall of Dorn were unhappy about the fact that the two vessels were now linked, and more importantly the strongest complaints were coming from the mouths of the Fuellers. Talis realised that this was most likely due to the fact that Hulang had eavesdropped on his meetings with the other faction leaders and so knew that the others had been given more information than himself, including the fact that the upcoming impact with the Space Hulk would most likely to be fatal. Talis resolved to deal with this issue later, however salving Hulang's damaged ego was currently far down the the list of priorities.

Far more important was the fact that they realise there were no Hullrats present in the Markets at all. This no doubt did not bode well for their continued existence if Von Hells had decided to already remove his men in preparation for an attack. Also of note was the fact that there seemed to be very few of the Tick-Tock men present as well. Although that could have been more easily laid down to the fact  that there was very little trade actually going on. It also seemed that the were being followed by Several groups, and somewhat less covertly a small group of the Greenshots. Sensing the atmosphere it became obvious the less time they spent in the market the better. Talis led them towards Jalasas' stronghold.

Stronghold not only in name. Squatting in the very centre of the market, the building was constructed of concrete blocks and was obviously intended to be a final redoubt. Surrounded by 8 foot tall walls complete with firing steps, the central blockhouse had mounted upon it's roof what looked to be the guns of a Lightening Interceptor. The massive cannons if fired might well have shook the building to pieces, but no doubt whatever had been fired upon would also have been destroyed. Over each of the gates, like some feral world kings castle, there stood cauldrons filled with bubbling oil heated over burners. With the sheer number of Greenshots present, anyone assaulting the stronghold would have to treat it like a Feral world siege lest they battered themselves to pieces on the walls.

As the Officer of the Treasurer approached Jalasas' second in command came forward to greet the Rogue Trader as his station demanded. The man asked with great politeness what they wished to speak with his master about, and once he had been told they were there to discuss the matter of the defences for the Marketplace, the man wasted no time in taking them into the blockhouse and into the presence of Jalasas himself. As they entered they took note of their surroundings and found that the blockhouse stronghold was even better equipped than they had surmised. In fact the walls were not solid concrete but rather a layer of concrete then steel then further concrete. Also as they entered the saw several of the Greenshots combat servitors, and it became obvious that these servitors must in the past have been part of an assault boat contingent. The two they had previously seen with Jalasas were complimented by another pair, these two being armed with some form of powerfist and a Plasma cannon apiece. Passing under the guns of these servitors they were brought into the presence of Jalasas himself who seemed to be discussing his own preparations for the defence of the market.

 These plans were well laid, and indeed knowing the history of the man himself it is easy to understand why. His preparations were laid around the fact that although the market would be a terribly difficult place to fight in as it stood, if the buildings that made up the stalls were not present it would be very difficult for the enemy to make headway especially against the guns of the Blockhouse. As such he had prepared most of the buildings with Incendiaries which would swiftly remove them from consideration and in addition had secured bulldozers to remove the more solid buildings.

The conversation between Jalasas and Ichigo remained solely on tactical grounds, discussing the dispersement of the Armsmen that would be brought over from the Treasurer. Jalasas was more than happy to agree to all of what Ichigo had already discussed with the Rogue trader. However it was at the end of the meeting when Ichigo mentioned that they were intending to visit Von Hells that Jalasas became animated. The conflict between those two men showed quite clearly as Jalasas assumed that the meeting would be a violent confrontation, and aware for the possibility that their mission might not meet with unqualified success the Officers of the Treasurer did nothing to disabuse him of this belief. However when they noted that they would require a guide, he suggested that the Tick-Tock men would no doubt make the best guides, but added that at this time the Officers of the Seleucaemi Treasurer seemed no longer to be in favour with the Tick-Tock men.

There have been many books and discussions printed on this subject over the years including the very badly written “Failings of Talis Saro a Critique” by the notable hack Junvect. In the section dealing with the incident of the Fall of Dorn Junvect holds that Talis Saro made a serious tactical error in his dealings with Magos Bosphorus at this point, seemingly promising that he would be the leader of the Sensorium in any new vessel and then almost immediately altering the deal when speaking to the Sensanarion of the Lighteyes, and leaving it to one of Bosphorus' underlings Aescepulas to inform him of their duplicity. Junvect has unfortunately taken the populist and simplistic view of the situation, as is common with many so called popular historians. Talis Saro it must be remembered was well received by the Mechanicus, and had many dealings with them prior to this. He was therefore used to dealing solely with actual Magoses, most of whom had cut away their emotions and therefore acted solely based on logical thought processes. He had not acted to salve Bosphoruuses emotions because he had assumed that as a Magos Bosphorus would understand that the situation had developed along lines they had not fully anticipated. Rather than waste their time, and that of Bosphorus they had allowed his trusted advisor to carry an eyewitness account of the Sensanarion's intractability to him. To most high level Techpriests this would allow him the most reliable data and therefore no bad feelings would have been engendered. If Talis Saro was guilty of anything, then he was guilty of treating Bosphorus as if he were a Magos in truth rather than merely claiming that position. Junvects claim that Talis Saro merely did not consider the consequences of his alteration of the deal Bosphorus thought they had stuck, for in truth no such deal was was agreed, is mainly due to his own lack of information on the workings of the Mechanicus.

However having realised his mistake however the scion of the House of Saro was swift to deal with the problem. The very moment he heard that Bosphorus was unhappy with the situation he moved immediately to deal with the issue. The holdings of the Tick Tock Men in the market were relatively easy to discover, but upon entering Talis Saro was surprised to find that Bosphorus himself was not present only Aescepulas and two of the Tech-guard.

As they approached Aescepulas greeted them and asked them the purpose of their visit. However when Luna omitted Bosphorus' title he was swift to point this out by insisting on referring to the Tech Priest as Grand Architect High Magos Bosphorus. He enquired as to what they wished to speak to him about, but wary of repeating their error they declined to comment telling him that it was something best spoken with directly to Bosphorus.

Once ensconced in the main room of the enclave of the Tick-Tock men Talis Saro explained that they were concerned they had inadvertently caused offence to Bosphorus and wished to clear the air. Aescepulas immediately began to operate a vox unit and soon they were once again in communication with Bosphorus.

Once again the text of this meeting has been recorded and to attempt to show the folly of Junvect's claims I will include as much of the text as is necessary.

The conversation began relatively coldly with Bosphorus and Talis exchanging the usual pleasantries although Bosphorus' response of, “I am sure it is” to hearing Talis' name and rank showed just how much ill feeling had been engendered.

However ever the diplomat Talis had instructed Luna to also speak and she was very careful to use Bosphorus' claimed title in her speech with him which mollified him somewhat and he responded to her in kind.

Talis then said “We wish to speak to you on a recent matter”

However before he could continue Bosphorus cut in with, “You are aware that you have made a logical error and you wish to rectify this act I assume”

Talis confirmed this was the case and Bosphorus continued, “Good, and how do you intend to correct your error?”

It is this line that Junvect clings to, inferring from Bosphorus' tone that he blamed Talis directly for the situation with the Lighteyes. However this is a false assumption, and it is more likely that Bosphorus was utilising this form of address to strengthen his own position by attempting to cause Talis to be on the defensive. Any normal man would no doubt have fallen into exactly this trap however Talis Saro instead presented the situation in pure logic.

“Unfortunately”, he said “ in order to gain the Lighteyes cooperation we were forced to give the Sensenarion the position of Sensorium commander on the new vessel. However in exchange for being unable to provide you with the request you made we have instead decided to offer you the position of Second-in-command of the Techpriesthood on the new vessel, and we also intend to sponsor you to full Magos when we reach a planet capable of performing the appropriate rites.

“I see” responded Bosphorus, “This all sounds exceedingly logical, I would make one further request of my own if possible, that the position of second-in-command have one particuar area of requirement. That the operation of the Sensorium be directly the purview of the Under Enginseer as opposed to the High Enginseer”

“I see” was Talis' only response, aware as he was that the Sensanarion had specified that he would not work under Bosphorus in any capacity, and it seemed that Bosphorus knew this and was pressing the issue.

“Unfortunately the Lighteyes strongly suggested that they would have issues with such a situation.” replied Talis.

Bosphorus however cut directly to the core of the issue.

“If I am Second-in-command of the Mechanicus then I would be second-in-command of ALL tech-priests of the ship. If they are not under my control then they are effectively in mutiny.”

“Yes” Talis admitted, “that is correct.”

“In which case they would need to be brought to obedience.”

Luna however asked at this point “Why do you wish then for this subset to be made explicit.”

“I wish for them to know the fact that I would be higher than them otherwise I fear that the unity of the tech-priesthood would be harmed.”

“That sounds like a threat” said Talis at this point but Bosphorus was quick to disabuse him of this belief.

“You misunderstand”, he said “If there is one sect of your Tech-priesthood that refuses to follow the orders of the Under Enginseer then either your Under Enginseers position is worthless, or that part of the Tech-priesthood is effectively in mutiny”

“Would you not see that by specifically creating an issue you are rocking the boat” asked Omar.

“I am not, the issue has already been created by the Sensanarion” said Bosphorus.

Ichigo broke into the conversation, “I am not quite as sure about the workings of the Mechanicus as I should be, however are you requesting that the Lighteyes be informed that you will be the second-in-command and therefore they must obey your orders. Or are you requesting a rearrangement of the command structure to drive the point home.”

Bosphorus' voice showed no emotion as he responded, “The former would be acceptable”

“But the Latter is what you would prefer?” asked Ichigo.

“Prefer is an emotion and therefore unnecessary” responded Bosphorus attempting to play the proper Magos.

“So a simple reminder once we get to the new vessel perhaps.” said Ichigo.

“I believe a forceful reminder would be preferable. Inform them that they will be expected to treat myself as the Second-in-command and the potential consequences should they mutiny.” said Bosphorus.

Unfortunately as Luna pointed out to Talis the Sensanarion would not accept that situation. At this Talis requested to be allowed to converse with his officers. Technically Bosphorus was correct in that the Sensanarion's request was indeed borderline mutinous. However there was a possibility that by convincing Bosphorus to play the part of a true Magos and look upon the problem from a logical stand point they might convince him to accept a situation where although he was Under Enginseer, only some of the departments of the ship reported directly to himself, while the others, including the Sensorium reported to their current Under Enginseer Magos Thanatos.  Bosphorus would technically be his superior and would be able to give him orders, to pass down to the Sensorium but if necessary Magos Thanatos would be able to appeal directly to the Enginseer herself. They contacted their own Under Enginseer, to confirm that he would accept this state of affairs. However as a true Magos he had no issue with this situation, seeing that logically it would be necessary to ensure the operation of the ship.

When they returned to the Tick-Tock Men's enclave Talis Saro allowed Luna to make the offer to Bosphorus, rightly expecting that such a move would make him more likely to understand that Logic was driving the decisions.

Luna made the logical choice of greeting Bosphorus as an Equal, which Bosphorus returned both of them omitting the honorific of Magos that should have proceeded their names.

“It has been decided that you will be Under Enginseer but that certain duties will report to you and others will report to my current Under Enginseer.” Luna said.

“I assume we are to be of the same rank?” asked Bosphorus.

“No you will be his superior, and will be in charge of the primary functions of the ship, whereas my Under Enginseer will mostly deal with the secondary functions” she replied.

However despite not having received the Logis implant that would have been his due as a Tech-priest Bosphorus immediately latched onto the logical issue this situation would throw up, which no doubt prompted his next question.

“If it was necessary for me to give an order to a secondary function, would therefore the correct chain of command be for me to give the order to your Under Enginseer to pass along?”

“You would be his superior so this is correct.” said Luna effectively granting Bosphorus the authority he had earlier requested without actually conceding any points.

As can be seen the handling of the so called “Bosphorus Incident” by the officers of the Treasurer and in particular Talis Saro himself is a long way from the “Awful débâcle brought about by tiredness and lack of information” that Junvect insists is the case. In fact by viewing the actual evidence it is revealed to have been a complex dance of political manoeuvring that gave Talis Saro exactly the sort of combined techpriesthood he needed to take control of the new vessel, while not breaking his deal with the Sensanarion. As it was it eventually resulted in the problem being utterly negated due to the actions of Bosphorus.

They continued for a few minutes discussing the engineering difficulties associated with the new vessel however it was a stray remark by Bosphorus that told them of the potential danger that they might be facing and the absolute necessity of the mission they were already engaged upon.

The Hullrats had not left the market, and the lack of Tick Tock men was not due to the unintended slight against Bosphorus. In fact the Hullrats had been expelled from the market, and the numbers of Tick Tock men had been reduced due to the likelihood of an explosion of violence! The expulsion however had only taken place some 6 hours ago and so Luna immediately requested that Aescepulas be relieved so Macharius and the other officers could travel to the Hullrats holdings to try and avert the impending disaster.

In the next chapter I will discuss what happened when they entered the Bilges of the Fall of Dorn.