Editing Black Locks (section)

===Aiding Fleet Tinkerer===
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''"Ya know what? I could understand a bunch of Tech-Priest tryin' to make an Imperial version of something done by xenos by removing anything that is even associated with aliens, and to purify said tech to be for Imperial use, that's what I have heard they usually do. But to blantantly ram xeno-tech into anything? That's both tech-heresy and being lazy."'' - Brother Nathaniel of the Blazing Cannons on using xeno tech by humans
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After the incident on The Cradle, the Inquisition came to inspect the situation. Luckily for everybody, the Inquisitor in charge was not that zealous to put everyone on the witch pyre. Inquisitor Arianna Strigos was in fact impressed with what the marines did about the planet’s situation. Some of the Captains were distrustful of the Inquisition due to how most of them did their works (with a large emphasis on burning or planet-wide explosions), but Alexander trusted her. The Master of The Dread Fleet even gave her the copies of the reports that were given to him by the marines tasked with cleaning up what the Chaos Forces did. With that, Arianna suggested to be in contact. With the situation now under Inquisitorial control, the Black Locks left The Cradle in order to deal with a situation that cropped up immediately after the incident.

Back in the beginning of the Colonies, the need for advanced technology was highly in demand. As there were little Tech-Priests, and many worlds that needed more specialists was steadily growing, the Constructor Fleets were created. These specialist fleets were tasked with travelling from newly established colonies to newly established colonies and turn them into self-sufficient places where people could live without having to deal with extreme dangers that would wipe them out instantly under normal circumstances, or to maintain the many of specialized devices and mechanisms in existing colonies. Fleet Tinkerer was one of the smaller fleets, and a new player in these times. Indeed, it was created in the later second half of the 35th Millennium, while the first fleets were around in the first half of the 34th Millennium.

Despite its size, the small Constructor Fleet could turn any newly established colony, or primitive planet, into anything the governing body wanted it to be transformed into (a military city-fortress, a place of recreation or religion, or a economically or scientifically oriented place) in under a century, which was impressive without question. Tinkerer was also known for that it always repaired anything without charging any extra payment nor wouldn’t demand anything ridiculously high for their services. Additionally, they had the ability to design new STC by taking various elements from existing ones, and combine them into something new, not to mention that they even find STC near the Abyss in the Undiscovered Regions, without provoking the things that linger there. This won them new members as other smaller fleets joined them, not to mention that they gained popularity among the colonists for their more altruistic take. However, this didn’t go unnoticed by the larger fleets.

Fleet Ferro was the largest and influential of the Constructor Fleets. Dominating the many  and monopolizing many useful STC, Ferro saw the rise of the upstart Fleet Tinkerer as a threat to their influences, mostly due to the fleet’s capabilities to create new STC out of existing ones and acquiring new ones from areas around the Abyss. Although they had many unique and rare STC, Fleet Ferro’s paranoia about being overthrown by a small fleet of beginners that seemed to be born lucky made it hostile towards the Techpriests. For ages did it include the smaller and some of the more larger fleets into itself, and Tinkerer was taking its turf and influence from it. 

Fleet Tinkerer experienced some difficulties since Ferro saw it as a threat, sometimes turning into isolated fights or attempts to discredit Tinkerer by the larger fleet. Lately however it change into outright warfare in some places where elements of  Fleet Tinkerer were stationed, not to mention that for some reason there were steady increases of pirate raids on them. This happened at the time when the fleet found an enormous Space Hulk with a incredibly efficient system of onboard factoria. Gomez felt that the pirate raids and their connections with finding the hulk by Tinkerer was connected with Ferro, for such a Constructor Fleet like them would clearly desire themselves something like the onboard factoria, and the fact that a smaller and relatively new fleet like Tinkerer would pose a threat to them with a Space Hulk of such incredible capabilities was understandable.

Since Tinkerer was responsible for the Lock’s shipment of new equipment and supplies, the marines could not refuse the call for aid from them, especially the Void Plunderers, since they had the strongest ties with the Constructor Fleet. Alexander thus decided that the Dread Fleet would divide into smaller fleets and help aid the elements of Tinkerer that were scattered among their places of influence, while the Myst Graves would use their contacts and talents to find out something about Fleet Ferro.

For about a couple of years the Black Locks did aid the elements of Fleet Tinkerer to fend off pirate raids with great results, but the raids themselves didn’t cease at all. Finally after these couple of years the Myst Graves, along with elements of Holy Treasurers, found out something about Fleet Ferro. When one of the Graves’ ships successfully boarded and plundered one of the pirate vessels that were attacking one of Tinkerer’s mining ships, the marines found dataslates where the Magos Council of Fleet Ferro gave instructions to the pirates to attack elements and subdivisions of Fleet Tinkerer. Previously none of the Black Lock companies got their hands on such information since when they did try to get their hands on the dataslates, then everything was destroyed before they could secure it. This time however, the marines were fast enough to secure the information. 

That was enough evidence for Tinkerer, but there was more to what the Myst Graves found. The company also found out in what Fleet Ferro paid the pirates with. Cargo holds of weapons of  modified construction. Lasguns, Shotguns and Bolters of Imperial origin, yet differently constructed. After the weapons were analyzed by the Techmarines, the results were that the weapons had xeno-tech included into their construction, and they had the registration numbers unique to Fleet Ferro. Just like in the case of the dataslates, these weapons were either destroyed, or had the registration numbers removed when the Locks successfully boarded a pirate vessel, and the fact the marines got these weapons into their hands intact was a sign of the Emperor’s fortune. That was more than enough to accuse Fleet Ferro of tech-heresy, as well as to call in the Inquisition.

Master Alexander after hearing about this didn’t hesitate to call in Inquisitor Arianna, as well the Magos Council of Fleet Tinkerer. With the proof the Myst Graves and Holy Treasurers found, Arianna and the Council came to the same conclusions that the evidence were sufficient to accuse Fleet Ferro. The information were send to both the Calician Lords on the Cradle and to the Calician branch of the Inquisition, and later to the other lesser Lords in all the colonies and to the various Calician organizations. Ferro was officially excommunicated after the word about their tech-heresy spread. When that happened, the Constructor Fleet simply vanished into thin air without a trace.

Four years later and there was still no sign of Fleet Ferro. Many of the places where they used to mine or to sell their services were already taken either by Tinkerer or by one of the other fleets. There were reports of mysterious ships attacking Constructor Fleets. No doubt that the hereteks were planning something, and those raids on Constructor Fleets were just the beginning of a bigger scheme.  Some of the fleets, fearful of Ferro’s wrath that they took their sites, sought protection under Tinkerer’s standard, others entrenched themselves in large asteroid bases bristling with the heaviest available weapons and aided by elements of the Calician Navy by order of the Calician Lords. Gomez was sure that Ferro, in a feat of vengeance, would try to muster all they had left in order to claim Tinkerer’s Space Hulk. If what the Void Plunderer Captain said was true, then the Dread Fleet had no doubts where to set course.

During the Dread Fleet’s voyage through the Warp, the Astropathic choirs of Bodsmen Psykers caught out that something strange was happening with the Constructor Fleets that didn’t join Tinkerer and travelled to their core fleet. One by one, the asteroid bases where they entrenched themselves simply disappeared along with the Calician Navy elements. The only scraps of information that were caught from the disappearing bases were incoherent screams combined with high disturbances. That could not be good at all.

Fleet Tinkerer amassed all the surviving Constructor Fleets under its banner, and further reinforced it with the Calician Naval ships from the elite Battlefleet Vortex. In the centre of the fleet of ships was the Space Hulk Tinkerer claimed near the Abyss, known as The Factoria Eternal. When the Dread Fleet made it to Tinkerer’s staging ground, moments later after the Black Locks exited the Warp, hostiles emerged. The ships bore the symbols of Constructor Fleet Ferro, yet the last ship was something none of the Imperials were prepared for.

From the warp emerged an enormous Space Hulk, yet while The Factoria Eternal was refurbished to resemble something Imperial, the one that bore Ferro’s symbols was an irregular amalgam of both Imperial and xeno ships, and in its centre was a cannon the length of a Imperial Battleship. Seeing this weapon the Imperials, including the marines, actually panicked, but before they could react, it fired an enormous ball of energy at Tinkerer’s Space Hulk. Without any room to manoeuvre out of the projectile’s road, the Imperials braced for the worst. Yet something happened that both sides didn’t predict, as the Factoria Eternal suddenly raised up a enormously powerful void field that isolated the rest of the Imperial fleet from the projectile’s blast. One frigate however didn’t manage to hide behind the field and was struck by the shockwave generated by the projectile that impacted on the hulk’s void shield. The frigate was simply ripped to pieces, leaving only scrap and twisted metal. Now the Black Locks found out what happened to the other Constructor Fleets that remained in their bases.

Assuming that shooting one such projectile requires immense amounts of energy and time to fire and calibrate, the Dread Fleet immediately moved at full speed towards the Space Hulk of Fleet Ferro. The Calician Navy and those under the banner of Fleet Tinkerer took after them and charged full speed towards the hulk. The armada of Fleet Ferro was composed of not only their own ships, but also various pirate vessels. Although numerous, the ships were composed mainly of frigates and light cruisers. Their Magos Council thought that they would win so easily by shredding everyone with their super weapon, yet none of them even thought that Fleet Tinkerer had in store for them with that void shield.

The Black Locks immediately shot out boarding parties and teleported in Terminator Lots on board the hereteks’ Space Hulk. The Void Plunderers went so far as to board in with their Castellax Battle Automatas into combat, meaning that the company was dead serious on taking on the Ferro’s ruling class. Despite the incredible weapons and amazing tech, nothing could stop the rampage of the Locks. The deeper into the hulk the marines went, the more tech-heresy they found out. Now the Skiitari of Fleet Ferro did not care at all and actually used various xeno weapons and artefacts, revealing even more of the Constructor Fleet’s corrupt ways. The marines’ main mission was to disable the enormous cannon, but they additionally were to find and terminate or subdue the Magos Council of the hereteks. The Locks split their forces and moved out to their objectives each. The Corsair Hearts and part of the Void Plunderers ventured to apprehend the Magos Council members, while the rest took on themselves to destroy the generators powering up the main weapon.

The generators were quite well defended, yet the Skiitari defending them, along with the whole heavy equipment they brought, didn’t stop the Black Locks even when the marines started to sustain casualties. The Astartes focused their firepower on the cooling systems and the enormous gun emplacements before the enemy could do any serious damage to them. The coolants sustained enormous damage to the point that it was impossible for the generators to power the cannon. Ferro lost the capability to fire its trump card.
The rest of the Locks, led by Captain Carlos, had to fight through Skiitari and bizarre machines in order to get to the Ferro Council. While en route, they gained unexpected aid in the form of uprisings inside the vessel, as Techpriests and their servants that were forced to join the hereteks rose and fought for their freedom. This was a good situation since the marines would’ve have less enemies to deal with.

When Carlos and company arrived to the chamber, they discovered that the hereteks simply turned tail and evacuated. After a long time of fighting in the confines of the enormous vessel, not to mention the fights in void space, the Imperials won. The situation was under control, the traitors were later executed and the Techpriests that were forced to join Fleet Ferro...their fates varied. It was later discovered that the Magos Council of Ferro escaped in a cruiser that entered warp space immediately after the Imperial fleet even managed to get to the Hulk. The hereteks’ pirate allies on the other hand either fled or were destroyed when their super-weapon attack backfired spectacularly. Many of the tech-heresies were purged and a many of the blasphemous artefacts either destroyed or taken to study.

With the events that happened, Fleet Tinkerer became the only technology provider among the Calician colonies. Yet there is this thought among the Calico Stars that Fleet Ferro will come back to exact it’s vengeance one day.
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