First Tech Conference

## To Pay or Not to Pay

You are Octavia Tesla and you never thought you would get as far as you did.

What should have been a death sentence has ended up your life greatest work . Slowly but surely you are mastering this Deathworld that has become your domain, uncovering the wonders of the Dark Age and those of the necrons athe while plotting to finally breakaway from the rule of Terra.

Speaking of which you have received a message from the Administratum. It seems that the old ganzers\* have finally remembered your planet exists and the message informs you that it is time to pay your tithe of machinery , mostly weapons along with the enginseers required to maintain them.

You are actually surprised at the simplicity of the tithe asked, considering how the imperium is degenerating to complete lunacy you expected something more drastic like being ordered to send over your skittari but you are not complaining. Most likely this message is very outdated compared to the current happenings and you wouldn’t be surprised if you received a second message demanding a more exuberant tithe .

## New Horizons

You begin by explaining your plans for the plethora of Dark Age technology found across this planet . As more and more useful STCs are uncovered by your teams : you wish to disseminate the technologies discovered as they are not only beneficial but ultimately necessary for survival on Atlantis.

More than that you tell them that you wish for them to do the same, just as you give them the wonders discovered in the ruins , then they should repay in kind with any useful technology they possess as hoarding it will only hinder you all with little benefit . This includes any improved imperial technology they might have come up with.

Most express shock at your audacity and you use their stunned silence to continue, suggesting a review board to oversee the implementation and mass production of any new technologies and ensure they are untainted.

Your suggestion is met with agreement by the magi who can see the benefits of this approach and they agree to send representatives for the proposed review board . Valid takes the opportunity to offer his “improved plasma rifles “ to be mass produced. The other Magi follow soon .

(Human technology proliferation roll : 2d100=150-30=120. Success, suggestion passes with no issue . List of shared technologies will be available soon )

The second point you want to get into is the Biologis department which is swiftly becoming both your most important research arm and also the most endangered as one would expect from an organisation that has to deal the Atlantean wildlife on a regular basis.

To keep up the quality and numbers of the Biologis Magi you suggest the joint building of an off world Biologis research institute where aspiring Magi can be trained in a safe environment and the established ones can conduct their research in relative peace . This combined with Biologis expected to arrive from Akhnajin should make Atlantis a center of xenobiology research in the Helios Subsector which should boost the economy. All research will naturally be shared.

This proposal is agreed upon with no issue

Finally you drop your most controversial point yet. Xenotech research has always been something of an open secret on Atlantis. What with many magi here being exiled here for this specific reason and finding here a chance to continue their work discreetly , Valid being only the most notorious for this.

Bracing yourself, you acknowledge the previous fact and admit to acknowledge that you yourself have dabbled in reverse engineering such technologies. This doesn’t come as a surprise to many , though some are shocked.

You begin explaining why you tolerate this gravest of heresies to the Adeptus Mechanicus doctrines. Simply put given the state of the imperium and the galaxy at large it’s beyond doubt that the imperium of man (and by extension the Cult Mechanicus ) will fall sooner or later , leaving Atlantis alone in an increasingly hostile universe , you speak in length of the horrifying raids of the dark Eldar and the danger of the Star Eating New Devourer swarms

This means that no assets , no matter how alien or dangerous can be simply discarded for no reason than mindless faith , if Atlantis is to survive . Furthermore if Marwyn’s visions are anything to go by , then even the imperium itself might become a threat to your survival.

However, simply researching such tech without oversight is such as dangerous so you propose to create an organisation dedicated to overseeing any xenotech research to ensure the technology is safe for use and mass production. Technologies that are neither but still potentially too useful to do away with will be kept hidden and protected should they be needed. This organisation will also have a heavily fortified headquarters where all research will be conducted and only those approved by it will be licensed to attempt this research.

You finish your speech and proposal and wait for a reaction. There’s silence and them murmuring as they contemplate what you just said , there are some who aren’t convinced yet but even they can’t deny your point (after all one needed only to look at the night sky and see evidence of the New Devourer’s rampage ) .

Seeing a chance , Valid stands in support of your stance and is followed by Elizea and Alezander. This results in a wave of support for you, though some are still resistant to the idea , Na’ar included but while they won’t research xenotech they are willing to focus their energies on improving human technology and giving a blind eye to the others .

Na’ar however raises an important point of whether this technology, human derived or otherwise will be shared with allied planets or will it be held exclusively by Atlanteans?

You breathe a sigh of relief as this meeting has passed without incident and proceed to continue on with other issues.

## Closing

The second part is a lot less controversial than the first you find.

The starting issue of wether or not to allow Atlantean technology to allies let alone outsiders has been a bit tricky , as while none have any problem with sharing tech with fellow Atlanteans , they are still resistant to sharing it to outsiders who may end up using it against them sooner or later .

You can’t say you disagree with the idea but you point out that Atlantis can’t stand alone (at least for now ) and allies will be invaluable so as a compromise you propose that only obsolete technologies or those that would provide little advantages wether in military or economic terms.

If a trading partner proves to be sufficiently trustworthy then more higher end items can be shared but only with an appropriate price . Of course should said partner decide to accept Atlantean jurisdictions and rulership then they will have access much sooner.

Future Colonies of Atlantis are of course exempt from most tech restrictions (barring things that would allow easier secession like mass cloning ).

The proposal gets through splendidly; sharing advocates are content with the compromise while the hoarders accept on the basis of there being no one trustworthy to give the technology to anyway at the moment. They do demand for the technology to be black boxed to prevent espionage which you agree to .

The topic of forge city rulership is similarly without issue. A council will be formed from the representatives of the current cities to review and select worthy candidates based on the size, population and any special requirements of the city in question.

This council will be headed by the Fabricator General, who is able to introduce his own candidates and has the power to veto any proposed candidates and install his own but only once every two decades and must provide a logical reason backed with evidence for his actions. Failure to do so can result in the loss of their power.

Colonisation of the Atlantis system is the third issue and is proving to be quite fracturing. While no one disagrees that a colonisation Bureau would be logical, no one can agree

Some say that Atlantis II is the planet most suitable for terraforming and is thus the logical option.

Others point out Atlantis V is seemingly abundant with Exotic matter and that such a valuable resource should be mined and exploited at the first opportunity possible .

Some have even suggested attempting to colonise Atlantis III’s infamous moon : Dis . Though normally a wise option , the moon’s terrifying reputation makes this... unpopular to say the least .

The majority however agree with your reasoning to colonise the moons of Atlantis IV due to its close distance easing logistical strain and the fact that it’s moons would provide excellent launch points to the rest of the system. Those of differing opinions are willing to drop the issue . For now anyway.

Finally there’s the matter of the remnants of Deotor’s forces who are found to be hauled up in a remote island . All agree for a regiment of elite Auxilia troops to be dispatched there to find out what’s happening and end this last hold out of possible.

Though orbital bombardment has been suggested , it was in the end rejected because of the danger of destroying valuable technology.

The meeting concludes, and you sigh with relief , this went rather better than you expected.