89: Chapter 89 Negotiations Begin

The creep conduits in the central control room of the Metallis United Industrial Complex were still functioning, with coolant for the Universal Armor Plate production line circulating inside the pipe walls. The Brood Queen was already waiting in front of the control console, the newly grown Blackstone Resonance Chamber calibration interface on her adamantium-chitin carapace pulsing slightly in a cold green light, with the Photonic Crown resting right in the center of the console. When Marcus Aurelian walked in with Heinrich and Sebastian, what they saw was a row of Coalition Universal Armor Plates that had just slid off the end of the stamping line—after the permissions were revoked, the production line had run one last cycle according to The Swarm's handover protocol, and this batch of armor plates was the final shared resource left by The Swarm for the Coalition.

Without exchanging pleasantries, the Brood Queen swiped her translator to project the negotiation agenda above the control console. Three agenda items: the validity period of the new agreement, the division of assets of the Joint Industrial Complex, and the level of joint defense collaboration between the Coalition and The Swarm after the closure of the Old Ones Evaluation Protocol window. Marcus projected Terra's full authorization decree on the other side of the console, stating that before negotiations could begin, they needed to confirm the Coalition's current safe passage rights within The Swarm's defense line—the negotiators needed to be guaranteed that their round trip would not be intercepted by the Blackstone Defense Line. The Brood Queen replied, "Safe passage rights have been temporarily granted to the Shield of the Emperor, valid until the end of this round of negotiations. As a side note—after the expiration of the last agreement, the Coalition fleet remained in local defense mode within the defense line's identification zone, and The Swarm did not carry out any active interceptions against them. Let us begin."

The first agenda item immediately hit the toughest obstacle. Marcus proposed that the validity period of the new agreement should be drafted according to the standards of a formal military alliance approved by both the Coalition War Council and the High Lords of Terra, with the validity based on the threat duration cycle. The Brood Queen rejected it on the spot: "The threat duration cycle has no quantitative standard in the Imperial Lex. In the past, the Imperium has extended temporary agreements for hundreds of years under the pretext of 'threat duration.' The Swarm does not accept open-ended validity periods; we only accept a fixed period plus automatic evaluation clauses. Upon expiration of the agreement, a third-party quantum automatic auditing system of the same level as the Old Ones Evaluation Protocol will execute renewal or termination. If the Coalition cannot accept automatic auditing, The Swarm can unilaterally sign rolling short-term agreements, renegotiating upon each expiration."

Marcus did not dwell too long on this clause. He knew that the loophole in the last agreement lay in the details of the "automatic execution upon expiration." Although The Swarm's new proposal was still predicated on automatic auditing, it at least provided a renewal window, which was better than being directly locked out like last time. He modified the clause to a fixed period plus automatic evaluation, with a third-party quantum system audit jointly commissioned by the Coalition and The Swarm before expiration, and the renewal conditions written into the main clauses rather than the addenda. The Brood Queen replied—acceptable, but the third-party auditing system must be provided by the Old Ones protocol compatibility layer of the Void Throat, and unilateral designation by the Adeptus Arbites would not be accepted.

The second agenda item was the division of assets of the Joint Industrial Complex. Marcus proposed that the Coalition retain full ownership of the Adeptus Mechanicus assembly lines and the Eldar Spirit Forge Stations, while The Swarm's bio-smelting sector would be transferred to autonomous operation by The Swarm according to the handover agreement, in exchange for the Coalition's subsequent technical maintenance of the Universal Void Shield Coordinators and Universal Armor Plates. The Brood Queen countered with her own proposal: "The bio-smelting sector has already completed its handover according to the agreement. The local-mode firmware of the Universal Void Shield Coordinators is permanently licensed by The Swarm for the Coalition's use, with update patches continuously provided during the duration of the Coalition War Council's observer status. The decryption patch for the anomalous code of the Universal Armor Plates can be delivered right now. However, the advanced fire control coordination permissions of the Psionic Void Network are not within the scope of this negotiation—that permission is dedicated to the Old Ones Evaluation Protocol, and the exam has concluded."

Marcus was effectively put in check. He was fighting for some form of limited sharing of the advanced fire control, but the Brood Queen refused to budge an inch. Heinrich sent a reminder through the fleet channel, pointing out that although the United Fleet's defensive efficiency in local mode could not match advanced fire control coordination, its independent combat capabilities were fully intact, and the fleet had already accumulated sufficient real-combat experience in the two battles of the Star of Judgment and the Lead-Gray Abyss. Marcus withdrew this point from the negotiation table, turning instead to demand that The Swarm open more core calibration data for the Universal Void Shield Coordinator during the period of the new agreement. The Brood Queen agreed to open some data but emphasized that it did not include the quantum fire control encryption layer.

The third agenda item concerned the level of joint defense collaboration. Marcus requested the maintenance of a joint patrol system within the coverage of the Blackstone Defense Line and the Psionic Void Network, with the Imperial Fleet and The Swarm's Leviathan battlegroups automatically switching to a joint combat mode when encountering a common threat. The Brood Queen's reply carried the clear authorization of the Overmind—"Acceptable. However, the joint defense collaboration level is not tied to the advanced fire control, and the fire control coordination of the joint patrol fleet will still maintain local mode. When encountering a common threat, the Coalition fleet and The Swarm's Leviathan battlegroups will each be responsible for their designated defense sectors, and joint command authority will be negotiated and allocated between the Coalition War Council and The Swarm's Hive Mind." The Iyanden Farseer added via remote link that the Eldar could provide ghost-coating support from the Spirit Network in the new agreement, provided that the joint patrols did not violate the privacy boundaries of the Craftworld's Web of Prophecy. At the same time, Nephilak's quantum communication connected, and the Necron Overlord stated that the Solemmnace Dynasty would continue to act as a signatory to the void covenant, providing the Coalition with living metal regeneration protocol authorization, but likewise would not open up the core technical layers of living metal.

Marcus compiled the interim results of the three agenda items into a draft framework and sent it via all War Council channels to Terra and all Coalition members. He stood up, walked to the control console, glanced down at the Photonic Crown, and said that a preliminary set of clauses had been formed for the new agreement framework, and the remaining technical details and asset division execution plans would be finalized line by line by the Coalition War Council and Swarm representatives before formal signing. The Brood Queen did not stand up, but merely verified the negotiation records from beginning to end, confirming that all clauses were marked with validity periods, asset ownership, defense sector allocations, and technical sharing boundaries. She told Marcus that the draft agreement had been saved to the Coalition's shared database awaiting signature. The Overmind said the Coalition had better finish signing before the next exam. Her gaze lingered on the Photonic Crown for a brief moment, and then she added—he left the Photonic Crown at the Coalition Headquarters, no need to return it. It was a replica from the Old Ones, and The Swarm still held the original.