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The title is a quote from 'Mechanicum', and it refers to the Hellstorm cannon from the Mortis Imperator Titan "Aquila Ignis",

It went on to elaborate: "In time, it would be salvaged and taken to another world".
Now, have we seen it again, or is it just a plot elaboration? Could it perhaps be the Hellstorm cannon in the Imperial Guard home base in Dark Crusade?

This thread is here to discuss those little mysteries that pop up in the fluff of the Warhammer 40,000, such as the large spherical object pictured in back of the Necron Codex, and noted in an almost illegible note on the opposite page. It was noted that the Hive Fleets actively moved to avoid the object, so it must have been powerful. My theory is that it could have been the World Engine.

On another necron note: Who is the outsider?

This thread is to discuss those little minutii questions. Enjoy!

What is the world engine?,
Yes I think it is taken for granted that the cannon is the same as the one on kronus


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And you posted this topic twice, hust so you know

Outsider is a 4th C'tan but purely fiction, hasnt been confirmed.

Ooops, please can some mod somehow get rid of the double-topic, please?

The world engine is a planet-sized necron spaceship. The full story is in the background section of the Space Marine Codex.

Ardensfax wrote:

This thread is here to discuss those little mysteries that pop up in the fluff of the Warhammer 40,000, such as the large spherical object pictured in back of the Necron Codex, and noted in an almost illegible note on the opposite page. It was noted that the Hive Fleets actively moved to avoid the object, so it must have been powerful. My theory is that it could have been the World Engine.

On another necron note: Who is the outsider?

That is the Dyson Sphere, a sphere of necrodermis the size of a solar system, some believe it is the prison of the outsider whereas others believe its just a bloody huge world engine.

Ardensfax wrote:Could it perhaps be the Hellstorm cannon in the Imperial Guard home base in Dark Crusade?

I thought that it was also a nod to the game. I don't recall off the top of my head if the Titan that the cannon comes from is named as the Aquila Ignis but looking at the information on Lexicanum, not one of my favourite sites atmittedly, it does support the theory.

Dyson Sphere, eh?

Cool, where do you find out about this?

Also, Lexicanum, can you find stuff like that there? Is it sort of a 'Fluff Site'. If so, did you get the stuff about the Sphere from there?


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I've done a bit of digging into the fluff, and have found that a popular theory is that the Outsider lives within the sphere, and is the tyranid hive mind. Blimey, they get everywhere!

Ardensfax wrote:Dyson Sphere, eh?

Cool, where do you find out about this?

Also, Lexicanum, can you find stuff like that there? Is it sort of a 'Fluff Site'. If so, did you get the stuff about the Sphere from there?


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I've done a bit of digging into the fluff, and have found that a popular theory is that the Outsider lives within the sphere, and is the tyranid hive mind. Blimey, they get everywhere!

The whole dyson sphere thing and the outsider being trapped in it is in the necron codex
You should ignore everything anyone says about the outsider being the hive mind, the hive mind is a warp being and the c'tan are the antithesis of the warp thus its impossible.

The necron codex?
I've read it pretty thoroughly, and I've never seen anything about that. Which page?

Thanks!

It's on the inside back cover and the last page and referred to as a sphere with a size of 1.04AU which is indicative of a Dyson Sphere. On page 59 Adept Corteswain describes being kidnapped by 'Emissaries of the One Who Dwells Beyond' and awakening in a place where the horizon stretched up and round to enclose a bloated red sun which describes a Dyson Sphere.

Ah. I assume you mean the "Mini-Story" about adept Corteswain. Right. I had read both of them, but I didn't piece them together, because I'd never heard of a Dyson Sphere before.

That's interesting. So if you combine the references, you basically get the facts that Corteswain was captured by the Outsider's troops, to the Dyson Sphere, where it lives, and was told about the Dragon, hence; "The machine god exists, but it is a false god, come to enslave us all!"

Hmm, a dyson sphere I suppose would have to have some pretty awesome engineering, not to mention about a planet's worth material, spread thinly.

I wonder if this 'Dyson' person who came up with the idea considered the following:

1) Time taken to build the thing.
2) Atmosphere issues.
3) The fact that if the sphere kept heat in, it would eventually become unsurvivably hot inside.
4) The sheer amount of material.

If he was putting it forward as a way for advanced civilizations to get a lot of living space, then Isn't it cheaper, faster, and easier to just move to a different planet, full stop?


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Mind you, 1 AU is the distance from the earth to the sun, so it looks like the size of the thing is correct. I still have doubts about the constructibility, though. It would take millions of years, and trillions of tons of material!

Freeman Dyson is a theoretical pyhsicist so I'm quite sure he pondered the idea at least a little. The idea is not really living space but a means to gather the most amount of energy from a star, which in the case of C'tan is their original food source.

I've checked it out in some detail. Quite interesting.

Apparently the most likely is a 'Dyson Swarm' which are lots of rings in various orbits around a star designed to catch 100% of energy emitted. Apparently for a Dyson Sphere of 3m thickness you would require most of the matter of the systems planets.

As a physics-type (hopefully going to university to read it), I'm worryingly interested in this kind of weird science...!