Connecting to the Power Grid, Equipping New Weapons

This planet.

There were enough xenos, an endless supply of xenos. By utilizing the grid-integration trait, they could be processed into chemical batteries, which would temporarily alleviate the planet's power issues.

This was a grid trait from the Stellaris Template, one of three ways a mechanical population could treat organic life: extermination, keeping them as curios, or processing them into batteries to be integrated into the power grid.

Cisrain was currently using this to bridge the early stages.

Three Gamma Planet days.

Under Cisrain's leadership, the entire planet was a hive of activity, with humans and xenos becoming intimately acquainted.

Xenos were captured one by one and sent to the Battery Processing Center for treatment, then crafted into chemical batteries and integrated into the grid. This provided a constant stream of power to the factories, and the electricity stored by these factories was ultimately used to power the plants that manufactured Wasp Canned Food.

[Caution: clear the area, biological battery, loading in progress]

[Loading, battery No. 00079 successfully integrated, battery No. 00045 has decayed, please replace the battery promptly]

A processed biological battery was being inserted into the grid's mechanical apparatus.

After the synaptic connection was established, the xeno twitched, officially supplying power to the battery.

This xeno was now integrated into the grid.

Cyrus's squad spent their three days of leave capturing xenos, and these three days had certainly opened their eyes.

The planet under Cisrain's management taught them that it wasn't always necessary to kill every xeno.

Living xenos were sometimes more useful than dead ones.

For instance, these troublesome Stinger Bees were now being loaded into chemical batteries to provide electricity, which was far more useful than simply killing them. The power they generated could be used to produce delicious Wasp Canned Food or to recharge their kinetic weapons.

These batteries were somewhat like the wetware of the Adeptus Mechanicus in the Imperium of Man.

It was hardware developed because Chaos corrupted electronic machinery, leading to the connection of human bodies with machines. In short, it treated humans as a data center for mechanical hardware to prevent certain machines from being corrupted by Chaos.

"I don't know how they managed to do this."

"What a miraculous Governor."

Talon pushed an entire xeno battery into the massive mechanical device, and the grid connected above the battery immediately emitted a sizzling sound of electrical current.

"If one day they suddenly brought out technology to use an entire planet as a battery, I wouldn't even be surprised."

"However, by then, they would likely have other energy sources and wouldn't care for these batteries."

"Alright, once we finish installing this battery, we should carry out our new mission. I heard Governor Cisrain even reserved a house for us on his homeworld, Utopia."

"What? Yalta, you actually want to live there?"

"If we could really resolve the chaos in this world, perhaps I'd become a lumberjack, build a bed of my own, and lie down for a good day."

Cyrus frowned. "Time is up, stop the idle chatter. There are more important things waiting for you to handle. After you finish replacing the batteries, return to the Research Station to assemble."

His teammates' laxity gave him a feeling he didn't like at all.

They were starting to slack off.

Slacking off would only lower their vigilance.

Was life here truly too comfortable?

And comfort did not belong to the Astartes.

In front of the airship.

A postal worker ran over, panting.

"Lord Talon, I finally found you. This is your letter for today."

"Hers again."

"What's wrong, Talon?" A comrade walked over and caught a glimpse of the letter. "Oh? Our hero is receiving letters again today?"

"Yalta, are you looking to taste my iron fist?"

Yalta took the letter from the postal worker. "Don't be angry, hero. In all seriousness, you really should see what she wrote. It wouldn't hurt to look."

Talon righteously snatched the letter from his hand. "I'm not interested, and besides, stop snooping into other people's privacy."

He handed the letter back to the postal worker. "Tell her I won't read her letters, and I don't have time to. If she really wants to do something meaningful, she shouldn't waste it on such useless things. She should first consider what she can do for this world. Also, don't bring me any more letters; I'm very busy."

"Hero, you're too heartless."

"It's for her own good. A mortal who is too cowardly cannot survive in this world."

Seeing his teammates shake their heads in disappointment as they left, Talon turned and walked away.

"Stop messing around, the Captain is waiting for us."

[Airship is closing, engineers please fasten your seatbelts]

Beep, beep, beep.

[Hatch closed, seal secure, fuel levels sufficient.]

[Liftoff initiated.]

The airship shook for a moment before flying toward the Research Station in low orbit.

Out in space, a research ship on an external exploration mission had successfully returned safely from the danger zone.

Loaded with technology, weapons, and industrial systems, the research ship would carry hope, building battle fortresses for the Gamma World as it expanded to its third and fourth colonial star systems.

At the Research Station center.

The Astartes were lining up to replace their power armor.

There were no Adeptus Mechanicus servitors, only scientists from the Gamma administration.

Using machines, the scientists dismantled the power armor piece by piece, revealing the modified bodies beneath. As warriors who had undergone nineteen gene-seed modifications, every one of them was covered in dense surgical scars.

Certain areas required a tight connection between flesh and power armor; in a sense, the armor was their skin.

Clang!

One piece of power armor after another was reassembled.

The heavy power armor resembled that of a Terminator, yet it was lighter in mass, which allowed them to easily maneuver the Terminator suits that symbolized the honor of The Emperor on the battlefield.

"The weight has indeed been reduced. The hardness is enough to withstand armor-piercing rounds from bolters, and compared to the Terminator suit, the agility has been greatly improved."

"It lacks the blessings of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the Purity Seals that symbolize it are gone too."

"There are pros and cons! But it has added a force field shield, though the power consumption is a bit high; we'll have to use it sparingly."

"Gentlemen, in addition to upgrading your armor, we have synchronized upgrades for your weapons."

"Beyond the traditional automatic bolter rifles, we have equipped an additional sniper rifle."

As the men were admiring their new power armor, Brown had four soldiers carry over the sniper rifle they had just developed.

The four soldiers were wearing exoskeletons, yet they still struggled to lift the sniper rifle.

Opening the rifle case.

The eyes of the Astartes lit up.

"Gauss Rifle!!!"

"That's right, it's a Gauss Rifle. Once hit, even the kind of power armor you were wearing before will be instantly decomposed."