Talon was a new recruit with more than thirty years of service.
He hadn't taken part in many battles. Most of his assignments had been small-scale reconnaissance missions.
Having served in the Blood Raven Chapter, he knew more about the Imperium's science, culture, and technology than most. Sometimes, he even took on some repair work.
So when he saw them using a high-strength alloy to build a Research Station,
he was astonished.
"You're using this kind of alloy to build a Research Station? Isn't that a bit extravagant?"
"There's even a city on our homeworld built with a stronger, Grade Three alloy."
"What a waste! Such a waste. If we could haul it back and turn it into Power Armor, how many of us could it outfit?"
The alloy used to build the Research Station was even harder than the Ceramite on his own armor. It was so hard it nearly matched his loyalty to the Emperor.
And that was nothing compared to their claim that an even stronger alloy had been used to build a city on their homeworld.
Good grief.
Talk about extravagant.
Did everyone in the Far East Frontier live this well?
Watching the soldiers come and go with their mining equipment,
Talon felt as if he'd discovered a whole new world.
He followed them around, peppering them with questions.
"What are you developing?"
"Reverse engineering."
"Reverse engineering? I know about that. But why don't you appease the Machine Spirit first, burn incense, chant hymns, and praise the Omnissiah?"
"."
"With this many corpses, regulations say they should be burned. Handling them directly could cause problems."
"."
"Need a hand? This thing looks pretty good. I've got some interesting things of my own we could trade."
"."
Whoosh!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One Drop Pod after another plunged from the sky.
They fell toward the ground.
Then several wheeled machines rolled out of the Drop Pods. The machines assembled themselves on the ground, seemingly joining together to form some kind of enormous mechanical structure.
"They look a bit like our Drop Pods, but they aren't carrying Astartes."
"What fascinating technology! How big are your ships to carry this many machines?"
Whoosh!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Drop Pod after Drop Pod continued to descend from the sky.
They began connecting to one another.
Once linked, the small machines gradually grew into something enormous.
Before his eyes, they even formed one factory after another.
Clang!
Clang!
Inside the factories, giant metal hammers pounded iron with a deafening roar. A massive steelworks took shape in just a few minutes, then began belching smoke.
"What is this? All these machines are meant to assemble a factory?"
"Another factory. What kind of technology is this? I've never seen anything like it in the Adeptus Mechanicus. I knew those Adeptus Mechanicus fellows were hiding good stuff. And here we are, sharing every discovery with them."
"."
These factories looked a little like the Imperium's Golden Age factories.
In the Emperor's Golden Age, there was a technology called the STC Template. You didn't have to do a thing. It could mine resources and manufacture all manner of terrifying weapons, endlessly and without any human intervention. The STC Templates the Imperium had dug up still forged the great weapons with which it waged war across the galaxy.
The pity was that the so-called great weapons they were building now were only mining vehicles from the Golden Age.
The true technology was all lost.
Talon eyed the factory built from something like an STC Template, wishing he could get his hands on it. Using it to build factories seemed like a waste.
If they could transport these things to their mothership, then drop them straight onto the battlefield next time and turn them into fortresses before the enemy's eyes, that would be incredible.
The Imperium feared artificial intelligence, so most work had to be done by hand. Combined with the Imperial Navy's slow travel speeds, this made the Imperium's administrative systems painfully inefficient.
"Captain!"
"You're back!"
Talon spotted his captain, Cyrus, and ran over, Bolter in hand.
In the Chapter, every warrior forged deep brotherhood amid the unending fires of war.
Cyrus had also noticed the huge steelworks that had been built.
It hadn't been there when he last came.
And now, in no time at all, it was already finished?
Drop Pods kept falling from the sky. Some landed only a few hundred meters from them, while others came down several kilometers away.
Research Station orbital tracks were being laid in the sky. The stations were so small they could barely make them out.
Factories kept rising from the ground below, amid blasting and bombardment.
They were transforming this world with a savagery beyond imagination.
It seemed they were conquering the world at astonishing speed.
Their science and technology seemed designed for conquest.
Cyrus looked at Cisrain, growing more and more curious about this man who seemed to know everything.
One heavy transport truck after another, operating in a standard automated mode, began laying tracks.
The scientists Cisrain had brought monitored the direction in which the track-laying vehicles were building.
"Captain, it looks like they'll turn this world into an industrial fortress in less than half a month."
As soon as Cisrain returned,
he received a flood of reports.
The commanders behind Brown sent in one battle report after another.
"Governor, we're transforming this world, but we've encountered a large number of Xenos along the way. They're very cunning and devious. While we were building the factories, they ambushed our Drop Pods and cost us a tenth of a company's worth of soldiers."
"Why can't we ever wipe out all the Xenos on this world?" Cisrain furrowed his brow. "The Empire's other two research ships are exploring in other directions and can't return just yet. Sending troops from the Imperium will take time."
"Governor, I'm begging you, don't go out there this time. If you do, the Chief Diplomat and the Chief Financial Minister will kill me when we get back."
"."
Cyrus heard that
and knew it was time for him to step in.
Their soldiers were still ordinary soldiers. No matter how loyal they were, they were only mortal troops.
Some things had to be handled by Astartes warriors like them.
Cyrus stepped forward. "Would you like our help?"
"Seems we don't have any other choice." Cisrain had no alternative. "This should be the last mission."
Cyrus nodded.
Helping them deal with the Xenos shouldn't be a problem.
He'd observed the Xenos on this world. The only ones who could truly threaten them were the Chaos creatures.
As the group prepared to leave, Brown hurried over and blocked their way.
If Cyrus hadn't heard him, he probably would have stepped right on him.
"Wait, everyone. Do you want to back up the data?"
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