The great doors stood open. Inside were hundreds of incubation tanks and operating tables. This was where the Lamenters stored their gene-seed and performed surgeries on mortals.
The physical capabilities of Astartes warriors far surpassed those of mortals, but they too had been remade from mortals. Gene-seed was essential for strengthening mortal bodies. A Chapter could lack weapons and ammunition, but it absolutely could not lack gene-seed.
Space Marines possessed many special organs, and the functioning of those organs could not be separated from gene-seed. Only after intensive psychological instruction and countless hours of training could a powerful, exceptional Space Marine be created.
A shortage of gene-seed would directly prevent a Chapter from replenishing its ranks. It could only be worn away in increasingly brutal battles, until it became no more than a brief entry in the Imperium's records.
Gene-seed generated two glands within a Space Marine's body, one located in the neck and the other deep within the chest cavity. These glands could not strengthen the body, but they were the most important organs for a Chapter's continuation.
The glands grew within a Space Marine, absorbing hormones and genetic material produced by other organs. After five years of growth, they matured, and the gland in the neck could be removed. Ten years later, the gland in the chest cavity would mature and could likewise be removed.
Once harvested, these mature gene-seeds underwent meticulous inspection. If even the slightest trace of corruption or mutation was detected, the seeds would be disposed of.
This vault, sealed behind adamantium doors, was just such a place. The culture vessels should originally have held the Chapter's most important gene-seed. Now, they were completely empty.
"When the xenos attacked, our Apothecaries and a tactical squad were stationed here... They failed to stop the xenos from