After long years of waiting, dwindling supplies finally left Augs completely unresponsive, and its intelligence modules gradually suffered physical damage. Before its total collapse, Augs had still split off a handful of processes from its core and distributed them among the few remaining machines, barely keeping the base operational.
Meanwhile, with their hulls locked inside the starport, the GST-33 Time-Reversal Ship group ultimately chose to enter complete suspended animation after the base's Intelligence Core, Augs, stopped responding entirely.
The voluntary suspended animation system shut down all power aboard the ships, leaving them dormant.
Perhaps GST-33 had never imagined waking up again.
But that did not matter.
Through a physical connection, Iax quickly took control of the entire Augs base and wrote data into the completely undefended GST-33.
Besides the Time-Reversal Ships here, Iax also found the base's master control protocols and data storage center in Augs's fragmented records.
Iax immediately detected the Chaos forces still fleeing through the passage on the other side.
The sensors that had not yet failed completely easily detected these traitors to the Imperium, while fewer than thirty machines remained in the shattered guard force.
Iax had originally intended to readjust the gravity generators, turning these shafts—thirty kilometers in diameter and two thousand kilometers deep—into enormous repulsion accelerators that would eject everything inside. However, the presence of the Dark Angels and the Imperium's mortal troops forced Iax to abandon that option.
After the gravity systems in some areas were shut down, the previously inaccessible space at the center of the shafts opened up.
Swarms of Heavy Drone Fighters swiftly flew inside, heading straight for the Chaos forces still fighting the guard machines.
"My lord, the augur shows a large number of high-speed targets approaching!"
A rebel whose Chaos corruption had already caused horns to sprout from