An inquiry

Seeing that there was no immediate threat, Moran's mind sprang into motion once more.

"The attacks from those two automatons must have triggered some sort of automatic retaliation system. I've heard that a lot of ancient machines have self-defense functions. But why did they attack the Plague Marines first instead of us?"

While Moran was frantically speculating, the two Sentinels had already moved to the flank of the Adeptus Mechanicus party.

The exploration party had originally numbered nearly a hundred, with several armed Servitors and almost a hundred Combat Servitors.

Yet fewer than ten Plague Marines had easily crippled the entire party.

Apart from the four armed Servitors destroyed by the Sentinels, over half the Skitarii had died in battle, and only a handful of Combat Servitors remained.

Encountering Astartes in the wilderness without heavy firepower had all but guaranteed a brutal massacre.

Even if Moran could have escaped aboard the Throne Ship Transporter, everyone else, including their commander Alonas, could only have died fighting there.

While everyone waited anxiously, the Fabricator-Sage on the Hive City's uppermost level carefully studied the two automated Sentinels through the images relayed by a Servo-skull.

"Creations from the Dark Age of Technology? The style is very similar. To think there was an unexpected treasure here. I certainly didn't anticipate this. Their weapons are well worth studying, with power far beyond the ordinary. If we could acquire the technological knowledge behind them, what would the Astartes matter? Technology is the truth of the universe. Praise the Omnissiah."

Just as Moran had suspected earlier, the Fabricator-Sage had come here for no other purpose than to assess the Hive City's condition and decide whether to relocate the technical records stored there.

After all, besides the Throne Ship Transporter, this place also held a duplicate template for the Chimera armored vehicle from a certain Forge World.

The reason they had not simply abandoned this hidden Hive City was that it was not far from the Great Rift.

These vital vehicles could not be manufactured too far behind the lines, as transporting them would take too long. Too close to the front, however, and they risked being destroyed or plundered.

The location in Segmentum Obscurus was relatively suitable. This planet had originally been uninhabited, and its sole Hive City had been secretly built by the Adeptus Mechanicus itself.

What had originally been intended as a covert manufacturing site had now become an important source of heavy weaponry.

Although the Adeptus Mechanicus itself cared little about the war between the Imperium and the heretical traitors, a stable environment was more conducive to uncovering ancient technology and conducting technological expeditions.

Between an Imperium they could communicate with and worlds entirely controlled by the Chaos Gods of the Warp, the former was clearly the obvious choice.

Moreover, with the Adeptus Mechanicus so deeply entwined with the Imperium, remaining uninvolved was utterly impossible.

But now this Hive City had been exposed to the enemy.

The sudden arrival of the Rebels' warship was a warning.

Clearly, production might continue here for a while longer, but all critical records and information needed to be relocated.

And this attack had involved only a single Strike Cruiser. More Rebels would certainly come in the future.

Vostonia was nearby, but it was a Planet belonging to the Imperium, and the Adeptus Mechanicus had always disdained asking the Imperium for help.

Perhaps they could seek support through cooperation, but beg for aid?

Absolutely not.

Even abandoning this Hive City would be acceptable.

The Fabricator-Sage's auxiliary cognitive core was running at high speed when the communicator beside him began to beep.

A Servo-skull drifted lazily over, and the mechanical claw beneath it picked up the communicator and opened the connection.

"What news do you have?"

The Fabricator-Sage questioned whoever was on the other end, his face expressionless.

"Sage, the explosion in the Planet's orbit just now attracted the attention of an Imperial Navy force nearby."

Several Skitarii communications operators on the other end faithfully delivered their report.

"The Imperial Navy? Here? Why?"

"We have already contacted them and confirmed it. This fleet is heading to Vostonia to transport new recruits for the Astra Militarum regiments. In addition to two Transport Ships, they have a Shadow Moon-class Cruiser. They approached to investigate after detecting an anomalous orbital explosion."

"Tell them no help is needed here. Have them attend to their own business."

After ending the communication, the Fabricator-Sage returned to the spacious terrace and looked at the enormous, utterly exposed gun turret in the distance.

"The Imperium must not discover this place, or I'll lose my chance to study these ancient technologies. Damn those Imperial agreements and all their restrictions."

Upon receiving the Adeptus Mechanicus transmission, the approaching Imperial Navy said little and simply changed course to leave. Nevertheless, it reported the incident to the nearest Imperial institution.

The unregistered Hive City, along with speculation that the Adeptus Mechanicus was secretly conducting activities on an uninhabited Planet, was compiled into a report and passed up the chain.

Even the Adeptus Mechanicus could not ignore Imperial law. Once any city or Planet was confirmed to lie within Imperial territory, it was legally required to pay taxes.

Otherwise, it would be considered an act of rebellion.

And a Hive City independently built by the Adeptus Mechanicus?

Was that not a prize ripe for the taking, without even a city governor or Imperial administrative staff?

Though ordinary Imperial nobles and the Administratum found the Adeptus Mechanicus somewhat difficult to deal with, an entirely new city that had yet to come under Imperial administration was not an opportunity they could simply let slip.

The Fabricator-Sage knew exactly what would happen next. After all, as a man of considerable standing, he had dealt with such matters before.

But it did not matter. He only needed to finish his research before the personnel dispatched by the Imperium, with its painfully slow implementation of decrees, arrived.

Ancient technology. Creations from the Dark Age of Technology.

For the first time in a long while, a smile blossomed on the Sage's face.

Although most of his mechanical replacement components could not express a smile, excitement still radiated from him.

On the outskirts of the gun emplacement, Moran and his companions watched the two automated Sentinels nervously.

"Bzzzt, krrshh... Hello?"

The Sentinel's loudspeaker, unused for who knew how many years, finally emitted a sound again.

Iax heard his own voice through the other robot and confirmed that the loudspeaker still worked properly.

"Everyone, I have a question. I hope you can answer it for me."

Though the voice was somewhat distorted, everyone present heard those words clearly.

Only Moran and Alonas understood them, however.

That was because Iax had asked his question in High Gothic. Ordinary Skitarii generally encountered nothing beyond the Imperium's common tongue, and their commoner backgrounds afforded them almost no opportunity to learn this official Imperial language.

The complex High Gothic was regularly used only among the nobility. Even the few prosperous commoners who could afford to learn it would not do so, and within the various Imperial institutions, the script appeared almost exclusively in formal written documents.