novelraw Chapter 83: The Base
Chapter 83: The Base
"How long have you been standing guard here?"
Upon hearing Soshyan's question, YT-0001 uncharacteristically did not answer immediately, but instead stood frozen for several seconds.
"Standard Terran Time, ten thousand years, with a 5% margin of error."
After it recited these numbers, Soshyan realized that the entity had not experienced any emotional fluctuations because of his words; it was purely calculating.
"You have been operating without maintenance for ten thousand years?"
"Upon receiving the directive, we immediately entered a stasis field. This is our first awakening."
"Does this mean you have a base?"
"Affirmative."
"Take me to see it."
With that, Soshyan turned and spoke to Armin:"You and the others keep an eye on the Webway portal here. Sol and I will check out the situation at that base. Report any anomalies immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
Led by YT-0001, Soshyan and Sol traveled all the way to the edge of this abandoned Aeldari settlement.
It abutted a cliff face featuring a massive hole. Peering inside revealed a profound darkness.
As YT-0001 walked in, the illumination devices arrayed along the ceiling of the cliff face lit up one by one.
"To conserve energy, non-essential equipment is powered down the majority of the time."
Leading Soshyan and Sol deep into the passage, they eventually stood before a massive metal door. Bearing the still-gleaming cog insignia of the Adeptus Mechanicus dead center, it was a formidable sight.
YT-0001 walked over to the console near the door. After merely fiddling with it for three seconds, the nearly one-meter-thick metal door slowly opened with a heavy rumble.
Greeting them instantly was the pungent scent of sacred oils.
As Soshyan stepped into this massive space, the giant illumination globes arrayed across the dome lit up one after another, exposing the vast expanse of Stasis Field Generators below to the Space Marines' eyes.
Aside from this massive cluster of Stasis Field Generators, the perimeter of the base was heavily laden with automated turrets and high-power Lascannons, evidently serving as a final line of defense.
On the other side of the stasis field area lay a halted semi-automated manufactorum. Those giant mechanical arms and conveyor belts reminded Soshyan of the armories he had seen before.
However, upon seeing the weapons and limb attachments racked on the shelves, Soshyan surmised that this was where the Battle Automata replaced damaged parts and equipment. Clearly, the builders of this place had factored in the possibility of protracted warfare.
Yet the grander the scale, the more it roused Soshyan's suspicions.
Just to guard a single Webway portal, was it worth deploying an entire macro-clade of Battle Automata, and even constructing an accompanying automated manufactorum for them?
Even if they didn't destroy the Webway portal, there were other ways to seal it off. For example, blowing up all the exits to the entire underground space, or diverting an underground river to flood it.
And just as Sol had said earlier.
If the invading Aeldari were weak, then even without the Legio Cybernetica, they wouldn't pose a threat.
If the invading Aeldari were powerful, a single macro-clade of Castellax-class Battle-Automata would likely be of no avail anyway.
No matter how you looked at it, this didn't seem like a cost-effective move. To the personnel of the Adeptus Mechanicus, such action was clearly not "rational" enough. By their calculations, it must have been deemed illogical.
Therefore, the purpose of deploying these intelligent machines here became thoroughly intriguing.
"Do you truly not know who deployed you here?"
Soshyan asked YT-0001 once more.
But just as he expected, the other's response remained the same.
"Due to the execution of the erasure protocol, we are unable to store any data regarding our deployer."
"Alright..."
Suddenly, Soshyan realized Sol was no longer beside him, but had walked straight ahead through the Stasis Field Generators.
"Instructor Sol?"
"Over here."
Sol's calm voice echoed over the comm channel.
"You should come see this."
Soshyan hurried over, with YT-0001 following closely behind at an unhurried pace.
When he arrived beside Sol and looked in the direction he was pointing, he discovered, nestled within a wide open space, an imposing and massive Teleportarium Array.
Seeing this thing, Soshyan took out the remote teleportation locator from his backpack once again.
"Is there any long-range vox equipment here?"
"Affirmative."
Guided by YT-0001, Soshyan quickly found the long-range vox-caster within the base. With the assistance of the Thallax trooper, he inputted the secret channel code of the Starfire into the vox-caster.
"Hello?"
Soon, an unstable voice crackled through the vox-caster; it was Loken, who was in charge of the bridge.
"It's me, Soshyan."
"Chapter Master? The signal on your... end is a bit unstable."
"Because we are currently deep underground."
"I see. Do you have any orders?"
"Activate the Starfire's Teleportarium immediately. We have some items to transport up, and in considerable quantity."
"Understood, executing immediately. And the coordinate signal is?"
"The coordinate signal has been transmitted. Can you receive it?"
"Received!"
After confirming the Starfire's Teleportarium was ready, Soshyan straightened his back from the console and ordered YT-0001 beside him:
"Recall all Battle Automata. Commence teleportation operations immediately."
"Affirmative."
Soon, YT-0001 had recalled all the Battle Automata back to the base, and along with them came the other battle-brothers.
Staying near the Webway portal alone without the protection of the Battle Automata was too dangerous. Soshyan planned to resolve this hidden danger through another method.
Bzzzt—
When crackling blue electrical arcs began to appear on the Teleportarium Array, the twenty Castellax-class Battle-Automata standing upon it simultaneously powered down their servos and motive systems. This ensured they could be teleported safely to the other side without posing a threat to the personnel aboard the ship.
The air grew thick with the scent of ozone, and static electricity even rippled across the Astartes' Power Armor.
Finally, with a violent inward rush of air.
Those twenty Battle Automata vanished from the Teleportarium Array.
However, before Soshyan could arrange for the second batch of Battle Automata to enter the Teleportarium Array, it activated once more.
"Agh!"
Soon, a red figure tumbled out from the writhing electrical arcs.
"This is why I hate tele—"
Emerging from the Teleportarium Array was the Tech-Priest Loken. However, as he lifted his head mid-grumble and saw several Space Marines and a massive ring of Castellax-class Battle-Automata staring at him, the expression on his face instantly froze.
"By the pistons of the Omnissiah..."
He looked like a traveler who had just discovered an oasis in the desert, his face painted with undisguised obsession and greed.
"The Legio Cybernetica... This is absolutely the Legio Cybernetica!"
At this moment, he violently noticed the metallic construct standing beside Soshyan.
To everyone's surprise, without a word, he hoisted his robes and broke into a dead sprint, completely ignoring his superior—Soshyan, who was looking at him with his mouth open, about to say something.