Siddhga stood at the porthole, gazing at Murmansk, which was gradually receding.
The once prosperous military fortress city had now been engulfed by the flames of orbital bombardment, turning into a scorched ruin.
The remnants of anti-aircraft turrets, like broken greatswords, were obliquely inserted into the smoke-billowing urban area.
Heavy alloy gates were twisted and deformed, as if torn apart by some indescribable immense force.
Her original mission was to deal with the rebels and fallen Psykers entrenched in Murmansk's underground mines, but the sudden exposure of the Genestealer changed everything.
Alex did not hesitate, directly dispatching the Inquisition Black Ship fleet to carry out saturation orbital bombardment on the areas occupied by the rebels.
The roar of Macro Cannons tore through the sky, and the flames of Whirlwind torpedoes turned the entire area into a lake of lava.
Those traitors and their Chaos altars were completely annihilated before they could even let out a single wail.
"Subsequent investigations are still needed, but at least for now, they are no longer a threat," Sage Ovilia's mechanically synthesized voice came from behind her, data tendrils sliding rapidly across the cogitator terminal: "No life signals detected in the bombarded area, but Warp contamination scans still require continuous monitoring."
Siddhga nodded silently.
This meant her mission was temporarily concluded, but Alex did not let her leave; instead, he directly ordered: "For the next period, you will act with me; the hidden threats in the Rostov Sub-Sector are far more than just this one!"
Before boarding the next target—New Land Island Tai Kong Port—Alex gave her a new task: to thoroughly inspect the Inquisition Black Ship they were on.
Although he had great confidence in the Black Ship he had been using, and Sisters of Silences had always been stationed on the Black Ship, and Alex had been strictly vetting it since he took over the ship, after the Genestealer invasion incident, Alex could not be at ease no matter what.
So, a thorough check was very necessary.
Siddhga's figure moved like a phantom through the intricate compartments of the Black Ship.
From the engine room, a mechanical shrine permeated with the mixed scent of oil and incense, to the lower decks crowded with Servitor and low-ranking crew, and then to the officers' mess hall decorated with Inquisition insignia and the Imperial Aquila...
Her Void Field silently spread, and any hidden psychic fluctuations or distorted life signals had nowhere to hide from her perception.
An elite squad composed of armed ratings and Battle Sisterss followed closely, carrying out immediate arrests and genetic sampling of any targets she marked.
Ultimately, three crew members carrying amulets of unknown origin and one engine technician who showed abnormal physiological reactions when Siddhga approached were isolated and taken away.
The atmosphere inside the Black Ship was taut, but at least the purity of the high-level command chain was confirmed.
Alex sat on the command throne, his fingertips gently tapping the adamantium armrest, his gaze sternly fixed on the blinking lights on the star map.
The tragedy of Murmansk was like a sharp knife, piercing deeply into his thoughts.
"Ovilia, has the source of contamination been confirmed?" His voice was low and sharp.
The Mechanical Sage's bionic eye glowed red, and data streams surged in her logic core: "Genetic sample comparison, age determination of nest residues, backtracking of infected individuals' activity trajectories... comprehensive probability 97.8%.
The source of contamination is not native to this area but arrived on the immigrant ship 'Star of the Urals,' which reached Murmansk three years ago.
The ship briefly detached from the escort formation during its voyage, entering an asteroid belt to evade... presumed to be the infection event window."
"One ship, one planet, almost destroyed." Alex's voice was bone-chilling: "Where did the 'Star of the Urals' dock before?"
"New Earth Island Starport, Arkhangelsk Colony, and the Starport of Rostov, the Star Sector Capital." Ovilia's reply was devoid of emotion, yet it struck Alex's heart like a heavy hammer: "However, the Starport of the Star Sector Capital has strict management systems, and no signs of contamination spread have been found."
Although the Genestealer, like deadly spores, had already quietly scattered throughout the entire Sub-Sector with that cursed ship, the strict management system Alex had previously established effectively controlled the spread of Genestealer contamination.
It's just that this alien contamination is incredibly difficult to guard against; even with a strict vetting system, they still managed to contaminate the Sub-Sector.
"We can't wait any longer." Alex suddenly stood up, the servo joints of his Power Armor emitting a low hum.
His voice, through the ship-wide broadcast and encrypted astropathic communication, reached every corner of the Sub-Sector, carrying the absolute authority of an Inquisitor: "Rostov Sub-Sector, full-scale purification operation, immediate activation!"
This order was like an exploding bomb, instantly throwing the entire Sub-Sector's bureaucracy and military machine into a frenzy.
Amidst their shock, various factions quickly showed distinctly different reactions.
The Tech-Priest of the Adeptus Mechanicus, following Alex's orders, launched an unprecedented genetic screening operation across the Sub-Sector.
Exploration Servitor and servitor skulls were urgently modified, fitted with crude but effective bio-signature scanners, swarming like metallic locusts into various colonies and ship interiors.
Every modified mechanical construct repeated the same binary canticle: "Scan, Compare, Purify."
According to the standards of the "Imperial Mutation Self-Declaration Checklist," Genestealer contamination is highly deceptive—third and fourth-generation hybrids often only show slight skull thickening or abnormal skin pigmentation, not even meeting the standard for "intermediate mutation" in the mutation score.
Because of this, Sage Ovilia personally adjusted the screening parameters: not only to compare standard physiological mutation indicators but also to focus on detecting Tyranid biological markers hidden deep within the genetic sequence.
"Remember, we are not looking for obvious mutants." A Tech-Priest in red robes lectured his subordinates, his mechanical vocalizer emitting a harsh hum: "Those aliens identifiable by the naked eye have already been purified.
Now, we need to catch the contaminators hidden below the standard mutation tolerance."
He pulled up a holographic projection, displaying the Imperial legal mutation scoring standards:
1 point: Abnormal hair, slight bone deformation
3 points: Extra digits, scaly skin
10 points: Functional appendages, psychic radiation
"And the Genestealer…" The projection switched to a dissected fourth-generation hybrid, "Their score might only be 2 to 5 points—just barely meeting the critical line for being able to serve."
The screening quickly made progress.
In the third loading zone of New Earth Island Tai Kong Port, a team of exploration Servitor discovered an anomaly: subtle sequence repetitions appeared in the genetic samples of twelve dock workers, a characteristic highly consistent with the Tyranid genetic markers extracted from the Murmansk nest.
When the Adeptus Arbites assault team broke in, these "workers" were gathered deep in the warehouse, chanting in low voices before a crudely carved four-armed idol.
However, even as the cleansing operation was in full swing, undercurrents surged within the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Some Tech-Priest keenly realized this was an excellent opportunity to acquire precious "Tyranid genetic samples"; they began secretly intercepting some non-critical contamination data or tissue fragments, attempting to bypass Mars's monopoly for research.
This sparked a small-scale internal academic dispute.
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