"Governor, welcome!" A Great Sister, clad in the standard Battle Sisters Power Armor with a prominent holy emblem emblazoned on her shoulder guard, led a small squad of fully armed Battle Sisterss on the spacious, somewhat oppressive tarmac of New Earth Island Airport, welcoming Alex's arrival.
The cold metal ground reflected their solemn figures.
The Sisters standing solemnly behind her still bore faint scorch marks and smoke stains on their Power Armor from the cleansing operation, as if silently narrating the intensity of the purifying fire not long ago.
"My sincerest apologies, Governor!" The Great Sister's voice, muffled and slightly distorted, emanated from her full-coverage helmet—the Power Armor's internal air circulation system hummed lowly, working at full capacity to block out the nauseating smell of burning— "You have personally come here, only to be confronted with such an environment… The New Earth Island Airport has just undergone a thorough purification, and the embers have not yet dissipated."
Her gaze seemed to penetrate the helmet's visor, sweeping over Alex and the Sisters of Silence Siddhega behind him with an apologetic air.
She then explained, her concern clearly audible in her tone: "What's more troublesome is that before their annihilation, those xenos specifically destroyed the critical core of the New Earth Island Airport's air circulation system.
Our Tech-Priest have been working day and night, but the shortage of key components has severely hindered repair progress."
Alex's gaze sharply swept across the distant parts of the tarmac, where several ruins, sealed off by thick isolation belts and warning stakes flashing red lights, were still emitting wisps of ominous green smoke, and the air was filled with a suffocating silence.
This silence was not entirely soundless, but rather deliberately suppressed.
In the corners, a few scattered survivors, wrapped in crude blankets or work clothes, huddled beside temporarily distributed relief supplies, their eyes vacant or filled with terror as they furtively watched the Governor's entourage; their presence as thin and silent as shadows.
Further away, several New Earth Island Airport technical workers, dressed in oil-stained overalls and wearing simple respirators, were heavily pushing carts laden with charred metal debris, attempting to clear a passage, the sound of metal wheels rolling on the cold deck sounding particularly harsh and futile.
Besides the stubborn stench of burning, the air also faintly carried the pungent smell of disinfectant and lingering dust.
The entire New Earth Island Airport's streets were enveloped in a post-disaster weariness and an lingering tension.
He nodded slightly, turning to the Great Sister, his voice steady and with approval: "You've worked hard, Great Sister. The Imperium will remember everything you've done! You have protected this place."
"For the Emperor!" The Great Sister immediately straightened her posture, striking her chest plate forcefully with her right hand, producing a crisp metallic clang, responding to the Governor's affirmation.
Alex's gaze then turned to the Mechanical Sage Ovilia beside him, who was intently gazing at the data stream projected by the servitor skull floating before her.
"Sage Ovilia," Alex ordered Ovilia beside him: "I need you to immediately inspect the damage to the New Earth Island Airport's air circulation system and submit a feasible solution to me as soon as possible. This is the top priority."
"Understood, Governor." Ovilia's voice, calm and efficient, came through her self-made, intricately designed respirator.
She lightly waved a mechanical finger embedded with a data interface, and several servitor skulls immediately changed their scanning direction.
"Initial scans show structural damage at multiple key nodes. I will now proceed to the main control node for a detailed diagnosis." Before her words finished, she had already controlled the servitor skull, taking steps and walking directly towards the target area, without the slightest delay in her movements.
"Emperor's protection!" The Great Sister's tone conveyed genuine, relieved anticipation, even mixed with a hint of barely concealed fatigue.
"For Sage Ovilia to lend her aid is truly a godsend! Governor, this smell…" She paused, seemingly struggling to control her breathing beneath her helmet: "It's not just discomfort… It permeates everything, severely hindering the New Earth Island Airport's return to order, and silently eroding the health and morale of the stationed personnel."
Her voice carried a deep sense of worry.
Siddhga, behind Alex, also showed a worried expression; although her thick face mask completely obscured her features, her knuckles, gripping the electromagnetic crossbow in her hand, were slightly white, and her body maintained a taut posture, ready to respond to any threat at any moment.
As if the air was not merely filled with foul odors, but also a potential source of contamination requiring high vigilance.
"The Imperium's warriors will not be defeated by a smell!" Alex's gaze returned from the ruins and the figures of patrolling soldiers in the distance, settling on the Great Sister, and he responded in a deep voice.
His tone carried both an affirmation of the warriors' resilience and a clear understanding of the real threat.
But then he changed the subject, saying with a grave tone: "But you are right, Great Sister! This is by no means merely a sensory issue; its erosion of order and personnel status is a real, urgent threat."
"Precisely, Governor!" The Great Sister's voice gained strength from the clear support, but her concern was also evident.
She urgently added: "With the circulation system paralyzed, the filth simply cannot be effectively cleared! Pathogens are breeding, accumulating! In a confined space of this scale…
We cannot afford the cost of a plague, or worse, a biochemical disaster. Every moment of delay doubles the risk!"
At this moment, Ovilia also completed her initial scan, responding calmly in a mechanically cold tone: "Preliminary analysis confirms that physical isolation and existing temporary purification measures cannot replace the core functions of the circulation system.
In a confined environment, the source of contamination persists, and the biological hazard risk index is rapidly increasing.
The threat that the Great Sister is concerned about has been assessed as extremely high in both its probability and hazard level."
Alex nodded slightly, his sharp gaze, like a tangible force, swept over everyone present—the Great Sister, Siddhga, and Ovilia's back.
He then straightened his body and loudly issued the command: "Ovilia, identify the core of the problem and confirm the resources and specific plan required for repair.
Great Sister, please mobilize all forces to fully cooperate with Sage Ovilia's work, clear any obstacles, and ensure the smooth progress of repairs!"
Finally, his gaze fell on the silent bodyguard beside him: "Sister Sidera, I need you to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the New Earth Island Airport to ensure that no soil for Chaos contamination is breeding here. Remain vigilant."
"Yes, Governor!" The Great Sister immediately bowed in acceptance of the order.
"Command confirmed." Ovilia's voice came from not far away.
And Siddhga, the Sisters of Silence, responded to Alex's command with an extremely standard Imperial sign language gesture, imbued with a sense of silent power, then turned and, as if merging into the shadows, began her patrol.
As for Alex himself, accompanied by the Great Sister, he walked towards the New Earth Island Airport's port authority center, which was currently the administrative hub of the New Earth Island Airport, responsible for controlling all matters, big and small, of the entire New Earth Island Airport.
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