Chapter 733: Returning to the Death World
The reply from the Departmento Munitorum arrived five standard days later.
The communication was from a dispatch officer at the Munitorum's Theater Coordination Bureau. The officer in the holographic projection wore a standard uniform, his expression strictly businesslike.
He confirmed receipt of Ryo's request and indicated that, within the current operational landscape, several theaters might fit his requirements.
The officer provided three options:
The first was a star system near the "Cadian Gate" on the edge of the Segmentum Ultima. A local Astra Militarum force was currently purging a roving remnant force of Chaos traitors. The enemy force was not large, but they were conducting guerrilla warfare using the ruined terrain, resulting in a stalemate. The local commander welcomed technical support.
The second was a mining world in the Segmentum Pacificus that had suffered a small-scale Ork invasion. An Ork force approximately the size of a warband had established a stronghold in a local mountainous region. The Planetary Defense Force was insufficient and had requested support.
The third was a feudal world in the Segmentum Obscurus where a rebellion suspected to be caused by an alien species had broken out. The situation was unclear, but the possibility of a xenos threat existed.
Ryo rapidly evaluated the three options.
The combat environment near the Cadian Gate was complex, suitable for testing urban ruin combat and anti-guerrilla capabilities. However, it was far away and involved Chaos forces, potentially carrying unpredictable Warp risks.
The Ork threat on the mining world was relatively conventional, with diverse terrain suitable for testing combat efficacy against common xenos at a moderate intensity.
The xenos threat on the feudal world was too specific and might involve psychic factors, making it unsuitable for a first systematic test.
He chose the second option: the Ork invasion on the mining world.
The officer confirmed the selection and provided the specific coordinates of the world, communication codes, and the identification information of the local Planetary Defense Force commander. The Munitorum would formally notify the local commander that an Adeptus Mechanicus technical verification force would arrive to conduct coordinated combat testing, requesting them to provide necessary cooperation.
After the communication ended, Ryo immediately began deployment.
He ordered the Tech-Priest team aboard the Eternal Seeker to accelerate the final equipment checks and departure preparations for "Verification Task Force Alpha."
The task force would travel to the target world aboard a modified Mechanicus transport ship equipped with necessary data analysis equipment and maintenance support units.
This transport ship would depart from the Eternal Seeker and return to rendezvous at the Death World base upon completing its mission.
Simultaneously, he contacted the Second Avatar at the Death World base, requesting an acceleration of the screening and analysis of Maine's squad's dimensional exploration records to find a backup testing ground.
Next, Ryo began formulating a plausible public reason for the Eternal Seeker's return voyage.
As a Magos long dedicated to cutting-edge research, his actions had to align with his consistent research logic and project needs.
After weighing his options, he settled on several reasons that could withstand scrutiny.
First and foremost was the need to return to the Death World base to personally inspect the progress of a series of long-term dimensional research projects. This pertained particularly to the continuous observation data left by the Genesis Particle experiments in the base and its surrounding environment, as periodic review and analysis of this data was crucial.
Secondly, the Death World base housed certain specialized biological research facilities with an extremely high degree of isolation, offering more stable and controllable environmental conditions than the laboratories aboard the warship. Conducting sensitive technological verifications involving genetics there would significantly reduce external interference and the risk of accidents.
Finally, the operation of the Eternal Seeker and the multiple projects it supported required the replenishment of a batch of special alloys and catalytic materials that only the Death World base had the capacity to produce and store. This was a routine logistical requirement to maintain the continuity of research.
These reasons were all grounded in facts and perfectly matched his public persona as a researcher.
The Genesis Particle experiments indeed had long-term observation projects on the Death World; those biotechnological studies did indeed have stringent environmental requirements; and material resupply was the norm for ship operations.
Combining these factors constituted a reasonable and necessary return to base.
Of course, in all formal and informal communications, the transfer of the STC system would not be mentioned by a single word.
That would be the true and sole secret purpose of the voyage, hidden beneath all the legitimate reasons.
Ryo contacted Sigismund.
The Marshal of the Black Templars was currently still in the Necromunda system.
Soon, Sigismund appeared outside Ryo's private laboratory.
"The Eternal Seeker will return to the Death World base," Ryo said to Sigismund, his tone as steady as ever. "The specialized research facilities and stockpiled special materials at the base are critical to the advancement of the next phase of the gene-seed and Titan Guard projects. I need to handle this personally."
Sigismund raised no objections. The second batch of optimized recruits had been delivered to the Imperial Fists and their successor chapters, concluding his core supervisory mission aboard the Eternal Seeker.
"How are you arranging the test force you assembled?" he asked.
"The verification task force will travel independently to the testing world aboard a transport ship and return to the Death World base on their own upon completing the mission," Ryo explained. "The Eternal Seeker will not directly intervene in this test to avoid unnecessary attention."
Sigismund pondered briefly. "The Black Templars maintain a defense force stationed at the Death World base. I should return with the ship to inspect the garrison's status."
"Acceptable," Ryo agreed. This reason was perfectly logical and would not trigger any superfluous speculation.
Having finalized the external arrangements, Ryo's attention turned to the core, and most secretive, mission of this voyage—the transfer of the STC system.
This priceless technological holy relic would return to the Death World alongside the Eternal Seeker.
The system was currently operating stably, and the transfer itself did not require complex technical preparations. The true key lay in ensuring its absolute safety and concealment during the voyage and after arrival.
To this end, Ryo issued several directives.
He ordered his directly subordinate Tech-Priest team to enact a temporary lockdown of the compartment housing the STC system under the guise of "conducting periodic deep maintenance and system calibration on core research equipment."
During the voyage, aside from himself, only three core Tech-Priests who had passed absolute loyalty tests were granted temporary access to monitor basic operational parameters.
These three priests knew of the system's existence and value, but they viewed this solely as high-level routine maintenance, remaining ignorant of the deeper purpose of transferring it to the Death World.
Meanwhile, all other work aboard the Eternal Seeker proceeded at its established pace to maintain a facade of normalcy.
All deployments were efficiently implemented within two days.
As the confirmation signals indicating final readiness arrived, the massive hull of the Eternal Seeker began to emit a low resonance.
The main engine group entered its startup sequence, and the Void Shield generators activated, rippling faint energy waves around the hull.
The warship smoothly detached from its mooring, adjusted its heading, and its aft propulsion arrays spewed dazzling streams of blue light, propelling this cruiser carrying secrets onto the route returning to the Death World.