Following Thien's command, the Black Templars in the hall dispersed, heading through the corridors to reinforce other fighting zones.
The tide, which had been so effortlessly turned against the Astra Militarum by the Iron Warriors, instantly reversed.
As the Guardsmen engaged the mortal renegades, Bolter rounds, often fired from behind the enemy, would fly past, reducing the traitors and their weapons to shredded meat.
The appearance of the Black Templars icon on the auspex screens instantly brought a cheer from the fighting Guardsmen.
Seeing the Adeptus Astartes clad in black ceramite armour appear in the passages, the Guardsmen hastily rendered the Aquila salute, then grabbed their weapons and rushed to reinforce other embattled nodes.
The Black Templars would follow, engaging the enemy alongside them.
The invaders, bottlenecked in various narrow corridors, could only flail against the ceramite-armoured Astartes. Their Lasguns and various cobbled-together, substandard projectile weapons posed no threat to the Black Templars.
In just twenty minutes, all the invaders had been reduced to scattered, bloody fragments.
Meanwhile, Thien remained in the great hall with Axion.
"Sergeant, do we proceed directly back to the front-line combat theatre next?"
The Captain, having received the battle reports, walked out of the Bridge, saw Thien accompanying Axion in the main corridor hall, and immediately stepped forward to ask for instructions.
Thien did not answer the Captain immediately, instead turning to look at Axion.
"Axion, thank you for your assistance in the combat. We need to depart this system. If you require transport back to the surface, I can arrange to have you conveyed down, or use a landing pod to drop you to the ground."
Thien understood that while keeping Axion aboard and taking him to the front line might be helpful, the construct itself was a profound and unstable threat.
Logically, he did not want to take this highly secretive, ancient construct with the Imperial Fleet.
Handing him over to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars might be the better option.
But this was the Imperium Nihilus; contacting the Mechanicus on Mars was not easy, and furthermore, the Mechanicus was not always perfectly compliant with the Imperium's central authority.
Suddenly, Thien had another idea.
With the ongoing Indomitus Crusade, although Thien had not personally met the Imperial Regent, the Gene-Sire of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman.
He knew that the Son of the Emperor was currently active in the Imperium Nihilus, organizing vast Imperial forces to sweep away all destabilizing elements.
It was also rumoured that he was accompanied by the Archmagos Belisarius Cawl.
Thien felt a surge of envy toward the Ultramarines for the return of their Gene-Sire. His own Gene-Sire, Rogal Dorn, was unlikely to ever be resurrected.
Feeling his thoughts stray, Thien shook his head, then turned his gaze back to Axion.
"If you accompany us, I might be able to arrange an opportunity for you to pursue the history you seek."
Axion looked at Thien curiously.
"You appear to have developed a new proposal. I am willing to hear it."
"To my knowledge, the Imperial Regent, one of the great Primarchs, Lord Roboute Guilliman, is in a nearby sector. Furthermore, he is accompanied by an Archmagos of the Mechanicus. Perhaps if you travel with us to the front lines, you may have an opportunity for an audience with him."
"If you could gain the favour of Lord Guilliman, you might truly be able to travel to Terra."
Axion's optical sensors narrowed, multi-spectral scanning rays moving back and forth across Thien's body.
Every minute physiological change in Thien was registered by Axion.
"I detect a distinct flavour of utilization and intrigue in your discourse."
Hearing Axion's words, Thien tensed every muscle in his body, as if Axion might launch a sudden attack and cleave him in two like the Iron Warriors.
"Do not be alarmed. I mean no harm. However, I accept your suggestion. I hope it proves to be worthwhile in the end."
Axion glanced across the hall, which was still littered with blood and scattered remains.
"The universe is, as always, replete with disorder and slaughter. Civilization has once again begun its regression."
"I shall depart with you, but I have a small task to complete before I go."
…
On the Hive City surface, Vashur had been sitting on his mechanical throne in the central hall for a long time.
He did not know where Axion had gone after suddenly flickering and vanishing.
But he dared not take any rash action.
The Black Templars Astartes had just left aboard a Thunderhawk Gunship, and the ancient construct Axion was also gone.
For safety, Vashur had to accelerate his own task.
The location was no longer secure. There were Plague Marines in orbit, and now Iron Warriors had appeared.
Even Necrons had made an appearance; no one knew whether the next xenos to arrive would be Aeldari or the far more problematic Orks.
As for the Tyranids, they might not have reached this area yet, but one could never be certain.
He had to immediately transfer the data and evacuate the planet.
As for the gigantic ancient gun battery, he would contact the Priesthood of Mars to arrange for a full army deployment later.
As the initial discoverer, he might still have the chance to return and study the ancient technology.
"Whoosh."
A black, corvid-like mechanical entity suddenly swooped down from high altitude and plunged into the uppermost spire of the Hive City.
Vashur immediately severed his link to the mechanical throne, cautiously observing the dark shadow that stood on the ground near the terrace entrance.
With the appearance of a somewhat familiar holographic projection, Axion's face materialized before Vashur.
The source of the projection was, remarkably, the shadow itself.
"Vashur, I am accompanying these 'humans' to seek answers. I previously stated I would fulfil one small request for you. You may inform me of it now. Also, if you can temporarily watch over the Fragmentation Cannon I left behind, I can temporarily grant you weapon usage authority. This may help you resist the incursions of these strange life forms and better protect the items I have left behind."
Vashur was overjoyed by Axion's words.
"You mean you will grant me authority to use the ancient technology?!"
Axion did not understand Vashur's excitement. This technology was originally co-designed and manufactured by the ancient Mechanicus and the Men of Gold engineers. It was merely usage authority. Why such an exaggerated reaction?
"Erm, are you well?" Axion sounded slightly concerned.
Vashur struggled to suppress his overwhelming joy, then nodded.
"Of course. Praise the Omnissiah."
"Very good. I have recorded your information into this War-Raven. Find a moment to take this War-Raven to the control room within the gun battery's base. A secondary identity verification will occur there, and once confirmed, the War-Raven will guide you on how to utilize the weapon system."
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