POV: Brother Keraar Cogmane
Cogmane looked over the two Hellbore units confirming the readouts of his Auspex. The vehicles were ready for deployment.
One of the brazen Imperial Guard vehicle technicians stood nearby looking proud. "It's quite lucky you showed up when you did My Lord."
"Why is that?" Cogmane asked the man.
"Well, we had to retrofit the trailer chassis of these two. They've been slated as inoperable for months! We only recently got the right replacement parts fabricated from your Factory ship. Without those, they would have been stuck here." The tech wiped his grease-covered hands off with a cloth.
"Good work soldier. Dismissed." Cogmane praised them as they moved the two Helbores out of their berths.
The tech had the sense to straighten up and salute as the Astartes and the retrieval team took the vehicles away.
—--------------------------------------------------------------
POV: Tharius Grimn, former Inquisitorial Imposter
Tharius ducked under a broken pipe leaking an unknown green liquid and wrinkled his nose. The route to the Forgotten Depths was as convoluted as it was inhospitable. The only fact that brought him relief was the fact that a large number of the passages down were so narrow a normal Astartes would struggle to fit let alone any of the larger units. Tharius had left well-armed cultists with portable heavy weapons at various choke points along the route.
He glanced back, he had lost about half the forces he had assembled for this excursion but he still had his personal strike team and a hand-picked selection of cultists from Cycladon all armed to the teeth. Despite having cleared the routes a few days prior there were vermin, mutants, and monstrous animals aplenty that repeatedly tested his patience with the lack of self-preservation.
"Master Grimn, we've reached the bottom of the Underhive." The lead pathfinder called out standing before a chasm where the ferrocrete walls transitioned to a more natural stone.
"Another kilometer and then we rappel down twice and get into the tunnels again. From there the… facility sits at the edge of the sinkhole." The pathfinder shifted uncomfortably.
Tharius couldn't blame him, according to scrying and scanning the sinkhole was titanic and was large enough that it was eroding the foundations of the city. They had no idea how far down the bottom was but at some point, it transitioned from an empty pit you could park an imperial frigate in without touching the sides, to a horrendous liquid slurry that was likely millennia of caustic runoff from the hive above that would put off even the most devout Nurgle cultist.
He was lacking ZR-999 but hopefully, the apprentices would suffice for accessing the facility and its systems. "Has there been any word of pursuit?" he asked the ex-PDF trooper lugging their main vox unit.
"No sir!" The man replied curtly "All defensive positions have checked in on schedule."
Tharius frowned, they should have caught up by now given that they had assaulted the base hours ago. He had felt the rift closing though he was unsure how they managed that feat. This whole operation had gone screwy the moment that damned Grand Cruiser had shown up. He knew master Eligael was en route but that was still weeks away, one simply didn't conjure a small crusade fleet from thin air. Was it possible he had been betrayed? He had never failed in his tasks beforehand, while betrayal was a fact of life for a follower of Tzeech master Eligael was focused on his ascension and while he was loathe to admit it, it was well beneath the Forge Master to plot his end. No, something else had a finger on the scale, and the fact he didn't know what it was unsettled him.
Tharius kept moving his confidence growing the further they traveled until finally at long last they came out of the caves and he could look down and see the facility holding their prize, lit faintly by the illumination of a scant few twinkling lights and some local bioluminescent flora.
His moment of relief was interrupted by one of the auspex operators "Master Tharius! We have incoming vehicles!" moments before the ground started to faintly rumble.
Tharius felt his left eye twitch violently. If he hadn't been bald, he would have been tearing at his hair. "What fracking vehicles!?"
"Two Hellbore tunnelers! They're closing fast!" The operator yelled, moments later the tip of one of the drills punctured the cavern wall a ways away from their party.
Tharius wanted to scream, what Hellbore tunnelers!? Where in the name of Tzeech had those come from!? "Move! Move! MOVE! We need to go now!" He yelled as his forces broke into a sprint towards the closest entry point to the facility.
—---------------------------------------------------------------
POV: Nicole
Once reinforcements arrived to scour the base clean of any lingering chaos presence my unit and the initial Star Dragons assault unit made for the location I had marked for the Hellbores, one closer to the edge of the city.
I knew the Terminators would fit. After all, if the Imperial Fist's first company could fit in Termites, the Hellbore's much smaller cousin, they could fit in a Mole much less a Hellbore. What I hadn't been aware of was that Dreadnoughts could also be made to fit. We fit a lot more Skitarii in our Hellbore, it even had room for my automata, even so, the Star Dragons managed to fill up the second Hellbore with a concerning amount of Astartes firepower.
I strapped myself in humming softly to myself as I idly communed with the Machine spirits of the Hellbores ensuring both of them were ready to go. Their spirits were valiant steeds, eager to churn the earth. Everyone and everything else is also secure in their seats.
The pilots near the front of the Hellbore call out "Sealing the hull!" There was a small hiss as the cabin pressurized "Hull Sealed!" "Elevating Hellbore!" The room tilts and the rumble of the forward phase-field generator drill thrumming to life filled the cabin "Reactor is green!" "Target Locked! Prepare to dive! 3… 2… 1.. Dive!"
The ride was a lot smoother than I expected, as we churned through several Kilometers of rock after clearing the hive.
The Sisters of Battle were all muttering prayers together on the other side of the Hellbore. The Mechanicus units were all stoically waiting running internal checks and preparing combat protocols. My automata were bundled and strapped to the floor and walls near the exit.
"Forces of the Omnissiah, we go now to retrieve a precious STC fragment. That is our top priority, other considerations are seconday. We cannot let them claim or corrupt the artifact! Based on what little we can glean from orbital Auspex scans the ancient laboratory predates the Imperium, and there is also a titanic sinkhole threatening to engulf the facility. A fall into the chasm is certain death for a lake of horrific chemicals awaits you at the bottom. We will breach the facility and go room by room in squads. Take no prisoners."
"Thirty seconds to landing zone!" The pilot informs everyone as the Hellbore rapidly curves and levels off.
A jarring shudder rocks through the chassis shaking everyone as we pass into the main chamber.
The moment the sensation of movement stops I disengage my harness and make a beeline for the exit area. Unstrapping my Automata on the way. I mentally command the two Vorax to take point.
I watch as everyone else readies themselves behind me. "You all have your orders. Try to keep up." I say just as the door blares a warning and the hydraulics slam it open.
The Vorax skulk forward and I trigger my pendant as I break into a jog and then a run. The sound of bolter fire is already erupting from the other Hellbore as the Astartes engage the enemy on the far side of the chamber. I am more than confident in their abilities to handle it.
We approach the entrance to the tunnel system that connects to the massive ancient laboratory complex. I grimace as I get a notification from the door's machine spirit. "Door's jammed! Breaching!" I yell as I mentally instruct the Vorax to arm their large power blades and have them hack the door open. It takes but a few moments for them to carve open the path forward.
The tunnel system has low ceilings and is far too narrow for the large profiles of the Vorax. I set them to guard this position as our main point of retreat.
I don't hesitate to replace them with two of the Scyllax as I move forward. Most of my attention focused on my auspex. We pass several doors and offshoot tunnels that I ignore. The smooth, clean, metallic-looking interior feels a little jarring after spending so much time around the typical Gothic Imperial aesthetics.
I finally spot what I hoped to find initially, a small faded but intact facility map adjacent to one of the large closed security doors. "Emergency exits, crew quarters, storage, generator, labs!"
I quickly forward the locations to one of the follow-up teams behind me, directing them toward the generator facility. I quickly bypass the security system on the door and unlike the outer door, this one opens smoothly.
As I rush forward deeper into the facility, it's only once I manage to find a stairwell and descend a level that I start to spot them. Various cables hung along the ceiling leading from various rooms congregate into bundles at the junctions and lead in the same direction. However, on this level, I start running into increasingly difficult and closed security doors.
I kneel and rip open a panel as I get ready to bypass the next door and notice an odd object resting against the wall near my feet. It's very clearly broken but it reminds me of a Pokemon egg incubator when I first glance at it before recognizing it's a specimen container. Whatever was inside is long gone but while my dendrite is plugged in and running the bypass I reach down to scoop it up and examine it. The storage device is rather simple, there's a small internal power cell, a few sensors, interior climate control systems, and a green light indicator for a viable whatever used to be inside and red for expired.
I drop the broken container as the door finally yields to my demands and retracts, letting us enter the lab section. The overhead lights are mostly gone but a few remain glowing dimly or flickering in the darkness, not that the lack of light hinders my Auspex or the sensors built into my helmet.
The strange congregation of cables and pipes gets thicker. Some are running along the floor in addition to the large cache bundled together on the ceiling and upper parts of the walls.
We reach the next door and I look up. Above the entrance are the words "Yggdrasill Project"
"This is the main lab. The STC should be somewhere inside. The room is still powered and I am detecting motion and working machinery on the other side." I inform the others quietly as I work on the door controls. I get a surprise, this door is still connected to the network. The entire facility is running on low power mode most of the systems are offline aside from the one thing drawing the most power. The Yggdrasill… printer?
We have yet to run into the cultists but based on the map this facility has a multitude of ways to get to a given area, this main lab in the rear of the facility in particular has at least four entrances from three directions with the back of the lab facing the chasm.
When the door to the lab finally shunts open it reveals the various cables, pipes, and tubes coming in from various locations around the facility. The neat and orderly bundles devolve into a chaotic mess as they feed into the large object in the middle of the lab. It's a massive machine that seems to be some form of 3D printer device. The walls are all lined with shelves covered in the containers. Nearly all of them are red or dark with either nothing or odd black lumps resting inside.
I make my way forward cautiously as we file into the room and look around. As I am making my way around the side of the printer I finally spot a flash of green on a lower shelf. I quickly go over to examine the case and the object inside. It's rather large and surprisingly heavy about the size of an Astartes helmet. It looks like a large egg and when I try to probe it with my scanner my face scrunches in confusion. Stasis field fluctuations are coming from the strange object inside and its shell is made of a mix of biological and complex metallic materials.
I take the case and secure it in the compartment in the back of the closest Scyllax. I spot a second green container further down the shelf and quickly move to retrieve it. It's not until after I secure it that I notice what is looming in the back of the chamber.
"What in the name of the Omnissiah?" I say as I stare uncomprehendingly at the massive crystalline tree. It's just as large as the printer, the branches brushing the ceiling of the chamber as it stands there glittering and glowing faintly. I move closer and start to examine it with my Auspex and my other senses.
I reach the base of the STC because if this object is not the STC I don't know what is. The tree is not connected to the network so I plug one of my connectors into one of the ports on the table it's growing out of.
"Yggdrasill STC project. Building better worlds."
I go to download the data on the STC like I did with the other two and my head snaps back and I crumple to my knees.
"Warning! Error! Insufficient storage space!"
"Princeps are you alright!?" Delta-A3 asks from behind me as he couches to check my vitals.
"Fine. Just a headache. This thing is… it's… it's ridiculous!" I say as I shake my head and wince. Getting back up as I carefully look for the basic info on the construct and download that.
"This is the STC?" Brother Silverwalker asks as he looks up at the massive structure. "It's rather large."
"You have no idea." I mutter as I gesture "This stupid thing is made out of wafer crystal!" As I process just how complex the construct is and the insane amounts of data within I only grow more upset. "Do you guys have any idea how much data this is!?"
"I'm gonna guess… a lot," Lael says as she joins the small crowd around me.
"I could store the production, operation, and detailed schematics for every single piece and part of a Gloriana class Battleship, all the equipment inside it, and still have room for a handful of STC fragments." I say in an exasperated tone.
"What does it do?" Brother Silverwalker asks.
"It makes seeds," I say as I resist the urge to remove my helmet to rub my head. "Seeds for a World Tree. Honestly, whatever team or whoever designed this was insane and a genius. It's insane. They made a biomechanical plant construct capable of fully terraforming any type of planet and rendering it habitable for human life." I gesture at the table base. "Each of those roots is connecting a database of STC fragment copies and using the information within to help produce these seeds. By my count, there are forty-two STC fragment copies. That one is on atmospheric control systems, that one is a genetic database on trees and their growth, that one is solar energy collection, that one is advanced metallurgical sciences. It's… amazing but also made out of what is likely the most fragile of the STC data construct materials, it trades structural stability for data storage capacity." Shaking my head as I stare up at the crystalline tree in wonder and awe.
I let out a slightly manic giggle as I find another entry in the logs, "Ha! They… they didn't even have room for a full AI, so they installed a basic VI! Printing each seed takes about a century… they have a shelf life of around half a millennium. That printer behind us is printing the seeds molecule by molecule to an exacting standard. If you so much as stomp too hard it's going to throw off the print… though I'm seeing an error in the system, it's out of some supermaterials I don't recognize. The last two prints failed."
"Well we found it, can we move it?" Brother Sivlerwalker asks me pressingly.
I shake my head "No, I'm hesitant to touch it at all let alone move it or the seed printer. The tolerances they've tuned it to are incredible. A wondrous relic of the Golden Age."
I'm so enraptured by the tree I don't notice the faint sign of movement on the opposite side of the construct until it's too late. A sorcerer drops his invisibility and I feel a burst of alarm as my Auspex picks up the corrupt data spike in his other hand.
"No! Stop him!" I shriek as I gesture. Brother Silverwalker and the Skitarii are already moving around for a shot. There is a tinkling chime as the spike slams into one of the data crystal roots embedding itself and sending a cascade of spider webbing cracks up the root and through the trunk.
"You idiot! What have you done!?" I scream as I watch red corrupted code start to spread into the delicate ocean of advanced carefully balanced code constructs and algorithms. I try to call forth Rebuke and send him in but the VI is faster, noticing the corruption it initiates its defensive measures.
"Immaterium Corruption Detected. Level: Extremis. Countermeasures: Failed. Initiating Purge."
"No, no, no! Everyone get down! Shields up!" I warn them as I duck under the table. The entire tree lets out a high-pitched keening wail as it starts to faintly vibrate until it reaches the resonant frequency of the crystal.
The entire tree detonates with the force of a small bomb sending razor-sharp shards of crystal in every direction. My Scyllax helps shield some of the Skitarii while the sisters and Lael hunker behind a console. Brother Silverwalker snatches up a large metal panel using it as a shield as he kneels. Despite the warning, I detect several puncture injuries amongst the Skitarii. However the worst damage is to the tree, the printer, and the massive floor-to-ceiling window.
I realize belatedly as the structurally compromised window bows outwards that the entire room is pressurized. It shatters and all at once the air rushes from the room with a howl. I activate my mag boots as it nearly tugs me off my feet. The containers lining the walls are ripped free and I briefly glimpse among them another green seed container gets violently flung out into the chasm. I feel a pang of loss before a seething burning rage at the loss of such a wondrous relic.
"Kill! Him! Now!" I shriek and the entire room erupts into violence. The sorcerer has protected himself with a psychic shield and he starts to retreat behind a console as a salvo of bolter rounds overwhelm that shield only to be stopped by a refractor field. There is an alarm blaring throughout the facility.
Rather than immediately join the conflict I realize the spike is still embedded in the root and its corruption is spreading to the still intact fragments. I manage to extract two of the fragments before a hand grabs me by the scruff of my neck and hauls me backwards just as a wave of grenades and bricks of plastic explosives go off.
Cultists are pouring into the room from three different side entrances and seem to be throwing themselves at us to protect the bald sorcerer.
I take a moment to send Lael a 'thank you' ping for pulling me back. The table is now in pieces and with all the crystal shards it's extremely difficult to determine the location of the STC fragments in all the mess.
I take a deep breath and stand up grabbing my Mauler bolt pistol as I put my back to the terminal. "Do you realize what you have done!? What you just ruined!?" I yell out to the Sorcerer, the Imposter. I recognize the equipment he's using even if he's got a new face.
"I don't care, Princeps! I'm just doing a job for my master. You sound rather upset, was it important? A cure for your corpse emperor or some long lost trifle?" He taunts me as he flings a bolt of lightning across the room detonating one of the terminals a sister was using for cover before he ducks back into cover.
"He's got a force field!" Lael snarls as she drops back to reload.
"I can bring down his shield but I need to get close to him. A couple of meters will be enough. It's going to bring down everyone else's shields too." I warn the team as I pull out the Eclipse Pulsator.
"We can do that." Brother Silverwalker replies confidently.
"It's a Dark Age Teraformer you ruined, Radic, or whatever your true name is. Don't tell me I couldn't care less. I hope you know you're going to die here just like your pet Heretek." I continue to yell at him as the team continues to exchange fire with the cultists and get ready for the push. I holster my sidearm and reach into a pocket to grab something while holding the Pulsator in my other hand.
"Who's going to kill me? You? Your pet Astartes? You little retinue of loyalist dogs? It has already been divined by the seers, I have a grand fate awaiting me! So no, you will die!" He says as he stands up power crackling along his arms and head as he unleashes a wave of power knocking down and injuring several of the Skitarii.
"Now!" Brother Silverwalker yells providing covering fire as we rush forward, getting to the table that once housed the STC again.
"A grand fate huh? You know what? Screw you, screw fate, and screw your dark gods! Catch!" I say as I toss one of the Eldar filament grenades over the table to where I see him standing just as I trigger the Eclipse Pulsator. There is a small woosh of energy as it vibrates in my hand and sends out a pulse of energy extinguishing the various protections of everyone nearby.
I grin as I watch the grenade land and detonate sending the monofilaments in all directions, half a dozen cultists are turned into chutney and Radic loses both his legs as he tries to leap away. Even losing both legs isn't enough to kill the tenacious bastard.
I step out of cover trusting everyone else to keep the cultists pinned down as I pocket the Pulsator and retrieve my Omnissian Axe from my back.
I walk towards the crawling form of the Sorcerer, who leaves a trail of blood along the floor, shards of crystal embedding themselves in his hands and arms. He stops when he sees my boots in front of him. I empower the axe using the Force setting.
He opens his mouth to say something however I am not in the mood to listen to any more of his malign discourse. I swing the axe down on his neck. Cleaving his head from his shoulders.
"Delta-A3 please come secure this head for master Xor." I call out as I turn and twirl my axe to remove the streak of blood from the head. "Sister, would you mind burning this Heretic's corpse for me?"
"It would be my pleasure, Princeps." She replies coming over with a hand flamer after Delta-A3 snatches up the head and puts it in a case for transport.
The loss of their leader has had a major impact on the morale of the cultists but despite that, they continue to fight back with surprising gusto.
Just as I am about to issue new orders I notice something. At the very edge of my detection radius, my Auspex picks up the first root creeping upwards along the wall of the chasm towards us. As the seconds tick by I notice more burrowing into the foundations of the structure as more roots start to slither up the walls.
"The seed," I whisper thinking back to the one green container that fell. "Oh no."
"We all need to leave! Right now!" I yell as I get on the Vox. "This is Princeps Cavalerio! This location is compromised and a major natural disaster is imminent! All units fall back!"
I spare just a few seconds to snatch what might be a damaged STC fragment off the floor before rushing over to the printer. "Argent Drake we are placing a homer on an archeotech device for immediate retrieval. It's heavily damaged."
"Nicole, what is going on?"
Master Doll inquires."The enemy corrupted the STC, it self-terminated, however I recovered some of the fragments. The STC is a terraformer and one of the seeds has activated! This entire chamber will collapse when it starts triggering minor earthquakes and grows! We will likely need to evacuate Cycladon. We have a dark-age printer that was producing the seeds it was damaged in the fighting but is likely worth recovering for study. The imposter has been put down. I recovered his head for Master Xor." I forwarded what data on the seed I managed to copy over.
It takes Doll a full second to examine the data. "This!? Did you recover any viable seeds?" He asks with an obvious sense of loss and pain in his tone.
"Yes. Two." I reply and he lets out a relieved sigh.
"And the STC data?" He asks.
"I recovered but a fraction of it, there was too much data. It nearly overloaded my implants when I tried to make a full copy. I'm sorry." I say morosely.
"I am approving the teleportation of the printer. We will recover what we can. Retreat while you can before the tree collapses the cavern." Master Doll says calmly.
Moments later the printer and a small portion of the ceiling vanish in a flash. Most of the feed lines are cut off, and start to leak various fluids and substances. The cultists seem confused when we suddenly start to retreat from the labs.
We are nearly halfway out when the tremors start. The stone under the facility creaking and groaning loudly as the roots force their way upwards drilling through the solid rock with surprising ease.
"Keep moving! Don't stop!" I call out as we retrace our steps, some of the ceiling tiles start to shake loose and crash onto the floor ahead of us.
When we get to the tunnels I see my Vorax standing guard and have them move out ahead of our force back towards the Hellbore we arrived in.
"Are all teams accounted for?" I inquire as we start rapidly loading everyone back up.
"Yes Ma'am!" I get a reply from one of the Tech Priests.
I can see the Astartes slowly loading back into their Hellbore but I realize a figure is missing from their group.
"Wait… where's Baldos?" I ask as I notice his tag is nowhere near either Hellbore.
—--------------------------------------------------------------
POV: Baldos
When Baldos first emerged into the cavern he had been initially content to trade salvos with the heretic heavy weapons teams. After vaporizing the third group of idiots that tried in vain to fire a missile at him he started to get bored.
His favorite little mischief maker had already scurried into the facility itself. The narrow confined tunnels would not accommodate a Dreadnought very well.
"Bolaar… I'm going for a walk." He informed the Captain as he lumbered away from the defensive position.
"Baldos? I see. As you will." Bolaar replied trusting that whatever the ancient was planning would certainly result in death coming for their foes.
Baldos went for a little hike up the rock face. Before his upgrades, it would have been quite challenging to maintain his footing and poise on such steep rocky ground. Now it wasn't bad at all.
In his experience despite the enemy having numbers and being decently well trained, they lacked proper Astartes support or the deadly mechanical efficiency of the Mechanicus forces. Which meant at some point they would likely try to retreat.
Baldos found what he was looking for after a few minutes of meandering towards the enemy lines. Their route back to the surface had a few steep points but one was a sheer cliff that required grapnel lines to descend or ascend from. It wasn't even heavily defended since most of their forces had rushed for the facility. It made a wonderful backdrop and choke point, especially after he raked the upper portion with his las-cannons and brought a few rocks down on the upper portion.
"Scurry while you can little rats." Baldos watched from his elevated position. While there were some foes he could care less if they escaped, he would never abide the presence of Traitors or Chaos.
Just as Baldos anticipated a while later there came the message from the Princeps that the entire cavern was about to suffer catastrophic failure. The Chaos leader had ruined the artifact but otherwise, the assault went well.
"Venerable, it's time to go." Bolaar voxed when Baldos didn't seem to be in any hurry to move.
"Go without me. I'm going to make sure the little rats don't escape." Baldos spoke eagerly.
"Venerable…" Bolaar didn't seem to approve. Baldos rolled his eyes.
"My Homer is active and Drake has a lock on me. I will be returning to orbit. Shoo, whelp." Baldos shook his head, the nerve of these whelps.
Shortly after the Hellbores departed the remaining cultists came scurrying right into his sights. Baldos had the high ground and superior firepower.
"Going somewhere!? Hahaha!" He enjoyed himself for the next several minutes as the giant roots proliferated rapidly and the chamber continued to shake getting more violent by the minute.
Baldos ignored the first few chunks of rock that started to fall all around him, he enjoyed watching debris crush the cultists. However, when a hunk of stone the size of a Baneblade narrowly missed him by just a few meters he decided it was time to go. He got to watch as the facility was consumed by the roots before he vanished in a flash just as the chamber collapsed in on itself. A few million tons of rock and stone sealed the fate of all who remained within.
((This chapter is brought to you by Insomnia. A reminder that there will likely not be a chapter next weekend. Also as usual a thanks to Cemb for helping edit and proof this chapter!))
