Chapter 181: Abathur, the Zerg Gene and Flesh Master
"I can't believe there's more than one Astartes under Commorragh... It's a miracle they've survived in this place for hundreds of years. The Salamanders Chapter probably doesn't even know that some of their battle-brothers survived the raid from centuries ago. If I told the Salamanders, I wonder if they would plan another rescue mission like they did back then."
Although Lucan knew the chances were slim—after all, a normal Chapter would not make the decision to potentially sacrifice dozens of battle-brothers to save just one—but how would he know if he didn't try? If he was going to launch an attack on Commorragh, the more people, the better. The difficulty of such an attack would be much greater than an assault on a Craftworld.
Argus had survived in Commorragh for so long; he probably had his own understanding of this city. The settlement's population was not small, numbering over ten thousand. But to have accumulated only this many people over several hundred years showed just how difficult life was here. Hunger, disease, and combat could easily claim a life. These people were all those who had been rescued by Argus and the other two Astartes over the years from Dark Eldar raids.
With the existence of the SCV, he could now arm these people.
Lying on a simple bed, Burns's tense nerves finally relaxed. The release from the need to be constantly on edge instantly made him drowsy. But he had not rested for long before Argus called for him again.
Walking out of the tent, he saw Argus studying the combat suit and the SCV. The Techmarine had recognized the adamantium plating on the SCV at a glance. Even as a Salamander, he had never seen such a lavish use of adamantium on an engineering vehicle.
"Burns, what in the world is this thing, that you would use adamantium for part of its armor?"
"Lord Argus, this is a Holy Machine from the Dynasty's Cult of the Holy Machine. It possesses an unimaginable power."
"A Holy Machine? A new branch of faith in the Adeptus Mechanicus?"
As a former Techmarine of the Salamanders Chapter, Argus had also studied with the Adeptus Mechanicus. He knew that the Mechanicus, which seemed to be a single faith, had an absurd number of factions. But he had never heard of the Cult of the Holy Machine.
What concerned him more were the combat suits. It wasn't just the combat power they provided; the cold fusion cores within them were what they desperately needed now. He found that the power output of these fusion cores was even higher than that of the power armor used by his Astartes.
After hundreds of years of fighting, the power armor they had originally carried was long since battered and broken, its power systems destroyed. If he could dismantle the fusion core from a combat suit, perhaps he could repair his long-damaged power armor. Otherwise, this suit could at best only provide the most basic protection.
Not only that, but for their survival in these lower levels, food could be obtained by hunting some mutated creatures and even eating the xenos corpses thrown down from Commorragh. But energy was extremely scarce. Whether for survival or for manufacturing simple weapons, they could not do without a power source. The bodies that were thrown down were often stripped bare. Their usual source of energy was from raiding Dark Eldar patrols or from other xenos also hiding in the lower levels. But this not only brought casualties, but it also wasn't always successful.
The fusion cores on the combat suits, however, could provide a continuous and stable source of energy. But removing the fusion core for power would mean losing the combat effectiveness of the suit, and with only 30 suits, they could arm far too few people. For a moment, Argus did not know how to choose.
"Lord Argus, if you are worried about the number of combat suits, I don't think you need to worry in that regard."
"What do you mean? Do you have more combat suits hidden nearby?"
"No. I mean, with the Holy Machine, we can produce them steadily."
"Produce them? Burns, perhaps you are not aware, but although we have some crude workshops and the presence of Tech-priests, it is impossible to manufacture such a precision item." The weapons in the hands of the humans here were only simple, crude, solid-slug weapons. They had very few lasguns.
"Sir... have you forgotten that I said the Holy Machine possesses a supreme power? It is a gift brought to the Dynasty by Lord Lucan."
Argus had originally thought Burns was speaking nonsense from shock, but when he saw a pile of scrap metal turn into a Barracks, he was at a loss for words. A few ragged Tech-priests frantically prostrated themselves on the Barracks, touching it here and there, looking at it from all angles, exclaiming that the Omnissiah had manifested. And when the first brand-new combat suit was produced, they wouldn't stop pestering Burns, wanting to know what this Holy Machine was all about.
This was a holy STC! It was a miracle! An absolute miracle! What kind of existence is this Cult of the Holy Machine? I must join!
Argus also tried his best to calm his emotions. At this moment, he felt as if he could see hope. With this thing, perhaps they really did have a chance to escape. In any case, these survivors now had enough capability to deal with more threats. They even had the ability to take the offensive, to go and rescue more human survivors in Commorragh.
As the humans were receiving this new support, the Haemonculus Tevantias also brought a few Drones to the ruins of this once-magnificent city of Commorragh. In the endless ruins of these lower levels, he also had a hidden testing ground. But compared to his laboratory, this testing ground was countless times larger, and it housed his various other test subjects.
An army of Dark Eldar, personally modified by him, protected this testing ground, preventing the test subjects from escaping while also protecting the results of his experiments from the prying eyes or theft of other Dark Eldar.
"Master, the testing ground has been prepared for you!"
At this moment, in the center of the testing ground, the bodies of various races were already piled up. This was all the nutrients he would use to supply the Zerg's development. And to further test the characteristics of the Zerg, this huge testing ground also contained slaves from various races, who had even been given weapons.
Tevantias stroked a Drone beside him.
"Eat. Go on and eat, little things. Let me see how much potential you really have!"
The Drones went to the pile of corpses and began to devour them. A Hatchery also began to be built.
Watching all this, Tevantias felt that everything was under his control. He did not know what consequences his current actions would bring to the whole of Commorragh.
The Zerg were currently storing at least a third of their biomass and not hatching, but even so, their numbers were still growing by leaps and bounds. Tevantias watched as Zerglings, Banelings, Hydralisks, Roaches, and various other Zerg bred in an incredible fashion.
Just as Tevantias was about to settle down and properly study these Zerg, he received a message.
"Vect has something important to see me about?"
As the Archon of the Kabal of the Black Heart and the current ruler of all of Commorragh, for Vect to summon him so urgently meant it was clearly a matter of great importance. He reluctantly put aside his plan to study the Zerg for the time being.
"Watch these creatures for me. Record their combat data. Keep them under the population threshold I have set!"
He also issued his command to the Overlord, which conveyed a will of compliance.
As Tevantias left, a special Zerg individual began to incubate inside the Hatchery. When it was fully hatched, a seemingly combat-ineffective, soft-bodied Zerg looked around with intelligent eyes.
"Observe entity. Analyze potential. Study lineage. Adjust sequence. Distort essence. Dismember, reintegrate. Improve. Abathur will acquire more genes here to strengthen the Swarm for the great Queen of Blades!"
When the Zerg had colonized the uninhabited planets near Char, the number of the Swarm had reached the point where other special Zerg could be hatched. And the Zerg's master of flesh and genes, Abathur, was now born.
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 400 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you