With the Skitarii, Rostov II's defenses were shaping up. Combined with the Lingguang family's one or two Knights forming a small strike team, Alex's forces were now substantial—enough to probe a Necron tomb.
Not to raid it fully, just to poke around.
At best, snag some loot.
"So, this isn't some ancient xenos ruin but a dormant, fully armed xenos city?" Donia stared at Alex, her expression odd. She'd expected a standard ruin, not a jackpot.
But great rewards came with great risks, proportional in scale.
"I'm telling you, cracking the stasis tech in that sarcophagus could sustain a forge world specializing in stasis grenades and fields—always in high demand," Ovilia boasted to Donia, brandishing a stasis sarcophagus she'd retrieved from the tomb, one of its few intact relics.
"The benefits are clear, but so are the dangers," Donia replied, far calmer than Ovilia, perhaps influenced by her teacher, Mariupol's Fabricator-General.
She ran her flesh hand over the sarcophagus, feeling its surface, then turned to Alex. "Governor, you said this xenos race went dormant sixty million years ago? So, this sarcophagus is at least that old?"
Sixty million years—a mind-boggling span. What could withstand such eons?
Even relics from the Great Crusade, ten thousand years ago, were often eroded by time. Only artifacts preserved in stasis fields or sacred Omnissiah miracles endured, and even those needed maintenance.
Yet this sarcophagus had survived sixty million years—six thousand times the Imperium's history, twelve hundred times humanity's spacefaring era.
Such ancient, enduring technology was intoxicating, irresistible to pursue.
But the danger chilled Donia's fervor. A mere ruin was manageable, but Alex described a functioning, dormant tomb-city.
Excavating a risky ruin was one thing; invading a xenos city was another, with exponentially greater peril.
Donia wavered, but as Ovilia noted, the sarcophagus's tech alone could birth a forge world, let alone an entire tomb.
Alex watched her internal struggle silently, not interrupting.
He didn't need to convince her. No Mechanicus adept could resist new technology. Donia's hesitation was merely about the risks.
She was already committed; she just needed a final push.
As expected, Donia soon resolved herself, turning to Alex. "Governor, based on your knowledge of this race, are our forces sufficient to explore this xenos city?"
Her gaze burned with determination, her question a formality to cement her choice.
"If we explore cautiously, the tomb's response will be minimal. We can handle it," Alex said, avoiding guarantees. He couldn't predict if the tech-adepts would bungle things.
Donia seemed reliable, but Ovilia… well, she'd already nearly botched things once.
"Cautiously? Can you elaborate?" Donia pressed for details.
"The tomb is dormant, like a sleeping person. Some systems run to maintain it, like breathing or a heartbeat," Alex explained simply. "Exploring is like pulling a sleeping person's hair gently—one strand at a time, they won't react. Yank a handful, and they'll wake up swinging. The tomb has active defenses, but they're manageable if we're careful not to rouse the whole thing. Inquisition records show forge worlds have successfully excavated Necron tombs."
"What preparations do we need?" Donia asked, fully committed.
"First, ready your ship for orbital bombardment as a last resort to contain any Necron outbreak," Alex said, assessing his forces. "Second, I need elite assassins or agents to plant melta bombs deep inside, ensuring no sudden awakenings and blocking their dimensional portals. Finally, the Lingguang family could use more Knight suits."
(End of Chapter)
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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