Kaidel felt as though they had arrived a moment too late. They had discovered a human corpse in a corner of the monastery, its face frozen in a mask of absolute terror.
Judging by the state of the body, the death was recent. They immediately activated their cloaking fields and resumed the pursuit.
Using the advanced detection technology integrated into their Ghost suits, they pinpointed the direction the infiltrators had taken. Kaidel then led his team into the deep, dark reaches of the underground corridors.
Hearing the sharp cracks of bolt pistols, they knew they had caught up. Sure enough, as Kaidel arrived at the battlefield, he saw a Lictor severing the arm of an Astartes.
He immediately ordered his team to assist the warriors. Just as they aimed at the Lictor's silhouette, it vanished again. However, the Ghosts did not hesitate; they instantly shifted their muzzles to fire at a position directly behind one of the Astartes.
This was the result of their brief precognitive abilities honed through thousands of psionic training sessions. Combined with their heightened perceptions from biochemical modifications, Kaidel and his team successfully tracked the Lictor's movement.
With the power of the C-10 canister rifles—sufficient to tear through power armor—and the Ghosts' uncanny accuracy, the Lictor's head exploded like a shattered watermelon in a split second.
Foul-smelling blood sprayed across the power armor of the Astartes in front, and the mangled carcass of the Lictor slammed heavily onto the floor.
The two Astartes did not pause for a second, immediately leveling their bolters at the shadows in the far end of the corridor.
Everything had happened in less than a heartbeat. "Who are you?" an Astartes asked in a low, heavy voice. Even though the strangers had saved their lives, their mission was to eliminate all potential threats in the presence of the Chapter's most vital asset: the gene-seed vault.
Kaidel and the Ghosts, clad in their form-fitting hostile environment suits, deactivated their cloaking and stepped out from the shadows. "We are men of Governor Alexei. Upon learning of the Genestealer traitors within your ranks, the Governor dispatched us to assist you."
Kaidel's words did not immediately lower the Astartes' guard. At a signal from his teammate, the Marine with the severed right arm moved to sound the alarm. "Wait here."
Kaidel could only nod helplessly. The two groups stood in a tense standoff in the blood-soaked corridor for a long while until Thorcyra arrived with reinforcements.
Upon seeing their Chapter Master, the two Astartes finally exhaled in relief and lowered their weapons.
Thorcyra surveyed the gruesome scene: the wounded battle brother and the group of strangely equipped, apologetic-looking individuals.
He walked slowly toward the injured Marine to inquire about the situation. After understanding the events, Thorcyra had an Apothecary escort the two Marines from the scene.
He then turned to look at Kaidel. "For the sake of saving our battle brothers and the gene-seed vault, I forgive your intrusion and offer you my heartfelt thanks."
He paused, looking at the mangled mortal corpses on the ground, and continued, "I heard you discovered traitors hidden among our auxiliaries?"
"Yes, my Lord." Kaidel immediately explained that all of this was relayed to him by Governor Alexei, passing on everything the Governor had said to the Chapter Master.
"A large number of Genestealer cultists are hidden within the mortal auxiliaries, waiting for the opportune moment to strike..." Thorcyra fell into deep thought as he listened to Kaidel's report.
The events that had just unfolded made him realize very quickly that every word of it was true.
He nodded, expressing his gratitude to Kaidel and Alexei. "Thank you for the warning. We will immediately begin the screening and purging of all mortal auxiliaries. Do not worry for us."
Kaidel nodded. "Very well. We shall return to report your response to Lord Alexei." Under the watchful gaze of numerous Astartes, the Ghosts simply faded back into the environment.
Thorcyra watched this in silence. While his senses could still roughly pinpoint Kaidel's location, the array of unique technologies Alexei displayed continued to spark his curiosity.
If it were just a single piece of technology that the Chapter's Techmarine didn't recognize, it could be explained as some obscure corner of the Adeptus Mechanicus's vast knowledge base. But so far, Byron hadn't recognized a single piece of technology they had demonstrated.
This meant either Byron was incompetent and had learned nothing during his time on Mars, or Alexei's technology did not belong to the Adeptus Mechanicus at all.
Thorcyra knew the caliber of his Techmarine, so he leaned toward the second possibility. This implied that the strange man's technology likely originated from outside the Imperium.
But it didn't matter. Thorcyra donned his helmet and headed back toward the front lines. He didn't care what technology Alexei used; as long as the man remained loyal to the Emperor and willing to destroy the enemies of mankind, the Scythes of the Emperor would not betray their ally.
After all, they were born to guard forbidden secrets for their Gene-Father.
Inside the defensive lines on the flank of the Pharos mountains, the thunder of artillery never ceased.
Alexei led the curious Byron and the group of unarmored, bald neophytes to a building. He turned to Byron and said, "I need to perform preliminary physical checks on these warriors to ensure there are no rejection reactions when they equip the power armor."
Byron, however, didn't seem to care about the protocol. He was staring at the massive Ibiks fortress cannon with undisguised fascination. Hearing Alexei, he simply nodded and replied with a curt "Fine."
Alexei hadn't expected the other party to be so lacking in suspicion. He had the Space Marines lie down on the scanning equipment. As the machines whirred to life, a flicker of excitement crossed Alexei's eyes.
As expected, he could acquire Astartes modification technology. However, Alexei quickly steadied his emotions. Looking at the progress bar, he noted that the scan was taking an incredibly long time.
Furthermore, these neophytes' modifications were incomplete. Thus, Alexei didn't attempt a full scan immediately; he merely performed a genuine physical check. Confirming that he could acquire the technology was enough. He would have opportunities in the future, and Alexei was more interested in aiming for the top—acquiring the Primaris Astartes modification techniques directly.
Moreover, without gene-seeds, having the modification data was useless for now. He needed to find a way to secure a batch of gene-seeds—preferably from the Ultramarines or, at the very least, the Imperial Fists. Others usually had some degree of genetic flaws...
Lost in thought, Alexei led the bald warriors into the barracks. As he watched them enter the automated fitting booths one by one, he began to feel curious. After all, the physique of a Space Marine was significantly larger than that of an average human.
As the minutes ticked by, Alexei grew more confused. Why was it taking so long? Was it requiring a custom tailoring session?