With the Imperium of Man's current detection technology, it was impossible to detect the infected.
Imagine what a confined space becomes when a group of suspected infected and uninfected people are crammed together.
There were no "humans" left there anymore.
Mike's choice to avoid the shelter was extremely wise; it would have only sped up his death. Instead, he reached the museum.
"Finally!"
The museum was relatively quiet. It wasn't a popular spot normally, and as he stepped inside, there wasn't a single trace of Zerg contamination to be seen.
"Where is it? Where's that thing called the Hellion?"
Mike searched the various exhibition areas of the museum frantically for the Hellion. An object that large should have been easy to find.
Fortunately, he found it.
The Hellion was perfectly preserved, sealed within a glass display case. Aside from some slight oxidation and wear on the silver and blue exterior paint, everything was intact.
Mike smashed the glass and climbed onto the platform, though he had no idea how to drive the vehicle.
In fact, the locals of the Warhammer universe didn't know how to operate this thing either, which was why it was being exhibited as an antique.
Strangely, just as Mike arrived, the upper hatch opened, and the voice of an Adjutant drifted out from inside the cabin.
[You're too slow, Mike.]
"Catherine?"
Mike was stunned. He never imagined his "wetware" at home could remotely control an ancient vehicle like this. If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have bothered being a common laborer; there were plenty of Tech-Priests who would have paid a fortune to recruit him.
At that moment, the infected began to appear inside the museum. It seemed Mike had made too much noise.
Mike immediately scrambled into the seat, and the cabin resealed itself.
Looking at the dense array of buttons before him, Mike felt a wave of dizziness.
"How do you drive this thing?"
Mike had no clue how to pilot a Hellion. Every button and joystick was foreign to him, but it didn't matter.
Because Catherine was there.
[First, press the button over there to start the main engine.]
Mike pressed the button, but nothing happened.
"The engine won't start, Catherine!"
The infected were already closing in. Mike tried to start the engine again—still no response.
[Self-diagnostic in progress.]
"Hurry up!!!"
Through the windshield, Mike could see the infected outside. Their claws were sharp enough to tear a Hellion apart. He pounded the ignition button repeatedly.
[Self-diagnostic complete.]
He pressed the button one more time. The Hellion's engine, silent for a millennium, finally roared to life.
[Now, grip the joystick and step on the gas.]
Thank the Emperor—whether it was the Emperor of the Imperium or the Emperor of the Terran Dominion—their vehicles hadn't changed much when it came to the design of the accelerator.
Mike floored it. The Hellion let out a roar and began to accelerate forward.
Ordinary infected humans were crushed instantly as the Hellion thundered through the museum doors and onto the street. It didn't slow down at all, nearly slamming into a wall.
Fortunately, Mike lifted his foot in time; otherwise, the Hellion might have been totaled the moment it left the building.
"Woohoo! This is way too intense!"
Mike had never driven an armored vehicle before, only small transport trucks in the factory. The feeling of operating the Hellion was novel, but the real surprises were yet to come.
[You can use a form that is more convenient for humans.]
"What form?"
Guided by Catherine, Mike pressed another button. The surface of the Hellion began to unfold; the entire vehicle started to transform.
The sections where the wheels were became arms and legs, the heavy armor shifted into shield-like structures on the arms, and the reclining cockpit of the vehicle shifted into a nearly upright configuration.
In less than three seconds, the vehicle had transitioned into a humanoid bipedal structure.
"It can transform?!"
It shouldn't be called a Hellion now, but a Hellbat.
Standing up, this thing was roughly the size of a Dreadnought, and the controls were even simpler. As long as Mike held the control sticks, the machine responded almost in sync with his movements.
As an infected lunged toward him, the Hellbat swatted it away with a single backhand.
At this point, Mike didn't even know how to use the Hellbat's weapons, but the sheer kinetic energy of its movements was enough to easily beat down ordinary humans transformed by the Zerg virus.
"If the Planetary Defense Force had these, they wouldn't even be afraid of Orks."
Mike had no idea that thousands of years ago, Hellions were commonplace in the military.
As specialized vehicles capable of switching between vehicle and humanoid forms, they were highly adaptable—arguably the most common unit outside of standard biological infantry.
So why was this the only intact Hellion on the planet?
Time...
Time eventually erases all traces.
The shrieks of the infected snapped Mike back to reality. Now was not the time for daydreaming; the number of infected at both ends of the street was high enough to blockade the road.
"What do I do now, Catherine?"
[Route to the starport has been planned. The Zerg virus concentration on this planet has exceeded the alert threshold. You must leave this planet.]
"Fine, but I don't have any weapons."
[Flame vent is operational.]
"A flame vent?"
A blast of searing fire erupted from the barrel atop the Hellbat's head, reminding Mike that there was indeed a weapon there.
"Whoa, this thing breathes fire?!"
Well, obviously. Why else would it be called a Hellion?
"This makes things much easier."
Mike operated the Hellbat to transform back into a Hellion and stepped on the gas to accelerate. The flame vent pointed straight ahead, spewing a beam of intense fire.
Initially, the flames were red and yellow, but as the fuel was partially consumed, the red and blue flames turned into a pure, brilliant blue.
Any infected touched by the flames were instantly incinerated before being crushed under the Hellion's tires.
"This is amazing!!!"
Mike had no idea just how lucky he was. Finding a Hellion at the start of an infection outbreak had indeed raised his survival probability to...
Less than 1%.
A Hellion was certainly impressive. It was larger than a Firebat or a Marauder and possessed high mobility that they lacked. Combined with a flamethrower specialized for close quarters, it prevented one from being overwhelmed in a chaotic environment.
In this Hive City where order had vanished, he could protect himself quite well. It was a wonderful "start" to a story.
Unfortunately, in the universe of Warhammer 40,000, this "cheat" of his was simply too small.
So small that it wasn't even worth mentioning compared to the Overmind—or even a fraction of what a fellow Terran transmigrator might possess.