XXVII

016.M36

Eternal Vigilance

"So, how do you feel?" Atharion said to the Contemptor Dreadnought in front of him.

The Dreadnought was equipped with a power claw featuring a built-in plasma blaster on the left side and a Kheres-pattern assault cannon on the right. Additional armor plating reinforced its structure, providing greater protection than a standard Contemptor

"I feel better now." A mechanical voice come from it.

Atharion nodded. "Good, the machine spirit of the Dreadnought didn't show any sign of rejection." He then look at the cogitator in front of him. "The systems also functioning perfectly."

"Indeed." Rylanor said as he moved his power claw. "I feel more agile, more.....calm than what I feel in my previous Dreadnought."

"It's possible due to the new cooling system that have been installed into it." Atharion answer. "It can lower the heat generated by your systems far more efficiently, preventing the buildup of stress that older Dreadnoughts often suffer from. Which in turn increase the strains you suffer while operating it. From the experiment, the cooling system did reduced the physical strain you will suffer when piloting it, this should be why you feel more at peace."

Rylanor let out a low, mechanical hum of approval as he flexed his power claw once more. "You have my gratitude, Atharion. Now, is there battle I needed? I will hope to regain my skill after that long slumber I have." A small chuckle come from him after he finish the last word.

Atharion smiled slightly. "War is everywhere, Rylanor. But before that, I think you need to learn what happen to the Imperium after the Heresy." He then typed into the cogitator. "I will upload all the important information into your cogitator, you can use it to understand what's going on. If you have questions, you can ask me." Atharion press the final button as he finish the sentence, he then raised his head and look towards Rylanor.

The whole chamber is silence for a long time. Only the sounds of the cogitator from the Dreadnought can be hear, with it's optics flickered from time to time.

"So much have changed." Atharion can hear the quiet murmur from Rylanor. Before he can said anything, Rylanor continue. "I.....need time to process all of this information, Atharion. Can you give me that?"

Atharion nodded. "Of course. Take as long as you needed, I will make sure no one disturb you during this time."

"Thank you." Rylanor said.

"Of course, you deserve it." Atharion replied before moving towards the exit. "If you need anything, you can vox me through your cogitator."

When Atharion exited the chamber and the door closed, he turned towards Vitaris, Grand Master of Apothecarion and Hestian, Grand Master of Forge that have been waiting outside the chamber.

"Monitor Rylanor status closely." Atharion ordered. "Make sure nothing happen to him."

"Of course, we will make sure nothing happen to him. You can trust us on this." Vitaris answer with Hestian nodding beside him.

"Good." Atharion nodded. Then, he turned and walk away from them with his honor guards.

It's been three days since Atharion brought Rylanor on the ship, the operation to move Rylanor from the old Dreadnought to a new one have been successful.

Even though they almost lost Rylanor when getting him out from his old Dreadnought, luckily, using the new medicine and pair with Atharion using his psychic power to increase the heal rate of Rylanor, he were successfully move into the the new Dreadnought.

Most of the time since had been spent connecting Rylanor to the new chassis and ensuring proper calibration. Having been encased in his old Dreadnought since the Great Crusade, and worse, left unattended for centuries in an underground hangar, his body had suffered immense degradation. Atharion, alongside his techmarines and apothecaries, struggled to stabilize his condition while carefully managing the integration process.

Despite the difficulties, the operation was ultimately a success. After three days, the neural link had stabilized, the machine spirit of the Dreadnought showed no signs of rejection, and all systems were operating as expected.

During these three days, the fleet had moved from Isstvan III to Isstvan V. The reconnaissance squad that had originally located Rylanor was dispatched to Isstvan V, to the site of the infamous Drop Site Massacre, tasked with scavenging and retrieving any power armor and vehicles left behind by both Loyalist and Traitor forces.

Under Atharion's orders, they were to focus their efforts primarily on recovering wargear from the Raven Guard, knowing that their advanced stealth technology and unique modifications could prove invaluable to the chapter's arsenal.

As the traitor have already salvage all that can be repair or use as spare parts after the Massacre, the squad spend a considerable time trying to find anything that still have values.

Their patience was rewarded when they discovered two Raven Guard aircraft, exactly the kind of wargear Atharion had hoped to recover.

The squad had found Darkwing and Shadowhawk, both are advance stealth aircrafts that only the Raven Guard have access to. Both of the aircrafts, while are hit by some kind of missiles and crash landed, their structures remained largely intact. This meant that the core technology used in their design, such as their stealth systems and specialized propulsion, might still be salvageable.

Other than the aircraft, both of them have passengers in them. As the bodies being pulled out, all twenty of them are from Raven Guard, with two pilots that also from Raven Guard. Among the twenty Astarte, one of them is the Astarte from Dark Fury, a Raven Guard's fast attack infantry, while the rest are normal Astarte. Interestingly, and of course, both the pilots are from the Shadow Bird, Raven Guard's pilots during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy that were well known for their ability to avoid detection by all but the most sophisticated of defense networks.

For now, all of this, the aircraft, the fallen Astartes, and their equipment was secured in the ship's research chamber. However, with the Techmarines and Tech-Priests preoccupied with Rylanor's operation, no in-depth study had been conducted yet. Only an initial assessment had been made by the reconnaissance squad, noting the potential technological insights that could be learn.

With a hiss, the vault door of the research chamber slid open. As Atharion enter the chamber, sounds of cogitators running and the murmurs of tech-priests fill the chamber.

In the center, a group of tech-priests surrounded the Darkwing and Shadowhawk, looking closely on the damaged exteriors of the aircraft, scanning both the aircrafts to understand where's the core technologies located.

Leading them was Magos Nine-Alpha, the first clone created by Nine, dating back to the Great Crusade. He had been assigned to Atharion as a chief advisor, leader of the Anvilus Nine tech-priests, and commander of the Skitarii and Legio Cybernetica.

"Lord Atharion," Nine-Alpha acknowledged as he noticed Atharion entering the chamber. "How is Rylanor's condition?"

"He is stable," Atharion replied. "I have assigned Vitaris and Hestian to monitor him closely."

Atharion then turned toward the cogitator that Nine-Alpha was operating. "What are the results of your research?"

"First, the Corvid Pattern Jump Pack from the Dark Fury," Nine-Alpha said, displaying schematics and initial findings on the cogitator screen. "We have successfully analyzed the internal structure and system of the jump pack."

He then played a short video showing a member of the reconnaissance squad using a prototype jump pack that emitted no sound as it activated. "This is the early prototype I managed to construct."

"Huh, I can't believe you managed to build one, even a prototype, in just five hours," Atharion said, watching the footage closely.

Nine-Alpha emitted a low mechanical chuckle. "As I said, it is only an early prototype, built using current materials and our existing understanding of the machine. It can be vastly improved if given more time and proper materials."

Nine-Alpha then inputted a new command into the cogitator, and the display shifted to another schematic. "Next, the power armor worn by the Shadow Bird pilots. It seems that, beyond their own skills, their armor also played a crucial role in their abilities."

The schematic provided a detailed breakdown. "The armor allows the wearer to directly interface with their aircraft, integrating their neural impulses into the control systems. This eliminates the need for traditional manual inputs, allowing for reaction speeds far beyond conventional pilots."

"Other than this," He continues. "the cogitator and auspex system in both of the aircrafts are also more advanced and specialized that our current existing systems."

"Can we possibly reverse engineer them and build something similar ourselves?" Atharion ask as he reading the information and the schematic.

"There are the possibility, but it's required much effort and time for it, even if we just decided to copy them directly." Nine-Alpha answer. "The neural link while have show some similarity with the system use in the Knight and even the Titan. It's more specialize and more safe, using more special components in building it." He continues. "As we have something similar for both the cogitator and auspex systems, time is still needed to fully understand it. But, I have high hopes."

"That's good to hear." Atharion nodded. "What about the stealth system on both the aircrafts?"

Nine-Alpha turned back to the cogitator, entering a series of commands. The display shifted to a new schematic detailing the stealth systems integrated into the Darkwing and Shadowhawk.

"Their stealth technology is exceptionally advanced," he began. "Unlike conventional void or atmospheric stealth systems, which rely on electronic countermeasures, void shielding, or material coatings, these aircraft employ an intricate combination of adaptive camouflage, sound-dampening technology, and a specialized energy dispersion system."

Atharion narrowed his eyes as he scanned the data. "Energy dispersion?"

Nine-Alpha nodded. "Yes. Instead of merely absorbing or deflecting auspex signals, the aircraft appear to 'bleed' energy into the surrounding environment in a controlled manner, making them blend into the ambient background radiation. This allows them to bypass most standard detection methods without the drawbacks of traditional stealth coatings, such as degradation over time or limited operational duration."

Atharion crossed his arms. "And how difficult would it be to replicate this system?"

Nine-Alpha exhaled, a low mechanical hiss escaping his vox. "Extremely difficult, but not impossible. The key components are exotic materials and intricate machine-spirits that control the energy dispersion. We lack direct knowledge of their manufacture, but with time, we may be able to produce a something similar."

Atharion nodded. "Well, we have lots of time until we arrive at Anvilus Nine, I will join you in the research." He said as he moved towards Darkwing."

So, for the rest of the journey back to the forge world, Atharion spent most of his time in the research chamber, while using some of the time to deal with the paperwork. As Rylanor know what a leader have to do, he rarely call for Atharion, instead ask his questions to Vitaris and Hestian.

===============================

"I can't believe they have the audacity to raid this world." An Astartes clad in black Mark VIII armor muttered as he fired his bolter.

"There are reports that xenos raids have increased. Even the traitors have begun emerging from the Eye." Another Astartes, wearing a Curath-pattern Mark VIII, replied as he firing his plasma pistol while gripping a power sword.

The first Astartes ducked behind cover as something whizzed past his head. "Huh, I didn't think they'd dare show themselves after what the 6th Company did to them." He raised his bolter and fired another burst. "But aside from that, when are we getting reinforcements? The PDF has already failed in their duty. We're alone here, with only the Lord Sergeant still leading his squad and a small element of the PDF on the other side of the city."

"We will do what we must, soldier." A deep voice rang out from behind him. Turning his head, he saw an Astartes stepping out of the shadows, his skull-helmed visage unmistakable. Three more warriors followed behind him.

"We are the sword and shield of His will. We will not falter, nor will we disgrace the name of the Dark Knights."

"Of course, Chaplain." The first Astartes quickly replied.

The Chaplain nodded. "I have received word that reinforcements are on their way. The Chapter has dispatched the 2nd company to assist in the purge."

The Astartes in Curath armor tilted his head slightly. "The 2nd company? It's been 138 years since they were last deployed."

The Chaplain nodded. "Indeed. But with the current state of affairs, it is no surprise that the Supreme Grand Master has finally ordered their deployment."

"Has Lord Castellan given any orders?" the first Astartes asked.

"Yes. The evacuation is complete." The Chaplain said. "Now, we are to fall back to the fortress."

"What about the Lord Sergeant and his squad?"

"A Thunderhawk has been dispatched to extract them." The Chaplain glanced at the darkened skyline. "We must leave now before the xenos launch another assault."

The two Astartes nodded and followed the Chaplain to the waiting Thunderhawk. As they boarded, the gunship slowly lifted off, but strangely, no sound came from its engines.