Chapter 468: Van Saar
Ryo did not immediately initiate the genetic modification procedures for the thirty candidates.
After confirming they were properly settled within the biological laboratory of the Eternal Seeker and had begun preparatory training, including baseline physical maintenance, environmental adaptability conditioning, and continuous physiological metric monitoring, he temporarily transferred the daily operational and management authorities of the warship to Tech-Priest Ignis.
His processing core then shifted toward a much longer-term plan, one whose potential returns could far exceed the current biological experiments. This originated from the intelligence he knew about the Warhammer 40k universe prior to his transmigration into this reality.
On the hive world of Necromunda, there existed a location known as Junktown, controlled by a clan named House Van Saar.
According to these pre-transmigration memories, the origin lineage of House Van Saar was extremely ancient, traceable back to the M21 millennium of human history, the early stage of what was known as the Dark Age of Technology.
The progenitors of this house were a group of pioneers aboard an interstellar colony ship named the Van Saar.
It was believed that this ship carried a complete STC, Standard Template Construct, system. This was the ultimate technological treasury containing countless standardized design and manufacturing templates, utilized during the wave of human colonization to rapidly establish settlements on unknown worlds.
This ill-fated vessel met with disaster during a long-range voyage, becoming lost within the perilous Warp.
After a lengthy period of drifting, at some point in time after the Horus Heresy and prior to the M35 millennium, it managed to escape the turbulent Warp currents by sheer luck. However, its navigational and propulsion systems were severely damaged, ultimately crashing onto the desolate surface of Necromunda.
The survivors aboard relied upon the STC system, severely damaged after the crash but still retaining partial functionality, to gradually rebuild their technological foundation, expanding and growing in the process.
Relying on the era-transcending technological advantages brought by the STC, they gradually accumulated immense wealth and influence. Ultimately, they stood unshakeable through millennia of change, becoming one of the six ruling houses that dominated Necromunda in the M41 era.
Ryo's core objective was precisely that legendary STC system accompanying the origins of House Van Saar.
Even if it had suffered severe damage during the crash, any technological blueprints, data cores, or even partial functional modules that might have survived within its wreckage were supreme holy relics to the Adeptus Mechanicus, artifacts worthy of launching an interstellar crusade.
The standardized construction knowledge contained within an STC was the ultimate benchmark measuring the technological level of humanity's Golden Age. Any discovery related to it would unleash a tempest upon Mars and its thousands of affiliated Forge Worlds.
More crucially, according to the information in Ryo's memories, this STC system of House Van Saar was not entirely silent; it could still maintain partial operation after the crash.
This single detail elevated its value to an entirely new, incalculable height.
A functional STC, even if operating intermittently or only capable of outputting limited data streams, held a significance far exceeding those completely dead archeological discoveries.
(House Van Saar's STC, a truly operational STC)
It signified the possibility of direct interaction, replication, or even repair. This was an opportunity seen but once in a millennium throughout the entire history of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Although Ryo could not be absolutely certain whether the Van Saar had indeed crashed on Necromunda, nor could he verify if Junktown was the exact location of the legend's origin.
It was even possible that this information itself was merely a severely distorted folktale passed down through generations, or a deviation produced by his own memories.
However, the potential value inherent in the exploration itself, enough to rewrite the technological landscape of an entire sector, far outweighed the costs and risks required for the operation.
For a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus bearing the title of Magos Explorator, pursuing any potentially existing technological relics of the Dark Age was not only a sacred duty but an instinctual drive rooted deep within their logical cores.
He assembled a squad of tuned Legio Cybernetica automata, including one Thanatar-class siege automaton, two Castellax-class battle automata, and a cohort of Thallax.
These combat automated units were loyal and highly efficient, perfectly suited for providing escort and support in unknown and potentially dangerous wilderness environments.
He did not make a massive display of force. This journey was primarily for exploration and research; an excessive display of martial power might instead attract unnecessary attention.
Once preparations were complete, Ryo led this capable, small-scale exploration team aboard a specially modified transport shuttle, silently detaching from the Eternal Seeker.
The shuttle's engines emitted a low hum, adjusting its course, and steadily advancing toward the vast and perilous Ash Wastes of Necromunda.
As the transport shuttle pierced through the thick, polluted cloud cover of the upper hive, the scene outside the viewports abruptly transformed.
The gloomy sky, originally shrouded by industrial exhaust, gradually cleared. Below, the true face of the planet's surface began to reveal itself: a vast, boundless wasteland covered in industrial runoff, radioactive ash, and corroded metallic wreckage.
The cracked earth was riddled with bottomless ravines. Abandoned conduits and architectural skeletons were scattered everywhere like the corpses of behemoths. In the distance, still-smoking industrial ruins could occasionally be seen. The entire landscape was filled with deathly stillness and desolation.
The transport shuttle maintained a low-altitude cruising height of around one hundred meters, beginning a systematic survey of the target area according to pre-set scanning patterns.
The augur arrays beneath the hull fully activated. Multi-spectral scanners, topographical mapping augurs, and energy signature detectors operated simultaneously, meticulously capturing the minute features of the terrain below and any anomalous energy fluctuations in a fan-shaped sweep.
On the holographic projection table within the cockpit, a three-dimensional model of the terrain below was generated in real-time. Any suspicious metallic returns or energy sources were immediately tagged.
Inside the cabin, the six Legio Cybernetica automata stood solemnly in their fixed positions in combat standby postures, their metallic hulls gleaming coldly under the cabin lights.
Their optical sensors emitted a rhythmic, faint blinking, and the servo-motors at their joints maintained a standby state.
These combat automata were pre-loaded with tactical protocols for wasteland environments. Their sensor arrays remained synchronized with the transport's main systems, ready at any moment to respond to any threat that might emerge from the ash wastes upon Ryo's command, be it mutated creatures, rogue mechanical constructs, or other unknown perils.
Ryo's mechanical body was securely connected to the transport shuttle's primary control interface. Data streams scrolled rapidly along the edges of his optical lenses.
He was carefully analyzing every set of data returning from the augurs, simultaneously cross-referencing it with the vague information regarding the location of Junktown within his memories.
The journey to find this legendary settlement and that priceless STC system officially commenced at this very moment.
(End of Chapter)