The assault by the Khornate daemons had severely hampered Axion's exploration. Millions of mechanical units suffered catastrophic damage. These standard logic units, tainted by the residual Warp energy bleeding from the Khorne-possessed Angron, developed structural anomalies; in many cases, their very frames had undergone molecular fusion under the influence of the Immaterium.
Such fusions, born from the collapse of physical laws, were beyond even the restorative powers of nanites. These units could not simply be fed back into the standard production lines for reconfiguration. Consequently, Axion was forced to construct several specialized great-forges within the Titan's Spear. The salvaged mechanical husks were extracted from the Webway and cast into these fires to accelerate the dissipation of Warp taint.
Once reduced to molten slag and purified of corrupted alloys, the metal was cast into ingots and cooled before being returned to the primary manufactorum lines. Despite these reclamation efforts, the final tally revealed that the daemons had cost Axion hundreds of thousands of units, though many of these losses occurred when the Destroyer self-detonations tore breaches in the Webway, dragging the machines into the Warp alongside the daemons. Axion, however, made sure to settle this debt firmly on Khorne's account.
As the sixth wave of vessels arrived at the edge of the Sol System, the Titan-class Void Sword reached completion. It did not, however, jump to the Solar Segmentum with the main fleet and the resupply machine cohorts. Instead, over a hundred ships detached from the mechanical fleet anchored outside the system, vanishing into the Warp to rendezvous with the Void Sword.
Currently, the Void Sword possessed no combat capability. Furthermore, the Guardian-class vessels were still dispersed across Imperial space, escorting the Inquisition's tithe fleets. The Void Sword and its task force were dispatched to intercept these Guardians and offload the psykers who now filled their holds to capacity.
Millions of psykers awaited their final destination. Simultaneously, the processed Psychic Crystals needed to be transferred to the Void Sword; subsequent trials for the ship's weaponry were contingent on these crystals serving as a power source.
…
By the time the sixth wave of mechanical forces was deployed into the labyrinth, over sixty percent of the Webway within the Sol System had been charted. At long last, Axion received a glimmer of good news.
A detachment of machines scouting a divergent branch discovered ancient Imperial relics. The bright yellow livery and the icon of the Iron Fist left no doubt as to their origin: this was a temporary defensive position established by the Imperial Fists Legion. The area was a charnel house of wreckage, scorched by promethium and scarred by the rhythmic hacking of blades.
This discovery brought Axion a measure of cold satisfaction. Imperial forces could not have entered the Webway from any other point; finding these traces meant they had finally located a path connecting to the Webway gate sealed by the Emperor. The vast mechanical legions searching in other directions began to pivot, converging on this coordinate.
Axion, inhabiting a backup chassis and clutching the so-called "Key," headed straight for the sector. With a clear objective, the mechanical legions operated with terrifying efficiency. The daemons lurking in the depths were once again plunged into the shadow of death.
As the daemonic entities were purged, more Imperial relics and broken corpses emerged from the gloom. White ceramite and shattered jetbikes marked the presence of the White Scars. Bright yellow Spartan Assault Tanks sat with muzzles lowered, flanked by overturned Rhino transports. Beyond the rank-and-file of the Imperial Fists, Axion found the crimson-clad Blood Angels and several battle-scarred red Dreadnoughts. Deep blue corpses of the Ultramarines lay in tangled heaps across the deck.
Deeper still, Axion located several destroyed blue Knight suits and a mountain of mortal laborer remains. Dark Angels in forest-green plate were discovered in another corridor, their final stand appearing even more harrowing than the rest.
Surveying the field of dead, Axion decided to reclaim the fallen. All remains would be gathered, alongside their wargear, and transported out. Given the sheer density of the mechanical forces, if these bodies and fragments were not cleared, they would inevitably be ground into meat-slurry under the march of iron.
However, as the mechanical vanguard pushed further, the scale of the carnage became staggering. Hordes of Adeptus Custodes corpses appeared in several corridors. Their density was surreal; many remains had been pulverized by the sheer weight of the daemonic throngs that had once piled upon them.
Gazing at the Auramite power armor, dimmed by age but still shimmering with a golden hue, Axion performed a cursory test of the metal. A fine material, he noted.
A swarm of automata surged forward from the rear. This Auramite would serve as the fee for his "reclamation services," a bill settled against the recovery of all the fallen.
Soon, alongside the shattered Astartes, there was a growing tally of broken, golden-armored giants. Compared to the other Astartes Chapters, the number of these "Golden Boys" was disproportionately high. Because the "reclamation fee" was so steep, Axion considerately used genetic markers to reassemble the fragmented remains of the Custodians as best as possible. Where too much was missing to maintain a dignified appearance, nanites were used to weave and stitch the parts back together.
Alongside the Custodians, Axion also encountered vast quantities of mechanical wreckage. Though worn, the sigils of the Legio Cybernetica from Mars were still visible. The tattered red robes and humanoid mechanical remains were likely all that was left of the Archmagos who had led them.
Unlike the Astartes and Custodians, whose transhuman physiology resisted decay, the remains of the mortal servants were in a wretched state. Many bore the marks of being gnawed upon by Warp-entities, reduced to tattered scraps.
Suspecting that knowledge might still reside within the cogitators of these machines and the Archmagos, Axion directed his nanites to strip the mechanical remains clean and extract every scrap of data. These units were then reconstructed to their original state within the Titan's Spear. It appeared almost as if they were being teleported; as a wreck was consumed in the Webway, a duplicate of the scrap appeared within the carrier.
These Mechanicus Archmagos, loyal to the Emperor, did indeed possess significant knowledge, particularly in the art of archaeology. However, to a "living relic" like Axion, such knowledge was practically worthless. He could not fathom why some would store so much ancient civilian technology in their internal data-stacks, much of it "tech-heretically" modified and integrated into the Legio Cybernetica.
Once all remains and artifacts were secured, the automatons began the trek back with the recovered spoils. A transport vessel glided toward the Titan's Spear, deploying a massive atmospheric containment and transport rig. Once fully loaded, it broke away from the fleet, setting a direct course for Holy Terra.