Caspian looked at the 2 ghosts as they left. One with new ideas for technology, another with much needed clarity on his goal.
"Oh, Aurelian Gauis Trajan, keep watch for the hydra" he said, causing the Custodian to turn and look at him deeply.
It is common knowledge in the lore that understanding Alpharius is almost impossible, especially when his brother is found. These things will have to wait for another day. It is time for him to contribute what he can before he needs to let go again.
Walking out of the fabrication room, he sees the initiation of blue light on a console in front of the door.
[Exemplar, what requirements do you have of me. Requesting analysis of tissue samples]
"Permission granted. First provide detailed scanning equipment" Caspian replied.
He doesn't know what the machine wants with his DNA, but he can guess. Now though he has 2 objectives he must complete and others that he wants to see done. The importance of these things would become the foundation of his stay.
Despite staying with an AI, he truly did not like the idea. The region of space he is, is too alien, for some reason he believes it might never be integrated into the Imperium. Considering the dangers of an AI, he preferred not to take his chances.
First he must deal with a few things before he handles that. He started his journey back to the first level by cataloging everything within the vault. There are many technologies that could be used now, but most are just in the form of designs.
He needs raw materials.
After cataloging everything from the 1st to the 4th floor, he has an idea of what he wants to do. But first he must wait for a scanner, the antigravity machine on the 2nd floor would serve him very well.
10 hours later
[The Omnispex Cognition Engine. Limited capabilities due to material constraints, has 3 functions, biological identification, material identification, and energy signature identification]
[Does this iteration suffice? Note: Sub-optimal output is a result of local resource scarcity…]
"It does" Caspian did not comment further because he knew that the AI is giving him excuses. The device he is handed is an armband looking thing, with its size it would fit comfortably on his forearm.
It has a sleek seamless metallic body in the shape of an arm, with an open part on one side to fit over an arm. The transition from metal to screen is unseen until open. The display is a holographic display with no buttons.
Caspian is ready with his gear, and leaves the vault after a long time within this place. The air was always stifling and rancid. In the distance he sees the necron he had killed and his copper looking sword.
Walking up to it, he picks his sword and moves on. He plans to get as much as this make shift trolley can carry before coming back here. First destination, a ruin he saw on the western continent that looks more hidden and relatively well preserved.
This time for Caspian battles that are fought, are quick and easy. His abilities exceeded his previous level and giving his understanding of the planet, much less difficult to navigate. Though there are still some areas he dare not venture into.
In the West, the architecture bled. The ruins were not stone, but psychically-grown bone. Aeldari. He gathered the stones, cold, pulsing gems that felt like frozen screams, and a D-Scythe that hummed with the frequency of the Warp. Why did they leave this behind? The Aeldari do not abandon their dead.
His journey also took him further where he encountered some tyranids. He spotted a cluster of a 100 hormaguants and termagants, led by a tyranid warrior. It was a bloody battle that gained him strong materials for defensive creations.
He also harvested the adrenal gland from them for his use. Instead of going back to the vault, he kept most of the things he found in a hidden ruin close to the vault.
From there north he came across other ruins in more broken states, retrieving incomplete technologies and plans. He got a broken magna rail rifle, a broken void armor, and the incomplete plans for a grav-lev drive.
He did not know which race these devices belonged to but they looked similar to human technology. To the east is where he found the least technologies, he only found a digit needle and the broken body of a robot.
What he found here were mining shafts, with mostly basic minerals and raw metals. He also with the aid of the omnispex cognition engine found a small vein of adamantium, which he extracted by himself, while planning to find a way to mine the rest.
One other thing that he did gain was a few humans that were close by. He normally avoids humans but these few did not leave when he was close. They were already soul dead when he located them. He plans to see if he can use them as servitors or create skitarii.
After gaining so much from this expedition, 2 things ran through his mind. The humans of Cygnis III are scavengers, yet they starve in a palace of gold. They walk past Adamantium veins and technological sites as if blind. It is not a lack of tools. It is prohibited. Something has trained them to stay away.
Secondly why is there so much technology located on a single planet that from what he could see doesn't warrant any special attention.
Resolving to question the AI at the base to gain some answers is his only option. This expedition lasted 4 years, during which time many things have gone on within the world.
He once again returns to the necron body he killed, planning on using it as a raw material to create something. Living metal looks and sounds close to phage steel he saw within the vault. Self repairing metal is an advantage he cannot pass.
Stepping on the body of a fallen enemy with a sword on his back as he contemplates plans. He gathers up his materials and bodies as he moves them into the vault to begin his process.