Turning vision toward the Warhammer world, Ignis' reports indicated his foundation remained solid.
"Having Ignis holding down the fort back home—truly reassuring." He assessed.
Those three thousand extremely-modified, well-equipped, absolutely-obedient Skitarii Praetorians constituted solid barriers for death world strongholds plus surrounding regions, ensuring regional control and security were foolproof.
Preliminary functional modifications on ruins hiding original transport devices had transformed them from purely archaeological sites into forward bases and laboratories possessing basic operational capabilities, providing necessary physical support for subsequent deeper research or operations.
Simultaneously, crucial steps relating to his future development—promotion to Magos plans—had already strictly initiated per preset procedures.
This promotion's core value to him lay in represented authority elevations—necessary qualifications for obtaining higher-level resources and operational autonomy, rather than empty titles.
"Magos status... merely beginnings. A necessary identity credential." Cairo's thinking clearly directed beyond promotions.
Regarding post-promotion plans, his thinking was coherent and practical.
Promotions themselves weren't objectives. Their true significance lay in subsequently-obtained qualifications—applying for and possessing Forge Ships completely under personal command.
His goals were pragmatic and clear: not those resource-consuming-like-bottomless-pits, inevitably-attracting-excessive-attention massive Ark Mechanicus vessels but cruiser-class Forge Ships based on Imperial Navy mature ship types—like Lunar-class cruisers or similar models—undergoing targeted modifications.
Such vessels achieved good balances between volume, functionality, costs—possessing sufficient internal spaces accommodating his core laboratories, supporting small refining facilities, basic manufacturing workshops, Skitarii garrison zones, plus necessary Tech-Priest teams, while having reliable endurance, multi-purpose adaptability, plus relatively manageable daily operational and maintenance expenses.
"A ship of our own... a true mobile stronghold." His synthesized voice carried planning-time prudence.
In his strategic conceptions, this customized Forge Ship would play irreplaceable core roles—becoming his true mobile base and research nexus.
By then, he could integrate Ignis, that elite Skitarii Praetorian detachment, all critical research equipment, accumulated technical databases, plus unique samples from different worlds—all onto this unified platform.
This would grant him unprecedented strategic mobility.
"Imagine," Cairo's mechanical tentacles unconsciously tapped control console edges—as if sketching future ship blueprints. "Whether operating within Imperial territories under 'compliant exploration' pretexts or utilizing our unique channels"—he meant dimensional transport devices—"traveling to that neon-lit cyberpunk world, or possibly-future-connected other unknown domains... all would become as convenient as routine operations."
This vessel essentially would become his strategic pivot connecting different universes, freely traversing star seas—a genuine interstellar mobile base belonging to him, capable supporting his continuous explorations and long-term plans.
All thoughts converged. Cairo's gaze refocused on continuously-refreshing data streams before him.
Paths required step-by-step walking. Current primary missions were thoroughly digesting this experiment's all gains, laying solid foundations for next leaps.
Simultaneously, Cairo didn't neglect unique values and strategic positioning the current cyberpunk world possessed.
He clearly recognized—though this world's overall tech levels fell below Warhammer universes, it displayed characteristics worthy of deep research in several specific domains. For instance, highly-developed neural interface technologies, bionic cyberware small-scale and mass-application experiences, unique localized network architectures, plus that captured, abnormally-behaving network rogue AI entity.
More critically, this dimension was completely independent in physical rules from Warhammer universes—neither affected by Warp's chaotic unpredictability nor far from Mechanicus internal complex doctrinal direct supervision and restrictions.
This provided him extremely precious, relatively "clean" and "private" experimental grounds—very suitable conducting some research projects possibly viewed as taboos in Warhammer worlds, overly radical, or requiring high secrecy for political factors.
For example, conducting undisturbed deep parsing and functional testing on that rogue AI, verifying some novel material or energy weapon design prototypes not yet formally recognized by Imperial technical standards, or utilizing local resources conducting small-scale, inconspicuous cross-dimensional technological secondary verifications.
Based on above judgments, Cairo clearly realized—keys achieving complementary advantages and efficient resource integration between both worlds lay in establishing stable, efficient, completely-controlled cross-dimensional material and information exchange channels.
Current relied-upon transport methods—possessing high energy consumption, forced cooling cycles, plus bringing significant physiological burdens on live units—obviously couldn't satisfy long-term, large-scale resource scheduling and strategic collaboration needs.
Therefore, concentrating resources, further elevating dimensional transport technology's comprehensive performance—including operational stability, energy utilization efficiency, transmission safety, plus compatibility toward transmitted item varieties—became core prerequisites driving all subsequent plans plus highest-priority technical breakthrough directions.
His gaze turned toward another data group displayed on main consoles—feedback from workshop internal monitoring systems and implanted sensors within Maine crew members.
Data showed—after crew members returned to strongholds, most entered deep rest states. Physiological indicators gradually trending toward normal.
Their bodies would completely adapt to impacts this cross-dimensional journey brought within coming days.
Cairo silently updated mission lists: within next seventy-two hours, complete comprehensive physiological data collection on Maine crew members, focusing analyzing dimensional transport's possible long-term effects on modified cyberware and nervous systems. Based on their recovery situations, assess subsequent mission execution capabilities. Simultaneously continue collecting high-performance cyberware and technological creation samples from cyberpunk worlds through them plus Gloria and other channels, further enriching local research databases.
Regarding Maine crew's possibly-existing doubts or psychological fluctuations, Cairo deemed no need proactive interventions.
As long as they could recover combat capabilities plus clearly recognize power enhancements and potential gains from following him far exceeded risks—their loyalty degrees and obedience would naturally maintain at usable levels.
Efficiency plus tangible power growth were most effective bonds maintaining this squad.
Cairo's mechanical fingers input successive directives on control consoles, pulling up dimensional transport device detailed operational logs and energy flow dynamic analysis diagrams.
His entire attention again invested into parsing massive experimental data and simulation calculations.
Every transport experiment—regardless of results—were precious data sources.
He needed extracting patterns from them, optimizing energy injection curve parameters, improving resonance chamber material formulations and structural designs, calculating feasible solutions achieving more stable transports under existing resource conditions.
Inside workshops, only equipment operational low humming remained, plus faint hissing from energy flowing through conduits, plus Cairo's never-tiring cognitive core processing data—barely-detectable electronic whispers.
External world disturbances, Maine crew's confusion, even both massive universes' respective grand backgrounds—at this moment all transformed into cold parameter variables and probability calculations within his logic core.
His objectives were clear and firm: perfecting transport technology, obtaining Forge Ships, integrating both worlds' resources, advancing toward broader research domains.
Every step required precise calculations, absolute patience, continuous pursuit of efficiency.
And all this had just unfolded.
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