Chapter 484: Harvest
The Skitarii squads methodically swept through every corner of Junktown in standard eradication formations.
They systematically cleared residential zones, workshops, and storage bays, summarily executing House guards who put up stubborn resistance, while those who surrendered were rounded up under guard.
With the Patriarch executed and the core zone fallen, the remaining defenders' will to resist had largely collapsed; the sporadic skirmishes quickly devolved into a one-sided purge.
Meanwhile, the harvesting of technological assets commenced simultaneously.
According to Ryo's pre-issued directives, Skitarii soldiers and Tech-Priest Lexmechanics meticulously searched House Van Saar's technical archives, primary workshops, and the residences of key members.
All discovered data-slates, design blueprints, and technological samples—including the las-weapons, hazmat suit components, and energy regulators manufactured based on fragmented STC knowledge—were sequentially cataloged and sealed.
The performance of these armaments was visibly superior to standard Imperial issue, demonstrating the tens of thousands of years of technological accumulation by House Van Saar.
The STC construction logs and historical records engraved on special alloy data-slates were classified as highest-priority items, handled personally by the Tech-Priests.
Just as the mopping-up operations neared completion, Ryo issued a command to a specialized squad via an encrypted channel.
Based on the intelligence provided by Elias, the squad quickly found him in a compartment within the lower maintenance zone.
In this cramped space filled with discarded filter cartridges, Elias was curled up in a corner, his hazmat suit covered in grease and grime.
The continuous sounds of explosions and tearing metal tormented his nerves; every tremor filled him with dread.
The symptoms of his radiation sickness worsened under the intense stress. He felt a burning pain in his lungs and severe dizziness, forcing him to struggle merely to remain conscious.
When the compartment door was thrown open, Elias's heart almost stopped.
However, those appearing in the doorway were not House guards, but Skitarii soldiers clad in dark red armor.
Before he could react, he was swiftly but cautiously hauled to his feet by two soldiers.
"Traitor! The shame of House Van Saar!" a hoarse, furious roar echoed from the other end of the corridor.
Elias turned his head and saw several House survivors, being escorted by Skitarii, glaring at him with hatred-filled eyes.
One of them struggled, trying to lunge at him, but was firmly pinned down by the soldiers: "You sold us all out! The ancestors' curse will follow you forever!"
Elias lowered his head, not daring to meet their gazes.
These words pierced his heart like sharp blades.
During the escort, he heard more curses from surviving clan members: "A coward who sold out the House just to stay alive!"
"You will burn in hell, Elias!"
These voices echoed in his mind, intertwining with the agony of his radiation sickness.
He felt a wave of nausea and almost vomited.
The Skitarii soldiers turned a blind eye to this, merely executing their duties with mechanical diligence.
They arrived at a temporarily established decontamination zone.
The smell of disinfectants permeated this cleared-out storage room, where an Adeptus Mechanicus Medicae-Magos clad in white robes was already standing by.
"Lie down," the Medicae-Magos pointed emotionlessly toward a medical slab.
Elias complied and lay down, staring blankly at the ceiling.
As the medical equipment activated, cold sensors were attached to his skin.
A series of scanning and treatment protocols commenced immediately: full-body scans to assess the extent of genetic damage, injections of radiation neutralizers and genetic stabilizers, connection to a blood purification system to filter toxins, and finally, the application of bio-gel to promote tissue regeneration, supplemented by energy field irradiation.
The entire treatment process was efficient and cold. Under the effects of the medication, Elias slipped into a semi-comatose state.
When he regained consciousness, he felt the heaviness and continuous pain in his body significantly alleviated, and his breathing had become smooth.
Although complete recovery would require further recuperation, the fatal radiation sickness had been effectively brought under control.
Ryo appeared in the medical zone, his mechanical body looming over the newly conscious Elias.
"Your mission is complete. The agreement is being fulfilled," his synthesized voice remained steady. "Your health condition has stabilized. Prepare for extraction."
In Junktown's main square—the area that had once served as the town's core—craters and wreckage were now strewn everywhere.
The complete STC system was stably secured within a specialized transport frame.
Hovering on anti-gravity platforms, the massive spherical device's battered outer shell was covered in scars left by the starship's crash.
Heavy cargo servitors were slowly loading it onto a waiting transport shuttle, the entire system maintaining a pristine structural state.
This gigantic spherical device was exceptionally conspicuous during transport, its sheer volume taking up almost the entire cargo hold of the shuttle.
Tech-Priests bustled around it, conducting final securing operations to ensure this precious technological holy relic would not suffer any damage in transit.
Also being transported were dozens of sealed crates of technical data and weapon templates.
This data detailed the tens of thousands of years of research and application results House Van Saar had derived from the STC system.
Standing by the transport shuttle's boarding ramp, Ryo cast one last look back at the devastated ruins.
To extract the intact STC system, the Tech-Priests had cut away the surrounding ship hull structures, leaving a massive gaping hole in the outer wall of the spherical space.
The lights that once flickered, reliant on the STC's energy, were mostly extinguished; only sporadic fires still burned.
The technological monopoly and foundation of rule established by House Van Saar over ten millennia had been utterly obliterated in a mere few hours.
The air was thick with the stench of cordite, molten metal, and death.
He displayed no emotion, merely archiving this scene of finality as a data record.
He then turned around, his massive mechanical body stepping smoothly into the transport shuttle. The hatch slowly closed behind him, the hydraulic locks engaging with a heavy clunk.
The shuttle's engines emitted a low roar as it lifted off smoothly, swiftly breaking away from the ravaged Junktown. It pierced through the murky atmosphere, heading toward the cruiser Eternal Seeker in the void.
Inside the cabin, Ryo stood quietly beside the data port, engaging in high-speed data exchange with the cruiser's main cogitator.
The comprehensive structural data of the STC system, its energy signature parameters, and the catalog of technical data confiscated from House Van Saar were continuously streaming into his vast databases, adding immeasurably precious contents to the Eternal Seeker's archives.
This operation, at the cost of one cruiser's orbital strike and an elite assault force of Skitarii and Legio Cybernetica automata, had successfully captured an intact, partially functional STC system from the Dark Age of Technology, along with its derived technological legacy. The strategic objectives had been completely fulfilled.
This comprehensive scientific and technological data would pave a critical path for his subsequent research into the legacy of Lady Astartes, the gene-seed optimization project, and even broader technological explorations.
The transport shuttle adjusted its attitude, slowly docking with the Eternal Seeker, the metallic behemoth silently hovering in orbit above the distant rust-red planet.
(End of Chapter)