No wonder Carol thought that the strange phenomena on this world were related to the Warp.
"Should we continue exploring?"
Carol hesitated for a few seconds before asking.
The Captain was in charge of the fleet's navigation and was also responsible for the entire fleet. The current situation clearly indicated that this world was very dangerous.
"First, let the exploration team enter below the atmosphere."
After a moment of thought, Emrys said, "Maintain constant contact with the explorers and see if there are any resources we need on this world."
Imperium Nihilus exploration was an extremely long voyage, ranging from several months to several decades. Therefore, every world discovered by the fleet along the way needed to be explored one by one to collect as many resources as possible.
"That's good too." Carol nodded in agreement. Even if the exploration team encountered danger on this world, it wouldn't affect the entire fleet.
Soon, the first wave of the exploration team, riding a Valkyrie, plunged into the atmosphere.
They carried real-time imaging equipment, allowing everyone on the ship to clearly see everything that happened as they explored this world.
The Valkyrie, trailing high-heat fire, streaked across the sky of this world like a meteor.
Rumble—!
Amidst deafening roars, the Valkyrie's wings tore through the clouds, and then an endless pink gelatinous ocean came into Emrys' view.
The surging sea level almost connected with the sky. The towering 'mountains' in the distance were actually a colossal tsunami, tens of thousands of meters high, caused by the tidal forces of a binary star system, which had stirred up the entire world. It was a magnificent sight!
The Valkyrie did not land directly but hovered above the sea, trying its best not to touch this strange pink ocean.
Suddenly, just then.
The Valkyrie's sensors suddenly received a strange pulse signal, repeating at an odd frequency.
"Is this the Mechanicus' unique binary pulse?!" The Tech-Priest was shocked. How could the Mechanicus appear on such an ancient and strange world?
"It's a Void Distress Litany!" Carol frowned, immediately realizing, "There are Mechanicus personnel here calling for help. They most likely saw the trajectory of our aircraft's descent. Should we go?"
He looked at Emrys. Rescue missions were not mandatory and were purely a matter of conscience, but clearly—for Rogue Traders daring to explore the Imperium Nihilus, conscience was somewhat superfluous.
"Hmph, what an obvious trap." Emrys snorted lightly.
Generally speaking, in this situation, if it were a movie plot, following the distress signal would inevitably lead not to the rescuees, but to some terrifying alien life form.
Isn't that the trope in horror movies?
Joking aside, who would fall for that!
"Tell the exploration team to ignore this distress signal." Emrys waved his hand, signaling them to continue their mission and extract a portion of the ocean for testing.
The most important task at hand was to quickly unravel the secret of the biological ocean on this world!
The pulse signal continued for a long time, and after realizing there was no response, it stopped.
But only a few seconds after it stopped, they saw a pulse beam shoot straight into the sky from a direction approximately eight hundred kilometers away!
The pulse signal went directly into the clouds, refracting strange bronze light spots in the ionized clouds, forming a giant mechanical gear. It was clearly the symbol of the Mechanicus, but it was one-third incomplete.
And below the incomplete Mechanicus symbol was a mark similar to 'Omega.'
"What does this symbol mean?" Emrys turned to Carol and asked.
"The incomplete Mechanicus symbol means the Mechanicus here has encountered danger."
"A damaged Mechanicus symbol is a sign of a Mechanicus fleet in distress. The number below—is the danger level." Carol stared intently at the symbol, her voice inexplicably heavy as she said, "Omega means 'absolutely necessary,' 'at all costs'!"
He used two consecutive phrases to convey the weight of "Omega."
"Rescue at all costs?" Emrys raised an eyebrow, "The Mechanicus is too overbearing, aren't they?"
"Lord, you might not fully understand." Carol still frowned deeply, as if something was troubling him, saying bitterly, "This isn't a simple rescue. It means this Mechanicus fleet discovered something here that requires us to destroy, seize, or control it at all costs, and so on. The meaning is very complex, but one thing is beyond doubt: there is a huge secret hidden on this world!"
Emrys pondered for a while, his gaze fixed on the Mechanicus projection in the ionized clouds, and said in a deep voice, "Exploration team, move a little closer to the signal source."
He wasn't sure what the Mechanicus had encountered here, but judging from Carol's words, there was clearly 'something good' hidden on this world!
With the attitude of 'since we're already here,' he decided to let the exploration team go take a look.
Before long.
After the Valkyrie flew over the towering ten-thousand-meter 'tsunami,' a huge 'landmass' came into view.
No, that wasn't land!
Emrys' eyes widened, and he realized that it was actually a gigantic battleship submerged in the ocean, with only half of it exposed, covered in various algae and plants, shrouded in green!
"A Mechanicus Ark! A Mechanicus Ark crashed here! They are an exploration fleet!" Carol exclaimed.
But soon, something even more shocking happened.
When the Valkyrie approached the long-crashed Mechanicus Ark, it automatically received an audio recording from inside.
"This is the Forge Covenant exploration Mechanicus Ark. I am Julius Davenport, Archmagos of the Mars Forge world."
"In the name of the Omnissiah and the Mars Forge world" - request" Coordinates 41-78-09, a living data-archive exists—must. —. Omnissian Cocoon—door awakens."
Then came a chilling, guttural mechanical prayer, as if thousands of voices overlapped, rising and falling like a tsunami. But as the audio progressed, it gradually transformed into a sharp, physiologically unsettling screech, like fingernails scraping a blackboard.
The audio quickly ended, lasting only about ten seconds.
The current situation of the other party seemed to make it difficult to maintain communication; something was blocking the signal.
"This, this is impossible!!!"
Carol's pupils suddenly contracted sharply, and an expression of horror appeared on his face, utterly terrified.
"You know this person?" From his expression, Emrys sensed a hint of trouble.
"I, I—of course I know him!"
Carol's pupils were bloodshot, his calm thought processes almost burned out. He stared in terror at the Mechanicus Ark.
"Julius Davenport was the youngest Archmagos of the Mars Forge world one hundred and fifty years ago. He has been missing for a full hundred years, and I never thought—he would be here?!"
Are you kidding me?!
The Archmagos of the Mechanicus from a hundred years ago, missing on this world!