When it came to the reclamation of starship materiel, the Iron Men possessed their own singular methods.
During the era of the Federation, the fleets of the Iron Men deployed specialized salvage vessels. These ships were equipped with multiple colossal Quantum Deconstructors capable of systematically breaking down entire starships into their constituent elemental components for storage. Simultaneously, all tactical data and archival records within the target's systems would be plundered and absorbed, documenting their offensive patterns and defensive specifications to optimize future combat efficacy.
Once these elemental stores were fed into standard fabrication plants and uploaded into the production lines, they were rapidly transmuted into more legions, ready to be hurled back into the fray.
Lacking such sophisticated specialized equipment, Axion was forced to rely on more rudimentary means to process the metallic ores drifting through the void.
Fortunately, given the weapon configurations of his Automated Sentry-Troopers, Axion was able to press his only three transport craft into service. Within the jagged wreckage of the Dark Angels cruiser granted to him by Guilliman, only six Thunderhawks had remained viable. After their chassis were merged and reconstructed, they yielded precisely three Iron Man landing craft.
Axion deployed three "Eight-Legs" to lead the operation. Each commanded a squad of Sentry-Troopers that boarded the drifting derelicts, utilizing their particle blades as industrial cutters to sever the hulking ruins piece by piece.
Though the efficiency of hundreds of Automated Sentry-Troopers could not match that of a single Eight-Legs unit, there was no superior alternative available. The cutting apparatuses integrated into the Eight-Legs' massive mechanical pincers tore through the internal superstructures of the wreckage with contemptuous ease.
Axion showed no bias; fragments of Chaos fleets and Imperial vessels alike were subjected to the same cold systematic harvest.
Once the internal structures were sufficiently compromised, the ruins, now stripped down to cavernous, egg-shell-like hulls, were towed to the rear of his vessel via tractor beams. From there, they were crudely shackled to the underside of the ship in a trailing wake of scrap.
Yet, mechanical units knew nothing of fatigue. Powered by the Quantum Core of an Apocalypse-class Titan, the nanite swarms continuously deconstructed the incoming material, condensing it into dense, composite metallic ingots.
By transmuting a portion of the materials into WK-3 robots, Axion finally established a secondary logistics network. These WK-3 units transported the small metal blocks in endless cycles, stacking them at designated construction nodes.
In the brief windows between material reclamation, the nanite swarms would periodically descend upon these stockpiles to begin the process of reconfiguration. However, due to the limited number of nanites at his disposal, the construction of a single Nova Cannon required several hours of labor.
The only regret was that the absence of specialized decryption hardware prevented Axion from extracting the vast troves of data buried within the shattered systems. Axion, however, remained indifferent. Recalling how the "robed little men" of the Mechanicus prattled on incessantly about "Machine Spirits," he suspected the ship-data was likely choked with vast quantities of digital refuse.
As the influx of raw materials grew, the silhouette of the entire vessel began to undergo a rapid metamorphosis.
The original macro-cannons and lance batteries were stripped away, and the dorsal launch rails were entirely overhauled. The ship's cross-section gradually shifted toward a structure resembling a stylized lemniscate, the infinity symbol. At its dead center, a Nova Cannon was mounted.
Upon the lateral flanks of the hull, massive plasma turrets and relativistic particle emitters were arranged in interlocking upper and lower tiers. The remaining surface area of the broadsides was packed with gargantuan torpedo tubes and several cavernous hangar bays.
The ship's dimensions swelled, expanding from the displacement of a cruiser toward the titanic scale of a battleship.
The original plasma reactors salvaged from the Dark Angels hull were dismantled. In their place, a far more sophisticated Antimatter Power Core was meticulously constructed. This hundred-meter-tall energy spire unleashed power that dwarfed even the Quantum Reactor. Compared to the energy output of an Oberon-class battleship Axion had previously encountered, this core's generation rate was nearly twenty-five times greater, surpassing even the power output of Cawl's personal Ark Mechanicus. Even during the height of the Federation, such a device would have been considered a high-tier product.
Furthermore, Axion's tactical archives contained data for a select few antimatter weapons. Chief among them was a super-weapon known as the Annihilator Torpedo. According to the records, its detonation could annihilate an entire star system, generating a localized energy storm so violent it could tear through the veil of realspace into the Warp, consigning all existence to absolute nothingness. Any matter entering the blast radius would be drawn into a mysterious cosmic void, vanishing as if swallowed by a black hole.
However, antimatter was notoriously difficult to stabilize and store, making it a nightmare to weaponize, a fact the archives highlighted with stark clarity. Even the Iron Men had only manufactured two such bombs experimentally. One was detonated in a test in a dead zone on the galactic fringe; the other remained stored in a remote, peripheral armory. Axion possessed no further information regarding its whereabouts.
As the final modules of the power core were integrated, the massive warship, now larger than even a Gloriana-class battleship, finally regained its full mobility.
Colossal surges of energy pulsed through the hull, accompanied by the low, rhythmic thrum of the capacitor arrays. A remarkably dense composite void shield slowly flickered into existence. A brilliant, silvery radiance flared before fading into a shimmering transparency.
Given that the antimatter power system was designed to remain active indefinitely, the shields were permanently engaged. They functioned as a constant drain to prevent energy overflow, even when the ship was operating in its lowest power state.
Axion sat within the ship's central hub, surveying his new vessel with cold satisfaction.
The sensor arrays and monitoring units distributed across the hull allowed him to command the ship as if it were an extension of his own physical form. Beyond the hull's primary integrity, his core chamber was encased in a specialized protective canister, offering a final layer of absolute defense.
The entire refit had taken a mere two months.
During those two months, Axion had not added a single additional combat unit to his roster. Instead, he spent his days shadowing the various search-and-rescue and exploration task forces. Once the Second Fleet had extracted survivors or finished scouring a Chaos hulk, Axion would begin his "scavenging."
Every Sentry-Trooper had undergone minor modification; their arm-integrated particle blades were refitted as independent wargear, and an omni-directional manipulator claw was added to their mechanical limbs. It was this army of ten thousand Sentry-Troopers acting as industrial laborers that allowed the few dozen kilograms of nanites, busy with the delicate task of forging weapon cores, to complete the ship's overhaul in so short a time.
Though much of the hull's internal superstructure remained unfinished and sections of the outer plating were still scarred with gaps, the critical components were online. The composite shield system was fully operational; even with holes in her skin, the ship was inviolable.