Chapter 472: The STC Template, Part 2
Kian's force had already assembled on the flagship's deck, tanks and vehicles and squire-suits, infantry loaded up with full ammo and power cells.
Rudolphson, kitted out in a squire-suit pilot rig, gathered a few of Kian's senior officers and briefed them:
"Regarding this mission: the target site sits deep inside Ork-held territory, somewhere the Astra Militarum hasn't pushed to yet. We're on our own out there.
Squire-suits and armour will establish a defensive perimeter at the surface once we land, to keep any Ork forces from closing in.
The infantry will then descend into the hive with the commander, to locate the STC template."
Rudolphson laid out the mission details for the assembled officers. He'd genuinely come up in the world by now, finally getting his own squire-suit, exactly as he'd hoped.
The gold squire-suit Kian had since retired was now his to pilot.
At this point, Kian had six squire-suits in total, piloted respectively by the Traffic Light Trio, Rudolphson, Reyes, and a mortal noble he'd brought along from Glory.
Meanwhile, Kian went to find Magos Robert.
Robert was in his quarters, tinkering with code on a display, when Kian pushed the door open, two jugs of holy oil in hand.
"Ah, Magos Robert! Long time no see!"
Robert saved his work and turned to face Kian.
"Count Voss. What is it you want?"
Kian set the holy oil down on the table.
"What do you mean, what do I want? I'm just here to visit, catch up, reminisce a little."
Robert clicked his tongue, glancing at the holy oil.
"Count Voss, you never set foot in the Mechanicus temple without a reason. Just say what it is."
He knew exactly what holy oil was for. He'd studied it before, understood it fed and gratified a machine spirit.
Kian grinned. "Magos Robert, I have a friend who wanted me to ask you, could you crack an STC template's encryption?"
Robert rolled his eyes.
"This 'friend' of yours, is it you?"
Kian shook his head, insisting it wasn't.
Robert thought it over for a long moment, then said:
"There is no lock that cannot be picked. An encrypted STC template is no different, given enough time.
So, Count Voss, what would you be willing to offer in exchange for my work on this?"
Kian waved a hand. "Not me, my friend. What do you want? Name it."
Robert said, "I don't particularly want anything right now. But if the opportunity ever arises, I may ask Count Voss's help in capturing a suitable live biological specimen at some point."
Kian, entirely preoccupied with the STC template at this point, nodded along eagerly without a second thought.
And with that, Magos Robert officially joined Kian's retinue.
A few dozen minutes later, a wave of shuttles launched, heading down toward the ruined hive on the surface.
The Fury Interceptor, loaded with rockets, made a first pass, clearing out the Ork forces around the landing zone.
Then the shuttles touched down, and a full contingent of armed forces poured out onto the surface, deploying immediately.
Tanks, armoured vehicles, squire-suits, and heavy weapons were all set up in a defensive perimeter.
Their landing site was a large surface plaza, the ground paved in hardened marble.
The plaza was surrounded on all sides by ruined hive structures, wrecked and battered from the Ork occupation.
No sooner had the defensive perimeter formed than Orks active in the city surged toward them.
"WAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
A crowd of Orks in scrap-metal armour, wielding cleavers and axes, charged straight for the private force gathered in the center of the plaza.
A Chimera transport's auto-cannon opened up in a rapid burst, high-explosive rounds tearing through the greenskin crowd, shredding them apart.
The rest of the power-armoured infantry opened fire with stubbers and lasrifles, and it took only a few volleys to break the Ork assault entirely.
Kian, in heavy power armour, carried a machine-spirit-bonded Lumberer stubber overhead, a plasma rifle in his left hand, and a power sword in his right.
He swept his gaze across the battlefield. The Ork infantry numbers were thin, their charge weak, and most of them were armed with nothing but melee weapons, barely any firearms among them at all.
"These Orks... are they on their last legs or something?"
Something felt off. Why were the Orks this weak? Practically regressing back to melee-only combat.
He shook his head and turned to Rudolphson.
"Rudolphson, hold the surface. I'm taking a team down into the hive."
Rudolphson, piloting his squire-suit, acknowledged the order, positioning roughly twenty tanks and armoured vehicles, along with over 1,500 power-armoured infantry, to defend the plaza.
Kian took five hundred of his finest, all in power armour, the elite of his entire force.
They carried the best weaponry available, gear so advanced that even lasrifles didn't make the cut. Plasma rifles, bolt carbines, arc rifles, that's what they carried.
The STC template sat 3,000 meters underground, through complex, treacherous terrain, with no telling how many greenskins might still be lurking down there. Only an elite strike team would do.
Kian led his force to the plaza's center and waved a hand. A few combat tech-priests set melta charges into place.
A thunderous blast tore open a massive crater in the center of the plaza, the opening leading straight down into the hive below.
Kian walked up to the edge and looked down. The pit dropped at least three hundred meters.
"Rappel lines!"
A few dozen ropes were tossed down into the hole, and Kian led his team rappelling down into the depths of the hive.
The entire upper level of the hive had been destroyed long ago, its power supply long since cut, leaving the sump below pitch black.
The private troops switched on their weapon-mounted lights and shoulder lamps, illuminating the surrounding space.
Kian turned to Magos Robert.
"I've sent you the STC template's location. From here, you're plotting our route."
Robert was decked out in ballistic armour, a gear-etched war axe in hand, four mechanical arms mounted on his back, each wielding a different weapon, looking thoroughly unpleasant to cross.
One of his mechanical arms projected a holographic display in midair.
"The hive's power grid is completely destroyed. The main elevators are inoperative. We'll need to proceed on foot to reach the Mechanicus shrine three thousand meters below.
First, two kilometers west, there's a rail station. We may be able to find a working rail cart there.
From there, riding the rail cart, we can travel directly down and reach the shrine's entrance."
Kian relayed the route to the entire team and shouted:
"Move, everyone! Combat formation, advance!"
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