Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 553 Ruins Exploration
The Stardust Probe's continuous passive scanning data, like a cold, never-ending stream, is constantly flowing into the core analysis chamber of the Rostov-III Forge World, buried deep beneath the Earth's crust.

The security here is far more stringent than usual, and the massive servo array clusters emit a continuous, low, constant hum, which sounds exceptionally clear in the near-vacuum silence.

The air was filled with a complex mix of smells: the pungent odor of ozone, the metallic sweetness of coolant volatiles, and the slightly charred odor of ancient parchment scrolls burning in the incinerator.

The cold, alabaster floor absorbed almost all the slightest sounds. Only the holy oil lamps embedded in the thick metal walls stood out starkly in the deathly silence, casting uneasy, flickering shadows and imbuing the entire space with a solemn atmosphere akin to a religious ritual.

Sage Aurejana stands like a statue cast from a torrent of data and cold steel, at the core of a light curtain composed of layers of floating data screens.

Her highly modified mechanical eye flashed at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, and deep within the iris, a waterfall of binary data cascaded down, the subtle servo motor whirring almost completely masked by the pure buzzing of information.

Several servo skulls, inlaid with sacred gear emblems, hovered silently around her like the most loyal servants, emitting a continuous and faint hum of computation. They precisely projected the critical information, after layers of filtering and processing, onto the giant holographic star map that occupied the entire wall.

The focus of the star chart was the dark object codenamed "Pioneer-IV," hovering over the cold, desolate edge of the Kuiper Belt.

In the projection, its structure continuously undergoes extremely unsettling distortions and transformations, presenting a geometric form that completely defies common human sense—as if the latitude and longitude lines that constitute reality were wantonly crumpled by an invisible giant hand at that location, and then casually unfolded, their angles and connections seemingly transcending the constraints of three-dimensional space.

"Energy pulse analysis progress has reached 87%." A synthesized voice of a high-ranking priest rang out in the encrypted communication channel, with slight data overload noise mixed in the background, giving it a strange, inhuman feel.

"The core geometry is currently... stable? The energy cycle has been locked at 37 minutes and 19 seconds, with an error of less than three-thousandths. This pattern closely matches the deep-space hibernation beacon template recorded during the Golden Age of the 'Human Federation,' with a conformity index assessment of: Gamma-7." When mentioning the word "stable," a very faint but undeniably present hint of hesitation was revealed in his synthesized voice.

Ferrus's massive body, resembling a war statue cast directly from silver-gray refined gold, stood at the edge of the light screen's shadow, casting a huge shadow that almost covered most of the real-time data analysis area.

Her sharp, silver eyes, like the most precise scanning array, were fixed on the ever-changing pulse pattern on the holographic star map—a cold pattern composed of intricately interwoven complex polyhedra and spirals. Each cycle carried an almost cruel mathematical beauty, yet also subtly revealed an unnatural and unsettling inner rhythm.

Her voice, cold and metallic, abruptly cut off the priest's report, her command clear and direct: "Its function far exceeds that of a simple dormant beacon. Olegana, execute immediately: Separate the core energy carrier waveform. Eliminate all background radiation noise interference and focus on the core resonant frequency. I need to see its essential structure, not contaminated noise."

Aurejana nodded slightly to indicate that she had received the message. Her fingertips, covered in a fine metal structure, moved quickly and precisely through the air, bringing up a new set of analysis instructions.

Redundant interference data streams are quickly stripped away and disappear like a receding tide.

The dizzying, seemingly blasphemous structure on the star chart gradually faded and blurred, eventually leaving only a near-perfect, stable, and regularly beating energy pulse line at its core—like a cold heart beating regularly in the dark void, pure and powerful.

Oregana's prosthetic eye suddenly brightened to a blinding level, and the raging data stream deep within her pupil instantly became exceptionally bright and sharp.

She abruptly turned to Ferrus, her synthesized voice carrying a rare, distinct fluctuation from the impact of the core data: "A stable resonant field has been detected! Its psionic properties have been confirmed! Its wavelength characteristics... exhibit precise mirror-complementary features to the destructive energy recoil ripples generated when the psionic knight prototype 'Ciricrux Anima' device was activated! Theoretical complementarity... preliminarily calculated to exceed seventy percent!" The entire analysis core instantly fell into absolute silence.

Even the perpetual low hum of the servo array seemed to be choked by an invisible hand.

Only the high-frequency shriek emitted by the logic engine due to the sudden surge in computing load became exceptionally piercing, breaking the stagnant air.

The high priest's data stream seemed to have completely stopped. He stood frozen in place, the optical sensors under his helmet briefly overloaded by this groundbreaking discovery, flashing with chaotic light.

The air, which was filled with the mixed smell of engine oil and ozone, seemed to solidify, becoming so heavy that it was suffocating.

Ferrus took a heavy step forward, his heavy metal boots slamming into the adamantite floor with a thunderous thud.

Her gaze, sharp as a drawn blade, first swept over Allegana, then fixed itself on the pure, regularly pulsating resonant waveform on the central screen: "Immediately construct a resonant efficiency simulation model! Using the energy recoil characteristics of the existing 'Ciricrux Anima' device as a benchmark, substitute all mode parameters of this unknown resonant field! I want to see the simulation results under the worst-case scenario! Command priority: highest! Execute immediately!" Her command carried the absolute pressure unique to Primarchs, enough to crush even the strongest will.

The massive computing resources were instantly mobilized.

The hum of the servo array suddenly rose an octave, emitting an almost roaring sound.

Complex virtual models are built at an astonishing speed on the central light screen, with data collisions and rapid iterations.

A destructive crimson data stream, representing the violent energy backlash of the "Ciricrux Anima" device, roared and crashed against the simulation system like a runaway torrent of lava.

However, upon contact with the simulated pale blue resonant ripple force field originating from "Pioneer IV", the raging crimson torrent was instantly bound and precisely tamed by an invisible force field hand. The energy peak was significantly and stably reduced, the violent fluctuations quickly stabilized, and were ultimately firmly constrained within the preset safety threshold range.

All the simulation data eventually converged into a cold and extremely shocking conclusion: in the theoretical model, this unknown resonant field can weaken the destructive energy generated by psionic recoil by more than 70%, and the stability of the entire weapon system will thus be improved to a threshold level sufficient to meet the requirements of actual combat deployment.

Ferrus's fingers, covered in living metal, clenched tightly, the metal knuckles emitting a subtle yet unusually clear grinding sound.

She stared at the conclusion, and the almost cold, absolute rational light belonging to the Primarch in her silver eyes burned exceptionally brightly and intensely at this moment.

“The key,” her deep voice echoed in the deathly silent analysis room, with an unquestionable, rock-solid certainty, “the key to breaking the deadly shackle of psionic backlash. It’s there. Deep within that cold, desolate void.” Each word she spoke was like a heavy hammer striking an anvil, clearly imprinted on the consciousness of everyone present.

(End of this chapter)