Another six hours of forced marching.
When the black high walls of Horizonburg finally appeared at the edge of their vision, the tense nerves of Kolber and his squad members relaxed at last.
From their departure to infiltrating the Canoptek Research Institute, and then sprinting all the way back with their loot, the entire operation had taken a mere fourteen hours.
Twelve of those hours were spent traveling; they had spent just over an hour inside the pocket dimension itself.
It could be considered the shortest, fastest special operation since the founding of Deep Space Industries.
---
At the same time, on the wasteland hundreds of kilometers away:
The fleet from Engineering Division Six, led by Reagan Lazarus, was still crawling painfully through the swirling yellow sand and radioactive dust.
At the cross-country speed of heavy trucks, it would take them at least two days and two nights to haul back the newly recovered thermal base stations and geothermal power generation equipment.
---
Underground Core Area, Assembly Workshop.
Andy stood on the high platform, watching the special forces soldiers who had just removed their armor and were steaming all over.
Every member was accounted for.
Six set out, six returned.
Aside from severe wear-and-there marks on the surfaces of their power armor and a few unlucky ones who had broken bones, there were zero fatalities.
The rest merely suffered muscle strains due to overloaded maneuvers.
Not even a single critical injury.
Looking at this casualty report, Andy's logic core paused briefly.
He was indeed somewhat surprised.
One had to realize that it was Necron territory—even if it was merely a semi-dormant Canoptek Research Institute, the defenses inside were formidable enough to devour a fully armed Astra Militarum company.
According to Andy's original estimates, if half the squad made it back alive, it would have been counted as a major victory.
Yet on second thought, this result was actually inevitable.
Three days of excessive simulation training had not gone to waste.
An absolute instinct had been carved into these soldiers' brains: only by staying alive can you maintain damage output.
Upon encountering an unwinnable enemy, their first reaction was not to fight to the death on the spot, but to immediately jet away using their power packs, utilizing their mobility to kite the opponent.
In the eyes of regular Imperial forces, this tactical style might be viewed as cowardly or dishonorable.
But in Andy's eyes, this was "efficiency."
Deep Space Industries didn't need cannon fodder to fill trenches; it needed true corporate soldiers capable of combining brains with gear, completing missions in high-hazard environments, and returning alive with the loot.
After this battle, this unit had truly taken shape.
It could be said that they possessed the potential to become Deep Space Industries' first ace army corps.
"Well done."
Andy stepped down from the high platform, his gaze sweeping over the five large burlap sacks piled like a mountain.
When the sacks were opened, all kinds of good stuff spilled onto the ground with a clatter.
The value of these items couldn't be measured in money; they represented whole new branches of high-tech trees.
Andy typed a string of commands into his data pad.
"The evaluation for this mission is S-tier."
Andy's voice echoed through the workshop: "Every official member who participated in the operation will be rewarded six thousand contribution points."
Hearing the number "six thousand," the breathing of the soldiers present grew heavy.
In Deep Space Industries' current economic system, this was a considerable fortune.
Maintaining the basic rations and water needed for an adult's survival for one day consumed about 2 contribution points.
Exchanging for a brand-new automatic weapon equipped with tactical rails cost anywhere from 60 to 150 points.
Six thousand points.
This meant they could directly purchase a two-bedroom apartment of their own in the newly renovated, high-end residential building with round-the-clock hot water and air conditioning in the living area.
On this wasteland world where people had to sleep with one eye open, owning an absolutely safe, comfortable little home of their own was a dream countless people wouldn't even dare to imagine.
And now, they were about to have it!
"Thank you, Boss!"
"Loyalty to the Boss!"
The cheers nearly blew the roof off the workshop.
Andy waved his hand, signaling for the loot to be sent to the core climate-controlled zone, before turning his gaze toward the back of the formation.
There, Vita was standing somewhat uncomfortably.
Beside him stood the oversized piece of loot he had carried back all the way: an eerie girl, skin and bones, with gray hair trailing to her ankles, radiating a vibe that warned living beings to keep away.
"Bring her up."
Andy turned and walked toward the elevator.
---
Research Tower Level 3, Andy's Workshop.
Under the bright LED lighting, the girl's appearance looked even more bizarre.
She still wore no clothes; her pale gray skin clung tightly to her bones, making the blood vessels beneath clearly visible, alongside a vast array of subcutaneous implants that clearly didn't belong to human biology.
She stood there, neither speaking nor moving around wildly. A pair of eyes burning with green flames quietly observed Andy.
There were none of the emotional fluctuations a human should have—fear, curiosity, shame, none of them existed.
She was just like a machine on standby.
Andy sat behind the workbench, his red electronic eyes locked onto her.
STC Deep Scan activated.
Red laser beams scanned her body structure, genetic sequence, and the energy signatures of her implants from head to toe.
Data streams flashed frantically across Andy's vision.
A few seconds later, a red targeting frame boxed her head.
> [Species: Human (Heavily Modified / Genetic Mutation)]
> [Trait: Pariah (Untouchable)]
> [Implants: Living Metal Skeleton / Phase Neural Nodes / High-Tier Control Protocol]
> [Overall Assessment: Necron Pariah — High-Tier Variant]
A Necron Pariah?
What kind of stuff was that again—?
Andy's processor ran at high speed, retrieving relevant information from his memory banks.
Soon, a long-buried memory was pulled up.
Andy remembered.
Oh, right!
Isn't this that unit retconned away by GW?
In the early historical lore of 40K, Necron Pariahs were quite terrifying entities, and they even had official tabletop miniatures.
However, GW later retconned them, and this unit unit disappeared from the official army lists and background lore.
But that didn't mean they didn't exist.
In this real Warhammer universe, there were no such things as version updates or patches; if something had existed, it existed.
The so-called Necron Pariahs were essentially a type of extremely vicious biological weapon.
Although Space Necrons lacked souls, they deeply despised psionics and feared the power of the Warp.
Thus, they came up with a method.
They searched the galaxy for an extremely rare human variant: Untouchables.
These individuals were born without souls and had no reflection in the Warp, effectively acting as mobile anti-psionic black holes.
Any psyker approaching them would feel extreme nausea and agony, and their psychic powers would fail.
The Necrons captured these precious "Soulless Ones" and subjected them to inhuman modifications.
Their skeletons were replaced with living metal, their nervous systems swapped for Necron tech circuits, and their brains turned into killing machines that obeyed only orders.
They retained the outer shell of human flesh and the traits of an Untouchable, while simultaneously possessing Necron black-tech bodies and self-repair capabilities.
This was a Necron Pariah—a superweapon built specifically to hunt psykers and suppress Warp fluctuations.
But this girl in front of him...
She seemed to be a higher-tier experimental variant?
The Cryptek hadn't completely transformed her into a mindless metal skeleton.
He had preserved her brain, and even retained a significant portion of her human appearance.
"No wonder..."
Andy looked at the [High-Tier Control Protocol] entry on the scan report, reaching a sudden realization.
That explained why she could control those Blackstone blocks.
Under the Cryptek's modifications, her nervous system had become a Necron tech terminal with extremely high clearance.
For those Canoptek constructs that lacked self-awareness and operated purely on base code, the signals she emitted were usually recognized as top-tier Admin commands.
It was roughly the same principle as Andy controlling the Black Box.
We struck gold.
Andy's electronic eyes lit up intensely.
This guy Vita had brought back an absolute sugar daddy!
Think about it.
If Deep Space Industries ever went to explore other Necron tombs in the future, all they would need to do is place this girl at the front line:
The opponent's automated turrets? Ours.
The opponent's heavy doors? Ours.
Heck, even the opponent's vehicles might get subverted by her on the spot!
She was a walking master key, and one with a built-in anti-psionic aura to boot!
As long as he raised her well, any future tomb-robbing efficiency would increase exponentially!
Suppressing the wild joy in his heart, Andy turned to look at Vita, who was standing nearby.
Vita was looking at Andy with a face full of anxiety, unsure whether his high-stakes gamble had been right or wrong.
After all, he had thrown away an entire sack of priceless parts just for this girl!
"Vita," Andy spoke up, "You did an exceptionally fine job this time."
"Your judgment was spot on. Her value is far higher than that big sack of parts."
Andy picked up the data pad on the table and added another digit to the original six thousand points.
"I am rewarding you an extra two thousand contribution points as a reward for your tactical foresight and decisiveness."
Vita froze for a second, followed by ecstatic joy.
Eight thousand points!
Now he could not only buy a house, but he had enough money for the interior decoration too!
"Thank you, Boss! Thank you, Boss!"
Excitedly, Vita stood at attention and gave a salute, then turned to run out, afraid Andy might go back on his word.
"Hold on," Andy called him back. "Keep this strictly between us. Don't go blabbering about it."
"You know how much trouble it would cause if word about this got out."
Harboring a Necron Pariah—if that charge were confirmed...
Tsk, tsk. Anyone who knew, knew.
"Understood! I didn't see a thing! I just picked up... picked up a little stray!"
Vita took the hint instantly and dashed out like a flash.
Click.
The door lock engaged.
Inside the workshop, only Andy and the frail, expressionless girl remained.
Andy stood up from his chair, his tall metal frame casting a long shadow over her.
Yet the girl showed no fear; her green eyes still stared directly at Andy.
A stare-down between two non-human entities.
One was an Iron Man possessing a human soul; the other was a Necron weapon possessing a human shell.
Andy pondered what kind of approach he should use to initiate this first line of communication.