Alex frowned.
“So…
what did you bring me here for?” He was truly confused.
Aside from driving and manning a turret, he didn’t think he could be of any help to these battle angels.
Repair a dreadnought?
He couldn’t even open the engine bay of a chimera.
Matellus was silent for a few seconds.
Then, he said something that left Alex completely stunned: “I need you to…
try.” “What?” Everyone’s gaze in the room fell upon Alex.
“The machine spirit recognizes you.” Matellus’s voice was complex.
“That chimera…
its machine spirit moved for you.” “Perhaps…
you can also awaken the Ancient.” Alex stared at Matellus, then glanced at the silent dreadnought, and then at the surrounding gazes—some expectant, some skeptical, some scrutinizing.
“Are you joking?” Matellus did not answer.
He simply stepped aside, clearing the path to the sarcophagus…
Alex stood before the dreadnought.
From this angle, the open sarcophagus looked like a giant mouth, waiting to devour its next victim.
The neural interfaces inside were like dense tentacles, connected to someone he couldn’t see, lying deeper within—or rather, something that used to be human.
Captain Tuer.
“I don’t even believe in that theory.” “It doesn’t require your belief.” Matellus stood a few meters away, as if maintaining some distance.
“It only requires you to…
touch it.” Alex could feel everyone’s eyes pinned to his back.
He raised his hand and pressed his palm against the cold armor plating of the dreadnought…
nothing happened.
The metal was as cold as a corpse, without even a hint of warmth.
Alex waited for ten seconds, frowned, and was about to withdraw his hand— Hum.
A deep vibration came from within the armor, like a massive heart beating for the first time inside the iron coffin.
The runic lights on the edge of the sarcophagus flickered.
Changing from red to gold.
Rows of litany engravings seemed to be licked by an invisible fire, light seeping from the gaps between the characters and crawling over the edges of the sarcophagus.
“Readings rising!” Gordian barked.
“Neural bundle handshake…
life support stable—” “The machine spirit…
has responded.” Hum— The dreadnought’s optical sensor lit up.
Crimson.
It wasn’t a gentle light, but a long-suppressed rage.
First, there was a burst of harsh static from the vox-grille.
Sizzle—Zzt— Then, a voice so heavy it made the deck tremble squeezed out, and the dreadnought began to swallow the sarcophagus within.
This scene made everyone in the room freeze as if struck by lightning.
Alex, however, only felt his scalp tingle because he heard pain.
Not a sound, but a pain that could almost crawl along his palm and into his bones—like someone slowly sawing through nerves with a dull knife.
He frowned, his fingers loosening; he could feel that Tur was in great pain, constantly questioning why he hadn’t died yet…
In the next second, hell descended.
The golden light on the sarcophagus suddenly dimmed, and the runic lights flashed red frantically.
Alarms blared shrilly, like countless servo-skulls screaming at once.
“Life support waveform collapsing!” Gordian’s voice fluctuated noticeably for the first time.
“Neural noise surge, he’s falling back!” The dreadnought’s crimson optical sensor flickered violently, like a dying fire.
From the vox-grille came broken roars: “—Ah…!!
The pain…!!” The sound was like a beast being nailed alive into an iron coffin, a roar mixed with suffocation and tearing, chilling to the bone.
“Captain Tuer!!!” Alex stood there, his palm numb.
Why was it so painful?
This thing looked like a combat chassis, but the interred Tur was as if being mangled by blades.
Kill!
Kill all Xenos!
Pain…
so much pain…
let me die…
For The Emperor!
For the Blood Ravens!
Why wake me?
Why not let me have peace?!
No, not yet.
Let me…
wake up.
Vaguely, Alex heard Tur’s lucid voice.
Despite such pain, in the end, he still wanted to continue fighting, to fight for The Emperor.
What devotion!
Clap.
Alex pressed his hand back onto it, his palm firmly against the cold metal.
Miraculously, the alarms began to subside.
The runic lights stabilized from their frantic red, crawling back into lines of gold.
The dreadnought’s optical sensor stopped flickering, the crimson light steadying once more; the beast’s throat was finally reined in by chains.
The roars from the vox-grille were abruptly suppressed.
Alex felt as if his palm were on fire, but he didn’t let go again.
“machine spirit…
right?
I don’t know if you can hear me.” His voice was very soft, so soft that those behind him couldn’t hear clearly.
“I don’t believe in those mystical theories.
I don’t even want to live in this shitty universe.” “But the man lying inside you…” “He still wants to keep serving.” …Silence.
Long silence.
Alex almost thought he was talking to himself against a piece of sheet metal.
Then— Vroom—!
A heavy hum, as if from deep underground, exploded.
Alex was suddenly jolted back a step, nearly falling.
The entire dreadnought began to vibrate.
The litany engravings on the armor plating lit up row by row—not with a weak red light, but a blazing gold, as if something was burning from within.
“Emperor above…” The edges of the sarcophagus began to close slowly; the dreadnought completed its seal.
The neural interfaces made a “clack-clack-clack” locking sound, like countless hands gripping their host tight.
The joints of the Power Claw curled one by one, emitting a screech of metal friction, and the Assault cannon’s belt began to auto-load.
Everyone in the room held their breath.
Finally, the lens that had been as dim as death—lit up with a crimson glow.
It wasn’t a revival of life.
It was rage, an eternal rage awakening.
“I am Tur.” A sound like metal grinding against metal thundered from the dreadnought’s vox-grille.
“Even in death…
I still serve.” Boom—!
All the Blood Ravens warriors in the room simultaneously dropped to one knee, striking their chests with their right fists.
“For The Emperor!
For the Blood Ravens!” Twenty voices converged into thunder.
Alex stood there, watching this behemoth of war slowly turn, its crimson optical sensor locking onto his gaze.
He swore he saw a flash of…
confusion in that light?
“mortal.” Captain Tuer—or rather, the thing that used to be Captain Tuer—issued a low inquiry.
“Was it you who awakened me?” He wanted to say “no”.
But under the dozens of gazes around him that looked as if they were witnessing a miracle, he ultimately just gave a weary sigh.
“…I suppose so.” The dreadnought was silent for two seconds.
Then, the massive war machine made a move that left Alex completely stunned— It slowly curled several joints of its Power Claw.
From a certain angle…
it looked almost like a “thumbs up” gesture.
“Good.” Captain Tuer’s voice rolled through the room like thunder.
“Then I owe you a life, mortal.” “When the Tyranid invasion is over, I will repay it.” Alex looked at that “thumb,” which was thicker than his arm, and felt completely numb.
“…No need, really, no need.” He turned to leave.
But Tarkus blocked his path.
The Tactical Sergeant’s scar-covered face remained expressionless.
“Well done.” After Tarkus spoke, he actually gave a slight nod.
Looking around, every Astartes maintained the same gesture, which was nearly equivalent to the highest form of salute.
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”