The moment the SCV drove its extraction hose into the Primus’ corpse, the shriveled purple body twitched one last time.
The burly engineer inside the cockpit snorted.
“Dead already and still moving.
That’s just bad manners.” The extraction pump roared to life.
Green biological fluid surged through the transparent tubing into the processing chamber.
Mixed within it were chunks of black-purple flesh and glowing biomass crystals.
The Primus’ swollen chest slowly collapsed, while the faint violet glow beneath its chitin faded away.
Leon Drake stood nearby, making no move to leave.
A few moments ago, this thing had nearly reached him.
Now, watching it being drained dry one tube at a time, he finally felt the last knot of tension loosen inside him.
His resource display began climbing.
Refining high-value Tyranid mutant biomass…
Vespene Gas +35 Vespene Gas +48 Vespene Gas +72 Leon’s eyes lit up.
Literally.
Until now, every battle had been a struggle.
Repairing bunkers.
Replacing casualties.
Constructing the Heavy Factory.
Producing Hellions and Goliaths.
He had been living like a pauper, counting every last resource.
Every unit of Vespene had to be squeezed dry.
Every crystal had to be scavenged by hand.
But not anymore.
The Primus lay dead before him.
The mining vehicles lay crippled across the battlefield.
The hall was littered with wreckage, coolant tanks, weapon mounts, drive shafts, and alien corpses.
Only minutes ago, those machines had nearly crushed his Heavy Factory.
Now…
They were nothing more than numbers waiting to be added to his account.
Leon bit down on his cigar and chuckled.
“Beautiful.” “Ugly bug.” “Worth a fortune once it’s dead.” Ada answered in her usual calm tone.
Correction.
Target identified as a high-ranking Genestealer Cult command organism.
However, based on recoverable resource value, your assessment is substantially accurate.
“So…” Leon shrugged.
“An expensive bug.” He wasn’t interested in arguing semantics.
Nearby, the Marauder stood with smoke still drifting from his grenade launcher.
He glanced at the deflating corpse before looking at Leon.
“Commander.” “If that thing jumps up again…” “Mind if I give it another couple of rounds?” “No.” Leon immediately raised a hand.
“Don’t break it apart.” “Broken corpses aren’t worth as much.” The Marauder blinked before breaking into a grin.
“Understood.” “Premium cargo handling.” The fat SCV pilot laughed over the comms.
“Don’t worry.” “I’m better at taking corpses apart than he is.” The Medic sighed.
“I recommend reducing the amount of entertainment derived from corpse processing.” Leon looked at her.
“You people are surprisingly professional.” Occupational habit.
Ada added, It has no measurable effect on extraction efficiency.
On the opposite side of the hall, the last hybrid cultists were being eliminated.
The Marines advanced in two squads through the burning mining vehicle wrecks.
Single gauss shots echoed through the chamber.
Any cultist pretending to be dead only had time to crawl halfway out before another round pinned them back to the ground.
The Firebats secured both flanking passages.
Instead of flooding the battlefield with fire, they used short, controlled bursts, burning only the aberrations that were still moving.
Leon had specifically instructed them.
Anything that could be salvaged…
Don’t reduce it to ash.
The Firebat squad leader had simply replied, “Roger that, Commander.” “We’ll cook them medium today.” Behind the front line, Rufus and his Arbites officers remained clustered together.
Compared to before, though, they looked far less terrified.
With the Primus dead, the invisible pressure crushing everyone’s spirits had vanished.
That was the way Underhive survivors lived.
They were terrified while death loomed over them.
The moment they realized they had survived…
Their courage crawled right back out of the mud.
Several Arbites had already begun eyeing the wrecked mining vehicles.
Steel armor.
Coolant tanks.
Weapon mounts.
Power coils.
Even without understanding StarCraft technology, they knew the pile represented incredible wealth.
Rufus understood it even better.
Licking his lips, he cautiously asked, “Commander…” “Would it be alright if we helped carry a few…
spare parts?” Without turning around, Leon answered, “Sure.” Rufus’ eyes immediately brightened.
Leon continued, “Carry them next to the SCV.” Rufus’ smile froze.
“And then?” “Stand there.” “And watch it dismantle everything.” “…” He forced an awkward laugh.
“Understood.” “We’ll help guard your money.” Helena cast him an icy glance.
“According to wartime requisition protocol, every vehicle wreck on this battlefield now belongs to Commander Leon Drake’s operational command.” “Any unauthorized removal constitutes theft of military property.” Rufus immediately straightened his back.
“Arbiter Helena, I was only testing my men’s loyalty.” “And the results?” “They’re all very loyal.” “Mostly because I was watching.” Helena ignored him.
Leon, however, smiled.
Rufus was greedy.
But he wasn’t stupid.
People like that were useful.
Give them enough room to survive.
Give them a clear boundary.
They would keep everyone else in line themselves.
The SCV rolled toward the first disabled mining vehicle.
Its power drill punched through the side armor.
First, it severed the remaining Promethium coolant lines.
Then it cleanly removed the entire turret rotation assembly.
The massive mechanical arm grabbed the alloy shaft and tossed it into the recycling bay.
Clang.
The resource display jumped again.
Crystal Minerals +42 Leon raised an eyebrow.
“That much?” The burly engineer laughed.
“Commander, these things are heavy.” “The Mining Guild may not excel at much, but they certainly don’t skimp on materials.” The second armor plate came off.
Crystal Minerals +28 A third set of power coils followed.
Crystal Minerals +36 One contaminated coolant pipe was deposited into a purification chamber separately.
Low-grade energetic compounds convertible.
Vespene Gas +9 The numbers weren’t huge.
But there were mountains of salvage.
Leon watched the totals climb higher and higher.
His mood improved with every notification.
Now this…
This was how war should work.
The enemy came to tear down your home.
They failed.
They died.
Their machines remained.
Then every vehicle…
Every corpse…
Every scrap…
Became part of your own army.
The more desperate he’d felt earlier…
The more satisfying this became.
Rufus couldn’t see the system interface.
He could only watch the SCV swallowing one massive machine component after another while Leon’s expression grew happier and happier.
That was somehow more terrifying than the battle itself.
“Commander…” Rufus asked cautiously.
“You really can turn junk into soldiers?” Leon glanced at him.
“And?” Rufus swallowed.
“If that’s true…” “The Underhive is in serious trouble.” “Why?” Rufus gestured toward the endless wreckage.
“Because there’s one thing the Underhive has more than anything else.” “Scrap metal.” Leon laughed.
The man had finally hit the point.
The Underhive wasn’t just a garbage dump.
It was a mine.
Until now, all that scrap had been worthless because nobody could transform it into organized military power.
Leon could.
To everyone else…
It was junk.
To him…
It was soldiers.
Vehicles.
Bunkers.
The foundation that would eventually carry him off this miserable planet.
Ada interrupted his thoughts.
Primus biomass refinement complete.
Total Vespene Gas acquired: 436 Vehicle salvage operation: 22% complete.
Crystal Minerals recovered: 580 Estimated total recovery upon completion: 1,400 to 1,800 Crystal Minerals.
Leon held his cigar between his teeth without speaking.
Rufus couldn’t see the numbers.
But he could read Leon’s expression.
That wasn’t ordinary happiness.
It was the look of someone who had spent years in poverty…
Only to discover he had been standing on the doorstep of a vault.
Helena noticed as well.
“My lord.” “The harvest is significant?” Leon exhaled a cloud of smoke.
“Let’s put it this way.” “If a few more monsters like that had shown up earlier…” “I probably would’ve died.” “But if they all die in front of me…” “I’ll stay alive for a very long time.” Helena fell silent.
It didn’t sound like the sort of heroic declaration celebrated by the Imperium.
But it sounded exactly like something a commander who actually survived would say.
She looked down at the shriveled remains of the Primus.
Had it lived…
It would have destroyed the defenses, slaughtered the Arbites, and infected even more Underhive citizens.
Instead…
Its death had become another source of military strength.
Helena rested a hand over her Arbites badge.
She didn’t pray for long.
This wasn’t the time for prayer.
“I will formally record today’s battlefield requisition.” “The Primus and every contaminated vehicle will be classified as captured xenos war materiel.” Leon nodded approvingly.
“The more legal you make it sound…” “The better.” “It is already legal.” “Perfect.” “I’ll leave the professional work to the professionals.” Helena glanced at him.
She no longer bothered correcting him.
Suddenly, an Arbites officer shouted from the distance.
“There’s still one alive!” A Firebat instantly turned.
It wasn’t the Primus.
A hybrid cultist remained trapped beneath a mining vehicle, only half its body intact.
A coolant pipe pierced its chest.
Its eyes glowed completely violet.
Yet it still clutched a metal data case with both hands.
A Marine walked over and crushed its wrist beneath one boot.
The hybrid opened its mutated mouth.
Broken whispers escaped.
“…Father…” “…will…” “…awaken…” Bang.
A gauss round punched through its skull.
The data case clattered onto the floor.
Helena approached carefully, nudging away the corpse with her weapon.
Only after confirming there were no secondary parasites did she allow an Arbites officer to retrieve the case with long-handled tongs.
“Mining Guild authorization case.” She examined the insignia.
“It may contain mining vehicle dispatch records.” “Or access authorization for Mining Guild storage facilities.” Leon looked interested.
“Storage authorization?” Helena nodded.
“The Mining Guild maintains a joint emergency supply depot with the Arbites near the maintenance station.” “According to regulations, it may be requisitioned by the Arbites during major industrial unrest.” The moment Rufus heard that, he became visibly excited.
“Arbiter Helena…” “You mean the emergency armory?” She turned toward him.
“You know about it?” Rufus chuckled nervously.
“I’ve…
heard stories.” “People in the Underhive hear stories about everything.” Her voice turned colder.
“And stolen from it?” Rufus shook his head so quickly it almost blurred.
“Never.” “That place has triple security locks and automated gun turrets.” “Law-abiding citizens like us only steal from it in our dreams.” Leon looked at the data case.
His mood improved even further.
The Primus had died.
The mining vehicles had become resources.
And now…
It had even dropped the location of an armory.
Now that was the kind of loot worthy of a high-level boss.
Ada interfaced with the data case.
Reading data…
Mining Guild and Arbites Joint Reserve Depot identified.
Location: Maintenance Station underground eastern wing.
Distance from current position: 420 meters.
Stored inventory includes: Riot shields, industrial cutting weapons, heavy ammunition crates, obsolete armor plating, backup generator units.
Recommendation: Designate as next-stage recovery objective.
Leon laughed.
“Now that’s more like it.” “Worth every bullet.” He looked around the battlefield.
The SCVs continued dismantling vehicles.
The Marines continued sweeping the area.
The Firebats secured the passages.
The Hellions patrolled the perimeter.
The Marauder stood beside the Primus’ corpse like a newly erected fortress wall.
That scene was more convincing than any speech.
Leon pointed toward the data case.
“Helena.” “Lead the way.” “Rufus.” “Your men carry the salvage.” “Don’t touch any StarCraft equipment.” “And don’t steal.” Rufus immediately patted his chest.
“Don’t worry, Commander!” “My men have clean hands.” Helena calmly added, “I’ll be inspecting them.” Rufus instantly corrected himself.
“What I meant was…” “They’ll be perfectly clean after Arbiter Helena finishes inspecting them.” Leon simply sighed.
He gave the dried-out corpse of the Primus one final glance.
The creature had nearly driven him into a dead end.
Now it had given him Vespene.
Resources.
Mining vehicles.
And the location of an armory.
Leon clenched his cigar between his teeth once more.
“A field of gold.” Ada remained silent for a second before replying.
Correction.
Primary components consist of titanium steel, contaminated biomass, low-grade energetic compounds, and military storage access authorization.
“Be quiet.” Understood.
The SCV’s drill roared again.
A massive section of mining vehicle armor was pried open, exposing the still-intact power coils hidden beneath.
The resource counter continued climbing.
Leon turned and headed toward the eastern passage Helena had identified.
“Let’s go.” “It’s time to inspect that armory.” “From this moment on…” “It belongs to Leon Drake.”