After agreeing to join Qin Mo in excavating the STC, Vik was promptly escorted out of the underground cavern and onto a transport aircraft. Three Custodes were already waiting inside.
Vik settled into his seat, but due to his heavily modified and bulky frame, he couldn't utilize the safety restraints. Instead, he used his mechanical limbs to grip the protrusions around him for stability. Fortunately, the transport's flight was smooth, and the anti-gravity engines shifted from hover to a direct flight, speeding northward through the hive underworld.
As the aircraft raced toward the location of the buried STC, Vik's eyes lingered on the three Custodes, observing them without shame. His unrelenting gaze made them visibly uncomfortable.
"Are the Custodes' power armors also products of the STC?" Vik asked.
"They are," Qin Mo nodded, then asked, "Do you think three Custodes, along with us, will be enough to excavate the STC?"
Vik pondered earnestly before giving a measured response, "It depends on what type of STC we are digging up. Some STCs are blueprints, others are strange machines with varying functions. If it's a powerful one, there might be security measures in place."
"Oh." Qin Mo gave a casual nod, clearly indifferent to Vik's insights. It seemed he only asked for the sake of asking, without genuinely seeking counsel.
Vik realized that his chance to glean more about the Machine God's secrets lay with Qin Mo, and he couldn't allow anything to happen to him during this excavation. Thus, he proposed, "I suggest we not rush. We should set up camp at the STC site first, assess the environment thoroughly, and proceed with caution."
Qin Mo leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed, appearing to rest. It was clear he hadn't taken Vik's advice seriously.
...
The transport soon arrived at the location of the buried STC. As the craft transitioned from flight to hover mode, the hatch slowly descended. Qin Mo and the three Custodes leaped onto the ground with practiced ease. Vik, however, descended more slowly, having equipped himself with some kind of hovering prosthetic. Flames shot from under the crimson robes of the Mechanicus, providing him with thrust.
Once all five had landed, Vik immediately began surveying the area. A dark, foreboding tunnel leading underground caught his eye.
Vik tried offering Qin Mo some advice, eager to share the Mechanicus' standard STC excavation protocols, but Qin Mo didn't give him a moment to speak. Instead, he strode directly into the tunnel, with the Custodes surrounding him in a protective formation.
"Activate the gravity shield in the front," Qin Mo ordered.
Vik, unfamiliar with this so-called "gravity shield," watched the lead Custodes closely, hoping to discern what this mysterious technology entailed. The Custodes did nothing visible but maintained a five-meter distance from those behind him as they continued forward.
However, Vik noticed something strange—the energy readings around the Custodes fluctuated, and as he moved down the narrow corridor, the walls seemed to press outward, distorting in an eerie visual effect.
"Hmm..." Vik frowned, realizing that this was no ordinary situation.
The group pressed on through the tunnel. When they were about forty meters from a bend in the passage, the ceiling ahead suddenly cracked open. A turret descended from the gap and immediately began firing. Shells, reminiscent of cannon rounds, shot down the narrow corridor toward the Custodes at the front.
The Custodes' shoulder-mounted cannon swiftly destroyed the turret, while the incoming shells were crushed against the unseen force of the gravity shield, harmlessly collapsing to the ground without even exploding.
Vik was astonished. He knew about Custodes' power armor, but he hadn't expected them to possess invisible shields. After a brief analysis, he deduced that the shield generated a gravitational field, crushing incoming projectiles with sheer force.
The turret posed no obstacle; the lead Custodes obliterated it effortlessly. They continued forward, with the rest trailing behind at a cautious five-meter distance. As they rounded the corner, they spotted a chamber at the end of the tunnel. Inside, a small white orb floated, no larger than a palm.
"We should proceed with caution," Vik advised. His prior experience in excavating STCs had taught him that the more overtly displayed a treasure seemed, the more danger it likely concealed.
As soon as Vik finished speaking, the path to the chamber abruptly collapsed. The floor split apart and retracted to the sides. At first, Vik thought this was a simple security trap—a pitfall designed to momentarily halt intruders. But he quickly realized it was something far more menacing.
From the dark abyss rose a towering metal giant.
Vik instantly recognized it as an Iron Man, standing five meters tall with unfamiliar weapons grafted onto its arms. Its half-spherical head was affixed to its right shoulder, and two small holes emitted an ominous crimson glow.
The design clearly prioritized function over observation, as the Iron Man's head had no capability for scanning its surroundings. It was built to advance relentlessly, using its indestructible frame to absorb attacks, while methodically exterminating any living thing within sight.
The lead Custodes wasted no time, firing his shoulder cannon. A searing beam of light crossed the hundred-meter distance in an instant, striking the Iron Man's chest. However, it only left a scorched mark on the alloy.
The Iron Man advanced sluggishly, its right arm releasing a powerful energy beam. The Custodes' gravity shield failed to intercept it, and the beam struck his abdomen, destroying the miniature fusion reactor housed within and liquefying the metal bones, which flowed like molten steel through the cracks in his armor.
To Vik's shock, the Custodes, despite the grievous wound, continued to fight. Within the horrific wound—a gaping hole running from his stomach to his back—something squirmed and writhed. His burned skeleton and energy systems were slowly regenerating.
"Blow it up," Qin Mo suddenly pressed a bomb and detonator into Vik's hand, nodding toward the Iron Man. "If you manage to destroy it, I'll tell you more about the Machine God. If you die, I'll pass the knowledge on to your fellow Omnissiah seekers."
"Agripinaa Forge World, Sage Overseer's aide, Sewin. Find him. Tell him!" Without hesitation, Vik grabbed the bomb, muttering a brief message before charging forward. "For the Omnissiah!"
At the sound of Vik's approaching footsteps, the lead Custodes deactivated his gravity shield, allowing Vik to sprint past him and toward the Iron Man, detonator in hand.
But the explosion Vik envisioned never came. The Iron Man deactivated, remaining upright but with its upper half drooping lifelessly.
Vik glanced at the Iron Man, then at the bomb in his hand, before turning to glare at Qin Mo. "You planned this, didn't you?"
"I did. I just wanted to see how badly you wanted to learn about the Machine God," Qin Mo admitted with a smirk.