Chapter Twenty-Six - Proof

Alexis fretted for a moment under the stern look of the High Transmechanic, but eventually his gaze turned away, and she let out a small—hopefully subtle—sigh. Safe! Or safe enough, she hoped. The Communications Array room was quite the mess. A few cogitators were spitting electrical sparks, and others were simply smoking. Also, a lot of people were dead, which was a concern as well.

The voidsmen and a couple of the local Tech-Priests were already at work, cleaning out the space by the entrance and moving bodies aside. Most of those were genestealers and mutants. They were simply piled off to one side, and she wasn't even sure if they'd receive the dubious honour of being turned into mulch. The other dead, the Tech Acolytes and voidsmen, were brought to the side and treated with a little more respect.

The Mechanicus might have believed in the weakness of flesh, and therefore didn't put too much value on the dead, but that didn't mean they had to lack respect for those who died fighting for a just cause.

Alexis moved away from the front, calling over her servitor friends to look them over. At the same time, she sent out a signal through her MIU to the two that were missing, recalling them to where she was now.

Kills Confirmed: 12x Genestealers

New Point Total: 232

Kill Confirmed: 1x Genestealer Magos

New Point Total: 282

Alexis blinked at that, then tried to do the math. She ended up having to count backwards from 8 to 3 to figure it out. "That mutant psyker was worth sixty points?" she subvocalized.

"Fifty. And yes. Greater threats give greater rewards. The Magos, which is a title I discovered buried in an archive, was a Psyker, a second-generation Genestealer, and a leader among his organization."

"I see," Alexis muttered. She pretended not to feel the bit of warmth on her cheeks at getting the math a smidge wrong. She wasn't going to say no to a few more points. Quite the opposite. They'd come in handy.

She had projects in mind! Big ones, involving improving her friends and also herself. She... found that fighting wasn't so bad? It was like a puzzle, but in three dimensions, and figuring out what to do with herself and her friends all at once was fun!

Honestly, the moments after a fight, with people staring at her and whispering, were turning out to be far, far worse. She gave a little wave to a nearby Tech-Priest, and the man bobbed his head in a nod, then scurried off.

Was she spooking him? Her? She was average in height and didn't have any features that stood out! She had always enjoyed being inoffensive. Sure, she was covered in a lot of blood and had ripped a man's brain apart with her... oh... "Yeah, okay," she muttered. Maybe she needed a shower and a change of clothes.

Then she turned and jumped as she discovered KYS standing less than a step away. The Medicae servitor's glowing eyes were fixed on her, awaiting orders. K84-321 was standing nearby as well.

She looked over KYS but didn't find anything wrong with the servitor, though there was some dried blood on her arms, and if that wasn't cleaned off, it might gum things up.

K84-321 was in far worse condition, seeing as how he was more of a melee fighter. His saw had left a very distinct spray pattern across his chassis, and his pneumatics were covered in brain matter.

A younger, less experienced Alexis might have cringed and been grossed out, but a few years working in the Servitorium had inured her to touching brains and moving them around. Blood too, though she didn't like the feeling it left on her hands.

"What is your plan now?"

She thought about it for a moment before answering in a low whisper. "I think... there are still some of those mutants left, right? But I have the impression that they're losing the fight. If that's the case, then maybe... we help finish it, if we can. I could use the points. Then I guess it's back to the Servitorium. With no enemies to fight, it might be trickier to build up points, so I'll have to be careful. But work will be a lot easier now. Maybe I can see if I can't keep my friends around?"

"That might be somewhat difficult. You still lack authority."

"Yeah," she said. "Do you think that will change, with all of this?"

"There will certainly be some amount of reshuffling. Total losses seem to be relatively small, but key persons have still been lost."

"Sure, but I... well, to rise in the ranks, you usually need either a mentor or years of service. I think I could aim for Servitor Underseer? It would be a big step up from Tech Acolyte, but it's the job I've been training for, sorta. Past that... heh, I don't think I'm ready for anything beyond that. That would be years of study and an introduction to some of the mysteries of the Mechanicus. I was barely shown anything yet."

"Understandable. Do you think our alliance might impact your speed of progression?"

Alexis pursed her lips. "Probably. I mean, it definitely already has. I wasn't even a Tech Acolyte this morning. If... if we happened to run into a situation where we had nothing but fights, then maybe, maybe, I could one day rise to the position of Magos Dominus, but that would be hard."

"Noted. Your best bet may be to make friends in high places, then."

"Yeah," Alexis said. "Balanced against the amount of trouble I could get into. I don't want to be turned into a servitor made to do nothing but accumulate points for decades to buy the occasional STC. As for making friends in high places, ah..."

She turned, glancing over her shoulder to where High Transmechanic Dracovos was overseeing a rite of emergency maintenance around the array, appeasing its machine spirit with incense and low, humming prayers.

"I don't think he likes me very much."

There were others, however, who liked her better. Well, at least one other. Rho-Theta was a good mentor. A bit harsh, but fair, and she always felt like he cared. There were a lot of Servitor Underseers on the ship who had been mentored by him over the decades.

As for the rest... she didn't know them that well and couldn't tell what they'd think of her. Her best bet, she figured, was to keep her head low once this whole thing blew over. Maybe put in a request for the usual education that would lead to an eventual rise in the ranks.

She'd get a lot fewer questions if she had a higher rank. Someone like High Transmechanic Dracovos could pull out some archeotech, and no one would question him about it, as long as it wasn't too strange and as long as it was related to his line of research.

Alexis looked up when the mood in the room shifted. Then she heard it: the thump of boots on metal flooring. Looking over to the blown-apart entryway, she was ready to grab a weapon, only the voidsmen there were smiling and looking relieved. Not another attack, then?

A few moments later, the question was answered as a squad of enforcers moved into the room. They scanned the place, then one of them, with an air of authority, crossed the room, heading right for the High Transmechanic.

He was followed by Alma-9, the Transmechanic keeping up with him with little steps. She looked a bit winded to Alexis. She imagined that the woman had done more running today than she had in several years.

Alexis wasn't made privy to the conversation that followed. She just kept her head down and started to look for an excuse to get out of the room. Maybe she could make up a story about meeting her other servitors halfway. That would hold up, right?

Then Alma-9 bowed to the others and left them, only to walk straight across the room to where Alexis was standing. "Ah, hi there," Alexis said. "You found reinfo—"

She cut herself off as Alma-9 made the sign of the cog and bowed. Not deeply, but there was no mistaking it. "Thank you, Alexis Lambda-3. When I asked for your assistance, I did not expect that you would go this far."

"Ah, I just did what I could," Alexis said with a panicked wave of her hands.

"Understood. I still appreciate it. You have helped keep the holy sanctity of this machine. This place is my home. I... owe you one, as they say."

"It's okay," Alexis said. She gave Alma-9 a smile. "I got something out of it too."

The Transmechanic's eyebrow rose above her augmented eye. "You did?"

"Uh... I mean, yeah. It was good fighting experience. And... I'm good at that, with my servitors. Do you know how hard it would be to remain a nobody if I didn't have a few chances to stand out?"

"Understood. In that case, perhaps I can offer repayment."

"Huh?"

Alma-9 nodded once. "Affirmative. If it is glory you are seeking, especially by doing the work of the Omnissiah in purging heretics, then I will trade you certain information for prior gratitude."

"Uh, sure? I don't think that's how friendships work."

"We are friends? Regardless. The information is as follows: A large contingent of the ship's voidsmen and enforcers are preparing for an assault on the lower decks, specifically on the location where the Genestealer infestation was known to originate. This area is a stronghold. The ship's crew are asking for assistance from the Adeptus Mechanicus, but most of us are still repairing the damage from our prior incident."

"I see," Alexis said. That was good information, actually.

"The Adeptus Mechanicus person in charge of the Cult Mechanicus' efforts to assist is Ordinator Velpexa Thame. From what I understood, his cohort is composed of very few members. He would likely accept additional aid from a young Tech Acolyte attempting to prove herself."

"That... Alma-9, that's perfect!"

***