For the next period of time, Zaire's plan to dismantle the Terminators encountered numerous crises.
He had no choice but to temporarily halt their reckless dismantling attempts.
It wasn't that he was concerned about the Terminator power armor.
Zaire was more worried that a single careless move could damage the subatomic fusion reactor in the power pack—sending the entire base, along with half of Manhattan, straight to oblivion.
Thus, he began a relentless salvage operation.
He aimed to recover anything related to the Mechanicus through this method.
If luck was on his side and he managed to obtain an STC related to power armor, then all he'd need to do was input the appropriate materials, and step by step, he could manufacture power armor.
A foolproof process—saving time, effort, and resources.
However, Zaire seemed to have underestimated the limits of the simulator.
Or rather, the items salvaged through this method could only be lifeless objects.
[Salvage Result: Dead Ork (One Unit)](Choose with caution)
Note: An ancient relic from the Beast Wars… Dig a hole, bury it, count to five, and next year, the place will be swarming with greenskins.
[Salvage Result: Deceased Aeldari Ranger (One Unit)](Choose with caution)
Note: A fresh corpse from an Asuryani craftworld… Wow, a red-haired, pale-skinned, long-legged Eldar… Come on, brother, strike while it's hot.
[Salvage Result: A Long-Dormant Servo-Skull (One Unit)]
Note: Crafted by Tech-Priest Reditus himself, made from his own skull… It talks, it sings, it even curses—but it doesn't have a brain.
[Salvage Result: A Massive Chainsword (One Unit)](Choose with caution)
Note: Forged on Armageddon, a ridiculously oversized melee weapon weighing several hundred kilograms… "Oi, where's me choppa? I just left it 'ere!"
[Salvage Result: A Brand-New Servo Arm (One Unit)]
Note: Manufactured on Forge World Yomi-8, the Mechanicus' favorite multi-purpose tool… Of course, it's also been known to rip an Astartes in half from time to time.
[Salvage Result: A Tech-Monk Adrift for a Century (Half a Unit)]
Note: A low-ranking Tech-Priest who met an unfortunate end—now reduced to a charred upper torso… Just burn it, it's too far gone to be useful.
[Salvage Result: Avenger Shuriken Catapult (One Unit)](Choose with caution)
Note: A standard weapon of the Eldar Aspect Warriors, forged in their Webway factories… Deadly, but doesn't last long.
…
Zaire frowned slightly as he scanned through the list of salvage results, his face devoid of expression.
Without hesitation, he dumped all the corpses, as well as the items marked with "choose with caution," straight into the trash classification bin.
Then, he sorted through the recovered ammunition, supplies, and fuel.
In the end, he only found two truly useful items.
One was the servo-skull made from Tech-Priest Reditus' own head.
The other was a brand-new servo arm.
"Three hundred salvage attempts… and this is all I got?"
Zaire narrowed his cyan wolf-like eyes, his fangs slightly exposed.
He twitched his nose and then, without hesitation, initiated another round of targeted salvage.
This time, he specifically aimed for power armor STCs.
He immediately allocated 500 hours' worth of resource time.
It wasn't that he didn't want to max it out at 1,000 hours—he just figured that the chances of success would drastically decrease on the second attempt.
This was just a gamble.
If he succeeded, great.
If not, he'd only be out a few hundred firearms.
[Targeted Salvage Countdown: 99 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds.]
Zaire glanced at the countdown timer, then retrieved the servo arm and the servo-skull.
Thunk!
A heavy servo arm crashed onto the metal floor of the resting area, producing a loud noise.
Bzzzz—
At the same time, the hovering servo-skull activated its anti-gravity engines and floated into the air.
Zaire squinted, carefully inspecting the small contraption before him.
A metal plaque, engraved with a name and title, was nailed into the forehead of the pristine white skull.
The eye sockets, lined with metallic rims, housed glowing mechanical sensors.
Two basic mechanical pincers extended and retracted beneath the skull, seemingly running a self-diagnostic.
Simultaneously, the illumination module installed on the skull flickered slightly.
A few seconds later, a cold mechanical voice emerged from the speaker.
"Flesh is weak. Machine is eternal…"
"Query mode activated…"
"Astartes detected…"
"Greetings, I am Tech-Priest Reditus."
With the faint hum of its anti-gravity engines, the servo-skull drifted closer to Zaire, its eye sockets glowing blue.
"What are your functions?"
Zaire widened his cyan wolf eyes, asking with curiosity.
"Lighting mode, basic surgical mode, equipment maintenance mode… If reconnaissance mode is required, please install weapons."
The servo-skull rattled off its capabilities in a mechanical monotone.
"Equipment maintenance mode?"
Zaire's eyes lit up.
"Can you repair or modify power armor?"
"Greetings, I am Tech-Priest Reditus."
"Hmm?"
"Greetings, I am Tech-Priest Reditus… tus… tus… tus…"
Just as Zaire was about to probe further, the servo-skull's voice began to stutter.
Like a machine caught in an endless loop, it repeated the same phrase over and over.
Then, without warning, it fell silent.
Only the flickering blue light in its eye sockets and the faint hum of its engines remained.
Zaire furrowed his brows, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Did it break? Is Imperial manufacturing really this bad?" he muttered to himself.
He stood up, inspecting the servo-skull up close.
After a while, he found no obvious external damage.
With no other options, he left the hovering skull where it was and walked out of the resting area.
He planned to have someone examine it, hoping to extract any data stored within its systems.
Perhaps there was knowledge hidden inside—something about appeasing machine spirits or even power armor maintenance technology.
However, as soon as Zaire exited the room…
A thin wisp of black mist seeped through the metal walls.
It seemed to sense the presence of the servo-skull.
Without hesitation, it surged toward the hovering device and infiltrated it!
Bzzzzt—
"Greetings, I am Tech-Priest Reditus…"
As the blue light in its eye sockets flickered erratically, the mechanical voice returned.
"Greetings, I am Tech-Priest Reditus…"
"…Greetings… Where the hell am I?"
"Ah… By the Emperor! By the Omnissiah!"
"I, Reditus, am alive again!"