All Initiates returned to the gene labs, after they were done with their combat assessment. Some degree of injury is present in every initiate, those that have it bad are on their last life.
Dravion was one of the carried ones. If his chest did not show the rhythmic rise and fall showing breath he would have been left for dead by the initiates.
At the meeting point the selenar cultists swarmed out of their gene labs to attend to those severely injured. When they got to Dravion, after they examined him, they discovered no injuries.
"Define the pathology of this subject. Why does he linger in stasis?" A cultists asked the initiate that brought Dravion here
"Subject achieved total combat-neutralization of the hostiles, then suffered immediate bio-rhythmic collapse."
"Duration?"
"Twenty standard hours"
"Hmm…take him to the isolation cradle for further evaluation" the cultist turned to another cultist instructing him.
With Dravion taken away the rest of the cultists finished their examination of the initiates. Those that needed repair were sent to the labs for correction.
In the gene labs, a selenar gene cultist is looking at a cortex monitors, unable to comprehend the information he is receiving. On the med cradle in front of him lay Dravion.
Extreme exhaustion is what he is seeing, but cannot comprehend what or how that is possible. The initiates are fed with high amounts of nutrient dense bio slurry, so how is this initiate lacking so many calories.
"A statistical anomaly, does the Emperor's template flourish here, or is the base-line biology simply...?" Another cultist came behind the one looking at the screen, commenting on what he just saw.
"Data insufficient, further evaluation is required to determine the true reason."
"Sanction the evaluation, I want a full bio-harmonic mapping." then he turned to the rest of the cultists in the room
"Commence sequence-refinement. phase III shall begin in three solar weeks prepare the vats."
803.M30 Segmentum Solar, Sol System, Luna
"Does the subject possess the necessary structural integrity for the upcoming grafts?" a cultist asked as he indicated towards Dravion, who now stand again with the other initiates.
Dravion looks paler than he normally does. Although his body is back to normal, he found out that all initiates with the XIV gene strain, always have the affectation of pale somewhat grey skin.
"He will complete it, the collapse was a byproduct of hyper-metabolic adaptation." The cultist looked at the other as he continued
"Caloric intake has been recalibrated to 300% of standard rations, maintain this load or risk organ wither."
"Acknowledged"
With that, the cultists went back to work, distributing the initiates to their med cradles. The next phase would cover 4 surgeries.
This time initiates start laying down with their backs exposed. A micro beam scalp makes an incision on their backs, exposing the spinal column and part of the stomach.
Mechanical tendrils are then inserted into the stomach attaching them to the lining of the stomach. These tendrils are then connected to the spinal column.
Once again, some Initiates begin to show signs of rejection. Brain swelling in the scalp, spinal fluid leaking out from the connector points, and some even experience rupturing of the spinal cord which would lead to paralysis.
The selenar gene cultists did what they could to increase the chance of survival for the initiates but some still died in the process.
"Phase II procedure not fully developed in the patient leading to weakened body function." A cultist stated in the same tone as one would when requesting rations.
They then moved on to the next part, turning the initiates with their chests facing upward. The initiate has his chest cavity once again opened up, this time to access the lungs.
A respiratory lobe is grafted to the trachea via a series of sphinctered bypass valves. This allows the new organ to function in tandem with the already existing lungs. The surgery goes well for all initiates with none of them experiencing adverse effects.
Moving on to the eyes of the initiate. The micro beam scalpel disconnects the optic nerve from the eyes. The selenar cultists slowed down this process, the risk of permanent optical damage is high.
Their pride would not allow them to present an Astartes with augmentation from the very beginning. They believe apart from the Emperor no one could achieve what they have in the field of genetic engineering.
A bio-lens is attached between the nerve and the eye, as an interpreter of information. The eye would now be able to process the infrared spectrum of light.
Without any rest the last surgery for this phase is the Lyman's ear. This involves the inner ear being hollowed out and replaced with a gyro-stabilized mechanical housing. This aids the Astartes balancing and auditory ability.
Immediately the procedure is done, the initiates are once again sent to the hypno-vats.
While all this is going on.
Within the bowls of Veridian prime. Arch Magos Ferrum-Rho is coordinating the search for the STC. After many negotiations with Governor Hax, he agreed to creating arms for his defence forces.
Providing weapons and armor, with very limited amounts of vehicles like tanks and personnel carriers. The defence of the planet was already covered by the massive void shield around the main hive city Verden.
After combing through many old information panels and discovering some information about the early settlers. The Arch Magos began to form an idea of where the main terminal housing the STC could be.
This led him to the under hive.
"[Directive]: Unit Xerath-17 is to proceed with the clearing out of recidivists. [Conclusion] hostile elements could impede the search and securing of the sacred template."
"[Query]: Has the location of the sacred template been confirmed?"
"[Response]: 72.8% probability of locating the sacred template here.
[Analysis]: Governor Hax will deploy observation units to ascertain our goal.
[Conclusion]: All non pertinent units must be removed. Force should be applied if necessary."
"[Analysis]:....
[Conclusion]: The Arch Magos' supposition is plausible. Proceeding with clearing."
With that Magos Xerath-17 led the skitarii team to 'clear out' the area before the search would begin.