126: Chapter 126 The first day after the signing of the technology exchange agreement

The conference room of the Tactical Assessment Bureau at the Griffin IV Anchorage did not return to silence after the Brood Queen left.

Marcus Aurelian handed the newly signed draft of the technical exchange agreement to Bern for review, then sat in his chair, watching the encrypted data terminal in the center of the conference table—the scanning data of the Chaos psionic infiltration paths promised by The Swarm was being transmitted from Metallis, one item at a time.

The Blackstone Cerebrate had not yet officially moved into the Tactical Assessment Bureau; data transmission was conducted via an encrypted Necron quantum relay link, with every frame of data carrying the Brood Queen's digital signature and the Overmind's authorization code.

The directory of the first batch of scanning data was completely transmitted in less than half a day.

Marcus projected the data onto the main screen, and the tactical data pads of fifty military academy cadets lit up simultaneously; they were divided into five groups responsible for decoding the Chaos infiltration path coordinates in the data one by one, cross-referencing them with the communication encryption protocols of all Imperial Navy anchorages to identify any currently active backdoor remnants.

Marcus required them to submit evaluation reports upon completion of the decoding, which would be directly incorporated into the official archives of the Tactical Assessment Bureau.

On the cadets' data pads, the topology maps of Chaos psionic infiltration paths flickered—the existing monitoring network of the Grey Knights Psionic Warning Array was overlaid with the scanning data from The Swarm's Blackstone Defense Line detection array, with the former's monitoring blind spots marked one by one in The Swarm's data, each blind spot accompanied by the infiltration frequency characteristics of Tzeentch's Error-correction code at that location.

Bern tapped the table lightly with the handle of his Holy Hammer, pointing out that Chaos psionic infiltration had simultaneously pierced the protocol layers of both humanity and The Swarm during the coalition era—The Swarm needed the Imperial encryption algorithms to protect its own communications, and the Empire needed The Swarm's scanning data to plug the warning blind spots.

This exchange agreement was the purest transaction between the Empire and The Swarm at present; there were no coalition charters, no observer permissions, only technical terms and verification procedures.

He mentioned a sentence the Brood Queen said during the negotiations that left a deep impression on him— "Psionic infiltration does not distinguish between humans and bugs."

Marcus understood that Chaos was a common enemy to both sides, and The Swarm was never ambiguous about this point.

Heinrich sent confirmation from the Third Assault Fleet.

Following the Tactical Assessment Bureau's recommendations, the various fleets had deployed multiple groups of psionic listening buoys at the coordinates specified in the first batch of data; these buoys were linked with the Grey Knights Psionic Warning Array, specifically designed to capture the iterative signals of Chaos Error-correction codes.

The monitoring network would synchronize with the Titan-Eater during its next patrol of the Cadian Ruins, providing real-time feedback on the movements of Chaos signals.

Marcus emphasized that during The Swarm's patrol, all classified data would be processed uniformly by the joint technical assessment team, and the Empire would only receive the non-classified portions.

After the Blackstone Cerebrate was permanently stationed at the Tactical Assessment Bureau, all technical exchanges would be conducted through its dedicated encrypted channel and would not be connected to the Imperial communication network.

Marcus continued to review the data, noting that the first batch contained a set marked as raw signals intercepted by the Titan-Eater when it struck a Chaos flagship in the debris belt, which included the Error-correction code remnants of a Keeper of Secrets.

These data would be helpful in analyzing how Tzeentch replicated the Old Ones' sealing frequencies.

He turned to Bern and requested that the Grey Knights Librarian refer to these data synchronously to guard against the continued iteration of Chaos Error-correction codes threatening Imperial anchorages.

The Blackstone Cerebrate was expected to arrive at the Tactical Assessment Bureau soon, at which point The Swarm would simultaneously open the latest progress on its reverse-decoding of the Error-Correction Code Prototype.

Marcus planned to require the Blackstone Cerebrate to independently verify all transmitted data for residual Chaos contamination before accessing the data.

Bern stated that he would use the Holy Power of his Holy Hammer to supervise the data access on-site, ensuring there would be no mistakes.

When the analysis of the first batch of data was completed, Marcus stood up and paced slowly along the conference room corridor; the cadets were nervously marking infiltration paths on their data pads.

He suddenly recalled the remark the Brood Queen had left regarding the right of interpretation during the negotiations on the coalition's legal definitions—at that time, the coalition still existed, and humans and bugs still needed shared clauses to delineate boundaries.

Now, Chaos indiscriminately infiltrated every language, while humans and The Swarm sat quietly at the same table, exchanging data on how to plug each other's backdoors.

He said to Bern that the speed at which the Empire updated its encryption protocols after obtaining this batch of data must be faster than The Swarm's evaluation reports on the Empire.

The Swarm said it could defend its own anchorages, and the Empire must also defend the Ultima Segmentum in its own way.