One four-many looked directly at the rookie spark-eyes drifting the dusty voice ever placid, "Do not shoot servitors. Jinhai currently contain delicate tools. Remanifesting them is inconvenient."
Another taller eight-many replied to Titus directly as two merged together for more complex abstractions, "We are Jinhai. Manifestation servitors of Myrkul's Vein, overbeing under the will of the Living Emperor. Tech priests sustain the Living Emperor's machine spirits. We repair the spirits of humankind under the Living Emperor. We will rekindle the Thunderhawk with currently known structures."
Another looked toward the Psyker as the eight-many left to begin manufacturing stone platforms with human-shaped recesses, "The Immaterium has been temporarily suppressed in this locality centered on the tainted humankind. The envelope will diminish as the humankind inevitably re-attunes with the Immaterium. Ensure security of the tainted humankind while work is ongoing. Resources are arriving."
One knelt as they dispersed to wreckage, as much as a thing can without bones, hands held wide focusing on a small firefly of light. The psychoportation mote flared as an administratum flared in from a collection of white cloth scraps carrying a bundle of sixteen meter-long rods. Each rod with deployable legs and a twist-pull activation from Gunnac's small munitorum at Wing City. Built by a techmarine it had the ornate gold common to the imperium its Sides labeled with Gunnac's name, seal of mechanicus at its top, and the imperial eagle along its length. The hollow white robe floated with little effort under load up to Titus.
As much their banal voices allowed the Administratum listed contents genially, "Adminstratum munitorum provides Twelve psyport manifestation homers localized to Wing City Imperium asset repository due to ongoing conflict. Contents - Four Hyperios missile platform, four twin linked assault cannon tarantula sentry, two 'potentia' Regenerative charged Munitorum arrays, Genesis psychoportation homer, Wen servitor transfiguration carapace. Are their any further requisitions while unbound highmass conduits are possible?"
Meanwhile, the Jinhai consider how to implement their task. A small group of four many stand among the wreckage as others acquire bodies and quantify the amount of sapience lost in the wreckage. They did not recognize the type of ship but could compose a functional servitor as requested. There were parts missing from many humankind as the dune-faced servitors drifted into rent holes to inspect equipment. The eight-many in particular brought a single mostly-intact guard to placate them with stasis in a gentle brush of its hand. As compatible organs and limbs arrived the eight many adjusted concordance of the humankind vessel then affixed the donor parts. Bloody rents in the bodies pulling together as a dusty tornado at its fingertips draws wounds together then fuses it shut. The tau were not so lucky the discordant bodies sorted but segmented away from the rest of the Imperium's own though a problem soon became evident.
One held up two legs, "These two pieces are not from compatible humankind the blue is very low potential though observed entangled sparks are very intercompatible with each other."
Another noted, "The sparks are tightly impressed and cannot be easily removed from their bonded surfaces as the thrones of mankind are destroyed. They cannot be rekindled."
"Impressed sparks on the mass are observed to recover from aether hysteresis likely induced by mass psychometric impact. Further degradation of the gestalt state by exposure to tainted aether has been arrested." Said another mistaking the souls starting to mingle from Tolyl's smashing of their immortal beings into metal for a diminished form of a collective psyker intellect inherent to the ship.
The sixteen-many distributed its own manifold for the puzzle pieces unknowingly perpetuating a misunderstanding and sparking new stable design among the Jinhai, "Humankind vessel concordance can be reimaged into a high-coherency aether core. Redundant humankind artifact can be repurposed for a core reliquary. Compatible regulating entities for interfacing with weapons and engineering systems have been found. The other humankind observed are ideal for autonomic and engineering functions. Presumed fully segmented from executive rights to provide aether-hardened executive support to humankind while not diminishing requested combat readiness."
A single four-many sealed their common fate and damned the Tau to servitude though perhaps saving them all from the warp, "A concordance is reached. Adaptations to specialize the nonconformant humankind will be implemented as necessary."
Work went quickly flashes of sparks and manifestation flares as the Jinhai bent metal to shape reconnecting metal hull and forging brushed grey metal sinew out of translucent billets of raw ferroplasm. As they moved equipment to build or bent it open discovered guard remainders were extracted from the Thunderhawk. Intact bodies, or at least the heads, instead carried lifeless to the eight-many instead. Repaired with the intact substance of their brethren plenty enough in spare parts but those not smashed against the hull or immolated are shortly exhausted. At the end five Astartes in smooth refurbished armor lay in the human-shaped depressions covered in a fine ectoplasmic hoar. As Adolefactus completed rekindling the anchored spirit to its throne they took breaths once more, or perhaps yelled in continuation of their last thought, the hoar flashes from them in lucent steam with the rekindling of life. Most fall from their slabs after putting eyes on Titus then after drunken stumbling for a moment rejoin to their brethren away from the Xenos now ignoring them dematerializing the slabs they left.
Unlike Mechanicus they had less compulsion to avoid Xeno technology however had slowly gained an understanding of how the 'machine spirit' was to integrate with the components. Gunnac ensured they were taught. Synthetic thought it may be the nature of a mind's utilization of components they well understood if more in ritual nature than themselves. The Tau components were duly altered to service the machine spirit within the Thunderhawk. Layers of redundant aetheric feeding coils and shielding arrays assembled onto the aether core. Motilization and data networks housed in protected conduits capable of minor self-manifestation under the will of inner humankind bound to the Aether Core. Jinhai's own ferroplasmic structures and energy manifolds replacing the pseudo synaptic relays finding them less fit to protect or conduct human cognition while interfacing with a machine spirit. The Tau computer less familiar and found lacking in a machine spirit pattern was dismantled for its parts. The machine spirit connected to many extradimensional redundancies or compnents among the Titan's interior altering them according to the burgeoning collation of souls migrating to the aether core.
As the networks optical, transdimensional, and conductive were slaved to the machine spirit they rebooted the computer with enough of the souls now arrived. The Aether core quietly flared with blue light then a high soft lilting from inside a platoon's howl of loyalty from somewhere inside as a fusion core ignited. The husk of the new titan sprouting equipment under quiet leather gloves assembling or affixing parts darting over to them with a flare of ferroplasm or manifested mass. Legs arrived held by two eight-many weaving into the mass then emerged too-large engines from the flexible inner tangle. Ferroplasm cords and thunderhawk armor lined the leg though plates then shot out to cover the gaps of exposed leg in far heavier, and slower, armor as Jinhai tested the Aether core's ability to refit under design of the machine spirit. The arms doubly one arm covered in a specialized manifestation grid the other in a multimodal projector of weapons systems.
Marine minds in concordance perhaps now growing alert as various Thunderhawk weapons formed slowly in crossection behind a manifestation grid writ in large from the end of the barrel. As they finished printing each alit then quieted and demanifested in reverse. The Tau were there too though could neither control the machine spirit nor the aether core. After a moment a railgun appeared in a design odd for the Tau perturbed by the machine spirit's interpretation of its mechanics. Small manifestation plates alit in a storm of blue plates as an intelligence began to redesign the weapon from inside. The other arm connected now Jinhai dodged out of the way silvery threads pouring out of the arm's projector weaving and filling to form a gigantic storm shield. Small hexagonal void shields emerged in front of it the minds exploring their capabilities.
A Jinhai stood atop its head and looked at the central sensor array in their connection able to sense the humankind souls watching informing them, "Your bodies have been destroyed. Available Humankind souls have been reformed into a collated servitor fit to serve the Living Emperor. Unknown humankind patterns have been stripped of executive rights and made servitors to the Machine spirit. The dreadnought pattern was too small given available material and soul quantity. Vox hardware, sound emission, and a direct Myrkul access is installed please contact Humankind leader Titus by those means. Your internal troop capacity is approximately similar for living beings within the extradimensional transport manifold. Nonintelligent hardware can be demanifested separately and is limited by actual volume. All demanifested living matter will be aggressively destroyed without exception to protect against Chaos infestation. Myrkul provides a secondary Astronomican for Way access so warp travel is not required but possible."
As it finished its long-winded description the remaining horde of Jinhai had poured into three ten-many quietly looming around the body shaping to its armor Imperial iconography. The Imperial eagle in gold emblazoned onto the chest. The shield hovering in space rotated, decking a Jinhai whom just bent at the waist, to slam down on the ground to stand itself up.
Somewhere, a Vox communicator near Titus started beeping as the Jinhai quietly started packing and demanifesting remaining matter into now empty vaults for processing.