Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 352: Private Dantioch hasn’t been rescued yet
Under the cover of Dantioch and Sergeant Zoran, one of the last few Iron Warriors to evacuate, Captain Cantera, witnessed the accidental fall of his superior. The sudden electromagnetic pulse also destroyed all the communication equipment in the team he led, and the positioning system and distress signals were unable to be sent.

"Leave the communication blind spot and go to the nearest base station to restore communication." Cantera made a quick decision and shouted to the five people in the team through their helmets. He also remembered the process and location of the battalion commander's fall in his mind. Will report to the rescue team later.

He believed that the disappearance of Barabas Dantioch must have been taken into consideration in the great mind of the Iron Lord Perturabo at the first moment when communications were cut off here.

A series of sparse explosions sounded again in the distance. They were loosely distributed and echoed in the mountains and ruins, making it difficult to identify. Then there was the unmistakable sound of the Iron Warriors' autocannons, and the blast of frag grenades.

"Squad 10," an Iron Warrior called out the number of the formation. "One hundred and seventy degrees."

Cantera weighed it briefly and made a decision: "Continue to go to the base station."

The team headed towards the planet and orbital mobile communication base station previously set up by the Iron Warriors on the high ground on top of the mountains, following the theoretical blind spot of the Hrud's reconnaissance.

Before there was a problem with the communication equipment, the large amount of information indexes calculated directly by the field headquarters at the rear included risk predictions for the outbreak of conflicts in different areas. The data still exists in Canterlot's brain.

The roar of gunfire and explosions continued, and soon the rhythmic bombardment of the Iron Warriors gradually drowned out the chaotic and unorganized nameless artillery of the Hrud.

After a few minutes, the first thing to disappear was the sound of the Hrud's weapons.

After traveling for about three kilometers, regrettably but not unexpectedly, the entropy energy detection instrument began to fluctuate. A complete team of Hrud passed through a stone tunnel through the mountains and entered the river valley, appearing in their path.

After all, this group of Hrud people parked all their vehicles in a row, and even sandwiched two energy supply vehicles among them, which was too tempting for missiles.

But Canterlot's war experience was giving him a serious warning, and he ordered his team members to be more vigilant.

This caused a commotion among the aliens in the camp, but considering that this was not an absolutely rare phenomenon among them, the camp finally returned to a noisy and stable calm.

what is that?
Suddenly, a huge noise exploded on the side of the Hrud camp, which was caused by the sudden explosion of a handheld version of the lightning cannon.

He made some gestures and was about to take his temporary team of only six people away. Suddenly, he noticed some abnormal tremors in the vegetation near the Hrud.

When it became clear that the group of steaming dirty creatures was not because they had discovered them, but just wandered here casually from the west of the valley, and found a place to set up camp, or even, in a sense - to be lazy during the war Later, Canterlot regretted that the reconnaissance team was not equipped with rockets.

No one in Canterlot's squad made any sign, but Canterlot knew they were all relieved.

He checked the remaining ammunition base with his team members in his hiding place. Afterwards, Canterlot had to start thinking. If after the communication was restored, this loose temporary base of about hundreds of alien Hruds was here, he should ask the troops for a few missiles based on the coordinates of this place. launch vehicle.

The second wave of chaos soon followed. The string of vehicles and energy vehicles that Canterlot coveted exploded one after another almost in an instant. Dark green energy stones and metal fragments flew everywhere, further destroying each other in a chain.

A large number of Hrud shrouded in thick fog poured out of the nest-like camp. Some of the aliens pounced on their fighting tools, while other creatures backed away, the sour smell blowing in the direction of the wind.

"Calm down, cousin," a hoarse voice suddenly approached him, carrying an unspeakable coldness. "The Eighth Legion..." Then, the soldier appeared quietly in front of him.

For a Space Marine wearing power armor, his silent stealth was an almost impossible miracle, so much so that Canterlot almost used the fighting skills he had developed in the training room on his opponent, even though his hands The only fighting weapons on the weapon were power fists, and the explosive weapons in the hands of Canterlot's team members were also aimed at the warrior wearing midnight blue power armor.

The white skulls adorning the faces of the Eighth Legion soldiers looked at them calmly.

"We originally wanted to access your communications channel," he explained, "but the attempt failed."

Canterlot looked at the sergeant who suddenly appeared, thinking of the message that Chief Dantioch finally disclosed on the channel. After a brief confrontation, he silently ordered his team members to put down their guns.

"Please help me contact War Blacksmith Haco in the theater. I want to report on the situation of the Eleventh Battalion Commander." Cantera said.

While they were communicating, several pitch-black objects fell from the sky and landed around Hrud. Black transparent crystal fragments exploded all over the place, like clams smashed by birds on the beach.

After the crystal protective layer disintegrated, the torn corpse of Hrud was exposed to the air. Those twisted and thin elastic limbs began to lose their activity, and a large amount of thick smoke quickly emitted, and the decomposition phenomenon familiar to the Iron Warriors was carried out. This is why it was difficult for them to capture prisoners or bring back corpses.

The Hrud people in the camp began to instinctively retreat towards the other end of the conflict. The tunnel they came from had not yet been closed. The Hrud people crowded into the tunnel, leaving behind the burning dangerous and destroyed weapons. , causing chaos.

"What did you do?" Cantera asked in a definite tone.

"Not quite accurate, cousin," the soldier said. "Since our Lord is not sure how many years the Hrud can advance time, he prioritizes mobilizing the demi-human auxiliary army to complete close combat missions."

As the Hrud retreated toward the tunnel, the aftermath of the explosion ignited a fire of dark green and golden red in the mountains, illuminating the dry rivers and valleys like ghost fire. The rifles carried by some kind of Eighth Legion auxiliary army kept making crackling sounds, and a large number of Hrud died in the process of fleeing for their lives.

Cantera looked away, "Do you need additional firepower?"

"You can have it, you don't have to." The soldier said, "I suggest not, because you may kill some auxiliary troops."

Looking in the direction of the warrior's white skull mask, Canterlot finally identified the faintly visible shadows among the chaotic group of Hruds. Their concealment was too strong and they were untrained to cooperate. Vulnerable to accidental injury.

"Are you going to the base station?" the Night Ghost Warrior asked. More men in blue armor appeared behind him at some point, giving the day a mysterious feeling of midnight.

"Yes, I hope to go with you." Canterlot said directly. Like most Iron Warriors, he doesn't like to beat around the bush.

"I heard there's going to be a new set of cousins ​​there," the warrior said. If it weren't for the purpose of making each other hear each other clearly through the helmets in the war zone, this would probably be a faint whisper on the communication channel.

Five minutes later, some tiny dots began to appear in the sky. After some aerial interceptions and escorts, several golden-red transport planes stretched their steel wings and landed high in the mountains.

(End of this chapter)