Warhammer: Start with a dog.

Chapter 745 Wait for me, Loken!
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"Should we go back and check on those ordinary scribes, Company Commander?"

Loken frowned.

The raid on this largest and most stubborn rebel fortress is now essentially over. From the start of the Terminator advance to the wolf pack swarming into the fortress to clear every tunnel and room, it took a total of fifty-four minutes.

They were standing at the deepest part of the fortress beside a man-made circular pool. The top of the pool was covered with stalactites of various sizes, which had been formed over tens of thousands of years, resembling inverted spires. The water in the pool was crystal clear, pale blue, and very cold.

Loken guessed that this might be the water source for the garrison, but his men were looking at the many objects placed around the pool with confusion.

These things were all insignificant to Astartes. A variety of bottles, jars, bowls, boxes, jewelry made of gold and silver, utensils of unknown purpose, and dolls made of pottery or wood, all of completely different kinds and textures.

Some are exquisitely crafted, decorated with gold leaf, gemstones, and painted designs, while others are so rough they look like they were made by a child with mud. There are also animal skulls with two horns placed among them on the tray.

The flickering candlelight was scattered among these objects, reflecting numerous points of light on the surface of the pool where a drop of water occasionally fell, and casting long, swaying shadows behind the onlookers, the Shadow Moon Wolves.

His enhanced vision swept over the objects; some of the oldest pieces had a thin layer of limestone calcification crystals on their surface, while the newest ones looked as if they had been placed there that morning.

Loken felt a vague, inexplicable unease, but couldn't pinpoint why. He glanced at his physiological monitoring readings; everything was normal.

"Never mind these chroniclers for now. It'll be a long time before they find the correct internal routes and reach the nearest engagement point anytime soon. Have all the tunnels inside the fortress been entered and cleared? How many in total?"

He decided to focus on dealing with the immediate tasks first.

Those mortal narrators who dared to enter the battlefield before the Imperial army were indeed putting themselves in danger by running around like this, which could easily implicate Loken. However, they might not go far before being frightened back by the real scene of the battle at Astartes.

Anyway, there shouldn't be any living resistance fighters left in this place by now. He couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had deployed the Terminator squad from the beginning as the spearhead to break through the defenses.

This made the assault faster and the operation so swift that if it had been a few minutes later, the defenders hiding in those shooting attics who hadn't been pinned to the walls by grenades might have shot those audacious mortals to death at the gate.

"The squad's kill count is currently 972. Gavial, there are still some bodies that are too fragmented, they are identifying them and will be added to the count later."

His adjutant, Nairo Vepas, replied that this was his old friend, and the person he had decided to entrust the company to as he fulfilled his new responsibilities after being elected to the Council of the Four Kings.

Although Zhu Bo, as the more senior sergeant of the Poison Rose Squad, was clearly somewhat resentful, Loken should be satisfied with the honor of having Zhu Bo and his squad be the first to storm the fortress as the vanguard.

Loken nodded, his gaze rising, finally noticing that the surface of the stalactites hanging from the pool was actually covered with indistinct engravings obscured by crystal flowers—another unsettling feeling welled up from some deep within him.

He didn't recognize the characters at all, and was suddenly glad he didn't, perhaps because the strong atmosphere of ignorance and ritual in the place had an effect on him and his men.

You mean there are pools and stalactites like that inside?

“There are more than twenty, maybe more,” Vipas said, “all deep inside the fortresses or in the center of the rooms. Perhaps that explains why they would rather be killed than surrender; they are guarding the last sanctuary of the Holy Land.”

“Tell all squads to completely destroy any pools of water and the rocks above them that they encounter,” Loken said, frowning. “Looks like you really don’t like them, Gavial,” Vepas relayed the order.

“What I dislike is people dying for such empty faith and ignorance, Nairo. Such deaths seem heroic but are utterly worthless. Fanatics and superstitious people indulge in fabricated lies, believing in a supernatural power in the universe that transcends the truth of the Empire and the will of humanity, and they sacrifice themselves for it. Perhaps they believe that they can go to another world after death and become immortal souls, and that is what sustains them in their resistance against the destruction we have brought.”

“Isn’t that why we came here to kill all these people?” Vepas shrugged. “We’ve come to cleanse them of these fanatics and bring the true truth to the rest of our fellow human beings. This will benefit the remaining people; the preachers’ sermons will soon make them realize that only the Empire and the beloved Emperor are the only truths they can believe in.”

“You’re right, Nairo, but I might just feel sorry for these people who will never know the path the Emperor showed us to escape all this ignorance and superstition.”

"Speaking of getting rid of them, we can finally smoothly send the news of our victory—no one was injured and the enemy was perfectly annihilated—to the fleet. That damned Samus hasn't interfered with our communications for over twenty minutes; I guess he's been killed. Have our men found out which bastard was making that weird noise?"

Loken shook his head. "No, so far none of the teams have reported finding any high-powered radios or communication devices."

He glanced at the communication channel again, then frowned.

"Nero?"

"how?"

When was the last time you received a message from Zhu Bo or the Poison Rose Squad?

"It's been a while, but it's still within acceptable communication intervals. Don't worry, Gavial. Jubo has more combat experience than I do. They're the elite team; they've probably chased the last fleeing enemy to the deepest part. — Oh, this place is damnably deep and winding. I wonder how mortals managed to carve it out back then."

"Jubo? Can you hear me? Jubo? Any member of the Poison Rose Squad who hears this, report your location!"

"Company commander..."

Before Loken could finish speaking, a cheerful voice rang out in the semi-artificial cave.

"Oh, see! I told you they were definitely deeper inside!"

Ramizan, leading Sindemann and his party who were completely stunned by the horrific massacre they had witnessed on the way, appeared before the Astartes from the other end of the hall.

The Shadowmoon Wolves behind him began to swarm the stalactites with inscriptions on the pool, and the vague feeling of unease disappeared. Loken breathed a sigh of relief as the Chroniclers lined up and walked toward him.

"What brings you here, Mr. Lamizain?"

"Of course I'll follow you and record what I see and hear." The other person's voice was so cheerful that it made you want to punch him in the face.

Loken realized with a grim expression that he might not be able to shake off this blue-eyed guy in the upcoming operations.

(End of this chapter)