Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 784 08.783: "The Past of Polaberia"

"Yes, sir." The captain did not dare to delay and walked over quickly in person.

He knelt down in front of the ragged woman. This simple action was like throwing a huge rock into a calm lake, which immediately aroused great panic in her heart.

The woman's body trembled violently and she instinctively shrank back. She almost squeezed out an incoherent apology mixed with fear and pleading, but was choked by the sudden tension.

Captain Kudo turned slightly, lowered his voice, and asked her a few questions in the calmest tone possible.

The woman's gaze shifted away from the captain, passed through the silent soldiers around him, and finally, tremblingly turned to the naval colonel in the crowd, who had an upright posture and whose epaulettes were shining like cold stars under the light.

The moment her eyes met his, her gaze was like that of a frightened little animal, and she hurriedly dropped it after a brief contact.

With the help of the captain, she tried to stand up tremblingly.

Her legs had long been numb from curling up and being frightened for so long, her muscles were stiff and uncontrollable, and every movement was accompanied by a stabbing pain, which could hardly support her weak body.

The coldness of the deck came through the thin soles of her shoes, making her shiver involuntarily.

The swaddling clothes wrapped in tattered cloth in her arms was carefully taken over by the older, skinny, pale girl next to her.

The girl held the baby tightly in her thin arms, her big eyes filled with worry and confusion that did not match her age. She watched without blinking as her mother was supported and staggered towards the adult.

The woman was brought close to Colonel Horatio, and the air was filled with the smell of sweat, engine oil, and a faint smell of blood.

Her body was covered with purple bruises, some of which were even torn open, and it was obvious that she had been beaten by those brutal alien minions.

On the torn clothes on the chest, a long and narrow cut made by a sharp blade was open hideously, and the edge of the cloth had been stained dark brown by the dried blood.

“My Lord… I… I am not a mutant…” She explained in a voice as weak as a mosquito and as hoarse as sandpaper. Her eyes were filled with undisguised fear and despair. She tried to raise her head so that the other party could see her face clearly. “We… the people on our planet were born… born with ears like this.

I am a human, albeit a subhuman, but sir, I am not a mutant."

Her voice trembled slightly with excitement.

"Calm down, ma'am." Horatio deliberately slowed his voice.

He nodded slightly and glanced at Sister Arabella who was standing beside him.

The nun understood what she meant, took a step forward and began to check the wound on the woman's chest.

As she whispered the ancient prayer, a soft, life-giving glow slowly emerged from her palms and enveloped the wound on the woman's chest like a warm tide.

Under the gentle glow of the sacred light, the blood and filth on the wound seemed to be purified and dissolved by an invisible force. The woman's brows, which were tightly furrowed in pain, gradually relaxed, and the panic in her eyes also subsided a little, replaced by a trace of confusion and bewilderment.

"Ma'am, I summoned you here not to determine whether you are a mutant." Horatio patiently waited for her emotions to calm down a little. After confirming that she could clearly understand his words, he asked in a deep voice: "I have something I need to verify with you. Please tell me, which planet are you from?"

"Bo..." The woman still looked at the imperial officer in front of her with a strong distrust, with vigilance. He had an imposing aura and solemn armor.

His eyes were sharp, as if they could see through people's hearts.

Under the silent questioning of this gaze, she hesitated again and again, her lips moved a few times, and finally she squeezed out a name from her throat with difficulty: "Polaberia."

"Polaberia in the Calixis sector, Sintira sub-sector?"

Horatio reacted extremely quickly. He immediately activated the data pad in his hand. The dim blue light screen lit up, and with the tap of his finger, the standardized star map interface of the Imperial Navy appeared. He began to retrieve detailed information about this remote planet, and the data stream flashed rapidly across his fingertips.

"Yes." The woman lowered her head, not daring to look directly at the colonel, but she couldn't help glancing up again and again from the corner of her eyes, nervously observing the subtle changes in his facial expression as he read the message.

When she saw Horatio's brows slightly wrinkled because of some records he had read, her body shrank back uncontrollably. A sense of inferiority and fear of the high-ranking officials in the empire that came from her bones made her almost want to kneel down on the ground again.

[Imperial Chronicles, M41.956 entry: Polabelia, once a feudal world of the Imperial Knights and Nobles. In the standard year 956 of the Imperial Calendar, it was invaded by a large-scale green-skinned orc tribe. The planet's Knights and Nobles joined forces with the mortal military and civilians to resist, and launched a brutal bloody battle that lasted for five years. This battle is known in history as the 'First Tusk Disaster'.] The cold words on the datapad silently told of the tragedy of the past.

"I was very young at the time and a lot of things are blurry now."

The woman's voice was low and vague, as if she was recalling a distant dream. "The only clear memory I have of my hometown is that I fled with my parents and my family amidst the flames and cries. From then on, we left our homeland and wandered around. Later, we became refugees wandering between various galaxies."

Hearing the word "vague" gave up the idea of ​​Horatio continuing to ask for more details about the fall of the planet.

He knew that for a child at that time, such a disaster would only leave a chaotic and fragmented mark, and he would not be able to get the information he wanted to know.

[Has it been exactly forty-five standard years since the first Great Fang Disaster? The Supreme Princess mentioned in that dusty file who lost contact in the war...if she is still alive, how old is she now?]
This thought flashed through his mind like lightning, but did not stay.

"Are you planning on returning to Pola Berria on this flight?" Horatio asked, his finger lightly running across the passenger list on the data pad, his eyes returning to the woman.

"Yes... yes, sir." Her answer was still timid. She couldn't guess why such an important person asked her these questions.

"Why? After experiencing such a disaster, you are no longer afraid of the invasion of green-skinned aliens?" Horatio's tone was calm, and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

"We...we now have some ability to protect ourselves."

The woman's voice finally had a hint of confidence. She seemed to remember something, and a complex emotion flashed across her eyes. "My husband...he joined the army. We met in a refugee mutual aid group. Later, he heard that the Sintira galaxy was recruiting soldiers, so he used the meager savings we had accumulated for a long time as travel expenses and went back alone to enlist."

"Enlist in the army? Polabella is recruiting again?" Horatio's eyes focused, keenly capturing this seemingly inadvertent detail.

How can a planet ravaged by orcs restore its ability to recruit soldiers so quickly?

"No, sir," the woman shook her head vigorously, fearing that it would cause misunderstanding, "he is a soldier in Sintira, not in Polabellia."

“Cintira?” Horatio’s brows were instantly locked, and his eyes suddenly became as sharp as a knife, staring at the woman’s eyes: “Ma’am, I must tell you a basic fact.

The Sintira Fusiliers, as a unit of the Astra Militarum with a long history, never openly recruit children who are not of noble birth.

Your husband, as you say, is a refugee and is not qualified to join the Sintira Fusiliers."

Every word he said was like cold steel, striking the woman's heart.

"Sir, everything I said is true, there is absolutely no falsehood!"

The woman panicked instantly, and the color on her face completely drained away. She raised her hand eagerly, wanting to clarify, "The boat tickets for me and my child were purchased with the military pay he sent back! I can swear to the Emperor, it's absolutely true!"

Her voice became sharp with excitement.

Horatio remained silent, his deep gaze lingering for a moment on her pale, anxious face.

He slowly turned his head and looked at the two adjutants, Louise and Farida, who were standing solemnly behind him.

Their eyes met, and then they all shook their heads almost imperceptibly, silently indicating that they had never heard of the precedent of the Sintira Fusiliers recruiting refugees in an exceptional manner.

"I understand, ma'am." Horatio retracted his inquiring eyes that seemed to be able to penetrate all disguises, and his tone returned to its previous calm and formal tone, "I will ask Captain Kudo to properly arrange a cabin and subsequent medical care for you and your daughter.

On the following voyage, my fleet will escort your civilian ship until it arrives safely at the Abyss Space Station. I wish you a safe journey. "

After saying that, he closed the data tablet in his hand with a "click".

The crisp sound of metal closing was particularly clear in the silent bridge, as if it drew a full stop to this brief but informative inquiry, and also locked the numerous doubts and preliminary calculations that had just sprouted in his mind behind those deep eyes.

(End of this chapter)