Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 953, 08.952: "Survival by Cutting Off the Tail"

This was a rapid and desperate pursuit. As alien reinforcements arrived and flooded into the abandoned administrative center, the Hell's Vanguard's situation deteriorated to an unbearable point.

The Dark Eldar have enough manpower to surround and squeeze the vanguard's remaining living space from all sides with an elegant and deadly efficiency.

The raiders moved silently, leaving only a glimpse of the razor-sharp, segmented armor in the shadows.

The sharp, malicious mocking voice echoed through the broken pipes and vents inside the building. It was not only a blatant form of open communication, but also a psychological tactic aimed at breaking down the prey's defenses.

Meanwhile, the Hell Vanguard Third Detachment, trapped deep behind enemy lines, received no reinforcements and could not count on any assistance.

"Captain, over here!"

Under the precise and restrained fire support of the remaining elite soldiers, Lieutenant Vox's voice rang out on the communications channel, tinged with static.

He was manipulating the dendritic link to the dusty access control system when, after a piercing data screeching sound, he successfully connected to the control panel.

With a dull click of the mechanism unlocking, the small door slid inward.

“According to the construction plan, this is a fire safety passage in this old building,” Lieutenant Vox reported to Harvey. “From here, you can go directly to the exit of Sector B.”

"Well done, Lieutenant," Captain Harvey said approvingly through his helmet visor, panting. "I will certainly commend your outstanding contribution to the fleet commander when we get back. You'll be promoted to lieutenant soon, I promise."

Harvey rushed into the goal, but his steps faltered.

He discovered that Lieutenant Vox and several other wounded Hellslingers had not followed.

They stood outside the door, forming a textbook defensive formation, their hellhound carbines steadily pointed at the dark corridor they had come from.

“Captain Harvey, it’s an honor to fight alongside you.” Lieutenant Vox’s voice was calm and firm, containing a resolve that transcended life and death.

“However, someone must take this information out alive. If we all go with you, the Dark Eldar outside can simply wait at the exit and no one will be able to escape. We must distract them so that you have a chance. Besides, in our current state, we will only be a hindrance to you.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over his equally fearless comrades, looking at them and his own gruesome, bleeding wounds. Then he straightened his chest and gave Henry Harvey a perfectly executed Eagle Salute.

"My brothers and I have never regretted joining the Imperial Navy. Goodbye, Captain."

The other Hellsoldier soldiers, along with Lieutenant Vox, gave Harvey an impeccable military salute outside the door, after which Lieutenant Vox abruptly pulled down the red emergency lock gate on the door frame.

Click!

The emergency lockdown procedure behind the gate was activated.

After a loud bang, there was a series of deafening, rhythmic metallic clanging sounds.

One after another, heavy fire doors began to descend from the top of the passage, like a row of steel jaws closing, separating Harvey from his men.

"Lieutenant!" Harvey turned around abruptly and slammed his fist against the seemingly indestructible door, producing a dull, futile echo.

Through the narrow reinforced glass observation window on the door, he could see the rearguard soldiers turn and rush across the corridor, using the last of their lives to draw the attention of the Dark Eldar pursuers deeper into the building.

The Hellfire Gun emitted a unique, high-pitched crackling and hissing sound, as beams of intense energy traced dazzling trails in the darkness.

Immediately following were the figures of the aliens surging forward like a tide. Their movements were so fast that they were almost invisible, and the poisoned blades in their hands gleamed with a deadly green light under the laser beam.

The sounds of battle and the rushing of the vanguard soldiers faded into the distance, eventually being completely cut off by the falling fire doors.

The final, resounding slam of the door closing echoed, and the world seemed to fall into a deathly silence.

Harvey has no way back.

"Please leave here immediately, Captain." The monotonous, emotionless synthesized electronic voice from the built-in speaker of the floating servo skull echoed in the empty fire escape.

Harvey had to leave. More fire doors, closing one after another, awoke from their long silence. The dusty gears and levers faithfully began to perform their duties. The falling dust and the muffled thuds from above rolled in with unstoppable force. It was foreseeable that each impending impact would cause the entire passageway to tremble.

laugh! ——

He activated the roller motors built into the heels of his boots once more. The miniature engine emitted a piercing screech, propelling him in a desperate sprint down the straight path to its end.

The earth was trembling. Harvey could feel it, and he could hear the distant roar of artillery fire.

call out!call out!
Heavy artillery shells tore through the air, leaving long trails as they landed on the distant land, raising towering columns of dust.

Strangely, the shelling did not last long before it abruptly stopped.

Harvey seized the brief opening, struggling to maintain his balance at high speed, and rushed toward the end of the tunnel at the fastest speed he could.

[Almost there, almost there.]
Having not slept all night and having exhausted himself, Harvey felt a sharp pain in his head, as if his consciousness was struggling to break free from his sluggish and exhausted body, and his eyelids felt as heavy as if they were weighed down with lead.

The effects of the holy water mixed with combat potions injected into him through the nerve plug interface were rapidly fading. He could clearly feel the excruciating pain from every wound in his body, as well as the burning stinging pain from overuse of his muscle fibers.

His body's adrenaline secretion had slowed down, but it still sustained his iron will.

We're almost there, almost there.

The light at the end became clearer and clearer.

Boom!
With a dull thud, he bumped head-on into a figure that had pried open the ventilation duct from above and jumped in.

The uninvited guest was a Dark Eldar raider. He was very tall, with a slender and agile build, standing at least 2.5 meters tall. When he leaned down from above, he was like a pillar suddenly appearing in an obstacle course, rudely blocking Harvey's path.

The two figures fell backward simultaneously during the violent collision.

Harvey endured the excruciating pain and looked up at the gaping hole above him, where more aliens were preparing to invade along the path of their companions.

At this moment, he was all alone.

There's also... one bomb.

In the critical moment, he did not hesitate to take the last magnetic explosive molten metal bomb from his tactical belt, press the activation button hard with his thumb, and throw it into the ventilation duct.

The bomb traced an arc in the air and slammed firmly against the metal pipe wall with a loud bang.

drop!drop!drop!drop!
The rapid countdown was like a death knell. Harvey didn't even have time to get up; he rolled on the spot, turned sharply, and used his terracotta-armored back to meet the impending impact.

Boom!

A massive shockwave from the explosion instantly engulfed the entire passageway. Harvey's helmet visor flashed with blinding static, and the internal systems issued a series of alarms.

The scorching flames licked at his armor, and the flame-retardant cloak was blown tightly onto his body by the powerful shockwave, making a soft, thumping sound.

The snowy screen disappeared, and the system refreshed a large amount of data stream after an emergency restart.

He struggled to turn around.

The infiltration tunnel had been completely destroyed by a single blow. The collapsed and molten metal completely blocked the exit, leaving only half of the charred, thin legs hanging helplessly above.

The Dark Eldar who landed first had large patches of skin burned off by the aftershocks of the molten flames, revealing the bright red muscle tissue beneath.

He let out a scream, a sound like a poisoned steel needle piercing and churning inside Harvey's brain.

Suddenly, the Ducali Raider sprang to his feet, his horribly burned eyelids wide open. His scream turned into a agonizing laugh as he lunged at Harvey, a poisoned blade glowing with an ominous green light in his hand, aiming straight for Harvey's chest.

(End of this chapter)