Warhammer: Hail to the Void Lords!.

Chapter 966, page 08.965: A Glimmer of Hope

"Captain, Captain, Horatio? We've arrived."

At Sister Arabella's warm and gentle calls, Horatio abruptly opened his eyes. The moment his consciousness returned, he saw rows of long, slender legs covered in silver-white armor opposite him, which startled him. He immediately sat up and subconsciously straightened his wrinkled military uniform.

[Without realizing it, I fell asleep on Sister Arabella's lap...]
"Sorry, I actually fell asleep." His voice was a little tired as he rubbed his sore eyes.

“Humans need sleep,” Sister Arabella’s voice remained gentle as she reached out her nail-armored hand to help him straighten his uniform. “Or rather, it is the heavy responsibility on our shoulders that constantly forces us to go against our own physiological needs.”

"Sir, we have come to a stop." The pilot's voice reported through the internal sound array.

"Very good, open the hatch."

Kaka!

With a click of a mechanism, the Charrel-style visors on the heads of the Cleansing Angels closed swiftly, their crimson visors gleaming. They formed an impeccable protective formation, escorting the man out of the cabin. As Horatio's military boots touched the soft sand, he too saw the scene outside the cabin.

Before me lay a world ruled by endless yellow sand and scorching heat.

Small groups of reformed soldiers were struggling to search for missing persons in the area bombarded by artillery fire.

Cuirassiers and dragoons used the mobility of their mounts to extend their search radius to even more distant areas.

However, the Sintira flintlock musketeers who were supposed to be in charge of the same task were nowhere to be found.

On the distant horizon, the battle continued, the rumble of artillery fire echoing across the land like muffled thunder.

Horatio was unsure whether those frivolous nobles had gone to the front lines to "fight bravely" or had simply dumped the thankless search and combat missions on the reformist troops.

He gazed at the endless expanse of yellow sand before him, feeling a sense of bewilderment.

Sister Arabella pressed the communicator built into her helmet, seemingly listening to something. “Captain,” she turned to Horatio, “nearby New Earth Dragon Riders have reported that they have discovered a suspicious abandoned building.”

"What's suspicious?" Horatio asked immediately.

"Soldiers from the 17th Flintlock Regiment of Sintira discovered abandoned Severus rebel off-road vehicles, as well as evidence of combat involving toxic crystal weapons and high-powered laser guns."

But they weren't sure if it was left by the unit you mentioned, because frontline soldiers said that the elite troops of the Severo rebels were also equipped with similar high-powered laser guns.

Horatio, upon hearing this, naturally wouldn't let such a clue slip by.

"Let's go to the scene and take a look!"

Although there is currently no official imperial intelligence to definitively confirm a clear military collaboration between the Duchy of Severus and the Dark Eldar.

However, Horatio, who had benefited from the transmigrator's "spoiler," knew the ins and outs of all this from the war rulebook, *Only War*. He knew very well that the Duchy of Severus usually did not wage war against the Dark Eldar. Where the Dark Eldar were present, there were generally no Severus troops; similarly, where there were Severus troops, there would never be any Dark Eldar.

This was no coincidence, but rather because the Dark Eldar needed to abduct Severus's civilians and political opponents as slaves.

To prevent their own rank-and-file soldiers from being shaken by witnessing such brutality, and also to facilitate the Dark Eldar's raiding operations, their messengers would secretly leak the operation plans to Severus's military command.

Horatio and his party landed not far from the scene of the incident the dragon riders had described, so the Valkyrie's transfer was very quick.

As Horatio led the Holy Roses off the plane, he immediately spotted the weary commander of the 2nd Dragoon Battalion, Poniatovsky, who came to greet him. Meanwhile, the Sintira Leap Soldiers, with an air of distance, stood or sat atop the ruins, following their short-statured commander as he gazed into the distance.

"These leap soldiers discovered hidden vehicles and traces of gunfire during their reconnaissance and search operations."

But we checked the area and found nothing; the site had been destroyed too thoroughly by artillery fire.

The battalion commander pointed to the ruins in front of him, his face full of helplessness. "This was originally an abandoned and poorly maintained former administrative branch. Over the years, the main structure has been severely weathered by wind and sand."

After being directly hit by large-caliber artillery, it quickly collapsed completely.

He pointed to a seemingly flat sandy area: "Moreover, sandy areas are also dangerous. In some places, quicksand has formed, covering part of the underground cavities formed by the collapse, but the sand has not been completely compacted."

One of our warhorses had just stepped onto the path when it sank completely. Luckily, the cavalryman reacted quickly, jumping off and being pulled up by the others. The light infantry, on the other hand, climbed over relatively easily. I have to admit, these men, originally hunters, really do have a good ability to adapt to terrain.”

Horatio observed the ruins of the building before him, which were about to be completely buried by the yellow sand.

If there were still some identifiable ground structures before the shelling, now, with the complete collapse, it's only a matter of time before they are buried in the desert.

"So, are you still looking?" a tall, thin soldier shouted. "If you're not looking, we're leaving!"

“Searching aimlessly and moving rubble is too dangerous,” Poniatowski said. “It’s very possible that we won’t find anyone, and we’ll end up with a few people buried in the rubble.”

“We can give it a try,” Arabella said, stepping forward. Behind her were two medical nuns, one of whom had a device resembling a life detector attached to her powered backpack: “We have specialized search equipment that is very reliable and has proven its value in postwar search and rescue operations.”

As soon as the power was connected, a snowy screen appeared on the instrument.

Two nuns, holding detectors, walked carefully on the sandy ground at the edge of the ruins, meticulously scanning every inch of the land below.

The instrument emits a monotonous "beep" sound, and the screen shows only a gray area representing inorganic matter and low temperature.

Time ticked by, and everyone's hearts sank.

Suddenly, the nun holding the instrument stopped. She looked at the screen, her eyes filled with a mixture of surprise and delight. In that deathly gray expanse, a faint but clear orange-red light was stubbornly flickering.

That's a sign of life!
(End of this chapter)