The Bizarre Adventure of the Warhammer Guard

The sun's rays pierced through the dust of Mara Sara and shone directly on Elpis, reflecting a dazzling, sacred golden light.

It was midday local time. A gentle breeze swept across the desolate plain, and all was quiet. Renault narrowed his eyes, his right hand already gripping the revolver at his waist. If the person in front of him made any unusual moves, he would let him taste the power of the "Starbreaker" revolver.

"Sheriff," Elpis spoke, his voice calm, "there's no time for cowboy games now. You've already received General Duke's orders; the priority now is protecting these mortals."

Elpis did not answer Raynor's question, but instead volunteered to complete the mission and protect the people of the colony. As a servant of the Lord of Humanity, even in another universe, Elpis was determined to fulfill his oath and protect all humanity.

Furthermore, through the vehicles and weapons Raynor was using, Elpis also analyzed the general state of human technology in the StarCraft universe. At least, the common weapons of the Federation humans could not effectively strike the Empire's Astartes.

Therefore, Elpis did not want to use any other reasons to hide his true identity. He wanted to protect the humans on these other planets first, and then talk to Reno.

"What?" Reno was somewhat taken aback. "Are you reinforcements? But I haven't received any communications from General Duke."

Reynolds was somewhat surprised. General Duke's communications were military-grade encrypted information, which is generally difficult for any individual or organization to decipher.

However, General Duke didn't mention that someone was supporting him, and judging from their attitude, they didn't want to provide any proof. This gave Reno a headache, and he was frozen in place, unsure of what to do.

At that moment, an emergency call came through Renault's communication device: "Sir, several squads of springtails have attacked the settlers in the settlement. We need to move them to the protected area as soon as possible."

"Okay, organize the defenses and move out as soon as it's safe. I'll be there shortly." Renault gave the order and turned off the communicator.

"In that case, let's finish the mission first." Renault looked at Elpis. "Come with me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Renault turned on the switch and drove towards the settlement. Elpis controlled the speed, following behind Renault, the indicator light on his communication device flashing as a message was sent to Loken and the others.

Before long, Elpis arrived at the settlement, where makeshift fortifications had been erected. Using the damaged buildings on the perimeter, people constructed an outer defensive wall using wrecked vehicles, broken machinery, and scattered building materials.

Inside and outside the defensive wall, one could see many dead Zerg bodies and scattered shell casings. Militiamen wearing makeshift exoskeleton armor were cleaning up the battlefield; clearly, they had just repelled a wave of Zerg attacks.

"Sir, all the remaining immigrants have assembled." A militiaman immediately stepped forward to report the situation upon seeing Renault return. "The first batch of immigrants have already boarded transport vehicles and headed to the Deadwater Base. The soldiers sent by Commander Rugal are escorting them."

"Very good, lads." Renault stopped the Vulture tank and walked up to the militiamen. "You've done a great job. Keep the line going. We'll hold out until all the civilians have been evacuated."

"And this... gentleman is our ally for now." Renault turned to Elpis, who had already caused a commotion, and continued, "I need to go to the barracks to arm myself. You all guard this place for now."

Renault then temporarily left the front lines. Meanwhile, Elpis had parked his motorcycle and arrived at the outer defensive perimeter. Ignoring the curious stares of the onlookers, he went straight to the corpse of a Zergling and began some simple examination.

According to Elpis's research, these alien insects resemble giant canine creatures with exceptionally developed hind limbs, causing them to hop when they run, hence the name "jumping worms."

The springtail has short forelimbs but sharp bony claws, combined with a terrifying set of teeth, allowing it to quickly tear apart enemies in close combat. Its surface is covered with a thick chitinous exoskeleton that can withstand attacks from ordinary gunfire.

But this was limited to the firepower of these militiamen. Elpis casually crushed the skulls of these leaping insects; all the weapons in the hands of the Imperial mortal auxiliary forces could effectively damage these aliens, even the most basic laser rifles could inflict penetrating damage on these leaping insects.

"Dude, I still don't know your name." A voice interrupted Elpis's research. Turning around, he saw Renault, who was already fully armed.

Renault was clad in a gray-black power armor suit, with his helmet integrated into the armor, and his face completely covered by a large tactical mirror. He carried an electromagnetic rifle in his hand and had his revolver at his waist.

Renault, fully dressed, was nearly two meters tall, but he still looked tiny next to Elpis, who was over three meters tall.

"Elpis." The Lord of Humanity's guard directly stated his name.

"Okay, Elpis," Renault shrugged, "when you said 'we,' did you have anyone else with you?"

"They're on their way," Elpis said. "You have a lot of questions, but feel free to ask."

"Alright, since that's the case, I'll get straight to the point." Reno paused, stuck his weapon into the soil beside him, and asked, "You, or rather, you people, are not from the Federation, are you?"

"You are perceptive and bold, Sheriff."

"That's not called boldness, that's called intuition. A man's intuition." Renault's lips curled into a smile as he looked up at Elpis. "I think you want to protect these civilians, or rather, it's your duty. Oh my god, you're really tall, it's so hard to talk to you."

"Speaking of which, I don't know why, but I feel you are trustworthy. You have a certain aura about you that I don't know how to describe, as if I should submit to you and obey your commands."

“In the human world,” Elpis said, “you should indeed submit.”

"Come on, buddy, the human world, huh?" Renault didn't believe Elpis's words, just laughed it off. "Looks like you're still a high-ranking official in your organization, so I should change how I address you. Shall I call you 'Sir'?"

"It doesn't matter." Elpis watched as Renault quietly moved to a small mound, craning his neck to look at him at eye level, but ultimately only reaching his shoulder.

"Never mind," Renault decided against looking Elpis in the eye, "How come you're so tall? You're like a giant."

"I don't know either," Elpis replied. "Perhaps, the greater the ability, the taller one is?"

"Hey buddy, I know this joke," Reno said. "I saw it in my dad's treasured storybooks. I didn't expect you to know it too."

"The universe is always like this, so amazing." Elpis's communicator beeped, receiving a message. He then said to Reno beside him, "My team will be there in an hour, but there's one more message."

"What is it?"

"Those aliens are almost here too." Elpis put on his helmet and shared the enemy's location with Reno.

"Alright, relaxation time is over. Let's fight off these damn bugs."