Argentius frowned. Years of experience fighting the Emperor's enemies had taught him the cunning and viciousness of the xenos.
The previous tunnels had flickering lumen-lamps, but this one was pitch black, which immediately raised a red flag.
Argentius raised the bolter in his hand, aiming at the source of the sound and the origin of the light.
The servo-system in his helmet hummed, and the display panel simulated the trajectory.
As long as he pulled the trigger, the bolt in the chamber would fire, killing the target, or even blasting it into pieces.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger.
A gaunt man, holding a mining lamp designed like a handheld kerosene lamp and filled with inert gas, walked out of the darkness, trembling all over.
Seeing the warrior in power armor, hidden in the shadows, the man shivered in fear.
Seeing the caliber of the weapon in the other's hand, which was thicker than his own wrist, he immediately collapsed to the ground in terror.
"Compatriot?" Argentius was startled for a moment, lowering the faceplate of his helmet, revealing a resolute face with hideous scars.
"Emperor... Angel??"
Seeing the face beneath the helmet, the man was stunned for a moment, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Surprise appeared on his face, followed by deep fear.
Argentius keenly sensed that something was wrong.
"Run!" The man shouted.
At this moment, in the depths of the dark tunnel, a bright plasma light appeared, followed by a wave of heat.
Eight plasma orbs, each the size of a basketball, shot out from the depths of the tunnel, swift as lightning.
"Find cover." Argentius shouted, pulling the trembling man with him and ducking into a recessed pit in the earth.
As the plasma spheres cut through the air, there was a faint smell of ozone.
The air was broken down by plasma ions, forming ozone.
Argentius lay flat on the ground, and the sensor module on his back sent a high-temperature warning.
If hit, the plasma spheres were enough to melt ceramite alloy.
Argentius saw a comrade's signal rune flash a few times before turning red and then disappearing from the squad's communication channel.
He looked towards the position of that comrade, whose standard issue power armor, made of ceramite alloy, had been directly pierced and melted into molten iron.
The broken body lay on the ground, twitching unconsciously.
Sadness welled up in Argentius's heart.
The voices of other team members came through the communication.
"No, Ducos."
"Poor Ducos, I hope he returns to the Emperor's embrace."
"Damn greenskins."
Everyone grieved for their fallen comrade.
"Pay the price, greenskins."
Argentius released the man in his hand and stood up with a roar.
He raised his bolter and fired at the enemy's position.
He had been fighting for one hundred and twenty years, and all the comrades who had joined the Chapter with him had been recalled by the Emperor, yet he still continued to fight.
The fire of vengeance made Argentius's gun-holding hand incredibly steady.
A century of combat experience allowed him to easily determine the enemy's position.
The other warriors also followed suit and opened fire.
After a moment of fierce exchange of fire, the tunnel became quiet again.
Argentius walked over and saw three damaged twin-linked plasma cannons, as well as several ork corpses.
"These insidious fellows, every xeno is despicable."
Argentius angrily kicked the lifeless ork corpses a couple of times.
After venting his anger, he walked back to his previous position to check on the man he had saved.
The man had performed well; despite being coerced into being a decoy, he had not betrayed the Holy Emperor.
Walking back, he found that the man was also dead. A piece of rubble accidentally sent flying during the battle had pierced his eye, taking his life.
The lives of ordinary humans were so fragile on such a battlefield.
Even a piece of rubble that would be insignificant to a Primaris space marine could take their lives.
"May your soul ascend to the Emperor's throne." Argentius knelt down and prayed for the man for a moment, then stood up.
"Continue forward."
After walking a little further, a faint light reappeared in the dark tunnel.
They had reached a human settlement.
A large number of mining machines were still operating, emitting rumbling sounds.
There were also some humans digging with primitive tools like pickaxes.
They ate a semi-plant, semi-meat substance provided by the orks and drank sewage from the mine.
A large number of human skulls remained in the settlement, clearly belonging to the humans who had died there.
"In the name of the Holy Emperor, we require one of you to speak with us."
Argentius walked towards the trembling people, his tall, steel-clad body looking down at the crowd shaking with fear.
"Emperor's Angel."
An old man with white hair walked out.
The old man's wrinkled face was covered in creases, and his clothes were tattered, resembling rags.
Argentius examined the other party, and a hint of pity arose in his heart.
"Is everyone here?"
"Yes, sir, have you come to save us?" The old man rubbed his knotty, skin-and-bone hands, asking in a fearful and humble tone.
"We are reclaiming the star systems taken by the orks, and your location is one of them," Argentius said.
"Are we saved? Has the Holy Emperor taken pity on our suffering and sent salvation?" the old man said.
"The Lord of Ultramar has awakened, and he is leading the army to reclaim the lost worlds of the Imperium," Argentius said, explaining the situation of the crusade, then asked, "What is your name?"
"Danlens, Emperor's Angel, my name is Danlens," the old man said tremblingly.
Argentius said, "Very well, Danlens, you are the temporary leader. The orks on the surface have not been completely cleared. We need an orbital bombardment to clear the orks across the entire planet. Organize those people and have them prepare for protection to avoid casualties."
Danlens nodded, turned and walked towards the ragged survivors, relaying the Emperor's Angel's command.
"Thank the Emperor, they've finally come."
"Aren't they here to save us? Didn't they bring clean food and water?"
"I'm already dying. Can't they put other things aside and save me first?"
"Are they really here to save us? Or are they going to execute all of us? Gather us up and kill us, so they can easily erase this history."
Some of the survivors' eyes held joy, some anger, and others were full of doubt.
They had been in despair and darkness for twenty years.
Yet the Imperium had ignored them.
This was undoubtedly a betrayal of them.
After this star system was occupied by the orks, they were driven into the tunnels to mine.
Every day, those grots and ork boys whipped them, forcing them to work.
Long-term labor had left them bruised and emaciated.
Regardless of whether they were men or women, their situation was terrible.
And now, encountering the Emperor's Angels naturally filled them with both fear and awe.
Recalling the many rumors they had heard before, that Imperial officials would carry out exterminatus on some planets to cover up the scandals of their failures.
They feared that they were those poor unfortunate souls.
The senses of a Primaris space marine were extremely sharp; every word and action of the survivors was captured by them.
Even if those people lowered their voices, they could hear them clearly.
Argentius did not pay much attention or care about this.
He opened the mission communication panel and said on the public channel: "First Action Squad mission complete, target confirmed to have all entered the underground tunnels."
"These guys are completely ungrateful."
A comrade, hearing the survivors' discussion, shook his head, his tone filled with frustration and anger.
They had sacrificed their comrade to save them, only to be met with suspicion and distrust.
"Be lenient with them. They have suffered greatly and can no longer distinguish between good and bad." Argentius picked up his weapon, glanced at the flickering tunnel, and said, "Prepare for battle. We need to be on guard against those greenskins entering the tunnels."