Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 211: Blood Mine (1)

"Area ahead is secure."

Just as Soshyan finished speaking, Sol's voice came through the vox-channel.

"Rear is secure."

"Copy that."

Due to the narrowness of the tunnel, Soshyan took the lead at the front, while the more steady and composed Sol brought up the rear. This front-and-back formation allowed them to respond to any sudden emergencies at a moment's notice.

But so far, they had not encountered any enemies.

Soshyan stood at a track intersection. This was the single largest junction between two underground networks, the very place where the miners would transport the excavated stone outward.

Not long ago, Soshyan had received a vox transmission from the Departmento Justitiae, stating that the Arbitrator had already taken control of the situation, declared martial law, and ordered all miners to completely evacuate the mining sectors.

But that was no longer something Soshyan needed to worry about.

More importantly, this also decisively meant that any miners they encountered underground were all highly likely to be hostile targets and could be eliminated directly.The exact situation regarding the xenos had to be thoroughly ascertained, and the sooner the better; only then could the purgation operation truly begin.

He led the command squad as they continued moving, initially utilizing grav-elevators before following the winding, narrow corridors of bare rock, compacted dirt, and creaking plasteel directly down into the completely darkness-shrouded environment of Mining Sector 14.

The mining sector's power grid had already been intentionally severed. Soshyan didn't know whether this had been done from the surface or by someone down here.

Regardless, the area was already plunged into pitch black.

Upon passing through a fork in the path and arriving at a certain excavation zone, Soshyan abruptly halted his steps.

He sensed danger.

"Probability of enemy contact ahead."

He stood firmly behind a rusted ore cart acting as cover. At his command, the warriors fanned out to both sides of the intersection, crouching low behind rusted rail transport cars and track-switching equipment.

The air was freezing and heavy, feeling exactly as if the subterranean tunnels were collectively holding their breath.

"Enemy numbers?"

Sol inquired from the very back of the formation. He was currently guarding the rear of the squad all by himself to prevent the enemy from launching a sneak attack from behind.

"Numbers unknown. Auto-senses are malfunctioning. I suspect some sort of jamming equipment is operating nearby."

There were very few things in the galaxy capable of disabling the sensors of an Adeptus Astartes' power armor. This alone was entirely sufficient to prove they were already incredibly close to their enemies.

"Nothing on the auspex?"

"Nothing at present."

"It seems they know we are here."

The squad began shifting into firing stances, meticulously scanning for any movement within the darkness. Armin retracted the Chapter banner's pole halfway, allowing the ancient standard to properly adapt to the confined underground environment.

Meanwhile, Soshyan gripped his sword even more tightly than before.

"They are explicitly waiting for us. I certainly don't want to leave them bored. Hold your respective positions."

Having said that, Soshyan stood up. The tracks leading directly into the mining depths extended outward right beside him.

The overhead lumen strips had completely burnt out deeper down the tunnel. The iron tracks beneath his feet dissolved entirely into the darkness, while a faint draft of air from some exhausted mine shaft far away gently stirred a torn rag pinned to the wall, bearing a pious propaganda slogan.

Soshyan's visor searched the shadows but found only false feedback and error signals—there was absolutely something actively disrupting their vision.

It wasn't necessarily mechanical; it could very well be a psyker. All of these were proof of their presence.

"Unless they believe I am entirely alone, they won't attack. We must leap past the trap."

With that said, Soshyan began advancing further down the tunnel, entirely by himself.

Not only did he physically sense the shadows shifting and moving, but that darkness closed in and surrounded him exactly like a terrifying, ravenous, freezing nightmare.

"Chapter Master, if you go too far, we will completely lose track of you."

Armin spoke tensely over the vox-channel:

"The auspex has failed entirely."

Soshyan did not reply. His power armor had already begun injecting combat stims directly into his superhuman body, the injectors having been automatically triggered by his elevated heart rate.

He tasted the metallic tang of copper in his saliva, as adrenaline began to furiously burn within his muscles.

The Holy Flame Sword suddenly felt much lighter, effortlessly gripped securely within his metallic gauntlet.

Suddenly, something stepped onto the gravel of the railway tracks directly behind him.

The sound was vanishingly faint, perfectly timing itself exactly to match Soshyan's very next footstep.

An ordinary human absolutely would have missed it. But Soshyan was naturally no ordinary human.

"Here they come!"

He activated the Holy Flame Sword and violently twisted around in a sweeping slash. A brilliant, blazing red light abruptly burst forth in the darkness.

As Soshyan pivoted on his heel, the scorching power sword shattered the freezing air, violently grinding out a shower of sparks against a pair of terrifying, massive claws.

The Genestealer trailing closely behind Soshyan was squarely blasted backward by the sheer impact. Its robust physique simply could not absorb the raw force of an Astartes' attack. Upon landing, it rolled heavily to the side, but even more severely, its claws—they had been cleanly severed straight from its fingers.

Before it could even scramble back up, Soshyan had already closed the distance with a roaring howl, linking directly into a devastating overhead cleave.

The xenos attempted to raise its arm to resist, but its arm, along with its entire head, was sent flying into the air. The foul stench of xenos ichor instantly permeated the surrounding air.

"Kill him!!!!"

Accompanied by a piercing shriek, the rest of the xenos simultaneously launched their attack.

They had been quietly lurking all around the edges of the tunnel, hiding along the walls and within the massive, spiked, web-like spaces near the ceiling.

Now that they saw their "prey" was isolated, they let out ear-piercing screeches, swarming Soshyan from absolutely every conceivable angle.

Razor-sharp claws tore through the darkness, while gaping maws filled with serrated fangs roared ferociously.

Within mere seconds, Soshyan was plunged into an utterly isolated, helpless state.

The flickering flashes of light all around them dragged the battle into a hellish, strobe-lit scene of violent black and white, exactly as if a slideshow of still images was actively playing.

A spinning parry neatly deflected a plunging claw strike, but in the very next second, a pair of freezing talons slammed solidly against the flat of the Holy Flame Sword. Simultaneously, another strike violently gouged into Soshyan's right pauldron, shaking his power pack violently for a fleeting moment.

During the most incredibly dangerous moment, a claw strike entirely succeeded in nearly piercing straight through his gorget.

But equally within those few fleeting seconds, he cleanly decapitated four heads and severed nine arms.

"Chapter Master!"

Armin was the very first to rush straight to his side.

His power sword violently struck the xenos attempting to latch onto Soshyan's back from behind. Under the full effect of the disintegration field enveloping the blade, the weapon smoothly sliced cleanly through the xenos's carapace, severing its spine and instantly causing the creature to collapse lifelessly from Soshyan's back.

Immediately following that, another thrust was executed, sending a severed limb tumbling across the iron tracks, aggressively spraying foul, tainted blood.

More warriors rushed forward to join the fray, but correspondingly, countless screaming xenos also burst forth entirely from the darkness.

The originally serene mine tunnel instantly transformed entirely into a bloody slaughterhouse.

As four sets of claws slashed viciously toward his helmet, Soshyan managed to lean backward just in time to safely evade them, instinctively executing a brutal, sweeping downward cleave with his Holy Flame Sword straight into the shadows strictly beside him.

His senses were pushed firmly to their absolute razor edge, his thirst to kill and the liquid metal surging entirely through his veins completely awakened.

The chaotic din around him seemed to actively recede. The xenos surging violently from the darkness appeared to him almost as if they were merely performing a slow-motion pantomime.

"Purge the xenos!"

Soshyan let out a furious roar, drawing entirely upon the sheer energy provided perfectly by his burning muscles and freezing blood.

He sprinted through the mine tunnel exactly like a localized god of war, unleashing his brutally efficient power. Every single strike landed flawlessly and perfectly, leaving absolutely everyone else utterly incapable of coming even remotely close to matching his terrifying prowess.

Aside from screaming and shrieking miserably beneath his blade, the xenos had absolutely no other capabilities whatsoever.

By the time the rest of the squad arrived securely at Soshyan's side, their Chapter Master had already violently stomped a struggling monster completely into a pulpy paste of raw meat.