Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 217: Mysterious Prison Cell

Having decided to move along the nearest route, Soshyan's group entered the passage.

Subsequently, they discovered a large elevator at the end of the passage. By comparing it with the map next to the elevator, he deduced that they needed to descend to an area approximately three hundred meters down.

After conducting basic checks, the Astartes entered the elevator.

"This thing seems too old."

While attempting to input commands into the elevator's rune panel, Armin complained:

"The machine is not responding."

Before Soshyan could reply, the electric elevator lurched beneath their feet, causing the helmet visors of two warriors to crash into each other.

"Mag-locks!"

Sol shouted over the channel. The instant the sound of the mag-locks engaging upon their boots rang out, the elevator plummeted downwards.

Without a doubt, in some detail they had failed to inspect, someone had tampered with the elevator. Soshyan regretted not bringing Logris along.But annoyance was useless now. The elevator they were riding had transformed into a vertically free-falling mass of dead weight, hurtling at skyrocketing speeds toward certain doom at the bottom of the mine shaft.

Seeing the critical situation, Sol dove onto the control panel, smashing the runes upon it.

Soon, the vises constituting the early warning mechanism slammed shut upon the rotating shafts and gravity systems, triggering the deactivated emergency braking device.

But this was not enough.

With both feet locked firmly to the floor, Sol tore loose a metal bar as thick as a grown man's arm and jammed it into the rock walls on both sides.

Instantly, sparks flew wildly within the entire elevator. The ear-piercing screech of friction between metal and rock was loud enough to shatter a mortal's eardrums.

At an almost imperceptible pace, they began to decelerate. The tortured wails of the mechanical systems weakened, and the weightless sensation of the free fall began to recede.

Throughout this process, Sol did not utter a single word. Hugging the metal bar, he stood firmly in a tense posture. The servo-motors locked his power armour in place, his jaw tightly clenched as he focused every ounce of his strength upon halting this violent descent.

Until the very end, when the elevator finally came to a complete halt amidst the grinding screech of friction, Sol managed to squeeze out a single word.

"Move!"

With a series of clanks, the mag-locks on the Astral Knights' boots disengaged one after another. Soshyan took the lead, tearing open the elevator doors to reveal a red-lit corridor behind them.

Because the elevator's exit and the tunnel entrance were misaligned, the Space Marines had to crouch to enter the tunnel, squeezing their armor-clad bodies through the gap.

One by one, they left the doomed elevator.

Sol was the last to leave.

After taking a trembling moment to focus, he let go of the metal bar, leapt forward, and rolled through the gap into the floor beyond.

The instant it lost his supporting strength, the elevator plummeted once more. Like a drop pod piercing a planet's atmosphere, it plummeted downward accompanied by a shower of sparks and the white-hot screech of fading brakes, until both vanished into the boundless darkness at the bottom of the mine shaft.

Finally, a distant impact echoed from the abyss.

"Thank you."

Soshyan spoke sincerely, extending his armored hand toward Sol.

The veteran gripped it, desperately adjusting his breathing. Right now, every inch of enhanced muscle on his superhuman body ached intensely, while waves of dull pain throbbed at his temples in time with his pulse.

Sol took a moment to recover his condition, then surveyed their surrounding environment.

The tunnel they were currently in was only slightly better than a natural rock fissure. The only trace of artificial construction was a metal walkway laid directly above a slowly flowing subterranean river at the bottom of the tunnel.

This place possessed a pungent smell of sulfur. A dark crust had condensed completely over the surrounding rocks. His auto-senses indicated that the temperature within this corridor composed of dark rock was as blisteringly hot as purgatory.

However, logically speaking, there were no volcanoes or magmatic terrains anywhere nearby.

"This place is not on the map."

Soshyan compared his surroundings with the map and spoke with regret.

"We have no idea where we are right now, nor can we establish contact with the surface."

Hearing this, Sol gestured toward the curved tunnel.

"At least our objective right now is incredibly clear. There is no other path before us."

"Indeed."

Soshyan put the map away and spoke over the vox-channel.

"Advance in combat formation."

The Space Marines began marching along the walkway, their footsteps ringing out like great bells as they struck the metal.

Unprotected baseline humans could never survive the intense heat of this tunnel, but the power armour worn by Space Marines was designed for far harsher conditions. At the very least, this subterranean environment posed absolutely no threat to them for the time being.

"What destroyed the elevator?"

As they walked, Soshyan opened a private channel to Sol and asked softly:

"Those xenos?"

"Not necessarily."

"You mean the heretics."

"The truth is not always so straightforward, Chapter Master."

Sol fell silent for a moment before responding to him.

"Within the lightless, bottomless abyss, friend and foe are sometimes not as simple as they appear on the surface. However, those xenos undoubtedly want us to reach a specific destination. What they desire is exactly what certain others do not."

"Sol, I've noticed your manner of speech is becoming increasingly similar to Brother Zayd's. You've also been visiting him constantly lately."

"You feel uneasy."

"No, confused."

"Enemy contact!"

Armin suddenly interrupted their conversation.

Soshyan's gaze passed the Squad Leader, discovering that after passing a corner, a heavy-looking door had appeared directly ahead, along with a man wrapped entirely in a bloated gray heat-resistant suit.

The moment the man saw the Space Marines, he instantly rushed toward the wheel-shaped locking mechanism on the heavy door, desperately attempting to seal it shut.

"Do not let him make any moves."

A second later, the booming roar of a bolter echoed through the tunnel. The man's head was blown apart, and he fell heavily against the half-closed door.

The Space Marines walked toward the end of the tunnel, passing through the heavy door, their bolters primed and ready at a moment's notice.

Only upon pushing the large doors entirely open did they realize they found themselves inside a detention area.

Cages lined with electrified grids were embedded directly into the bare rock walls. Human silhouettes huddled together on the rocky outcroppings inside, wearing the exact same heavy heat-resistant suits as the very people who had imprisoned them.

Dozens of such cages were completely arrayed throughout this dark, elongated space.

The moment the Space Marines entered, the inhabitants of the cages stared entirely at them.

There were guards present here as well. They scrambled toward their heat-treated autoguns, and one of them managed to trigger the alarm. The wailing siren instantly filled the entire subterranean space.

The Astral Knights swiftly dropped these men. A rapid string of precise bursts tore the jailers apart, leaving only their shattered remains to tumble and steam in the scorching wind.

"There is a stairwell at the far end of the room."

Sol's voice came through the vox. His discovery altered their situation once more; they were severely pressed for time and had to seize absolutely every single second.

"Move toward it."

"Wait."

A voice shouted out, cutting completely through the wailing sirens. One of the prisoners stood up; her figure frail and aged.

Soshyan turned toward her wordlessly.

"We are not ordinary prisoners."