The insulating suit made her voice muffled, but she was clearly an older woman.
"Angels of the God Emperor's Mercy, we are all family members of the spaceport officials, and we implore your help."
"She said they were families of spaceport officials?"
Sosh Yang asked Sol, his voice filled with surprise.
"She wants to be let out."
Thor walked out of the darkness and peeled off the insulating suits of the corpses on the ground. As a result, the soldiers discovered that these were aliens.
"It seems that what she said is true."
Thor turned to the man in the cage and asked:
"Do you know why they kidnapped you?"
"I know they want to use this to blackmail our husbands and children and make them betray the empire."
"What kind of conspiracy?"
"We don't know either. They just imprison us here and provide us with basic food every day."
"Who are you?"
Saul paid attention. Besides the old man, there was another person in the cell, a boy.
He shrank back, his eyes widening behind the dim viewing window of his insulating suit.
"I'm Marita, the former stationmaster of the airport transfer station."
The woman said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"And this is my grandson, Nick, whose father is the current station manager."
The boy raised his head and looked directly into the angel's dark eyepieces and indifferent gaze.
"Those monsters came into the house at night and captured my grandma and me in this hot place. The food was not delicious at all and the water was smelly."
Then, the boy complained a little awkwardly.
"Grandma always said that the God Emperor would save us. Uncle Ironhide, are you sent by the God Emperor?"
In the communication channel, someone laughed. Soshiyang guessed that it was Armin.
Thor did not respond, but walked away from the cage silently.
They then had a short discussion.
"This is unreasonable."
Saul was the first to express his opinion.
"They can directly control these people with infection. There is no need to go to a lot of trouble to abduct them so deep underground."
"Maybe there is another purpose?"
Soshyan tried to analyze.
"These are the family members of airport officials. Maybe they are preparing a way out for themselves, but...it is true that they can be infected directly."
As he spoke, he looked back at the prisoners.
"Could they have been infected?"
"possible."
Sol nodded slightly.
"The best solution is to wait until the situation here is understood and then let the Legal Department take over the inspection."
"But what if they are not infected, abandoning them is not..."
Suddenly, Armin's voice interrupted.
"Even so, we don't have the energy to take them with us, but it will be safer here."
Armin then fell silent.
After making the decision, Soshiyang walked to the prison and said in a deep voice:
"We are carrying out an emergency mission? We can't take you with us. Why don't you stay here? Someone will come to rescue you after the mission is completed."
"Angel! Don't abandon us!"
Are there dozens of prisoners in nearby cells? They all started shouting and making noises, getting as close to the cell grid as their courage allowed.
"I understand the difficulties of all the adults..."
The old man pushed the child forward.
"At least Nick he-"
"terribly sorry."
Before Soshyan could finish? There was a crackling sound and the alarm stopped.
The silence lasted only for a moment.
As the rock bed collapsed? Part of the stone chamber wall fell down? Lava surged through the cracks, and the hot and dazzling jets hit the exposed ground and spread quickly.
Only then did Sosh Yang realize the true source of the burning heat.
The alien introduced magma nearby, forming a self-destruction system.
"Anti-jailbreak device."
Thor started running? and said calmly.
"Someone triggered it."
"Walk."
Sosh Yang issued orders through the team channel? He had no time to convince others with reason.
The prisoners began to scream and moan as they found themselves abandoned, but the Space Marines turned a deaf ear.
The magma here spreads rapidly, and more and more rock walls on both sides begin to collapse, flowing into the shining flow of heat and lava.
When the lava flow arrived, the screaming reached its peak - even the insulating suits began to burn.
Soshyang walked at the end. He could hear those cries, prayers and curses clearly. Armin also wanted to connect to private communication several times, but he refused.
Suddenly, he stopped? Turned around? Stepped through the scalding heat.
Has the current on the cage been extinguished due to a short circuit? Soshi Yang tore open the mesh door with his bare hands and reached out to the boy crying in his grandma's arms.
"I'm not going anywhere without grandma!"
The boy shrank and shrank, but the old man pushed him out.
"God-Emperor's blessing, thank you for your mercy."
Sosh Yang silently grabbed the boy with one hand, then turned around and started running.
The rest of the team had already headed for the stairs, and the prison quickly turned into a hell. Everything was burning, including the people in the cage, and turned into screaming candles.
Soshyang did not look back at this scene. He held the boy under his arm with one hand and started climbing with the remaining hand.
Soon, they escaped from this hell.
Sol did not ask Sosh Yang why he did this, and no one else questioned it.
Armin was relieved a lot, and now he was responsible for protecting the boy until he returned to the ground.
The team was gradually ascending, passing through dark tunnels that seemed to have been abandoned. Then they climbed up narrow stairwells and passed through increasingly low and crowded tunnels and rail locomotive lines.
Afterwards, they returned to the familiar mining area and found that their target was close at hand.
The mines here are cold and humid, which is very consistent with the characteristics of underground rivers flowing through them.
Just when Soshyang breathed a sigh of relief to be back on the right path, a violent explosion suddenly occurred in the tunnel where they were.
A wave of mud and rock crashed into the ten Space Marines, hitting their armor and smashing them into the wall on the other side.
Armin reacted in an instant. He grabbed Nick and pulled him to his left, protecting the boy with his body.
Fortunately, the power of the explosion was not particularly strong and did not cause any substantial damage. However, when Sosh Yang regained his footing, the ambushers came to cover him up.
Wearing breathing masks and miner's attire, they rushed towards the Space Marines with morbid enthusiasm, eyes wide after the respirator goggles were removed.
Laser cutters, impact drills and even simple one-handed mining picks are wielded in their hands.
But what concerned Soshyang even more was their war cry.
"For the shadows! For the Crow Lord!!"
Most mortal opponents could only fall to the ground and wait for death under the impact of the explosion, but they faced the Space Marines, and even though they were at the center of the explosion, they were not shocked at all.
Soshiyang pulled out his Holy Flame Sword and said only one word.