After deciding to move along the shortest route, Soshyang and his party entered the passage.
Later, they discovered the large elevator at the end of the passage. By comparing the map on the side of the elevator, he roughly concluded that they must descend to an area of about 300 meters.
After conducting basic inspections, the Astartes entered the elevator.
"This thing seems too old."
When trying to enter commands into the elevator's rune panel, Armin complained:
"The machine is not responding."
Before Soshyang could answer, the electric lift suddenly shook under their feet, and the helmet eyepieces of the two soldiers even hit each other.
"Magnetic lock!"
Thor shouted through the channel, and then the moment the sound of the magnetic lock on the combat boots falling was heard, the elevator fell downwards.
There was no doubt that someone had tampered with the lift in some details that they had not checked, and Soshyan regretted not bringing Rodrigos with him.
But it was too late to be upset at this time. The elevator they were carrying was turned into a free-falling mass that fell vertically downwards, rushing towards the certain destruction at the bottom of the mine at a soaring speed.
Seeing that the situation was critical, Thor threw himself down on the control panel and tried hard to tap the runes on it.
Soon, the vise constituting the early warning mechanism slammed shut on the rotating shaft and gravity mechanism, triggering the closed emergency stopping device.
But this is far from enough.
Thor's feet were firmly locked on the ground, and he suddenly tore off a metal rod as thick as an adult's arm and inserted it into the rock walls on both sides.
Suddenly, sparks flew throughout the elevator, and the harsh friction between metal and rock was enough to shatter a mortal's eardrums.
At an almost imperceptible speed, they began to slow down, the wail of tortured machinery weakened, and the weightless feeling of falling began to fade away.
During this process, Thor said nothing. He stood firmly in a tight posture with the metal rod in his arms. The servo system locked his armor, and he opened his teeth as he focused every effort on ending this violent attack.
Falling and biting together tightly.
Until finally, the elevator finally came to a complete stop with a grinding sound, and Saul managed to squeeze out a word.
"Walk!"
The magnetic locks on the boots of the Astral Knights unlocked one after another with a crashing sound. Sosh Yang took the lead and tore open the elevator door, revealing a corridor bathed in red light behind the door.
Since the exit of the elevator was misaligned with the entrance of the passage, the Space Marines could only bend down and enter the tunnel, squeezing their armor-clad bodies through the gap.
One by one, they left the elevator that was about to be destroyed.
Saul was the last to leave.
After trembling and concentrating for a moment, he let go of the metal pole, jumped towards the gap in the floor, and rolled in.
At the moment of losing his power? The elevator fell again? Like a drop pod piercing the planet's atmosphere, falling downwards with a shower of sparks and the whine of white-hot brakes? Until both disappeared into the endless depths of the mine.
in the darkness.
Finally, a distant crash came from the abyss.
"Thanks."
Sosh Yang said sincerely? He stretched out his armored hand to Thor.
The old soldier holding it? He tried desperately to adjust his breathing. At this moment, every inch of the strengthened muscles on his superhuman body was sore, and waves of dull pain rose and fell in his temples along with his pulse.
Thor took a moment to adjust, and then looked at the surrounding environment.
The tunnel they were in was little more than a natural rock fissure? The only trace of artificiality was a metal walkway laid above the slowly flowing groundwater at the bottom of the tunnel.
This place has a strong smell of sulfur? The surrounding rocks have condensed into a dark shell. His automatic senses showed that the temperature of this corridor made of dark rocks is as hot as hell.
But it stands to reason that there are no volcanoes or magma landforms nearby.
"This is not on the map."
Sosh Yang compared the map and said regretfully.
"We don't know where we are now and we can't contact the ground."
After hearing this, Thor made a gesture toward the curved tunnel.
"At least our goal is extremely clear now, and there is no other way in front of us."
"really."
Sosh Yang put away the map? said in the communication channel.
"Advance in battle formation."
The Space Marines began marching down the aisle, their footsteps ringing like bells on the metal.
Unprotected humans cannot survive in the high temperature of the tunnel? But the power armor worn by the Space Marines is prepared for more severe conditions, at least the current underground environment does not pose a threat to them.
"What broke the lift?"
Walking? Suo Shiyang connected to Sol's personal channel? He asked softly:
"Those aliens?"
"uncertain."
"You mean the heretics."
"The truth is not always so straightforward? Chapter Master."
Sol was silent for a while, and then responded to the other party.
"In the dark and bottomless abyss, the enemy and ourselves are sometimes not as simple as they seem on the surface, but those aliens undoubtedly want us to go where we want to go. What they want is what others don't want."
"Thor, I noticed that the way you speak is becoming more and more like Brother Seid, and you are always running towards it during this time."
"You feel uneasy."
"No, confused."
"Enter the enemy!"
Armin suddenly interrupted their conversation.
Sosh Yang's eyes passed through the team leader and found that after they passed a corner, a heavy-looking door appeared in front of them, as well as a man wrapped in a bloated gray thermal insulation suit.
As soon as the man saw the Space Marine, he immediately ran towards the door's wheel-like locking mechanism and tried to close the door.
"Don't let him make any move."
A second later, the roar of bombs resounded in the tunnel. The man's head was blown open and he fell heavily against the half-closed door.
The Space Marine made his way to the end of the tunnel and passed through the door, bolters at the ready.
When they opened the door, they found themselves in a detention area.
The exposed rock wall is inlaid with cages with electrified grids, and figures gather on the inner rock protrusions, wearing the same heavy insulating clothing as the people who imprison them.
Dozens of such cages are lined up in the long, dark space.
As soon as the Space Marines entered, the inhabitants of the cage stared at them.
There were also guards among them. They ran towards their insulated automatic weapons. One of them triggered an alarm, and the wail of the alarm suddenly filled the entire underground space.
The Astral Knight quickly brought these people down, tearing apart the jailers with a series of quick bursts of fire, leaving their remains rolling and steaming in the hot wind.
"There is a stairwell at the far end of the room."
Thor's voice came from the intercom. His discovery changed the situation again. They were now pressed for time and must seize every minute and every second.
"Move there."
"Wait a moment."
A voice shouted through the wail of the alarm, and one of the prisoners stood up, his figure stooped and old.