Chapter 274: Battle in the Underhive
After hours of continuous descent, the elevator finally docked in a deep section marked as a "Restricted Area."
The air here was stagnant and heavy, a mixture of metal rust, accumulated grease, and a strange odor resembling cheap incense blended with high-voltage ozone.
"Target area is just ahead." Proctor Atkins pointed to a massive pipeline entrance. Its interior was deep and pitch-black, seemingly leading to another world.
He made a sharp hand gesture, and the Arbites squad immediately split into two groups.
"Cole, take three men and hold this exit. Establish a defensive position; ensure communication remains open and our retreat is secure. The rest, move with me." He turned to Maine, his tone serious and professional. "We are more familiar with the structure down here and can provide route guidance and regional intelligence support. If we encounter situations requiring law enforcement identification, we will handle it."
Maine nodded steadily. The output of the newly installed Plasma Reactor in his chest cavity was stable, and the Volkite Charger system in his left arm had completed preheating.
He looked around at his team and issued concise orders. "Everyone check equipment. Rebecca, provide lighting. Dorio, form the vanguard with me. Pilar, watch the flanks. Falco, continuous environmental scan. Mower, scout the shadow areas ahead. Valerie, Jackie, activate the Iron Guards and maintain tactical spacing."
Orders issued, the team immediately began operating efficiently.
The energy cores on the backs of the two Iron Guard prototypes emitted a low, powerful hum, and ghostly blue light rippled across the armor seams.
Valerie sat in the cockpit, fully synchronized with the machine via deep neural link; Jackie activated the system through the traditional control interface, his sensory suit transmitting the machine's feedback precisely to his limbs.
The high-intensity searchlights carried by Rebecca shot out two blinding beams, instantly tearing through the darkness ahead and illuminating a wide passage covered in grease and unidentified slime.
Proctor Atkins personally led four fully armed Enforcers to join the operational column. They skillfully occupied tactical positions in the middle of the formation, their enforcement-pattern Boltguns ready at all times.
With a forward gesture from Maine, this mixed formation stepped cautiously but firmly into the deeper darkness beneath the Hive City in standard tactical formation.
The Enforcers left behind quickly established temporary fortifications, their Heavy Bolters aimed at the tunnel entrance.
Under the swaying beams of the searchlights, the tunnel walls could be seen covered in meaningless graffiti and heavily worn warning signs.
The strange smell in the air grew heavier, and the sharp sound of metal friction occasionally echoed from the distance in the empty tunnel.
Proctor Atkins lowered his voice and said to Maine, "According to the map, five hundred meters ahead is the main entrance to the Old Purification Plant. Recent patrol reports have mentioned abnormal activity there."
Mower's figure flickered in the shadows ahead, her modified senses scanning every possible threat.
Dorio clenched her fists, the Volkite cores in her knuckles glowing faintly.
Falco's scanner emitted a rhythmic ticking sound, transmitting environmental data to every team member's tactical eye-piece in real-time.
This well-equipped team was like a steel python, slowly sliding into the deepest darkness of the Hive, ready to face the threats lurking in the shadows.
The team continued deeper along the wide and filthy passage. Mower moved silently ahead like a true shadow, her sensors transmitting terrain data and sporadic heat signatures back in real-time.
Shabby shacks and dwellings built from scrap materials began to appear on both sides of the passage, but they were currently empty. Only some tattered belongings left behind in haste indicated that the residents here had fled not long ago.
"Ambush," Mower's cold voice came through the squad's encrypted channel. "One hundred fifty meters ahead. Maintenance tunnels on both sides and the pipe platform above. Approximately twenty life signatures, armed with crude firearms and melee weapons."
Maine immediately signaled a tactical halt. The team stopped instantly, deploying into a defensive formation using the natural cover within the passage.
The heavy bodies of the two Iron Guard prototypes crouched halfway, acting as temporary armored cover, while the weapon platforms on their shoulders began to rotate, locking onto the target areas.
The Arbites squad also spread out quickly. Proctor Atkins whispered, "It's the 'Dregs Gang,' a bunch of scum entrenched here. Looks like they've mixed in with those heretics."
"Free fire. Eliminate threats." Maine did not hesitate, issuing the order directly.
For this kind of ambush, the best response was an instant, devastating strike.
Rebecca was the first to fire.
Her Plasma Cannon charged briefly, emitting a heart-palpitating hum, followed by a blinding blue plasma bolt whistling out, accurately shooting into the entrance of the left maintenance tunnel.
BOOM—!
The violent explosion was deafening. The plasma instantly vaporized the metal structure at the entrance. Violent energy turned the few bandits hiding inside, along with their cover, into splashing molten metal and charred wreckage.
The scorching heat wave even caused stinging pain to the skin of the ambushers on the other side of the tunnel.
Almost simultaneously, Pilar's Promethium Flamer let out a low roar. A viscous, white-hot dragon of fire whistled toward the platform on the right, engulfing several bandits trying to peek out and shoot.
Shrill screams rang out briefly, then stopped abruptly in the temperature of thousands of degrees, leaving only the burnt smell of burning bodies.
"Hah! Is that all they got?" Rebecca shouted excitedly. Her new height and strength made controlling this heavy weapon much easier.
Maine's Volkite Charger also let out a muffled roar. Unlike the sharp crack of a laser or the boom of a bolter, it was a lower sound, like liquid being sprayed under high pressure—Chooom!
A thermal ray, difficult to catch with the naked eye, shot toward a pipe platform above the passage, hitting a bandit holding a crude lasgun.
There was no massive explosion. The bandit simply combusted violently from the inside out in an instant, like butter thrown into a steel furnace, turning into a screaming human torch. The flames even ignited his companions nearby, triggering chaos.
Dorio rushed out like a cannonball, charging fiercely toward several mutants wielding power axes who were trying to rush out from cover on the flank.
These mutants had knotted muscles, skin of an unhealthy gray-green hue, and bodies covered in crude metal implants and twisted tattoos.
Dorio didn't use any weapons, just a plain, unadorned straight punch.
Her fist carried a whistle that tore through the air, smashing heavily onto the chest of the lead mutant.
THUD!
With a muffled sound, the mutant's thick chest caved in visibly, and the clothes on his back exploded outward.
That wasn't the end. The instant her knuckles made contact, the built-in Volkite core was triggered. A small but extremely lethal burst of deflagration energy erupted at the point of impact.
(End of Chapter)