The Bizarre Adventure of the Warhammer Guard

A transport plane took off again from the parking platform of Norard II, heading directly to the secret experimental base on Mar-Sala.

As Mengsk had previously stated, all the inhabitants of the colonies on Mar-Sala have now been rescued, and the Zerg have thus been able to grow rapidly without any obstacles. About one-tenth of the land is now covered with the Zerg's purple creep.

From space, the land of Ma Sara resembles a festering wound, with a viscous purple carpet of fungus spreading across the scorched earth, as the planet is being slowly devoured by the swarm of insects.

Whether there are any other survivors is no longer important; at least Elpis has not received any distress signals.

"Sheriff, how long are you going to keep touching your gun?" Rugal asked from inside the transport plane.

"You don't understand, old buddy." Reno's thumb rubbed the cool grooves on the barrel, the crisp metallic click making him squint. "This is the famous C-10 rifle, a special supply from the Federal."

The C-10 rifle is a multi-purpose anti-infantry rifle capable of high-precision sniping, close-quarters assault, and tactical support. It can fire not only standard ammunition but also special ammunition such as armor-piercing and high-explosive rounds.

This rifle is specifically designed for special operations units like the Ghost in the Federation. Of course, some senior officers or Marines who need to carry out special missions will also be equipped with this large-caliber rifle.

After finding the gun in the armory of Norald II, Reno became enamored with it and made it his primary weapon.

"By the way, are you really going to join the Son of Korhal?" Renault asked.

"Yes, I'll be with them after this mission," Rugal said, looking down at the weapon in his hand. "After all, I'm wanted by the Federation now; I can't exactly go back and turn myself in, can I?"

"That's right." Renault laughed and patted Rugal on the shoulder with his right hand. "After you've settled in, text me and I'll come find you for a drink."

"No problem," Rugal said, a smile spreading across his face, seemingly infected by Renault's laughter. "So, where are you planning to go next?"

“I’m not going anywhere, buddy,” Reno said. “I’m staying on Norald II and following the instructions of our Golden Angels.”

At that moment, the red indicator light on the transport plane flashed and emitted a "beep, beep" sound, followed by a jolt. It had just entered the atmosphere of Masala, and the strong airflow caused the transport plane to briefly lose its balance.

But soon, the stabilization system in the transport plane kicked in, the fuselage returned to normal, and the red indicator light stopped flashing.

"Oh, by the way, forgive my rudeness." After stabilizing, Renault turned to Loken and the others and said, "Although I don't know if our Lord Elpis likes this nickname, I think it suits his image quite well."

"Lord Elpis once told me," Lyon paused for a moment, then continued, "that he was just an ordinary man."

"Okay, Lyon, relax, it's just a metaphor." Renault was a little surprised, not expecting anyone to take a metaphor seriously.

"Lord Elpis doesn't need these empty titles. Besides, things aren't that simple." Loken joined the conversation, bringing the topic to a close at the right moment. "Now, we need to complete the task at hand."

The transport plane passed through thick clouds and arrived at a mountain range. The federal experimental base was cleverly hidden behind a natural barrier formed by geological fault lines.

From the air, this place appears as a barren expanse of rock, with only a few unusual artificial metallic echoes detectable through special spectral scanning.

Based on the intelligence provided by Mengsk, the group arrived at a platform in the middle of the mountain. They pressed a button to start the platform, which descended at a constant speed, carrying them to the secret underground experimental base.

Stepping off the elevator platform, a straight corridor came into view, leading to a steel gate at the end of the corridor.

There were no signs of battle or defensive structures in the entire space, a stark contrast to the rampaging Zerg swarms on other parts of the planet. It seemed that those swarms had not discovered this place either.

The group walked inside, their positions remaining the same as before: Loken in front, Leon and Chris on the flanks, protecting Reno and Rugal in the middle.

Upon reaching the end of the corridor, the steel gate opened automatically, revealing several Federal Marines carrying supplies inside.

"Who are you people?" A federal soldier asked immediately upon noticing the group, raising his gun.

Without a word or any unnecessary movement, the three Astartes simultaneously raised their explosive muskets.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The thunderous sound of the bombs shattered the silence. A few breaths later, as the last body fell to the ground, before the smoke from the bomb gun muzzles had even dissipated, the three Astartes simultaneously lowered their guns, as if merely dusting off their armor.

"Still the same," Renault said helplessly, looking around. "We don't need to do anything; you've taken care of everything."

"Renault, we'll handle the fighting," Leon said, putting down his bomb pistol. "The task of finding the data is up to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Leon turned to the side and gestured "please" with his palm. Following the direction of his hand, Renault saw a row of computers.

"Fine, what can I do? I'm just smarter."

Renault and Rugal operated the computer, and countless pieces of information flashed across the dark blue terminal screen. Through this information, they discovered that the experimental base had begun to be evacuated a week ago, and many valuable supplies had already been moved away from the site.

However, it wasn't entirely fruitless; some blueprints for automated weapons were still found in these computers.

Meanwhile, according to records, several months ago, General Duke sent someone to hand over a data package, and the researchers then conducted experiments to reproduce the contents of the data package completely.

All subsequent information was encrypted and deleted, which is a consistent practice of the federal government.

The Federation did not take that data packet with them; it was stored on an independent computer deep within the experimental base, which contained data on the Federation's secret experimental weapons.

"Looks like this is exactly what Mengsk wanted," Renault said, inserting the data core and copying the blueprints from the computer. "I just wonder why those Federation guys didn't just pack it up and take it with them?"

"Don't overthink it, we'll just go and see for ourselves," Rugal replied.

Afterwards, Renault removed the copied data core and walked with the others deeper into the experimental base.