Chapter 3, The Doomed Captives
The journey from the Temporary Camp to the Waste Pit Society totaled four and a half hours.
The elite Marines were all deployed in five-man squads to serve as vanguards and scouts. Gu Hang steadily advanced with the victim Patel and his main force, the Servitor Battalion.
Midway, Gu Hang received a report from the Marine reconnaissance team: they had discovered a small transport convoy, likely belonging to the 'Doomed Captives' tribe.
Gu Hang authorized Captain Yan Fangxu to lead the Marines and a portion of the Servitor Soldiers to destroy it and capture as many prisoners as possible.
Captain Yan is a Naval elite, and handling this small task was a piece of cake; there were no surprises.
However, after Gu Hang finished listening to the prisoners' testimony, his mood was anything but pleasant.
Gu Hang had Patel brought over and said to him: "It seems these bandits never planned to let you go."
Patel had also seen the state of the transport convoy and looked furious: "Yes, they were transporting large amounts of high explosives. It would be enough not only to blast open the Waste Pit Society's gate but also to cave in the mine pits and bury all of us inside."
Gu Hang shook his head and added: "It's worse than that. According to the intelligence gathered by Captain Yan's interrogation, they had already made arrangements with the Greenskins in the High Wall Ruins. All nine hundred-plus people of your Waste Pit Society were to be treated as high-quality rations and sold to those Greenskin beasts."
"What?!"
Patel knew the 'Doomed Captives,' these wasteland bandits, harbored absolute malice toward them, but he was still shocked by their cruelty.
The description of 'Greenskin beasts' is apt for those mutants. They do not only exist on Wrath Owl Star but are widespread throughout the Cosmos, often called the 'Cancer of the Universe.'
They have no sexual distinction; they reproduce by relying on symbiotic spores that detach from their bodies and 'grow' from the ground. Their food is also cultivated this way.
Logically, they shouldn't need to purchase rations, but these Greenskin beasts have two favorite things in life: first is fighting, and second is eating the brains of sentient beings. The former is their nature; the latter is their means of technological upgrade.
These beasts that grow out of the earth are initially indeed primitive and savage, fighting with stone axes and wooden clubs. But once they eat enough, and smart enough, brains, their technology rapidly advances: iron weapons, guns, cannons, and even interstellar travel...
Their innate nature—being warlike and destructive—means that the stronger they become, the more they turn into a rampant natural disaster.
Logically speaking, such a species should be the enemy of all humanity. The Empire does indeed have a kill order against the Greenskin Orcs—kill them on sight, then purify the land to destroy the spores, ensuring they cannot grow back.
But... policy is one thing; execution is another.
Wrath Owl Star can't even pay its tax, basic welfare on the planet cannot be guaranteed, and various factions are riddled with contradictions. The entire planet is in chaos; the Governor is even forced to till the land himself... In this situation, you truly cannot expect bandits like the 'Doomed Captives' to have any sentiment for the fate of all humanity.
However, being non-hostile is one thing; doing business with these man-eating beasts is simply intolerable.
Cleaning up the Greenskin beasts is something Gu Hang must do.
But not right now, of course.
The testimony revealed that the Greenskin tribe in the High Wall Ruins numbers in the tens of thousands and has evolved at least to the point of possessing automatic weapons. Their equipment does not have a large generational gap compared to the humans on the planet. Clearing out those brutes is absolutely beyond the capabilities of the forces Gu Hang currently commands.
Fortunately, the High Wall Ruins are quite far from here, so there's no immediate need to worry.
The main focus remains on dealing with the wasteland raiders who are threatening the Waste Pit Society.
Now, Gu Hang has confirmed their precise intelligence.
Four kilometers from the mine pits where the Waste Pit Society is located, the 'Doomed Captives' have constructed a temporary camp. These guys never thought the Waste Pit Society would dare to come out and engage them in open battle, so they made no defensive preparations.
"This is a good opportunity. We can launch a surprise attack! Our mortars can achieve an excellent strike effect!" Yan Fangxu looked excited.
"Alright, let's do that."
After a brief rest, the remaining two hours of travel were covered in just over an hour.
The accelerated speed was due to the concern that the prolonged absence of the transport convoy might make the bandits realize something was wrong.
After a rapid forced march, they still needed some time to rest before launching the assault.
The thirty elite Marines were fine, but the Servitors needed rest. They don't complain of tiredness, but they do get tired, and fatigue would lower their combat effectiveness.
Following Yan Fangxu's suggestion, the soldiers would set off again in forty-five minutes. The mortar position would commence shelling one hour later.
At a position where the Doomed Captives' camp could be seen in the distance, Gu Hang patiently led the team to rest, eat nutrient paste, sit still to restore their energy, and set up the mortar position...
He knew that the patience now was to ensure a decisive victory later.
Kaga was feeling inexplicably annoyed right now.
Being a raider isn't easy these days. They hadn't made a successful raid in a while, and their supplies were about to run out. Food was easy enough—they wouldn't worry once they breached the Waste Pit Society. Even if the miners didn't have many food stores, hundreds of people could be butchered and turned into jerky to last a long time.
But damaged weapons and depleted ammunition are hard to replace. Most major factions aren't willing to trade with raiders like them; only those Greenskin tribes are. Although Greenskin technology is temperamental, their weapons have an extremely high malfunction rate, and the ammunition often fails to fire. Furthermore, in their hands, the weapons are nowhere near as powerful as they are in the hands of the Greenskins themselves...
But it's better than nothing.
Truthfully, Kaga didn't care for the minerals that the Waste Pit Society was rich in. They are heavy, worthless, and hard to fence. But the nine hundred people in the pits were good assets—they could be used as his own rations or driven to the High Wall Ruins and sold for Greenskin arms. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Driving people is much easier than driving sheep.
For this purpose, the 'Doomed Captives' had essentially poured out their entire force. Except for a few elderly, women, and children and the brothers guarding the home base, the main force, over a hundred strong, had been led out by Kaga.
The Waste Pit Society had many people but few guns, so they weren't much of a threat. Their long-term survival in the wasteland primarily relied on their good location. Kaga had personally scouted the mine pit; it truly was easy to defend and hard to attack. The pit entrance was sealed tightly with minerals and metal, and once the heavy door was shut from the inside, it couldn't be opened by manpower.
Yesterday, they had tried to blast the door but failed; the explosive yield was insufficient. Out of desperation, he had to dispatch trusted men back to the home base to transport more, including their emergency stock of concentrated explosives.
His patience had run out. If they couldn't trick the miners into opening the door, so be it. Once the explosives arrived, they'd just blast it open and be done with it.
This should have been settled today, so there was no need to rush, but Kaga still felt troubled. Based on the time, his transport convoy should be back, but why was there no sign of them?
He had already urged his men to use radio communication to try and contact the transport convoy, but they couldn't get through.
This made him even more uneasy.
Half an hour ago, he sent out a small squad to search the return route, but there was still no reply, and even their radio was out of contact.
He became completely alert.
Such an unusual situation inevitably filled him with fear and suspicion.
Careless people are long buried and lost in the wasteland.
He made up his mind to send out four or five small squads for external reconnaissance. At the same time, he ordered the entire troop to prepare, intending to collectively set out and check the situation themselves.
Suddenly, a subordinate reported: "We contacted the transport convoy. They said they're on their way back and will arrive soon."
Kaga's brow instantly furrowed: "Why couldn't we contact them before?"
"He said their radio had a minor malfunction and was just fixed. They sent a message right away, worried about us."
Kaga thought for a moment and ordered: "Reply: 'You dogs, were you screwing a zombie dog on the road, taking so long? Hurry back! If you're late, I'm taking half your loot!'"
After giving the order, he quickly walked outside and shouted at the brothers who were preparing: "Faster, faster! We are leaving immediately! You dogs, stop loading those damn bullets! Take as much as you can, and dump the rest! Get moving! Prepare to break out! We've been spotted!"
The subordinate who had just received his command was a little confused. He chased after him and asked: "Boss, this... I..."
"What 'I'? Get the damn message across, then grab your gun and follow the troop!"
"Why?" The young man was still dazed.
Kaga tapped his forehead: "Someone definitely has their eyes on us! If blinding the enemy works, great. If not, the slow one like you is gonna die!"
With that, he ignored the foolish young man, grabbed his gun, and called his brothers to prepare to leave the camp.
Just as he reached the entrance, he heard a whistling sound from the sky.
His face instantly turned pale.
That was the sound of an artillery shell!
"Get down!"
He quickly dropped to the ground, cursing wildly: "Damn it! They're even using a cannon to bomb us... Bah, bah... Don't let me catch you... Bah..."
The rumble of the explosions almost drowned out his own voice. He only tried to use obscenities and bravado to vent his fear.
He had guessed someone was tracking them and even considered the worst-case scenario—that he was already surrounded.
But what he hadn't expected was that the people tracking him actually had a cannon!
Fortunately, his luck wasn't bad. Aside from ringing ears and a dizzy head, he was mostly fine.
He half-crouched and looked around.
The artillery bombarding them must be small caliber, perhaps just mortars. If they were heavy cannons, a round of ten or so concentrated shells would have obliterated everyone in the entire camp.
Even so, in their makeshift camp with no solid fortifications, these mortars still caused decent casualties.
A quick glance showed at least twenty of his brothers were either dead or missing limbs.
The remaining men were all stunned by the explosion.
But now was clearly not the time to be dazed; staying here meant waiting to die.
He roared: "Charge! Charge! Get out!"
But just then, gunfire erupted from outside.
They really were surrounded! The infantry was following up after the artillery fire!
The only relatively good news was that the gunfire sounded somewhat distant, suggesting that the small squads he had sent out earlier were doing their job and engaging the enemy.
That was their only chance for survival.
He yelled: "Send support! This is the crucial moment! Everyone who doesn't want to die, fight hard!"
And just then, the second round of shelling arrived.