Sarpedon had lost his mind and was covering his injured body with one hand. The mutated limbs below the waist were also dripping with blood. His chest was bloody and bloody, and the oozing liquid soaked his armor.
The rebel Soul Drinker veterans all gathered around him, forming an insurmountable wall of their own flesh and blood to block the pursuing loyalists.
The priest Ictinos knelt beside Sarpedon and performed a simple treatment.
"He's seriously injured and we have to get him out of here. The battle here is lost."
"No……"
Sarpedon suddenly raised his head, and his voice was as faint as a gossamer.
"We did not fail..."
"I just received news from the Gunhound that the Astral Knights destroyed the Burning Wings and now they have to choose to surrender."
"We did not fail..."
The think tank director just kept repeating this.
Ictinos and the commander of the fourth company, Luko, looked at each other, and then Luko shrugged.
"His head is probably burned out."
Then he glanced behind him and said calmly:
"We have to evacuate."
"But where?"
At this time,
Sarpedon screamed violently.
"The Brokenback!"
Iktinos also received the last communication from Gunhound at the same time.
"A hulk appears?"
Suddenly enlightened, he nodded and switched to the group's internal communication channel.
"Retreat, all retreat to the flight deck!"
He also sent coded pulses of encrypted messages to show that the order was authentic.
Then Luko held up one of Sarpedon's arms, and Ictinos held up the other. With their help, the think tank director reluctantly stood up.
"Can you still move around?"
Sarpedon gritted his teeth, but could not speak at all. Blood foam dripped from his lips.
After letting out a groan, he endured the pain and took the first step, then the second step.
So the two dragged the limping think tank director and prepared to leave, with the remaining veterans crowding behind them. This tragic civil war left everyone devastated.
"Don't go!!"
With a roar, Soshyan approached again, and at the same time, a large number of loyal Soul Drinker recruits followed closely, shooting at the retreating compatriots as they advanced.
At this time, some veterans holding combat shields and jump shields turned behind them, and the energy field on the shields crackled, deflecting the incoming bullets.
Not to be outdone, the retreating rebels shot at their former comrades who tried to stop them.
Soon, a dozen more warriors fell.
After ten minutes of arduous retreat, the rebels finally reached the door leading to the flight deck - their escape route.
A team of soldiers was guarding the door. They had prepared a stretcher. The priest and the fourth company commander immediately put down the think tank director, and then Ictinos ordered the door to be closed.
Sarpedon's arms slipped from their shoulders, and the coagulated blood and sealing foam on the purple armor were smeared everywhere.
Then, Ictinos looked back at the gate. The veterans at the back were also retreating.
Many warriors formed a semicircle, pouring destructive hailstones on the enemy, trying their best to block the enemy to cover their companions behind them - but they soon fell under the violent attack of Sevatar and Soshyan.
In addition to these brave men who died generously, there were still twenty veterans trapped in the fire compartment next to the passage, already surrounded.
On the battlefield, both loyalists and traitors were howling and roaring, shouting out their oaths and pain.
"We have to rescue them—"
Luko couldn't bear to leave the besieged warriors behind.
"We must retreat!"
The priest interrupted him suddenly.
"The fate of the Soul Drinkers depends on us."
Lu Wuke was a little confused, and his limbs were shaking because of everything he witnessed today.
"Come on, Luco."
"But--"
Luko still couldn't stop staring at the brothers who were being slaughtered. The furious Soshyan was desperately killing anything that stood in his way.
"Sarpedon!!"
Soshyan shouted, his voice like a wounded wolf.
"Come here and face me!!!!"
He grabbed the corpse of a Soul Drinker he had killed earlier from the ground, decapitated it with his sword, and then threw the head like a grenade into the crowd of Soul Drinker veterans behind the closing gate. .
"I will definitely kill you with my own hands! I swear to the Emperor with my soul!! You will never run away!!!"
The huge head rolled gurglingly to Luko's feet. He looked down and saw that the head's eyes were still glaring, and the blood-stained face was all too familiar to him.
"Graves!!"
Luko held up the head and his voice trembled. This was his close friend who served at the same time as him and fought side by side for nearly two hundred years. He was also one of the most precious group of veteran non-commissioned officers in the Chapter.
However, he died just like that.
Luko looked up at Soshyan, who also looked at him for a moment. The moment their eyes met, the heavy steel door slammed shut.
After temporarily breaking away from the pursuit, the remaining two hundred Soul Drinker veterans did not dare to stay any longer and ran directly towards the hangar where the Thunderhawks and shuttles were parked.
During this process, Sarpedon remained in a coma.
Until he was put into the Thunderhawk's cabin.
With a flashing red warning light, the cabin door ramp closed and the vents expelled air to pressurize the cabin.
At this time, Sarpedon finally woke up.
"Iktinos..."
He weakly called the priest's name.
"Iktinos!"
Ictinos was also completely exhausted, so he had to move to the think tank director's side and put his hand on the other person's chest.
"How about it?"
"Iktinos..."
Sarpedon began to mutter to himself.
"I was wrong, we were all wrong...I destroyed the war group...ruined everything..."
"Sarpedon?"
The think tank director stretched out his weak hand and grabbed the priest's armor. His eyes were so sad.
"I shouldn't have done anything to Golgory."
"Everything you say now is in vain."
Ictinos slapped the opponent's hand away angrily. At this time, a plasma chainsaw was burning at close range in his hand. The pharmacist who had been staying on the flight deck was cutting the armor to treat his wounds.
"No, no, it's not in vain..."
Sarpedon smiled mockingly, his teeth covered in his own blood.
"He spoke to me, He spoke to me again, He's guiding us... guiding..."
His eyes became sluggish again, and he seemed to be on the verge of coma again.
"With whom? With the things on the hulk?"
Sarpedon shook his head, trying to stay awake.
"It's Him, it's Him who told me..."
He was shaking and breathing rapidly.
Just before he lost consciousness, he whispered:
"…The Emperor is guiding me."
Ictinos looked at the think tank director's lowered head and suddenly shook his head, with only disgust and sarcasm in his eyes.
He still thought it was the Emperor who was guiding him.
But in the darkness, there was only—
deeper darkness
