Just as Broken Skull's boss, Heuster, was planning to scout tomorrow before making a decision, he didn't realize that in the dead of night, death had already taken advantage of the darkness to quietly reveal its sharp scythe towards them.
"Swain, according to our surveillance, most of Broken Skull's members are already inside. The troublesome part is that the key passages are guarded by people holding laser guns," Nekser reported with great shame, as the Shadow Assassin's previous intelligence work had not uncovered this crucial information.
This meant that if they launched a frontal assault, they would suffer heavy casualties, and even the entire team might be wiped out here. The gap between laser guns and cold weapons was not something that could be compensated for by numbers.
"Laser guns? This is going to be a bit of a problem" Swain said, not blaming Nekser. After all, this was a team that had just wandered over, not a criminal gang living in this area. Even if the other party had laser guns, the number couldn't be that high; otherwise, they would have already brazenly extorted or invaded the camp.
As for guarding the key passages? Many in Shadow Assassin were skilled with bows and crossbows, which would negate the range advantage of laser guns. In the mine tunnels, visibility was at most no more than a hundred meters, and the destructive power of a crossbow was already completely overwhelming.
This was the limitation of the human body; even an Astartes could not directly withstand the charged attack of a laser gun without armor. Although an unarmored Astartes could instantly kill a fully armed Astromilitarum soldier.
"Let's clear out these peripheral enemies first. Don't make any noise. Bring two bows!" Swain instructed.
Then, a bow, about 2 meters long and somewhat resembling a longbow, was handed to Swain.
"Corax, you try it. Be careful not to use too much force and break the bow," Swain reminded him. Don't be fooled by his small stature; his strength was immense. While a Primarch's body had not yet fully matured, their strength was constantly growing. The longbows used by miners could easily snap if too much force was applied.
Corax took the longbow offered to him, held the bow in his left hand, gently drew the string with his right, and after a brief moment of adapting to the bow's tension, effortlessly pulled it to a near full-moon state. Then, Corax took an arrow from his quiver and shot it at a distant rock. A dull thud echoed as the thick arrow pierced through most of the stone, with the remaining half of the shaft and the black fletching still trembling outside.
Then, two more arrows, like shooting stars chasing the moon, embedded themselves into the stone, and Corax put away the longbow in his hand, signaling to Swain that he had familiarized himself with this ancient weapon.
"A team led by Nekser and I will be responsible for shooting the patrolling enemies, and Corax, you will handle their hidden sentries," Swain began to outline the combat plan.
"Swain, why don't I handle the hidden sentries instead?" Nekser said, somewhat hesitantly. In his eyes, while Corax's performance just now was impressive, he had only recently arrived at the camp. Dealing with hidden sentries was usually handled by highly experienced Shadow Assassin members, as the number of hidden sentries was uncertain, and their positions were very concealed. Even a slight oversight could lead to information leaking out.
"Follow my orders." Swain did not explain; on the battlefield, he was always an absolute authority.
"Yes..." Nekser could only obey Swain's orders, but he gestured with his eyes to two Shadow Assassin members, telling them to keep an eye on him and to intervene immediately if anything was missed.
"Enemy alert point, five people."
"Hidden sentries, two people, one on the left in the rubble pile, and one in the rearmost mine shaft."
Just as the assasin scouting ahead reported the number of visible sentries at the alert point, Corax also reported the number of hidden sentries and their concealed locations.
"Move out, leave no one alive!" After assigning targets, Swain immediately drew his bow to a full moon, and an arrow directly pierced the criminal who was on alert. The sharp arrowhead, propelled by powerful kinetic energy, directly penetrated the enemy's skull, and a faint yellowish-white substance could vaguely be seen on the dark arrowhead.
However, as Swain's arrow pierced his target, his peripheral vision caught two arrows flying faster than his own, towards the left and rear of the bonfire. Two dull thuds of sharp objects entering flesh indicated that even the two hidden sentries, concealed in the shadows, had been successfully dealt with by Corax.
"To die at the hands of a Primarch, consider it your honor," Swain didn't even consider the possibility of these two hidden sentries being alive. Corax had made his move; could two unknown small-time thugs survive? Who are you looking down on?
"Swain, no communication devices found," an assassin responsible for inspecting the battlefield gestured in sign language.
"Next outpost!" Swain likewise gave the command in sign language, leading the team towards the next stronghold. This outpost had no communication devices, which didn't mean they had no unique way of contacting each other; even within Shadow Assassins, they had their own unique communication methods. Swain did not believe that enemies who had wandered from that land of sin would not have similar methods.
A quick battle was the method with the fewest variables. Even a lion uses its full strength to fight a rabbit! This was Swain's philosophy of war, even with the Primarch, the galaxy's ceiling of combat power, by his side, he remained so. Carelessness often meant death.
The group silently rushed forward with all their might, heading towards another outpost.
"Visible sentries, 10 people, with suspected communication devices."
"Hidden sentries, 4 people, two in front and two in back. I can handle them!" The information for the second outpost was reported silently.
"Move!" Swain made a swift, decisive throat-slitting gesture. In an instant, more than a dozen arrows and crossbow bolts whistled through the air, piercing through these alert enemies.
"Go!"
This time, Swain directly abandoned the subsequent inspection steps by Shadow Assassin; the outcome was already very clear: their operation was highly likely to turn into a frontal assault. Black cloaks, under the cover of night, swept towards the entrance of the Cracked Skull Breakers' lair.
"Prepare to move..." Swain's sign language wasn't even finished—
Suddenly...
Accompanied by several whooshing sounds, a few flares with yellow-orange light, trailing tails of fire, slowly rose into the sky, illuminating the surrounding hundred meters as bright as day.
"Shoot!" The moment the flares were fired, Swain decisively drew his bow and shot...
Instantly, a dense rain of arrows covered the entrance to the Cracked Skull Breakers' camp.