Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

Chapter 118 Flood Demon ([-])

Combat deployment time: +148 hours, 22 minutes and 57 seconds (Second Lieutenant Ollesi’s mission clock)
A good trap requires a good bait, so Orles ordered a Pelican troop carrier to use the few hours of darkness to pick up the burned remains of a Scorpion tank and drop it into an ambush circle.It took the troop transport three trips to transport enough wreckage.

Hours of hard work followed, arranging the debris realistically around her, and finally setting her ambush high in the rocks.

Finally, the sun shed its morning light on this land, and everything was ready except for the east wind.A fake distress call was sent, and a carefully choreographed fire ignited deep within the wreckage. There are also some "extras" who volunteered scattered around the "crash scene" - the remains of comrades transported from the lonely ridge are placed here and can be seen from the air.

Half of the platoon had to take a nap while the rest stayed on duty.Olles scanned the area with his binoculars.The fake crash site is located between a low flat-topped hilltop and a rocky foothills filled with jumbled boulders.The wreckage, along with the curling smoke, looked quite realistic.

Wellesley believed that after mistakenly treating Marines and Navy members as piece of cake, the enemy had been forced to change its mind and begin to use real weapons against them.This means that they will monitor human radio communications, send out conventional unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, and use all the necessary means of modern warfare.

If the artificial intelligence's guess is correct, then the aliens should have intercepted the distress signal, detected the source of the signal, and sent a team to investigate the situation.In any case, Oris hasn't seen any reason why this plan can't work.

The sun rises higher in the sky, and so does the temperature among the rocks.The Marines took advantage of any shade they could find to escape the heat.Orlesi was secretly glad that the team members did not complain as much about the high temperature as usual.

After waiting for about 10 minutes, Orlesi vaguely heard the delicate roar of a mosquito, and she immediately raised her pair of telescopes to look at the sky.Soon she spotted a small dot that flipped downwards.Soon, Dot transformed into a banshee fighter.She opened the comm channel.

"Red [-] calls Class [-] - it's time to perform."

She didn't dare say too much, lest she arouse the suspicion of the Covenant communications unit.She didn't really have to say anything more, her Marines knew what to do.

The enemy's spacecraft was getting closer. Some members of the third squad pretended to be injured and hurriedly rushed to the open space. They covered their foreheads with the sun with their hands and observed the flying objects above their heads.After discovering that it was a Banshee fighter jet, they pretended to be surprised, fired a few shots at it randomly, and then ran to a safe area among the rocks.

The Banshee fired a series of plasma beams to disperse them, circled twice over the crash site, and then flew back in the direction it came from.Orles watched it leave.The hook has been cast, the fish has bitten the line, and it's time for her to lift the rod and reel in the line.

Olles expected the trap to work.An undead transport appeared, hovered at the fake crash site, and turned around to prepare for landing.A team of elite warriors, Jackals, and Grunts jump out of a landing ship and quickly become prey to the Marines hiding behind the rocks and the snipers perched on the mesa.

Unfazed by deception, when the Covenant's spaceship took off again, Orles found that he had seen everything he expected to see, plus a pair of hunters.These ugly-looking bastards are extremely difficult to kill and are likely to tear an entire platoon to shreds.

Orles swallowed, turned on the microphone, and whispered a few orders. "Hong Yi calls all snipers and rocket shooters to focus all your efforts on attacking the 'Hunters' and execute them immediately. The call is over."

Gunfire rang out immediately, and the two sides were about to engage in a life-and-death battle, when suddenly a new group of enemies joined the battle.

A strange creature came from the other side of the mountain like a flash flood, attacking both sides.Olles witnessed these walking corpses, these twisted and damaged limbs, and the swarming of tiny flesh balls that collided, bounced, and climbed up the rocks.

The first problem is that the Covenant troops seem to be familiar with these creatures, but the Helltroopers are not.Three members of the second platoon have been overwhelmed by the joint attack of multiple monsters, and one of them has been killed by the monster.Only then did Olles realize how terrifying this threat was.

As Olles fought her way through the labyrinth of rocks toward the top of the mountain, radio calls buzzed through her earbuds.

"What the hell is this?"

"Fire! Fire! Fire!"

"Tear it off me!"

Radio traffic surged, and the command channel became a chaotic shriek of screams for orders and requests to retreat.Even the rank-and-file Marines started to chime in.

Orles cursed and walked around a huge rock when he saw a Grunt running down the mountain with two spherical creatures wrapped around his back.The Grunt screamed and shook with his mouth full.It was her first time seeing these creatures up close.A well-aimed assault rifle fire brought all three of them down.

Olles continued heading up the mountain, and she soon discovered that there were other types of new enemies.Olles killed two bipedal monsters and saw a soldier use up half of his magazine to shoot at an ugly monster, only to see these dying creatures spray out more monsters.

The ensuing battle lasted for a full 15 minutes, almost like an endless fight.Both human and Covenant forces broke away from fighting against each other to focus their efforts on the new enemy.

The last spherical monster broke, but not long after, they attacked again.Olles aimed and shot one after another, playing a life-and-death racing game in the maze-like rock formation, with no time to breathe and no chance at all.Oris radioed for support.With the help of a quick reaction force, two Pelicans, and four captured Banshees, she successfully drove away the Covenant landing craft and annihilated the ground forces who refused to surrender.

Subsequently, Olles ordered the hell paratroopers to search the entire area to find intact living specimens of the new enemy so that they could be brought back to Alpha Base for further research and analysis.

Fully half of the returning Marines were in body bags.The journey back to Alpha Base seemed to be endless, and Orles sat blankly the whole time.Two lines of hot tears cut across her dusty face and dripped onto the deck between her boots.

The Covenanters were already powerful enough, but now there was an even more powerful enemy to face.For the first time since landing in Halo, Orles felt completely hopeless.

****
After the report, Orles moved his lips and could no longer say a word.She was still frightened by the cruel reality, which Silva could see from her pale face.

Silva understood her and even sympathized with the death of her comrades, but he could not show any trace of it.Now, there is no time for mourning, remorse or guilt.The lieutenant must swallow this whole thing and get back on his feet, just like he did.

"Wellesley?" Silva asked, tilting his head.

"Yes, Major." Wellesley has completely taken over Alpha Base, and any Marine can contact him anywhere.

"Tell me about these monsters."

In the following narration, Silva learned that the Covenant's purpose in coming to Halo was probably to find some kind of "sacred relic", but they encountered a biological form called the "Flood".

The Flood is a parasitic form that attacks intelligent life, erases their memories, and takes over their bodies.Wellesley believed that the Forerunners built the Halos to imprison and control them, although they needed to contact the Master Chief and Cortana to get direct evidence of this.

Through the specimens lying on the morgue, the Flood showed different forms: the infected Flood had tentacles on its legs, and a pair of extremely sharp stingers on the tentacles, which they could use to invade the victim's central nervous system. system.After successfully invading, they will eventually grow inside the host's body and become parasitic within it.

The fighting Flood is able to collect and use any weapon within reach.Not only that, they also have extremely threatening tentacles that can kill people.Their chests are occupied by the Infected Flood, which shrink as much as possible to fit the size of the host's heart and lungs.

It is worth noting that most combat-type Flood seem to be transformed from human and Covenant elite warriors. The reason may be that the Flood feels that Grunts and Gnolls are too short in stature to be used as first-class warriors. A fighting body, but only worthy of being the host of the reborn Flood.

After listening to the report, Silva frowned, "Have you scanned this guy?"

"Scanned, Major," Wellesley replied.

"Very good, well done." Silva said, looking at Olles, "Burn these bodies, let these commandos go up for air, and report to my office in an hour."

"Yes, sir."

The footsteps gradually faded away. When Silva returned his gaze to the Flood corpse, he noticed that McKay's face was a little ugly.After watching the battle video recorded by Lieutenant Olles, she was under unprecedented pressure since she landed in Halo. Silva knew this well and deeply regretted it.

Part of the reason was that he regarded MacKay as a commander of good quality, and a request that was too demanding could make even the most able commander intolerable.

The more important reason is that McKay is a better leader than her commanders at the same level. The best proof is that the hell paratroopers are willing to follow her anywhere, even jumping into traps full of greedy cannibal demons. No matter what.

But everyone has their own limits, even a commander like McKay.Silva also knew that she was approaching her limit.He could see it: her once rounded face was now angular, her eyes dull and empty, her lips tightly pursed.The question wasn't about strength - she was the toughest, toughest Marine he had ever seen - but it was about hope.

Now, before letting her continue to lead the troops in battle, Silva knew that she needed something to really fight for, something more practical than allegiance to the army, something that would allow her to bring back at least a few living landmen. Team members' stuff.

In addition, there is another meaning: some changes may happen to him.He also implied this meaning in the following explanation.

　Test it and see if it can be sent.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)