Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

Chapter 125 The Shadow Underfoot ([-])

Combat deployment time: +154 hours, 22 minutes and 17 seconds (Colonel Price’s mission clock)
The surface of Halo, on the way back to Alpha Base.

In the passenger compartment of the Pelican troop carrier, there was only the sound of the engine and the steady breathing of everyone.Their mission was severely tortured by the Flood, so they fell asleep not long after boarding the ship.

The vibration of the mission clock in the helmet woke Tommy up. He shook his head, cheered up, and focused his attention on Rebecca beside him.She slept soundly, leaning against Tommy with her head tilted, and glistening saliva dripping from the corners of her mouth to her shoulders.

Fortunately, everyone was asleep, otherwise this embarrassing look would have kept Johnson laughing for a long time.

He then turned his gaze to the bulkhead and thought of the "golden light" mentioned by the Nemesis.John disappeared inexplicably. He knew that he should go find him, but the situation was very bad. There were still hundreds of people in Alpha Base who needed to survive, and he could not put John's life above hundreds of people.

A slight static noise sounded in their communication channel, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching Alpha Base." Captain Laurey reminded in the communication channel.

Rebecca said softly "Hmm" and Yoyo woke up.She rubbed her sleepy eyes and noticed that Tommy was staring at him and smiling, so she touched her cheek, wiped the crystal from the corner of her mouth, gave him a small roll of her eyes, and then turned her face away with a "hum".

The hatch slowly opened, letting in the sunlight.Tommy walked down the gangway and saw that Silva had been waiting beside the troop transport ship for a long time.He motioned to Rebecca and others to go back to rest first, and then he and Keith followed Silva towards the field headquarters.

"Welcome back, sir." Silva said with a straight face, staring at Tommy and Case without saluting.

Case glanced at the busy naval crew and marines nearby and said, "Well done, Major, you were busy when we left."

The corners of Silva's mouth moved, and he smiled back. "Thank you, sir." Silva then reported everything Lieutenant Orles saw during the patrol, as well as his plan to raid the Truth and Harmony.

They walked into the makeshift conference room and sat down casually.

"Silva's plan is great, I have no objection. However, it will take a long time to complete all the preparations. We need to hold on to this lonely ridge until we are ready to leave." Case said, pursing his lips and holding his hands. Subconsciously, he reached into his pocket and found it empty.

Tommy watched his movements and suddenly remembered something. He took out an old pipe from the desk drawer and handed it to him.

Case looked at the pipe in his hand and smiled, "Thank you, I didn't expect to see it again." He did not light the pipe, but unconsciously rubbed it with his thumb, "But the Flood will never let go of this piece. Fatty, they must be ready to move around Lone Ridge, Price, do you have anything to add?"

Tommy thought for a moment and knocked on the table twice. "Ellie, give me a cross-section of the Lone Ridge." He thought: If he were Silva, he would have to withstand the Flood's attack to protect this mountain. Base, where will you deploy your elite troops?
Ellie's figure appeared on the holographic display stage.After seeing so many ugly monsters, the three people present felt refreshed when they saw her - weren't they fighting desperately to protect beautiful people and things like this?
She waved her little hand gently, and the internal structure of the lonely ridge was displayed on the screen of the handheld computer in front of them.

Tommy stared at the internal structure diagram, looking from top to bottom until he reached the first layer of mesh structure, and then frowned.He pointed to the area below Guling and asked with some urgency: "Where is that location?" Silva looked at the location he pointed to, "That is the bottom floor of the Guling elevator, with a mesh metal layer underneath. "Board!" The major's voice became softer and softer, and his eyes opened wider and wider. He felt a cold wave running through his body, "Damn it, the Flood is probably right under our feet!"

He stood up and reached out to hold the communicator next to his ear, "Lieutenant McKay, lead two teams to search the basement, right now!"

****
McKay's combat boots made a metallic clang sound, and she jumped off the last platform and stood on the huge metal mesh.The metal mesh vibrated, and it took her more than 15 minutes to get down from the top of the mountain.

She first took the still-functioning elevator down to the spot where she and her men had captured the Lone Ridge earlier, returned to the entrance where the Covenant people once occupied, and then walked down the circular stairs in circles.The staircase is like the rifling in the barrel of a gun, deeply embedded and winding all the way to the metal mesh at the bottom of the stairwell.

"Nice to see you, sir." A private approached her and said, "Sergeant Lister would like to speak with you."

McKay nodded, said "thank you," and made his way to the far end of the metal mesh, where the so-called "janitor team" huddled tightly.Among them was a pile of equipment hanging from above.A portable work light pointed directly at the center of the equipment, casting a huge shadow on the surrounding mountain walls.

As soon as McKay arrived, the crowd dispersed, and Lister stood up with his hands on his knees. "stand at attention!"

Everyone present stood at attention.McKay noticed that the prolonged and sustained stress had caused the muscles in the sergeant's face to loosen, leaving him with a gaunt, haggard look. "Everyone, take a break. How are you? Have you encountered any enemies?"

"No, sir," Lister replied, "Not yet. But you'd better take a look here."

A Navy technician pointed a searchlight beneath the metal mesh while McKay knelt on the deck to get a better view.The stairs descended from the hill and ended at the other end of the platform, but there seemed to be another flight of stairs beneath the mesh, spiraling away into the endless darkness below.

"Look at these sheets of metal," Lister reminded her, "and look at what's piled on the stairs below."

McKay looked carefully and saw that the thick metal steps were twisted and deformed, and there were a lot of weapons and ammunition on them.None of them were human weapons that she recognized, only those of the Covenant, which meant they were only plasma weapons.

At present, I don't have a cutting torch, so I can't cut open the metal mesh to see what's going on. Fortunately, I don't have one. It seems that the Flood used at least hundreds of plasma pistols and rifles to clear the obstacles and open this metal mesh, but failed.With a little more time, a day or two, they might be able to do it.

"You have to be patient with those beasts," McKay said coldly. "They never get discouraged. And neither do we. Let's open this thing up and get down there."

Lister said: "Yes, sir." But none of the officers and soldiers standing around him responded with the usual high morale.It was pitch black beneath the metal mesh—the incubus was hiding there, waiting.

(End of this chapter)