Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

Chapter 184 B-6 ([-])

Commander Hood straightened up and pushed the monitor aside. Now he finally saw Wagner.He saluted back.The commander was dressed extremely neatly and elegantly, and the silver hair on his head was not messy. However, there were dark circles around his eyes. "At ease, Lieutenant."

Wagner put his hands behind his waist and spread his legs slightly, still looking a little nervous.

Also, when a person faces superiors like lions, sharks, and scorpions, even Osignin cannot remain calm.

Ackerson looked at the report again.He raised his eyebrows when he noticed the stamped time and date. "But, there is one thing. I want to get an answer first." He stared at Wagner expressionlessly, "The time difference between the things in the report and now."

His voice trailed off, lost in thought. "Congratulations, Lieutenant. This speed breaks the record for reaching Earth from Reach, especially since I learned that you took the time to make a random jump before returning to Earth as required by law."

"Sir," Wagner replied, "I acted strictly in accordance with the Cole Agreement."

It was a lie and everyone present knew it.The Military Intelligence Agency has always violated the Cole Agreement.

In the case of Wagner, because the information he provided was of great value, violating the Cole Agreement was excusable.And if they wanted to put him to death, all they had to do was check the time log on his cruiser's engine and run the numbers to find out.

Hood waved his hand, "That doesn't matter."

"I think the stakes are high," Exxon snapped. "Reach has fallen, and there is no barrier between Earth and the Covenant forces—that's all the secrets we can keep."

"We will review the behavior of the third branch later, Colonel." Commander Hood turned to Wagner, "I have read your report, Lieutenant, it is very detailed, but I still want to hear it from you personally. What did you see? Are there some details that you think are too sensitive to write in the report? Tell me about them."

Wagner took a deep breath.Then, he reported the situation in as much detail as possible: how the Covenant force's ship appeared in the system, how the UNSC fleet heroically defended Reach, and how they were defeated and then destroyed.

"After Covenant forces sneaked onto the surface of Reach and captured the orbital cannon's power plant - it was all over. I saw only the beginning of the end, though. They later turned the entire planet to glass, We start from the north and south poles of the planet.”

As he spoke these words, Wagner's voice began to choke, and tears welled up in his eyes.O'Signin didn't know much about this subordinate, except that Wagner was hit by a plasma weapon from the Covenant forces two years ago, and a third of his body was burned.The military doctor's description of him at that time was: "He never cried out in pain or shed a single tear."

But now, when describing the horrors of Reach, he cried like a child who just went to war.

Wagner blinked back tears and continued: "I was trained at the Naval Academy on Reach, sir. It's the only place in the Inner Colonies that feels like home to me."

O'Signin sighed softly, and Hood nodded sympathetically.

Exxon's nose snorted.He pushed away his seat and stood up, walking over to Wagner. "Take your feelings away, Lieutenant. When you said they turned Reach to glass, did you mean everything?"

O'Signin sensed a sense of anticipation in the colonel's tone - as if he longed for the Covenant forces to completely destroy Reach. "Sir," Wagner replied, "Before I entered Slipspace, I saw the poles of Reach destroyed and about two-thirds of the planet's surface ablaze."

Exxon nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "So, everyone on Reach is dead, including Lieutenant General Whitcomb and Dr. Halsey." He nodded and added, "The losses are really heavy." His voice There's not a trace of sympathy in it.

"That's all I can assume, sir."

"No need," Ackerson muttered, returning to his seat.

Strauss sighed. "At least we still have your 'Special Weapons Program', Exxon. Halsey's 'SPARTAN II Program' has achieved such great success——"

"Strauss, concentrate, we are talking about Reach." O'Signin stopped him talking.

Her gaze shot towards the major general, so sharp that it could penetrate the steel plate.The Spartan Phase III project is still a secret. If Reach was not so important, only Phase II Spartan would be active on the planet.It turned out to be a mistake and an oversight by Parangoski to let people outside MI find out about it.

The major general shrank his neck, shut up immediately, and stopped mid-sentence.

Wagner stood motionless, staring straight ahead, pretending not to see anything.He was clearly avoiding eye contact with Exxon, and Ossignin was pleased with his intelligence.

After what seemed like an century of awkward silence, Commander Hood cleared his throat. "The Pillar of Autumn, Lieutenant Wagner, was this ship also destroyed? Or did it also enter slipspace? You didn't mention it in your report."

"It entered slipspace, sir. However, telemetry indicates that the Pillar of Autumn was being pursued by several enemy ships, so its subsequent fate is a matter of speculation. I did not mention the Pillar of Autumn in my report. It’s because this spacecraft is listed on the confidentiality list of three places.”

"Okay," Hood closed his eyes, "then, at least there is some hope."

Ossignin leaned forward a little, "Where's Colonel Tommy Price? Is there any news about him?"

"No, sir. The last information about him was that he gave his identification chip to the Noble Squad and then disappeared while chasing the Pillar of Autumn."

O'Signin sank into his seat in frustration.He was most likely killed in the battle, and the AI's help was insignificant in the face of the powerful offensive of the Covenant troops.The loss of one of her generals made her feel very frustrated, not to mention that Tommy had been trained by her since childhood.

Ackerson glanced at her sarcastically and shook his head, "Although I have the utmost respect for my predecessor, Dr. Halsey, the Spartans on the Pillar of Autumn have no chance of completing their mission. You don't Might as well shoot each of them in the head and be done with it."

"That's enough, Exxon," Hood said, glaring at him. "That's enough."

(End of this chapter)