The Bizarre Adventure of Tartaros Fleet

After all, the ring is just a ring, it cannot rely on its own mass to maintain the atmosphere like a planet, so it can only rely on the force field to maintain the atmosphere inside.This kind of force field will not prevent the spacecraft from entering, but for ordinary spacecraft, the slight energy impact will interfere with the normal operation of the stealth system.Even though it's been told from the start that you'll be detected when you land, it's still unnerving.

The shield splits ripples in the atmosphere, and the temperature rise warning on the status panel keeps beeping. He lowers the nose, the thrusters eject high-speed plasma, and the landing ship is bumped by the air current.

"I haven't engaged in ground combat for at least two months." He held the auxiliary joystick and asked inarticulately, "Is the hand still alive?"

The captain of the Fist of Tartarus Marine Corps who fought with the team was Aweiyi. She was originally the flagship's shift pilot, but like all official Fist of Tartarus fighters, she used naval guns and rifles. The standard is equally good, so he can quickly take on the work of the Marines when necessary.When asked, she was checking the safety valve of her plasma flamethrower and the overload self-destruct mechanism of the power furnace:

"I know it well," she replied. "It's been so many years since we've had to fight the Zerg again. So nostalgic."

"It's completely fighting on the enemy's ground. I think we may not be able to go back." A commando next to him, Archibald Nesmith, activated the beam shotgun on his wrist. This time, the equipment bias is to attack The defense is weak and there are a large number of enemies. In addition to these, everyone is also equipped with weapons such as incendiary grenades. These weapons prepared against the Flood are also effective against Covenant soldiers... I just don’t know how many are left when they meet the enemy 'Covenant' soldier "How about a bet?"

"Bet on who will go to the bathhouse first?" Shani Andras, the captain of the other team, showed a bored expression, and turned off the jazz in his helmet-this is a habit he left when he was still the CPU of the United Earth Army. , if you can't calm down without listening to some songs before the battle "Olga, what do you think?"

"I bet the commander of the Legion will live to see the destruction of the Covenant battleship." Also from the CPU of the joint army, the gunner Olga Sabrak gave the diffusion particle cannon "Demon Flame MKII" on his chest the last The fire control connection - he is good at shooting, and the heavy power armor he equips uses part of the same model as Oregana's army commander, but it is cheap for mass production. "I pressed two bottles of Gamila Si Haojiu, is there anyone with me?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

In a few seconds, this group of people quickly completed the betting action, and all kinds of bets appeared, most of which were food or drink, as well as recharge coupons for krypton gold games, Someone even booked a free trip to the icy planet Ravadi.The artificial intelligence 'Dice Niang-9527' on the mothership completed the statistical work within half a second, and these items will be counted into the prize pool, and how to distribute them afterwards will be discussed in detail after the battle is over .

This is a sideshow before almost every sortie, and it's good for morale.

Then the last bet came.

Oregana 0032 bet--the skull of the skull maker, bet you can see it.

There was silence in the landing ship, only the sound of metal clicking echoed in the cabin when it was shaken.

"..."

"..."

"This……"

"What... do you mean? Does it mean that we will be scolded later?"

"No... From my understanding of the boss, it means 'even if you bet on our head, you have to finish this task', which is a kind of oath."

"It's literally..."

"But I really don't want this..."

"yes……"

Above the atmosphere, red plasma streaked across a long trail, and the spacecraft that officially entered the atmosphere looked like it was burning hot.

"Get ready to enter the airdrop area," the driver's voice filled the entire communication link, cheering everyone up. "The airdrop will start in 30 seconds."

The soldiers got into the delivery channel, and half a minute later, the delivery channels on both sides of the hull unfolded at the same time, like stubby mortars, shooting out the soldiers wearing power armor like cannonballs.This airborne method is quite old, but it is very fast, even much faster than the landing of Hell paratroopers.With this level of speed and protection, you don't need much bait, the only downside is - you have to carry less gear.

They aimed at the commanding heights on the man-made mountains, where the soldiers would control the situation, and then pass through the steep mountains, using the mountains as shields to attack the Covenant warships on the other side.

On the other landing ship, when Oregana ejected, she saw her teammates scattered from the air, and the energy shield shone like flowing water in front of them. From a distance, it looked no different from the No. 04 ring ——Although the scale is grand and magnificent, it does not conform to my romantic and aesthetic feeling.But it's not bad, at least it won't hurt when it explodes.

Then came the landing.

The predetermined place looks like a building, and the soldiers of the Star Alliance have built a fortification nearby... No, it may not be a fortification, at most it is a temporary station, it may be an outpost, or it may be for the archaeological team. supported.The Banshee fighter jets and the ghost hoverbike stopped aside, and the Covenant soldiers who were still fishing just now all looked up into the sky.

In the violently trembling helmet eyepiece, although Oregana couldn't see their expressions now, she could easily smell their panic and fear.Liulizi was 500 meters away, and the landing point of the guard soldiers was also within a radius of five kilometers, which meant that he had to clean up the garrison alone—it was not difficult.She curled up in a bent-knee position and hit the ground like a stone.Even with the inertial stabilization system, the impact of landing still makes the upper and lower gums numb.The impact of the landing and the air wave when the force field exploded swept across the ground like the blast wind generated by the explosion, and the Covenant soldiers who hadn't had time to escape flew out like a broken football being kicked, and fell to the ground unable to move.

Oregana straightened up before the discomfort caused by the impact disappeared, and the fire control system and emotional perception had locked on the opposite Covenant through the smoke.The two sets of viewfinders in the eye area of ​​her mask glowed red in the smoke, and the particle machine gun on her wrist was already emitting flames.The Grunt ran away screaming, and was swept to the ground with the Jackal on the way. Two elite warriors in orange-red armor drew out their energy swords and rushed over. It was crumbling, but that left the first soldier vulnerable to the chainsaw blades popping out from the sides of his gauntlets.

The blade pierced by the Skullmaker cut through his armor and torso, and the energy sword on the side also cut towards his head at this time.She grabbed the elite's right hand holding the sword, the scorching blade had already carved shallow marks on her face shield, and sparks flew everywhere.The elite tried to press down the blade to split the head, but Oregana didn't allow him to do so—she punched the elite's elbow joint with her other hand, accompanied by the sound of bone shattering, The elite screamed and tried to distance themselves, but the next moment, the screaming stopped abruptly with the roar of the chainsaw blade.

There is no more emotional reaction around.

She looked at the mess around her, sighed slightly, and switched on the communication——

"Report your situation!"

【Boss, we have landed and have not yet contacted the Star Alliance. ] Liu Lizi's voice sounded in the communication, and on the tactical view, there are many friendly signals around her [I'm coming to meet up! 】

【This is a landing ship. We will continue to stay in the air and monitor the movements of the Flood and the Covenant forces at any time. 】Pilot Lorey Freddy also replied 【The stealth system is still being calibrated and cannot be activated, but the anti-aircraft drones, turrets and shields are all in good condition, and the Covenant fighters can't do anything to me. 】

"Keep communicating, they must have seen us land." Oregana didn't pull out her chopping axe, she outlined the advancing route on the terrain map - it was an offensive route close to the ridge, and only those equipped with high-performance The soldiers who pushed the backpack could pass there quickly. Similarly, this is the fastest route to the Covenant aircraft carrier on the other side of the mountain range.

[There is a high-level prophet on that ship, which is a good spoil...but if the flood demon also takes the opportunity...]

Of course it would be a good thing to catch the Prophet of Sorrow, but this matter can only be thought about.After all, he was in a state where he didn't even know whether he could withdraw, so it was still too difficult to capture prisoners.What's more, there is also the problem of flood infection, which must not be ignored.

"If the Prophet of Sorrow is controlled by the Flood, then the Flood will know a lot of things it shouldn't know." Oregana said in a deep voice, she jumped high, and the bright red propelling flames flickered behind her Like Burning Wings "If that's the case, we'll let him die as a San'Shium instead of a Flood infected."

【This is too decent, won't it be cheap for him...】

"Of course it would be best to let him stand trial as a war criminal, but the matter must be done urgently. The threat of the Flood is the greatest at present. Let the task of being tried be handed over to the remaining two high-level prophets—but they will It’s another story if you don’t die from the civil strife afterwards.”

[Has it been confirmed that civil strife will happen? 】

"Of course, we got the news 3 minutes ago - a force has secretly assembled in the galaxy controlled by the Sangheili. In addition to the Sangheili warships, there are also some warships using Atriox The red paintwork on the inside." She said, "It's interesting, isn't it?"

[They plan to do it now? 】

A building appeared in the mountains. They were hidden in the jungle, and they couldn't be seen clearly unless they got close.The air waves ejected from the propeller shook the tree canopy, but none of the birds were frightened away, and only the ancient ruins were seen among the flying leaves.It seems to be a palace, with pavilions and pavilions all over it, and the corners of the temple roof are raised at the corners, like birds spreading their wings.The architectural style here is not the same as that left by the forerunners under the bayonet base, but it has a feeling of ancient Chinese architecture.

Even though they are now covered with jungle, they still stand, presumably the building materials used are not wood.If an ancient person traveled here 10 years ago, he would definitely regard this magnificent Qionglou Yuyu as the Moon Palace in Yuncheng.Intelligent beings are used to interpreting incomprehensible phenomena as miracles, and at the beginning of the civilization of the San'Shim (second), they must have worshiped the forerunner relics of their homeland in this way.

Civilization will understand those natural phenomena that were incomprehensible in the past in the process of growing slowly, and thus gradually realize the independence of thought, and develop the habit of relying on knowledge to understand everything without being swayed by illusory beliefs.But if a civilization has not yet experienced the process of growth, it digs up an incomprehensible but usable artifact in the relics of the gods...then they will really be fooled by themselves, and they will be bound by false beliefs forever, which will continue to their destruction, or to comprehend all under the brunt of near-destruction.

This is a terrible and sad thing for other civilizations that come into contact with this civilization and even for themselves.

And that day of judgment is at hand.

"We feel that they are waiting for an opportunity to launch an attack. We must pay attention to a 'potential' in everything, and we must pay attention to following the trend. Perhaps our action this time can become this 'potential'...the sadness of a good relationship with the Sangheili people If the Prophet disappears, the Prophet of Truth and the Prophet of Mercy will definitely do something." Oregana glanced across the plant-filled square, and vaguely saw a skeleton in armor leaning against the huge stone pillar "Destroy The bell seems to be ringing..."

[We are the bell ringers. 】

She passed over a low, moss-covered building and made a third take-off. Those 10-year-old carved beams and painted buildings flashed by and disappeared into the jungle of man-made mountains, as if The bright and magnificent years of the forerunners lost in the long river of time.

————————————————————

Ring 05, Solemn Penance

The ship was in a mess, and swarms of Yanmie bees were flapping their colorful wings and circling around the hull.The flapping of their wings for communication echoed constantly inside and outside the hull, and the high-frequency hum was annoying.But there is no way, the ship is so badly damaged, the number of engineers originally used for damage control and repair work is completely insufficient, and most of the work can only be done by the soldiers.

They are much smarter than they appear, especially in groups, but the damage to the ships is beyond their technical capabilities, and the materials to fill the hulls and repair equipment are also insufficient.Therefore, the captain's request is not to restore the ship to a fighting state, but to 'be able to lift off and jump'.

That's pretty much the limit right now.

And other people will not be idle - the guide prophet brought back a lot of information and maps from the last sacred ring belt, from which the sorrowful prophet knew the approximate location of the control room on this ring belt, and guided the prophet to get the "sacred teachings" 'Get somewhere.If the structure of the holy relic ring is roughly the same, then you can find the 'silent cartographer', which is the control center of this ring, according to Tusuo Ji.

only……

The internal structure of the ring is the same, but the external terrain is not very the same. In the last holy relic ring, two of the three entrances to the interior are found to be damned mountains, at least three kilometers high and the terrain is extremely complicated. It is covered with jungle, and there are large swamps in the valley, so it is very strenuous to explore with the current manpower.The remaining entrance is an inaccessible place - that is the area where the prophet is guided to meet the envoy. The prophet of sorrow does not want any more "recipients" to appear.

In addition to the envoy, there is also that army...

They appeared on the battlefield of Reach Star, appeared in Ed Trini, and appeared in the sacred circle.Watumi's forces had repelled them and brought back the trapped Guiding Prophet, for which he had lost a jaw and dozens of his men - the best of the Sangheili warriors, who Their sacrifices are worthless, because there are indications that they were deliberately induced to lead the Prophet back.It was a trap, a terrible trap for the Covenant.

What is the true identity of that army?What are they planning?No one knows about these, and there is no way to even investigate them... because they have never failed on the battlefield, and the Covenant's understanding of them is limited to the speed at which they walk to death and their technical level surpasses the Covenant.

And, they fought side by side with humans. More than 20 years ago, the envoy of the city of fraternity mentioned the identity of human beings, so...

"Could it be that...they are the forerunners..." In the Hall of the Creator, the Prophet of Sorrow sat on his suspension chair and said to himself, "No...the warriors of the forerunners can't be so barbaric..."

He felt his mind cluttered like a swarm of mugoglo worms.The situation is getting worse and worse. The enemy's pursuers have arrived, but their own people have not yet found the correct entrance. They are trudging through the mountains and walking with difficulty.If you can find and activate the holy sentinels here, then you can still fight, if not...

Thinking of this, Captain Kolo Tiromi walked in.This was a tall Sangheili with a resolute face. He looked mighty in a golden-red armor, but this did not alleviate the uneasiness that pervaded the entire ship.

"My lord." He bowed his knees in front of the holy prophet. "The enemy has landed, and the No. 13 relay station has been breached, and there are no survivors. It is the army that fought against Tire... the Arbiter in the last sacred ring."

Kolo Tiromi did not say that the enemy who attacked the outpost was only one person, because this would not help the situation in any way.Right now, there are at least forty such fighters forming a loose formation (it is indeed very loose, each soldier is separated by more than [-] length units), approaching at an extremely fast speed.

"Strengthen the defense and send more troops! They must not be allowed to come here. Haven't the investigation team found the entrance yet?"

said the Prophet angrily.

But he got a pretty good news:

"It's been found, it's at the foot of the mountain." Kolo Tiromi said, "But the internal passage is too long, dark and deep. The communication environment is very bad. We can't contact them for the time being."

In other words, they can only wait for them to come out by themselves.

"I see... We need some support to pick up the city of fraternity."

"..."

There was a puzzled look in Kolo Tiromi's eyes.Contact City of Fraternity?What does it mean?The enemy's ground troops are about to rush over, maybe they can rush into the ship in just one afternoon - if the warship's transition and power system have not been repaired by then, the reinforcements of the city of fraternity will need to arrive here. for how long?

It will take at least five days, when everyone's corpses are puffing up.

"We must hurry up." The Prophet of Sorrow was still rambling, "I will ignite this holy ring, release the holy fire that purifies the soul, and burn through the passage to the afterlife..."

Kolo Tiromi couldn't listen anymore, he interrupted the Prophet of Sorrow:

"We must prepare to retreat, my lord."

"What did you say!"

The Prophet's high-pitched voice was laced with surprise and anger, which made him seem a bit stupid, not so... wise and calm as the legend said.

"I said, we should retreat." Kolo Tiromi looked directly into the sullen eyes of the Prophet, "There are nearly sixty warships arriving here, all of which have never been seen before. That is to let the Special Justice Fleet Reach suffered a defeat and let Till Vadami disgraced the army in the last sacred ring, and how similar we are to the original Truth and Harmony! If we continue to stay..."

Having said that, he watched with satisfaction that the face of the Prophet of Sorrow changed:

"They're going to send their best fighters to get you, and judging by the speed they're going, they might be here as soon as night falls tonight. We'll give our lives to keep you safe, but when nothing can be undone At that time..." Kolo Tiromi touched his chest with his right hand, and asked in a deep voice, "Would you like me to execute you decently, lest you be captured alive by the enemy? Humans will not give you a decent, happy and Glorious death."

The Prophet of Sorrow tightly clenched his powerless fist. He wanted to deny Kolo Tiromi's words, but found helplessly that Kolo Tiromi was the one who knew the current situation best.

"Send troops to find the troops that entered the sacred ring, where my best researchers are." In the end, he could only slump on the chair, full of despair, "When the battleship can move, we will immediately lift off. We will come here again after finding the nearest anchorage to meet the fleet of the City of Charity."

"Yes!"

----------------------

The enemy sent a fighter jet, which is still the enchantress that everyone is familiar with, trying to use this light and dexterous fighter jet to hinder the advance of the assault troops.But the performance of this kind of fighter is not good, they can't even fight with Tartaros soldiers wearing airborne armor at low altitude, and their armor can't even withstand the 7.62mm bullets fired by MA rifles, let alone Tartaros Particle Rifle.

Liu Lizi poured a series of particle beams into the cockpit of the Yaoji fighter that was rushing towards him, and at the same time lowered his body urgently, and the green plasma balls shot by the fuel cannon flew over his head.She didn't look back at the falling enchantress, she swept across the treetops with terrifying momentum, smashed heavily into the wet mud in the jungle, and jumped up again at the same time.This assault method is named 'Heinlein Maneuver'. It continuously jumps forward at low altitude. It is very fast and at the same time utilizes various ground obstacles. Coupled with effective electronic jamming equipment, it can avoid aircraft and anti-aircraft weapons to the greatest extent. The attack, named after Heinlein, the author of "Starship Troopers".

If the Covenant equips the Gnolls with the Spartan laser, which hits when fired, and the output is so high that it explodes, then the Gnoll snipers, let alone the marines jumping around, probably even the Apu driven by the brother-in-law. Salas can hammer down from the sky, but it's a pity that they didn't pretend.

In the blink of an eye, a few particle beams grazed Liu Lizi's shield, and she aimed at the direction of the bouncing flashes and fired a few grenades, blowing up the Gnoll snipers hiding in the bushes and holding a sniper rifle together with the trees. debris.This counterattack made her take-off movements messy, forcing Liu Lizi to land early, it doesn't matter, as long as she continues to take off...

But the moment she bent her knees, the proximity alarm sounded suddenly—something was approaching rapidly in the woods, and the messy footsteps made a viscous patter on the wet soil.And a few hundred meters away, the azure blue light of the plasma flame suddenly lit up, heat waves bloomed in the jungle, and the lit orange flames of the trees rose into the sky.It was followed by a growl, a howl of pain, not even a sound that an animal in nature can make--high and low pitches, long and short syllables.

In the next moment, Liu Lizi saw what was rushing towards him.

It was an alien with armor. Its armor had long been fragmented and could not be seen. It was able to hang on the body without falling off, relying on the body tissue that seemed to proliferate without limit. They bound the armor like roots bound to the soil. Armor is firmly bound to this hateful body.The skin exposed under the shattered armor was speckled, showing a sickly off-white color, with black tentacles tangled in the blood vessels, some growing tentacles tightly wrapped around the alien's neck, a huge pustule Trembling and convulsing there.

This alien is not an elite of the Star Alliance, nor is it a human being. Liu Lizi can't tell what species it was in life.But no matter what it was in life, its identity is now clear at a glance-this is a Flood, an infected combat Flood.This is not one, or two, but tens or hundreds of them, roaring and rushing forward, just like those overly lively zombies in "World War Z", and they are accompanied by a large group of flood monsters Infected with spores, these potatoes with bulbs of purple cabbage zip around on french-fry legs.The Covenant soldiers who were focused on the Tartarus commando couldn't react at all... Even if they did, they had nowhere to escape. The infected body almost covered the entire ground, and it seemed to rise when they rushed through the jungle. The flood submerged everything.