Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

Chapter 161 Linda ([-])

"What's going on?" the Master Chief asked in a low voice, his hands hovering above the weapons console. "Have they spotted us?"

"They use the same scanning frequency as our system." Cortana's voice boomed over the speakers built into their helmets. "That's weird. There's no mention of this in any UNSC or MI documents regarding Covenant forces. Why do you think they're using the same frequency?"

"Don't let that distract you," the Chief replied. "They flew here and are looking for something."

"I can detect their reflected waves, which is consistent with what Ellie mentioned." Cortana said, her tone unchanged, sounding very strange.The low energy seemed to limit her from being able to express herself in a richer way. "Run the program: Analyzing Covenant force signals, along with analyzing their scans. Allocate more run time to perform this task. I am building a composite filtering algorithm, designing the current form letter according to the requirements of the situation Identification software.”

Another spacecraft flew up from the horizon of the base star.It was larger than any Covenant ship the Master Chief had ever seen.Like the Covenant destroyers, it was shaped like three smooth bulbs, but it was much longer, estimated at 3000 meters.Seven plasma turrets mounted on gimbals - powerful enough to destroy any ship in the United Nations Space Fleet.

"Encrypted transmissions are being collected from new valid signals." Cortana whispered, "Decryption is in progress. A large number of 'squeaking' orders are being transmitted to various cruisers, as if they are deploying the Covenant fleet. How to act in this galaxy.”

Tommy used the movement of his pupils to pull down the panel of the Military Intelligence Database from the heads-up display, and compared the huge battleship in front of him with the existing data. The result was quickly obtained by the armor's built-in computer. "A DDS-class aircraft carrier," he whispered, staring at the flagship. "Interesting."

"The scan is still running, please wait," Cortana reported.

After Tommy left the Master Chief, seven Covenant warships appeared in the galaxy, and he didn't want to wait around.He hoped that the Truth and Harmony had not been discovered by the warship that suddenly emerged, but everything seemed to be fine now, because he did not see the firefight erupting in space.

He drifted to the rear cabin of the Long Sword interceptor to see what equipment was on board. If he was lucky, he might be able to find a few missiles equipped with Shiva-style nuclear warheads.

As he saw when he first boarded the aircraft, the cryopod had been removed.He wasn't sure why, but it was possible that - like everything else on the Pillar of Autumn - the facility had been dismantled and refitted for Operation Red Flag.

A new control panel was installed where the cryopod used to be. After Tommy inspected it, he found that it was a Moray space mine system, but he did not activate it.

The Moray system can deploy up to 36 floating mines. This floating mine has a drive device powered by chemical fuel, which allows it to stop at a fixed point and move around to track specific targets.You will need them later.

He moved to the door of the armory and forced it open—it was empty.

Tommy checked his own shotgun: it was fully functional, but there were only a few rounds left in the magazine.

Cecilia came over from the side. He didn't want to stay on the Truth and Harmony and face the sacrifice of his comrades alone, so he followed Tommy to the Pillar of Autumn to pick up the Chief. "Sir, what happened?"

Tommy shook his head, "Seven Covenant warships, we'll be busy soon."

Cecilia suddenly opened her mouth.

"Something happened, we found her." Cortana informed in the channel.

Tommy was overjoyed and asked Cecilia to tell the other paratroopers to get ready, then floated to the nose of the interceptor.He returned to the back of the chief's chair and stuck his head over, "Let me take a look." On the smallest display screen, an outline appeared: a small warhead-like cone with an attitude adjustment thruster at one end.

"It should be the cryopod we are looking for," Cortana said. "Its thrusters and fuel tanks can be attached to the rear of the cabin to deal with emergencies, such as when the spacecraft has to be abandoned."

"The vast majority of the crew of the Pillar of Autumn will never have a chance to survive the cryopod," the Master Chief said, "although they may have been thrown out before the ship crashed."

Tommy nodded, "Polaski, let's move in and take it back."

"Yes, sir," Polaski said. "Course set, thrusters activated."

The fighter plane is gradually accelerating.

"Estimated arrival time is two and ten minutes, Colonel, but given the current search pattern of the Covenant forces, I estimate they will find the cryopod within five minutes."

"Let's fly faster," Tommy told her, "but don't start the engines, otherwise the heat emitted by the engines will be detected by their detectors."

"No problem," Cortana switched the communication channel to the entire team. "Put on your helmets and check the airtightness of your clothing. I will open the hatch." She then added, "The law of conservation of momentum."

Polaski and several paratroopers followed suit and then made a "confirmation" gesture.

The hatch at the rear of the interceptor first cracked a crack, and then opened with a "bang". The gas inside the aircraft rushed out of the body with an explosion-like sound, and the vibrations spread along the bulkhead to Tommy's feet.The sword machine flew forward at this time, and Tommy's head leaned back and hit his helmet hard.

"The route is being adjusted." Cortana said calmly, "Estimated arrival time is 2 minutes."

"How can we stop?" the Master Chief asked at this time.

She sighed, "Do I have to think about everything?" She closed the hatch at the tail and sealed it, then pressurized the cabin, and Tommy heard a faint "hissing" sound.

A circular Covenant cruiser slowed and turned in their direction.

"The enemy has increased the speed and intensity of its scanning signals," Cortana reported.

The Master Chief's hand hovered over the weapons system's console.It takes several seconds for the weapon to activate, and the 110mm cannon can fire immediately, but the missiles must wait for their targeting software to run before they can be launched.By that time, enemy cruisers, a hundred times more powerful than them, had blown the Longsword interceptors into scrap.

(End of this chapter)