Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

Chapter 190 Next stop, Reach Star

The Chief's stubbornness made Tommy's head ache.He felt that the information on the Halo and the technology contained in the flagship were more valuable, and he did not want to take Rebecca on such a suicide mission.

"None of the Spartans originally assigned to this mission are on this ship," Tommy said. "The crew was not trained for our kind of mission."

That's true, they were not Spartans.John's team never backed down, but when he saw their tired faces, he had to admit that they were not fit for this mission.As much as he hated to admit it, he felt as though he had been fighting for his whole life, and even he couldn't help but pause and refresh before continuing on the mission.

But the Master Chief realized something and set his sights on Tommy.After not seeing each other for a few years, this Spartan warrior who had been selected by the Military Intelligence Bureau since he was a child seemed to have become weak. Before, he would have followed him on the mission without hesitation, but now...
"The things on this ship," Tommy said, "can save the entire human race. Isn't that the ultimate goal you went on the mission to achieve? Let's return to Earth and leave it to the military to decide. Considering the current situation, He paused, then continued, "No one will raise any questions when you explain why you gave this order."

Tommy deliberately showed no emotion when speaking, but the Master Chief was still very angry. He didn't expect that this guy had turned into such a smooth person.He recalled that he ordered Fred, Kelly and other team members to perform a mission on the surface of Reach, thinking that the mission for him, Linda and James would be more "difficult".

"Listen to the colonel!" McKay said, "Let's just hand over some of the things here to the R&D experts, and maybe we'll get some time off. I agree with that plan," he saluted Tommy, "Really Great!"

"There is no democracy here." The Master Chief whispered, his voice calm but with a murderous tone.

McKay's face twitched, muttering the Master Chief's threatening words in his mind.He looked from Tommy to Case.

Case just smoked his pipe in silence.Tommy shook his head slightly at her.McKay sighed, looking a little tired.She lowered her eyes and said, "Sir, I'm so tired of this bullshit mission."

The atmosphere on the bridge was stagnant, with only the soft beep-dah-dah-dah of the instruments and equipment.While they were discussing, other people who were busy with their work were also quietly listening to their conversation. In fact, no one was willing to perform this task given the choice.

"I hate to interrupt," Cortana said, "but I find Colonel Price has a point."

The Master Chief turned off his helmet's speakers and turned on his private communications channel. "The reason? Cortana. I thought you were made just for this mission of ours. Why are you quitting now?"

"I'm not saying 'quit,'" she replied immediately. "We took orders when the UNSC still had a fleet, when Reach was a complete military base. Everything has changed now."

The Chief had to admit the truth of what she said but there was something else in her words.For the first time, John realized that Cortana might be hiding something from him.

"We now have the complete new plasma weapons and reactor technology in this Covenant flagship." Cortana continued, "Just think about it, if every ship could fly in slip space with such high accuracy. What will happen if you try to manipulate it?"

She paused. "If the UNSC could be as effective fighting in space as you are fighting on the ground, we could actually win this war."

The Master Chief's eyebrows tightened.He didn't like Tommy and Cortana's point of view - because what they said made sense.Abandoning his mission was unthinkable.He always carries out his tasks from start to finish, and always completes them successfully.As a professional soldier, John was willing to give up everything for victory - personal happiness, friends, and even life, if necessary - but he never thought that in order to obtain greater benefits, even his own dignity and honor would be sacrificed. To sacrifice.

He sighed helplessly, nodded and said: "Okay, sir, we will do as you say. I hereby give up my tactical command authority."

Tommy also breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't thought about what to do if John didn't agree. "OK, thanks."

Case said, "Plan a route back to Earth, Cortana, and then—"

"I'm sorry, Colonel Keyes," Cortana replied, "I can't do this. Returning directly to Earth would violate the Cole Protocol, and our indirect route is not allowed. Cole Protocol Point [-] This clause stipulates that no Covenant ships may be brought into human-controlled space without first conducting a thorough search of tracking systems that may lead enemy forces into our base."

"Section [-]?" Keski asked, "How come I haven't heard of it?"

"No one has heard of it, sir," Cortana replied. "It's just a technicality. No one has actually captured a Covenant ship before this one." She glanced at Tommy. "Oh yes, this record has just been refreshed."

Tommy nodded in agreement. He had also encountered this problem before coming to Halo.

"Under the current circumstances, it will be difficult to conduct a thorough search of the ship's systems." Tommy said, resting his chin on his hand as he thought, "The artificial intelligence of the Covenant force is indeed cunning, even you and Ai Lidu can’t catch him.”

The Chief took a step forward, looking a little excited. "I have a suggestion, sir. Go to the central destination: Reach."

"Reach?" Keyes was surprised. "Master Chief, there is nothing left in the Reach system except the Covenant fleet."

"No, sir," the Master Chief replied, "there are other possibilities."

Case raised his eyebrows. "Go on, Chief, I'm interested."

"The first possibility," John said, "is that the Covenant forces turned the entire planet into glass and then continued to look for the next target. In this case, there should be UNSC ships abandoned there. , but it is still usable, and we can drive it back to Earth after repairing it. We left the flagship of the Covenant forces in low orbit, and brought back the appropriate technical personnel and equipment to improve our combat capabilities."

(End of this chapter)