Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

Chapter 99 Master Chief

Combat deployment time: +05 hours, 01 minutes and 23 seconds (Colonel Price’s mission clock)
Halo surface.

The Covenant troops rushed towards the hillside non-stop. Fortunately, the downpour of bullets helped them end this strenuous movement early, and the hillside was soon filled with their corpses.

"These bastards!" Rebecca gasped and cursed, and the index finger that pulled the trigger was so numb that she couldn't feel it.She touched the hard pocket on her thigh, then looked at Tommy, "Team leader, I'm out of ammunition!"

"This is the last one." Tommy took out a magazine from the magazine carrying bag on his chest and threw it to her. "Cover me while I go downstairs to get some plasma weapons."

This is already the fifth wave of the Covenant's attack. The Marines are already exhausted. What's worse is that their ammunition is about to be exhausted.They also wanted to leave this small valley, but the Covenant moved faster. Their undead transport aircraft left a large number of soldiers guarding the only entrance to the valley.Of course he could easily break through the encirclement and leave here alone, but with the bridge officer behind him, this idea became impossible.

The pyramid in front began to shake again, and a beam of light roared out from its central corner.It is in the sky, as dazzling as a star, and the planets of the critical galaxy faintly serve as a background in the sky.Is this some kind of directional sign?Or is it some part of the facilities that maintain this ring world?He has no way of knowing the truth.

Tommy quickly slid down the hillside and came to a tree. After looking around to make sure there were no enemies, he started to pick up the plasma weapons on the ground and put them one by one on the magnetic hanging points on his body.

At this time, the engine sound of the Covenant spacecraft came from the sky. He looked up to the sky and saw another undead transport plane hovering for a while. Then the hatches on both sides of the ship were opened. A group of Grunts and an elite warrior jumped out. Come down.

The M6D pistol in Tommy's hand immediately opened fire, and several Grunts were beaten until they screamed.But what he didn't expect was that the undead transport plane did not leave, but turned around and flew up the hillside.

Damn it, this is a one-off attack!
The plasma cannon on the transport plane opened fire, causing mud to fly and a row of black holes on the ground extending to the pile of rocks.The Marines returned fire while covering the officers as they ducked behind trees and rocks.

Tommy took out the plasma grenade, unlocked the safety catch and threw it towards the plasma cannon 50 meters away.The glowing plasma grenade hits the plasma cannon, which glows bright blue before sending the cannon into oblivion in a violent explosion.The transport plane without weapons had no choice but to fly away in despair.

Several plasma beams passed by, reminding him that there were still enemies on the ground that had not been dealt with completely.

The Spartan turned around and put on the plasma pistol to charge and overload. Then the gun shook and a green plasma ball shot out, hitting the blue-armored elite warrior. The energy shield on its body exploded.Tommy pulled out his pistol, aimed it at the head, and shot the elite soldier on his back.

After cleaning the battlefield, he quickly returned to the hillside.The ground here has long become scorched black, and there is still a vague smell of blood permeating here.The Marines scattered on the hillside to continue their vigil, while the officers formed a circle.

"Medic!" Keyes shouted from the crowd.

Aurora passed Tommy so quickly that she didn't even notice she bumped into him.The crowd parted to let her in, and Tommy stood watching curiously.

Surrounded in the middle was Hiyoshi Kazuko, the weapons officer of the Autumn Wind. She was struck by the plasma beam on her leg, and the pink muscles and tendons inside became scorched black.

"Hang on, Lieutenant." Case held her hand, his eyes full of worry.He looked at Aurora, "Corporal, how is she doing?"

The young Hiyoshi Kazuko reminded him of his equally immature daughter with Catherine Halsey, Miranda Keyes.Where is she now?Is your fighting style still as reckless as before?Thinking of this, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to get deeper.

Avrola skillfully tied the proximal end of the wound with a string, and then checked the inside of the bloody wound, "The problem is not big, the arteries are intact, and the high temperature has sealed the broken small blood vessels. She is not in danger of going into shock due to blood loss. "

She pulled out a fighting dagger, "My medical kit was left on the Covenant cruiser. Under the current conditions, it can only be treated briefly. She will need to continue to undergo some surgery and a period of time to recover from the tear." of leg muscles.”

Avrola stretched out her hand to Tommy without raising her head, her tone completely devoid of the usual respect, "Sir, I need something that can heat the dagger."

Tommy was stunned for a moment, then counted the equipment hanging on his body, and then handed her a plasma pistol, "Is this okay?"

Aurora quickly took it, "No problem."

She placed the combat dagger not far from the muzzle of the plasma pistol, and then pulled the trigger of the pistol.The plasma pistol quickly "buzzed" and was overloaded with energy. A large ball of hot plasma accumulated in the muzzle, and the dagger on the side was rapidly heated.As time passed, it slowly turned orange-red, and Tommy could even smell the molten iron as the molecules accelerated.

Aurora casually shot the plasma ball into the sky, then put the pistol aside and waved the dagger, waiting for it to cool down.She then pressed the sharp edge of the dagger against Hiyoshi Kazuko's charred flesh.

"The self-healing foam will have to be used later. Be prepared, it will hurt." Avrola reminded.

Hiyoshi Kazuko nodded.She clenched her teeth unconsciously and even retracted her cheeks slightly.

After getting her answer, Aurora started to take action.In order to reduce the lieutenant's pain, the medic's hands were so fast that everyone saw only dots of cold light flash by, and then the burned and necrotic muscles fell off one after another.

Hiyoshi Kazuko's lips turned extremely pale in an instant, her whole body was trembling uncontrollably, cold sweat seeped out from her forehead and neck and then trickled down.During this process, she didn't even let out a cry of pain, only the suppressed sobs in her throat.

Tommy noticed that the cuts in each piece of lost muscle were neatly cut—Aphrolas had cut along the grain of the skeletal muscle.Although it is very difficult to do so, if the muscles are separated laterally for convenience, then even if the muscle group grows well in the future, it will lose its original contraction due to the proliferation of connective tissue between the new muscle fibers. and diastolic function, resulting in Hiyoshi and Kazuko being unable to walk normally.

[Amazing knife control technology. ] Ellie commented, [How could she become a hell paratrooper? 】

[She should be on the medical ship. ] Tommy agreed.

The last muscle was finally separated, and Aurora reached out to Taote quickly, and he handed her a bottle of self-healing foam that had been prepared for a long time.

The self-healing foam covered Hiyoshi Kazuko's exposed wound with a layer. The menthol ingredients and anesthetic factors contained in it made her feel extremely cool, and the severe pain in her legs disappeared without a trace.

Seeing this, Keith's heart finally dropped.This petite girl looked more like a cute porcelain doll than an officer, but after experiencing this incident, the colonel knew that underneath her seemingly weak appearance, there was an extremely strong will.

"Captain Keyes," Tommy said while distributing the weapons of the Covenant to the people present, "there are almost no hiding places in this small valley. We must break out as soon as possible, otherwise the enemy's air support will If we arrive, we will be beaten to pieces just like before.”

"We'll try not to hold you back," Case said.He picked out a needle gun and held it in his hand.

"Captain." Hiyoshi Kazuko's voice was as weak as a boat drifting in the wind and rain, "Leave me here, take me with you. You can't leave."

"No, Lieutenant." Case smiled and shook his head, "We will not leave anyone behind easily." Then he seemed to realize something, and added, "Except for the damn traitor Dosage."

Several officers nearby laughed softly.

"The situation is not that bad yet." Tommy looked at the entrance of the valley. His neural implant detected his thoughts and automatically magnified it several times.Dozens of covenant people of various races gathered at the entrance, and he could vaguely see the huge figure of a hunter.

Tommy wanted her to cheer up and not lose confidence, so he said: "Believe in the strength of me and the Marines. With two of you, we can easily break through."

"You heard what Colonel Price said, Lieutenant Hiyoshi Kazuko," Case said.He looked at the handsome young man and said, "Lieutenant Lovell, put her on your back!"

"Me me?!" Lovell's eyes widened and his lips trembled slightly, "But me"

"No mother-in-law!" Keith scolded, "You want to leave her alone?"

Hiyoshi Kazuko turned his head and did not look at him.

"I didn't mean that!" Lovell blushed suddenly.

He walked up to Hiyoshi Kazuko, squatted down carefully, and said sheepishly: "Lieutenant, this is my first time carrying a girl, so don't worry about my poor skills."

"You can't tell, Lovell." Lieutenant Hall, the engineering officer of the Pillar of Autumn with brilliant blond hair, teased. She gently put Hiyoshi Kazuko on Lovell's back, "How can you compare to the artificial intelligence of the space station? Flirting intelligently but not daring to carry a real girl.”

When Lovell's hand touched Hiyori Yoshiko's hip, his whole body trembled, "That's nonsense, why don't I dare?"

Seeing Lovell tremblingly carrying Hiyori Yoshiko, the communications officer of the Pillar of Autumn, Lieutenant Dominic smiled and said, "Then why is your face so red?"

Lovell immediately buried his head in his chest.Keith and the other officers couldn't help laughing, and even Hiyoshi Kazuko, who usually had a straight face, had a smile on his lips.

But the Covenanters did not keep them happy for long, as there was another rustling sound in the distance.

"Team leader!" Rebecca shouted, "The bugs are coming again!"

Tommy looked toward the entrance and saw an elite advancing up the hillside with a dozen gnolls and grunts. The marines on one side had already begun to fight back, and the sound of gunfire rang through the valley.

But the bullet hit their unique hand-held energy shield and bounced away after a burst of light.These bird-like aliens huddle behind energy shields like a shield wall of medieval infantry.More Grunts and a blue elite warrior hid behind them and spread out their formation.

This tactic was effective, but not brilliant - many Marines had already thrown fragmentation grenades spontaneously, and after bursts of explosions, only elite soldiers stood stunned on the bare lawn.

Tommy shot it hard and it took a full third of the battery to kill the guy.

"All crews, move forward!" Tommy ordered over the team channel, and a navigation point pointing to the shadow at the base of the pyramid popped up on their heads-up displays.

He ran down the hillside first and disarmed the plasma weapons from the Covenant corpses.He found that several Jackal energy shield generators had not suffered too much damage, so he picked them up.

This thing was very useful to Spartans on the battlefield a few months ago, because the "Mjolnir" armor at that time did not have an energy shield - but now the energy shield generator is very useful for the Marines. Still a very reliable armor.

The remaining Marines covered the officers and hid under the building. Tommy called Rebecca to him, tied the energy shield generator to her forearm, pressed one of the two buttons, and a field of light emitted. The energy shield immediately "buzzed" in front of her.

"Cool!" Rebecca exclaimed, "Can I use it to blow the gnoll's head off?"

"Use it however you want," Tommy said as he distributed the remaining energy shield generators to the other Marines. "Just don't hurt yourself."

The Covenant once again assembled their forces, this time led by a few elite warriors and dozens of Grunts.

Tommy threw two plasma grenades, forcing them into chaos. He then leaned out of the bunker and picked up the plasma rifle to shoot at them. However, the engine roar of the Banshee fighter suddenly sounded in the sky, interrupting his attack. "Get out of the way!" Rebecca called from behind him.He quickly ran to the side without thinking.He has an energy shield and cannot die for a while, so he must attract firepower to ensure the safety of his comrades behind him.

The swooping scream of the Banshee fighter jet chased him behind him, and the blazing plasma beam swept dangerously behind him, causing goosebumps to rise on his back.Tommy first took a few big steps between several trees, then suddenly stopped as if he had realized something, turned around, and jumped into the air.

A dazzling green light bloomed around him, his vision suddenly went dark, and the place where he was standing just now was detonated, bursts of flames exploded.

The huge pressure released by the explosion threw him into the air, and there was only a high-pitched chirping in his ears.His energy shield was nothing more than a mantis under such a huge impact and high temperature. He could already feel the heat wave burning his skin, and soon blisters would appear there.

He spun around in the air and fell to the ground again, landing on his back first. The severe pain that came from him made him dizzy. Then he rolled around awkwardly for a few times. He finally stabilized his body and stood up again. stand up.

[I detected a slight bone crack in your third rib,] Ellie said worriedly, [If you continue like this, your flaws will get bigger and bigger, and finally you will...] ​​She didn't finish her words, but the meaning was already there. It was conveyed well.

【I won’t die. 】 Tommy saw the right moment and threw a plasma grenade, and a group of Grunts were blown into the sky.

[Don’t think that I don’t know the tricks of MI[-], Spartans can also KIA. ] Ellie's tone was a little annoyed.

[I will survive. 】

The addition of the Banshee fighter jets suddenly reversed the situation. The ferocious firepower from the air suppressed them from venturing out of the building to fight back. The assault team formed by the Covenant people took this opportunity to advance towards their position.

There was another violent explosion.

"Axin!" Officer Xiao Wang cried out.

Second Lieutenant Asin was hit in the waist, and his upper and lower bodies were separated.He still had enough air in his lungs to scream, the mangled torso finally falling onto his own guts.

Tommy hid behind the wall of the building and threw two plasma grenades outside, then just extended his weapon to fire.As a result, a series of plasma beams hit him from the air, his energy shield was exhausted in an instant, and the red warning light flashing in his helmet almost blinded him.

He retreated into the bunker in embarrassment, ducked to the side, and happened to meet Case who was reloading the needle gun.

"The situation is not good," Case complained. "Spartan, don't hide whatever skills you have, show them all."

Tommy sighed - why am I always the one getting hurt?
He closed his eyes, recalled the enemy's position, and then said: "I will attract their firepower. You focus on shooting the enchantress in the sky and try to win a few fights."

"that's it?"

"Otherwise what else?"

"Okay." Case shrugged.

At this moment, inside the helmet, the yellow status light specially used for communication between "Thor's Hammer" armors suddenly lit up, and then turned into green representing "affirmation" - which meant that another set of "Thor's Hammer" Hammer" armor came into communication range.

A commotion broke out at the Covenant gathering place at the entrance to the valley. Tommy heard the roar of the Warthog troop carrier engine, the firing of the M41 Vulcan vehicle-mounted machine gun, and the explosion and crash of Banshee fighter jets in the sky.

[Tommy, I've been in contact with another artificial intelligence. ] Ellie said.

If Case was right, and there wasn't going to be another Tommy, it was obvious who it was.

[Remember to be polite when greeting her. 】

"Captain Case, you are very lucky today." Tommy said to Case, and then gestured to the Marines, then he jumped out of the bunker and fired at the Covenant people still standing on the battlefield. Guns fired.

He saw two people sitting in a Warthog personnel carrier. In the machine gun position was a Marine operating an M41 machine gun, and in the driver's seat was a Spartan wearing green "Thor Hammer" armor. .

His rank and number scrolled across Tommy's heads-up display: "Master Chief. John-117."

"Tommy, is that you?" Tommy's private communication channel was opened with a "pop", and John's rich and magnetic voice sounded, with uncontrollable joy hidden in his words - Tommy was probably him The last Spartan brother of the second phase.

A smile spread across Tommy's helmeted face.

"John, we can talk about old times later." Tommy noticed that the Master Chief's eyes stayed on him for two seconds, which is very likely to be fatal on the battlefield. "If you look at me for one more second, we have to go see each other." God."

"You're still the same." The Master Chief withdrew his gaze, sat up straight with a murderous look, and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

He reminded Fitzgerald to hold on, then slammed his foot on the accelerator, the steering wheel spinning rapidly, and the Warthog roared as it hurtled into the Covenant crowd.After the troop carrier swung its tail, several Grunts and elite soldiers screamed and were knocked into the sky. The blood spit from their mouths dyed the sky with brilliant colors.

The remaining Banshee fighter jets circled in the air, and then roared towards the Master Chief. The plasma machine guns they carried were red hot and were about to fire.

"Fitzgerald, fire on the enchantress in the sky!" John shouted to the machine gunner behind him.

"Master Chief, we're doing it!" Fitzgerald immediately fired back, and the M41 LAAG machine gun roared angrily behind him. "Are you full of guns? Come on, more!" Then there was another burst of flames. Sweeping wildly, the large-caliber bullets easily penetrated the armor of the Banshee fighter jets, and they swirled and fell down while smoking.Suddenly, flames shot into the sky, deafening explosions echoed in the valley, and the ground beneath our feet vibrated.

The Marines behind Tommy also rushed out of the bunker, swiping their plasma weapons at the Covenant ground troops, beating them to pieces.

"Ha! Another uncle!" Rebecca shouted in surprise on the communication channel while firing.

The Chief heard Rebecca's voice and glanced at her.

"I'm not the only Spartan." Tommy had a close encounter with an elite soldier.He fired the plasma pistol in his hand until it was hot, then caught the enemy's fist with his left hand, and hit its head with the butt of the gun with his free right hand.

A dent was made in the elite warrior's head with a "bang", and broken bones flew everywhere. It only had time to scream before falling lifelessly to the ground.

The Covenant people were quickly wiped out under the attack from both sides, and all the Banshee fighter jets were shot down.

John jumped out of the Warthog troop carrier and walked over to Tommy.

The sound of the undead transport plane breaking through the air was heard again in the sky. The transport plane went back and installed a new plasma cannon before turning back.Seeing this, the Marines immediately opened fire.

"Sir, our weapons can't penetrate its armor!" a Marine shouted on the communication channel.

John glanced at the sky, leaned over and accelerated towards Tommy. "Tommy, take me to the top of the building."

The tacit understanding of training together when they were young has long been integrated into their bones. Tommy bent down and made a spoon shape with his hands.John stepped on Tommy's palm, and then Tommy bent his knees and exerted his strength. John also kicked off, and he suddenly jumped several meters high.

The Master Chief hung on the wall of the pyramid building with the help of magnetic strips, climbed a few times, then kicked off the wall and jumped towards the undead transport plane.

The transport turned its plasma cannon to target him, but John had already landed on the transport's head.He ran to the rear of the transport plane where the driver was in a few long strides, hit the engine cover with two fists, then grabbed the edge of the broken and deformed cover and tore it off, exposing the engine inside.

The Master Chief took out a plasma grenade, removed the safety and inserted it into the engine. Then he jumped off with a backflip and landed firmly.

A blue light flashed, and the undead transport plane lost control amid the explosion. The spacecraft tilted sharply to the left in an attempt to maintain balance, but it rolled forward and fell to the ground.The violent impact created two circles of mud waves on the lawn. The spacecraft continued to rush forward, hit a boulder, and turned into a ball of flames in the explosion.

The spacecraft exploded again, and the "U"-shaped hull fell apart.The sound of the shock wave shook the valley, and the "rumbling" sound spread to the surrounding ground.

The Marines and officers were dumbfounded, but Tommy and John immediately reflexively walked to the open hatch with their guns in hand, in case there were aliens in the spacecraft crawling out and stumbling away—— But not a single alien survived.

The two of them put away their weapons almost at the same time, then turned their heads and began to look at each other for a "long time".

The Chief's armor was much more damaged than Tommy's, with signs of scuffs and burns everywhere, and his left shoulder was dented.Tommy had mixed feelings for a moment and didn't know what to say.

John looked at Tommy, relieved.His teammates, his family, not all died.From his tone of voice and subtle movements, the Chief realized that Tommy was still the familiar partner from before.

The two stood in silence for a while, then Tommy raised his hand first and made a quick, brief gesture with two fingers at the mouth of the helmet visor.It was their way of expressing laughter—it best expressed the intense emotions inside each Spartan.

John made the same gesture, only faster.

"You're still the same, John." Tommy sighed.

Rebecca, who had been waiting for a long time, looked at the two of them and gestured at the mouth of the helmet in the same way, "You two are so disgusting," she said with a smile, "So when are we leaving this ghost?" place?"

Tommy heard a burst of noise on the communication channel, and then the voice labeled E419 on the heads-up display rang, "'Enemy Buster' calling Cortana...I'm coming."

"We need you, E419." Cortana, the artificial intelligence, replied over the communication channel. "The captain and another Spartan are here."

"Roger, Cortana, I'm on my way." The female pilot said, "I've checked the nearby area, they are the last batch."

"Understood," Cortana replied, "Let's return to Alpha Base immediately to support Major Silva and the others."

(End of this chapter)