Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

The engine room of the Pillar of Autumn.

The last grenade exploded, and the Master Chief felt the deck beneath his feet begin to shake violently. Cortana shouted into his head: It's done! The engine will go into critical condition. We have fifteen minutes to leave the ship! We immediately went out and took the elevator on the third deck. It will take us to maintenance lane seven on top of the battleship. Go quickly! 】

The Master Chief jumped onto the third platform, killed a combat Flood, then turned and ran towards the cabin on the left.

The hatch opened, and Raven, who was sitting on the ground leaning against the mechanical equipment, saw the person clearly and put down the gun in his hand. On the way to the engine room, thanks to Wellesley's timely reminder, the Chief defused a betrayal by a nearby paratrooper. But even so, the loyal raven was injured in the crossfire.

Before destroying the nuclear reactor core in the engine room, the Master Chief treated her wounds and placed her in a safe cabin. Now he was taking this raven away from the Pillar of Autumn - leaving any of his comrades behind would never be allowed.

Master Chief, I can still leave.

Raven stood up unsteadily, but was supported by the Chief.

Hell Paratroopers are not known for showing off their strength. The Master Chief turned around, squatted down slightly, and bent down to carry her on his back. The magnetic hanging point on the back of the armor was activated by Cortana, locking the raven firmly with a click, Don't worry, this won't affect my movements.

In fact, having a big living person hanging on his back would indeed affect the battle, but he didn't want to hear the raven say silly things like leave me here and you go first.

Raven wanted to say something more, but was stopped by the Chief. They rushed out of the cabin together and ran towards the other cabin door. The hatch opened, and the Master Chief dove in and ran through the long passage. The second door led directly to the open space in front of the huge elevator.

The Chief heard the whirring sound of mechanical equipment and guessed that he had triggered some sensor, so he waited for the elevator to arrive. For the first time in hours, there was no obvious threat around, no obvious danger. So the Master Chief allowed himself to relax slightly, but this revealed a flaw.

[Master Chief,] Cortana suddenly warned, [Back off! 】

Thanks to the warning, he retreated just behind the hatch. At the same time, the elevator rose from below, and an elite warrior sat in a plasma turret, shooting at him wildly.

Wave after wave of plasma fire covered most of the platform, leaving only a small space for a few Grunts to help him bring the weapons up. The blue plasma beam shone in all directions and hit the hatch that was slowly closing. The astonishing heat burned half of the door.

[Where did that guy come from? 】The Master Chief asked while placing the raven behind him in the corner.

[Looks like someone is following you. ] Cortana said calmly, [Okay, get ready - I will control the elevator and make it fall. Just throw two grenades into the stairwell. 】

As soon as Cortana finished speaking, the Master Chief felt the lifting platform tremble. The elite warrior didn't pay attention and continued to shoot the plasma beam while laughing wildly. Even the screams of the Grunts nearby failed to disturb it.

This gave it a death sentence.

The lifting platform suddenly sank with a clang, and then fell down amidst the unwilling roar of the elite warriors, straight to the bottom of the well. The harsh sound of metal friction was followed by a loud boom. The Master Chief did not intend to give them a chance to counterattack, and threw two grenades at the bottom of the well.

When the Master Chief carried Raven back on his back, the broken limbs of the Grunts and Elites just soared into the air with the sound of fire and explosions, and then crackling fell to the platform.

Cortana regained control of the elevator as it rose. The Chief had no choice but to step onto the bloodied platform and set off for the maintenance tunnel above. Cortana took advantage of this short period of time to hatch an escape plan.

Cortana is calling E-419. Please call back, E-419.

The Master Chief deeply hoped that nothing had happened to Nemesis and Captain Keyes during the fatal betrayal, not only because he knew them well, but because he needed them for his escape.

Roger, Cortana, the E-419 communication channel lit green on John's heads-up display, but the voice coming from it was not hers, This is Captain Case, I can hear a rough idea.

Excellent, Captain! Cortana said.

The Chief was overjoyed that Case was safe, but his good mood was dampened by a series of explosions that rocked the elevator. He was eager to leave here, because this indicated that the battleship had begun to disintegrate.

The Pillar of Autumn's engines have entered critical condition, Captain. Cortana continued, We need an emergency evacuation. Once you receive my signal, be ready to go to external interface 4-C to meet us. .”

Understood. Captain, call Cortana - it looks very noisy down there... Do we still have the fifteen minutes we originally planned for?

The elevator shook again, and the artificial intelligence replied: No, no! We have seriously interfered with the battleship's fusion reactor core. The damage to the engine is more serious than we thought.

Then, the elevator platform suddenly stopped, and a piece of debris fell from somewhere above. The artificial intelligence said to the Master Chief: [We have six minutes, and the fusion reactor is about to explode. We need to evacuate immediately! The explosion will produce nearly a million degrees of heat, and we don't want to be here when it happens! 】

Sounds like a really great idea. The Chief ran with Raven on his back through a hatch and into a cabin full of Warthog troop carriers, each parked in its own separate garage.

He picked the one closest to the exit, put the Raven into the passenger seat, fastened his seat belt, and jumped into the driver's seat. The roar of the troop carrier as it started up gave him some relief.

The countdown display Cortana projected on his HUD was not only jumping, it was jumping fast. The Chief drove out of the garage, hitting a burning Warthog troop carrier on the left, plowing through a tangled mass of Covenant and Flood.

An elite soldier was knocked down and crushed to death under the flying tires of the personnel carrier, causing the vehicle to jump. The slope ahead is covered with infected Flood. They exploded like firecrackers one after another as the Chief hit the gas and charged up the slope, followed by plasma beams chasing after the vehicle. Then, in order to avoid making mistakes and save precious time, he took his foot off the accelerator and paused briefly at the top of the slope.

A huge passage stretched in front of him, with walkways on both sides. There was an overpass in the distance, and a narrow maintenance channel was in front of him. Two Flood monsters stood at the top of the entrance, firing at him below. He started the Warthog troop carrier and rushed forward, rushing into the entrance in front.