Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

Chapter 182 B-6 (1)

He stopped at the end of the corridor leading to the bridge and saw Rebecca crouching at the bridge door with a gun in hand. She waved happily when she saw them.

You guys are so slow here, Rebecca said, knocking on the closed door behind her.

The door opened, and Lieutenant Polasky was watching an engineer. The engineer dismantled the damaged door control panel, turned over a melted crystal plate, held it up to its six eyes and looked at it, then picked up an intact crystal plate from the floor and inserted it into the bulkhead.

Polaski wiped her hands on her grease-stained uniform and waved to them. The bridge was now filled with Helltroopers, and another dispersed team had assembled here.

A faint blue smoke filled the area, but Tommy noticed that most of the monitor panels were working again. In the corner of the bridge, Avery was tending to Cecilia's wounds, while Locklear stood guard. The young Marine kept his eyes on the engineer, his finger near the MA5B's trigger—though not on it.

The engineer floated back, spinning. It looked first at Polaski and then at Tommy.

There was a sudden burst of static over the bridge speakers, and the engineer looked at them, then back to Polaski. It knocked on the control device, and the bridge door slowly closed.

The engineer extended a tentacle over the controls. They flashed blue and then dimmed.

It's locked now, Polaski said. This ugly guy has a real knack.

Locklear looked at it in amazement and reached out to touch his shiny bald head. He was standing on the high center platform when he turned to spy on another engineer who was repairing a burned-out display on the port side of the room.

Locklear's grip on the MA5B gradually relaxed, but the muzzle of the gun was still pointed in the direction of the engineer. I don't care what this AI says, he told Tommy, I just don't trust them.

The engineer next to Locklear floated over to the bridge's holographic controls and extended a tentacle to a series of raised dots. The screen lit up with a snap, and three Covenant cruisers appeared on it, chasing closely behind.

The Master Chief tensed up, Ellie, quick! Take evasive measures!

Relax, Chief, Locklear said. He reached out and waved on a holographic image control button, and the picture on the screen immediately froze. This is just a replay.

He turned and looked carefully at the plasma beams on the screen, which hit the flagship's shields. Boy, he whispered, I wish our ship had that kind of weapon.

There will be in the future, as long as we bring this ship back to Earth. Tommy said. He frowned and walked to the screen, looking at the storm that appeared in the upper atmosphere of the critical star. Play this again, Corporal.

Locklear tapped a control button.

A blue electric light shines on the screen, and the bow of the flagship appears on the side of the screen. The blue line opened a hole in space, and the spacecraft jumped forward. The clouds on the critical star then disappeared, leaving only darkness on the screen.

Tommy tapped his finger on the electric python on the screen. Ellie, he asked, has anyone, whether human or Covenant, ever made a slipspace jump in the atmosphere?

No, Tommy. Normally, such a strong gravitational field would distort and destroy Sean Fujikawa's equipment for crossing the event horizon. However, with the Covenant's jump fault generator, Cortana greatly improved the resolution efficiency, which also led me to find a remedy.”

It's amazing, Locklear whispered.

What fucking luck, Polaski muttered, tugging at the brim of his hat.

Tommy pondered for a moment, then asked as if he had thought of something: Ellie, if that's the case, then when we were about to crash on the surface of the halo, why didn't you -

Shut up, Tommy. Ellie interrupted angrily, opening a private communication channel with him.

Tommy was stunned for a moment, and then quickly realized that Cortana might be the biggest contributor to this successful escape. He thought Ellie was quite funny like this and couldn't help but laugh softly. This also made Ellie even more angry. She said It's so noisy! several times in Tommy's ear.

As Tommy and Ellie spoke quietly, the Chief glanced at the starboard display and said, It looks like the ship is running fine. At least for now, that's enough. He turned to face Tommy. Standing, After leaving the transition fault energy space, we must plan our next move.

****

Earth, Australia, Sydney, UNSC High Command B-6 Command Center.

After passing through the metal and explosives detection gate, Major General Jilan Osignin walked into the entrance of the main hall. This vast building, with a slightly conical structure, was nicknamed The Hive before it was officially designated as the B-6 command center of the UNSC High Command.

The weather in Sydney is gloomy, and the dim sunlight shines in through the crystal bend above the head.

She walked among the busy officials and sergeants, completely uninterested in admiring the acacia trees and strange ferns on the side, which were displayed for the visiting press and ordinary citizens. He is not in such a leisurely mood today.

In another hour, the apparent calm and efficiency of the high command would be shattered. Only a few senior officials have learned that the UNSC's most fortified outpost, Reach, is now reduced to ashes.

Under the surveillance of three armored Marine Corps gendarmes, Ossignin walked towards the relay office.

Concealing the fall of Reach wasn't the UNSC's greatest secret, not by a long shot. In fact, none of the people in the Near Colonies knew their precarious situation and that they were not far away from losing the war. MI1 did such a good job that it made people think that Earth's military had resisted the Covenant attack.

What would the people of the Far Colonies think? Those who did not flee to remote outposts or hidden civilian bases did not cause trouble - the Covenant forces took no prisoners, only killed them all.

Waiting for your arrival, General, said the messenger. He was a young sergeant major, and he did not show any special concern for her arrival, or he seemed to have no idea of ​​her purpose, but his eyes showed that he knew something.

He may not know the details, but there is no doubt that the increasing number of confidential reports have passed through his hands. Or the look in his boss's eyes often gave him a premonition that something had happened.