Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

That's a fucking stupid name, Lieutenant McKay muttered.

That must be a management prophet, Tommy added.

Can you tell what they're doing down there? Cortana, Case asked.

Not yet, she replied. Their language cannot be translated literally, and every word has multiple meanings. There is something they hold sacred—their words involve more religious allusions than their routines. Ten times more bulletins. Wait. Two new similar signals are being received, weaker than the others, not on the Covenant frequency. On the UNSC E-band.

Case clicked the pipe in his hand and said, Play.

A beep signal came from the speaker, six tones in total. It paused for two seconds and then sounded again.

The two Spartans present immediately stiffened.

That's it. Cortana said, Those six notes over and over again. It comes from these two places. Two small navigation triangles appeared. One is on the edge of an undamaged area on the planet's surface, and the other appears in an area that has turned into scorched earth.

It's not Morse code, Lieutenant McKay said. I've never heard of it. Maybe it's a test signal? Maybe it's from some automated device, like an air traffic forwarding relay?

It's not automatic. Tommy glanced at the Master Chief and found that he was also looking at him. Everyone, get ready for battle. We have to split up and go to the place below. They are still alive.

Then he hummed a tune so low that only he could hear: All clear, everyone.

****

1002 hours on July 14, 2523 in the military calendar

In the Epsilon Eridanus galaxy, Reach, Phase II Spartans are conducting military exercises.

Twenty-nine years ago.

Tommy crawled forward in the biting cold wind and climbed to the edge of the hill to peek out. A lush, tree-shaded canyon lay below him. In the distance, the sparkling Bighorn River meanders into the forest. A flock of birds soared above, and there was silence below. He slowly retreated to a dark tree hole and climbed in.

Anton-044 and Winnie-139 were sitting on the ground in the hollowed-out Cedar Pavilion Cave. In order not to be detected by the soldiers' heat-sensitive detectors, they talked very softly.

It's clear now, Tommy whispered to Winnie, the captain of the Silver Team. After a while, Grace, Fjeld and Naomi-010 emerged from the hiding spot near them like ghosts. They climbed out of the tree hole and carefully observed the patrol of the Invincible Army.

From a distance, they looked like soldiers undergoing actual combat exercises. They were all tall, strong, and agile, and looked to be in their late teens or early twenties. Upon closer inspection, I realized that this was not the case at all. Each Spartan was only twelve years old.

Check the weapons. Winnie said to Anton and Grace, We won't allow any mistakes this time, especially your rifle. She stretched out her index finger and poked Tommy's breastplate, and made a clear sound. The voice said, You, you have to be careful this time, don't act lightly like last time.

His heart felt like an electric shock, and the place where he was poked felt numb. Tommy's face turned red all of a sudden, and he lowered his head and smiled shyly. Yes, eldest sister.

Anton and Grace then took apart their SRS99C-S2 sniper rifles and looked carefully - these two guns were seized from the two shooters of T Company who were sent to search for them two days ago. If the soldiers of T Company failed to catch them and beat them half to death - then T Company would be in great disgrace.

Tommy was checking his pistol, too. The weapon was distributed by Sergeant Major Mendez. It uses compressed air to launch Nano darts with an effective range of twenty meters. The drug inside can knock down a rhinoceros.

However, it was difficult to complete this mission with a range of twenty meters. Therefore, Naomi modified the 11.4 mm caliber fin-stabilized discarding sabot armor-piercing projectile of the sniper rifle, removing the deadly armor-piercing warhead and replacing it with Nak darts.

After Naomi conducted a fire test on the modified weapon, she assured Winnie that it could accurately hit the target within 100 meters. The darts can penetrate the body but will not kill anyone - unless they hit the temple or eye.

Okay, Winnie clapped her hands gently, Although this is a military exercise, it is also the seventh time that Sergeant Major Mendez has asked us to fight against T Company.

They are all impatient after losing. Anton said with a smile.

That's not a good thing. Grace said to him, They don't intend to play fair. You also heard what our captured sniper told us. He said that this time their captain wanted them to win no matter what - even if He didn’t hesitate to let a few of us get blood splattered on the spot.”

Winnie nodded and brushed away a strand of red hair scattered on her face, So we must also apply color to them and try our best to win. He grabbed a branch and drew on the soil covered with fallen leaves. Make a square. The silver team is under my command: me, Tommy, Naomi, and Fjed; Grace, you lead the gold team.

Why is this? Anton complained dissatisfied, showing a bitter face, It's just me. Why am I only left as a sniper? He clenched his hands, and Tommy could feel that he was eager to fight at close range. But the pain of not being able to get what you want.

Because you are the second best sniper in our team, second only to Linda on the blue team. Winnie told him, You are also the best observer. The success of our plan depends on the sniper team. Don't push back and forth. .”

Yes, eldest sister. Anton muttered. He nodded again and whispered, The best observer? Cool.

Let's discuss this some more. Winnie drew a line in the center of the square. Silver Team infiltrates the base and Tommy will detonate the stun grenade at 05:00 - attracting more soldiers from T Company and distracting the rest of the soldiers. . Winnie looked up at Grace. We must get rid of those guys who protect the military flag.

No problem. Grace replied, looking into Winnie's eyes with a slight smile.

She is the Spartan who is the best at blasting among them, but her personality is unexpectedly gentle.

After we get the flag, Winnie continued, Silver Team will get out of there. Keep an eye out for priority targets to give us cover. We'll meet up with the other teams at the LZ and hope no one spots us before then.

Anton nodded. Grace raised her new rifle. It was so big that with the butt resting on her shoulder blade, Grace could barely aim through the sniper scope. We are not vegetarians.

Tommy closed his eyes and went over the details of the plan in his mind. OK - everything is ready. The odds are against them. He knew they would win, the eldest sister was always invincible.