Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

Grace followed the soldiers into the cave. Lee stayed behind to serve as guard.

Rebecca kept blinking to adjust to the harsh incandescent light inside the cave. There were deep grooves in the walls, as if they had been dug by machinery. In the center of the cave stood another man in front of a folding card table, wearing a navy uniform.

The Chief stood up straight and saluted: General!

The other paratroopers saluted and said hello. Rebecca glanced at them and reluctantly obeyed.

Lieutenant General Danforth Whitcomb, despite having a Western European name and a Texan drawl, claimed his ancestry was a Russian Cossack. He has a build like a big bear; he has a shaved head and his hair is very neatly trimmed; he has a pair of black eyes that make people think they are made of coal; a gray beard hangs down from his upper lip to his chin side.

Master Chief, the general saluted back. Calm down, kid. It's so damn good to see you! He strode up to the Master Chief and shook his hand - something few people would do in such a dangerous way. The way to greet the Spartan warriors is to put your fleshy palms into the cold and hard arm sleeves, and the bones may be crushed if you are not careful. Welcome to Camp Independence. The accommodation is not four star but we call it home.

Thank you, sir.

John had never worked with this general before, but his heroic exploits during the Battle of New Constantinople and the siege of Titan were well known. Every Spartan studied Whitcomb's battle records.

John opened the communication channel and said to Lieutenant McKay: Come here, sir. The alarm is cleared.

Copy that, McKay said. We're on our way.

It's nice to see you, Chief. General Whitcomb said. Don't misunderstand my question. What are you doing here? Didn't Case order you to go deep into the Covenant-controlled area to perform your mission? ?”

Yes, sir. It's a long story.

The general twirled the ends of his beard, glanced at his watch, and then smiled and said, We still have time, kid. Tell us.

John sat down on a rock and recounted to the general what happened after leaving Reach: retrieving the navigation database on the Gamma Space Station, agonizingly escaping aboard the Pillar of Autumn, discovering the Halo and its strange guardian - 343 Guilty spark.

He hesitated, then described his encounter with the Flood and subsequent destruction of the Halo, ending with his capture of the Covenant flagship. During the narration, Lieutenant McKay and other personnel who stayed behind the troop carrier arrived here, and they listened quietly to the Master Chief's story.

The general listened without saying a word. After John finished his story, he whistled a long and low whistle, and sat there thinking about everything John had said.

This story is too bizarre. If it hadn't come from your mouth, I would have asked the person who told the story to undergo a mental examination. He stood up and paced, then stopped with a frown on his face, I completely believe what you said. But something's not quite right-- His face wrinkled as he thought, although I can't quite put my finger on it.

Sir, Lieutenant McKay said softly, please forgive me for asking, how did you survive here?

The general smiled, Well, it's a long story, Lieutenant. I'll cut it short for you. He folded his arms and leaned against the cave wall.

I knew as soon as those Covenant beasts entered the Epsilon system that Reach would become history. They never do things by halves. Everyone on the planet was busy retreating - and that was understandable - but I had to stay.

Several expressions flashed across the general's face: concern, excitement. Then his face became heavy, and he remembered what happened in the past, which is still vivid in his mind.

We are developing a new type of bomb called 'Nova'. It is a cluster nuclear weapon, and each nuclear warhead has a tritiated lithium shell. Well, theoretically speaking, when this thing explodes, it will not only explode like a normal nuclear weapon That would generate a powerful shock wave, which would also press the tritium-containing shell into a huge high-temperature and high-pressure center.

He made a fist with one hand and smashed it on the palm of the other to emphasize, In this way, the power of the explosion will be increased a hundred times. A smile appeared on his face, Planet killer. When we plan to fight in space Use them to destroy the battlefield.”

His smile gradually faded and he touched his beard. Alas, the plan couldn't keep up with the changes, and we didn't have time to move the 'novas' on the ground. So I decided to change their attack targets.

Lieutenant McKay looked confused. He didn't dare interrupt, but the General noticed her expression and said, Just think, kid, what it would be like with those damn Covenant troops surrounding those ordnances.

McKay shook his head, I'm sorry, sir, I still don't understand.

A big-headed soldier who only knows how to obey orders, huh? Whitcomb snorted and turned to look at the Master Chief, What will you do?

Unlock them, sir, the Master Chief replied. Activate the fail-safe detonators and start a countdown that can be set to two weeks.

The general nodded, I only set it up for ten days. There is no need to give them that much time to repair.

He pressed a hand heavily on Lieutenant McKay's shoulder, causing McKay to flinch. There are two possible endings to this plan, Lieutenant. Or the Covenant forces move the Nova back to their planet for study - this possibility is the one I most hope will happen, because a bomb like that will Blast their homeworld in half; or the bombs can be left here - they'll kill every Covenant force on Reach.

I understand, sir, Lieutenant McKay whispered, then looked at her mission clock, How many days ago was this?

There's still a lot of time left, the general told him, about twenty hours.

Lieutenant McKay gasped.

However, there was an obstacle in implementing this plan. The general withdrew his hand from McKay's shoulder and stared at the dirt floor of the cave. I have a Marine Corps - C Company - they are on the mission. It was wiped out at that time, and we were unable to reach the cache of those 'novae'.

He sighed, They are all brave kids. What a damn shame for such outstanding warriors. It was then that I got in touch with the red team through an encrypted communication channel. I 'convinced' them to lend me a few Spartans. We went to the Nova caches, unlocked them, and then we moved in here and used guerrilla tactics to deal with the enemy - just to keep everyone busy, you know, otherwise it would be boring .”