Shepard's new ship, the Normandy, was the result of Cerberus hacking into the Star Alliance system, stealing the design blueprints of the original Normandy, and transforming and upgrading them into the latest cutting-edge technology. The stealth fast assault cruiser named 'SR-2' was silently jumping to the orbit of planet AN-5367 at a short distance in a stealthy and silent posture.
Then, after it was carefully adjusted to the synchronous orbit, it quietly shut down its main engine, as if it did not exist, and quietly suspended in the orbit of this barren mining planet that had been temporarily abandoned by the Star Alliance. Above, this huge planet was scanned silently.
"The track has been set up and no abnormalities were found!"
"..."
"Scanning of the surrounding star field has been completed, and no hostile or unknown spacecraft has been found!"
"..."
"Planet scanning continues, no threatening targets found!"
"No traces of other spacecraft jumping around were found..."
"The IES stealth system is working normally...because the heat generated by the blue shift is slowly being discharged..."
"The Tantalus Modified Drive Core is working fine!"
"The lithium cooling system is normal. Our ship can remain invisible for...six hours!"
"..."
"Report Captain! Everything on our ship and the surrounding star field is normal, please give instructions!!"
When the data reported by the crew members in all important positions on the bridge were collected on the holographic interface of the first officer of the Normandy 2, he immediately walked to the Shepard ship, which was standing upright in N7 gray and black armor. The leader reported in front of him.
"Continue to observe and standby!"
Shepard didn't say anything more, just waved his hand with a cold face and told him to go back to his post.
Ever since the last time Shepard's Normandy 1 jumped out and was attacked and killed by someone, she has had a lot of doubts about jumping or using mass relays to fly. Every time, she would always let the spacecraft go first. Stealth, and then start to move and jump, for fear that when your new spaceship jumps to the other end of the destination, those guys who will come out to ambush you will appear again.
However, the things she was most worried about have not happened yet. They were prepared and did not find anything wrong here! This place on this planet didn't seem to be a trap specifically targeting Shepard or other human ships.
"..."
Standing here on the bridge, frowning and staring at the huge tawny planet outside the window.
This planet is different from the blue and extremely beautiful Earth of humans. This yellow-brown ball always looks gray, and the air is full of suspended dust, which is so full of the entire planet. The atmosphere... Then, storm vortices, large and small, kept raging, stirring up the planet's thick clouds like mud...
Above the orbit of the planet, if you rely solely on the naked eye, you will be completely unable to see anything on the ground of the planet!
Therefore, Shepard did not continue to speak. She was just waiting silently, waiting for the Normandy's intelligence officer and other CICs to use the chaotic holographic displays connected to various detection instruments to analyze and receive the intermittent message. The distress signal sent out so that they can lock on to each other's exact location.
"Miranda, what do you think of that distress signal?"
Since the other party's distress signal had disappeared for a while, the Normandy that had just jumped out was unable to locate it, so the technicians had no choice but to wait and wait for the other party's next transmission before they could capture the other party's exact location!
Therefore, Shepard can only wait patiently...
After thinking for a while, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong. She turned around and looked at her companion, Miranda, a beautiful woman with black hair and black eyes wearing a black and white tight-fitting space uniform, and asked aloud road.
"Shepard, actually I have been thinking just now..."
"This planet AN-5367 should have been swept away by the collectors a year ago... I just checked the Star Alliance information, and it shows: This planet, except for those remaining... There shouldn’t be any living people except half-living, half-mechanical modified monsters without self-awareness!”
Miranda, like Shepard, was silently staring at the huge tawny planet outside the window.
She herself is a little uneasy now... because after watching the video of calling for help, she also agreed with Shepard coming here to rescue, but now that she thinks about it, she feels that It's incredible!
She herself...when did she suddenly become so compassionate? Would she actually agree with Shepard not to carry out the important and arduous recruitment task, but instead to come to this desolate and shabby planet with a little girl he never knew? !
"A small Starfleet rescue fleet came here about a year ago."
"According to the mission records, they had scanned the entire planet. When they found that the several colonies above had no signs of life and no valuable enemy targets, they had to temporarily declare that the rescue was over and abandon the place."
"So, I don't understand now. One year later, what happened to the little girl who suddenly sent out a distress signal more than an hour ago?!"
"If I hadn't found any enemies here until now, I almost thought this was another old trap of interstellar pirates!"
In short, according to the information Miranda has reviewed, and what she has been thinking about after jumping here, on this planet, except for the remaining semi-mechanical monsters transformed by human beings by collectors, they are still on the planet. Apart from being active, there shouldn't be any living people!
But now, what happened to the little girl who sent the message asking for help, and how did she survive to this day? Anyway, she didn't quite believe that a little girl could survive for so long in such a harsh planetary environment.
Therefore, she originally wanted to remind Shepard to be careful, but now, after seeing that the other party did not seem to be confused and became wary, she did not say any more and just said what she thought. some things and my own confusion.
"Ah!"
"Miranda, you may not believe it, but I am also thinking about this interesting question now..."
"I don't even know why I gave the order to abandon our original mission and have the spacecraft immediately jump to this desolate mineral star to save the little girl..."
"If I think about it carefully now, at that time, I felt as if I was hypnotized by the other party..."
"That's a very weird feeling... maybe it's my own intention, maybe it's not?"
Shaking his head, Shepard expressed his feelings at that time, somewhat dumbfounded.
Maybe this is the sequelae after her resurrection. Her rationality and judgment began to decline, and she became more emotional?
Before, she only remembered that when she saw the holographic video asking for help and the little girl crying in it, her brain suddenly became hot, and she lost the ability to think in an instant. She just ordered the Normandy II to go at full speed regardless of the situation. Move forward and jump over to prepare for the rescue.
But now, after she finally calmed down, thinking about her previous behavior, she always felt something very demonic and evil.
There's something very wrong with that little girl...
If there is really a problem here, then they may have fallen into the enemy's trap now! If that were the case, it would be very detrimental to her ability to complete the arduous mission she shouldered.
"You actually have this strange feeling?!"
Miranda exclaimed and looked with some surprise at the human heroine next to her, the former ghost of the Citadel. She, Miranda, had thought just now that she was the only one who had that weird feeling, but how could she think that Shepard did too?
"You mean 'also'?"
"Very good! If you felt like this just now, I think today's things seem to have become very interesting... But no matter what, since you are here, you might as well go and investigate first. !”
Looking at the planet below, Shepard's tense face suddenly burst into laughter.
She felt that there must be something wrong with the video of the little girl calling for help! Maybe this planet is a trap set for rescuers, and the image of the little girl calling for help must have some strange element of suggestion, hypnosis or temptation that they don't know about?
"How is the scan and analysis of that call for help video going? Are there any special findings?"
Shepard breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered that he was not alone. He looked at a member of the CIC Combat Intelligence Processing Team and asked him.
"Report sir!"
"After multiple scans and analyses, the cry for help video is all normal. Neither I nor EDI found any special bands or sounds or images that interfere with biological interference!"
"I'm sorry, sir! My assessment of the image calling for help is: everything is normal!"
Soon, after operating for a while, an intelligence officer from CIC innocently turned his seat and spoke cautiously to Captain Shepard, who was standing behind him in the middle of the bridge.
He used all the equipment and techniques to conduct an in-depth study of the image, and even decomposed it into the most basic digital code, filtered the sound, image, etc. Anyway, in the end, he did not make any additional discoveries. !
"..."
"Sir, are you thinking too much?"
The former helmsman clown of the Normandy 1, who was sitting idle in the helmsman's position, suddenly turned back to his old commander and asked this question.
He had just been paying attention to eavesdropping on the conversation between his cold commander and the beautiful Miranda, but he had seen the video before, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it! He felt that with such a cute little girl, it was impossible for anyone to receive the other person's cry for help signal and then be ruthless enough to abandon her, right?
Therefore, the clown finally couldn't help but overstep his authority and asked a question.
In the beginning, he was rescued by the brave and fearless officer Shepard, and he was able to successfully escape from the escape capsule of Normandy 1. Because of this, he didn't think there was anything wrong with his heroic, beautiful and righteous old officer coming to this planet to rescue a little girl. This was originally a normal thing.
His old commander, Captain Shepard, was originally a great hero and heroine who saved the galaxy!
"Please do your job, Mr. Clown!"
Seeing that the other party wanted to interfere with his decision, Shepard crossed his arms and stared at the other party expressionlessly.
"Okay, okay, Captain, you have the final say!"
After shrugging his shoulders and spreading his hands in a gesture of helplessness, the helmsman (Joker) stopped gesturing at his beautiful savior and captain, and returned to his position honestly. , continue to be alert to any information on the orange holographic screen.
He actually has nothing to do now. Their Normandy 2 spacecraft has shut down the main engine this week and is flying silently and silently in the orbit of the planet. All things are naturally controlled by artificial intelligence in the smallest detail. He doesn't need to do more, he just needs to continue staring at the screen interface and always pay attention to the status of the spacecraft.
"Edie!"
After waiting for a while and discovering that the intelligence officer still could not locate the specific location of the signal source, Shepard was secretly surprised and simply called the artificial intelligence EDI of the Normandy 2.
The full name of artificial intelligence EDI is 'Enhanced Defense Intelligence'. It is an artificial intelligence defense program specially developed by Cerberus for the Normandy SR-2. It is something that her original Normandy 1 did not have.
It is said that Edith 'she' is not only very helpful for the crew's daily inquiry of information, but can also provide a lot of critical information, or provide the best feasible action plan for each mission, etc.
'What are your orders, Captain Shepard? '
A completely silver holographic image of a woman wearing silver and gray tights and looking very stunning appeared on the bridge in an instant, projected directly in front of Shepard, and looked at him with a smile. The captain who called her, Shepard, was waiting for further orders.
"Is there any way for a little girl to survive in the harsh environment of the destroyed mining colony of AN-5367 for more than a year, while still successfully avoiding the collector monsters? raids and attacks?”
"Also, tell us your judgment on the distress video we received!"
Shepard, who always felt that her mind seemed to be disturbed by some unidentifiable factor, finally thought about it seriously and could only ask for help, asking about the Cerberus research that she had always felt was unreliable. The artificial intelligence program that comes out.
Now she has no choice. If there is really some factor in that image that interferes with their judgment, then the pure artificial intelligence in front of her will definitely not be disturbed, and it will definitely be able to give her A relatively fair analysis.
'Of course there is, Captain Shepard! '
'According to the information I have obtained: As early as 2142, when the Gagarin Space Station, the space equipment called the 'Takeoff Point', began to be constructed outside the orbit of Pluto, humans on Earth were trying to navigate the long space. After reaching the outside of the solar system for colonization, he began to develop a cryogenic hibernation device! The purpose is to immerse human astronauts in a deep state of sleep so that they can achieve distant and long space travel in the limited life of human beings. '
'This low-temperature sleep chamber was quickly developed and was originally code-named DW-101, and a series of upgraded models were derived from it...'
'But later, in 2148, when prospectors on Mars' Promethean Planitia unexpectedly discovered Prothean ruins: a Prothean observatory that had been in operation for fifty thousand years... In 2149, the Prothean observatory was deciphered The data allowed humans to find the Charon mass relay in the solar system. Subsequently, the Galaxy Alliance began to establish and coordinate the survey, security and colonization of planets outside the solar system. '
'In 2152, based on the Charon mass relay and more relays almost all over the galaxy, they were discovered one after another. After a faster and efficient navigation method that could reach almost instantly, the cryogenic sleep chamber plan was finally abandoned. . '
'To this day, Star Alliance only retains a small number of medical life-sustaining dormant warehouses to meet the needs of field hospitals for the life safety of seriously injured people or injured people in certain special conditions who cannot be rescued in time, but the number is very small. '
'But according to my database, Star Alliance should also have a cryogenic hibernation life-sustaining emergency life-saving dormant capsule that was once distributed to the pioneering colonies. Its code name is DW-257. Although it is a bit old, it should be able to freeze humans entering the life-sustaining cabin at a very low temperature in an emergency, eliminating vital signs to almost nothing, so as to survive until rescue arrives or to avoid certain dangers. . '
Having said this, the artificial intelligence EDI of the beautiful girl with silver short hair looked at Captain Shepard. When it saw the other party's understanding expression, it knew that the other party should have understood the content of its statement and what it meant, so, It went on to say:
'If the AN-5367 planet mining colony had such a rare and backward dormant chamber, the little girl's success rate of successfully evading the sweep attacks of those collector monsters would be as high as 50%. '
'Through my analysis of the planet AN-5367 just now, the results show that the planet's atmosphere is too dusty and the visibility is extremely low. Although it has the minimum environmental requirements for humans to breathe directly, it allows humans to breathe without wearing protective gear. Breathing and surviving in the environment, but that will endanger the health of the upper respiratory tract mucosa. I do not recommend staying in that environment for more than three hours without wearing protective gear; in addition, the lowest temperature on the planet's surface detected by infrared monitoring is -20 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature is 12 degrees Celsius. Without protective gear, it will make humans feel very uncomfortable, which is consistent with the 'very cold' described by the little girl! '
'In summary……'
'Although it is impossible to analyze what caused the rescue capsule to automatically release the dormancy and release the little girl, based on the calculation results of my logical thinking and the lie detection of the rescue video, I came to the conclusion that the little girl, she What is stated can be as true as possible. So, Captain Shepard, you can go to the rescue as soon as possible! '
'I received the distress signal again, determined the specific location of the other party, and also scanned the other party's vital signs, which confirmed that it was a human being. If you set out now, there will be a 52% chance of successfully rescuing the opponent and completing the rescue operation! '
'The mission countdown is now twenty minutes. If you cannot reach the rescue target within twenty minutes, then I suggest you cancel the rescue operation and leave here. '
The artificial intelligence EDI of the holographic image stretched out her finger and operated on the holographic 3D model of planet AN-5367 that it projected for a second. She successfully marked a small green dot on it. That green dot , the exact place where the little girl in the red dress sent the distress signal, right in the middle of an abandoned mining colony.
As Etty continued to enlarge the holographic image of the planet, Shepard and Miranda finally succeeded in discovering the small figure who seemed to be huddled in the corner of the dilapidated room in the ruins of a colony.
"..."
Seeing that his advanced Normandy II actually scanned a living little human girl hiding in the ruins, Shepard's breathing couldn't help but become stagnant, and even breathing became a little unnatural. got up.
Although she couldn't see the other party's specific appearance from the holographic image enlarged by EDI, but judging from the green digital figure, she was sure that the other party must be crying helplessly and trembling, right? It is really rare for a little girl to calmly send out a distress signal and hide in that kind of environment.
"Wait! Edie!"
"I don't understand why we only have a 52% chance of successful rescue now? For such a simple thing, why isn't it 100%?!"
Now, Shepard has decided to go to the rescue! However, she couldn't understand the unreliable artificial intelligence's statement that they only had a 52% chance of successful rescue.
"Report!"
At this time, without waiting for the artificial intelligence EDI to reply, the clown helmsman, who had just been given a small lesson by Shepard, turned his head and reported to the confused captain.
Because, at this time, on the map in front of him, he saw three big red dots heading towards the ruins of the colony where they found the small green dot at high speed.
"Captain Shepard, I know this question! That's because: there are remnants of enemies on the planet now rushing towards that ruined colony. Three disguised mass effect low-altitude aircraft and nearly three hundred collectors transformed the A monster cyborg zombie is on its way!"
"There are also many mechanical monsters following..."
"They are expected to arrive at the little girl's hiding place within twenty minutes! Our Normandy II cannot forcefully land in such a planet environment, because it will cause huge damage to the stealth coating and engine!"
"If you don't set off quickly, the chance of successful rescue later will be zero!"
Mr. Clown, who was the helmsman but was doing the work of the CIC, exclaimed at this time, and anxiously reported and vaguely urged his Captain Shepard.
He didn't want such a cute little girl to be plundered, killed and transformed by a group of monsters. Thinking about that kind of thing felt cruel!
"strangeness……"
"Those guys, why did they find the little girl and surround her?"
"Could it be...that this is really a trap?"
There are some things that once you start to doubt, it is difficult to gain absolute trust again...
Therefore, Shepard was not in a hurry to make a decision immediately because they still had a lot of time. She still doesn't understand why the monsters created by the collectors would go out in large numbers when they found the little girl, as if forcing them to go down immediately?
The more she thought about this matter, the more she felt something was wrong!
"Report Captain, this is definitely not a trap!"
Mr. Clown, who was still the helmsman, spoke in a hurry. Looking at his impatient look, he seemed to want to land on the planet by himself and save the little girl before the collector monsters?
"Speak your mind, Mr. Helmsman!"
Captain Shepard expressed dissatisfaction with the behavior of a certain guy who overstepped his authority and spoke arbitrarily! If Normandy No. 2 didn't need the other party's control now, she would have to give him a good scolding!
"Because the little girl just sent out a request for help message using all channels without any restrictions, so it will definitely be received and discovered by the enemy!"
The clown felt that it must have been caused by the little girl randomly pressing and sending out help signals out of fear, hesitation and helplessness! Thinking about it, it is already remarkable that a little girl can persevere in that kind of environment and still think of sending out a signal for help.
"Etty, is that what he said?"
Shepard looked at the holographic image of the artificial intelligence EDI still standing in front of her, and asked.
'Yes, Captain Shepard! '
'The other party did not use the encrypted band that only our human ships and instruments can receive as before, but changed to full-band transmission! '
'So, you still have eighteen minutes and twenty seconds...eighteen minutes and eighteen seconds...'
The artificial intelligence program EDI confirmed expressionlessly and gave Captain Shepard a time countdown, which was the arrival time she calculated based on the enemy's speed.
If this time limit is exceeded, there is no need for rescue.
"..."
"Have the hangar prepare a UT-47 Kodiak landing aircraft immediately!"
"Miranda, go and take A and me to planet AN-5367 right away!"
After confirming that it was not the enemy's conspiracy, Shepard had nothing to hesitate. She walked to the door behind the bridge on the spot, giving her orders and telling Miranda.
As for the other Jacob, who was experienced in combat, she had no intention of taking him with him. Because it was just a rescue of a little girl. As long as you landed in the colony as quickly as possible, found the person, and then turned around and left, there was no need to mobilize troops or use too much combat power.
"As you command, Commander Shepard!"
Miranda didn't waste any time, nodded, turned around and ran out quickly. She needed to equip her armor and weapons, and of course, her universal tools.
'Okay Captain! '
'UT-47 drop-down shuttle landing craft Kodiak is ready, the system has completed self-test, the shuttle landing craft is in good condition and ready to go at any time! '
Behind Shepard, the emotionless electronic synthesized voice of artificial intelligence EDI sounded...
The somewhat crowded cargo bay of Starlink's UT-47 drop-down shuttle landing craft can generally accommodate twelve soldiers. If it is squeezed, two more soldiers can be crammed into the cab. Compared to Star Alliance's official name of 'Kodiak', this small shuttle landing craft is more popular among Star Alliance teams to call it 'Combat Cockroach'! Because it has a very flat appearance and is as durable as a cockroach, it is not easy to be damaged or malfunction.
The powerful and excellent environmental sealing technology and armor of this special landing spacecraft make it rare for the fragile large and small components inside to be exposed! According to Starlink official test results in Venus' sulfuric acid clouds and extreme temperatures, 'Kodiak' can forcefully land in absolute vacuum, high pressure, and temperatures from near absolute zero to harsh temperatures of over 900 degrees Celsius!
In addition, the 'Kodiak' is also a true mass effect anti-gravity vehicle. Its essentially zero-element core can even allow the spacecraft to fly directly in suspension within the strong gravity of the planet! It can also actively block enemy scanning, or engage in a certain degree of electronic confrontation with the enemy. It also has a powerful kinetic energy barrier system that can defend against enemy kinetic energy weapons. Therefore, it is very suitable for concealing airborne Marines, and Gradually it became the main equipment of Star Alliance.
Of course, Cerberus had prepared four of these excellent landing craft for Shepard on board the Normandy II spacecraft, even though each of them cost up to three million star coins each.
——————
"Uh..."
(?′?`?)
Huddled in the corner of this dilapidated ruins, Annie first threw the leftover food box away, then took a few sips and took a sip from a can of the sweet and sour energy drink from the Koprulu Sector. After finishing it, he burped with satisfaction, stretched and took a breath.
?(?′0`?)?
After eating and drinking, she immediately picked up her little bear, curled up her knees and retreated into the corner. Now, she needs to lean on this relatively clean place and digest it. If no one comes after passing a house, I'm afraid she will release her spaceship and try to leave here.
Because... this place is dirty and not suitable for her to sleep in after eating and drinking!
(…)
(Cute and charming little master, will anyone really fall for the useless little trick you just played and come here to 'rescue' you?
⊙(???)?
——More than an hour has passed, and Tibbers feels that no one will come here to rescue its terrible little master! )
"Why not?"
(￣▽￣)?
Annie felt a little sad. She had just eaten and drank enough, and now she didn't care much about chatting with her little bear to pass the time. Anyway, she was idle.
(Because you just lied! If someone really receives the signal you sent, they will definitely know that you are lying with just one test!
(??????)??
——Anyway, Tibbers feels that no one will come, so he should release his spaceship early and wander around the universe. If he can't find a place with living people, then he will continue to instigate his little master. Change the world or something)
"I didn't lie just now!"
╮(￣▽￣)╭
(Why not?!)
(′???)
"Tibbers, look at it..."
"Just now, I was really cold, hungry, and sleepy! Also, the sky outside was so gloomy that it looked pitch black. How could I have lied?"
o(′^｀)o?
(But you are not afraid at all. Just now you pretended to be afraid and sent a distress signal. Isn’t this a lie?)
Σ(っ°?°;)っ! ?
"I didn't!"
"I was really scared just now..."
(￢?￢)?
(I didn’t see the slightest bit of fear in you!)
(,,?????,,)
"I have it!"
"Just now... I was really afraid that no one would come after the signal was sent out! Look, isn't this fear? If no earthlings, crooked star people or monsters come, then I may not have anything to play with. !”
"So, I was really scared, so I didn't lie or pretend!"
\（￣︶￣）
(…)
(You’re really good, I’ll admit defeat...)
＼(′???｀)／
"Huh?!"
"Aha! Tibbers, they are really here. Did you notice them too?"
●ヽ(???)?●?
Suddenly, Annie, who seemed to sense something, jumped up from the ground and started cheering.
Because, she just sensed that in the sky, there seemed to be a landing spacecraft that was quickly breaking through the planet's atmosphere, rubbing the air and heading straight towards her! On the other side, in the north direction of the land, there seemed to be a group of bad guys with malicious intentions towards her. If this was the case, she would soon have fun.
(…)
(●￣?￣●)
(Tibbers no longer wanted to say anything to the little girl who was fiddling with the weapons on the ground while hoping others would 'rescue' her.)
"Tibbers, look at this sniper rifle."
Holding up a long weapon that was slightly taller than herself, little Annie excitedly asked her little bear.
————
Star Alliance standard weapon: M-92 Mantis Sniper Rifle, codename, Mantis!
A powerful sniper rifle, very accurate in long-distance combat! However, the rate of fire is relatively slow. It is very effective against armored targets, but not effective against shields and biochemical barriers.
————
(Don’t you have your own ghost suit and weapons? Those customized for you should be better. Why use these weapons?
(′???)?
——Tibbers asked, looking at the troublesome little master who was playing with weapons and ammunition while putting a troublesome multi-purpose tool on his hand, and then experimenting with using the multi-purpose tool to collect the ammunition. . )
"If you use your own weapons, it will be troublesome to explain later. Let's use these here. They are scattered all over the floor anyway, and there are a lot of them outside!"
(??ˇ?ˇ?)
Anne naturally has her own ideas about what she does, so don't let Bos interfere!
