Fort Waite is a Terran Federation city about fifty miles away from Fortress Howe. There is a highway that has not been maintained for many years leading directly to the city center that has been razed to the ground.
After the armored personnel carrier in the third platoon of Augustus set off from Fortress Howe, the convoy had been driving in the cold darkness of Turasis II for nearly an hour. Since many sections of the road had been blown up, their journey was not smooth.
The city is located in an area that is close to the frigid zone. At this time in the northern hemisphere, the lowest temperature has dropped to ten degrees below zero. The cold wind blew from the south, the only ocean on Turasis that was gradually freezing, and the thick waterproof curtain behind the truck whirred.
"I want to know why we have to go so far out here at this point to scout for the Kemorians who have never been seen." Harnak complained in the troop carrier assigned to the Augustus squad: "And There are transport planes on the apron in the fortress, why should we take a car?"
"Maybe we are afraid that we will be shot down by the locals' small pistols with an effective range of only a few dozen yards?" Renault said: "Vanderspu has always been considerate. He is a gentleman and a good man."
"I said it's business to finish work early and go back to sleep." Tychus's power armor is larger than the average model: "How about we go to a local bar to have some fun?"
"Yeah!" Harnak shouted.
"Okay, okay." Augustus glared at Harnak: "Do you know where that place is? And if there are really Camorians, I won't take them to save you when you are drunk. A few lives.”
The shining eyes of Harnak, Josephine and Tychus immediately dimmed at an alarming speed.
Just as he was talking, the convoy drove onto the bumpy road in Wetburg, which was full of craters, and drove all the way to the city, finally stopping at an intersection with a traffic light.
Augustus closed his helmet visor, was the first to open the curtain of the armored vehicle, and jumped out of the vehicle astride a Gauss rifle with a gray wolf head emblem on the handle. Other marines also jumped out one after another.
The snowflakes fell on Augustus's mask and immediately melted and condensed into ice. He looked towards the few places where there were still lights. What caught his eyes were rolling black shadows, as if they were a dense forest. Hills together.
But Augustus soon discovered that this was far from the truth. This was actually the ruins of a city. High-rise buildings collapsed, rubble and car wreckage were everywhere. The snow swallowed everything up, making the bright lights and vibrant noise fall silent. A white wasteland remains.
Wetterborg was once a city with a population of 200,000. During the years of the Union War, it narrowly escaped being engulfed by the flames of war many times. But a few months earlier, Vet's Keep had suffered the same fate as Pork's Pride, when Kaimorion's seagor dragons invaded, plundered, and destroyed the city.
"So, where are we going to capture little Ebal of the Camorion?" Tychus said angrily, "We have no plan and very little information."
"Don't you feel something is wrong? What kind of enemy insists that we come here to investigate at night? The Camorians are not blind. Don't they know how to run when they hear the sound of the car? That lieutenant colonel is really a naive guy. I really I wonder how he got to this seat."
"Captain Warfield means that at least we have to come." Augustus said: "After all, there are still thousands of people living in these ruins, and they are all refugees who are unwilling to leave their homes. We should at least Keep them safe."
"Haha? This doesn't sound like the style of our Marines." Tychus laughed: "Do you know how the Marines on the Reading III protect their people?"
"Kill them all, and then say it was the Camorians who did it. In this way, the war reporters of the UNN Universe News Network can write an article with pictures and text to criticize the viciousness of the Camorians, and arouse the residents of the core world to hate The hatred of the enemy. Then the federal government can arbitrarily issue bonds in the name of war," he said.
"As for who will pay the public debt in the end, it is of course the defeated Camorians."
"Tychus, I hope you can understand this. Although we are not angels, we should not be demons either." Augustus said and led the class towards the few light sources in Wetterburg. Reagan, the 3rd Platoon sergeant, ordered his squad to investigate one of them.
Augustus followed a path that had obviously been swept and passed a church with only three walls left. The broken stained glass windows reflected colorful light under the light of armored searchlights. A huge cross fell from the top of the church. It is inserted diagonally in the snow, as if standing on a huge tomb.
According to the orders of Turasis II Governor's Palace and the Northern Hemisphere's First Main Continental Plate Command, all cities and towns in this area should strictly implement light controls and curfews, but the residents of Wetburg obviously don't care about this regulation.
Fort Wetter has been reduced to ruins, but most residential buildings can still be powered by solar panels. In fact, electricity is not the most scarce resource in this era. However, this ruins is actually a chaotic place of death. Since it has been regarded as an area that neither the Terran Federation nor the Kaimorian Alliance wants to govern, all kinds of people are hidden here.
Homeless locals, wanted outlaws, interstellar pirates and mercenaries who have tinkered with the place and traded with the locals for supplies and fuel. Furthermore, in the middle of winter, local hungry wild beasts will also attack humans in the dark. You must beware of wild beasts or even your neighbors climbing up your wall for a little food.
There are only a few buildings whose lights stay on all night, usually the lairs of the largest local gangs or bars open to interstellar pirates and mercenaries.
Augustus's destination was a small bar that was not too big. There were several sentries outside the bar, but no one dared to shoot at the federal marines wearing power armor, not even a decent drink. . To the hard-suffering natives, the armies of both the Federation and the Kaimorian were the same.
After observing for a while, Augustus led a few soldiers into the bar, leaving others to set up sentries.
The bar was unexpectedly clean and tidy, with the good smell of incense mixed with the dry and cold air outside the door. The ground was a repaired wooden floor, and there were more than a dozen tables and matching chairs. There were only four or five people sitting inside, and I think the others had already run away when they heard that the Federal Marines were coming.
Augustus made a beeline for the bartender behind the counter, his power boots creaking against the wooden planks.
"I want to buy a piece of information about the Camorians." Augustus threw a thick stack of bills on the counter.
"Is your squad leader so rich?" Tychus asked in surprise on the communication channel. At the same time, he accurately estimated the amount of money based on the thickness of the banknote.
"Of course." Renault said proudly: "Augustus may be the richest man on the planet."
"It's none of your business, why do you have to be so brave?" Tychus said, but what he wanted in his heart was to find out the details of Augustus. If Augustus was really a big shot, Tychus wouldn't mind currying favor with him.
"Ah! Sir, I don't know anything!" The bar owner was a middle-aged man with one hand missing. He was indeed frightened by the thickness of the stack of banknotes at first, but after thinking about it, he realized that it was his own. Life is more important.
"Are you afraid of revenge?" Augustus asked.
"Come on, come on, this guy definitely doesn't know as much as I do." At this time, a man in strange attire approached Augustus, leaned on the table, took out all the banknotes on it, and then excitedly He and a companion next to him were counting the banknotes.
Augustus turned to look at him. This man was dressed like the locals, wearing a thick woolen military coat, dark brown thick velvet military boots, and a fluffy three-ear ear protection hat. The hem of this dark brown coat is very long, extending to just above the ankles.
If all this is normal, it would be strange for him to be wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night. Judging from this man's face and his youthful voice, he must be in his twenties.
"Seeing you really made me burst into tears. You may not know that Remy and I are starting a business." After counting, the man looked at Augustus, regardless of the height gap with the Marines, and said enthusiastically Shake hands with him: "Oh, my name is Graven Hill. I am from Umoyan and I am a mercenary. This is my business card with my email address on it."
"That's right, then why do you think your information is worth this price?" Augustus took the business card and put it away. Behind the mask that Hill couldn't see, he smiled.
Graven Hill is the mercenary leader on the Hyperion in the game, the guy who sells mercenary contracts to Renault.
Not a coincidence.
"It's definitely worth the price, sir. There is a Kaimorian Hygoron assault force preparing to raid Howe Fortress tonight," Hill said.
"How did you know this?" Augustus's face changed.
"I am a mercenary. I used to mainly take jobs from the Camorian people. There are also some mercenaries who did dirty work for the Camorian under my hands and are still among them. There is no shortage of information. Hill said: "Of course, I have signed mercenary contracts between the Federation and Kemorian, and there are quite a few."
"The Camorians are under a lot of military pressure right now. Alas...it's actually very difficult for us. Demand exceeds supply. The commissions will definitely increase, but they can't afford it and they all owe it." Maybe. Because of his youth, Hill was much more talkative at this time: "Mercenaries also need to eat. They have parents and children to support. There are many families who can't open the pot."
"So, you can't really blame me. I didn't really want to betray them."
"Jim, hurry up, let's go find Reagan. He is the only one who has the equipment that can directly contact Warfield." Augustus turned and left.
"Well, you just believe me so much?" Hill was also stunned.
"No matter what, we have to confirm it." Augustus left a few words and walked out of the bar with Renault and others who were confused: "We will contact you later. If this news is true, the money just left I’ll pay you twice as much.”
"I'll contact you."
"This is a rich potential client," Hill's companion Remy said. "We should keep in touch with him."
