Inside the bridge of the Hope.
I saw Sui Bian, who was also using holographic imaging and "standing" beside the center console, telling John in front of him: "Don't choose to believe easily because of the friendliness shown by humanoid aliens.
Being able to use psychic powers proficiently means that they are not as ignorant of psychic powers as the Sangheili.
If the other party really intends to form an alliance, it depends on their attitude, and they must not let down their guard. Also, they must investigate the true face of the evil god Pallas. "
John, who had always followed his instructions carefully, replied in a solemn tone after his father finished speaking: "Don't worry, father."
"Of course I'm not worried about you. I'll leave the rest to you, John."
"yes.."
The father and son ended the conversation.
Sui Bian dissipated the holographic image, and John also looked at the two adjutants standing opposite the center console and ordered:
"Jerome, Thies, you will go to Pulton on my behalf to assist the local troops."
"Yes, sir." The two lieutenants responded together.
"Tis", who is of normal human height and wearing the uniform of a colonel of the Spartan Legion, is Tis Byron, who has fought with the colonist beast body. Since 2022, she has been a member of the Spartan Legion Auxiliary Army. A captain, and now a colonel.
As for the Glory Guards who are wearing Terminator power armor and have not yet unfolded their helmets, they are the top beings in terms of physical skills, experience, etc. Jerome is also the champion of the entire legion.
After receiving the order, the two men left the bridge and began to lead their troops, preparing to rush to Pulton, which was forty light years away.
John, on the other hand, focused on the star map displayed on the center console.
Although the military forces of the entire sector were orderly clearing out the remnants of the Jiralhanae, John also read the report uploaded by Leon and speculated that the Jiralhanae was being used as bait by some behind-the-scenes force to attract their attention.
What is certain now is that the evil god Pallas tempted the Jiralhanae to cause trouble.
That's why John didn't rush to Pulton in person. Instead, he sat on the Harvest Star in the center of the star sector to deal with any emergencies.
———————
…
A few hours later.
Dawn in Pulton.
The star that appears to be "bigger" than the sun gradually rises, casting dazzling light on Budapest and the 503rd Division base surrounded by rainforest.
It didn't take long.
A large number of transport planes, transport boats and assault boats took off, carrying nearly 10,000 heavily armed soldiers to the rainforest.
Transport aircraft with magnetic adsorption devices, such as the Pelican, also have many unconventional armored units adsorbed under the tail.
It looks like a large power armor, and there are various heavy weapons hung on both sides of the shoulder armor and arm armor.
There are small missile launchers, rotating pulse cannons, 50mm caliber Gauss cannons, or the most common flamethrower in the rainforest, etc.
In fact, the official name of this armored unit is "Project Herendin-Mark VII (7), Bipedal Exoskeleton Armor".
The prototype of this armored unit is one of the derivative products of the attached technology when Sui Bian redeemed the Fire Spirit.
Because the official name is too convoluted, UNSC soldiers "affectionately" call it the Cyclops.
After all, this kind of armor, which relies on large-scale cold fusion reactors for power supply, can not only provide heavy fire support in the rainforest, but also generate a single-sided energy shield to provide cover for UNSC soldiers.
Absorbing the technology of the Covenant Empire has made humans more comfortable in using energy shields.
Although the shield power generated by the Cyclops, or the latest TPS, CMC, ceramite armor and UNSC individual equipment is far less than Mjolnir and Terminator, it is worse than nothing.
At this stage, the penetration rate of individual shields has reached 18%. "Frontline" star sectors such as Border Fortress are the first to undergo reforms, and obsolete equipment is resold to local sheriffs.
In flight formation.
In an assault boat located on the left edge, sat Leon, who was wearing holographic glasses, simple armor and mechanical skeletons, as well as ten fully armed emergency response teams.
He still stretched his legs out of the cabin, looking at the trees passing by under his feet, as well as the various animals that occasionally appeared in the woods.
It takes about ten minutes to leave the base.
The formation began to disperse and sail in different directions.
Soon, Leon saw that there were only two Pelicans left around the assault boat he was on, as well as the two Cyclops carried by the Pelican.
At this time, Lyon also heard the reminder from Brea through the earphone worn in his left ear: "There are still ten kilometers to reach the destination, be ready, Lyon."
And Leon also responded "Understood".
Then he took out the pistol from the holster, confirmed that the safety was unlocked, and returned it to the holster after everything was correct.
Not long ago.
Brea and others detected traces of fierce exchanges of fire deep in the rainforest north of the 503rd Division. When the biological reconnaissance plane arrived, they only found Jiralhanae corpses scattered everywhere.
The signs of death were mostly scorched by high temperatures, or the necks were twisted by brute force, so it was inferred that they were the work of those elves.
Moreover, this exchange of fire also convinced Brea and the others that there were traces of a large number of Jiralhanae activities in this rainforest, so they asked the 503rd Division to dispatch the main force.
Prepare to annihilate the remnants of the Jiralhanae, and also prepare to search for those elves.
Leon and the emergency team who followed the troops were responsible for collecting intelligence on the front line and trying to contact the group of elves, while Brea stayed at the base to provide remote assistance.
And at the same time that they formulated their battle plan, even all of Pulton's military forces began to launch large-scale clearing operations.
The fleet parked in low-Earth orbit also began bombing uninhabited areas where Jiralhanae were suspected to be active, and dispatched airborne troops to cooperate with ground troops to carry out clearing operations.
Half an hour ago, Jerome and Byron led one Zeus-class ship, two Marathon-class ships, and four Steadfast-class ships of the Second Legion to arrive at Pulton's gravity range.
Even the entire sector, under John's control, unanimously carried out a comprehensive eradication operation, preparing to completely eradicate the root cause of cholera.
now.
Through the real-time information provided by Leon's holographic glasses, he saw that they were getting closer and closer to the designated landing area. Then, the assault boat descended and hovered over an open area in the rain forest.
Lyon and the emergency team jumped straight down, landing on wet, muddy and root-heavy ground.
The two Pelicans also deployed their tail hatches and unloaded two infantry platoons.
When the last two multi-ton Cyclops hit the ground in free fall, there was a dull sound of "dong, dong".
Complete the transportation mission.
The assault boat and the Pelican immediately increased their altitude, turned around and returned to the base.
Wait for the transport formation to move away.
Without the roar of the engine, Leon could clearly hear the "buzzing" of flying insects all around, as well as the low hum of unknown insects.
Immediately afterwards.
The lieutenant in charge of the two infantry platoons issued a communication order to keep a distance of thirty to forty meters from each other in squad groups, and cooperated with the entire division to gradually encircle them in the east and north directions.
The two Cyclops were arranged at the front.
Lyon and the ten emergency response teams are also "squad" units, but they are located behind the front. After all, their main task in participating in the operation is investigation, not combat.
There is a special combat squad in the infantry platoon led by the lieutenant. The "personnel" consists of four elites wearing UNSC alternative standard individual equipment.
They are the elites who immigrated to the border sector under the guidance of their parents after the end of the Human-Covenant War, received human socialization and education, and spontaneously joined the army.
In addition to having different physical structures and still being martial, these elites are already members of the human race in terms of their thoughts and values.
After receiving the lieutenant's order, the elite team and other teams quickly dispersed and slowly advanced forward, with Leon and a group of emergency team members following closely behind.
Walked forward for a while.
"Ta...ta..." The faint sound of dense gunfire came from the distance, indicating that the battle was fierce.
Immediately afterwards.
"Target found at eleven o'clock! Conduct fire suppression!"
It was the lieutenant's roar that resounded over the communication line. At the same time, Leon also saw the marked area diagonally ahead through the holographic glasses.
"Ta-ta-ta!"
In an instant, the rain forest between the front line and the target was flashing with blue-light plasma, Gaussian, and laser ballistics, mixed with the crisp gunshots of pulse firearms.
The trees, branches and leaves along the way were also severely damaged.
"Boom~-Boom--!"
In the end, this brief confrontation came to an end when a Cyclops spit out the flames of a real fire snake and completely covered the target area.
The friendly signs on the glasses screen showed that the two squads were alternately approaching the suppressed area.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
But the sudden arrival of pink crystal stingers and plasma cannons blocked the approach of the two teams.
Accompanied by the roars of the Jiralhanae clan such as "We are immortal!" and "Come on! Come on!", the two sides once again fell into a fierce battle.
Moreover, if you simply rely on your eyes for observation, you can only see different colors of ballistics, hear shouts and the whistling of various warheads, and you cannot directly see the enemy.
It's like "the rainforest can talk".
But this is not the 1960s and 1970s of the last century.
Relying on the sharing of all kinds of real-time information and vision, the orderly cooperation of all teams, and the firepower output provided by the two Cyclops, the fierce battle lasted only about a minute, and the Jiralhanae beasts who shouted "immortal" were completely defeated. Shut up.
The gunfire stopped again.
But the crackling sound of burning branches and the movement of falling trees replaced the harsh gunshots. The dense woods that originally blocked the view became empty due to the exchange of fire between the two sides.
Waited patiently for more than ten seconds.
This time, the elite team approached for inspection, and then an elite reported on the communication: "Ouch...the targets have lost the ability to move, and there are two guys still breathing. The threat has been eliminated."
"Received." The lieutenant also ordered on the communication: "All teams will build a temporary defense front within a radius of 60 meters with the firefighting location as the center."
After giving the order, the lieutenant said to Lyon: "The rest will be left to you, Director Kennedy."
"good."
Leon responded and led the emergency team to a messy area, and came to the two Jiralhanae beasts that were marked by the elite team and barely survived.
I saw that the two of them were severely burned. It would be an exaggeration to say that their bodies were "riddled with holes." Their limbs were separated, their bones were exposed, and blood kept pouring out from the gaps.
Even so, the two Jiralhanae beasts were still in an extremely excited state, staring at Leon and the others, opening their mouths and talking continuously;
"We cannot be killed..."
"Don't be too proud..."
It seems that these Jiralhanae beasts do have some "convulsions" in their brains.
Seeing this, Leon, who was squatting on the ground, took out a sealed container from his waist, opened it, tilted it, and sprinkled some full moon water on the face of a Jiralhanae.
"Hey~! Hey!"
The moment the water of the full moon comes into contact with the Jiralhanae, a violent corrosion reaction begins.
"Haha... roar..."
But the Jiralhanae, which had endured the severe pain and corrosion, was still able to laugh loudly and struggled with its broken body. After the water of the full moon completed its purification effect, it completely lost its movement.
Leon repeated the same action and conducted the experiment on another Jiralhanae, and obtained the same result. It seemed that he sincerely believed that they could not be killed.
"It has been completely corrupted..."
Leon muttered to himself solemnly, stood up and put away the container, opened the communication and said in a deep voice to Brea: "Aya, the evidence is conclusive that there is a connection between the Jiralhanae and the alien space. Inform all departments to deal with it carefully.
Then he notified his superiors that the demon named Pallas seemed to be trying to enter the real universe through some means, and that he could influence such a large number of Jiralhanae beasts through him, so he was tentatively classified as an intermediate demon.
I will continue to follow the 503rd Division to shrink the encirclement and try to capture that group of elves. "
"Copy that." Brea responded immediately.
Subsequently.
Leon uploaded the footage captured by the holographic glasses and moved forward again with the two infantry platoons led by the lieutenant.
However, when the team just left the firefight zone.
"Boom~---!" sounded, attracting the attention of Leon and others.
They looked toward the source of the sound through the gaps between the dense forest and leaves, and saw a bright blue "light pillar" that shot straight into the sky.
"Ah~---!"
Accompanying the "light beam" was the hoarse scream of a woman.
? !
Witnessing this change, Leon immediately shouted loudly: "Lieutenant, ask your people to rush there with us!"
"Understood! Everyone move! Spread out! Spread out! Get close to that light pillar quickly!" the lieutenant also shouted on the communication line.
Looking down from above, Lyon and others were shuttled through the rain forest in a fan shape.
After traveling no more than three hundred meters, they came to an open area "artificially excavated".
All the trees and wattle grass seemed to be burned out in an instant by extremely high-temperature flames, and even the wet and muddy ground became dry and cracked.
And they also discovered the source of the "Light Pillar"...
It was the older elf who had revealed to Leon his tendency to ally with humans not long ago.
But now, the elder elf spreads his hands and feet and is suspended in the center of the "Light Pillar". Its pupils are filled with blue light, its expression is dull, and it has fallen into a different kind of fainting state.
Next to the elder elf were three charred corpses of elves, and an elf who seemed to deploy a psychic shield in time, incidentally protecting the compatriot named Ina beside him.
Found Leon and others approaching.
Ina quickly reminded: "It's a trap! Everything is a trap set by the evil god Pallas! Stop your troops from attacking!"
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