The new Apollo 1, a spacecraft that countless people had devoted their efforts to, was dismantled in front of them.
Even in the end, not even a complete piece of iron sheet was left after being eaten by a group of insect beasts.
What ate it was not the sickle bug from the beginning, but a new, bloated black bug beast that appeared.
They are larger than Sickle Chong, and they use newly excavated large channels. Each one reaches a body length of more than four meters.
In the mouthparts of these insect beasts, the hard titanium alloy is as crispy as rice cakes. It is torn off in a few times, chewed into pieces, and swallowed.
This made everyone who saw this scene completely unable to believe why the creature's mouth could be so powerful.
"It's them...it's them..."
In the NASA Aerospace Center, Lu En's expression changed completely when he saw the last scene coming from the lunar rover screen.
Although he had not seen all of those bugs, he still recognized some of them. They were the same monsters that the Seventh Fleet encountered on Rebirth Island.
The scene in this scene is similar to the one before.
But what he really didn't expect was that these monsters could not only kill, but they could also swallow the metal used to build the spacecraft.
From this point of view, if they appeared on Aquamarine, the entire human race would probably become each other's food.
In fact, what he didn't know was that although these bloated black insects that swallowed up all the spacecraft looked relatively large, they were not combat units of the Desolate Zerg Tribe.
Their status in the group is like engineers, feeding back and strengthening the structure of the mother nest by devouring large amounts of metal minerals.
These bloated black bugs are codenamed "devourers", but people in the Covenant prefer to call them "peasants", just like in many real-time strategy games.
It has been observed that these "farmers" will preferentially target purified metals. When they lack sufficient food, they will directly eat soil and ores to draw nutrients from them.
Based on the model of the Covenant Research Department, if the Desolate Zerg develop on a planet for enough time, in the end they can even devour all the land, and finally form a "planet-level planet" floating in the universe. Insect's Hive".
But now, these guys have appeared on the moon. For the Covenant, their threat level far exceeds those of ordinary combat units.
In the moon base.
Tony and the others had completely lost the perspective of the new Apollo 1, and the picture on the monitor fell into darkness, because the lunar rover was also eaten by those bugs.
Their eyes were filled with confusion. They had never fallen into such despair.
Trapped on the moon, the spaceship was destroyed, and the surroundings were full of terrifying insect beasts. His eyes were completely dark and he couldn't see anything. He didn't even have a possible reinforcement, so he could only wait for death.
Whoever had come here would probably have collapsed.
"woo woo woo woo……"
Engineer Odell lowered his head and cried.
But no one can care about him at this moment. Everyone is in the same desperate situation, so there is no mood to comfort others.
If they were on Aquamarine, everyone might still have some hope. After all, the military would send a rescue team to save them.
But now we are on the moon, let alone a rescue team. I am afraid that even a satellite to send them to their death will not be launched in a short time. The sky will not respond, the earth will not respond, and they can only wait to die.
It can be seen from this that everyone's mood collapsed at this moment. Being able to maintain the current restraint and calmness is considered to be well-trained.
"Otus, if those bugs come, can you stop them..."
On the side, geological surveyor Abbott asked with the last glimmer of hope.
But after saying these words, he himself lowered his head in despair.
Obviously, this is nonsense, a stupid question without any value.
Although Ottos was the security officer for this operation, he was also equipped with certain weapons.
But that can only deal with one or two insect beasts at best. Even in a small base or in a space environment, it is not certain who will win.
Not to mention that now, what they are facing is not just a simple insect beast, but an entire army of insects!
In front of such a tide, with the few guns in the opponent's hands, I am afraid that even a small wave cannot be stirred up.
On the other side, in the NASA Aerospace Center on Aquamarine, a group of professional scholars and professors were all busy and began to analyze how to help the survivors on the lunar base.
However, in the face of absolute disadvantage, any extrapolation is meaningless.
Some things don’t need to be thought about at all, and the results can be seen at a glance.
Lu En sat back on a chair, closing his eyes and thinking about something.
The subordinates behind him seemed to have given up when they saw their director, and now they lost even more fighting spirit.
During this period, Professor Houston, the head of the space center, also came to see him several times, but nothing happened.
Given the current situation, even the most stupid person can see that the New Apollo Team is hopeless.
In addition to praying that the bugs don't discover themselves, what they can probably do is try their best to send back all the data they have explored in order to realize their final value.
As time passed, those who were still discussing the rescue plan all fell silent.
Everyone lowered their heads, no one spoke, and the place was deathly quiet.
Yes, in such a situation, there is no rescue plan.
All the previous struggles were just to find spiritual solace for one's own powerlessness.
At least at this last moment, they did not give up on those people, but made an effort.
"Director, what should we do now? Do we need to notify Congressman Aiken?"
An agent asked.
Congressman Aiken fully supports this moon landing. If such a situation occurs, the other party needs to be informed as soon as possible.
On the chair, Lu En suddenly opened his eyes, looked at the agent who spoke with piercing eyes, and said:
"No, don't contact Aiken first, let's find another person!"
After he finished speaking, he immediately stood up and strode toward the outside of the command center.
Although several of his subordinates were a little confused, their director had already spoken, and everyone followed him.
…
On the other side, inside the moon base.
"woo woo woo woo……"
The fat engineering expert Odell was still lowering his head and whining.
The atmosphere in the room has recovered slightly from the initial freeze.
There is no way, even if it is a desperate situation, you still have to face what you have to face. These astronauts are determined people, and they will not be paralyzed there all the time.
"Odell, stop crying! Hurry up and integrate all our information and send it to the aviation center. We must fulfill our responsibilities!"
Surveyor Abbott patted Odell on the shoulder and told him to get up and work quickly.
However, the latter was still lying on the table without any reaction.
"Wait! There seems to be something wrong with him!"
Tony seemed to have noticed something and quickly stopped Abbott from extending his right hand.
"Odell, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?"
Tony knelt down and took a look, and was startled when he saw the other person's expression hidden under the table.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuah...it hurts so much..."
O'Dell's face was full of pain, he was whimpering intermittently, and the facial features on his face were wrinkled together, as if he was suffering from some great pain.
"Oops! He seems to be sick. Go get some painkillers and water!"
As the captain, Tony also worked part-time as the team's doctor, and immediately began to help Odell deal with his injuries.
"I got sick……"
Ottos glanced at the other party listlessly, then turned around absently to find painkillers.
In his opinion, some of his own might even lose their lives later, and getting sick would not have much impact.
Soon, Ottos brought the painkillers from the freezer, and Tony quickly took them and went to feed him.
However, when he straightened O'Dell's body, his expression suddenly changed.
Because at this time, the latter's belly had swelled into a weird posture, like that of a pregnant woman who was ten months pregnant and about to give birth.
No, compared to a pregnant woman, Odell's belly was bigger and more permeable, and her bulge was so swollen that it could explode at any time.
"what happened to him……?"
Surveyor Abbott was also taken aback.
After being stunned for a moment, he quickly came over to check on the situation.
Although Odell is a little fat, his belly is not that big. It seems that there is something abnormal that no one knows about.
It's no wonder that this guy looked a little depressed from the beginning, and just now he kept lying on the table crying out in pain.
Next to him, safety guard Ottos also saw this scene. At this moment, he suddenly felt a little familiar.
As if he thought of something, Ottos' face suddenly turned aside, and then he quickly pulled out his gun from his waist, and pointed the black muzzle at Odell, who was groaning helplessly on the chair.
"what are you doing!!?"
Seeing him suddenly draw a gun and aim at his own people, Tony shouted in shock and anger.
"Be careful! Stay away from him! He is parasitized!!"
Ottos responded nervously, showing no intention of putting away his gun.
Just waiting for Tony and others to realize the meaning of the former's words, a sudden change occurred in the room.
There was just a "poof" sound, and engineer Odell's stomach suddenly exploded, and blood splashed all over everyone.
At the same time, a black monster jumped out of his belly and flew out in the blink of an eye, targeting the nearest surveyor Abbott.
Even though he was ready to raise his gun in advance, the black monster was so fast that no one had time to react, and it landed on Abbott's face in an instant.
"Bah!"
The sound of flesh and blood being cut was heard, and a large amount of blood shot out from Abbott's throat, indicating that his throat had been cut.
"damn it!!"
Ottos raised his gun, aiming at the bug on the opponent's face.
But because of the distance, he did not dare to shoot directly, otherwise Abbott's head would be blown open.
"Guluulu~"
A chirping sound full of excitement came from the insect's mouth. It seemed to be enjoying the blood. Its body stretched out visibly to the naked eye, and the originally curled transparent wings on its back also gradually opened up. After a while, it reached the size of one. Medium to large pet dog size.
"boom!!"
Huge gunshots rang out in the closed base, making people dizzy.
Ottos fired anyway.
He couldn't sit back and watch the monster grow. Once the insect switched its target to the two of him, they might not be able to survive.
However, Abbott, who was attacked by the bug in the face, completely stopped moving under the sound of the gunshot, and slumped feebly on the chair.
"You...what did you do!?"
Tony was stunned by this scene. After a long time, he came back to his senses and grabbed Ottos by the collar.
"Let go! I'm saving your life!!"
Ottos broke off his hand, looking very excited.
"He has had his throat cut! Such a big wound! You can't save him! If I don't kill the bug, both of us will die here!!"
Tony calmed down after being yelled at by him.
Obviously, he is not ignorant of this truth.
But because he suddenly witnessed the tragic death of his companion, it was a little hard for him to accept.
"Huchi Huchi Huchi~"
The room suddenly fell into silence, and the only sound left was the two men's constant breathing, indicating the unrest in their hearts.
"Fuck! Fuck Fuck Fuck!"
Ottos suddenly raised his foot and kicked the insect corpse that fell on the ground to vent his emotions.
Who would have thought that disaster would come so quickly, and two members of the team would suddenly die, leaving only the two of them.
"What's going on? Why did Odell..."
Tony looked at the miserable state of his companions in front of him with a painful expression on his face.
"Parasite, he was parasitized. I have seen this happen before. The people of the Seventh Fleet were infected by this kind of bug before, and the entire base was destroyed because of it."
Ottos slowly told something that he had personally experienced.
He had served in the hurricane team and participated in that rescue operation, so he knew this matter very well.
"Then...I...we..."
Tony spoke incoherently, but after holding it in for a long time, he couldn't even form a complete sentence.
Although he was the captain of the new Apollo team, the scene before him, but everything that happened before him, was completely beyond his ability.
This is not what astronauts should do. The Aerospace Center should send an interstellar team.
