Umbrella, The Light of Humanity

Inside the bridge of the Hope.

I saw Sui Bian, who also used holographic imaging, "standing" beside the center console, told John in front of him: "Don't choose to believe easily because of the friendliness shown by the humanoid alien.

Being able to use psychic power proficiently meant that they would not be ignorant of psychic power like Sangheili.

If the other party really intends to form an alliance, it depends on their attitude, and they must not relax their guard. Also, it is necessary to investigate the true face of the evil god Pallas. "

John, who has always followed his teachings, replied solemnly after his father finished speaking: "Please rest assured, father."

"Of course I don't worry about you, I'll leave it to you, John."

"yes."

The father and son ended their conversation.

Sui Bian dissipated the holographic imaging, and John also looked at the two adjutants standing opposite the center console, and ordered:

"Jerome, Tees, you will go to Bulton for me to assist the local troops."

"Yes, sir." The two adjutants responded together.

"Tees", who is of normal human height and wears the uniform of the Spartan Legion colonel, is exactly the same Tees Byron who once fought against the beast body of the colonists. Since 2022, she has been a member of the Spartan Legion Auxiliary Army Captain, until now Colonel.

As for the Glory Guard who wore the Terminator Power Armor and hadn't unfolded their helmets, it was Jerome, who was the top existence in terms of physical skills and experience, and was also the champion of the entire legion. .

The two who received the order left the bridge one after another, and began to lead the troops under their command, preparing to rush to Poulton, forty light-years away.

John, on the other hand, focused on the star map displayed on the center console.

Although the military forces in the entire star area are systematically clearing up the remnants of the Brute Beast, John also read the report uploaded by Leon and guessed that the Brute Beast was used as a bait by a behind-the-scenes force to attract their attention.

Now it is certain that it is Pallas, the evil god, who lured the ghost-faced beast from it.

That's why John didn't rush to go to Poulton in person, but sat on Harvest Star in the center of the star area to deal with any emergencies.

———————

…

After several hours.

Dawn at Poulton.

The star that seems to be "bigger" than the sun gradually rises, splashing dazzling light on Budapene, and also on the base of the 503rd Division surrounded by rainforest.

Not long after.

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 attract many unconventional armored units under the tail.

It looks like a large power armor, and there are various heavy weapons hanging on both sides of the shoulder armor and arm armor.

There are small missile launchers, rotary pulse cannons, 50mm caliber Gauss cannons, or the most common flamethrowers in the rainforest, etc.

In fact, the official name of this armored unit is "Project Helendin-Mark VII (VII), Bipedal Exoskeleton Armor".

The prototype of this armored unit is one of the derivative products of Sui Bian's subsidiary technology when he exchanged for the Fire Spirit.

Because the official name is too convoluted, UNSC soldiers "affectionately" call it Cyclops.

After all, this kind of armor, which is powered by a large cold fusion reactor, can provide heavy fire support in the rainforest, and at the same time, it can also generate a single-sided energy shield to provide cover for UNSC soldiers.

Absorbing the technology of the Covenant Empire has made it easier for humans to use energy shields.

Although the shield power generated by Cyclops, or the latest TPS, CMC, ceramic steel armor and UNSC individual equipment is far inferior to Thor's Hammer and Terminator, something is worse than nothing.

At this stage, the penetration rate of individual shields has reached 18%. "Frontline" star areas like the border fortress are the first to be reformed and replaced, and the equipment that has been eliminated is resold to the local sheriff.

In flight formation.

In an assault boat on the left edge, there sat Leon wearing holographic glasses, simple armor and mechanical skeleton, and ten fully armed emergency teams.

Still stretching his legs out of the cabin, he looked at the trees passing by under his feet, and the various animals that sprang out of the woods from time to time.

It took about ten minutes to leave the base.

The formation began to disperse, sailing in different directions.

Soon, Leon saw that around the assault boat he was on, there were only two Pelicans left, and the two Cyclops carried by the Pelican.

At this time, Leon also heard a reminder from Brea through the earphone worn on his left ear: "There are still ten kilometers to the destination, get ready, Leon."

And Leon replied "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.

In the depths of the rainforest north of the 503rd Division, Brea and others monitored the traces of violent firefights. When the biological reconnaissance plane arrived, they only found the corpses of ghost-faced beasts scattered everywhere.

Most of the deaths were scorched by high temperature, or the neck was broken by brute force, so it can be inferred that it was written by the group of elves.

Moreover, this exchange of fire also made Brea and the others lock on the traces of a large number of ghost-faced beasts in this rainforest, so the 503rd Division dispatched the main force.

Prepare to wipe out the remnants of the Brutes, and prepare to search for the group of elves.

Lyon 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 while they were formulating their battle plan, all of Lian Burton's military forces also began to carry out large-scale suppression activities.

The fleet parked in low-earth orbit also began to bomb the no-man's land suspected of ghost-faced beast activities, and dispatched airborne troops to cooperate with ground troops to carry out the clean-up.

Half an hour ago, Jerome and Byron led a Zeus-class ship, two Marathon-class ships, and four Steadfast-class ships from the Second Army to the gravitational range of Bulton.

Even the entire star area, under the control of John, unanimously carried out a comprehensive clean-up operation, preparing to completely eradicate the root cause of cholera.

now.

Through the real-time information provided by the holographic glasses, Leon saw that they were getting closer and closer to the designated landing area. Afterwards, the assault boat descended and hovered over an open area in the rainforest.

Leon and the emergency team jumped straight to the wet, muddy, root-ridden ground.

The two Pelicans also opened their aft hatches, unloading two infantry platoons.

When the last two Cyclops weighing several tons hit the ground in free fall, there was a dull sound of "boom, boom".

Complete the transport missions.

The assault boat and the Pelican immediately raised their altitude, turned around and headed back 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 around him, 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 30 to 40 meters from each other in units of squads, and to coordinate with the entire division to gradually encircle east and north.

The two Cyclops are arranged at the forefront.

Lyon and the ten emergency response teams are also "squad" units, but they are located behind the front line. After all, their main task of participating in the operation is investigation, not combat.

In the infantry platoon led by the lieutenant, there is a special combat squad. The "personnel" is composed of four elites wearing UNSC alternative standard individual equipment.

They are the elite who were led by their parents to immigrate to the frontier star sector after the end of the Human-Covenant War, received human socialization and education, and spontaneously joined the army.

In addition to having a different physical structure and being still martial, such elites are already a member of human beings in terms of thought and values.

After receiving the lieutenant's order, the elite team quickly dispersed from the other teams and moved forward slowly, followed by Leon and the members of the emergency team.

For a while.

"Tap...tap..." The faint and dense gunshots came from a distance, indicating that the battle was fierce.

Immediately afterwards.

"Target found at eleven o'clock! Carry out fire suppression!"

It was the lieutenant's roar that resounded through the communication, and at the same time, Leon also saw the marked area obliquely ahead through the holographic glasses.

"Tat-tat-tat!"

In an instant, the rainforest between the front line and the target was shining with plasma, Gauss, and laser ballistics emitting blue light, mixed with the crisp gunshots of pulse guns.

Trees, branches and leaves along the way were also tragically implicated.

"Wh--boom--!"

In the end, this brief confrontation came to an end when a Cyclops spit out the flames of a real fire snake, completely covering the area where the target was located.

The friendly logo on the glasses screen shows that the two squads are approaching the suppressed area alternately.

"Whoa! Whoa!"

But the sudden pink crystal needles and plasma cannon blocked the approach of the two teams.

Accompanied by the shouts of "We are immortal!", "Come! Come!" and other ghost-faced beasts, the two sides fell into a fierce battle again.

Moreover, if you simply rely on your eyes to observe, you can only see ballistics of different colors, and hear shouts and the whistling of various warheads, and you cannot directly see the enemy at all.

It's like "The Rainforest Talks".

But this is not the 1960s and 1970s.

Relying on the sharing of various real-time information and vision, the orderly cooperation of various teams, and the firepower output provided by the two Cyclops, the fierce battle lasted only about a minute, and the gang of ghost-faced beasts shouting "Immortal" were completely destroyed. Shut up.

The gunfire fell silent again.

But the "cracking" sound of burning branches and the movement of trees collapsing replaced the piercing 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 and inspected, and then an elite reported on the newsletter: "Oh...the targets have lost their ability to move, and there are two guys still panting, the threat is removed."

"Received." The lieutenant also ordered on the communication: "All teams will build a temporary defensive front within a radius of 60 meters around the firefighting site."

After speaking the order, the lieutenant said to Leon, "I'll leave the rest to you, Director Kennedy."

"it is good."

Lyon responded, and led the emergency team to a messy area, and came to the two ghost-faced beasts that were marked by the elite team and barely survived.

I saw that the two of them had severe burns, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that their bodies were riddled with holes. Their limbs were separated, their bones were exposed, and blood kept gushing out from the openings.

Even so, the two ghost-faced beasts were still in an extremely excited state, staring at Leon and the others, opening their mouths to keep talking;

"We are unkillable..."

"Don't get too complacent..."

It seems that the brains of these ghost-faced beasts are indeed a little "convulsive".

Seeing this, Leon, who was half 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 ghost-faced beast.

"Hey~! Hey!"

The moment the water of the full moon came into contact with the ghost-faced beast, a severe corrosion reaction began to occur.

"Haha... roar..."

However, the ghost-faced beast that suffered severe pain and corrosion was still able to laugh out loud, struggling with its dilapidated body, and only after the purification effect of the full moon water was completed, it completely lost its movement.

Leon repeated the same action and experimented with another Brute, and got the same result, as if he really believed that they could not be killed.

"It has been completely corrupted..."

Leon muttered to himself with a solemn expression, got up and put away the container, turned on the communication and said to Brea in a deep voice: "Aya, the evidence is solid, there is a connection between the ghost-faced beast and the different space, notify all departments to deal with it carefully.

Then inform the superior that the demon named Pallas seems to want to step into the real universe through some means, and through the other party can influence such a number of ghost-faced beasts, tentatively designating him as a middle-level demon.

I will continue to follow the 503rd Division to shrink the encirclement and try to capture the group of elves. "

"Got it." Brea replied immediately.

subsequently.

Leon uploaded the images captured by the holographic glasses, and moved forward with the two infantry platoons led by the lieutenant.

However, when the team just left the fire zone.

The sound of "Boom~!" attracted the attention of Leon and the others.

They looked towards the source of the sound through the gap between the dense forest and the leaves, and saw a bright blue "pillar of light" that shot straight into the sky.

"Ah----!"

Accompanied by the "pillar of light" was the scream of a woman screaming at the top of her lungs.

? !

Seeing this change, Leon immediately shouted: "Lieutenant, tell your people to go there with us!"

"Understood! Let me move! Spread out! Spread out! Get close to that beam of light quickly!" The lieutenant also ordered loudly on the communication.

Looking down from above, Leon and the others shuttled through the rainforest in a fan shape.

After traveling no more than 300 meters, they came to an open area that was "manually excavated".

All the trees and weeds seemed to be burned up 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 "pillar of light"...

It was the old elf who had shown Leon a tendency to form an alliance with humans not long ago.

But now, the old elf spread his hands and feet, suspended in the center of the "pillar of light", his pupils were filled with blue light, his expression was dull, and he fell into a different kind of fainting state.

Beside the old elf, there were three charred elf corpses, and an elf who seemed to deploy a psionic shield in time, which incidentally protected the compatriot named Ina beside it.

Found Leon and others approaching.

Yi Na quickly reminded: "It's a trap! Everything is a trap set by the evil god Pallas! Make your troops stop attacking!"