Chapter 246 Premeditated Ambush! Second Stage Flood! Recycler!
An hour later, the air valve doors of the Long Night's engine room opened, followed by a Wasp transport boat and three Storm Eagle gunboats flying out.

The members of this advance team headed straight into the atmosphere of the Shield World, heading for the ruins left behind by the Forerunner civilization.

In the engine room of the Wasp, the members of the Advance Team of the Universe have been equipped with new heavy power armor and are going to carry out this investigation and combat mission.

Rita and Cage, ordinary human-sized soldiers, wear conventional power armor produced by a giant company that uses polymer batteries as the core and imitates the MarkX power armor.

This high-end imitation MarkX power armor is several sizes smaller than the original one, and its functions are not as sufficient.

However, the ceramic steel material used as the outer shell and its good sealing properties still make this power armor quite defensive.

At least Rita no longer has to worry about the Flood spores on the ground and can just focus on performing her mission.

The original intention of the giant company's scientific research department to develop this set of power armor is to allow non-Astartes warriors to also enjoy the convenience of MarkX power armor.

Although it is just a castrated version of the MarkX power armor, the device is still much stronger than ordinary exoskeleton armor.

It is hard and durable, has good sealing, and has more built-in functions than ordinary power armor. It can also be linked and communicated with the genuine MarkX power armor. Except for being a little smaller, everything else is almost the same.

Rita suppressed her slightly confused thoughts and turned her attention back to the tactical helmet, looking at the content displayed on the holographic screen.

[Distance from the surface of Shield World 0459: 30 kilometers! ]

The values ​​on the screen are decreasing over time, which means they are getting closer and closer to the ground.

At this time, everyone heard the order from the advance team captain David Martinez:

[Everyone, listen up. Once you reach the surface, immediately build a defense line in the designated area to cover our researchers as they enter the ruins.]

[Everyone, be careful. Don't let the Flood pierce your power armor. Once infected, it means death. Do you understand? ]

Although the power armor shell made of ceramic steel can prevent infection from the air and the attacks of the Flood, no matter how hard something is, it will suffer from metal fatigue.

Once the team members are caught up in a large-scale Flood invasion, their power armor may be damaged and the soldiers inside may be infected.

"Yes, sir!"

All the soldiers responded in unison.

After hearing everyone's responses, David temporarily hung up the communication connection and turned his attention to the introduction of the Flood.

According to the Flood information provided by the headquarters, these Flood creatures also have a similar consciousness to that of the hive. All of their individual genetic programs have only one purpose:
That's assimilation!
When faced with an enemy they can deal with, they will rush forward to infect the opponent without hesitation. Even when faced with powerful firepower, they will not show any fear or timidity.

Although the Flood in the Shield World has not yet completely erupted and spread, they are still a great threat in the wild.

Of course, if the number of Flood demons here is so large that the mission cannot be completed normally, David and others will definitely retreat as soon as possible.

First wait for Nicolo to develop the Scorpion Tailed Lion virus and eliminate the Flood on the ground, and then go to explore the remains of the Forerunner civilization.

However, based on what they know now and the power armor worn by the soldiers, there shouldn't be any major problems with this mission.

Before long, the flying formation was approaching the ground.

"Everyone, please get ready. We are about to land on the surface of the Shield World!"

As the AI ​​assistant reminded them over the communication, all the soldiers stood up at the same time. When the rear door opened, turbid air immediately rushed into the cabin.

"Be careful around you first!"

After leading his team out of the cabin, David immediately ordered the soldiers to observe the surrounding environment.

The landing area where they were located was a wasteland. Looking around, one could only see towering city buildings and jungles mixed together, as if a civilization had been destroyed long ago and was reborn in nature.

However, although the level of greening here is quite good, there is a lot of black dust visible to the naked eye in the air, and the sky of the entire shield world is shrouded in dim yellow.

Obviously, these are all tiny spores decomposed by the Flood. They can infect any living creature and assimilate it into part of the Flood just by floating in the air.

boom--!
After transporting the combat members, several gunboats and transport boats immediately released a large number of AI drones, which circled in the air.

In order to provide reconnaissance and timely fire support for ground forces.

Here, after David saw that the results of the motion detection and pulse scanner were normal, he continued to give orders to everyone:
"Now, people from Team 1 and Team 4, follow me. People from Team 2 and Team 3, stay where you are and make sure the landing zone is correct."

The Team 1 that David called out was composed of the elite Astartes warriors in the ace advance team, and they were the main force in this combat operation.

Team 4 is composed of elite human soldiers led by Rita.

"Yes!"

Everyone immediately acted according to David's arrangements.

Li De led the Astartes warriors of Teams 2 and 3 to guard the rear, while David personally led the elite troops to continue exploring and searching for the remains of the forerunners.

"Li De, I leave this to you."

"Ah."

Then, David picked up the grenade launcher in his hand and led the soldiers behind him towards the designated target area.

As everyone hurried forward, David and the others soon arrived at the edge of the Forerunner city cluster. Looking at the surrounding environment, Cage couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

It was his first time to land in such a dangerous combat environment to fight against the Flood and Covenant soldiers.

At this moment, on the overgrown and devastated streets, the heavy footsteps of a group of tin cans echoed.

"It seems a little too quiet here. Could there be an enemy ambush?"

At this time, Rita, who had always been cautious, couldn't help but speak out. She always felt that there was some indescribable danger here.

Hearing Rita's voice, David looked at the information reflected on the tactical helmet. After confirming that there was no problem, he said:

"Whether there is danger or not, everyone should be on high alert. After all, the flood demons have existed here for tens of thousands of years. There may be traces of the existence of corpse-brain beasts."

The Corpse-Brain Beast is the final stage of the Flood's development. A galaxy with a Corpse-Brain Beast is basically "hostile" and has no habitability at all.

But according to current intelligence, even if Corpse-Brain Beasts exist in the Shield World, they are most likely in their primitive form and will not pose much of a threat.

"Just keep going."

After he finished speaking, David continued to follow the route that had been marked long ago, leading the soldiers behind him and rushing forward at a quickened pace.

For a moment, the big and small cans made a loud noise as they hurried forward.

Just as David and others were about to reach the intersection ahead, warnings appeared on their tactical helmet screens, and dense red dots appeared.

This means that there are a large number of unknown creatures in the area directly ahead of them!

Seeing this, David immediately asked people to follow him and fire at the building shelters in front. With a roar, explosive bullets were fired out of the guns.

Dozens of small-caliber bullets, dragging orange-yellow flames across the air, hit the surface of the bunker.

In an instant, the building was destroyed and began to collapse and shatter with a rumbling sound.

During this process, the Flood lurking behind the bunker quickly rushed out from the ruins, accompanied by bursts of howling.

It is obvious that these species, which look like slimy octopuses with various arthropod tentacles, are the flood that David and other warriors need to guard against.

'No wonder this thing is called the Flood, it looks like a flood.'

Rita, who was standing at the back of the team, couldn't help but exclaim in her heart.

Seeing this scene, David Martinez couldn't help but frown. These Flood demons actually used ambush strategies to sneak attack passing life forms.

This is enough to show that the Flood on the surface of the Shield World is no longer simply growing wildly in the first stage, but has evolved to the second stage and will adopt various attack strategies to achieve reproduction and growth.

If this group of flood demons really succeeded in their ambush and infected a new batch of life forms, I'm afraid it would enter the third stage of the corpse brain beast form! "Fire!!"

Without further ado, David immediately ordered everyone to focus their fire on the group of flood demons in front of them. In an instant, countless explosive arrows flew out of the gun barrels.

High-explosive bombs containing tiny steel balls, iron sand, and gunpowder evenly bombarded the flood monsters.

Accompanied by bursts of roars, the Flood entities hit by the bombs were like broken balloons, annihilated into powder one after another.

Since there were quite a few Flood monsters in front of them, David decided to split the team into two teams, with the Astartes warriors taking the initiative to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Flood monsters at close range.

Rita led the soldiers of the second team to assist in the flank operations, shooting and disrupting the large Flood army in front of them.

"Team One, follow me. Team Four, provide cover!"

As David's orders were passed on, the well-trained warriors immediately separated. Rita led the team to form a firepower network on the flank, while David rushed forward with a chainsword and a bolt gun.

After all, the ace vanguard soldiers of a team have the highest-standard individual equipment and weapons of the world's giants, and their physical fitness is also top-notch.

More importantly, their power armor has better protection, so they don't have to worry about the invasion of the Flood in the short term.

Immediately, the ace advance team led by David charged forward, and a large number of Flood demons surrounded these soldiers tightly in an instant.

Bang-!
Phew! !
David wielded a chainsword in his left hand and held a bolt gun in his right hand, dodging and moving among the flood demons, like Lu Bu in Dynasty Warriors using his "unparalleled" ultimate move, killing indiscriminately.

In addition, with the help of warriors like Rita on the flanks to deal with the incoming Flood demons, almost in an instant, a small half of the Flood demons were slaughtered.

The plasma guns, large-caliber electromagnetic cannons, and precision-guided laser sniper rifles used by elite soldiers such as Rita created bursts of explosions and splashes in the Flood's camp.

In this way, David and his group of Astartes warriors killed the Flood that was attacking them head-on, and advanced forward in an orderly manner, eliminating the alien insects in front of them.

And this group of Flood demons are also steadfast and iron-headed. They are clearly no match for this group of armed units, but they still charge forward without hesitation.

The result was that they were all wiped out, saving David the energy of having to send people to sweep and eliminate them one by one.

Soon, all the flood demons here were eliminated by David. After seeing that the battle situation had stabilized, he continued to give orders:

"Everyone, check your own physical condition and whether your power armor is damaged or leaking. Team 1 will continue to explore and eliminate the missed Flood demons."

"Team 4, maintain formation, be alert to the flanks and rear, and beware of surprise attacks by the Flood."

Since this group of Flood demons have evolved to the second stage, David has to treat them with caution, considering whether they will attack their own soldiers by faking their own death.

"Yes!"

After the words fell, everyone continued to move forward, and in the process, they indeed found some remaining Flood demons hiding in various places in the bunkers, ready to launch a surprise attack at any time.

Hey!
Da da! !
The dense and harsh sound of gunfire echoed from time to time in the deserted city streets. In less than 15 minutes, the flood monsters here were wiped out by David and others.

Even if there are still a few Flood demons, they are nothing to be afraid of. At least they can no longer pose any threat to the giant company's troops.

Looking at the large number of broken Flood corpses on the ground, which were constantly emitting tiny black spores, David, Rita and other soldiers subconsciously took two steps back.

"I don't know what kind of evil creature this Flood is. The creatures it created won't stop even after they die!"

William Cage couldn't help but curse.

It seems that before they return to the flagship, they have to go through a strict purification and disinfection procedure before they can enter the interior of the ship.

Here, Reed has escorted the intelligent AI Loki, Sifer, and Dr. Halsey into the city.

Originally, Halsey didn't need to take the risk herself and come here to participate in the exploration of the ruins, but when she thought about the need to make a contribution and convince others, she decided to come anyway.

Halsey believed in the professionalism of the corporate warriors.

Seeing the chaotic scene in the city, Halsey turned his head to look at David and said:

"Since there are Temple Defenders on the surface of the Shield World, the battle just now must have attracted them to come here to investigate. Then we can reveal our identities and let them lead the way."

Up to now, the information controlled by the Universal Corporation can only roughly determine where the ruins of the Shield World are, but the specific location still needs to be prompted by the defenders of the temple here.

"Will those AIs really lead us? Won't they treat us as enemies?"

Rita, who didn't know much about the information in the Shield World, couldn't help but ask a question.

"No, if humans are really the designated recyclers of the Forerunner civilization, then the temple defenders here have no reason to hurt us."

Halsey still believes in the authenticity of Megacorp's intelligence. If they can really enter the ruins of the Shield World, they can not only obtain a large number of technology points.

It can also activate a magical gravity well device to forcibly drag the Covenant fleet in low-Earth orbit into the core of the shield world.

And there, the giant enterprise's troops will be able to wipe out the Covenant's advance team in one swoop!

The place they have arrived at now is only the outer surface of the shield world. The real good things are all inside, which is the core area of ​​the shield world.

Not long after, David and others saw a group of white bee-shaped drones flying rapidly not far away. They were the Temple Defenders guarding the Shield World.

These integrated combat, maintenance and patrol robots controlled by stupid AI are the sentinel units of the Shield World. Their daily work is to eliminate the Flood and repair the structures of the Shield World.

Until the recyclers come to take over the technology of the Forerunner civilization's relics.

Halsey carefully examined the group of automatic robots in front of him. They had anti-gravity and pulse engines, and the high-energy beams on their heads could cause burning effects on enemy units.

It can also be used to repair itself and buildings.

The reason why this huge celestial building, the Shield World, has been able to last for tens of thousands of years is precisely because of the presence of these temple defenders.

"These robots are simply excellent builders. With them, the efficiency of the world's giant companies in assembling, splicing, and welding ground buildings and warships will definitely be greatly improved."

Halsey thought to himself.

You should know that the most famous and most commonly used construction robot by the world's giants is the six-legged Hextech robot.

This spider-like AI drone's functions are limited to construction. Unlike the Templar Defender, it can also autonomously repair and protect buildings.

It can act as a sentinel and also as a maintenance worker. This is the construction robot that the world's giant companies need!
At this time, the Templar Defender robots not far away had arrived at David's side. They initially ignored the existence of the Astartes warriors.

Go straight to the Flood corpse and use laser beams to thoroughly purify the Flood matter on the ground in order to kill the Flood spores that are emerging.

For a moment, bursts of burnt stench emanated from the bodies of the flood demons. Fortunately, they had the respiratory and circulatory system of the power armor, otherwise they would have been fainted by the stench.

At this time, several Templar Defenders came in front of David and Dr. Halsey and released scanning beams, trying to analyze and identify the information of the organisms in front of them.

Seeing the defender shoot out this beam of light with unknown purpose, David and Reed subconsciously protected Halsey behind them, guarding against the AI ​​robot shooting Halsey.

Rita and other soldiers replaced magazines, pulled the bolts, and pointed their guns at the temple defenders who were walking towards them.

Facing the attitude of David and others facing a formidable enemy, Dr. Halsey stepped out and spoke to the defender of the temple in front of him:

"We are humans, the recyclers chosen by the Forerunner civilization. Now we need to enter the core area of ​​the Shield World, restart all the Forerunner facilities and weapons, and get everything here."

Without any hesitation, Halsey straightforwardly explained her identity and the purpose of her visit to the defender of the temple in front of her.

As expected, after recognizing that Halsey in front of them was indeed a human species from the 004 "Halo" universe, this group of Templar defenders left on their own.

Continue to work with other defenders to clean up the corpses of the Flood and avoid secondary pollution.

Seeing this, Catherine Halsey breathed a sigh of relief. If David and others had come to communicate, the Temple Defenders might have been treated as other species.

It would be troublesome if a fierce battle broke out at that time.

After all, Halsey is the "native human" of the 004 universe, and it is easier for her to be scanned and identified by these Templar defenders.

(End of this chapter)