From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 278 "Super Soldier" "No way he can fly!" "Nuclear Explosion"

"Ah."

After hearing the words of the female official, the Army General still looked disdainful, but eventually said nothing more.

"Major General Parangoski is right. Now is not the time to argue."

Admiral Conrad Volkov, the highest-ranking officer present and the Chief of Naval Operations, looked at the female officer named Parangoski and said:
"Margaret, your ONI had a confrontation with the enemy's agents last year. After such a long time, you should have been able to come up with some valuable intelligence."

Upon hearing this, the fifty-year-old ONI official, or the current Director of Naval Intelligence, did not respond directly.

She first operated the touchpad in front of her with one hand, and several holographic screens appeared in the conference room.

The screen also shows the ONI headquarters on Reach and the research facilities built by ONI in Arcadia.

Most of the footage is from surveillance cameras, as well as before-and-after pictures of the attack on ONI headquarters and research facilities.

At this point, Margaret began to explain:

"Everyone, Atlas, which calls itself the military-industrial complex, attacked our secret research base in Arcadia on March 3 last year.

You should know that since entering the era of interstellar colonization, we humans have discovered many Earth-like planets in multiple galaxies that are suitable for habitation without deliberate modification.

Planets like Arcadia and Reach are the most typical examples.”

As she spoke, Margaret brought up many images of the Forerunner ruins and continued:

"Initially, we thought that planets with Earth-like environments were common throughout the universe.

But when more and more non-human creations appeared on those habitable planets, we realized that they might be the work of other civilizations.

Based on decades of research and analysis, we at ONI can confirm that the ruins found on Arcadia, Reach, and some planets all come from the same civilization.

The ruins record the heyday of an empire called Aiqiumin, which had extremely high artistic attainments and technology far beyond imagination.

However, we still cannot analyze the reason for Ai Qiumin's demise."

"You are talking about irrelevant things," Margaret said, and Admiral Volkov said in a deep voice:

"Does this mean that Atlas knows more about the Ecumene race than we do?"

"Yes." Margaret did not deny it, "Due to the need for confidentiality, ONI has been conducting research in private.

So you don't know the details of this, but here are the details about the attack on the secret research facility, please read it."

At this point, Margaret zoomed in on the before-and-after pictures of the research facility, as well as ONI's analysis report.

Before the attack, the research facility's defenses had almost no loopholes, and the personnel responsible for security duties were all elites selected from the orbital commandos and special forces.

Due to the loss of some surveillance cameras, no one knew the specific process of the attack.

After the attack, all automatic artillery and defensive outposts were rendered inoperable, and the elite soldiers fell to the ground unconscious, completely losing their ability to fight.

As for the analysis report, everyone keenly captured several key information, such as:

"The attack was carried out by one person"

"Based on the footprints, the attacker is a male, about 150cm tall."

"The force of his punch is at least over 4 tons, and he can destroy a fixed turret with his bare hands," etc.

"Just one person?"

"Male, child? Or?"

"Four tons. Is this something a human can do?!"

Upon noticing these key words, all the generals present, except the ONI officials, exclaimed in amazement.

They knew there were alien ruins in Arcadia and that the research facilities had been attacked, but ONI had never disclosed this information to them, including the Chief of Naval Operations, Volkov.

Then, Margaret played another attack animation that was reverse-engineered by the technicians.

This allowed the generals to more intuitively understand how the "man" who was only 1.5 meters tall broke into the heavily guarded research facility.

"Atlas' goal is clear, which is to obtain information about the ruins of the Eqiumin Empire." Margaret took over the conversation at the right time and said:

"In addition, the inhuman abilities displayed by their agents are simply the super soldiers that ONI has always dreamed of.

Problems with height and weight could be due to the agent not yet fully grown, or they could be side effects of the surgery."

"If my memory is correct, ONI should have launched the second phase of the Orion Project." The previous army general asked.

"That's right, but it's a pity," Margaret sighed:

"Before our ONI headquarters was attacked, the core researcher in charge of the Phase II project, Dr. Katherine Elizabeth Halsey, had been captured by the enemy.

If Atlas hadn't exposed himself, we might not have been able to find out who did it until now.

This is indeed our failure.”

"The responsibility cannot be entirely placed on ONI." Volkov waved his hand and said to everyone as if to summarize:
“The other party has a clear goal, knows the details of the alien civilization, and has identified the core researchers of the Orion Project through unknown means.

Everything points to Atlas having some kind of "foresight" ability. Combined with what they disclosed about the space gate and parallel universe, the other party is indeed a bit too strange. "

"Foresight? I don't believe that. Their agents are just stronger than ONI."

The Army General still refused to believe it and thought that the culprit for the current situation was ONI's failure to do its job.

"Not only are the agents' individual capabilities extremely strong." Volkov glanced at his old friend who was about the same age as him, and then continued:

"Being able to kidnap core researchers on the heavily guarded Reach, and using optical camouflage to break into ONI headquarters, these are what we envision super soldiers to look like.

What if the other side has a large-scale army?
Is the specific number of people one hundred, one thousand, or ten thousand?
If the other side really has tens of thousands of super soldiers, then the assassination list they publish on the Internet will no longer be a simple threat, but a statement. "

"They're trying to tease us by assassinating us? I don't believe they really have tens of thousands of super soldiers." The Army General stuck to his opinion and added:

"Besides, no matter how strong a super soldier is, we can just use an infantry company to deal with a super soldier. We have plenty of people."

"General, these are not the main points."

Seeing that the army was a bit stubborn, Margaret immediately interrupted and showed everyone the last intelligence that their ONI spies had risked their lives to send back -

That is to say, on the surface of the planet Eridana C, one can clearly see a large number of light beams emitting blue-green light.

Afterwards, the wreckage of the liberated warships fell into the atmosphere like a meteor shower.

Currently, only ONI and senior naval officials know this information, while there is some "delay" on the Army side.

this.
Seeing the beam trajectory displayed on the holographic screen, the army generals instantly realized that Atlas had beam weapons that could quickly disintegrate and destroy their ships.

Although the spies did not have the opportunity to go to low-Earth orbit and photograph the appearance of the Atlas ships, they were clear about the configuration of the Liberty ships.

The vast majority of them are old UNSC ships, which have undergone various "magic modifications" during their freedom of liberation and can barely keep up with the current naval models.

In terms of single-ship combat power, the UNSC and the Liberation Army are on par with each other. It all depends on which captain has more experience and luck. There was a brief silence in the meeting room.

"Them"

Finally, it was the Army General who broke the silence and looked at Volkov and said:

"What exactly do they want to do? Their space and ground forces are far beyond the reach of the rebels.

If a war breaks out, distant colonies like Harvest will most likely switch sides to their side and join forces with the rebels."

The Army Admiral did not finish his words. After all, if Atlas really formed an alliance with the moderate rebels, then the near-Earth colonies would also be engulfed in war.

"They claim to be doing this for all of humanity." Volkov thought for a moment and said:
"So, if Atlas and our UNSC really engage in a head-on confrontation, the number of casualties will be calculated in the billions. The other side obviously does not want this situation to happen."

"This is just one of them." Margaret looked around at everyone and said solemnly:
"The other party's ideology is destined to be completely different from ours. The assassination list circulating on the Internet is not only intended to win the support of the people, but in ONI's view, it is more like a kind of self-confidence.

They are confident that they have the ability to secretly undermine our top leaders and complete the change of the original regime with the minimum casualties.

The assassination of those corrupt bastards is just a gimmick to arouse public discussion. The real target is us."

"We?" The Army General was stunned, then smiled confidently:

"Are those super soldiers of Atlas bulletproof or what? Even if they sneak into Earth, they don't have enough firepower to breach a heavily guarded military base."

"Ah."

"Yes."

Most generals shared the same view that Atlas' super soldiers would ultimately die when facing regular troops.

"You can't say for sure, General." Margaret called up the relevant images of Terriella:
“Atlas claimed that they had been to the magical world, and our technicians, after a comprehensive analysis, determined that the images and videos they released were not fake or edited.

What if the other side sends creatures or weapons that are difficult to explain scientifically? "

"Magic? Can magic defeat guns? Don't make me laugh."

Buzz~! Woo————!!

However, the Army General's speech was interrupted by a shrill alarm.

Boom. Boom.!

Da da da!!
Immediately afterwards, there were dull explosions and intensive gunfire outside the window.

? ?
This instantly made the senior officials and generals quickly stand up, rush to the floor-to-ceiling window of the conference room, and look towards the main entrance of the base where the headquarters was located.

I saw that there was a fierce exchange of fire at the main gate in the north.

The UNSC infantry responsible for guarding the base and numerous armored vehicles were also dispatched at this moment.

In addition, the attack Pelican and small attack boats that were patrolling in the air lowered their altitude and fired machine guns at the street outside the main gate.

"What's happening here?!"

Seeing this, Volkov shouted angrily.

At this moment, a major opened the holographic communication, hurriedly faced Volkov, and reported:
"General! Our base is under attack, please move to the bunker as soon as possible!"

"The enemy has come to our hometown, how can we just think about hiding?!" Volkov rejected the proposal to move the bunker and asked:
"Tell me the approximate number and size of the enemy!"

"Only. Only." The major hesitated for a while, but finally gave the specific number:

"There is only one person on the other side."

"what?!"

"one person?"

"Could it be the kid who attacked Arcadia??"

After hearing the major say that there was only one person, the generals present completely lost their composure.

As for Volkov, his expression was extremely serious, and he ordered:
"Notify all pilots to use ground-to-ground missiles to attack, all infantry to retreat, and mobilize the armored division stationed nearby to work together to eliminate the enemy!

This is a matter of UNSC's reputation!"

"Yes!"

The major saluted Volkov and ended the holographic communication.

Margaret, however, walked to the side of the supreme commander and said in a low voice:
"General, I think we should board the transport ship and head to the orbital space station immediately."

"Are you afraid of death, Major General?" Volkov asked harshly.

"This is not a question of whether you are afraid of death or not," Margaret said bluntly:
"It is clear that the other party wants to wipe us out in one fell swoop. If we continue to worry about face issues at this time, it is very likely that the UNSC will be leaderless.

By then, our original human system will completely fall apart."

As the ONI director spoke, he glanced out the window and saw that the Pelican and the attack boats had already launched several ground-to-ground missiles at the main gate of the base.

Boom—boom—! !

The violent explosion and flames instantly engulfed the main entrance.

The shock wave visible to the naked eye quickly spread in all directions.

But after a while, gunshots and artillery fire were heard again, indicating that the missiles could not stop the enemy's advance.

So Margaret continued: "General, if necessary, I suggest using a nuclear explosion to destroy the enemy's super soldiers."

In the eyes of the ONI director, super soldiers who are not afraid of conventional attacks should be the few elite troops of Atlas.

Besides, no matter how fast a super soldier moves, he can’t “fly”, right?

It is even more impossible for a single person to break through to the outer atmosphere.

Therefore, while evacuating safely on the transport boat, exchanging a nuclear bomb for Atlas' "assassination trump card" is definitely a sure-fire win.

As for the soldiers stationed at the base, in Margaret's eyes they were perfect bait and pawns, able to delay Atlas' super soldiers to the greatest extent possible.

Later, we can forcibly pin the blame of the nuclear explosion on Atlas. After all, ONI is the best at doing such things.

After Volkov squinted his eyes and thought for a few seconds, he nodded and walked out of the meeting room, and ordered:

"Everyone move immediately."

At this time, at the main gate of the base;
Ding-dang-!
Bullets of various calibers clinked as they hit the shields and armor made of mithril alloy, leaving only a few scratches.

The fully armed soldier boy was seen holding a shield in his left hand to help himself withstand the frontal attack, and he was charging quickly towards the headquarters building where Volkov and Margaret were.

(End of this chapter)