From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 303: Survivors? Soldiers? "Infiltration!" Change "Kill" to "Sever Hand"

At this time, the pilot's helmet screen outlines and highlights the unidentified flying object observed by the naked eye.

From the outline, everyone could directly observe that the aircraft had a tilt-rotor engine and machine guns mounted on the nose and tail.

However, there is no biomass inside the aircraft.

This indicates that it is a large "drone".

"."

However, Synthetic No. 7 pretended to be solemn, and her pupils flickered with faint light, as if she was quickly scanning and analyzing the aircraft.

Then, she reported to Xiaoqiang:
“Lieutenant Sanderson, what we see before us is not a drone in the traditional sense, but an AI with a certain level of intelligence.

Just like the Hextech robots currently produced by the company, or the Forerunners’ sentinels and builders.”

AI?

Hearing this, everyone immediately became alert.

Because at the current point in time, the AI ​​that can fly "unscrupulously" in the 10-universe desert may be related to the culprit that caused the global nuclear explosion.

So Xiaoqiang nodded slightly to the synthetic man, and first ordered the pilot:

"Continue to track the suspected AI aircraft."

Then he gave instructions to everyone in the cabin:
"Be prepared for battle."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

Everyone responded in unison.

Although David and Lucy didn't understand why Xiaoqiang gave the order to "prepare for battle", they just had to obey the command.

I guess Xiaoqiang believed, based on his years of accumulated experience and his intuition as a veteran of the advance team, that if he continued to track the aircraft, there would be a high probability of an exchange of fire.

The pilot who received clear orders continued to fly the Falcon assault boat and tracked the aircraft at a corresponding distance.

It didn't take long.

They sailed westward, leaving the desert and getting further and further away from their original destination, Las Vegas.

In addition, the thumbnail map on the screen showed that they had arrived at a city called Bakersfield.

The straight-line distance from here to Los Angeles is about 120 kilometers.

According to the main universe's speculation at the end of the 35th century, Bakersfield's population is between 40 and , and it is a city with agricultural, oil, processing and manufacturing industries.

In Universe 10, Bakersfield also failed to avoid the fate of being hit by a nuclear bomb.

However, the nuclear bomb responsible for bombing here may be a tactical equivalent, so except for the industrial area, the main body of the city remains intact.

By this time.

The unmanned aerial vehicle began to lower its altitude and increase its speed, sprinting toward the southern suburbs of Bakersfield.

The pilot also vaguely saw the fire and smoke produced by the explosion through visual vision.

Seeing this, without Xiaoqiang's explicit command, the pilot also controlled the Falcon assault boat to sail towards the southern suburbs.

During the voyage.

The radar showed more aircraft marked with red dots, approaching from the north.

It seems that the battle that broke out here attracted the forces that can still manufacture and produce AI and unmanned aerial vehicles normally in the context of doomsday.

When the Falcon arrived in the air near the southern suburbs, the pilot discovered that there were a large number of "heat sources" between the streets and in abandoned buildings.

The pilot also discovered that in addition to the unmanned aerial vehicles, there were many metal machines in the shape of human skeletons, and various strangely shaped tanks, mechas and spider-like robots, which completely surrounded the "heat source" concentration area.

Da da da
Sun whiz.
The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the city of Bakersfield.

Even the pilots, David, Xiaoqiang and others in the cockpit and cabin could vaguely hear the fierce battle taking place in the southern suburbs.

"Lieutenant.?"

Seeing the scene before him, the pilot didn't know what to do.

Is to join the war?
Or just watch?

After all, the current situation is unclear, and if we act rashly, it is very likely to create hidden dangers.

So the pilot threw this difficult problem to the captain of their team.

Hearing the question, Xiaoqiang was silent for a while, then used the map on the screen to mark the east side of the firefight area.

And said: "Take us to the marked spot."

"Okay Lieutenant."

After receiving clear instructions, the pilot immediately controlled the Falcon assault boat, continued to descend in altitude, and carried everyone to the marked location.

The pilot then released the Falcon's landing gear while maintaining its stealth, and parked it in a deserted park overgrown with weeds.

Then, the doors on both sides opened.

Tread!

Six AECS wearing MacP power armor rushed out of the cabin first, holding their own hard light guns, half-crouching on the ground and keeping alert.

Next are David, Lucy, investigator Alan, and Xiaoqiang and the synths.

As soon as everyone left the cabin, the pilot closed the doors on both sides and controlled the Falcon to take off again.

Xiao Qiang ordered him, "Keep your distance from us and circle. If necessary, we will ask you for fire support."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

The pilot responded over the comms and circled over the southern suburbs of Bakersfield as Xiaoqiang had said.

"Huha."

On the other hand, David, holding an experimental Gauss rifle, was trying to calm his rapid breathing.

Of course, his lungs were replaced with prosthetic ones, and his breathing rhythm was disordered purely due to emotional problems.

Because this was David's first actual combat mission, and there was a group of "metal skeletons" not far ahead, it was impossible not to be nervous.

Lucy, on the other hand, remained calm as always.

At this time, Xiaoqiang looked around and finally set his eyes on the ten o'clock direction.

There was a relatively intact low-rise building there, and the height of its top floor was enough for them to observe the war more closely.

Then, Xiao Qiang highlighted the building on the screen, stood up and walked towards it quickly, and ordered:

"Walk."

Hearing this, David swallowed his saliva and followed Xiaoqiang towards the low building.

View from above.

The six AECS formed an "Λ" spearhead formation, protecting their teammates who did not have heavy protection behind them, while Xiaoqiang took the lead and rushed into the low building.

In less than two minutes, everyone arrived at the room facing west.

The floor and furniture of the room were covered with thick dust, and there was not a single intact window, which indirectly confirmed that they were the first "visitors" to come here since the nuclear explosion.

Xiaoqiang and the special members of AECS quickly selected advantageous terrain and pointed their guns at the combat area.

Investigators and synths also half-crouched beside the broken windows, quietly observing the battle situation outside.

David and Lucy, on the other hand, remained vigilant as per their training, and also tried to analyze the current situation based on the external fighting situation.

With the help of electronic eyes, David can clearly see who is fighting against the metal skeleton, strange tanks, and aircraft.
Humanity?

However, the clothing, equipment, and weapons of the human side were in disarray, and it seemed that the armed force was composed of civilians.

There was almost no tactical coordination, and even children in their teens joined the battle, which further proved that the other party was a surviving civilian. However, David found that the human with a red ribbon on his left sleeve had strong military qualities.

At least the group of people wearing red ribbons knew how to use cover effectively and provide covering fire and suppressive fire for their own personnel.

The most important thing is that that group of people have relatively uniform combat uniforms, belts full of magazines and grenades, and they will protect the civilians participating in the war behind them.

Soldier?

David didn't dare to jump to conclusions.

Xiaoqiang, who also saw the scene, had a serious expression under his helmet.

Faced with the offensive of the mechanical army, the human side, lacking heavy weapons, suffered heavy losses.

The group of red ribbon soldiers needed to sacrifice six or more of their compatriots in order to destroy a metal skeleton.

In addition, tanks with "T"-shaped turrets can also fire energy bullets similar to plasma.

Not to mention the unmanned aerial vehicles in the sky, which would use machine guns to fire at human civilians or soldiers who escaped from cover and ran onto the streets.

Under such a siege, it wouldn’t take long before the more than 10,000 humans gathered in the southern suburbs would be wiped out by the mechanical army.

After analyzing that the human race would be doomed without external support, David immediately asked:
"Lieutenant, should we do something?"

"Lieutenant Mad, give the order to open fire!"

And David's words immediately prompted the AECS sergeant to express his opinion.

At the same time, the sergeant pointed his gun at the nearest metal skull and put his index finger on the trigger, as if all he needed was Xiaoqiang to give a formal order.

But Xiaoqiang didn't reply in a hurry.

He first marked the gathering point of the mechanical army on the screen, then highlighted the human survivors closest to them, and then said:
"AECS, the test force, and the synths will stay here. Agent Allen will follow me to contact the human survivors. Only after you have identified who is the enemy and who is the friend, can you open fire freely."

As he said that, Xiao Qiang turned his head to look at the synth and ordered:

"Upload what we see and hear to the frontline base, and then inform Major McTavish that we may need support."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

The synth nodded in agreement and began to carry out Xiaoqiang's instructions.

Although the six AECS were anxious, they had no problem with Xiaoqiang's orders.

After all, they couldn't open fire rashly, so they responded to David, Lucy and Alan on the communication channel:

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"it is good."

Hearing this, Xiao Qiang stood up and jumped out of the window, followed closely by Investigator Allen.

After the two jumped out of the low building, they stood firmly on the ground and ran straight towards the ruins of the nearest shopping mall.

While running, Xiaoqiang also turned on the stealth mode of his combat suit and blended into the surrounding environment.

Alan also unfolded his camouflage cloak and "disappeared" together with Xiaoqiang.

Through the electronic eye screen, David and his friends were able to tell the specific locations of Xiaoqiang and Alan.

Soon, the two crossed the intersection and officially entered the battle area.

but--

Ri～da da da!!!

But as soon as the two crossed the intersection and before they could enter the ruins of the shopping mall where the human survivors were, they came under concentrated fire from a rotary machine gun.

It turned out that a metal skeleton with red eyes instantly caught the movement at the intersection and found Alan with his feet exposed...

After all, the camouflage cloak used by the investigators cannot perfectly blend into the surrounding environment.

The metal skeleton's motion detection and infrared vision are also enough to capture the investigator's trace.

So in just a moment, the machines that were originally besieging the ruins of the shopping mall began to attack Allen.

! !
Fortunately, the metal skeleton had poor accuracy, and the investigator reacted quickly and dodged quickly, so he was not shot into a hornet's nest by several revolving machine guns.

Although bulletproof combat uniforms can effectively resist 12.6mm caliber armor-piercing bullets, the people under the uniforms cannot withstand such intensive attacks.

Being attacked means...

"Open fire!" Xiaoqiang quickly gave orders to everyone who remained in the low building.

The words fell...

"That's what I've been waiting for, Lieutenant!!"

The AECS sergeant couldn't wait to reply loudly on the communication.

Because being attacked means that the mechanical army and the forces behind it are hostile to humans.

Well, as human beings, they naturally have to engage in a firefight with them.

Whoosh-whoosh-! !
A large number of hard light beams flashing red covered the area where the metal skeletons were densely packed.

Its metal frame provides excellent defense against live ammunition warheads, but it is completely useless against high-energy, high-temperature hard light beams.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen metal skeletons were destroyed by the attack of AECS.

Of course, David and Lucy were also using their Gauss rifles to accurately attack the metal skeleton's head.

Swish~swish~! !
At the same time, numerous micro-missiles, with tail flames trailing behind them, accurately hit the strange tank with a "T"-shaped turret.

Boom…Boom!!!
Violent explosions began to spread around the southern suburbs.

???

The sudden change stunned the soldiers and civilians hiding in the ruins of the shopping mall.

Are there other humans or "resistance" coming to assist them?
Sigh...

At this moment, a subtle electronic sound echoed in the underground garage where the survivors were hiding.

Alan, who had taken off his cloak and removed his optical camouflage, was standing in front of them.

! !
"Infiltration Terminator!"

“Kill it!!”

When the survivors saw Allen for the first time, they not only did not feel any joy, but were extremely frightened.

The soldier with a red ribbon on his sleeve raised his gun and was ready to pull the trigger at Allen.

Xiaoqiang, who was sitting at the back end of a scrapped car, held the compound bow tightly in his left hand, pulled the bowstring with his right hand, and placed three arrows with automatic calibration and tracking functions on the bowstring.

As long as the other party really dares to open fire and poses a threat to Allen's life, Xiaoqiang will be able to complete the killing steps before the other party pulls the trigger.

Fortunately, while removing the optical camouflage, Allen raised his hands and said:

"Hey! Wait, I don't mean any harm! I'm not what you call an infiltration terminator.

I am Ford Ross (pseudonym) from the Atlas Armed Forces, a real human being, and I am here to help you."

Boom. Boom!!

As Allen stated his identity, more than a dozen micro-missiles hit the two unmanned aerial vehicles, creating two fireballs in the sky.

"Maybe this is a trick Skynet is putting on for us!"

"Break his arms and legs, and you'll know whether it's true or not!"

However, the soldiers wearing red ribbons obviously did not believe what Allen said and were ready to pull the trigger at Allen's hands and feet.

Seeing this, Xiaoqiang loosened his right hand and let the three arrows fly out.
Of course, he reset the target, changing "kill" to "cut off hand".

(End of this chapter)