From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 562: Argument
!!!

After hearing Cortana's reminder, he looked up at the night sky and found that the night sky of Tatooine was being torn apart by some indescribable force.

The moment the night sky was torn apart, all Spartan helmet screens automatically switched to threat identification mode, highlighting the dark red crack that ran across the sky.

Deep in the rift, some kind of behemoth between flesh and blood and machinery is slowly squeezing out of the dimensional barrier. Its surface is covered with throbbing nerve bundles and rusted metal plates, and thousands of painful human faces appear and disappear in the gaps in its armor.

Under their helmets, most Spartans had tense expressions of surprise and astonishment.

After all, they couldn't believe that the Chaos forces would once again surge out of the subspace on a large scale and even set foot in the universe numbered "One Seven". This was really beyond their expectations.

According to Dr. Halsey's description, they came to the "One-Seven" Universe (Star Wars) to show their due strength when dealing with ordinary combat units so that the Research Department and the Biological Department could obtain enough actual combat data.

Dr. Halsey's voice seemed to still echo in my ears -

"Your goal is to collect conventional combat data and test the performance of Thor's Hammer in actual combat. However, for you, it should be similar to the spring outing organized by the school. Don't worry about it."

The doctor was even leisurely spinning the electronic pen at that time.

Even though the Intelligence Department indicated that there were Force users similar to psykers in the "One-Seven" universe, namely the Jedi and Sith, they were still within the controllable range.

However, at this moment, reality gave everyone a heavy blow.

087 Kelly noticed that the sand on the ground was floating in violation of the law of gravity after Tatooine's space was "torn apart" by chaos, and that they were forming ever-changing blasphemous symbols in the air.

What's even more terrifying is that her motion sensors and dynamic detection showed that there were more than a dozen "friendly" signals flashing behind her.

But when he looked back, there was no one on the tarmac except the Spartans.

Could it be.
"ghost"?
"Keep your spirits up and keep your formation!"

117 John's voice was like a beacon that cut through the fog.

Faced with this situation, John remained calm and walked in front of everyone, continuing:

"Remember our training! Chaos corruption, corrupted Astartes, and Warp entities are just items on the training list! The Empire has spent a lot of resources to build us Spartans in order to deal with various emergencies.

Even if there are corrupted Astartes or even more powerful Warp entities among the Chaos forces that launch a surprise attack on Tatooine, we must go all out and live up to the name of Sparta bestowed upon us by the Emperor and the Doctor!"

"Yes, Chief!"

The Spartan warriors' uniform responses exploded in the communication channel, their voices revealing iron-like discipline and unconditional obedience.

The roar of engines was heard in the distance, and the silhouette of the Pelican appeared in their field of vision through the dust.

Its landing gear slowly unfolded and the aircraft landed in the center of the civilian apron, stirring up a circle of sand waves.

"The blue team will be on guard duty, and the rest of you will be divided into predetermined groups for resupply."

After receiving John's order, the Spartans immediately formed an organization and took action, their movements were as precise and coordinated as machines.

They quickly approached the open door of the Pelican and took over ammunition, grenades and corresponding defensive equipment from the logistics personnel. The empty magazines were thrown into the recycling box accurately, causing the sound of metal collision to occur one after another.

After completing the supply, they divided into four groups, each with more than 20 Spartans, and immediately began to deploy their defenses according to Sigismund's direct orders.

They set up automatic artillery positions in the area around the apron, deployed induction mines with friend-or-foe identification capabilities, and built cross-fire points.

The tactical interface of each Thor's hammer displays a real-time updated defense deployment map.

"Remember our primary mission." John's voice sounded again in the communication channel, "This helipad and the surrounding area must be defended. It will become an important air support node."

According to the direct instructions from Sigismund, they built defensive positions around the civilian helipad to ensure that it served as a tactical fulcrum to ensure that the ground forces nearby could receive timely air support or apply for a rapid evacuation.

of course
They also received a special mission, which was to cooperate with the auxiliary troops to evacuate and relocate local residents after the auxiliary troops, clones and Terminators took over the defensive positions.

Because according to Sigismund's speculation, support from Yavin 4 would take at least 48 hours to arrive.

And within these 48 hours, their fleet of more than ships of various levels could not completely stop the chaos wave from eroding Tatooine.

Therefore, once the battle situation becomes severe, they must be prepared to leave space on the ship for the local people, especially the elderly, children and women, and be mentally prepared to defend Tatooine and continue to resist Chaos.

At the same time, inside the Valiant-class bridge, the holographic image of Cortana (copy data) flickered on the center console, and her data stream was surging with rare emotional fluctuations.

As an intelligent artificial intelligence with autonomous consciousness, she should have handled all decisions with absolutely rational logic, but now, her core algorithm is constantly impacted by contradictory data.

"commander."

Her voice was deeper than usual, and the blue light of the holographic projection trembled slightly. "I must once again question the rationale of this resolution."

She swept her eyes across the tactical map, glanced at the yellow dots representing civilians, and continued, "The Spartan-I fighters are the hard work of Dr. Halsey. Their value far exceeds that of this newly occupied desert planet. In other words, every member of the Imperial Fists is more precious than the people on Tatooine.

Furthermore, according to my calculations, with the Chaos army approaching, even if we carry out evacuation, we can only rescue less than 10% of the local people, and the probability of survival by holding on and waiting for help is less than 4%. "

The cold light emitted by the holographic projection shone on Sigismund's visor, and the commander of the Imperial Fists said in a metallic tone:
"Statistics cannot measure everything, Cortana. There are a large number of children among those civilians. They are the hope and future of countless families."

Cortana's projection suddenly zoomed in, and the data stream drew a sharp trajectory in the air.

"That's why!" Her voice showed obvious emotional fluctuations. "Sparta is also a child! The oldest among them is only eighteen years old! Is it worth sacrificing the future of the empire for these alien humans who have nothing to do with us?"

"worth."

Sigismund's answer surprised Cortana.

The commander ignored the somewhat protective AI and added: "It is precisely because they are human beings and alien races that are indistinguishable from humans that they deserve our protection."

Hearing this, Cortana's holographic image flickered, and then her tone returned to her usual calmness:

"Please forgive my gaffe, Commander, but as an intelligent AI, I must point out that Tatooine has no strategic value, and the local people do not have much identification with our human empire. From the perspective of practical interests..."

"This is not a transaction or a profit, Cortana."

Sigismund interrupted, his eyes piercing through the holographic image, as if looking directly into its core code, and said:
"As the corruption of Chaos spreads, every survivor is a hope for civilization. If we abandon them today, we will repeat this choice on more worlds tomorrow."

At this time, through the observation portholes of the bridge, thousands of transport boats can be seen traveling back and forth between the fleets. Looking further away, the Chaos Fleet led by Darth Vader can be seen almost completely breaking through the rift.

Moreover, a virus shell containing chaotic psychic energy had exploded outside the Heroic-class energy shield, and the impact caused the entire ship to begin to tremble noticeably.

As for Sigismund and the entire Imperial Fists crew, they still stood there as solid as a rock.

Sigismund finally said to Cortana: "The oath of the Imperial Fists is to protect humanity, not to calculate gains and losses. Do you understand?"

Cortana was silent.

But the situation was urgent, so the intelligent AI only paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "I understand, Commander. I will do my best to assist the Imperial Fists."

At this point, Cortana understood the other party's determination, and also realized that this was the Imperial Fists' statement to the universe, proving that the human empire will implement the "people-oriented" concept and lay a solid foundation for future integration.

now;

130 Alice checked the plasma grenade's safety device and whispered to 092 Jerome in the private channel: "I recalculated. If the situation worsens, we must buy at least 13 minutes to ensure that the four transport boats are fully loaded and evacuated."

"Thirteen is not a good number." 042 Douglas' voice suddenly interrupted the channel with a hint of fatalistic sigh.

The Spartan was adjusting the scope of the Spartan Laser, the lens reflecting the cold light of Tatooine's moon.

Jerome stood on the roof of a residential building. Thor's hammer's sensor array was constantly scanning the surroundings. After hearing what his two comrades said, he said:
"The civilian helipad can accommodate four Luna transport boats at the same time, and isn't four an unlucky number?"

A few suppressed chuckles were heard in the channel, but they were quickly interrupted by Jerome's serious tone: "Okay, don't think about these useless things, and focus on the mission."

The private channel returned to silence.

Not long after, a cloud of dust rose up around the apron.

The first batch of more than 400 auxiliary troops arrived in formation, and four Cyclops mechas marched forward with heavy steps, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly.

The two special-model Titan main battle tanks that followed, after confirming their positions, released their ground-drilling supports and completed fixation. When switching the gun barrels, they emitted the unique hissing sound of the hydraulic system. Judging from their posture, they were preparing to act as fixed heavy artillery units.

The auxiliary troops quickly deployed their formations and began to take over the outer fortifications.

The Spartans turned inward and cooperated with the clones and Terminators who were already on patrol to begin evacuating the panicked civilians.

At this moment;
An old woman in a ragged robe hugged her child tightly and looked at the mechanical skeleton of the Terminator in horror. Alice squatted down, switched her mask to transparent mode, and said:

"Please follow me, ma'am, we will keep you safe."

Her voice came through an external speaker, and she deliberately used a softer tone to try to ease the other person's fear.

It’s no wonder that the old woman was so frightened. After all, the fierce fighting in Mos Eisley lasted all day and gradually died down at night.

Fortunately, the Imperial Fists did not do anything inappropriate to the people, and even allocated additional troops to actively protect the people in the war zone, so that the local people had almost no resistance to the Imperial Fists.

So after seeing Alice's appearance, the old woman hugged the child tightly in her arms and finally took a trembling step.

Not far away, John and the Blue Team were directing the clone soldiers to maintain order.

Hundreds of civilians were crowded into a makeshift safety zone, their anxious whispers mixed with the cries of children.

"Don't panic, everyone! Keep quiet and orderly!"

104 Fred's loud signal echoed in the area, and the clone soldiers moved through the crowd, guiding the old, young, women and children to the front of the team, while the young and middle-aged were placed in the back.

If the battle situation is urgent, the old, young, women and children in front of the safe zone can board the Luna transport boat responsible for evacuation as soon as possible.

Suddenly, Douglas' voice exploded in the communication channel: "Attention everyone! There is something going on the track!"

Almost at the same time, Tatooine's scarlet, dim sky was torn apart by dazzling rays of light.

In low-Earth orbit, the fleet commanded by Sigismund had already engaged in a fierce firefight with Darth Vader's Chaos fleet.

Looking from the ground, balls of exploding white light kept flashing in the sky, like stars exploding.

The wreckage of the destroyed ship turned into a burning meteor, dragging a long tail of flame and falling into the atmosphere, leaving hideous scorch marks among the clouds.

A huge wreckage of a battleship exploded in near space, and the shock wave even caused the sand and dust on the ground to shake.

Burning metal fragments fell like raindrops, and several black smoke columns rose on the distant horizon.

Screams of terror broke out among the civilians, and the team was instantly in turmoil.

"Hold the formation!"

Fred shouted sharply, ordering the clones to maintain order at the scene.

John said to Cortana, "Cortana, notify the commander to immediately dispatch a transport fleet to pick up the people who have not been infected by Chaos."

"There is a transport convoy heading our way."

"Okay." After hearing Cortana's reply, John switched to the full-band broadcast and gave the order to all Spartans:
"Everyone, please note that the war that broke out in orbit has not yet affected the ground evacuation! Continue to carry out the evacuation mission! Stay alert!"

"Yes! Master Chief!"

While Alice was replying on the communication, she immediately supported the old woman who was paralyzed by the explosion, and almost half-carried her and the child as they rushed to the safe zone.

In the sky, another Chaos ship that tried to force its way through the defenses was hit by the Imperial Fists' artillery fire. The green evil flames that exploded were so eerie that they were creepy.

When Alice brought the old woman and the young child to the safe zone, countless waves of explosions had already erupted in orbit.

This time, the dazzling scarlet light even illuminated the entire sky, as if Tatooine's sun was splashed with a layer of blood.

A scene that John, Alice and others didn't want to see finally appeared before their eyes.

Countless "meteors" streaked through the atmosphere and quickly approached the surface of Tatooine.
(End of this chapter)