From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

"Huha!!"

In the communication channel, everyone responded in unison, and their voices surged like a torrent, full of fighting spirit.

"Well, this is the spirit." Lyon nodded with satisfaction.

He looked around and saw that every soldier was ready, and he couldn't help feeling relieved.

Although these mobile infantrymen were all rookies when they participated in the New Hope Campaign and would become instantly timid when faced with setbacks, they could be considered a "capable division" after various experiences.

It may not be able to defeat the human empire, but it is more than enough to defeat insects.

Lyon then continued to motivate everyone in the newsletter:

"Everyone should be prepared and must hold their ground to protect the people."

After saying that, Leon, Ace, and more than a dozen commandos equipped with mechanical skeletons and armed with Gauss guns left the apartment hall.

They quickly reached the swimming, fitness and entertainment area on the fifth floor through the brightly lit stairwell.

When you come here, you can feel the atmosphere of "extreme tension" and "eager to try".

The thumbnail map on the helmet screen showed that there were also more than a dozen commandos deployed on the fifth floor, in addition to a mobile infantry combat platoon.

In addition, the engineers set up four heavy machine guns on the four sides of this floor to build a fire barrier, which can not only enhance the fire output, but also provide fire suppression for friendly forces in other streets and areas.

Leon glanced around.

Except for the commandos equipped with sealed helmets, the mobile infantrymen leaning against the windows are almost all ready to go, and their expressions show that they can join the battle at any time.

Leon, who had been an investigator for many years, knew at a glance that although these mobile infantrymen were nervous, they were ready to fight the bugs.

"Lieutenant Major"

"Major Kennedy!"

And with the appearance of Lyon and his party, everyone wanted to raise their hands to salute, with respect and expectation on their faces.

However, Leon waved his hand and said in a friendly tone:

"We are all on the same side. There is no need to worry too much about military rank etiquette. Just continue to stand by."

There was a sense of affinity in his words, as if emphasizing everyone's unity.

It's true that Lyon sincerely hopes to fight alongside everyone, but he doesn't want to be the commander-in-chief of an army of tens of thousands of people.

Now, he needs to pay attention to his words and deeds and the reactions of his subordinates at all times.

Too tiring.

If it weren't for Ada's arrangement, and in order to reduce the sacrifice of his compatriots, he would rather continue to do his old job of infiltration and sneaking in, which was the combat field he was familiar with.

"Yes, Major!"

As for the assault soldiers and mobile infantry who received the instructions, they had no idea of ​​Leon's true thoughts. Instead, they perked up even more and focused their gaze and attention out the window again.

After going through all these events, everyone has long regarded Lyon as the backbone.

They believed that as long as Leon was there, even if they could not defeat the enemy, he would be able to lead everyone to escape safely.

At this moment, Lyon and Ace also came to the floor-to-ceiling window on the south side.

The two used the sandbags piled up by the engineers as cover and stared at the night sky that had returned to darkness.

In the night sky, the stars seemed to be dimmed by the impending conflict, and the air was filled with the scent of summer grass and flowers.

And the outline of the city is vaguely visible outside the window, and there is a sense of uneasiness in the silence, as if waiting for the coming storm.

"call"

Under his helmet, Leon took a deep breath.

After finishing the meeting with Johnson and other Campbell executives, he used intelligent AI and Campbell's local communication base station to quickly contact the Investigation Bureau deployed in New Hope.

Through the information sent back by the Investigation Bureau, Lyon finally learned that the reason why the Arachi Zerg sent a biological fleet to launch a raid on Campbell was not arranged by the Investigation Department or the Blood Angels.

The fact is that the Arach Zerg have long intended to annex Campbell and are preparing to transform this habitable planet into their hub node in order to further annex more of the Federation's frontier colonies.

In other words, Lyon and the remnants of the Federation Expeditionary Fleet just "happened" to run into the biological fleet of the Arach Zerg. It seemed that all this was arranged by fate.

Upon learning that the attack of the biological fleet was not caused by the Investigation Department, Leon could only secretly sigh at how "good" his luck was.

But Lyon has long been accustomed to his extraordinary "luck".

Lyon had experienced this accidental incident at least a dozen times, so he was not too surprised by this.

Fortunately, Sanguinius was about to lead the Blood Angels' 1st Fleet and the flagship Red Tear to rescue Campbell. Lyon's mood eased a little and he became much calmer.

He calculated based on the jump progress provided by the intelligent AI and concluded that it would still take about an hour for Sanguinius to arrive.

This means that facing the attack of tens of billions of Zerg swarms, Lyon and his men will need to hold out for at least forty minutes.

40 minutes

Tens of thousands versus hundreds of billions

This asymmetric battle put Lyon under even more pressure.

He took a few deep breaths, trying to relieve the mental pressure brought by the heavy burden on his shoulders.

Leon knew that this was not just a battle, but a critical moment concerning the survival of countless lives.

Thinking of this, Lyon felt that he needed to make a more decisive decision.

Immediately, Leon opened his private communication and gave Maggie, who was stationed at the east end, a reminder that "there was no need to hold back."

At this stage, they no longer have the room to hide and must go all out.

As one of the few remaining superhumans under the Empire who retains various rights, Lyon firmly believes that if Maggie Shaw unleashes her true strength, she will be able to save the lives of more compatriots.

However, facing the Zerg invasion and the critical moment when human lives were at stake, the risk of exposing his identity seemed insignificant, so Leon chose the latter without hesitation.

If he insisted on hiding his identity and caused Campbell to suffer excessive losses, it would undoubtedly be putting the cart before the horse.

Although Maggie Shaw is not as powerful as the original body, at this moment, she can be regarded as a "weapon" in their hands that is comparable to tactical or even strategic level.

soon.

The remnant fleet that successfully withdrew from low-Earth orbit slowly appeared in the sight of Lyon and others.

Then, the remaining fleet formed a "品" formation and hovered at an altitude of about 4,000 meters above the ground, ready to fill the gap in heavy firepower for the capital city.

And this time——

"Major."

The ace, who had been silent, suddenly turned to Leon and asked worriedly:

"Tell me, how long will it take for the reinforcements from the human empire to arrive? With so few of us, we are not even enough to fill the gaps between the bugs' teeth."

Hearing this, Leon couldn't help but retract his thoughts, with a hint of impatience in his tone:

"Just considering your demoralizing remarks, according to federal military law, I can shoot you dead!"

"Don't worry, Major, no one can hear it except the two of us~!" Ace responded with a wry smile, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

“Forget it.” Leon continued to look up at the night sky, and said in a slightly slower tone: “It may be an hour, or it may be three hours. I am not sure, but I believe that the Human Empire will definitely come.”

"That's good"

The Ace freed his left hand and patted his breastplate, pretending to be relaxed, trying to find a little comfort in this depressing atmosphere, and said:

"Oh, it would be nice if that archangel was a female. Female angels are more in line with our aesthetic standards."

"I am not included in this 'we'." Leon shook his head helplessly, with a hint of fatigue in his eyes.

At this moment, he really didn't have the leisure time to discuss such unimportant matters with Ace.

His mind was so full of the upcoming Zerg attack and battle strategy that he had no time to think about these light-hearted topics.

However, Ace, who thought he had successfully eased the tense atmosphere, did not "give up".

Ace lowered his voice and asked again with curiosity, "By the way, Major, are you... a spy sent by the Human Empire?"

?

Hearing this, Leon, under his helmet, looked at Ace with a surprised expression.

Leon was not surprised that his identity was questioned, but he was shocked that the one who questioned it was actually the ace? !

You know, although this guy is somewhat smart, his overall view is extremely poor, and he always seems to be indifferent to the situation around him.

Sensing Leon's hesitation, Ace hurriedly explained:

"It was Brother Rui who learned from that bitch Carmen... ahem, from that bitch Carmen that there are rumors in the Navy that you, Major, and many other petty officers are spies of the Human Empire."

"."

After listening to this explanation, Leon finally understood the whole story.

Indeed, the naval officers led by Delatir could naturally see that there were problems with his position after his recent confrontation with Marshal Dean and the means by which he and Maggie controlled military power.

But at this point, Leon was too lazy to think about what words to use to "trick" the ace, and asked him directly:

"Yes or no, what difference does it make to you?"

"Forehead"

The ace didn't expect Lyon to throw the problem to him.

After pausing for a few seconds, Ace's tone immediately became quite firm:

"It makes no difference! No matter what, you are my good boss! Without you, my ace would have become a pile of bug shit!"

"Don't talk so gross! Keep quiet, the bugs are coming!"

As Leon spoke, he tapped Ace's helmet with his left hand, signaling this guy to behave himself.

"Yes! Major!"

The Ace, on the other hand, responded with fighting spirit.

In fact, with Ace's exaggerated actions and gradually louder voice, the conversation between the two has attracted the attention of the surrounding commandos and mobile infantry.

Although their eyes and attention were focused outside the window, the sounds coming from their ears made them prick up their ears and speculate in their hearts.

However, what everyone is thinking is actually not much different from Ace's views.

Regardless of whether Leon is really a spy sent by the Human Empire, everyone has long regarded Leon as an indispensable pillar.

They knew in their hearts that without Leon's leadership and decision-making, they might be torn apart and devoured by those bugs as Ace said, and eventually turned into lifeless excrement.

What's more, joining the human empire is not a bad thing.

In their eyes, the disastrous defeat of the expeditionary fleet was undoubtedly a curtain that revealed the corruption and incompetence within the Federation.

As they gained a deeper understanding of the current state of the Federation, they increasingly realized that the ideals they once believed in were long gone.

On the contrary, the philosophy of the Human Empire, especially the "people-oriented" declaration, is in line with their original intention when they joined the Federation.

This change has given many people a glimmer of hope.

The main thing is

The human empire really does have "gods".

Relying on the "God" to fight for all mankind, saving trapped compatriots, bravely fighting against insects and alien races, and finally sacrificing heroically, this can be said to be the "goal" of many enthusiastic recruits.

They believe that this kind of heroic life is undoubtedly the most desirable.

After all, in this chaotic situation, many young fighters fantasize about becoming warriors and heroes, transforming themselves into protectors and setting an example to defend human dignity and the future.

Therefore, when the Human Empire's fleet arrives at Campbell and crushes the Zerg fleet with its devastating firepower, if Lyon can lead them to surrender to the Human Empire, they will accept this fate without complaint and may even cheer for it.

In fact, many commandos and mobile infantrymen did not realize that their ideological transformation was actually the "practice" of faith and the beginning of a "journey" in pursuit of higher ideals.

Although both the Empire of Man and the United Citizens Federation are adept at using propaganda and thought control, or "brainwashing," their methods are completely different.

Under Sui Yang's rule, the Empire of Mankind has upheld its ideals and commitments, shaping a firm and powerful belief system that gives its people a sense of belonging and mission.

As the top leadership of the United Citizens Federation continued to change, its ideals and values ​​were constantly diluted in the power struggle, the people's confidence was shaken, and it eventually fell into inevitable degeneration and corruption.

Next.

Twenty minutes flew by.

Through the helmet screen, Lyon saw that the dark night sky began to "sparkle with stars" and countless balls of light suddenly appeared.

And on the communication line, Dratiel's serious reminder came:

"Major Kennedy, Arach's biological fleet has completely occupied the low-Earth orbit on the dark side.

And our radar observers scanned that the other side seemed to be carrying out the airborne deployment procedure. It is estimated that there will be two minutes before the first batch of bugs fall into the capital city."

"okay, I get it."

Knowing that the bugs were "close at hand", Leon briefly replied to Delatir and continued to give orders on the communication:

"Everyone, pay attention! There are still two minutes before the bugs attack. All units should be ready and pay attention to your remaining ammunition!"

The words fell.

Everyone on the fifth floor of the apartment building checked their weapons and ammunition one last time.

And the countless balls of light in the night sky.

To be precise, it is the meteorites carrying biological combat units such as Arachi warriors and tiger bugs, which are also becoming more and more obvious.

Only after successfully breaking through the atmosphere did the flames enveloping the meteorite quickly dissipate, and with a whistling sound, it rushed straight towards Campbell who was on high alert.

Boom. Boom————!!

The meteorite crashed into the streets and buildings, signaling the start of Campbell's defense.