From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Chapter 449 Escort Bad Premonition "Support"

Colonel Jaynes Thompson?

When Charlie behind the helmet screen heard the commander introduce himself on the communication, he instantly showed a look of surprise.

The colonel standing not far in front was an old comrade-in-arms of his father Rod Hoinold and the "Uncle Thomson" he had known since childhood.

Memories flooded back to Charlie, who clearly remembered that this uncle was an indispensable presence in his and his sister's childhood lives.

Jaynes Thompson and his family are "locals" of the universe numbered "04", that is, the "Underworld" universe.

In Charlie's memory, his father and Uncle Thomson participated in many cross-universe combat missions side by side.

And before AECS (Emergency Countermeasures Team) was disbanded and integrated, my father and Thomson became members of the special forces of AECS due to their outstanding performance.

Eventually, after a boarding battle in the main universe against a Reaper reconnaissance mothership, the two old friends were forced to "part ways."

However, that separation did not damage the deep friendship between them.

In fact, it was entirely Charlie's father's choice.

At that time, due to serious injuries and fatigue from years of fighting, Rhodes decided to retire and return to family life.

Rhodes was worried that if he continued to serve, not only would he be killed in battle, but even a brief moment of companionship with his children would become a luxury. Even if the Empire and the Company took on the future expenses of his two children, it was far less important than raising them personally.

As for Jaynes, whenever he has holidays, he will come to the New Accra City in the main universe to "visit" and have dinner and play with their family.

However, despite the close relationship between the two families, his father never revealed to Charlie the specific organization and unit of Uncle Thomson, and even avoided mentioning his core position in the army.

This was not only due to the strict confidentiality among soldiers, but also because Rhodes always adhered to principles and never thought of trying to use the relationship with his friends to gain convenience or shortcuts for Charlie in the imperial army.

In Rhodes's opinion, soldiers should strive for everything through their own abilities and efforts, rather than relying on personal connections.

Of course, at this stage of the empire, the original possibilities of "taking advantage of loopholes" have been completely eliminated.

The empire's promotion system is cold and fair; promotions in military rank and changes in positions depend only on one's personal military exploits and years of service; any external relationships are of no help.

It is the strict enforcement of these rules that is the key to maintaining the efficiency of the empire's vast military system.

In the brief moment of hearing Jaynes' words, all the warmth of the past flashed through Charlie's mind.

But at this moment, Charlie would not directly reminisce with "Uncle Thomson" on such an occasion.

He quickly straightened his back and, like his other comrades, responded loudly through the communication channel:

"Sir! Yes, sir!"

The communication in the helmet was instantly filled with uniform responses.

After hearing this overwhelming response, Jaynes Thomson laughed as usual:

"Hahaha! This is the spirit that an imperial soldier should have. Very good!"

However, Jaynes quickly changed the subject, and his tone became low and serious:

"But everyone please note that according to the original plan, the fleet will sail out of the current jump space in forty minutes and reach the border area of ​​the chaotic star field.

But our next mission will be adjusted. As soon as we leave the jump space, we need to transfer to a Diana 3 type stealth-class ship and leave the main fleet.

Our mission is to serve as a guard for a group of agents."

Guard?

Agent?

Before he finished speaking, a whisper was heard in the communication channel, and the most prominent one came from the captain in charge of the ODST combat company.

His tone was filled with obvious displeasure and doubt, breaking the brief silence:

"Colonel, we have come to this chaotic star region across the universe and galaxies, not to serve as bodyguards for those spies! Don't they have their own armed forces?

Or, which department do they belong to? Why do they need us to protect them? We are here to annihilate the enemy, not to escort those guys!"

Although these words may seem a bit reckless, and even "disobey superiors' orders", they also express the thoughts of most ODSTs.

After all, ODST are hell's paratroopers, combat maniacs, and an elite force known for carrying out high-risk and cutting-edge missions. For them, escort missions are not "glorious" enough.

Originally, all members were full of expectations and were ready to charge into battle with the main force of the fleet to completely annihilate those stubborn and ignorant bastards.

However, the reality was like a bucket of cold water poured on their heads.

Before they arrived at the battlefield, they received an order to withdraw from the battle and perform escort missions instead.

This change made many ODST soldiers dissatisfied.

They have always been proud of carrying out combat missions with extremely high casualty rates, so such an arrangement undoubtedly undermines their own value in their view.

Because of this, the ODST captain openly questioned his superiors' orders in the communication channel, and even risked violating discipline by protesting directly to Jaynes Thompson.

However, Jaynes showed no anger at all.

He remained calm, and his tone was full of authority that was hard to disobey: "If you want to disobey orders, or if you think it's worth it to have your entire company punished or even expelled from the military, Captain, then you can choose to refuse this mission."

"."

Upon hearing this, the captain immediately lost his temper.

No matter how "crazy" they are, the ODSTs will not refuse to execute orders after receiving them.

Seeing this, Jaynes looked around at the assembled people and asked:

"If anyone else wants to accompany the fleet on an annihilation mission, you can ask for it now. I will personally apply to my superiors on your behalf. How do you think?"

As soon as the words fell, the communication channel of the helmet returned to complete silence.

And the Marines did not have any extreme reactions like the ODSTs.

The new recruits, including Charlie, found this mission very "novel".

For them, the nature of the mission does not matter as long as they can participate in the action.

Be it clearing or escorting, being able to engage in actual combat is the greatest satisfaction.

"very good."

After confirming that there were no objections, Jaynes regained his calm tone:

"Now, all units, please check your weapons and equipment again. In fifteen minutes, board the designated vehicles provided on the helmet screen. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Well, let's all disband."

After saying that, Jaynes waved his hand, signaling everyone to get ready.

The team Charlie was in was resting on the spot, or opening each other's private communication channels to chat and pass the time.

However, at this moment, a private communication application prompt suddenly popped up on his helmet screen.

Furthermore, the reminder bar also displayed "Private First Class/Narita Loslien".

Charlie wasn't too surprised by this.

In fact, during his previous casual chat with Narita, he had already learned that this female elf belonged to the same Marine battalion as him.

In addition, it was rest time and private chat was allowed, so he approved the communication request without any hesitation.

"Charlie, can you guess what kind of situation and enemy we will face in this mission?"

The moment the communication was connected, Narita's slightly low voice came over.

"Facing what?"

Charlie frowned slightly, carefully savoring the other person's tone, but didn't pay too much attention to the change.

After a brief thought, he replied, "At most they are miscellaneous soldiers like Jiralhanae and Gnolls.

But in the final analysis, the most difficult thing is the mystery behind those agents. After all, we don’t even know which department they belong to, let alone what missions they are carrying out.

All we can do is wait until a real battle breaks out before we can understand the whole thing.”

"I always have a bad feeling."

Narita, who usually has a cheerful personality and confident words, seemed unusually worried at this moment.

?

He has always found it difficult to give a direct response to such remarks and can only remain silent.

But he also knew that the special status of the elves in the empire was not empty talk.

Although the elves lose their so-called "magical" abilities after leaving their hometown of Terra, which is filled with a unique magnetic field, their psychic talents are still extraordinary, especially in terms of being more acute in sensing supernatural threats.

Perhaps it was this talent that gave Narita some ominous intuition before the mission began.

Noticing that the atmosphere was somewhat tense, Charlie tried to ease the other party's worries with a relaxed attitude:

"Maybe you're overthinking it. Besides, our current mission is to escort the agents. Even if there is an emergency, the main fleet should be able to arrive in the first time. We just need to complete our duties."

Narita did not respond immediately, as if she was thinking about something.

After a moment, she added in a low voice: "I hope so. However, Charlie, you should be more careful. If you really find any abnormal problems, don't hesitate to choose to open fire at the first time.

Even if it is an accidental injury or killing, you can still save your life, understand?"

"Okay, if there is something unusual, I will take your advice."

Charlie agreed, and although his tone was a little relaxed, there was also a bit more seriousness in his words.

"Well, that's good." Narita's voice was somewhat relieved, and then she smiled gently and said:

"After the mission is over, we'll find a chance to have a good chat, or have dinner together."

After saying this, she took the initiative to cut off the private communication, leaving Charlie in silence.

Charlie just shrugged and closed the dialog box on the helmet display.

He knew very little about the field of psychic power, so naturally he could not fully understand Narita's keen perception, but no matter what, the other party's words did make him more alert.

While checking his weapons and equipment, he thought to himself that perhaps this mission was not as simple as he had imagined.

As for Janes Thomson, perhaps out of consideration for avoiding suspicion, he never tried to have a private conversation with Charlie.

Although Jaynes, as the commander-in-chief of this mission, must have briefly read the list of members of the operation, Charlie's rank was only a private. Perhaps Jaynes did not even notice that there was such a "nephew" in his team.

Time flies.

Fifteen minutes passed quickly, and everyone followed the instructions on the helmet screen and boarded the designated Pelican and Luna transport boats.

Moreover, when Charlie followed the company into the engine room of the Luna transport boat, he discovered that the large transport boat was also undergoing a comprehensive inspection by the ground crew.

The most important thing is that a large number of containers are continuously being transferred by Hextech robots and transport-type hunters and entering large transport ships in an orderly manner.

It seems that among the "members" who will be transferred to the Diana III Stealth-class ship with them, there will be a large number of biological and mechanical weapons, as well as clone soldiers.

Charlie pondered this in his mind, and then sat down in the designated seat.

As he glanced around, his thoughts returned to the conversation he had had with Narita.

But he pondered over it for a long time, until the hatch of the transport boat was closed, and even until the Phoenix-class support boat they were on and the fleet sailed out of the jump space, he still could not guess a clear answer.

In fact, Narita's doubts and worries were not without reason, but with the current military ranks and authority of Charlie, Narita and others, they had no way of knowing that the empire was about to face a large-scale Chaos invasion.

And their real duty is, as Janes Thompson said, to act as "bodyguards" for a group of agents.

This group of agents is composed of elite frontline personnel from the Investigation Department and the Inquisition. Each of them is battle-hardened and is specifically responsible for handling various tasks related to the Warp, Chaos and related hidden dangers.

As for the location of this mission, it is an abandoned planet that had long been "burned into glass" by the Covenant.

According to intelligence, there may be remnants of the Covenant on this planet that have not yet been completely eliminated.

Moreover, the ecological environment of the entire planet was severely damaged. In addition, it was "located" at the border of the Empire and the Chaos Star Field, so the star field under the charge of Mortarion did not spare any extra manpower to carry out reconstruction.

This means that the actual situation of the planet may be significantly different from the intelligence they currently have.

Therefore, the joint force led by Janes Thompson will accompany this group of agents on their first reconnaissance mission to investigate potential threats and collect key intelligence.

The greater risk is that if an accident occurs during the mission and the agents are the first to bear the brunt of the accident, they will have to stay where they are and wait for support from the main fleet.

However, the information that even the commander of the operation, Janes Thompson, and the entire 36th Fleet did not know was that the primarch of the Dawn Raiders, Mortarion, had personally led his elite troops and secretly arrived near the Chaos Star Region.

Along with Corax's Raven Guard, it also dispatched 4 fleets with unique numbers and secretly deployed them to the frontier planets of the Dawn Raiders.

Whenever the reconnaissance team of Janes, Charlie, Narita and others, or the 36th Fleet, is attacked by Chaos, the Dawn Raiders and the Raven Guard will be able to respond and provide support in the first time.

Moreover, there is a Primarch in charge, which is enough to ensure that they have a certain advantage in the conflict.