Ding!
The elevator began to rise. Feeling the vibration beneath her feet, Parangosky felt no joy whatsoever—only fear of those superhuman bio-enhanced soldiers.
On the screen, under her command, the UNSC defense forces rushing to suppress the so-called "insurgent riot" were crushed almost instantly.
The corpses strewn across the ground—some torn cleanly in half, some missing entire limbs, some even decapitated.
Too brutal. Too savage.
The combat style of the Astartes warriors inevitably reminded Parangosky of her enemies—the Sangheili who fought on the front lines of the Covenant's main fleets. The same pure, extreme violence.
At the same time, she felt a chill regarding her own future. Causing such chaos within Reach Fleet Command headquarters—once the lockdown valves around the interrogation chamber had been breached, however unwilling she was to admit it, she had abandoned any unrealistic fantasies.
Given the current situation, suppression would not be achieved anytime soon, and the casualties would not be light.
Whether she could handle it properly, what the final outcome would be—none of that mattered anymore. No matter what, her political enemies would seize upon this.
Although people liked to say soldiers and politics had nothing to do with one another, at her rank, how could politics be avoided? There were only so many seats on the UNSC Security Council—when someone rose, someone else fell.
Her path of promotion would likely end here.
At that thought, Parangosky's mind grew increasingly unsettled.
Nathaniel's conduct before erupting into violence had been beyond reproach. Wishing to display magnanimity, Parangosky had merely confiscated his sidearms and had not forcibly removed his powered armor.
On one hand, she trusted the defensive strength of Fleet Command headquarters.
On the other, Nathaniel had been alone, helmetless, inside the interrogation chamber, with dedicated anti-materiel weapons trained on him. At the slightest anomaly, they could have blown his head apart instantly. At that distance, even a Spartan would die without a doubt—what was there to fear?
Projecting her own understanding of Spartan soldiers—even if these bio-enhanced warriors from the fringes of the Outer Colonies, closely tied to Dr. Halsey, were stronger.
Parangosky did not believe that with the meager infrastructure of the Outer Colonies and Halsey's efforts alone, augmentation technology could have leapt forward by such a margin. Strong—perhaps. But only to a limited extent.
And indeed, events had unfolded as she expected. The moment Nathaniel turned hostile, the prepared anti-materiel weapon struck his head immediately.
Unfortunately, she had anticipated it—and yet she had not. Who could have imagined that this bio-enhanced soldier would be so absurdly "thick-skulled," taking a supersonic tungsten-core armor-piercing round to the head—and carrying some kind of miniature teleportation device besides?
In the blink of an eye, dozens of fully armed heavy-armor bio-enhanced soldiers appeared out of thin air.
Experience could truly be fatal.
As for the miniature teleportation device Nathaniel had used—Parangosky had never even heard of such a thing. Humanity had nothing like it. The Covenant did not either. Every teleportation or slipspace transition device they possessed was enormous in scale.
"Where is Halsey?! Has she been captured yet?"
Her face dark, Parangosky felt some buried desire within her heart being amplified and twisted. Her temper flared higher and higher—especially after her encounter with Nathaniel. Her emotions had grown increasingly unstable.
The next moment, her tone turned sharp and urgent. "And one more thing! Temporarily disarm all Spartan soldiers. After eliminating any hidden risks Halsey may have planted in their bodies, we will reconsider their status!"
The staff officer beside her, who had also narrowly escaped death, paled instantly. "But, General, if we don't deploy the Spartans to assist in suppression, relying solely on the UNSC defense forces may not be sufficient..."
"Then send more troops! Order the ODST—Orbital Drop Shock Troopers—into action as well. Suppress the rebels!"
"But—"
"There is no but! You tell me—if the Spartans turn their guns on us mid-battle, what then?! These 'bloodthirsty monsters' were brought here by Halsey. If anything goes wrong, can you bear the responsibility?!"
Her swelling lust for authority whispered constantly in her ear—push the blame onto Halsey, make her bear full responsibility—slowly corroding her judgment. In that moment, she issued an order that, to others, sounded utterly irrational.
Bang!
Grabbing the staff officer by his tie, Parangosky slammed him hard against the inner wall of the elevator car, roaring like an enraged bull, "Anything created by Halsey is untrustworthy until proven otherwise! Do you understand?!"
"...Yes."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
On the vast underground transit platform, terrifying shrieks tore through the air and penetrated the walls, reverberating throughout the deep, enclosed underground.
The piercing roar of explosive bolts erupted in succession. The UNSC defense soldiers on the blockade line, along with the parked M12 FAV Warthog multi-role assault vehicles, were blown into countless fragments of flesh and metal.
Heavy boltguns, melta weapons, thermic weapons, and plasma weapons in the hands of the Night Lords, World Eaters, and Retributors unleashed horrifying firepower.
At the same time, the UNSC soldiers did not yield. Streams of scorching metallic rounds fell like torrential rain upon the external energy shields of the Astartes' powered armor.
Some Astartes had their energy shields shattered. Bullets struck brutally against the orichalcum composite armor plates with ringing metallic clangs.
Occasionally, several grenades detonated in concentrated volleys against the thick orichalcum composite plating, stripping away large swathes of paint and tearing off gold and silver ornamental reliefs from the armor's decoration.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Pairs of heavy magnetic boots crushed the smooth composite flooring beneath them.
The Astartes advanced like a moving wall, firing as they went. Scorching bolt shells howled through the air.
The World Eaters' strides seemed filled with frenzy and bloodlust. Their towering, terrifying forms charged forward in manic laughter toward the visibly frightened UNSC soldiers.
Roaring, they raised their revving chain-axes and drove their powered armor forward, launching a shocking and brutal assault against the already wavering defensive line.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
A dense storm of bullets swept toward the World Eaters.
Machine guns and grenade launchers mounted on Warthogs and other military assault vehicles fired relentlessly, dumping every last round they could in the shortest possible time at the killing giants in sight.
Faced with the unending "metal storm," the World Eaters made no attempt to evade. They charged straight through it—absorbing bullets with their energy shields, and when the shields overloaded, taking them with their armor plating instead.
Bullets struck the thick composite shells of their powered armor with sharp metallic ringing, yet caused no substantive harm to the Astartes.
Whoosh—vmm!
In almost an instant, a World Eater sprinted through the hail of fire and arrived before a military vehicle.
Crack!
With a single swing of his axe, both man and vehicle were cleaved cleanly in half.
Then, relying on his superhuman physique, he slaughtered every UNSC soldier in the surrounding area in less than a second.
Without leaving the slightest time to react, more Astartes warriors crashed into the fragile flesh-and-blood defensive line like an armored tank column revving to life.
In an instant, flesh and severed limbs flew through the air. Heads and viscera danced amid the chaos. The smell of slaughter, bloodlust, and gunpowder thickened the air.
Pshh!
A Night Lords warrior swung his power sword. Lightning flashed across a soldier's head before it separated from his body, blood spraying in a wide arc.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Staring coldly at a heavily armored vehicle spewing continuous muzzle flashes, a Retributor raised his power hammer without a word.
Boom!
The blazing stream of fire ceased. The armored vehicle, weighing over a dozen tons, was launched straight into the air and hurled toward another armored vehicle nearby.
The two vehicles collided and exploded violently.
A massive fireball rose as smoke and dust billowed outward in all directions.
Vmm—boom!
An M650 armored personnel carrier that failed to evade in time was pierced clean through by a thick thermic beam. The personnel inside were melted into molten metal on the spot. Its still-burning engine detonated in a violent secondary explosion, blasting another group of UNSC soldiers off their feet.
"Pathetic resistance. You're all human—surrender..."
Unlike the Covenant, the United Nations Space Command's military technology remained based on relatively primitive yet effective systems—ballistic weapons, wheeled vehicles, and internal combustion engines.
The UNSC possessed a far more advanced grasp of scientific theory than the Covenant. But applying those concepts in practice was another matter entirely.
Although their weapons were more advanced than those of the early twenty-first century, within their technological framework they still relied primarily on projectiles and chemical reactions.
That was not to say they had stagnated. For example, electromagnetic accelerator weapons existed, and infantry weapons were equipped with various electronic systems such as ammunition displays. Their equipment was reliable and rarely malfunctioned. In both horizontal and vertical development, the UNSC had indeed achieved results.
Yet compared to the more advanced Covenant weaponry—and the newly discovered Forerunner technology—it appeared lacking.
Rat-tat—clang.
Gunfire answered the taunt.
"Hahaha... now this is more like it!"
A World Eater charging at the forefront could not help but grin wildly. The chain-axe in his hands roared even louder.
From the very beginning, the outcome of this battle had been decided. It was a fundamentally mismatched war.
The UNSC's ordinary soldiers could not keep pace with the Astartes' speed. An Astartes needed only a casual punch to burst a human apart or hurl a vehicle through the air.
Thud!
Magnetic boots stepped onto ground slick with blood. Nathaniel lifted his head and watched the elevator indicator lights steadily rising. As if hearing Parangosky's words from afar, a faint smile curved his lips.
"Then, Admiral... you're no longer useful."
The next instant—
Vmm—boom!
The recoil thrusters beneath Nathaniel's power pack ignited.
He bent his knees, exerted force—
Bang!
With an explosive blast, his several-ton armored body shot upward.
On the other side, inside the elevator, Parangosky finished issuing orders to the orbital defense stations. Ding! The elevator doors slid open with a mechanical hum.
"Where is Halsey? Has she been captured?" It was the third time she had asked.
As she stepped out of the elevator—
"Ma'am, Dr. Halsey is our friend. You cannot harm her..."
"Damn it!"
Her expression twisted instantly. Without even turning her head, she prepared to rush forward.
But she was only human—and an aging one at that.
Rrraaaak—!
Amid the roaring grind of a chainblade and the twisted screech of tearing metal, Parangosky felt a terrifying presence loom behind her. The oppressive aura crushed the air from her lungs. She had no time to think. She had only managed to run a few steps when a dreadful arm seized her and lifted her off the ground.
The towering giant clad in deep blue power armor was none other than Nathaniel.
"Mr. Nathaniel, do you understand what you are doing? This is a crime! You will be wanted by the entire Unified Earth Government—"
Parangosky struggled desperately, trying to wrench herself free from Nathaniel's grip. It was futile.
"I must thank you," Nathaniel's hoarse, cold voice echoed from his pale lips, sounding almost amused. "For ordering the Spartans disarmed and forbidding them from joining the fight."
"Otherwise, once we started fighting—especially that 117—killing him would have been a waste. I rather admire them. And it wasn't for nothing that I used a newly learned technique to hypnotize you. The effect was excellent."
"You—!"
Parangosky opened her mouth, attempting to regain control of her body, but the primal fear rising within her drowned everything else.
"Why are you doing this? It benefits neither you, nor me, nor anyone else. Is it just for Halsey's promise?"
"No, no. From the very beginning, you misunderstood who I serve."
Shaking his head with a faint smile, Nathaniel opened his eyes fully. The blazing fanaticism burning in his pitch-black pupils filled Parangosky with disbelief.
"Who do I serve? I serve Selene!"
Crunch!
Without another word, Nathaniel crushed her skull in his grip. Blood splattered across the gleaming double-headed aquila emblem on his armor.
He tossed the headless corpse aside. It hit the ground with a dull thud.
Walking to the corridor's edge, Nathaniel gazed through the glass dome at the night sky and murmured, "The show begins."
At that very moment, beyond Reach's low orbit, upon receiving Parangosky's orders, the planetary orbital defense platforms immediately dispatched squadrons of spaceborne fighters toward the so-called "old ship" from the Outer Colonies.
While personnel argued fiercely over whether to board it or destroy it outright, a far greater surprise erupted.
The "old ship" suddenly released a dazzling violet-red radiance, distorting the surrounding slipspace transition field. Sensing something was wrong, UNSC space fighters opened fire at once—but their attacks were blocked by the void shield array mounted on the Holy Selene Empire Navy's light specialized cruiser.
Then—before the orbital defense personnel of Reach could comprehend what was happening—the veil of reality itself was torn open.
All scanning systems across the platforms instantly malfunctioned and went dark.
From the rupture, a colossal fleet slowly emerged.
Midnight-blue hulls loomed into view. Beneath the proud golden double-headed aquila relief gleamed a massive crimson skull with bat-like wings.
The Eighth Astartes Legion—the Night Lords.
Before the orbital defenders of Reach could even recover their wits, another tear ripped open the fabric of reality almost simultaneously elsewhere. A sleek, alien Covenant fleet poured forth in an unending stream.
Three fleets of utterly different construction styles discovered one another at the same time.
In an instant, the starry void fell into a strange and suffocating silence.
UNSC: ?
Night Lords: ??
Covenant: ???