Chapter 1,245 Nothing More than That

Floating from the depths of darkness, a huge giant ship approached the orange-red planet. The three characters "Expedition" are engraved on the hull of the ship, integrated with the pitch-black steel armor, like a sharp sword piercing the darkness, emitting a cold light in the starry sky.

The bowl-shaped engine sprayed out red light, then suddenly stopped.

Under the influence of inertia, the Seagull-class transport ship slowly stopped in the synchronous orbit of Mars.

"Main engines shut down."

"Secondary engine ignition."

"The orbital parameters have been corrected."

"The feedback beam confirms that the height of the center of gravity is normal and it is confirmed that it has entered the synchronous orbit."

"Secondary engine shutdown."

After a series of sounds sounded, the serious and tense atmosphere in the entire bridge suddenly relaxed.

The man in military uniform walked next to the captain and gave a military salute.

"Captain, we have arrived over the colony! Awaiting your instructions!"

The majestic man stood in the bridge, looking at the fiery red planet outside the window.

"Unfreeze the hibernation chamber."

"yes!"

Outside the bridge, inside the transport cabin.

The cold light strips in the corners lit up one after another, illuminating the entire long space.

The freezing cabins lined up against the wall lit up with a faint blue arc, spraying mist from the gap between the cockpit and the cabin door, making a squeaking sound.

The dormant cabins were opened one after another. The members who were released from hibernation opened their eyes, pushed open the half-open hatch and stepped out. As they had been trained countless times in the exercise, they rushed to the combat position in an orderly manner.

The crew members in blue overalls rushed to the gun positions, observation positions, power rooms and other functional warehouses. Marines in gray and white uniforms rushed into the equipment warehouse and put on aviation exoskeletons and Gauss rifles. There was a queue at the door.

Inside the bridge.

The officer returned to the captain's side and gave a military salute.

"All dormant cabins have been awakened.

"

"Connect to the colony channel."

"yes!"

A holographic screen appeared in the middle of the bridge. After a flash of white snowflakes, the picture on the screen quickly stabilized.

Looking at the man on the screen, a smile appeared on the captain's resolute and steady face.

On the other side, standing in the command room of the colony, Hong Zewei sighed with emotion as he looked at his friends on the screen who had completed captain training one year later than him.

Clearing his throat, he used a steady voice to welcome the arrival of the reinforcements on behalf of the colony.

"This is a Martian colony. Welcome to the Expedition."

"This is the Expedition. The first echelon of Marines are airborne. Thank you for your hard work."

…

Looking up at the sky above the colony, the shock and joy in Zhang Hai's eyes gradually grew.

The pyramid-shaped airdrop pods dragged blue arcs of light, drawing increasingly clear trajectories through the sky, and finally crashed hard into the desert near the colony.

Dust rose into the sky, and the red sand in the sky instantly rushed to the sand dunes dozens of meters away.

The hatches attached to the four sides of the airdrop cabin opened and fell heavily to the ground.

One after another, new half-track infantry fighting vehicles drove out of the hatch, kicking up billows of dust behind them.

This new half-track infantry fighting vehicle is called the Pathfinder T-2. Compared with the Pathfinder T-1 equipped with the Colonial Advance Marines, the vehicle tonnage has been increased and the rubber wheels have been replaced with a half-track design. At the same time, the gun barrel on the top of the infantry fighting vehicle was changed into a rapid-fire cannon that fires electromagnetic projectiles.

This improvement is mainly to deal with the armored units of extraterrestrial civilization that may appear in the 071 mine site. It’s just that I didn’t expect that what existed under the 071 mineral point was just a weathered ruin, without even a trace of a living person.

But then the incident took a new turn. The devil bug suddenly emerged from the ground and killed Star Ring Trading by surprise. As a result, these more than one hundred Pathfinder T-2s were once again used in the battle to exterminate devil bugs, providing armor protection for fragile soft targets.

The movement outside the Martian colony obviously attracted the attention of the devil bugs lingering nearby.

Feeling the tremors coming from the surface, the devil bugs emerged from the oxygen supply layer one after another. Like dragons wandering underground, they accelerated towards the source of the earthquake, suddenly emerged from the surface and bit these unseen creatures. "New Neighbor".

"Zhizhi——!"

The low roar was like a cry of pain, and the two pairs of sickles cut into the solid steel, leaving only a thumb-width crack.

The barrel of the bowl-sized rapid-fire cannon suddenly flashed with dazzling white light, and the projectile accelerated to N times the speed of sound tore the horny armor of the devil bug in an instant, smashing the devil bug out of the ground into a sieve. These bugs were like earthworms burrowing through the earth one after another, rushing out of the surface one after another and biting towards the Halo Marines' infantry fighting vehicles.

However, with their low intelligence, they did not quickly realize how stupid their behavior was.

The sickle that could tear apart granite hit the solid A-shaped steel. It was unable to break through the defense of the Halo Trading Infantry Fighting Vehicle. At most, it could only cause some interference to the formation of the Halo Marines. However, when the individuals who realized this began to retreat and tried to dig their heads back into the sand, it was already too late.

Standing on the colony ship, the captain, who had finished communicating with the colonies, fixed his eyes on the red dots on the satellite map.

Life detection device.

The maximum sensing depth for underground creatures is only five kilometers, but this range is enough for those devil bugs that have risen due to movement on the surface.

When the armored units of the Halo Marines completed their assembly, he immediately gave the order in a deep voice.

"At a depth of five kilometers, launch an earth-penetrating bomb!"

"yes!"

As an order was issued, the crew members on the bridge immediately became busy.

"Support weapons loaded!"

"Coordinates locked!"

"emission!"

A long object separated from the Expedition in synchronous orbit. After falling downward for a certain distance, the silent engine at the tail suddenly flashed orange-red flames.

Under the dual effects of gravity and engine, the missile began to accelerate, crossing a distance of 17,031 kilometers, and slammed into the deserted sand dunes.

The dust drifted away, and it was eerily quiet on the dunes, just like the silent bridge...

On the large holographic screen in the center of the bridge, the red dot that caught everyone's attention was rapidly declining in altitude.

When the altitude value jumped to minus five kilometers, the gunner sitting in front of the console spoke calmly.

"Confirmed hit!"

Almost as soon as the words fell, the orange-red fire was like rolling magma, engulfing the rock tunnels and hollow layers five kilometers below, as well as the devil insects lurking in them, ready to move.

The high temperature of thousands of degrees even ignited the air. Even the metamorphic rock could not withstand the terrifying temperature and was directly liquefied into magma. Needle-shaped stalagmites snaked down from the dome of the hollow formation.

No creature could survive such an inferno.

Even a species that spans 3.7 billion years will eventually be defeated by the sharp weapons of civilized man.

The hot flames dissipated quickly.

A string of red dots marking the source of life on the screen also went out.

An officer walked up to the captain, stood at attention, saluted, and said neatly.

"Twenty-seven devil bugs in total, confirmed to be killed!"

Listening to the adjutant's report, the captain nodded, a flash of pride flashing in his eyes as he looked at the red planet.

Devil bug?

Alien species?

In front of the iron hoof of Star Ring Trade.

But that's it!