Chapter 239: Arcadia Ruins! Infiltration! Suppressing the Rebellion!
Three hours later — surface of Arcadia.
As the capital of this colony, Piers City far surpassed Aldegart City, the capital of Prosperity Star, in both population and urban scale.
Its dense urban infrastructure and expansive transit systems were on par with the Earth depicted in Tomorrow's Edge, a setting from Megacorp's Universe 003.
The only difference was that the number of maglev airships and emergency flyers on the streets was noticeably fewer than in any major city under Megacorp's jurisdiction.
Clearly, due to the spread of insurgents across various colonies, the UNSC had tightened its belt and reduced much of its ground security forces.
At that moment, Rita and the rest of the strike team had already settled into a luxury hotel near the coastline, arranged for them by customs officials.
Meanwhile, David and the other Astartes warriors, under Rita's coordination, had slipped away and taken shelter in a pre-arranged safehouse.
Not long after settling into their hotel rooms, Rita's team immediately began analyzing and summarizing the current situation.
First, there was the matter of this planet—Arcadia.
This planet had officially been colonized by the UEG in 2429. It boasted rich mineral resources and a natural environment suitable for human habitation.
Although the planet had been colonized for nearly a century, vast areas of its original forest regions remained unexplored.
Rita and her team's objective—the Shield World coordinate site—was likely hidden somewhere in those uncharted forests.
At this point, Rita activated her tactical terminal, projecting a holographic screen and marking a point on the map as she said:
"Based on the coordinates provided by AI Loki, the Shield World relic site we're looking for should be right around here."
"But the problem is, I'm concerned ONI operatives from the UNSC might also be surveying the area."
"After all, humans have been on Arcadia for so many years—it's hard to believe they know absolutely nothing about the ruins."
"But since they don't have the intel we got from the Prosperity Star site, odds are they haven't cracked the Shield World's coordinates yet."
Rita's reasoning was sound, and most of the team agreed with her assessment.
"Everyone, when I was walking through the streets earlier, I noticed a ton of surveillance cameras. I suspect there's a Smart AI here similar to Loki."
William Cage quickly chimed in, "There's no way we can all head out together and meet up with Commander David without raising suspicions."
"Otherwise, we risk blowing our cover!"
Cage's observation made Rita nod thoughtfully—this guy was sharper than he looked.
But that also meant they wouldn't be able to accompany David to the local ruins site to help decrypt the Shield World's coordinate data.
"Unless we can flip the local Smart AI to our side, we don't stand a chance," Cage added, shaking his head with a touch of resignation.
Their previous success in taking over Prosperity Star had largely relied on the tech support from their strike team and backup units.
They'd overthrown the planetary governor, seized control of the local Smart AI through matrix hacking, and coordinated with troops to secure orbital ports and critical ground sites.
But now, this small forward team had gone deep behind enemy lines with no Megacorp logistics, no intel division, and no tech support.
Evading surveillance from Arcadia's Smart AI to infiltrate the governor's office or an ONI research facility? Practically impossible.
"This operation's looking tougher by the minute..."
Rita pressed her lips together, frowning deeply.
Cage was right—their prior success owed a lot to the resources Megacorp had provided.
But now, with just over a dozen people and limited weaponry, their impact was severely restricted.
One-on-one, their seasoned and well-trained team had no fear of the local troops.
But warfare is a numbers game—and Arcadia had a Paris-class heavy frigate docked at its orbital station.
That kind of firepower could wipe them out in a single blast.
According to AI Loki's data, the Paris-class frigate measured 560 meters long, armed with a railgun over 100 meters in length and 12 vertical missile launchers.
While it didn't match the might of Megacorp's premier warships, this was enemy territory—and they didn't even have one ship backing them.
If they blew their cover and drew UNSC's attention, things would go south fast.
The UNSC had over a thousand Paris-class heavy frigates, plus countless cruisers, destroyers, and aircraft carriers.
With over 800 colony worlds under its command, the human civilization in Halo wasn't exactly "weak"—especially not when it came to quelling insurgents.
When the UNSC struck, it was like a father disciplining a rebellious son.
Against the main UNSC fleet and their unmatched industrial output, rebels without a base of operations were nothing more than petty bandits.
These rebels only managed to occupy the UNSC because of their sheer numbers—and because the UNSC avoided mass slaughter, choosing stability over annihilation.
If an all-out war broke out, even Megacorp would suffer significant losses trying to win.
And the galaxy wasn't home to just humans—there were other alien civilizations out there. Fighting among themselves only made things easier for the Covenant.
Just as Rita and Cage were getting lost in frustration, waiting for new orders from David, a long-silent comm device finally lit up.
It was a message from David Martinez himself.
After successfully breaking away and arriving at the location prepped by AI Loki, David had immediately led his team into the primordial forest.
With their power armor's navigation, they had already reached ONI's secret facility—the front line of their excavation into the Arcadia ruins.
[Remain on standby at your current location. Stay hidden and await further instructions. Do not draw attention to yourselves.]
"Yes, sir!"
…
Meanwhile, deep within the forest, David was following the map coordinates provided by Loki to move toward ONI's base.
During their rapid advance, the Astartes—these walking tanks—encountered a few bizarre, venomous reptiles and vibrant alien beasts.
But these native creatures, faced with the unfamiliar and imposing intruders, chose to steer clear of David and his men.
As a result, the Astartes had virtually unimpeded passage all the way to the outskirts of ONI's research facility.
Before arriving at the site, David had spotted multiple military camps and a number of sentry posts in the area.
There was no doubt—this was the relic site.
Slowing his pace, David led the squad to a higher elevation and crouched low as they moved. Once at the edge of a clearing, he dropped prone to observe.
Ahead of them stood a vast pyramid-shaped ruin. Surrounding it were modern military installations and research complexes.
"Perfect. Gentlemen, we've found the right place," David said, his excitement clear as he relayed the message through his tactical helmet's comms.
From afar, the pyramid looked much like an ancient Egyptian pharaoh's tomb—but a closer look revealed its unique and alien design.
---
That said, it made sense—according to intel from headquarters, David, who had long since unraveled the relationship between the Forerunners, Precursors, and Ancient Humanity, knew that the 004 humans and the Precursors were of the same bloodline.
David then shifted his gaze toward the nearby ONI black site. The facility itself wasn't particularly large, with a single black airship docked on its VTOL platform.
The area was guarded by fixed turrets, detection devices, and a patrolling ONI special forces unit.
After closely observing the ONI team's gear and weaponry, David quickly formed a rough assessment of their combat capabilities.
Their weapons were roughly on par with those used by standard security units from universal megacorps—but far inferior to the standard kit of the Astartes Strike Regiment.
After a brief wait, once the ONI patrol circled around to the opposite side, David immediately led his team in a charge toward the facility.
At the same time, he activated the most advanced ICE intrusion protocol, attempting to temporarily disable the nearby detection systems and turrets.
As a top graduate of Arasaka Unified Academy, David had some solid hacking skills—not enough to crack a Smart AI, of course, but when it came to dealing with ordinary turrets and surveillance gear, he was more than confident in his abilities.
Moments later, the Astartes warriors arrived just outside the facility, eyeing a special forces squad a dozen meters ahead.
With a single command from David, the warriors surged forward, swiftly and silently snapping every soldier's neck with lethal precision.
A few muffled grunts were the only sounds that escaped. The ONI troops barely saw a blur before collapsing to the ground—dead before they could react.
"Well done."
David offered a word of praise to the efficient warriors, then led his team openly into the interior of the research facility.
Just as David completed the infiltration and copied all of ONI's research data into the headquarters database, far away in the core universe, the Ideal City had also entered a state of high alert.
Through the massive stargate, stretching ten thousand meters across, the Engineering Division was continuously deploying fleets and armored divisions to the front-line base on prosperity Star.
As of now, the universal megacorp had already dispatched ten vessels from the Endless-class array, one Long Night-class, and over a hundred cruisers to Prosperity Star.
They had also deployed a layered orbital defense system around the planet.
In addition, the Engineering Division was preparing to fully upgrade Prosperity Star's space elevator and orbital stations, as well as constructing a second shipyard in near-Earth orbit to accelerate ship production.
Meanwhile, with the assistance of the Smart AI Loki, the Engineering and Science Divisions had begun construction of UNSC's Paris-class Heavy Frigates and Valor-class Super Heavy Cruisers.
Since Universe 004 (Halo) was in urgent need of reinforcements, all departments within the megacorp were actively reallocating garrisons from other universes through the stargate.
Given the scale of the current military force, there was no need for additional conscription—internal transfers would be sufficient.
At that moment, inside the Multiverse Base—
"Members of the 3rd Army Group from Universe 002 (Pacific Rim), please proceed to Platforms 33 and 34 to board the maglev trains to the frontline base in Universe 004."
"Ground crew, please be advised: Transport Shuttle 39 is preparing for departure. It will enter the stargate shortly—stand by."
"…"
As the gates to countless worlds continued to open, the megacorp's Multiverse Headquarters had expanded several times in size. Within this massive base, orderly broadcast announcements echoed continuously.
The maglev station platforms were crowded with personnel from the Market Expansion Division.
Each operative followed orders to travel to assigned regions—or even other universes.
At that time, at the central control console of the Multiverse Base, Li ang was communicating via FTL comms with Governor V in Universe 003 (Edge of Tomorrow).
[Boss, I've already deployed combat forces to the theater. Don't worry—I won't let those heretics interfere with our trade routes.]
Dressed in full megacorp uniform, V stood within the command deck of the Moon of War megastructure, communicating with Li ang via faster-than-light transmission.
Not long ago, the very situation Li ang had feared came to pass.
An unexpected incident had erupted in Universe 003 (Edge of Tomorrow).
One of the megacorp's allied civilizations within the interstellar trade circle had been betrayed and killed by one of its own power-hungry aristocrats.
At first glance, this had nothing to do with the megacorp—but the real trouble started when the rebel faction foolishly set its sights on the megacorp's trade routes.
They began raiding trade convoys and publicly declared their intent to unite other civilizations in rebellion against the megacorp.
Now, V's mission was simple: eliminate the upstarts, install a new puppet regime, and restore the trade line.
"Good."
Li ang nodded. Seeing that V had already taken the initiative, he saw no need to say more.
"V, I can't leave 004 for now. I need to keep a constant watch here. Everything in 003 is in your hands."
"Report to me immediately if anything happens."
[Understood. With me here, Universe 003 won't have any problems.]
V responded firmly, promising with a serious expression.
"Mm."
Li Ang acknowledged with a nod, then ended the call. The display on V's control console returned to normal.
V slowly walked to the other side of the control deck and sat down on a custom-built chair sturdy enough to support his massive frame.
He then activated several holographic displays via his power armor and resumed monitoring real-time updates from across the region.
The universe under his charge—003 (Edge of Tomorrow)—had recently seen no shortage of chaotic skirmishes and uprisings.
The megacorp's approach of blending profit-driven diplomacy with overwhelming military might had forcibly drawn many discovered civilizations into its trade circle.
But even so, there were still fools who dared to defy them—waiting for an opportunity to strike while Li Ang was focused on his campaign in Universe 004.
Clearly, these provocations weren't just acts of rebellion—they were direct challenges to V's authority as planetary governor.
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