Chapter 244: "Fleet"

Not long after...

A thick fog descended over the simulated town, quickly filling every corner. It was part of a full-scale decontamination process to eliminate the demonic spores lingering in the air.

Boom! Boom!

The fragile infected forms shattered and collapsed the moment they came into contact with the fog. However, those who had their bodies, consciousness, and memories taken over by the infected forms—turning them into combat forms—were unaffected by the fog. In fact, it even seemed to enhance their activity.

Szzzt!

Meanwhile, the cathedral defenders stationed above the simulated town began firing high-energy beams in an orderly fashion, systematically eliminating the aggressive combat forms.

As for the one who ventured into the mall and rescued six surviving Class-D personnel, it was none other than the fully grown Mortarion. Though technically, he was just over a year old.

Perhaps it was the harsh environment of the Halo universe. From the moment Mortarion and Corax opened their eyes, their subconscious minds were aware that they needed to grow rapidly in order to better assist their father and the company in their unification efforts.

Adding to this, during their journey with Queen Tinas Losrian to Terrera, they had clashed with fierce beasts. And after arriving in the core world of 0459, they even engaged in friendly battles with the elite race.

These experiences accelerated their growth.

At the same time...

In the eastern quarantine zone of the surface testing center, the six survivors had been forcibly disarmed, stripped of their powered armor, and made to wear the orange prison uniforms designated for Class-D personnel.

"Please step forward for inspection."

A group of more than ten technicians dressed in white protective suits, holding various instruments, ordered the survivors to move to the designated positions for a full scan.

Next, the survivors were required to lie down on fixed surgical tables equipped with mechanical arms. As soon as they lay down, alloy restraints locked around their necks, waists, wrists, and ankles.

Although the six survivors looked displeased, they cooperated fully, without hesitation. After all, Mortarion, wielding a massive scythe and a large-caliber plasma cannon at his waist, stood watching them from the right side of the quarantine zone.

Mortarion, with his arms crossed over his chest armor and the menacing green glow from his helmet's visor, stared them down intently. Even the most daring survivors wouldn't dare defy orders in his presence.

To be honest, their mental resilience was already impressive. Being under the gaze of a Primarch nearly four meters tall and more imposing than a tyrant would have physically terrified most Class-D personnel. Those who had committed multiple crimes such as rape, kidnapping, or child trafficking, and had been captured by Atlas, would have likely "wet themselves" in fear by now.

Once the survivors were secured, the sterilized mechanical arms began working, performing more detailed scans and drawing blood and tissue samples.

Once everything was confirmed to be normal, Mortarion turned and left, walking through a 20-meter-long decontamination corridor and passing through a series of airlock doors until he reached the outer area of the eastern complex.

Stepping outside into the open air, he glanced up at the naturally formed star in the sky and opened communications to Silent Shore.

"This is Mortarion. Please teleport me back to the core base."

"Received. Prepare for transport."

The voice of Silent Shore replied from the other end of the communication.

Soon, a blue-green sphere of light enveloped Mortarion, and as the light dissipated, his massive form vanished with it.

Meanwhile, beneath the surface, in the core world illuminated by an artificial star, a vast array of structures came into view. Most notable among them were the battle fortresses and the fleet of colony-class dreadnoughts orbiting near the artificial star.

In addition to these, there were nearly 400 vessels belonging to Atlas, including aircraft carriers, destroyers, cruisers, frigates, and supply ships.

One of the carriers, nearly five kilometers long, was a Carthage-class supercarrier, considered a juggernaut by the UNSC. The other three carriers were over 3,000 meters in length, each equipped with 12 hangars, belonging to the New Era class of heavy carriers.

Atlas had further improved and modified these ships based on intelligence provided by Melissa.

While these carriers weren't as massive as the blade-shaped colony-class dreadnoughts, the New Era carriers looked like massive mobile space cities from every angle.

In the current Halo universe timeline, the main carriers in UNSC service were outdated relics. Compared to the cruisers, which had both personnel and vehicle carrying capabilities, the development of the carriers had been slow.

To cope with the growing colonial rebellions and to enhance ground force deployment capabilities, the UNSC Navy had been forced to repurpose large numbers of colony ships as traditional amphibious assault ships or support vessels.

For example, the Phoenix-class colony ships, which had been in service since the 2300s, were repurposed as support vessels for providing ground support.

These Phoenix-class colony ships were over 2,000 meters long and could accommodate tens of thousands of colonists. Upon arriving at new worlds, they were typically decommissioned and dismantled to provide materials for the colonists' settlements.

After being retrofitted and armed, these Phoenix-class support vessels filled a critical gap in UNSC naval power.

Although the UNSC Navy never officially recognized the Phoenix-class as carriers, in the eyes of the Marine Corps and most soldiers, the Phoenix-class were essentially carriers.

However, no matter how much they were modified, the Phoenix-class ships were still products of over two centuries ago. Moreover, only under the command of elite captains could they perform above expectations and meet the UNSC Navy's high standards.

To resolve this issue, the UNSC Navy launched the "New Era" and "Carthage" projects in the 2460s, aiming to create the most advanced carriers for humanity using the latest technologies.

The first New Era-class heavy carrier successfully launched in 2475 and was immediately deployed in operations against the rebel forces. By 2490, the first Carthage-class carrier had entered service.

As the AI assigned to ONI, Melissa naturally had access to all the data on the New Era and Carthage carriers. After she defected to Atlas, the engineering division immediately upgraded these vessels with cutting-edge technologies, including room-temperature superconductors, energy shields from the Reapers, Covenant slipspace drives, and hardlight technology deciphered by Ap, Melissa, and Halsey.

The same upgrades were applied to the cruisers, destroyers, and frigates in the fleet.

Alongside the distinctly human-styled Atlas fleet were Covenant technologies, including CCS-class battlecruisers and four CRS-class light cruisers, all steadily exiting a 100-kilometer-wide gateway and heading toward the atmosphere.

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