On the bridge of the Ishimura, Marcus, overseeing the entire situation, murmured softly, "I wonder if more Ork forces will enter this star system later."
If the current conditions persisted, they would soon be able to completely eradicate the greenskins from Avarax's surface. Even the Ork fleet in space was gradually diminishing. Shaking his head, Marcus temporarily put aside this uncertain thought. He turned to examine the fleet's loss report for the recent period.
After such an extended engagement with the Ork fleet, Marcus's own fleet had sustained considerable damage. Two armed merchant ships, equipped with void shields, were sunk by Ork cannons after taking too much concentrated fire. Five ICA Warships, which had arrived as reinforcements, were tragically ripped apart by the Orks due to their inherent fragility. The Adeptus Mechanicus warships under Halifax the Wise also suffered significant setbacks. One Cobra-class destroyer was lost, and another was severely damaged. A Tracker-class surveillance cruiser was successfully boarded by Orks, leading to countless greenskins clashing fiercely with the Adeptus Mechanicus Protectorate Army. Only the flagship, the Moon-class cruiser, remained unscathed, a testament to its superior void shield generator.
"After this, I'll have to compensate these 'gearheads' for a lot of losses," Marcus muttered, a slight headache forming. A Cobra-class destroyer, while not an astronomical sum, certainly wasn't negligible. After all, it was a proper military vessel, not a hastily converted merchant ship.
"Why don't we just sign a Psychic Contract with Halifax the Wise and bring him into the Universal Union?" Alexia's voice, offering a suggestion, came through the communication channel just as Marcus was deep in thought. "The scientific technology of other worlds, the creatures on Pandora, and the mysterious planetary will, Ewa—as a Biological Sage, Halifax shouldn't be able to resist such a temptation. Not only that, but with a Mechanical tech-priest's endorsement, many of our actions here would proceed much more smoothly."
"Hmm," Marcus lowered his head, pondering in silence. Indeed, as Alexia suggested, if they could genuinely bring Halifax into the Universal Union, the benefits would be numerous. The only challenge was how to ensure Halifax would truly accept the invitation. Marcus simply couldn't risk the consequences of leaking information about the existence of other worlds.
"Let's discuss it later," Marcus decided after long deliberation. "After we repel the Greenskins, I will subtly inquire about Halifax's attitude." Since Marcus put it that way, Alexia didn't press the matter further. Through the viewport, Marcus looked at the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet orbiting not far away, his eyes flickering with thought.
"Chris! Chris Redfield!"
Among the Spore Extermination Unit, who had just completed their mission and were returning to the Central Hive, Chris sat somewhat dazed in the assault ship. He vaguely heard someone calling his name. Snapping back to reality, he looked up to see a PDF officer standing in front of him.
"Your squad's dog tags. Do you want to keep them yourselves, or hand them over to us for safekeeping?"
"What will happen to these dog tags afterward?" Chris asked, looking at the ten blood-stained dog tags in the officer's hand.
"The higher-ups plan to establish a war cemetery after the conflict, and these dog tags will be embedded in the tombstones."
After a moment of hesitation, Chris replied, "Just hand them over to you for unified safekeeping." The officer nodded, acknowledging the reply, and then departed.
The other soldiers looked at Chris with a rather peculiar gaze. An entire squad reduced to a single survivor was, indeed, uncommon. Feeling the unusual stares around him, Chris closed his eyes, recalling the recent scene where his captain, Finn, had been blown to pieces by an Ork rocket. It was almost time for evacuation, yet his captain, whom he had only just met, died right before his eyes. Chris unconsciously clenched his fists, remembering what Captain Finn had once told him: "This is war. At first, you'll look forward to your heroic appearance on the battlefield, then you'll meet a group of comrades who will face life and death with you, and finally, often, only you will be left alive." As it turned out, these words had chillingly come true for Chris.
After a sigh, Chris leaned against the metal bulkhead and rested. After more than half an hour of flying, the assault ship returned to the frontline outside the Central Hive. Even hundreds of kilometers away, the Central Hive could feel the shockwave from the Anti-matter Bomb explosion, as well as the geological damage caused by the final bunker-busting bomb. Therefore, the stationed soldiers knew that the Spore Extermination Unit had achieved its mission objectives and warmly welcomed the return of these heroes.
After a brief reorganization, the Spore Extermination Unit was re-staffed. They would once again shoulder the important task of assaulting other Ork Junkyard Cities. Even Chris, who was originally just a grunt, now had nine PDF Soldiers placed under his command. Chris regained his spirits and introduced himself to his new team members.
"Captain, where are your previous teammates? I haven't seen them," a seemingly younger PDF soldier, perhaps only seventeen or eighteen and recently promoted from the reserves, asked curiously.
After a moment of silence, Chris spoke. "They all died at the hands of the greenskins."
"Ah—" This soldier clearly hadn't expected that answer and was at a loss for words. For some reason, all nine soldiers under Chris seemed relatively young. Only three of them had actual combat experience, having previously fought against Ork hordes on Pandora. Looking at these nine soldiers, Chris once again recalled that saying: "This is war. At first, you'll look forward to your heroic appearance on the battlefield, then you'll meet a group of comrades who will face life and death with you, and finally, often, only you will be left alive."
After speaking, Chris shook his head, not paying attention to the different expressions on the soldiers' faces. "Fall in, we're boarding now." Chris then led his squad onto an adjacent assault ship. The Spore Extermination Unit's new mission was to destroy another Ork Junkyard City, designated "2," which was larger in scale than the recently destroyed Junkyard City 1.
"Stay close to me during the mission," Chris began to order his team members. "If you want to live, do not question any of my orders. On the battlefield, any hesitation is fatal." Chris genuinely wanted his team members to survive the war, so he meticulously explained the precautions needed for the upcoming battle. Furthermore, he assigned the position of vice-captain to the oldest and most experienced member of the team.
"Let's drive all the greenskins out of this planet, and out of this star system!"