Chapter 209: Death Legion and Noisy Communications

The next day.

Irregular in shape, about twenty kilometers in diameter, like a super-large potato, Phobos is located in an orbit seven thousand kilometers above the Martian surface.

Only one side of Phobos is covered with artificial facilities: four 300mm plasma cannons, numerous close-in defense pulse guns, and a huge air valve two hundred meters in diameter, emitting blue light from its membrane.

Through the membrane, one can faintly see the internal facilities and personnel in protective suits, while large numbers of transport craft bearing the conspicuous red-and-white Umbrella logo pass in and out of Phobos via the air valve.

Besides its official name Phobos, people also call it Phobos, but after being transformed into an orbital base by Umbrella Engineering Department, the company internally prefers to call it Krieg (Krieg).

At this moment, in the shipping lane, a black-painted Seagull II transport aircraft belonging to Umbrella's Armed Forces Department is docked outside the air valve.

After receiving entry clearance, the pilot continued to fly the transport ship into Krieg's interior, landing in the designated area and lowering the rear hatch.

Immediately afterward, Leon led Shirley out of the cabin and deeper into Krieg.

As they walked, Shirley observed the harbor at the air valve.

She saw the company's transport craft unloading numerous containers; most were daily supplies, but a few bore biohazard markings.

This made her wonder what kind of troops were stationed in this orbital base.

Leaving the harbor, Leon led Shirley through Krieg's corridors and explained to her:

"As an intelligence officer, you need to know how many armed security forces are near your jurisdiction, as well as which Mobile Task Force is best at countering anomalous phenomena."

Initially, when human activity was limited to Earth, if an intelligence officer detected an anomaly and called for support, the Mobile Task Forces permanently stationed in near-Earth orbit with the fleet would respond immediately.

Now the times have changed; as human activity has spread throughout the Solar System, the aforementioned procedure no longer applies.

Therefore, each colony will be garrisoned with a corresponding number of Mobile Task Forces.

"Well then..." Shirley curiously asked, "Sir, what about Astate?"

Even as William BoKen's daughter, her knowledge of Astate is as scarce as that of most internal staff.

To her and most employees, the most mysterious and powerful unit in Umbrella's Armed Forces Department is Astate.

As for Ghost agents?

The records of this unit's members have been erased, making it a presence known to very few.

"They?" Leon blinked at the question, then smiled and said:

"If they respond to your call for support, it means the anomaly is at least Hera-level (Tier 3); before they arrive, you need to consider how to survive, so do not hope they will come to assist."

"So that's how it is..." Shirley realized.

During the conversation, the two arrived at a gate.

Leon took out his employee ID, inserted it into the terminal on the right side of the gate to read it, and entered his personal password.

After the gate slowly opened, Leon retrieved his employee ID and led Shirley onward.

Entering the corridor beyond the gate, Shirley saw through the frosted glass on both sides MTFs wearing only black short sleeves and shorts, lying on multifunctional chairs, seemingly meditating.

The frost indicated the indoor temperature was below zero, but although this group looked young and handsome, the attractive MTFs showed no reaction.

In stark contrast to the technicians in white jumpsuits checking conditions and ensuring equipment operation.

Shirley instantly understood why biohazard-marked containers were sent here.

Leon walked to a glass window, looked at an MTF undergoing inspection by a technician, and explained to Shirley beside him:

"They are one of Umbrella's elite task forces, Krieg, best at countering anomalies that affect human emotion and thought, because Krieg hardly feels fear, does not fear pain, and does not fear death."

"Krieg..." Shirley murmured, gazing at the expressionless Krieg troops.

Krieg, dubbed the "Death Legion" by Sui Bian, is actually a branch of the Undead Task Force.

The establishment of the Undead has not been canceled, but its scale remains at a company level, long stationed at Luna Base on the Moon.

Krieg is the mass-produced version of the Undead.

Umbrella's biogenetic embryo technology, combined with the Undead's resurrected soldier technology, allows a fully developed Krieg to be cultivated in sixteen months.

In terms of cost, it is far lower than that of the Undead produced via cloning technology.

However, in various data and indicators, Krieg is not as extreme as the Undead; after all, the Undead only lose combat capability when their heads are completely blown apart and their bodies totally dismembered.

But its relatively low cost gives Krieg a numerical advantage the Undead never had; it is currently Umbrella's regiment-level task force, numbering over three thousand and steadily increasing.

"You have them as your backup alongside other Martian intelligence officers." After saying this, Leon turned and walked out, smiling at Shirley.

"Alright, after I show you around Krieg Base and then Deimos, I can continue enjoying my vacation—know that I'm working overtime for free."

"Yes, sir." Shirley hurried to keep up.

…

Soon after, the two returned to the harbor and boarded the Seagull II transport aircraft that had been waiting.

The pilot then carried the two away from the harbor, following the route to Deimos.

After less than two hours of flight, the satellite over ten kilometers in diameter appeared in the pilots' field of view.

Deimos, once merely grazed by a raider fleet, now shows no trace of its original appearance, its surface almost entirely covered by artificial structures and air valves.

Furthermore, five vessels resembling the Heron-class, each under six hundred meters in length, are docked sequentially in the external shipyards.

Deimos has been transformed by the UEG into a fortress dock.

On the civilian side, engineering ships handle maintenance and mining operations in the asteroid belt, while militarily, a UNSC fleet is stationed there like a fortress, forming a vital part of the Solar System's defense line.

After all, both UNSC and UEG secretly belong to Umbrella, so UNSC naturally becomes humanity's strongest core force.

As the Seagull II approached a small air valve along the route, it voluntarily reduced speed, because when the pilot tried to contact Deimos's control tower, there was no response.

The communications then transmitted a harsh, noisy sound, like human weeping, interspersed with intermittent cries for help and rapid gunfire.

Afterward, the pilot summoned Leon into the cockpit.

After hearing the various sounds from the communications and looking out at Deimos outside the window, Leon spoke in a solemn tone:

"It seems the vacation really has to end early."

(End of chapter)