Since it's not advisable to stay long, we must retreat, but before that, there are still some loose ends to tie up.
Lieutenant Mondeson checked everyone's condition; aside from the one still lying down, everyone else was fine. He and a group of soldiers observed a few moments of silence before Lieutenant Russo's body, then took his dog tags, leaving his body exposed to the wilderness.
In such extraordinary times, Lieutenant Russo's spirit, now one with the universe spirit, would surely understand.
Then, the Lieutenant retrieved the powered exoskeleton and handed it to the big black Sergeant.
Powered exoskeletons are hard currency now. Even the most oblivious person could see that against the non-insect, non-beast monsters just now, having one meant being the butcher, and not having one meant being the fish. Moreover, this equipment was originally important military property and couldn't be left behind as a burial offering.
The thick-necked, big-headed black Sergeant, who seemed to be named Sergeant Youyou, was overjoyed and oblivious with his new equipment, likely having thought that wearing a steel armor that made him walk with a swagger was cool. If someone hadn't just died, he probably would have started dancing to celebrate.
But even so, no one expressed dissatisfaction. This indicated that Lieutenant Russo's popularity was indeed not great.
Hopefully, he truly rests in peace.
The reason the powered exoskeleton wasn't given to the team's obvious strongest combatant—Sergeant Baka, the Bearmen—was due to a significant design flaw in the AS40 model power armor. Its applicable height range was between 1.6 and 1.95 meters, and weight should be under 100 kilograms, clearly designed for standard Earth humans.
But what about the Bearmen Sergeant? Look at his build, which could make him an unsolvable monster in basketball. His body was already a size larger than the powered exoskeleton. Would fitting him in require the legendary space-folding technology?
“I heard that the Empire and the Alliance also prepared special power armor for their Behemoth Shock Troopers,” the plain-looking, plain-figured, and plain-tempered nurse said with a hint of resentment in her voice. She probably felt quite unhappy that she didn't have a dedicated medical armor, or perhaps she simply disliked the big black man.
Of course, Yu Lian now knew that this Corporal girl named Belinda Lunner was a nurse and not a dedicated military doctor. The team's actual doctor, Sergeant Major Banks, was still at the base.
Now, everyone was preparing to consider returning to the base. After all, they had inexplicably fought two skirmishes with "beasts," four people had died, including an officer, nearly half of their ammunition and energy had been expended, everyone was exhausted and stressed, and they had a severely wounded person who couldn't move. A normal army couldn't continue the mission.
However, as the only technical personnel Present, Belinda seriously expressed her objection.
“Warrant Officer Yu Lian's injuries cannot be delayed. I must find a relatively safe and clean place for emergency treatment!”
Everyone fell silent for a moment, then silently nodded.
Yu Lian was everyone's comrade. If a few days ago, due to unfamiliarity, this high-achieving intern officer who suddenly appeared had given everyone a sense of aloofness, the recent battle was enough for the simple soldiers to consider him one of their own.
So, this weak body is also called Yu Lian? Yu Lian thought.
So, I'm actually the one holding them back? Yu Lian thought again.
“Let's find a cave there.” Yu Lian pointed to the nearby mountains. The shape of the mountains was typical karst topography, which was also a common terrain on this planet, so finding a hiding cave wouldn't be difficult.
“Let's go!” Lieutenant Mondeson said to everyone in a calm, or rather, overly calm tone.
Sergeant Youyou, who had the power armor, and Sergeant Baka, who could handle one against five without power armor, picked up Yu Lian's power stretcher and set off first.
The power stretcher could actually move on its own, but the one Yu Lian was lying on seemed to have some issues; the battery flickered, seemingly low on power. Just like this entire infantry squad, it was full of absurd incongruities, with so many flaws that one didn't know where to begin complaining.
It's the space age, for crying out loud! Mobile infantry not fully equipped with heavy firepower, no one-per-person powered exoskeletons, and they still have to walk on two legs through the perilous alien wilderness. Not to mention airships or the like, couldn't there be some kind of troop transport vehicles?
Five minutes later, everyone indeed found a relatively spacious natural cave to temporarily settle down.
Ina stood guard at the cave entrance with two sentries; Bearmen Baka and big black Youyou cautiously explored deeper into the cave; the Lieutenant began to contact Command HQ with his communicator, but judging by his anxious look, he probably couldn't connect; the rest of the people began to rest in shifts. The nurse then called two soldiers to help, carefully pulling Yu Lian's body out of the half-destroyed powered exoskeleton.
It could indeed only be described as pulling, because this half of the external armor was clearly subjected to violent impact, deformed and scrapped, and simply could not be opened by normal means.
At this moment, the painkiller on Yu Lian's body also wore off, and he was immediately in so much pain that he almost fainted. Of course, as a transcendent psionic saint who had opened the Seventh Star Ring, he couldn't show weakness, couldn't lose face, couldn't be undignified, so he gritted his teeth and didn't utter a sound until his face was pale and covered in sweat, until his veins popped and his mouth twitched, which made the surrounding soldiers look at him with awe, and the nurse's eyes shone with even more brilliance.
Then, that indescribable look quickly turned into pity.
“This... what I'm about to say, please don't be scared,” Belinda said cautiously.
“...I am a soldier. I will not be scared.”
“Your spine is broken!”
“Whose spine is... uh, well, it's a lot worse than I thought.” Yu Lian's mood immediately became heavy, but he still comforted her, “However, it's nothing major; it can still be cured by putting it in a culture dish.”
“...That's gene therapy. But, that kind of equipment is only available in Turon! The medical room at the Garrison Station can give you a shot of nanomachines, but here, I can only temporarily fix your bones.”
Medical nanomachines entering the blood vessels and bone gaps could temporarily act as nerves, and with the spine fixed, Yu Lian could still walk like a normal person for now.
“Then fix it first,” Yu Lian forced a smile. The next step would be to return to the Garrison Station for nanomachine injection, and then to Turon, the capital of New Yumen Star, for follow-up treatment.
Of course, Yu Lian did have a way to instantly revive himself with full health and mana, but this method was not suitable for normal people. Yu Lian also didn't know if it would work. After all, his current body looked very weak! It didn't look like a favored child of heaven at all.
The nurse then began to work, conjuring a pile of electric drills, hammers, steel bars, and other tools. She probably thought this treatment would be very stressful for Yu Lian, so she started making awkward small talk: “Also, do you still remember what happened before you fainted?”
“...Why do you ask?”
“No, I just thought your eyes looked confused. You hit your head when you were injured earlier, and I'm just worried you might have suffered some brain trauma or something.”
Confused my ass? Are you the protagonist of some book? Do you have the divine skill of always seeing fleeting emotional fluctuations and facial changes in other people's eyes?
Yu Lian felt a bit stressed and decided to change the subject, so he casually said, “Speaking of which, everyone is really energetic this time. Not taking airships or cars, are we out for a hiking exercise?”
The nurse was slightly startled, then said with a troubled expression, “This... Warrant Officer, Lieutenant Russo is dead. I know he made many mistakes, but he's dead now.”
So what did I do? What's with this tone of blaming me for dragging him out to flog his corpse?
“I know Lieutenant Kruse drove the airship to transport spices for His Excellency the Governor, and you were very unhappy about that. You were even angrier when Lieutenant Russo sold the energy packs of four out of five armored troop carriers to a Minlan merchant, and you even said you were going to report it to Turon Command HQ...”
No wonder Lieutenant Russo wanted to abandon me so badly! But this child, also named Yu Lian, you're quite stubborn! Don't you know this is normal operation for the Commonwealth army? Not to mention the garrison, even the Marine Corps and the Space Fleet can hardly avoid it. Aren't you afraid of getting shot in the back by exposing this?
“What, you mean the last one? Uh, well, that... You said you didn't trust Lieutenant Russo and would drive it yourself. Then, then didn't it fall into a pit?”
Oh, so it was my fault!
“...Well, Lieutenant Kruse and Lieutenant Russo were not good people. They put on airs and bossed us around, always bullying us low-ranking soldiers. But, they would share some of the private funds they got. So, so, Commander, can you please not...”
What kind of values are these? If you were my soldier, I'd shoot you! Yu Lian thought.
“Doesn't it feel particularly unreal? Moon People?” Lieutenant Mondeson had approached at some point, familiarly plopping down beside him and forcing a stiff smile: “I knew all this, but not only did I not stop it, I took the biggest share.”
No, on the contrary, this is too real. Also, why do you call me Moon People?
“We are not like you. You are Moon People, a favored child of heaven. In five or six years at most, I'll be calling you Commander. You have a great future, but for us peacekeepers working odd jobs in the colonies, who isn't here for the money, gnawing on sand with the Sand People and pirates in this desolate place?”
So, the Moon People you mentioned, is it that Moon People?
“Alas, I'm so foolish, truly! I only thought Kruse would be back in a few days at most. We've already reported the armored vehicle's energy packs as training losses; anyway, new ones will arrive next month... But I didn't know the Sand People would gather to rebel at this time! They've even started besieging Turon! And I didn't know Command HQ would make us rush back to support at this time. Alas, it's all my fault!”
The Lieutenant's words were very informative, and perhaps they stimulated Yu Lian's confused memories, as he suddenly felt a headache coming on. He couldn't help but frown and touch the back of his head; indeed, there was a huge lump.
“That... Warrant Officer, you must be very familiar with Officer Bonaparte, right? You're both Moon People, it must be so. I saw you and the Officer eating together in Turon last time. Well, if possible...”
Yu Lian clutched his increasingly throbbing head, grimaced, and gasped.
“Warrant Officer!” The little nurse's face instantly turned pale, and Lieutenant Mondeson, feeling it was his fault, couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. All the soldiers resting in the cave were startled, and Sergeant Major Ina, who was on guard at the cave entrance, also hurried over upon seeing the situation.
“Hello? Hello, can you hear me? Look into my eyes, Warrant Officer, look into my eyes. Our Moon People, look into my eyes! Who am I, do you still remember?” the Lieutenant shouted.
“...You, you are Lieutenant Bill Mondson, belonging to the New Yumen Security Command HQ, Commander of the 12th Garrison Station.”
“Then who are you? What's your name, how old are you, why are you here?”
“My name is Yu Lian, Warrant Officer of the Blue Star Commonwealth Defense Force, 21 years old, a fourth-year student in the Strategic Studies Department of Central Defense University, Class of 830. I'm here for a three-month short-term service as an internship for graduation.”