Chapter 10: The Trench of the Dead

The team removed all the salvage items from the inside of the escape boat, and Renault ordered the four bodies in the cabin to be incinerated.

"This is the last search and rescue point we are responsible for, and the search and rescue operation is over, back to the camp!" Renault announced that three of the eight-man squad were loaded with supplies, while the others were responsible for guarding the perimeter, and that it was already three and a half hours before Renault and his eight-man squad arrived at the entrance to the "Trench of the Dead".

The "Trench of the Dead" is where he finally established his base on the planet Char. The Renault Ranger is not the first human to set foot on this land, the army of the Tyranid Federation and Moriath during the "Union War" had a war here, the "Bone Trench" can be said to be a dangerous and very safe place, the danger is because there is a volcano near the "Bone Trench" - "Yarog Super Active Volcano", the volcanic ash that rushes to the sky is floating in the mountain pass, which is not fatal, the most deadly is the hot magma flow overflowing from Yarog, and some dangerous areas, Hot magma flows outside the surface, and in some places it looks like cooled magma rocks, but in fact the so-called magmatic rocks that seem to be very stable and can walk on them are not fragile and are likely to collapse when stepped on, while the inside is flowing with deadly magma fluids. It is said that this place is safe precisely because these extremely dangerous terrain is difficult to be infected and attacked by insect swarms, and those terrible traps and magma rivers can effectively block the impact of the insect sea troops on this place.

By the time Renault returned to the Trench of Bones, Cade and Linda had already done what he ordered and had set up a well-established camp here. They erected hundreds of huge makeshift tents for people to live in, the work quarters and canteens were set up with energy batteries recovered from the escape pods, and the few SCV vehicles in the Rangers were scrambled to fortify the entrances and exits of the "Trench of the Dead" with metal recovered from the crash site.

Typically, the "Trench of the Bones" is an easy and difficult site to defend, a high ground with an impassable river of magma to the east and front, and extremely fragile surfaces to the west and south, with scorching lava flowing underneath. The only thing that can safely reach the apex is a narrow ravine to the south, and the name "Bone Trench" is derived from this thin ravine.

There is nothing wrong with the "Trench of Bones" being a typical easy place to defend and difficult to attack, but it is also a fatal flaw in turn, especially the narrow ravine, which can prevent the enemy from entering the high ground, and can also be prevented by the enemy from going out, because the only way to leave the high ground is through the valley, unless there is an air force, once the enemy is at the other end of the ravine, then they will be like trapped beasts in a cage. In fact, they don't have an air force at all, otherwise they wouldn't have chosen this place.

These Renaults have thought of it, so he will desperately pile up materials on the high ground, this is bound to be a difficult and protracted battle, and choosing to retreat to the "bone trench" is the most desirable way at present.

"As of now, the search and rescue operation ended one hour and fifty minutes ago, and the preliminary statistics are out, sir!" Cade reported to him. Renault was sitting on a stool made of metal zuò from the wings of a transport plane. "Report the situation, Cade!" Kade paused and said, "The number of people is out, and we have 4,200 people. There were 2,100 people on the Duke's side, with a total of 6,300 people, of which 2,200 were wounded and 4,000 were actually combat-ready. Based on the supplies we currently have, it will last about two weeks. If we can find anything more, we can hold on longer. "Cade wisely didn't mention that there were no living creatures to eat on Char except for the aliens, nothing but bugs, and Reynaud wouldn't think they would be hungry enough to go to those disgusting aliens." Plenty of weapons" Cade went on to report: "Ammunition is also plentiful. He grinned and said, "We've even gotten quite a few heavy armor machines. Among them, there are 24 siege tanks with heavy firepower, and it will be easier to defend with siege tanks and positions. Some were damaged when the ship landed, but our engineers were able to fix them. ”

"What about communications?" Renault added his question.

"We're in a good position right now, on high ground, and it's open on all sides." Cade organized the language, adding, "We don't have extra-atmospheric communication and navigation capabilities at the moment, but we've fixed the communication system on the spacecraft. So we can keep in touch, but we don't have the power to send signals to outer space and other planets, and our engineers have built an energy spire on high ground, and I've activated it, and we can guarantee that it will last for 3 years. ”

"Nobody wants to be stuck here that long, Cade! But we have to be prepared! Renault muttered to himself. They don't have a spaceship to leave Char, and they will end up between hunger and bugs, and what awaits them is either a happy death or a slow death. He then smiled and said optimistically: "Of course, it cannot be ruled out that there may be someone who can receive our distress signal and come to the rescue to save us." ”

"Well done! Cade! Renault patted the black man in front of him on the shoulder, "Let's do this first!" Remember to send a few teams to take turns on duty, let the rest of the people rest, we will talk about other things tomorrow, let the brothers on duty cheer up, the lives of more than 6,000 people here are in their hands, you tell them so. ”

"Yes! Sir! Cade saluted, and left. Renault stood here alone, looking out at the last remnant of the sun, "Man! Are you still alive? Why haven't I gotten your signal for so long? ”

On the other side, Frank came to the top of an extinct volcano, he looked at the sky, the morning sun had appeared in the distance, and now it was dawn, he looked in the direction of the "bone trench", he finally smiled a little, "It's almost there!" Frank muttered to himself, holding out his hand and giving a thumbs-up, "Visually about 3 miles away!" He looked back and saw Cynthia and nearly two hundred yards away, and he was about to shout, but swallowed again. She staggered behind her. "What a nuisance!" Seeing this, Frank reluctantly retreated, if it was Kelligan or Nova, he wouldn't have to worry about them at all, and even they would be better than him.

As soon as Frank approached her, she fell down and threw herself into the other's arms, "I'm so hungry!" Water! She said weakly, and after falling into his arms, she didn't even have the strength to stand up, looking at the white mist on her glass mask and her rapid breathing, Frank opened her personal PC, and when she looked at it, she found that the other party's oxygen was less than three percent.

Frank looked at the amount of oxygen he was carrying, and it was only seventeen percent.

Suddenly, a "smack" sound sounded, and Cynthia, who was already a little drowsy, suddenly looked at him with wide eyes, "Are you crazy?" He saw Frank open his mask, and it was Char, not Tasanis or Kehaxing. Frank ignored him, opened the other party's hydraulic bag directly, and began to deliver oxygen, the fog on Cynthia's face mask began to dissipate, and her delicate face resurfaced, but now she stared at the other party eagerly. The abundant oxygen gradually improved her condition, and her groggy head became more and more awake. "Stop! You madman, you're going to die! She said with an eager expression.

"Whew" Frank took a deep breath. But he found that there was no discomfort, he looked at Cynthia, whose face was full of incredulity, "Don't think I'm so noble!" It will be like the male protagonist in a tragic story who sacrifices himself for the heroine to survive, that is just a fool, if it were me, I would save the heroine and let myself or Xiali. I don't need this oxygen at all. ”

Cynthia stared at him blankly, unable to organize decent language for a while.

Frank's encounter with Zeratu this time can be said to have been of great benefit, from Zeratul he learned that his ghost energy and the void ghost energy are similar, which he didn't know before, not only that, Zeratul taught him how to use the void ghost energy, and now he can use the void ghost energy to absorb the dark energy in the space for his own use, so he didn't feel hungry along the way, and now even the lung function can be omitted, and he can use the void ghost energy to absorb the dark energy in the space to recharge his body, For a brief moment, he wondered if his lung function would deteriorate as a result. He also thought about a lot of questions, maybe that's why bugs can fly in space, and because they can take in energy in the air and survive.

"You" Cynthia still couldn't say a word, her chest was heaving and unsettled, and if it weren't for the fact that he was a real person, she even suspected that he was an alien and not a human.

"The material of your costume is exactly the same as that of the Ghost Combat Suit, no wonder you can survive without oxygen or pressure! I should have thought of it a long time ago. Frank patted his forehead and said, after a pause, he added, "Can you still go?" ”

She shook her head, "Let's rest for a while before leaving!" I'm not you, I'm hungry and tired now. ”

"No! Gotta go! Twenty percent of the oxygen, rushing to the destination just to run out of oxygen, you are wasting time! Frank directly denied her. If you want to go, you go first, I can't walk! "Anyway, she won't be moving. Frank took a deep breath, "You're the most troublesome woman I've ever seen, and it's still a hostile relationship, hold on, it's not okay to ask you to die halfway through so much effort.!" He said to himself, and without waiting for the other party to respond, he carried her on his back. Cynthia just "Yikes! I was grateful to him in my heart, but when I heard his later words, I swallowed the word "thank you" back. She found that this guy was open-mouthed and always spoke so badly.

At dawn, a man and a woman headed in the direction of the "trench of bones".

(To be continued......)