A Miraculous Victory Against Overwhelming Odds

"Argh..."

At that moment, the spacious compartment was filled with the unwilling growls of the Elites.

The paratroopers helped one another carry the Elites, who had already been bound into 'stick' shapes, and place them together.

Next, the more severely wounded Blood Ravens and most of the paratroopers stayed in the compartment to guard the group of Elites.

Gabriel and the paratrooper second lieutenant led several Blood Ravens and paratroopers toward the bridge at the end of the compartment.

"Whoosh~."

As the hatch opened, Gabriel and the others entered the bridge of this CCS-class Cruiser.

The layout was not all that different from a human bridge. There were workstations with seats for the crew, but unlike a human bridge, there were no enormous viewports.

Instead, there was a gigantic holographic screen displaying the situation in the nearby Space Sector, along with wedge-shaped characters that Gabriel and the others could not understand.

Furthermore, Gabriel and the others discovered a new 'species'.

At the very front of the bridge,

a 'creature' with a hard, angular shell, several blue-glowing tentacles, and a head resembling that of a long-necked dinosaur was hovering in midair.

Despite possessing three pairs of eyes, the creature's appearance and behavior still gave Gabriel and the others the impression that it was harmless to both humans and animals.

(Illustration)

'Engineer' was the term humans in Halo used for this species, whose actual name was 'Huragok'.

Engineers were not true life-forms in the strictest sense. They were 'biological computers' created by the Forerunners—a pseudo-biological technology that combined Artificial Intelligence with living organisms.

"Goo?"

The Engineer, which had been adjusting various holographic controls, also noticed Gabriel and the others. It turned around and looked at them, making a sound that seemed to express confusion.

"Click!"

Gabriel, the second lieutenant, and the