Part 4 (2/2)

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE.

METISETTE, 23 LIBRAE.

Delgado avoided looking over at his copilot. He didn't want the UNSC pilot seeing the pale look of fear on his face as they bucked and kicked their way through the thick atmosphere of Metisette.Keyes had come at the moon fast, used its soupy atmosphere to burn off their speed, then sped back up into orbit to loop back around and drop the Pelicans off.Several smaller Kig-Yar s.h.i.+ps had come after them, but most of the troop carriers that had lifted off Metisette were staying well clear of the UNSC frigate.The Kig-Yar s.h.i.+ps attacking them were small, but then so was Keyes' frigate. Keyes was drawing them off, away from the drop zone.It was mostly working.As long as the antiaircraft guns didn't fire when Delgado and the five other Pelicans came in over the Redoubt, this insane, highly fragile plan would work.Delgado watched as the clouds parted, and slammed his Pelican hard right to avoid a ma.s.sive Kig-Yar troop carrier climbing up and away from the complex.He wobbled back on course, looking over to the right to see another Pelican with a sheered tail diving and tumbling its way toward the ground.”That was Finlay,” someone radioed.Delgado came in low over the remains of the anti-aircraft emplacements with a smile, and touched down in front of the large spirelike building. The other Pelicans made similar flare-outs and landed in a row.He fumbled for a second when trying to find the switch to lower the ramp, but the copilot was on it. The moment the ramp hit the ground, boots stamped their way up and into the Pelican.Delgado turned around to see both Spartans standing behind him. Their armor was hardly recognizable: dented, carbon burned, peeling and flaking from heat and plasma and abuse.They looked as if they'd fought through h.e.l.l itself, Delgado thought.h.e.l.ljumpers snapped themselves in along the sides of the bay. Several hung out the back of the Pelican, firing back at a solid ma.s.s of Unggoy who started to flood the area. Plasma filled the air and slapped the sides of the Pelican.The Spartans looked back, then tapped Delgado on the shoulder. ”That's everybody. Go go go,” he heard Jai yell over the radio. ”The s.h.i.+va has ten minutes.”Delgado had the time up on a counter in his heads-up; he knew d.a.m.n well how much time they had.He rammed the engines up full and pulled out over the Redoubt, moving upriver as fast as he could as h.e.l.ljumpers fired their last few bursts from the closing ramp.Once well clear of the Redoubt, and with the cabin depressurized, Delgado began a slow spiraling climb with the other four Pelicans.A giant flash of light filled the inside of the Pelican. In the distance the s.h.i.+va went off. As the initial blast faded, they could see the plume of the explosion reaching up into the sky, slowly turning into a giant mushroom.Then Delgado's slow spiral took it out of sight.

CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR.

THE REDOUBT, METISETTE, 23 LIBRAE.

Reth sat at a table as a healer checked him over. He'd been inside a command center when the ma.s.sive explosion occurred, and since many of the Kig-Yar s.h.i.+ps grounded to make the skeleton of the Redoubt were fighting s.h.i.+ps, he was therefore well s.h.i.+elded. He'd been safe.But he'd gotten a high dose of radiation.The healer left him with pills to take, and Reth stalked his way up to an enclosed balcony carved out of a large airlock. The Redoubt was a mess. It was a good thing they were moving out to take the Rubble, he thought. Rebuilding this would be expensive.There were Unggoy leaders wanting to see him, shocked by the damage the humans had done and wondering what it meant for the timeline they had in mind for their continuing development of Metisette as a world for themselves.Reth growled.Humans.When the Prophet set him on this task, Reth had done it to raise his profile, and that of the Kig-Yar. He'd also enjoyed the guilty pleasure of working with the humans. Their profit-minded goals and Kig-Yar-like love of trade and smuggling and piracy had meshed. He'd been slightly disappointed to have to destroy the humans throughout the Rubble as the endgame of this grand experiment.Now though, he wondered if the Prophets weren't right. The humans were unconscionable reprobates, too dangerous to let live. The Prophets' call for their extermination was starting to make sense to him.Reth looked forward to taking the Rubble. Even more so, to getting the Exodus and the location to their homeworld on it.He'd happily burn it all for the Prophet, now.Reth left the balcony and donned a long cloak, his air supply for the walk across the plaza, and a pair of plasma pistols. He walked out in the plaza where droves of terrified Unggoy stood.They'd all been dosed with antiradiation meds. Many had died in the blast, but Reth had had those bodies bulldozed away, and cleared the way for Unggoy waiting in the lower warrens to line up and get aboard the troop carriers. He had only lost a few thousand to the bomb, thankfully, as the communications and scanning station was miles upstream of the core Redoubt plaza.It was time to repay the humans for their deeds, he thought, as he walked toward his shuttle and several of his senior Kig-Yar officers.Unggoy were shaking and looking up into the sky. It was growing brighter.Reth stopped and looked up. Giant fireb.a.l.l.s were streaking down, growing larger and larger.The humans had taken out the antiaircraft batteries and his ability to see see... to see this this coming. He ran for his shuttle, shoving frightened Unggoy aside. coming. He ran for his shuttle, shoving frightened Unggoy aside.”Go!” he screamed at his pilot in the c.o.c.kpit. ”Get off the ground!”The shuttle fired its engines and started to rise, and Reth saw the first giant mound of rock slam into the Redoubt.But where had they come from? he wondered, as the shock wave threw his shuttle aside and dashed it against the side of one of the large buildings.The wreckage of the shuttle slid to the ground as debris and rock rained down on it.A dazed Reth looked up through the cracked gla.s.s of the shuttle; he stared directly up at one large fireball that plummeted right at him.It was irregularly shaped, he thought, with large docking collars sticking out of one side, melting away into slag as the heat deformed them.A piece of the Rubble, he realized just before it struck, vaporizing everything in an immense release of hyperkinetic energy and destruction.

CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE.

METISETTE ORBIT, 23 LIBRAE.

Thel looked at the glowing, cratered remains of the Redoubt from orbit. ”Nothing remains of Reth's fleet. There is no sign of Reth himself, either.”A stillness descended on the bridge of the Infinite Spoils Infinite Spoils as both Zhar and Thel contemplated the destruction the humans had wrought on Metisette. as both Zhar and Thel contemplated the destruction the humans had wrought on Metisette.”And now what, s.h.i.+pmaster?” Zhar asked. ”We have destroyed prime targets in the Rubble; the rest has dashed itself against Metisette.”Thel looked at the Unggoy working for them, and thought about Saal, brooding somewhere deep inside the s.h.i.+p.”Some might say we have done our mission well, Zhar. Do you think the Prophets will believe it when they arrive?”Zhar looked at him, his mandibles flexing slightly as if tasting the air for clues as to what Thel might want as an answer. His once proud mind had become erratic in the face of the idea that the Hierarchs may have had differing goals, and that they'd gotten caught in the middle of some machination between the Prophets of Regret and Truth.Thel knew that Sangheili honor demanded they rise above it. He cleared his throat. ”Reth's invasion fleet is in disarray. The Hierarchs will not be happy if we stand here and let the last of the humans escape with the location to Earth and the only chance all these loyal Unggoy have to live.”Thel looked at the Unggoy on the bridge as they paid close attention to him, without looking directly at him. So maybe Sangheili could could play politics, Thel thought to himself, or at least set aside the desire for direct combat for a bit, despite the fact it coursed through their blood. play politics, Thel thought to himself, or at least set aside the desire for direct combat for a bit, despite the fact it coursed through their blood.”What do you mean?” Zhar said.”The Hierarchs want loyal subjects and true believers,” Thel said. ”I cannot imagine what would happen to all these surviving Unggoy if they do not try to take that asteroid in which the humans are trying to evacuate the system.”Unggoy eyes balefully watched Thel pace the bridge now.Zhar coughed. ”Their lives would all be forfeit.”Thel nodded. ”They would indeed.” He turned to the Unggoy in the room. ”Tell your surviving brothers to board the Exodus asteroid. We will provide cover for the action, but then stand clear. That human s.h.i.+p is too much of a match for this ungainly Kig-Yar boat.”He walked over and shut off the screen showing the ruins of the Redoubt. ”The Unggoy will take the asteroid, or die trying.”If the Hierarchs were to let any of them live, there was no other option.Zhar got up and walked over to Thel. ”If the ill.u.s.trious Hierarchs cannot agree on these things, what else do they disagree on, and what else might just be Prophet manipulation, s.h.i.+pmaster?”Thel grabbed Zhar's arm, and Zhar growled. But Thel looked his fellow Sangheili in the eye and whispered, ”Such thinking lines the path to heresy. Do not indulge in it.”Zhar pulled free and left the bridge.

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX.

HABITAT EXODUS, THE RUBBLE, 23 LIBRAE.

From the moment the evacuation protocols had blared into life, Karl Simon's day had been a blur of tubes and long lines, waiting to board a habitat he'd never heard of until today. And it was a habitat that was going to jet them toward a new system. Away from home.A home that was under attack.It reminded him of the day the Covenant attacked Madrigal: the same nervous lines of people, hushed rumors, and fear that hung in the air.At the very end, Karl had been shuttled to the Exodus in a cramped supplies freighter. He'd looked out the pilot's windows and seen the craters and pitted surface of what looked like a tiny moon.The Exodus was six miles of potato-like asteroid, with a diameter of two miles. The freighter was a fleck of dust next to it, and the Exodus filled the windows as far as they could see as they approached it.We did this, Karl had thought with a momentary flash of pride.He'd been hustled to what felt like a stadium near the core of the s.h.i.+p, moving through miles and miles of corridors, following instructions on a card that had been handed to him in the shuttle.A hundred thousand other refugees, their murmuring echoing around the walls and ceilings, all had a.s.signed chairs that matched numbers on their cards.But now, the moment Karl sat, an usher appeared. ”Karl Simon?””Yes?””Volunteer for the Rubble Defense Force?””Yes.” Karl had signed up during the early days of the Rubble, when they'd been looking over their shoulders every day, expecting the Covenant to return.”Come with me.”The usher led Karl out of the rows of chairs with restraints where everyone else was being ordered to buckle in. Outside, the usher pointed down a corridor. ”Follow this all the way to the end. They need you there.”It was a mile, which Karl walked as fast as he could, slightly out of breath when he reached an open bay near the front of the asteroid where thirty men with rifles and handguns stood, guarding the entrance. A grizzled old miner looked him up and down. ”Volunteer Defense?””Yeah.””You have certification in hand-to-hand combat and firearms training?”Karl nodded. The minder handed Karl a datapad and a handgun. ”We have an estimated three thousand Unggoy who've managed to get inside, more expected. You're drafted. The doors behind us lead to the control center, the bridge, of the Exodus. The aliens do not get past here. Understand?””Yes, sir,” sir,” Karl said, and took up position just as the floor started to shake. Karl said, and took up position just as the floor started to shake.”What the h.e.l.l is that?” one of the other men shouted, holding a machine gun up as a seven-foot-tall man in gray armor turned the corner.They all stared as the half-ton, armor-clad human walked up to them.”I have something the bridge crew needs,” he said, and held up a small black chip casing in his gauntleted hand. ”Mind letting me through?”The Rubble Defense Force stepped aside, one of the large miners politely holding the door open for the giant, armor-clad soldier to step inside.

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN.

MIDSUMMER NIGHT, NEAR HABITAT EXODUS, 23 LIBRAE NEAR HABITAT EXODUS, 23 LIBRAE.

The bridge crew of the Exodus habitat hailed the Midsummer Night. Midsummer Night. Keyes looked over at Lt. Burt on the comms. ”Patch them through.” Keyes looked over at Lt. Burt on the comms. ”Patch them through.”Midsummer Night had been covering the slow flight out to the edges of the system to prepare for a Slips.p.a.ce jump for almost a day now. Unggoy and Kig-Yar fighters had dogged and hara.s.sed them the whole way, pockmarking the surface of the asteroid and occasionally scoring hits on the frigate, but unable to stop them. The desperate Grunt boarding parties left Keyes nervous. He'd had to make a snap decision to have the Spartans hand over the nav data, but all indications were that the Rubble Defense fighters were keeping the Grunts pinned down. And more importantly, well clear of the c.o.c.kpit. The Grunts, with their methane tanks and nowhere to go once the Exodus entered Slips.p.a.ce, would eventually choke to death. Keyes had decided the million lives were worth the small risk. There'd been enough Colonist deaths by the Covenant so far. It was time to rescue some of them. He had no idea of what trouble might lie ahead for him from this decision, but the lives saved would be worth it. had been covering the slow flight out to the edges of the system to prepare for a Slips.p.a.ce jump for almost a day now. Unggoy and Kig-Yar fighters had dogged and hara.s.sed them the whole way, pockmarking the surface of the asteroid and occasionally scoring hits on the frigate, but unable to stop them. The desperate Grunt boarding parties left Keyes nervous. He'd had to make a snap decision to have the Spartans hand over the nav data, but all indications were that the Rubble Defense fighters were keeping the Grunts pinned down. And more importantly, well clear of the c.o.c.kpit. The Grunts, with their methane tanks and nowhere to go once the Exodus entered Slips.p.a.ce, would eventually choke to death. Keyes had decided the million lives were worth the small risk. There'd been enough Colonist deaths by the Covenant so far. It was time to rescue some of them. He had no idea of what trouble might lie ahead for him from this decision, but the lives saved would be worth it.They were far now enough out to enter Slips.p.a.ce.An engineer appeared, his overalls dirty, bags under his eyes. ”Lieutenant Keyes, I apologize, but the Security Council insisted I contact you.”The Rubble's Council. Keyes had almost forgotten about them. ”What's wrong?””The Exodus will not be able to make the trip. We don't have the range and engine power. We expected more time to bring more engines online. With a Covenant fleet supposed to arrive, we have to go with what we have now. And what we have now, well, they'll burn out, or if we make lots of small jumps, it will literally take centuries to cross the galaxy away from where Covenant or UNSC people would ever dare venture, as we originally planned.”The man looked defeated.”The Council knows?” Keyes asked.”Yes. They're debating what to do.” The engineer looked down at the floor.”But the Exodus can make a journey, just not as far as originally intended?” Keyes confirmed.The Council didn't want to return to the colonies. Would they be hardheaded enough to risk Exodus and everyone in it to try and leave the Covenant and colonies behind anyway?”Yes.” The engineer met his eyes. Keyes realized the engineer was worried about the same thing.”Put me through to the Council,” Keyes ordered. He thought about the last time he'd given a speech.Forget trying to sound stirring, he thought. Just lay it out. His duty was to convince the Council to head toward the Inner colonies. It was their best bet for survival.The screen filled with the members of the Security Council. The Rubble wasn't working as a technocracy right now, not while being herded into their spots all throughout the Exodus asteroid.This was their leaders.h.i.+p. And Keyes had to influence it.”h.e.l.lo, I'm Lieutenant Keyes, of the Midsummer Night Midsummer Night,” he said with a faint grin. He locked his arms behind him. It was a cla.s.sroom habit, and it would keep him from reaching for the pipe which he'd found sitting in his belongings, thankfully untouched. ”I'm a fighting man, but as commander of this s.h.i.+p, I know something about holding people's lives in my hands. I won't bulls.h.i.+t around. You have enough engine power to reach an Inner Colony quickly, where there will be some measure of protection, and access to resources. The other option is to risk a slow, long journey out to a destination that has neither, but in which you retain your own power.”I don't know what the UNSC will do, and I can't guarantee that all of you with Insurrectionist ties will be given a pa.s.s. But remember, you have a million lives you're deciding for. A million lives who could make a difference in the future fight against these b.a.s.t.a.r.d aliens who destroyed the Rubble. Unless you choose to let the Covenant win.”Keyes looked at them all, and Maria Esquival stood up. ”We took a vote,” she said, ”before you called.”Keyes sucked in his breath.She quirked a faint smile. ”We're aiming to reach the 18 Scorpii system. If you would escort us, Lieutenant.””Of course,” Keyes said. ”Make random jumps out, until we clear the asteroid of Grunts. We want to make sure not a single one remains alive before we turn toward the Inner Colonies.” His after-action report was going to be d.a.m.ning enough. Showing up with an asteroid full of evidence... well, Keyes figured he'd be spending time behind bars again soon. But he couldn't turn his back on a million lives. He couldn't leave them for the Covenant. Not again.Maria nodded. ”We have teams combing Exodus thoroughly.”Keyes waited until the screen flickered off, then looked around at his bridge crew. ”It's still tricky,” he said. ”Don't let those breaths out. We have to hope Petya's Petya's computers can keep us in sync.” computers can keep us in sync.””Actually,” said a voice from the back of the bridge. ”We ditched Petya Petya.”The Spartan at the back pulled his helmet off. It was Mike. He held out a chip.”This what I think it is?” Keyes asked.”Navigation charts.” Mike sat down by Keyes' old console. ”I ran simulations on syncing our two s.h.i.+ps. The odds weren't good. Made more sense to dump the freighter. I pressed your crew into service; we off-loaded a lot of the more useful cargo into your bay. We also cut loose a couple of Pelicans to make some room.”Keyes raised an eyebrow. ”And I authorized this when?”Mike plugged the navigation data in, dumping star chart information into the s.h.i.+p's computers. ”I took some liberties. Time was short when you showed up. Jai and Adriana lent a hand; they're still stowing things. A good price for the data, losing just a couple Pelicans, Lieutenant Keyes, don't you think?”Keyes straightened out his back, holding in his private smile. ”Don't ever try to run my s.h.i.+p for me again.”The Spartan did not reply, but plugged in a random vector out of the system. ”We're going in the same direction. I carried these personally on a disk from their s.h.i.+p to this one. Can't be intercepted. Will you give the order?”Keyes looked out into s.p.a.ce through the windows of his bridge. ”Send them the signal. Engage Slips.p.a.ce drives.”All across Exodus engines flickered to life, and the asteroid struggled its way into Slips.p.a.ce, ripping and clawing its way into a hole in the universe.It was ungainly, but the asteroid managed it, and Midsummer Night Midsummer Night followed, leaving behind the remains of the Rubble. followed, leaving behind the remains of the Rubble.

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT.

METISETTE ORBIT, 23 LIBRAE.

Bonifacio drifted in orbit around Metisette. The batteries on his pod were close to dead, and condensation dripped off the portholes.He'd seen the destruction of the Redoubt from orbit, the asteroids raining down into the atmosphere.Since then things had been quiet.The air was getting thick inside the pod, and it was hard to breathe. Occasionally he heard Kig-Yar voices on the radio and sometimes fast Unggoy chatter, but none of them would respond to his calls for help.Not even calls back to the Rubble had been answered. He'd pleaded and begged, even offered rewards, but gotten only static.He sat in place hugging his chest, when a loud pipping sound caught his attention.Bonifacio moved over and looked at the scans.A bulbous-headed s.h.i.+p had appeared in orbit nearby, expertly dropping out of Slips.p.a.ce in a way no human s.h.i.+p could.Another flashed into s.p.a.ce behind it, then another, and another. An entire Covenant fleet materialized in front of Bonifacio.This would be a new group of Covenant. Ones who hadn't shut him out, Bonifacio thought. He moved to the radio. He'd surrender. Yes, he'd be a tool of the Covenant, a slave to them, but he'd live.Yes, he'd live.He grabbed the microphone and hailed the large cruiser moving nearby, and kept calling it until he saw it change course.Bonifacio's heart skipped.He'd done it. He'd survived. He was going to get picked up. He smiled as he watched the cruiser pick up speed, and then frowned.It was still picking up speed. It was moving so close that he could see it from the windows of his pod, growing larger every second.A ball of energy gathered underneath the s.h.i.+p. Bonifacio screamed and put his hand up against the slimy, wet porthole as if to ward off the plasma that lashed out and struck his tiny pod.The ma.s.sive Covenant cruiser plowed through the vaporized remains as it adjusted its...o...b..t.

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE.

INFINITE SACRIFICE, METISETTE ORBIT, 23 LIBRAE METISETTE ORBIT, 23 LIBRAE.

Thel got to his knees and bowed to the pair of Hierarchs before him on the bridge of the Infinite Sacrifice. Infinite Sacrifice. An honor guard of five Sangheili guards arrayed themselves around their floating chairs. An honor guard of five Sangheili guards arrayed themselves around their floating chairs.”Rise,” the Prophet of Truth said. ”You ordered the Unggoy to storm the human vehicle after the Kig-Yar Reth's death?””Yes, Hierarch,” Thel said. ”It was a chance to get the location of their homeworld. But we know now the Unggoy and any Kig-Yar that were with them have failed.””How is that?” the Prophet of Regret asked.”Their air would have run out by now.”The heavy crowns of the Hierarchs bobbed as they considered that. ”Indeed,” Truth said. ”We are left only with Kig-Yar who imagined they were helping humans, at Reth's orders. Potential traitors, all of them. And these Unggoy as well, breeding outside the law. Traveling without permits.”Regret shook its head. ”A mess.””A mess that revealed much,” Truth hissed.For a moment, an uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Then Regret nodded at Truth. ”We will destroy all the traitors.”Thel felt his neck tighten. He'd failed to appreciate the situation, and now he would pay the ultimate price for his mistakes. The Hierarchs would have his head.Vadam would suffer. His lineage would be suspect.The floor beneath his feet felt as if it wavered, and then Thel stiffened. Zhar was moving forward.The Sangheili warrior had drawn the bar of his energy sword, but not yet unleashed it.”Zhar,” Thel hissed, horrified. Zhar seemed to be struggling with himself.”So you will kill us too, s.h.i.+pmaster?” Zhar cried out. ”Like animals? After all we served. How can I suffer such a dishonor? My line's dishonor?”The honor guard drew their energy pikes, the ends s.h.i.+mmering with contained blue plasma.Zhar took another hesitant step forward, and Thel pulled out his sword and turned it on. ”Zhar?”His old friend looked back at him. ”I have already drawn,” he said. ”I will not stand and let them dishonor me.””I have drawn as well,” Thel said sadly.Zhar leapt forward, but Thel jumped as well, slamming into his side and spearing Zhar through the throat with his sword. It sizzled and spat Sangheili blood.Thel threw Zhar against a wall, then decapitated him with a swift swipe.He stared at the mess of blood and Zhar's body, then turned back to the Hierarchs, setting his sword down on the ground away from him.What else could he have done? Thel wondered. Zhar had forced him into it. To step toward the Hierarchs with a sword in hand was madness.Regret looked shaken, but composed himself and piloted his chair out of the large bridge. ”What madness Sangheili honor can be,” he muttered as he left. ”They should be careful, lest they lose their way.”But Truth looked at Thel with a.n.a.lytical eyes. ”Tell me your name, n.o.ble warrior.””Thel 'Vadamee,” Thel said.Truth moved closer, the honor guard moving with him. ”You live. Say nothing of what happened here.””Yes, Hierarch,” Thel said.”Report to the s.h.i.+pmaster-he will find you lodging until we return to High Charity.” High Charity.” Truth also left the bridge. Truth also left the bridge.Thel waited until they were well clear, then stood. He didn't look at Zhar's body as he walked to the large, Sangheili s.h.i.+pmaster to get his instructions.This mission was over, and Thel was grateful. He wanted a s.h.i.+p to command that was part of a fleet, not off on its own. But leading a mission, away from the Prophets where his decisions could or could not risk their wrath...Thel 'Vadamee never wanted to be in that position again.

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