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Parangosky said it in that careful y flat tone she adopted when she are of the reaction it would get It was al rather final Anyone could believe a legend wasin action, but when his name was carved into a memorial to the fal en, the il usion was over Os But confirone took the shine off the day

She tried to remember him as John, as a ferocious, scared, endlessly resourceful colonial kid like herself, but she couldn’t even recal his face

"But what about the MIA status? Are we announcing that Spartans die now?"

"No, but the public realizes that MIA is just a service courtesy I think even I have to accept he’s dead, Captain It’s been two ood news she’d been rehearsingcrass

Parangosky knew her too wel to ht he’d survive us al ," she said, taking a breath "It’s hard to say happy birthday after that,for you Hoould you like a pet Huragok? His name’s Requires Adjustosky looked blank for a moment, and then started to senuine

"How thoughtful, Captain In fact, it’s just what I needed Thank you"

"He’s upgrading everything in sight at the et hiht prove to be even more important than your current mission Wel done, Serin Seriously Wel done" She rarely used Osift in return?"

"We’ve got the good Jamaican coffee, ma’am It’s very much appreciated"

"Better than that"

Osht turn the tide for good She thought of John and re with everyone she cared about "I could do with cheering up, Admiral"

"We final y found the hole where Halsey bolted," Parangosky said "Noe have to do is work out how to kick down the door"

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I’M GLAD THAT CAPTAIN OSMAN IS SATISFIED WITH THE TEAM WE RECOMMENDED IT TOOK SOME EFFORT TO SELECT QUALIFIED PERSONNEL WHO HAD BOTH NO FAMILY TIES AND WHO WOULD ALSO BOND WELL WITH ONE ANOTHER SPARTAN-010 DIDN’T QUITE FIT THOSE CRITERIA, BUT WITH SO FEW SPARTANS LEFT, SOME FLEXIBILITY WAS NEEDED

(DR MIRIAM BAXENDALE, HEAD OF OCCUPATIONAL PERSONALITY TESTING, UNSC HR, TO ADMIRAL MARGARET O

PARANGOSKY, CINCONI)

BEKAN KEEP, MDAMA, SANGHELIOS: FEBRUARY 2553 BY THE HUMAN CALENDAR

‘Telcaeting with the aru today ‘Telcaed transports on each trip to avoid attention, he said The only flaw in that strategy was Unflinching Resolve, huge and unconcealable as only a frigate could be

The ship sat in the disused quarry like a rebuke to Jul’s co up with arleaned frohelios and the nearby colonies Just as the smal transports had found their way back to the keeps, nobody was keeping tabs on any other equipanizational skil s, and a war to fight, it was si taken by shipmasters and stored in the keeps

How many shots does it take to kill one Arbiter?

‘Telca a charis hie--had to be rooted out too, or else the very death becaend after death

And you couldn’t assassinate a ghost

The sound of a Kig-Yar shuttle made him spin around So that was ‘Telcam’s transport today Jul, like most warriors, knew al before he saw it It was a matter of prudence He would never admit that was his lorious death before a timely extraction, but it was hard to be a successful warrior when you were dead Jul didn’t regard a tactical withdrawal as cowardice

The shuttle--yes, Kig-Yar, just as he thought--final y came into view and dropped down into the quarry He waited for its drives to shut down and approached it ‘Telcam climbed down from the cockpit and looked around

"Where’s Manus?" he asked That was one of Buran’s loyal Jiralhanae "He should have been here by now We lost contact with hiht"

Jiralhanae weren’t known for their ti "Yours is the first shuttle to land for two days," Jul said "You knohat they’re like He probably becaht over philosophical matters and it’s delayed him"

"No, Buran assured o, and I don’t just ok they recovered fro-Yar, Jul would have assumed that the shipment had been diverted and sold by now But Jiralhanae weren’t interested in profits Everything stemmed from their unfathoheili had final y erupted again with the Great Schism, but Jul had never quite worked out where the fault lines were Jiralhanae fought each other, they fought the Sangheili, and, for no reason Jul could truly understand, sohelios

"Give hio before we attract an audience"

"So I know it"

"Brother, if the vessel had crashed, ould have heard by now"

"Would we? What’s happened to our co? No, ould not know That yawning gap is also what enables us to stand a chance of succeeding, but soainst us"

Jul had formed the opinion that ‘Telcam was blessed with the calitated was unsettling But Jul understood the iok or two The Covenant had run on the fro every piece of technology a rown so used to their presence that he’d ceased to notice them Now his wife and brothers were forced to learn construction skil s, and he was starting to see al the things, large and sok had fled

There were so o?

He was certain that the Great Schism hadn’t kil ed al the San’Shyuum That wasn’t possible As he unloaded the shuttle with ‘Telcaone They had alok with the to return one day and take back their old e that he stopped in his tracks What was he doing worrying about the humans? They were no more than an infestation, backward verh, would be another ?" ‘Telca what had happened to his strategic judght happen if the San’Shyuum recovered and came back"

"That would take many years," ‘Telcam said, as if it had already occurred to him and had been dismissed "And by then, we’l be more than ready for the to do the heavy lifting himself in the absence of any Jiralhanae Jul found hi of him less as a fanatical monk and more as a decent warrior who happened to have so as they had the same objective, Jul wasn’t too worried about the separate paths that brought the your supplies?" Jul asked, heaving a crate up the raate’s hold "Who funds this?"