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Phil ips, to his credit, hadn’t been idle He’d fed al the intercepted Sangheili coh transcription so that Os to so else BB could have intercepted, recorded, translated, transcribed, and analyzed the whole lot in a ht the ship, too, and she stil preferred to do much of that herself BB--in ful control of Port Stanley-- only needed hunitaries and handle the fiddly close-quarters combat But he knew that they needed to feel
She’d never had an AI like hience officer in his own right, and he was also her bodyguard They’d been teamed up for less than athe day when he wouldn’t be around any longer
Da for a full AI neural interface next
Osman kept half her attention on the radio as she let the hours of transcript scrol in front of her on her main CIC screen The ebb and flow of voice traffic had blended into a white noise of requests for checks as Monte Cassino spiraled slowly out fro for debris as she went and then working her way back in again It was only when an abrupt and unfamiliar voice broke into the circuit that her attention was dragged from the transcript and made to listen
"UNSC warship, this is Venezia TC You are now in sovereign space Suggest you withdraw"
It was like hearing archiveoddly distressing about a hue to a warship, and Osman could only listen Venezia couldn’t detect Port Stanley and that was how it had to stay
"Venezia TC, this is Monte CassinoWe’re keeping you fully informed of our intendedfor possible survivors"
" Monte Cassino, unless you turn back we’ll open fire"
There was a brief pause, and then Coed froest you don’t do that, Venezia Because ill return fire"
"You were going to do that anyway Venezia out"
She jerked forward in her seat Venezia didn’t have the firepower to take out Monte Cassino, but Osman stil had a pilot and a dropship out there BB appeared instantly just above the console and shivered slightly
"I think it’s National Foolhardy Day," he said "I’ve alerted Devereaux and she’s standing off until this nonsense is over"
"Thanks, BB Flash Monte Cassino discreetly and tel them we’re here for backup if they need us"
Port Stanley was close enough to Venezia now for Osht that was the warship She watched fro for Cerny’s voice over the radio saying that they’d co back, but about a ht a burst of static and the tail end of a warning
"--brace brace brace!"
She thought she saw a streak of light fol owed by a faint starburst like a flare, but it was gone before she could study it Whatever it was, it definitely hadn’t hit Monte Cassino Any ie But it looked like the bastards real y had opened fire on the destroyer
"What the hel was that, BB?"
"Ground-based triple-A Leton the ship’s bridge
"Point of origin identified Acquiring lock--standing by"
"Take, take, take"
"Missile away Tihty-two seconds was a painful y long ti If Monte Cassino hit the launch site, then Osman would be none the wiser until the ship confirmed a kilBut she was farspace-capable missiles, which they’d certainly never had before They’d confined their off-world activities to ship-to-ship attacks and landing personnel to plant explosive devices They’d never been in the big weapons league
Who the hel was sel ing them that stuff?
There was a lot of blackaround these days, and Os development at a time when Earth didn’t need any more problems
"That’s a kill, confirnize It was probably the weapons officer "Target destroyed Stand off, hel back to five thousand klicks Do you stil want to transfer personnel?"
Osman had no choice She couldn’t keep Spenser and Muir in tow for a mission like this "Yes, Commander, we do And we’l take over from here Return to Earth"
"Normal y I’d ask the captain about that," Cerny said, "but we don’t usual y argue with ONI"
"I appreciate the cooperation Have you identified the weapon?"
"T-thirty-eight triple-A I can only hope they picked it up at a Covenant yard sale, because the alternative’s pretty worrying There heili who’d love to see huain"