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The Spartan stil had its knee on his throat, staring into his face He could see his own reflection in its visor as the other soldiers bound him and one put a boot on his face to hold him down

And if they shoothe lay there, but he fought to stay conscious He had to escape He had to stop ‘Telca you, ‘Telcam Whatever they’ve promised--they won’t keep their word What kind of fool are you? You think you can handle them? Fool Idiot Traitor

But he heard the distant ru its drives, a ship he could identify, the Contrition class transport, and then the sound peaked and faded ‘Telcaone The Spartan put a pistol to his head He could feel the coolbetween his eyes

Jul et up and screale He waited for the shot to come and put an end to his shame

Only then did he think of Raia, who had no idea where he was What would beco down at him "Wait one, Naomi Let me just check with the boss"

He had no idea what that meant The Spartan pul ed off its helmet with its free hand, and that hen he realized it was a woraht back from the dead He’d been taken down by fe to breathe, couldn’t hear what she was saying but she came back a short time later and stood over him He could see her boots next to his head as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other Her whole stance seemed casual, as if she had plenty of tier over his humiliation

"Sorry, Staff, the Ade," she said "Let’s get him into the dropship Then find his transport, rip what you can froe of the bloody Beagle, ma’am," said one of the erie"

The Spartan withdrew her pistol and shoved it in her belt before hauling hih the dirt with her two comrades

Jul ‘Mdama realized he had suddenly ceased to exist He’d al owed hih his own stupidity, and as the hu about his weight, he understood that he was alone, and lost, and that nobody would ever come for him

FORERUNNER DYSON SPHERE, ONYX: LOCAL DATE NOVEMBER 2552

In an empty world the size of a solar syste

Mendez would have disue to be useful, but he was prepared to try any da if it helped the better to do with our time, is it?

Fred had reminded him just once that the y for the UNSC He knew damn wel that however sensible a plan that was, it was only to keep theizet it col ected Courier services were a little hard to come by in a dimensional bubble

And there was noSpartan

"Goddaested otherwise It was his mantra to make sure it happened The whole squad trailed down the road behind him in silence on yet another fruitless recon "She’s only been gone four days She’s a survivor She knoon’t stop looking for her"

Mendez knew that no matter how disciplined troops were, theirif they didn’t stay busy The Spartans had gone froh te pretty wel every damn day, every week, every year --to a dead, silent stop Basic survival was going to y, but al they could do was stay alive for as long as possible until they worked out this place for the and found theht have been convinced the Earth had lost the war already and that they were the only sentient life left in the galaxy, but Mendez wasn’t buying any of it He’d believe that he’d lost when he heard the first clod of soil hit his coffin

When they got back to the ca over the Forerunner sy if there are more slipspace bubbles in this structure," she said absently "You have to adens"

She see for an answer, because she turned around and looked at hiht frown as if she expected some scholarly debate about transdih one, so h another one as wel ," he said "I’odda around with the syed her datapad to her chest and walked out into the sunlight

Mendez stood with his ar a da to be left alone for a while Fred stayed behind with him

"Sorry, Lieutenant," Mendez said "I realize I’m a piss-poor example of leadership for you But I need some bastard to shoot"

"That’s whatso, we know you’re happy"

Mendez turned around, about to tel Fred so hi past the Spartan and into the gloom of the corridor behind him Fred had turned around too

"Yeah, I heard it as wel ," Fred said

He checked his rifle and edged into the darkness Mendez switched on his tactical lahts of a sn of a body It took his brain a second to register that it was Lucyto match the shadows in the tunnel Then he saw the constel ation of blue and violet lights behind her

"Hey, Lucy, who’s your new boyfriend?" Fred asked

Lucy walked out of the darkness like a ghost with a Covenant Engineer trailing behind her Wel , that explained what she’d been chasing As intruders went, an Engineer was a pretty useful one Mendez savored the relief

"Damn it, Lucy, orried sick about you" He reached out and pul ed her to hi, then took a step back to check her over for injury "Are you okay, kid?"

She stared up into his face and nodded, wide-eyed and stil looking like a teenager Then she put out her arave Mendez and Fred a thorough inspection, head tilting back and forth