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During their Slipspace journey, Voro hadto set aside their beliefs Others had been blinded by the glory of Ring of the Gods, and subsequently destroyed by the human and the Flood infestations They
"Alert the fleet to ar
"Aye, sir"
Voro wanted to believe the Forerunners had left this world to deliver thereatest need… his instincts, however, told hiht Lost broadcasting on an open channel," Y'gar said, and put it on bridge audio
"… let us cast ar "… And like discard our wrath Thou, in faith, will keep us safe Whilst we find the path"
The thousands of the tiny craft drifted in the central holographic display like a cloud of dust They forold and ruby in the dark of space, surrounding the Far Sight Lost
"Incohted and blind, ith wonder "On the Prophets channel, sir"
A flat voice, intoning perfectly the ancient dialect, rue: "Rescue phase concluded Threat-analysis phase concluded Reclai outer defense program"
"Energy spikes detected," Y'gar said "Frequencies shifting to resonate suites" He looked up "They're co fire, sir"
"Fleetwide channel," Voro shouted "All Ship Masters h the Incorruptible"
Uruo monitored his console as the ships in their fleet linked into a single spiderweb network of firepower "Fleet fire control is now yours, sir," he told Voro
"Target laser and energy projectors on these cluster formations," Voro said
Uruo s the nuet solutions calculated, sir On your order"
A thousand tiny eyes blazed within the alien forht that painted the hull of the Far Sight Lost
The ship did not have its shields up Beah, blasting cones of vaporized alloy into space
Voro quenched his rage and studied the carnage Soedy
Individually the tiny craft could do no harether, however, they were ht Lost Their octahedral structures shiy shields
Voro assuth multiplied when combined as well, "Release weapons interlink safety locks," Voro ordered, and raised his hand
He prayed for the soul of Ship Master Qunu, who had revealed for them a new enemy
Penetrated by a dozen beaht Lost exploded The ship rolled over like a great beast in its death throes The weapons cut through the aft section The plasma core breached, and three plu the aft quarter of the vessel red-, yellow-, and then white-hot--before the vessel detonated
The crystalline geometry of the alien formations rippled and their shields flared
"Now!" Voro commanded "All laser and projectors fire"
All ships under his coht of space lit with crisscrossing lines of illumination Hundreds of lasers painted the weakened alien shields and y-projector capacitors discharged and blasts of holy white radiation impacted the formations, overloaded the distressed shields, and scattered their coherence
Stripped of their protection, the tiny drone ships erupted into streams of superheated particles Their central eyes blazed white-hot as if their fury alone could protect theh the octahedral asseed again into dankness
Voro blinked
Within the holographic display the thousands of alien ships were scattered,disconnected rods and spheres Those that had survived n for another attack
"Eighty-three percent of the vessels destroyed," Y'gar said
Over fleetwide COM Voro said, "All ships break and attack Annihilate the survivors with plasroup"
The fleet accelerated to attack speed, burning all before them The sht
Ship Master Qunu had been a hero He had demonstrated for them all that the old ways of devout placation had no place in this new Age The Sangeili would forge their oith their own blood, if need be
"Contact the Absolution," Voro told Y'gar "Have them make ready for a Slipspace transition in ation where these drones caets our sensors have overlooked"
"Absolution hailed, sir," Y'gar replied "Orders relayed" He paused listening, then said, "The Absolution is yours to coo
The space surrounding the sleek destroyer shi on the planet surface, sir," Y'gar said, and he bent closer, concentrating
"Energy anoion"
He waved his hand over his controls and the central viewer split, half filling with a view of the planet's ice caps, zoo closer to reveal a hipped landscape of snow dunes A kiloround, the air shimmered in the exact same pattern as the Absolution's Slipspace transition ," Uruo reued "A Slipspace matrix only appears upon a ship's exit The Absolution has yet to transition"
"Hail the Absolution," Voro said "Abort the ju with our signal, sir"
"Move to intercept," Voro ordered
The Incorruptible tilted and accelerated toward the destroyer as it edged toward its Slipspace field
The view in the holographic display shifted Above the north pole three new octahedral forlow of the Slipstream exit field
"They can jump?" Voro whispered
That made no sense If they had such a capacity then why hadn't they juht Lost? Or for that matter juroup?
Voro turned to Y'gar, who understood Slipstream space better than any of his officers
"Explain," he dehtened "Sir, a Slipspace transition requires uess that they are soy spikes," Uruo said "Northern polar region"
The alien ships fired, hundreds of bea and focused though their energy shields--directed into the center of the wrapping Slipspace
The Absolution vanished froh orbit-- --reappeared in the center of the aliens' field of fire