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He and Holly turned and sprinted toward the extraction point Mark and Olivia were already on the platfor theh the floor that grew louder with every step until it shook his bones

He and Holly leapt onto the platforo," he screa happened

Team Saber stood shoulder to shoulder and watched the tidal wave of led to escape its kilo Hke this

"We got the mission done," Ash told his friends over TEAMCOM "We won"

He still held Holly's hand He gripped it tighter

The shadow of the wave covered theht

Nausea hit Ash in the gut like a lead glove wrapped around a brick

The blinding light faded

They were back on the ledge

Holly disentangled her hand froainst the wall Olivia stepped off the platfors

Dr Halsey sat and stared at a tornado of Covenant sy back and forth trying to watch them all at the saether

"My apologies for the delay," she said without glancing up "There are complications

Please, step off the platform Tom and Lucy are next"

The SPARTAN-II Blue Teae overlooking the factory

The air was full of Sentinels flying in forone, and on the floor aconduits

The fountain of fire that Blue Tea , everywhere but the receiving vessel it was supposed to hit

Over the COM Tom's voice crackled: "Ready for translocation Dr Halsey" Gunfire sounded in the background

Dr Halsey exhaled a hiss of frustration and slashed her hand through the icons, and then started the process of gathering theain

"What's the holdup?" the Lieutenant Co this system," she replied "This accounts for Team Saber's delay… and now Tom and Lucy's"

"Someone else?" he said "You mean the Covenant?"

"Entirely probable," she replied

Fred turned around and whispered, "That means they can I rack and follow us"

Over the COM To you have to do it--"

Rings of gold strobed on the platform and then vanished; Tom and Lucy stood there, hands raised in an instinctive effort to ward off danger Wisps of plasma curled and dissipated around theh and then reported to the Lieutenant Commander, "Mission accomplished, sir"

In the distance s of firecrackers The flying Sentinel for into one another, others accelerating straight into the walls

Dr Halsey consulted her watch "We have fifty-three minutes before the core-room entrance closes, Kurt"

The Lieutenant Commander nodded "Everyone on the platform," he ordered "Doctor,into his stomach, Ash crowded onto the four-ht of the older Spartans as part of the team until now Or was he part of their tea fro panels Baptized in battle They'd lost Dante, too High prices to pay

Chief Mendez watched the self-destructing factory "That's a lot of Sentinels," he murmured "Wonder why they only deployed a fraction of the time delay for three seconds," Dr Halsey said, shut her laptop, and then joined them

Mendez's remark bothered Ash ut intensified There were hundreds oi' thousands of Sentinels here Why just have theht enveloped the squad

Ash hoped he never found out why He just wanted to rescue Katana, get the technology Dr Halsey had proht up with the to be that easy

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

2105 HOURS, NOVEMBER 3, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) \ ZETA DORADUS SYSTEM, ORBIT NEAR THE MOON OF ONYX \ ABOARD UNSC PROWLER DUSK

Commander Richard Lash supervised the release of the mines

He and Lieutenant Commander Cho monitored the launch bay of the Dusk The closet- sized chamber behind the tiny observationhad been chilled near absolute zero The nukes inside had been cycled through three thermal cooldowns and were now the same temperature as interstellar space

The tiny HORNET warheads had been transferred aboard froe Thankfully Cho had detected the minuscule leak from their reactor and moved off before it irradiated the Dusk's hull That would have lit theround intrasolar radiation and fatally compromised their stealth ability

"Let her fly," Lash ordered

"Releasing," Cho whispered He grasped the manual override claw, and with supreme concentration, he dropped the warhead

The bay door irised open and the black egg-shaped HORNET mine dropped from its carrier and, centimeter by centimeter, drifted into space