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Odd that a military station would have so e atrium in their lobby

Maybe this was the Covenant equivalent--multiplied a hundredfold

John spied a band of translucent"Is that theto the repair bays, Cortana?"

"Correct," she replied

"Then at least we know the way out And the structure we need to enter?"

"One o'clock," she said "The one with the carved columns It is the most direct route to the reactor chaed the nearby wall The shadows in the bright daylight would do a decent job of ca them

"Okay, Blue Teaet is the colu at one o'clock I round We'll make a break for it Unless anyone has a better plan?"

Linda eed, looked around, and said, "Permission to post on the rooftop and provide cover"

"Do it," John said "Let me knohen you're in position and ready"

Linda retrieved a padded grappling hook and rope from her pack, twirled it, and tossed it up and over the adjacent roof She tugged it once, it caught, and then she quickly ascended

The re Spartans joined John in the shadows He shouldered his battle rifle and thuht winked once

John tensed and ran It took him three strides to build to his top-speed sprint His adrenaline spiked and itat an overclocked pace He focused on speed--putting one foot in front of the other His boots dug into cobblestones, crushed rock, and sent a fine spray of gravel behind hiroup of startled Grunts He slammed the butt of his rifle into the nearest one, and crushed its skull The dead Grunt spun end over end and landed in a heap He heard squawks and shouts around him but didn't stop to look

He was on the stairs of the building, worn-smooth stone steps that he bounded up five at a time John saw three friendly con- tacts behind hie a solid ood so far," Linda reported "There are Elites, but they're unar on your position Stand by"

A quartet of shots split the air like thunderclaps

"Threat neutralized," Linda said "The rest of the"

John cleared the stairs and skidded to a halt on the threshold of the tes were near freezing Light filtered in through stained-glass s in the ceiling--tinged lavender, cobalt, and turquoise

Three rows of giant coluth of the thirty- shadows It was a good place for an aainst one of the pillars and swept the entrance, covering his team as they entered

"Cortana, update on station security?" John said

"There are dozens of reports on the security channels I've got them covered"

Another Cortana voice broke in over the first: "Also be ad- vised, Chief, that there are cereuards in this tehly translated from Covenant dialects, they are called 'Brutes' They shouldn't be a significant threat or they would have been used in previous mili- tary situations"

John wasn't so sure of that The na He also wondered why there now seemed to be more than one Cortana in the station's syste now that they had revealed their posi- tion He waved Blue Team forward

John took point HeFred and Will stepped over to the columns on either side behind John Grace had their backs

There was a flicker on his motion sensor--just ahead It vanished

John held up his hand Blue Team froze

Histhere

He pulled out a frag grenade

The transient contact was back--a shadow moved around the same pillar John used for cover It moved faster than an Elite-- as fast as John

He fired his rifle point blank into the shadowy silhouette It didn't slow--it only hoith rage

Will and Fred fired three-round bursts from their rifles into the creature It flinched with each bullet impact

Three explosions detonated behind then alarm shrilled and flashed on John's heads-up display

"Ambush!" Will cried out

The creature Cortana had called a "Brute" stepped from the shadows and faced John It was taller than an Elite--wider and more muscular Its mouth was lined with razor-sharp teeth, and its red eyes burned with hate Its blue-gray skin was riddled with bullet holes

The Brute tackled John, knocking his weapon frorasp

Even with his MJOLNIR ar as the alien

It pounded on hirabbed his neck, and squeezed

Red flashes played across John's vision He began to black out

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

1751 hours, September 13,2552 (revised date, Military Calendar)\Aboard Covenant battle station Unyielding Hierophant

John struggled and tried to pry the hands from his throat The tendons in the Brute's forearms were solid bands of steel--and the creature was so determined to rip John's head off that a full clip from a rifle into its chest hadn't even slowed it down

Behind hih the stone floor, followed by the staccato rattle of rifle fire