James and Kelly took the left flank.

They opened fire.

Armor-piercing rounds pinged off the aliens’ body armor. One of them turned and brought its shield in front of it—covering its partner, the red case, and the laser beacon.

The Spartan bullets didn’t even leave a scratch on the armor. The alien raised its arm slightly and pointed at Kelly and James. A flash of light blinded the Master Chief. There was a deafening explosion and a wave of heat. He blinked for a full three seconds before he recovered his vision.

Where Kelly and James had been there was a burning crater that fanned backward . . . nothing but charcoal and ash remained of the Science Chamber behind them. Kelly had moved in time; she crouched five meters deeper into the room, still firing. James was nowhere to be seen. The other massive creature turned to face the Master Chief. He hit the button on the shield generator on his arm and brought it up just in time—the nearest alien’s weapon flashed again.

The air in front of the Master Chief shimmered and exploded—he flew backward, crashing through the wall, and skidded for ten meters before slamming into the wall of the next room. The Jackal shield generator was whitehot. The Master Chief ripped the melted alien device off and threw it away.

Those plasma bolts were like nothing he had seen before. They seemed almost as powerful as the stationary plasma cannons the Jackals used. The Master Chief sprang to his feet and charged back into the chamber. If the aliens’ weapons were similar to Covenant plasma guns, they would need to be recharged. He hoped the Spartans had enough time to take those things out.

The Master Chief still felt the fear—it was stronger than it had been before . . .but his team was still in there. He had to take care of them first before he could indulge in the luxury of feelings. Kelly and Fred circled the creatures, their
silenced weapons firing quick bursts. They ran out of ammunition and switched clips. This wasn’t working. They couldn’t take them out. Maybe a Jackhammer missile at point-blank range would penetrate their armor.

The Master Chief’s gaze was drawn to the center of the room. He stared for a moment at the monolith of pink quartz. Over the COM channel he ordered, “Switch to shredder rounds.” He changed ammunition and then opened fire—at the floor underneath the
enormous creatures’ feet.

Kelly and Fred changed rounds and fired, too. Marble tiles shattered and the wood underneath splintered into toothpicks. One of the creatures raised its arm again, preparing to fire. “Keep shooting,” John yelled. The floor creaked, buckled, and then fell away; the two massive aliens plunged into the basement below. “Quick,” the Master Chief said. He slung his rifle and moved to the back of the quartz monolith. “Push!” Kelly and Fred leaned their weight against the stone and grunted with effort. The slab moved a tiny bit. James sprinted forward, slammed into the stone, put his shoulder alongside theirs . . . andpushed . His left arm had been burned away from the elbow down, but he didn’t even whimper.