Halo Flood 9

The human passengers strapped in. The lifeboat ex-
ploded out of the bay, and it fell toward the ringworld below. Jets fired, the small craft stabilized, and followed a precalculated glide path toward the surface. Keyes was seated three slots aft of the pilot. He frowned, as if looking for something, then waited for the boat to clear. He leaned toward the Marine in front of him. "Excuse me, Corporal."

"Sir?" The Marine looked exhausted, but somehow
managed to snap to a form of attention, despite being belted into an acceleration chair. "Hand me your sidearm, son." The expression on his face made it plain that the last thing the soldier wanted to do was part company with one of his weapons, particularly in close quarters.

But the Captain was the Captain, so he had very little choice. The words, "Yes, sir," were still making their way from the noncom's brain to his mouth when he felt the M6D pistol being jerked out of his holster. Would one of the 12.7mm rounds punch its way through the lifeboat's relatively thin hull? Keyes wondered. Cause a blowout and kill everyone aboard? He didn't know, but one thing was certain: The Covenant son of a bitch standing in this lifeboat was about to die.

Keyes raised the weapon, aimed at the very center
of the strange, ghostly shimmer, and pulled the trigger. The Elite saw the movement, had nowhere to run, and was busy reaching for his own pistol when the first bullet struck. The M6D bucked, the barrel started to rise, and the third slug from the top of the clip passed through the slit in 'Nosolee's helmet, blew his brains out through the back of his skull, and freed him from the tyranny
of physical reality.

No sooner had the noise of the last shot died away
than the camo generator failed, and an Elite appeared as if from thin air. The alien's body floated back toward the rear of the cabin. Thousands of globules of alien blood escorted bits of brain tissue on their journey to the lifeboat's stern.-Chpt.1 pg.48