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It was completely undamaged.
“Energy shields,” Dr. Halsey muttered. She tapped her lower lip, thinking. “Even ships this small haveenergy shielding.”
“Lieutenant,” the Captain barked at the nav officer. “Cut main engines and fire maneuvering thrusters.Rotate and track so that we’re pointing at that thing.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
The distant rumbling of theCommonwealth ’s main engines dimmed and stopped and she turned about.Her inertia kept the ship speeding toward the testing facility—now flying backward.
“What are you doing, Captain?” Dr. Halsey asked.
“Arm the MAC,” Captain Wallace told the weapons officer. “A heavy round.”
John understood: Turning your back to an enemy only gave them an advantage.
The MAC—Magnetic Accelerator Cannon—was theCommonwealth ’s main weapon. It fired a super-dense ferric tungsten shell. The tremendous mass and velocity of the projectile obliterated most ships onimpact. Unlike the Archer missiles, a MAC round was an unguided projectile; the firing solution had tobe perfect in order to hit the target—not an easy thing to do when both ships were moving rapidly.
“MAC capacitors charging,” the weapons officer announced.
The Covenant ship turned its side toward theCommonwealth .
“Yes,” the Captain murmured. “Give me a bigger target.”
Pinpoints of blue light glowed and then flared along the alien hull.
The tactical view screens on the nose of theCommonwealth went dead.
John heard sizzling overhead—then the muffled thumps of explosive decompressions.
“More pulse laser hits,” the ops officer reported. “Armor in section three through seven down to four
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centimeters. Navigation dish destroyed. Hull breaches on decks two, five, and nine. We have a leak inthe port fuel tanks.” The Lieutenant’s hand shakily danced over the controls. “Pumping fuel to starboardreverse tanks. Sealing sections.”
John shifted on his feet. He had to move. Act. Standing here—unable to get to his squad, not doinganything—was counter to every fiber of his being.
“MAC at one hundred percent,” the weapons officer shouted. “Ready to fire!”
“Fire!” Captain Wallace ordered.
The lights on the bridge dimmed and theCommonwealth shuddered. The MAC bolt launched throughspace—a red-hot metal slug moving at thirty thousand meters per second.
The Covenant ship’s engines flared to life and the ship veered away—
—Too late. The heavy round closed and slammed into the target’s prow.
The Covenant ship reeled backward through space. Its energy shields shimmered and glowed lightning-bright . . . then flickered, dimmed, and went out.
The bridge crew let out a victory cheer.
Except Dr. Halsey. John watched the view screen as she adjusted the camera controls and zoomed in onthe Covenant ship.
The vessel’s erratic spinning slowed and it came to a stop. The ship’s nose was crumpled andatmosphere vented into vacuum. Tiny fires flickered inside. The ship slowly came about and startedback toward them—gaining speed.