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The faint light filtering in from the outer hall died.
Kelly slid into the hallway and melted into the shadows. Vinh followed, then Fred and Isaac. Will trailed behind, moving slower because of the care he took to remain quiet with the gear.
Dr. Halsey tapped her data pad, and a map uploaded onto Fred's heads-up display, a path traced through corridors and a NAV marker designated an elevator shaft. That was their objective.
The Spartans winked on their acknowledgment lights, con?firming the route.
They crept forward, smooth and silent—oil sliding over oil— until Kelly halted ten meters before a five-way intersection. The Spartans froze and waited. She crouched, set the can of talc on the floor, and then stood with her knees bent.
She waited another heartbeat, then gave a slight shake of her head from side to side—their signal for trouble ahead.
Vinh moved next to Fred's flank, and Fred set Dr. Halsey down and stood in front of her. Will crouched next to the doctor to provide cover with his own body if needed.
Isaac remained on their six.
Kelly kicked the can. It tumbled end over end through the air, and as it entered the intersection Kelly squeezed off a single shot. The flash of light from the muzzle illuminated the passage just long enough for them to see the can explode and a cloud of white dust mushroom into the hallways.
Their motion detectors flickered, and four targets resolved on their displays. Image enhancement showed the wavering out?lines of four Covenant Elites—their light-bending camouflage fluttering and overloading as the talc powder coated them.
Kelly open fire with both pistols. The Elite closest dropped as three slugs pounded through its shields, and a round caught it in
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the center of its elongated forehead. Purple blood blossomed across the wall.
The remaining Elites returned fire, and Kelly bounded for?ward, plasma flaring at the edge of her shield. She ducked into the side passage.
The instant Kelly was out of the line of fire, Fred shouldered his rifle and squeezed the trigger. A three-round burst caught the next Elite, and its shield sparkled and failed. It twisted away, clutching at the single round that had penetrated its chest.
Vinh fired two single shots, but the Elite's shield held. In uni?son, Vinh and Fred fired another set of three-round bursts. The Elite dropped to the steel floor in a twisted heap.
The last Elite had vanished. No return fire. No sensor contact.
The Spartans held position for a moment longer, then re?grouped. With hand signals, each member of the team reported no contact.
Fred spied tracks in the white dust scattered on the floor. The Elite had bugged out, and it was most likely gathering reinforcements.
That wasn't what Covenant Elites usually did. Their pride de?manded that they fight, and die fighting, if need be. They would hurl themselves headlong into battle, no matter the odds, and die by the hundreds if necessary. They never ran away. Nothing about this engagement had been "usual."