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"Our COM options are nil," Mendez said, and snuffed his cigar on the concrete wall. "All ships in orbit…" He shook his head. "The Agincourt was destroyed days ago by drones."
"Destroyed?" Dr. Halsey asked. "They should have been able to outrun the smaller craft."
"The drones can combine," Kurt told her, "giving them cumulative power to their weapon systems, thrust, and shield capabilities."
"The Beatrice was severely damaged on reentry," Kelly said. "Main engines inoperable. There is no possibility for a Slipspace transition."
Dr. Halsey lowered her voice, a whisper, but still loud enough so everyone could hear. "We must find a way off this world, or a way to contact the UNSC. Another Forerunner ruin was recently
discovered, a ring construct built for one purpose: the annihilation of all life in the galaxy. If the Onyx Sentinels are part of a similar weapon system…"
She let that thought hang in the air.
"Our COM options are not entirely nil," Kurt said. He crossed his arms, frowned, and hesitantly added, "I am breaking code-word secrecy, but there is apparently no alternative."
"Go on," Dr. Halsey insisted.
Kurt inhaled deeply then said, "There are two things. First, these drones may not be 'looking' for anything here. They may have always been here."
He relayed the contents of the flash communication from Endless Summer. How Onyx was home to a vast top-secret complex of alien ruins.
"We may have accidentally triggered their activation," he said.
Dr. Halsey's mind raced, connecting the clues: facts from Cortana's log, the stone on Cote d'Azure, the alien passages and crystal under Reach.
"When, precisely, did they appear?" she asked.
"The morning of September twenty-first," Kurt replied.
"That timing coincides with the activation of an alien weapon world—before John thankfully destroyed it. It is no coincidence that the Sentinels appeared then. It must be part of a larger Forerunner plan."
Dr. Halsey strained to find the conclusion to these disparate facts, but failed. She needed more data.
"I must have access to this Endless Summer AI," she said, "and all records on Zone 67."
"That's not possible," Kurt said. "We fell back to this bunker because our base was found and vaporized. These Sentinels analyze our tactics, learn, and become harder to defeat. I can only surmise that the AI and ONI ops center is deep inside Zone 67, a region heavily patrolled by drones. With only seven of my
Spartans, Kelly, and myself, it would be tactically unwise to attempt an insertion."
"Only the seven Spartans here?" Dr. Halsey asked. "I thought there would be more."
They were all quiet.
Mendez finally spoke: "There were three squads on Onyx when we were attacked. Team Gladius, we found them… dead. Team Katana was forced deeper into Zone 67. No contact from them since this started."
"I see," Dr. Halsey whispered. More Spartans dead. She held back her emotions. She had to maintain the appearance of a stoic leader in their eyes.