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"Proximal enemy group now in the center of alpha field," Durruno announced. Her hands shook. "Distal group crossing the terminal line of beta field."
"Remove safety interlocks," Lash said.
Yang nodded and typed in the code words that made the sixteen nukes hot.
The red "inferno" button on Lash's command console lit. He set his thumb next to it, and it beeped, verifying his biometric signature. He then flipped up the clear protective cover, inserted the master key in the adjacent slot, and turned it.
"Proximal group approaching terminal plane," Durruno said. "Beta group of ships now centered in distal field."
"Here goes nothing," Lash whispered. "Here's goes everything."
He pressed the button, and it made a satisfying dick.
On either side of the moon, seven tiny suns flashed into existence, ballooned, and enveloped the Covenant battle groups.
The collective nuclear fireballs cooled to yellow and then dull red. Even with vacuum-enhanced loads, nuclear warheads in space did not persist a fraction as long as aerial or ground bursts.
The destructive clouds thinned to translucency and a glittering
haze of cooling metal formed an expanding halo around the planetoid.
Inside this silver confetti, however, larger shimmering patches resolved: the energy shields of four surviving Covenant destroyers.
Admiral Patterson moved his fleet toward the moon and opened fire. MAC rounds tore through space and behind them Archer missiles traced lacy paths of exhaust through the vacuum.
Two Covenant ships sluggishly changed course and intercepted the MAC slugs. Their distressed shields shattered and their hulls cratered inward. Fire fountained as their plasma lines vented. Flocks of Archer missiles dove into the injured ships and explosions punctuated armor and propulsion grids.
The crippled ships turned toward the moon, and in slow motion tumbled toward their surface.
The UNSC battle group continued their charge. Four warships against the last two wounded Covenant destroyers… not entirely impossible odds.
Lash imagined that a hundred years in the future historians might look back at this moment and declare it the turning point of humanity's struggle. That they had fought and defeated the Covenant at Onyx, won the prize of alien technology, and gone on—not only to survive, but to win their long struggle.
He had secretly believed that they could not win this war for so long. Lash barely recognized the emotion that coursed though him now: hope.
"Covenant ships on new heading," Lieutenant Durruno said. She chewed on her lower lip and a tiny drop of blood appeared. "Intercept course, sir."
On-screen the last two enemy destroyers accelerated toward the moon. An extrapolated trajectory appeared: a slingshot orbit that would bring them around and back, and straight toward the Dusk.
"Get primary computers online," Lash ordered. "Cho, what's our Slipspace status?"
Over the COM Cho's voice crackled with static. "Capacitors at eighty percent and draining. I'll need full engine power for two more minutes."