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The overpressure of both point-blank fuel-rod cannon detonations threw Kelly, Will, and Lucy into the air.
Holly exploded backward—a spray of molten SPI armor, disintegrating flesh, and jets of smoke.
Kurt stood horrified, frozen, but then instincts and training clicked on full force, and without thinking, he rushed forward before the Hunters could finish his prone teammates.
The nearest Hunter turned on him faster than he expected— slicing its two-ton shield into Kurt's solar plexus.
The outer layer of Kurt's armor cracked and the liquid ballistic underlayers failed and squirted out. Pain ripped through his torso; ribs cracked; he coughed and blood spattered the inside of his faceplate.
He dropped in a heap at the Hunter's boots, dazed, only recovering his wits enough to see the Hunter raise both fists over him for the killing blow.
Linda's sniper rifle cracked. The exposed region of the Hunter's midsection exploded in a mass of orange, but it remained miraculously upright.
Will hurled himself at the Hunter, and knocked the beast off its feet and into its mate—and the three of them tumbled down the stairs.
Kurt got up, ignoring the near-blinding pain, and limped to the edge.
Will stood between both Hunters at the base of the hill. He kicked the nearest in the unarmored middle and it staggered back.
Around him were a dozen Elites who, confronted by the sight of a lone Spartan engaging two Hunters in hand-to-hand combat, were momentarily too stunned to act.
Kurt and Lucy opened fire, suppressing the Elites, before they regained their senses.
One Hunter lashed out with its shield. Will ducked, darted inside its reach, and battered its bruised midsection—punching through flesh and ripping out wriggling chunks of the composite eel colony.
The second Hunter angled away from the fight and brought its cannon to bear.
Will spun around.
The Hunter shot him.
Will's energy shield vanished, and the front of his MJOLNIR armor melted. He took a step toward the beast, and collapsed.
The Hunter turned and roared at the Spartans at the top of the hill, and then started to bring its tremendous shield back in line…
A SPNKr missile screamed past Kurt's head, leaving a spiral of propellant exhaust, streaked toward the Hunter, and impacted dead center of its mass.
The air erupted into a blurred sphere of explosive force. The nearby Elites were tossed aside like rag dolls, their shields flaring. The Hunter burst into a cloud of snakelike parts that wetly spattered upon the floor.
Kurt turned and saw Fred kneeling next to him, his spent SPNKr tube smoking.
It was silent.
Nothing moved. Not the Elites, the Hunters, or William.
Kelly and Linda finally rose, shaking off the concussion from the fuel-rod cannon detonation. They stood with Kurt and Fred and stared at their fallen comrade.
Ash was on his knees where Holly had stood a second ago. There were the outlines of two bootprints on the stone… nothing else.
Two Spartans down in a matter of seconds. One an old friend, the other a girl Kurt had known since she was four years old. Yet, he couldn't stop and think about it—not when they were surrounded by enemies. There were still many lives that were his responsibility.