Halo_ Ghosts of Onyx - Eric S. Nylund [56]
general distress code Bloody Arrow. All UNSC personnel heed and stand to. We are under attack and require assistance. Camp Currahee and the northern peninsula have been invaded by unknown, possible Covenant, hostiles. Suggest orbital bombardment of the northern region as these entities are equipped with high-heat-output beam weapons. Our forces will remain under cover. Land in force and expect an immediate threat response—"
Across the swamp came a whisper rustle. Kelly took cover, leveled her MA5B, and held her breath. Two figures emerged from the jungle. Humanoid. Covenant? They were shrouded in
active camouflage. Their textures adjusted, and they looked like they were part leaf, part shadow. She'd seen Orbital Drop Shock Troopers experiment with this technology… but they'd never gotten it to work in the field.
The two figures halted. It was difficult to tell, but it looked almost as if one made a hand signal, thumb pressing into palm and other fingers inwardly curled.
That was the Spartan signal for "Unknown ahead. Wait."
She'd take a chance. If they were human and wearing the latest UNSC armor, they should be nonhostiles.
She eased one hand out from cover. She flashed her index finger once, and then again, and then the "come forward" gesture.
There was more rustling around her—flanking units.
Of course, no one was going to close across open terrain. Even friendlies.
Still, Kelly's combat training clicked on. She had to reposition, but that would mean leaving Dr. Halsey vulnerable.
One of the unknown was near; she couldn't hear it… just a tickling in the back of her mind, a sixth sense that told her she was being watched, and whatever was doing the watching was now too close for comfort.
There was motion in Kelly's peripheral vision, a blur.
She spun and saw a ghostly figure, moving toward her— faster than any human could
move.
Kelly sidestepped, grabbed the arm, twisted.
Her opponent reverse-twisted and countered the lock.
Whatever it was, it wasn't human; otherwise Kelly would have ripped its human arm from
the socket.
Her opponent twisted her wrist and escaped from Kelly's grip.
Kelly was still faster—her other hand lashed out, palm flat, and impacted the solar
plexus.
The other figure flew back two meters, hit a tree, and slumped.
"Stand down. Spartan!"
Kelly whirled. She recognized the voice—not Mendez's but another voice from the past…
one that couldn't be. That person was dead.
Before her stood a figure wavering as if a mirage, then the active camouflage faded, and a person in what looked like cut-down MJOLNIR armor was there, one hand holding an MASK rifle pointed at the ground, the other held up.
"No time to explain, Kelly," this man said over the COM. "Move! Hostiles in—"
An explosion tore through the jungle.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
1045 HOURS, NOVEMBER 3, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) \ ZETA DORADUS SYSTEM, PLANET ONYX \ NEAR RESTRICTED REGION KNOWN AS ZONE 67
Kelly ducked and placed herself between the blast and Dr. Halsey. Splinters and stones pelted the energy shield of her MJOLNIR armor.
When the dust cleared, the other person—the one that had
sounded impossibly like Kurt—had vanished. So was the soldier she had knocked out.
Her questions would have to wait, because Kelly saw the source of that explosion: a drone identical to the ones they had seen in space now hovered ten meters off the jungle floor, moving like a moray eel through the trees and vines.
She aimed her MA5B and fired.
A burst of three rounds hit and deflected off a gold shimmer of shields.
It turned toward Kelly, and its central sphere heated.
Kelly sprinted to draw the fire away from Dr. Halsey. Five strides, darting between trees,
and she suddenly stopped, spun— jumped.
A flash of light blinded her, and then the world detonated where she had stood a second before.
The overpressure propelled her into the air. Kelly's shields drained to half, and she felt the heat prick her skin.
She hit the ground, chest first, rolled awkwardly, wobbled, and got to her feet.
A direct hit from that energy weapon would collapse