• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Voro knocked one with a cleaning rag aside. "Let his blood remain there," he said.

The Unggoy scurried away.

The stain would forever remain on Voro's soul; it could stay on the deck as well, a reminder of the price he had paid for their survival.

Voro then stared at the central holographic viewer: at the insanity that surrounded the

Incorruptible.

3 Unggoy: the Elite name for the Grunt race

The Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity was in chaos; more than a hundred ships maneuvered on random vectors, barely avoiding collisions, and in the distance the silver arc of the Forerunner Halo construct—ominous, breathtaking, and the source of this trouble.

It had made Ship Master Tano lose his mind. He belonged to a fringe sect, the Governors of Contrition, who believed all Forerunner creations were sacrosanct. This even applied to the parasitic Flood infestation on Halo. Tano had reasoned that the Forerunners had created a perfect life-form, and it was therefore their duty to protect, even embrace, it. He had ordered the Incorruptible closer to the Halo ring to allow the disease aboard.

That would never occur while Voro breathed. The Flood was an infection that had to be cleansed. There was nothing remotely "holy" about it.

The Incorruptible shuddered.

"Plasma on the port lateral shield," Uruo Losonaee said, leaning over his OPS station. His strained voice betrayed that he had only recently been initiated in combat. "Successfully deflected, but the shield has collapsed."

The hull reverberated once more.

"Strike on the aft shield," Uruo said. "It's holding."

"One-third power forward," Voro said. "Roll to present starboard shields." He turned to Zasses on NAV. "Trace those firing solutions and get me a target!"

"Calculating, sir," Zasses said. "Solution obtained. Two targets."

A holographic frigate pair appeared on the deck and sped toward them: the Tenebrous and the Twilight Compunction, commanded by the alpha Jiralhanae4, Gargantum.

This was Voro's other problem.

4 Jiralhanae: the Elite name for the Brute race

In the confusion caused by the departing Prophets, the Sangheili's ancient feud with the Jiralhanae had escalated into xenocide.

The frigate pair moved as one, accelerating, their lateral lines warmed, and released a second salvo of plasma that arced toward the Incorruptible.

"Maneuver one two zero by zero seven five," Voro shouted.

"Coming about," Zasses answered, and the stars wheeled through the holographic view space. "Sir, that places the carrier Lawgiver between us and them."

"The Lawgiver has fully generated lateral shields," Voro growled. "They can take the hit."

The frigate pair split to miss the carrier in their flight path. The enemy ships, and their plasma torpedoes, became obscured by the bulk of the sleek carrier.

"Heat lines four and seven," Voro ordered, "and prepare to target the Tenebrous as it emerges from the carrier's shadow. Divert engine power to the fore energy projector and make ready to (ire at full capacity. Estimate targeting solution based on last known trajectory."

U ruo nodded and made the weapons ready.

The alpha Jiralhanae Ship Master was savage, but he was ef-fective. Voro could not afford to merely wound one of them.

The edges of the Lawgiver's shield shimmered, dispersing the plasma into fiery wisps— an inconvenience for them… a Hfe-saving maneuver for the Incorruptible.

The Jiralhanae frigate attack pair appeared, one over and one under the carrier.

"Fire all lines," Voro ordered.

The lights on the bridge dimmed as plasma heated and flowed from their lateral banks and arced forward in two bloody streaks across the dark.

"Counter guiding signals detected!" Y'gar shouted. "Attempt-ing to disrupt."

The plasma blots drifted back and forth and diffused into smears in a signal tug-of-war between them and the Jiralhanae. Voro had not anticipated they had such abilities. Stolen, no doubt… so they wouldn't know all the system's intricacies.

"Reprogram to home in on their signal lock," Voro said.

"Yes," Y'gar murmured, and his hands moved algorithm blocks over this