Halo: The Thursday War: Book Two of the Kilo-Five Trilogy by Karen Traviss

Author:Karen Traviss [Traviss, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2019-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

* * *

THERE’S NO BETTER TEST THAN TRYING OUT A NEW ASSET ON REAL ENEMY TARGETS ON THEIR HOMEWORLD, AND ALL WITH THEIR PERMISSION.

(ADMIRAL MARGARET PARANGOSKY, CINCONI)

Nes’alun keep, Acroli

Identify yourself,” BB said. Vaz listened to the comms chatter feeding straight into his helmet, mouth instantly dry. “Phantom, identify yourself.”

For a moment, the shooting stopped. It was the eye of the storm, probably only seconds, but to Vaz it felt a lot longer as he waited for something to take the roof off the keep. He crouched next to a window, one of the larger ones that gave him a wider arc. At least he could spot something coming from this position.

It took him a moment to realize that a Sangheili kid was standing right next to him. He didn’t know if it was male or female, and he didn’t feel any instinct to take care of it or save it from harm. It wasn’t a kitten: it was the enemy. It would grow up to hate humans and kill them. If he looked into an animal’s eyes he could usually see some kind of self within, some living connection, but he couldn’t see a damn thing in the Sangheili’s. The eyes were empty and alien. He wondered if it was thinking the same about him.

“Phantom, identify yourself.”

“BB, I’ve got to shoot or move,” Devereaux said. “We’ve got Banshees inbound.”

“Shoot what you have to,” Mal said. “Who’s who?”

“Stand down in the name of Field Master ‘Telcam.” It was a new voice on the radio, probably the Phantom pilot. “Stand down.”

BB chipped in. “One Phantom from the mad monk, three Banshees from the local yokels.”

“BB, tell him we’re fine collecting Phillips but he can knock himself out on the Banshees if he wants.”

“He heard that.”

“Mal, check your ground feed. Elites on foot. About fifty.”

“Can Osman hear this?”

“Only the essential bits,” BB said cryptically.

Everything was being fed into Vaz’s HUD, and it was disorienting him. There were too many extras to watch and listen to when all his brain wanted to do was focus everything on the firefight. He couldn’t stop it. Even if he hadn’t been drilled to do that until it became automatic, a million years of evolution refused to hand over the controls anyway. For a second he envied Naomi. Maybe all that messing with her brain was worth it for a clear view of the battlefield.

Boom. An explosion shook the ground and dust fell from the beams above his head, rattling on his helmet. The eye of the storm had moved on.

“Dev, are they bad shots or are they avoiding the building?” Mal asked.

The big female interrupted. “They want the keep and the land, you idiot. They won’t destroy anything they don’t need to. And you’re outnumbered.”

“Yeah, I can count, missus.”

“My name is Elar ‘Nas. You’re in my keep now and you will show me respect. I could kill you where you stand.”

Vaz turned around with his rifle aimed. Why did I think I could turn my back on these things? But Naomi was already on it.

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