"You have the mass driver primed to shoot their shields out, just in case this doesn't work?" he asked Juliana.

"Yes, but at that point we have to assume that even the Jackals won't believe that the attack on their ship was by escaped UNSC, if that comes into play."

Keyes doubted they'd believe this was the work of a lone UNSC vessel anyway, but Juliana wanted a door out, in case they found no plans by the

Jackals for the Rubble.'

Privately, Keyes felt the Rubble should just assume the Jackals had plans for invasion and strike first, intrigue like this be damned.

But it felt good to be back in action against the Covenant one way or another.

"Get ready, then," Keyes muttered. They were close.

"The Kig-Yar shipmistress is relaxing; her computers are showing the rock won't hit. She's yelling at me for being careless," Juliana reported.

"All teams go, then," Keyes said. "Now or never."

Juliana's body flashed a sudden increase of the equations that decoratively flowed over it. "Airlock assault teams are go in ten, nine ..."

Keyes turned to Delgado. "Fire it."

The pilot triggered the thruster sequence, and the entire asteroid rolled them around to face the Jackal ship. The thickest part of the cloud of debris lay between them and the Jackal ship as the

Mighty Sparrow leapt across the several hundred feet, thrusters blazing.

"Four, three ..." Juliana intoned.

"Brace for impact!" Keyes shouted.

"Two, one."

They struck, and the

Mighty Sparrow screeched and shivered as its hull smacked against the Infinite Spoils.

"ODSTs are go for intrusion," Keyes ordered.

"Moving out," Faison reported via radio, the banging of an airlock door coming over the channel.

"I'll be adding support," the Spartan, Jai, reported.

"We're locked in. Very nice maneuvering, Delgado," Keyes said. "Our hull is holding, minor leaks." He let out breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Juliana cleared her throat. "The Kig-Yar shipmaster is complaining that we are deceitful, cowardly liars."

Keyes chuckled. "I take it she's figured out she's under attack."

In the distance, gunfire started up, with the return whine of plasma answering it.

"Yes," said Juliana. "I would say that she has."

"We have contact," Faison reported.

"Pull me," Juliana said. "We want to be ready to plug in the moment we get the chance."

"Okay."

Keyes leaned over and gently slid the chip, in reality a small matchbook-sized card, out of its housing in the station. Juliana's hologram flickered away, and he tucked it into his chest pocket as he left the cockpit.

A pair of ODSTs flanked the airlock, battle rifles at the ready. "What have we got?" he asked.

"Pretty small contingent of Jackals. We have the corridor in secured. Faison has us pushing them back toward their bridge."

The sound of grenades boomed out, bouncing around the walls.

"Breached the bridge," Faison reported. "There's still fighting outside the ship by the other entry airlock. You have a clear path to me, though. I'm sending Jai back to get you."

"I'll be here," Keyes said, as the echoes of the last blast finally dissipated, and the distinct sound of a wounded Jackal's screams followed it.

Chapter FORTY-FOUR

INFINITE SPOILS

OFF HABITAT TIAGO, THE RUBBLE, 23 LIBRAE

Jai whipped out his submachine gun and peered around the cloud of smoke the grenades left behind. Jackals lay draped everywhere on the bridge, thrown clear by the explosions.

Nothing stirred in the haze, but Jai walked around, putting a round in the head of each Jackal for good measure.

"Bridge is secure," he reported.

ODSTs streamed in after him. "Bridge is clear," they confirmed.

They had plowed through the Jackals quickly on their way up to the bridge, Jai running in front. Five Jackals, unable to hide behind their energy shields, had died in the corridors. Same for the bridge crew.

But from the sound of battle chatter, the bulk of the fighting Jackals had run out of the ship to fight the initial attack from the dock.

A good hundred or so of them had held their airlock against that threat, not even for a second imagining that they were going to get boarded from the outside. It was easy enough to keep them from getting back in.

The AI and Lt. Keyes had a flair for this, Jai thought.

"Spartan, can you head back and provide protection for Lt. Keyes?" Faison asked.

"On my way," Jai replied. He took one last look around the bridge. The ODSTs were throwing the dead Jackal bodies into a pile in the corner.

He double-timed it back down the corridor.

ODSTs snapped quick nods at him as he passed, some flat-out stared as he thudded his way back toward the Mighty Sparrow.

He passed Li and Kirtley running toward the bridge with a pair of ODSTs guarding them.

Keyes waited in the airlock. As Jai stepped inside, his earpiece crackled. "Jai, this is Delgado."

"Go ahead," Jai said.

"I'm passing on a message from Petya. They report success, and are on their way back. That's all."

"Thanks," Jai said. He smiled inside his helmet. Adriana and Mike had taken care of business. "You ready?" Jai asked Keyes.

"Yes. And by the way, Spartan?"

"Yessir?" Jai looked down at him.

Keyes smiled up at Jai. "Boy, is it nice to see you out here with us."

So many things could still go wrong, Jai thought. But they'd stormed a Jackal ship, destroyed most of the nav data, and had control of the rest. So far, so good.

"Jai, Faison, Keyes," Delgado's voice burst over Jai's moment. "We have a problem. There's a ship inbound. Not ours. Covenant."

Keyes frowned. "Already?"

Jai put a hand on the lieutenant's shoulder. "Come, Lt. Keyes, we need to move quickly, then."

Chapter FORTY-FIVE

UNNAMED KIG-YAR TRANSPORT, THE RUBBLE, 23 LIBRAE

Thel looked at the monitor, not quite believing what he saw: a human freighter, docked with the Infinite Spoils.

And he was listening to the Kig-Yar battle channel, where they screamed about human attacks by their UNSC warriors.

Zhar looked over at him. "This Rubble grows stranger by the day, Shipmaster."

Thel shook his long head. "As strange as this may be, it cannot surprise you. The humans are heretics -- it was foolish of the Kig-Yar to think they could enter into an alliance with them."

"Nonetheless, the airlock is occupied. What do we do now?" Zhar asked.

"Shoot the human ship," Thel ordered. "It will either move, or we will have to burn our way in."

Thel leaned back in his command chair, watching plasma leap out toward the human ship.

Chapter FORTY-SIX

MIGHTY SPARROW

NEAR HABITAT TIAGO, THE RUBBLE, 23 LIBRAE

Delgado grabbed the sides of his navigation chair as the cockpit shuddered. Air pressure dropped -- the ship had been holed. He pulled the visor shut on his suit and sealed the gloves. It made operating a console clumsier, but it was clear this bucket was going to be full of nothing but vacuum soon enough.

The monitor showed the Covenant craft firing another round of plasma at them. Delgado winced as the Mighty Sparrow groaned. A large chunk of the cockpit ceiling caved in, and the glass all blew out.

This was bad. They needed to bug out.

"We're losing the freighter," Delgado reported. "Get your men out of this ship, Keyes. It looks like the Jackals have reinforcements."

"Get inside the Infinite Spoils with the ODSTs then," Keyes said. "Abandon the Sparrow, it's a lost cause. If we leave the Sparrow docked, they'll have a hard time getting through her. We'll fight our way out down the docks."

Delgado cleared out of the cockpit. At the airlock one of Keyes's men waited for him. Faison, if he remembered the name correctly: "I came back to make sure all my men were out," Faison barked, putting his black helmet on. Delgado could see the corridor he'd just run down reflected back in the visor. "Keyes and Jai are on the bridge, jacking the AI in. We're headed for the docks. I want to lead the breakout there."

"I'll go with you," Delgado said. Running with the leader of the Helljumpers had to be a safe bet.

They ran through corridors, Faison leading, turning the corners with his battle rifle up at chin level. Delgado followed, handgun out.

He was struggling to keep up with the marine, though. His legs hurt, his lungs hurt. Everything was one big ache.

Faison turned a corner well ahead of Delgado and plasma fire burst out. Faison dropped to the ground with a grunt, firing as he fell. The smell of burnt flesh filled Delgado's nostrils.

Delgado rounded the corner firing his pistol low, shifting his aim to hit a Kig-Yar running down the corridor in the feet. It howled, energy shield falling to the ground, and Faison shot it in the head.

"Damn it!" Faison shouted. He sounded angry, not hurt. Despite that, the floor was slick with his blood. The shot had been close to an artery, Delgado guessed. Even without the charring, Faison was in bad shape. "This corridor was supposed to be cleared."

"He could have been hiding until now." Delgado crouched in front of the marine. Faison's right thigh had been hit. As he cursed the Jackal, Faison used a knife to cut off long strips of cloth from his left pant leg.

Delgado helped him make a makeshift tourniquet, tying it off around Faison's upper thigh to reduce the bleeding. It was a blood-soaked rag by the time they finished.

Delgado wiped his hands on his trousers. "You need a medic."

Faison leaned his helmeted head against the wall and groaned. "I know," he grunted. "But if we call someone down we're putting them in risk."

Delgado sat down against the opposite wall. "What are you doing?" Faison asked.

"Waiting for help with you," Delgado said.

Faison shoved the battle rifle across the floor. "No, you keep moving. You'll have a better chance of getting out of here if you head for the docks. Keep your eyes open."

"There is no way I'm leaving you behind," Delgado said.

"Leave me your pistol," the marine said. "Take my rifle. I've been shot in the thigh and I've already lost too much blood. I'm not walking out of here, pilot. It's just not going to happen."

"You have men to lead. We can get them to come back via the docks for you," Delgado said.

"I'm not spending lives to save my own," Faison said. He shifted his position and winced, and then he yanked his helmet off, throwing it down beside him. "I turned the corridor too fast, I let my guard down, and I paid the price."

"And if I wasn't in such rough shape, I would have been right there beside you," Delgado said.

"Battle is random like that, sometimes." Faison gestured for Delgado's pistol, and Delgado tossed him Sen ora Sies. The marine examined it. "Fancy piece."

"It has a long history," Delgado said.

"I'll bet so," Faison muttered. "I'm sorry to have to ask for it, but you'll be better off with the rifle. Now go, quickly."

Delgado stood up, and grabbed Faison's wrist in an extended handshake. "You're a good man, Faison. For UNSC."

Faison laughed. "I bet it hurts to say that."

Delgado smiled. "Not really, soldier. Not really."

"Go," Faison hissed. "Please."

Delgado turned the corner with the battle rifle up and at the ready, his footsteps echoing softly off the walls as he left the ODST marine behind him in a pool of blood.

Once he was down the corridor he ignored Faison's commands and radioed Jai. "Faison is down. If you can get back to this location at any point, he really needs a medic. He'll need backup -- we were ambushed."

Chapter FORTY-SEVEN

INFINITE SPOILS,

OFF HABITAT TIAGO, THE RUBBLE, 23 LIBRAE

Keyes watched as Juliana appeared over the alien console, her form wavering and sparking.

"It's getting bad out here," he told her. "We have Jackals on the docks in solid numbers still holding out, and reinforcements at the door on the other side. We abandoned the

Mighty Sparrow.

Please tell me all this was worth it."

Juliana ignored him as her eyes flashed incandescent white and she dropped to her knees. "Strong security," she whispered. Then she opened her eyes wide. "But it was worth it. We're in real danger. All of us. Yank me, Lieutenant, and get me back into the Rubble. I have the data I need, and we need to act fast. The Kig-Yar are coming for us. The Rubble will need to make a stand. Get me out of here, Keyes. Now!"

Keyes pulled the chip and pocketed it.

"To the docks?" he asked Jai.

The Spartan's gold visor turned to him. "I need to make a detour. Your man Faison's hurt. Delgado asked if we could help." Keyes nodded. "Get to him."

Jai thudded out of the room, and Keyes turned to the ODSTs inside the cockpit. "Let's get out of here."

Chapter FORTY-EIGHT

INFINITE SPOILS,

OFF HABITAT TIAGO, THE RUBBLE, 23 LIBRAE

Thel stepped aboard the

Infinite Spoils with a snarl. The human ship had clogged up their attempt to board, and they'd had to shuttle over on boarding ships, burning their way aboard the docked human freighter.

It left him in a testy mood. And with Unggoy milling about bumping into each other, Thel's mood had darkened further.

He leaned over to Zhar. "Have any of them figured out how to move this human ship away?"

"No," Zhar replied, looking over the Unggoy standing around the cockpit, pushing buttons and chattering to each other.

Thel sighed. "Leave five Unggoy here to cut the ship loose with plasma torches once we get through the airlock."

He stalked back to the airlock and made his way through after several Unggoy. They fanned out ahead of him into the corridors, their ungainly steps making far too much noise.

The Kig-Yar ship felt empty. No Kig-Yar had even tried to hold the airlock. Had the humans killed them all?