Hold on to your butts!

The Pelican moved like a dark phantom, swift, nimble and menacing in its deadly purpose. With the piloting knowledge he now possessed, Ken had a profound appreciation of Echo's skill. It was beyond inhuman. It was as if the ship itself was imbued with life, and in a way, it was. The feelings he'd gleaned from their symbiotic link had convinced him the intelligence sharing his body was alive. That was a comforting realisation. He wasn't alone out here.

"Close-range scans confirm the shields are down and over 90% of Mantle's Fury's crew complement has either been evacuated or ejected into space. Regardless, expect heavy resistance if you make a direct approach on the Prophet. Thankfully, our package makes that unnecessary. The Prophet of Shadow will be in the forwardmost section of the ship, away from most of the repair work being done. Energy flow analysis and life form scans seem to confirm this. The problem is the Shipmaster, Yarin 'Vadum."

Ken nodded along. Back on the Orbital Defence Platform, Echo had given him a quick rundown of the ship's layout. The bridge, as was typical of Covenant Capital Ships, was at the very core, cocooned by layers of armour to protect essential crew and data. There was no breaking into that for them.

"I will reassess our options once we are aboard." Ken slightly cocked an eyebrow at that. He couldn't see Echo, but he swore he felt a mischievous grin in those innocuous words. "Brace yourself Ken 17. Here we go."

As the Pelican came into Mantle's Fury's shadow, Ken braced as he felt gravity shift. Echo had begun an elegant pirouette and flip with firm and precisely controlled deceleration as they swiftly came upon their ingress point, the edge of the yawning hole Cortana and the Autumn had gifted the Mantle. He hardly felt it as the ship made contact. "Magnetic clamps enabled. Chatter sounds normal. We are good to go"

There had been no sudden jerks or shudders. The exhilarating manoeuvre was so smoothly pulled off that Ken would have asked to go again if they weren't here on business. He released his harness and expertly floated to the rear of the ship. He was already fully geared up, his ODST suit upgraded with enhanced vacuum capabilities just short of a full EVA rating.

He opened a storage compartment and took out a large bag with a chord he clipped to his utility belt. With another push, he was right at the ramp. "Ok Echo, ready when you are." He felt an acknowledgement and a second later, the ship began depressurising, sucking out almost every last drop of atmosphere before the ramp opened.

Ken was struck with wonder. The view that filled his eyes left him feeling incredibly small, fragile and vulnerable. His new skin of composites, weaves and alloys couldn't do much to reassure him in the face of the dark majesty before him. "What a sight." Wasting no more time, he pushed himself out and into the gaping wound left by the little blue demon not many Covenant ever lived to tell of.

___

Shipmaster Yarin 'Vadum was seething. It had been his default mood since he was forced into this shameful state. The damned prophet had overruled his operational command, forcing Mantle's Fury ahead of the fleet, then to stay out of the fight, watching from a distance as the 'nishum', lowly bugs, struggled to survive.

In truth, he did not really mind it. There was no true honour to be had in crushing insects. No, it wasn't until they not only bared their fangs at him but took a chunk of his 'flesh' and pride that he'd wished he had just crushed them all in one fell swoop. Perhaps then he wouldn't be in this sorry, shameful state.

"Shipmaster" an Elite bowed slightly before him. "The Huragok have made great progress in rerouting power conduits and control lines. We should be able to restore full reactor power before the fleet arrives. Soon, we shall raze the last section of the planet with our own hands before joining the greater fleet."

The news consoled him a bit. Huragok were strange creatures, floating thanks to gas bladders in their bodies, necks bobbing and prehensile tendrils gently swaying when inactive, their small heads flush with their long, slender necks. He had no real command over them, they simply did what they wanted most of the time, tinkering with unhurried precision.

Only giving them new technology to play with or systems to rebuild would get them to show some sort of enthusiasm. They could not fight, something that made them next to useless to him, but he was glad to have hundreds of them onboard right now, many loaned from other ships to quickly deal with the damage.

"Hm. And of the disturbances on the surface?" Normally such matters would never gain his attention, but he had some time on his hands lately. "An isolated incident determined to be the last stand of some vermin that likely gave in to desperation as the end closed in. A Demon or an Imp may have been involved as we lost a few high-value units, but no trace of the vermin remains, likely destroyed in a fight of mutual destruction. No one has escaped the surface since the main battle."

Yarin 'Vadum dismissed the ensign with a quiet grunt, glad to have one less headache to deal with. He glanced towards the forward section of his ship before returning his attention to his busy bridge crew and wondered, "What is that accursed prophet doing?"

___

Prophet of Shadow had always mused that he would have made a great Prophet of "Truth". Secrets never eluded him for long. Indeed, he had long deduced some truths about the "Great Journey", and instead of being distraught, he had been enlightened.

The Great Journey could pave his personal path to power. That was the real truth of the universe. Pure, unadulterated Power. To get it, he had no qualms about using the farce of the journey to bend the loyalties of others to his whims. It would not be long before he would take the place of pre-eminence, using the gift of the Great Journey as a mighty cudgel to subdue all the worlds beneath him.

To that end, he had nurtured a small cadre of believers in his own brand of the journey. Through them, he had managed to find a particularly valuable piece of information that would propel him to the next stage, a seat as one of the three Hierarchs. He gently caressed the key to his ascension, brought to him by a particularly gifted operative he'd sent down to Reach in advance of the final assault.

He had managed to procure it on a remote shipyard that specialised in the salvage of data systems and AI constructs. This 'key' had been down there, damaged and isolated when the star system-wide order to purge certain data was given.

A simple enough oversight that now gave his ambition new wings. He lifted the now repaired data crystal matrix in the light, rebuilt by a Huragok he kept by his side for such matters, marvelling at the beauty of what it represented. "It is a shame, humans. If I were already in charge, I would have gladly welcomed you under my banner. Alas, my influence is lacking right now. But rest assured and rejoice! Your annihilation at my hand will give me the power to destroy the ones who truly forced destruction upon you! Once I take their place, you will be remembered as the stepping stone to my ascension."

A glint sparkled in his eye as it reflected the refracted light from the navigation AI data crystal. "Earth, is it? I do so look forward to my visit..."

___

The HAVOK tactical nuclear mine.

It is one of the most powerful ground-based nuclear ordnance in the UNSC's bag of tricks. A relatively small black half-sphere, with no external markings, it has a thermonuclear yield of 30 megatons. And here Ken was, floating around on an enemy ship with one tied to his belt. A couple of times, his hand had come up to wipe his brow on reflex. He imagined the environmental control systems of his suit were working overtime, wicking away his nervous sweat.

"Which way now, Echo" he whispered. He was currently floating along a conduit that had been left wide open from the Mantle's Fury battle damage. Apart from a creepy encounter with several Huragok that ignored him, he hadn't seen any hostiles.

"Stay on this track for the next forty metres, then take the hatch on your right up to the next level. It will put us within five minutes of where we want to be, however, we will have an Unggoy sentry to worry about at the exit. Be prepared. Beyond that, we'll have to improvise. Sensors in that section of the ship have been isolated."

"That's curious. What about the Shipmaster? The nuke won't do much this far out." Ken had been worried about this. Echo had been vague from the beginning. If they missed Yarin now, they would need several battle cruiser class ships to have even a hope of taking him on in a straight fight once he was aware of their intent. "I have made alternate arrangements for him. You need not worry" Eco said.

Ken was soon in a pressurised part of the ship, artificial gravity in the sector starting to bring him down to the floor. He could now hear the hum of the ship, the air thick enough to transmit sound. Soon, he spotted his exit, a shaft with its access panel hanging loose. It wasn't a tight squeeze for him, but carrying the HAVOK under artificial gravity for the last bit had been a little taxing.

His external mics soon picked up the last marker for his delivery. The guttural snore of a Grunt echoed from up ahead. Ken carefully set down the mine and crept towards his target. Knife hand raised, he kept his eyes on the lone Grunt, its bulbous head lolling back and forth in time with an unknown dream.

He moved swiftly and silently, his body almost reflexively guiding him through the actions. In a moment, he was upon the sleeping Grunt. He took quick aim and brought down the knife with everything he had. His knife, sharpened to perfection, sank into the Unggoy's head to the hilt as if it were a melon.

The familiar association brought a flash of recall to him. The moral quandaries bubbling up were swiftly pushed down by him. He'd cope with it later. The Grunt spasmed, briefly conscious and panicked before the light went out in its eyes. Ken had kept his own eyes locked on the creature's face, even as he carefully eased it to the floor.

He didn't remove the knife yet. He didn't want to leave a telltale mess. He dragged the heavy creature to a service port entry Echo had pointed out to him. It was a hard slog, but his newfound strength could handle it.

Once in, He quickly propped the alien up, gave it a last look and retrieved his weapon. As he closed the flush panel that was the door, he swiftly retrieved his payload, making his way past the blast door Echo had so kindly opened for him.

"One more blast door, but this one appears to be on a standalone system along with all surveillance in that part of the ship. Just bring me right up to the door and I will be able to open it. There is another service hatch not too far from that door. Once we place the HAVOK in there, we can begin exfil."

Ken nodded, setting down his bag and priming the silenced SMG he'd brought along for this mission. The Friend or Foe system in his HUD could not see through the door. There might be more than one Grunt on the other side this time. He took a breath and said "Ready."

The hiss of the blast door was barely a whisper over the background hum of the alien ship. Ken stood there, gun at the ready in a slight crouch, silently hoping any sentries on the other side would be asleep too. He was sorely disappointed.

There, with its back to the door at perfect attention, stood a towering Elite in red ceremonial armour with what appeared to be a spear in its right hand. Surprise and annoyance flickered across the Honour Guard's face as it turned to see who dared come in unannounced, but it soon vanished in a flash upon seeing what was there, replaced by a shocked snarl, mandibles shaking, that echoed in the sterile corridor.

Ken's embedded training soon kicked in to break his momentary paralysis brought about by sheer surprise. He raised his SMG right as the Elite gave him a mighty kick that launched Ken several metres away from the door! He squeezed off over 15 rounds before he hit the ground, each one finding its mark.

Too bad the Elite's energy shields soaked up most of the hits. As Ken slid to a stop on his back, the impact forcing out what little air he had after the kick, the Honour guard stalked after him, the energy stave pointed at Ken crackling with tremendous heat and energy. "I'm screwed if that touches me!" Ken thought, his likely cracked sternum sending waves of agony through him with every ragged breath.

Echo took the chance to seal the door once more, momentarily distracting the Honour Guard who glanced back at the movement. Ken didn't waste the chance, firing off the rest of his suppressed rounds while on his back in a painful partial crunch pose. Shields flaring brightly, the Elite roared in indignation!

The moment Ken was empty, the Honour guard charged at him determined to skewer him to death! Ken walk-pushed himself back with his legs as he drew his CE Magnum Pistol, firing off the disproportionally powerful rounds, draining the Honour Guards' shields by the fifth shot! 

"ARRRRRRRGH! Wuudagraan!" Ken felt the blood lust in that cry! He gritted his teeth and gave the charging Elite the last seven rounds he had, the pistol barking back with a ferocity that matched the Honour Guard's cry! By the time the last shot rang out, the Elite's stave was stabbed into the floor, right next to Ken's head! He felt the radiant heat through his helmet, shuddering at what could have happened.

A moment later, the giant alien collapsed with a heavy thud next to him, its thick arm crashing on his chest. The impact sent jolts of electric pain through Ken, his sternum creaking! He laid there for a bit, trying to get his breathing under control as the lighting in the corridor changed, likely some kind of alert.

"Argh… Echo, I'm not feeling too good" The intelligence considered for a moment and replied "What incredible strength. That kick not only managed to crack your sternum, but it also transmitted enough force through your layers of armour to bruise your heart, causing a rather pronounced case of cardiac arrhythmia! Hold on a moment."

The lighting soon changed back to normal before Echo's voice rang out in Ken's mind. "The crew knows we are here and are sending their standing forces to our position. No Maydays yet, but I have disabled external communications. We might still make it out of here. Can you move?" Ken gave a mighty effort, rising up from under the arm, his head spinning.

"Good enough. I have sealed the blast doors behind us, but it won't take the Huragok engineers long to physically bypass each lock... They just got through the first one. Quick, get back to the High Chancellor's door and leave the mine in there. I have already armed it."

Ken's eyes widened as he moved, reloading his weapons. "You sure feel calm for someone who just had their infiltration plan go up in flames and is trapped with an activated nuclear bomb on a ship we can't leave," he said, wincing as he spoke.

"The sensory blind spot in the isolated section did bring us a surprise or two, but we still can leave this ship and complete the objective, just not the way we originally hoped." Echo was genuinely unperturbed! In a few more steps, Ken was back with the HAVOK, dragging it back a few steps, SMG at the ready as the blast door opened.

"As expected, no Honour Guards came to check the situation. They must be hoping for the regular forces to take care of us, only going on the offensive as a last resort, probably at the High Chancellor's request. There, place the weapon in there. If it is out in the open, a Huragok engineer will be able to stop the detonation sequence." Ken obliged, hefting the bag into the service panel before sealing it flush again and stepping back out of the blast door that shut after him.

"What now?" Ken was tense. The irregular flow of blood had him feeling lightheaded, the pain in his chest not helping. He didn't like his odds in a close-quarters firefight against a superior force that would fire back. He saw no way out. Echo didn't reply, seemingly concentrating, but he could sense a feeling he interpreted to be 'Hold on to your butt!'

___

Mantle's Fury lurched as its cold heart reignited, once more sending power to the sub-light propulsion systems. The superstructure that was in the middle of being shored up in preparation for new modules strained, undoing a lot of the repair work from before. Groaning alloy reverberated throughout the ship as it accelerated. "Shipmaster Yarin 'Vadum! What is the meaning of this? You were to exterminate the vermin, not take the Mantle on a joy ride! Did you not say the power delivery systems would not take it? Cease this at once!" 

Shipmaster Yarin 'Vadum quivered in anger. Was his humiliation not complete? First, he was scuttled by a human ship through a devastating sneak attack, now, a foreign thinking machine was running amuck aboard his vessel, usurping his command! If he had not been certain of his death by its hands today, he would have followed the old unspoken ways rather than live through another disgrace.

He sighed. "I apologise honoured High Chancellor. My previous words hold true. The ship will not survive such reckless manoeuvres. As for stopping it, well, I'm sure you have deduced it by the fact your isolation was breached so easily. A thinking machine of high order has infiltrated the ship. I am no longer in command."

A dull explosion sounded. Propulsion was done. "What was that? What do you mean you are not in command? If you are not in control, come and evacuate me at once! That is my command!" Prophet of Shadow was panicked! He was about to ascend! One more step after that and absolute power would be in his grasp! He had no time for this foolishness!

"The thinking machine hinders us at every step. We cannot get to you on time. We will most assuredly strike the planet before then. Communications are down. Everything in the hangars has been jettisoned. It is a wonder we haven't been thrown out into the void too."

The lights went out for a moment and an alarm blared. "Ah, there it is." Yarin 'Vadum was calm now. Being bested by a construct he could not draw blood from and a pest beneath his notice had grated at his warrior's pride, but this was his loss.

He no longer listened to the ravings of that foolish Chancellor. The key to destroying the human home world? Oh, that's what he was cooking up in his lair, but what good was that now? Would it hurt him to just shut his mouth and die with his honour intact like the crew standing with him on the bridge? This was why he couldn't stand those Prophet types.

___

Lights bloomed along the seams of the modular ship, vapours and bodies violently ejecting as detonating plasma charges designed to jettison boarded or dangerously defective sections divided the Mantle's Fury into myriad puzzle pieces.

Their momentum and planetary pull brought them closer to the undeniable embrace of Reach's gravity, the atmosphere waiting eagerly to core out the exposed internals with friction, leaving nothing but smouldering husks of armour to fall to the surface. One piece, the head of the ship, tumbled along its own trajectory, detonating in a brilliant light, for a short moment becoming a third sun before vanishing into the ether.

At a distance, a black figure tumbling in the void was missing perhaps the last ever fireworks show on Reach as Mantle's Fury turned into falling stars, streaking across Reach's sky.