SURPRISING ABUNDANCE OF INDIGENOUS FLORA AND FAUNA, WHICH UPON CURSORY

INVESTIGATION POSES NO DANGER. IN FACT, EDIBLE SPECIES PRESENT. (SEE

ADDITIONAL REPORTS FOR DETAILS.) TRANSPLANT OF EARTH SPECIES POSSIBLE.

NOTABLE ANOMALIES: NO DETECTABLE TECTONIC ACTIVITY, BUT THERE IS STILL AN

UNUSUALLY STRONG PLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD. SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN NORMAL

BACKGROUND RADIATION MEASURED, BUT WELL WITHIN TOLERABLE STANDARDS. ADDITIONAL

GEOLOGICAL TESTING RECOMMENDED.

NO TERRAFORMING EFFORT REQUIRED. COLONIZATION RECOMMENDED.

/END/

/ATTACHED FILE 2 OF 9/

FEBRUARY

19, 24 92 (MILITARY

CALENDAR)

FIELD REPORT A7 90 52-USNC. ENGCORP

SUBJECT: GEOLOGICAL

EXPEDITION

FOUR, PLANET

XF-063

REPORTING OFFICER: LIEUTENANT W. K. DAVIDSON UNSC.ENGCORP/ UNSCMID:

0772 9654

THE NORTHERN PLATEAU REGION OF THE MIDLATITUDE LANDMASS HAS AN ABUNDANCE OF

GRANITE AND QUARTZ VARIETIES FORMING HILLS AND MESAS. BREATHTAKING ONYX

QUARRIES .

ADDITIONAL EXPLORATION OF THIS REGION HAS REVEALED LIMESTONE OF ORGANIC

ORIGINS, SPECIFICALLY AN ANCIENT CORAL REEF WITH A RICH FOSSIL HISTORY.

CURSORY INVESTIGATION HAS YIELDED SEVERAL ANCIENT SPECIES OF UNKNOWN ORIGINS,

AND ENTIRE PHYLUM FOUND OF POSSIBLY ALIEN TAXONOMY.

RECOMMENDATION: FOLLOW-UP SURVEY. SPECIALIST REQUESTED IN PALEO- AND

XENOBIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY.

/END/

/ATTACHED FILE 3 OF 9/

JANUARY

3, 2511 (MILITARY

CALENDAR)

ORDER

178.8.64.007

SUBJECT: SECURITY RECLASSIFICATION

ISSUING

OFFICER: REAR

ADMIRAL

M. 0. PARANGOSKY, OFFICE

OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE, SECTION THREE/ UNSCMID: 03659271

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY ALL MATERIALS MENTIONING, REFERENCING, OR CONTAINING

REPORTS, SURVEYS, PERSONAL NOTES AND LOGS, IMAGES, OR ANY OTHER DATA

PERTAINING TO OR ABOUT THE PLANET CATALOG NO. XF-0 63 (ALSO KNOWN

COLLOQUIALLY AS "ONYX") IS HEREBY RECLASSIFIED TO TOP SECERT, EYES ONLY.

UNSC SYSTEMWIDE NETWORK PURGE AUTHORIZED BY OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

(REF NO. 0097833), UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MIL.AI. ID: 477-SSD.

/END/

/ATTACHED FILE 4 OF 9 /

OCTOBER

22, 2 511 (MILITARY

CALENDAR)

ONI FIELD REPORT A84110

CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET, CODE-WORD

SUBJECT: STATUS OF RUINS IN ZONE

67

REPORTING OFFICER: LIEUTENANT COMMANDER J. G. ORTEGA, OFFICE OF NAVAL

INTELLIGENCE, SECTION THREE/ UNSCMID: 7631073

CONCERNING THE ALIEN RUINS DISCOVERED IN ZONE 67, WE CONTINUE TO FIND

EVIDENCE OF AN ADVANCED CULTURE WITH A SUPERLATIVE GRASP OF MATHEMATICS AND

ASTROGATION, WITH SOME POSSIBLE ARTISTIC REPRESENTATIONS THAT SUGGEST A

SPACE-FARING RACE (SEE ATTACHED DIGITAL IMAGES OF ONYX CARVINGS).

THEIR NUMEROUS HIEROGLYPHICS, WHILE AT FIRST GLANCE COMPARABLE TO ANCIENT

TERRESTRIAL AZTEC VARIANTS, ARE, IN FACT, NOTHING AT ALL LIKE

THESE PRIMITIVE EARTH COUNTERPARTS . SEVERAL LAYERS OF

SYMBOLOGY SUGGEST A HIGHER-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH TO THEIR

LANGUAGE, IF IT CAN EVEN BE TRULY THOUGHT OF AS WRITING OR

LANGUAGE IN ANY HUMAN SENSE .

TRANSLATION CONTINUES TO ELUDE ALL EXPERTS, HUMAN AND AI.

RECOMMENDATION: INCREASED FUNDING AND EXCAVATION WILL UNDOUBTEDLY YIELD

HITHERTO UNKNOWN TECHNOLOGIES.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: NO FURTHER INFORMATION HAS BEEN DISCOVERED REGARDING THE

GLOWING SPHERE DISCOVERED BY BETA COMPANY TRAINEES. THE SUBSEQUENT

DETONATION OF THE SPHERE OBLITERATED ALL CLUES OF ITS ORIGIN.

/END/

/ATTACHED FILE 5 OF 9/

SEPTEMBER

2, 2517 (MILITARY

CALENDAR)

ONI FIELD REPORT C384409

CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET, CODE-WORD

SUBJECT: STATUS OF RUINS IN ZONE

67

REPORTING OFFICER: COMMANDER J. G. ORTEGA, OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE,

SECTION THREE/ UNSCMID: 7631073

NEW FACILITIES WENT OPERATIONAL AS OF 0500 HOURS TODAY. SMART AIS

FUNCTIONING IN TANDEM AS PER SPECIFICATIONS WITH SOME PRELIMIANRY SUCCESS ON

SOME OF THE SIMPLER, LOW-DIMENSIONAL HIEROGLYPHICS.

CONTINUED EXCAVATIONS OF MILLIONS OF CUBIC FEET OF EARTH IN ZONE 67 YIELD

RUINED BUILDINGS, CARVINGS, AND TABLETS, BUT AS WITH THE OTHER REGIONS NO

DISCOVERIES OF A TECHNOLOGICAL NATURE DISCOVERED (OR IF THERE ARE, WE LACK

SUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDING TO DISCERN THEIR FUNCTION).

CARVINGS DEPICTING THE INHABITANTS OF ONYX STILL NOT FOUND . WHATEVER THESE

CREATURES LOOKED LIKE, FOR THE MOMENT, REMAINS A MYSTERY .

THE SENIOR STAFF NOW BELIEVES THAT A SUDDEN CATACLYSM CLAIMED THE INHABITANTS

OF THIS WORLD. UNKNOWN IF PATHOLOGICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL, OR RADIOLOGICAL IN

NATURE. THIS MAY, HOWEVER, EXPLAIN THE HIGHER-THAN-NORMAL BACKGROUND

RADIATION LEVELS.

RECOMMENDATION: INCREASED STAFF AND FUNDING. THE RUINS ARE SO EXTENSIVE

THEY COULD TAKE SEVERAL LIFETIMES TO UNEARTH THEM ALL. THIS ENTIRE WORLD MAY

BE COVERED IN SIMILAR RUINS. NEW TECHNOLOGIES CERTAINLY MUST HAVE SURVIVED AND

AWAIT DISCOVERY.

/END/

/ATTACHED FILE 6 OF 9/

MARCH

6, 2525 (MILITARY

CALENDAR)

ORDER

276.8.91.848

SUBJECT: ZONE

67 FUNDING

ISSUING OFFICER: ADMIRAL M. 0. PARANGOSKY, OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE,

SECTION THREE/ UNSCMID: 03669271

GENTLEMEN, I'LL BE BRIEF. AFTER ALMOST FIFTEEN YEARS OF CONTINUOUS AND

RUINOUSLY EXPENSIVE RESEARCH WITHOUT A SINGLE NEW USEFUL TECHNOLOGY DISCOVERED,

THE BUDGET OF THE ONYX INITIATIVE HAS BEEN REPRIORITIZED.

ALTHOUGH THE ALIEN ARTIFACTS AND HIEROGLYPHICS CONTINUE TO BE OF INTEREST,

RECENT REBEL ACTIVITIES IN THE OUTER COLONIES DEMAND THAT WE FACE REALITIES AND

REALLOCATE OUR FINITE AI AND MILITARY PERSONNEL TO COUNTER THIS NEW THREAT.

ONYX IS TO REMAIN CLASSIFIED, CODE-WORD TOP SECRET. ALL MATERIALS AND FILES

HAVE BEEN REDESIGNATED UNDER THE NOMENCLATURE KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN.

PURSUANT TO ORDER 178.8.64.007 ANY BREACH OF CODE-WORD CLASSIFICATION

CONFIDENTIALITY IS PUNISHABLE BY THE DEATH PENALTY AS PER UNSC MIL-JAG

4465/LHG, THE WARTIME ARTICLES OF SECRECY, AND THE AMENDED ARTICLES OF THE

HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2162.

A SKELETON CREW AND ONE AI WILL CONTINUE TO PROBE THE MYSTERIES OF ZONE

67. MAYBE THEY'LL HIT PAY DIRT.

IN THE MEANTIME, THE REST OF US HAVE A WAR TO FIGHT.

/END/

Kurt never finished reading Endless Summer's flash transmission.

An explosion darkened the horizon with a mushroom cloud of fire and dust, and the holographic page dissolved before Kurt could scan the rest of the files. The projector sputtered, sparked, and died.

The intel Endless Summer had just sent swam through his mind. Alien ruins? Possible Covenant invasion? What did the AI mean by possible non-Covenant vectors?

"We have to get out of here," Kurt said.

Chief Mendez continued to stare at the distant blast. "Artillery. Maybe a missile strike?"

Kurt scrutinized the shape of the blast cloud. "No, it's highly asymmetric. There are uneven heat blooms. I'd guess a directed energy weapon."

The Chief picked up the radio and again tried to raise the Agincourt. "This is Camp Currahee C and C. Come in, over?"

Static.

"Try the squads," Kurt said.

Mendez nodded. "Saber, come in. Katana? Report, this is Chief Mendez. Gladius." He clicked the mic. This time, there wasn't even static, only dead air. "You think"—Mendez looked up at the sky—"the Agincourt did something?"

The Chief crinkled his silver brows together, worried. It was an emotion Kurt had never before seen on the old man's features.

Another detonation shook Zone 67. What had been a distant granite bluff turned into a disintegrating rain of dust.

"We've received orders to defend Zone 67," Kurt said.

Mendez sighed and shrugged. "I've got my M6 sidearm." He patted his holster. "And a knife in my boot. You?"

Kurt held out his hands.

"Should be a fair fight then," Mendez remarked. He tried the radio again. "Come in, Saber."

His voice filtered through the speaker, crackling with pops and static.

Kurt shook his head. "Something's jamming the transmission. Our Spartans aren't going to fight with stun rounds and flash-bang grenades. They'll head to the armory at Camp Currahee."

"Tom and Lucy should already be there," Mendez said. He moved to the zip line that stretched from the tree house top to the jungle floor. He grabbed the line, wrapped slide casing on, and then jumped over the edge.

For a man pushing sixty, the Chief moved like a soldier thirty years younger. It wasn't the first time Kurt had wondered what kind of Spartan he would have made.

Kurt followed down the zip line, free-falling for a moment, then squeezing the line to brake; he landed hard.

They ran for the Warthog parked on the dirt track at the base of the tree house.

Kurt jumped into the driver's side, and turned the engine over. The vehicle coughed to life and purred.

"No BMP damage," Mendez said. "Or the coil would have been fried."

It was almost a disappointment. A nuke, Kurt could understand. Fissile materials were used only by the UNSC or rebels— human forces.

He floored the accelerator and the Warthog fishtailed, and then the tires caught and they bumped down the dirt track.

The day suddenly brightened, and an extra set of shadows crisscrossed the jungle floor.

Kurt slowed the Warthog, and looked up at the sky The canopy obscured his view, so he turned off the track and drove into the jungle, bouncing over exposed roots, and then down the bank of the Twin Forks River.

Here Kurt had a clear line of sight to the sky, and he noted the sun had moved to a new position lower in the sky.

No, it hadn't moved. There were two suns.

This new sun faded and a ring of smoke expanded around its center. This fireball seemed to pause, and then it shattered in a starburst of glittering molten metal.

In high orbit, the Agincourt exploded.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

0715 HOURS, OCTOBER 31, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) \ ZETA DORADUS SYSTEM, NEAR ZONE 67, PLANET ONYX

Ash ran for his life over the rocky ground. He wasn't sure how the thing was tracking him in his SPI suit, but it was.

He looked over his shoulder and saw the three booms and single eye of the drone flash in the sunlight. It accelerated and skimmed over the ground in pursuit of Team Saber.

"Scatter!" he ordered over TEAMCOM.

That drone's beam weapon could melt through their armor in the blink of an eye. Ash wasn't going to take the chance of it wiping out his entire squad with a single shot.

Mark and Dante broke left. Holly went right. Ash didn't see Olivia; she had to be stealthing.

Ash decided to flat-out run straight ahead, hoping to draw its fire.

He risked another glance back: the drone veered left after Holly. She sprinted up a slope.

Ash saw this slope ended in a sheer cliff a hundred meters ahead of her. When she got there, she'd be trapped. Even if she jumped, and survived, then the drone would still have her, firing from above.

He wouldn't let that happen. He ran back.

Holly skidded to a halt at the cliff's edge.

The drone angled above her, and its central spherical eye burned red.

Ash fired his MA5B assault rifle. A translucent gold energy shield shimmered around the drone, and the rubber rounds bounced off. The central eye continued to heat.

He wasn't giving up that easily.

Those shields weren't like Covenant shields, invisible until they interacted with projectile or energy. Ash had seen these pop into place just before his round had struck.

He had to try something else.

Ash picked up a rock and sidearmed it at the drone. It was nowhere near as fast as a bullet, but it was a great deal heavier.

The stone hit, and spanged off one of its metal booms, scratching it.

No shields this time.

The drone hesitated, and one boom looked like it twitched. Ash noticed that the three booms were not connected to the center sphere. They all just floated there. What was this thing?

It closed on Holly. She fired at it, but its shields snapped into place once again, deflecting the rounds. She looked over the cliff's edge and took a deep breath.

She was going to jump.

"No way," Ash whispered.

He grabbed a fist-sized chunk of onyx and hurled it with all his strength.

It connected—dead center with the drone's spherical red eye. "Yes!" he cried.

The drone rotated to face Ash.

His elation instantly evaporated as the thing glided toward him, picking up speed.

Ash turned and ran; he jinked right and then left.

The ground exploded. Heat washed over him, and he flew head over heels. He landed flat on his back, slapping at the last moment to break the fall.

Ash rolled, and with only a slight limp, he kept running.

He hoped the other squads were having better luck. Olivia had picked up Katana squad's signal. They'd reported they were being forced into Zone 67. They'd lost their signal shortly thereafter. They'd never gotten word from Gladius squad. Either they were dark or dead.

He looked back: the drone was almost on top of him. Its single eye heated to a cherry- red cinder, preparing another blast of energy.

Ahead there was a crevice in the rock, a sinuous two-meter channel that could have been a deep river a million years ago before this place dried up.

He sprinted for it and dove.

The channel was much deeper than he had imagined. He bounced off the walls and landed ten meters farther at the bottom.

The shadow of the drone flashed overhead and vanished.

Ash slowly got to his feet, and held his breath. Had he lost it? Maybe they had a chance after all to— The drone reappeared overhead.

He could run down the channel, but with all its twists and turns, he'd be slow. Besides, it didn't even have to hit him with its energy beam. One shot at the walls and he'd be buried alive. Ash was trapped.

So he stood absolutely still… hoping it could only detect motion.

The drone dropped into the channel and stopped halfway down—staring directly at him.

The eye glowed dull red, heating to molten golden. If Ash didn't know better he'd say the machine looked angry.

He needed to let the rest of Saber know where he was, at least know what he had discovered. Radio silence was no help now. He clicked on his COM, and turned up the gain to maximum.