We have to do that again?” asked Caird.

Owen shifted uncomfortably, his armor swallowing the flicker of firelight. The heater they’d been using had finally died, and one of the soldiers from Caernaruan built an actual fire with debris from the inside of the transport center building. Smoke rose up in a thin white line through the starry gap in the ceiling, bleeding out into the cold night air.

“Yes,” he said.

Groans went up from the militia, grumbled complaints and strings of creative profanity. Only Local Team stayed quiet. Saskia didn’t know about the others, but she couldn’t get the debriefing with Daniella out of her head. The activation key for a potential super-weapon had been buried beneath Brume-sur-Mer for millennia. Entire lives had played out on top of it, no one ever the wiser.

She was grateful that her parents hadn’t known.

“The kids almost died last time,” said Kielawa. “They came back here looking like they were infected with a damn plague virus. Now you want to saw off a piece of that building and put it on a ship with us?”

“The sickness wasn’t spread through infection,” Evie said.

“Yeah?” Kielawa shot back. “You sure about that? You been tested?”

Evie scowled and wrapped her arms around her chest.

Saskia patted her gently on the shoulder. “It’s fine,” she whispered. “Nobody thinks we’re infected with anything. I mean, they’re sitting with us.”

“She’s kind of right,” Evie said.

Saskia frowned. Another thought she didn’t want to have.

“It’s not just the artifact that’s the problem,” Caird said. “The Covenant had that place on lockdown last time. And they had a Prophet there, so they gotta be serious about getting that thing. Whatever we go back to, it’ll be worse than last time. And they’ll be ready for us.”

“Understood, but those artifact samples could be the key to ensuring humanity’s survival,” Owen said grimly. “The best thing we can do here is come up with a plan that will keep us as safe as possible when we extract them. Farhi, what’s the status on supplies?”

Farhi strode up beside the fire, sighing. She pushed her greasy, dark hair away from her face. “Not great,” she said. “Weapons are all in working order, but we’re running low on ammunition, which means another shootout like a few days ago probably isn’t going to work.”

This elicited more groans. “At least we know that works,” someone muttered.

“Food rations are running low, which is why it’s a good thing ONI’s extracting us. We’ve still got the Warthog, some miscellaneous supplies we’ve scavenged. Nothing great. We’re working with leftovers here.”

Owen sighed. “I see.”

“There’s no way ONI can send a care package?” someone asked.

Owen shook his head. “They can’t get through. All the focus is on getting ready for extraction.”

“Nothing will be left to extract if we’re dead,” Kielawa murmured, turning away.

At that, the grumbling started up again. Saskia leaned her head against Evie’s shoulder. She was suddenly very tired.

“I feel like they don’t understand what’s at stake,” Evie muttered.

“They didn’t see it,” Saskia said. “And it’s not something that’s that easy to explain either.”

“They want to get home, though,” Dorian said. “That’s enough of a motivation for most people.”

Farhi clapped her hands together. “Enough!” she shouted. “We’ve got to work together on this.” She sighed. “You know what we’re up against. We’ve got to be clever. Owen? What’s the plan?”

Owen nodded. “First things first: I will be leading the excavation, along with Local Team. They’ve actually been in the structure, so we’ll let them continue that mission. We were lucky last time, when we made it past those Elites stationed around the site. We weren’t carrying equipment either. We need to dispatch with any guards as quickly as possible.”

A murmur of assent went up from the crowd. Saskia thought about the terror of racing across that vast empty space, hooking onto Evie’s leg so they could be pulled into the structure. It had all happened so fast she had barely been aware of the battle going on around her.

“Our best bet is to utilize the Warthog,” Dubois called out. “Drive straight into the area, firing from the turret. We’ve still got plenty of ammunition for that, at least.”

Farhi pointed at him. “Good call.”

“We’ve got that civilian fuel cart too,” Dorian said. “Remember, we saw it sitting out on the landing pad? It’ll get us an explosion.”

Dubois laughed a little. “Is it always explosions with you?” he asked.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“That’s actually a good idea,” Owen said. “Set a fire. Control it so our excavation team can make it through.” He paused. “This is a transport center. There must be fire suppressant around here somewhere.”

“Yeah, there is,” Farhi said. “Caird grabbed it before she made this thing.” She kicked at the fire crackling at his feet. “Pretty good stash, if I remember correctly, right, Caird?”

“Great stash,” she said.

“Good.” Owen pointed at her. “You’re going to be in charge of building this fire. It’s going to be a barrier between us and the Covenant. Make a team to help you.”

Caird saluted.

“The rest of you will help corral the Covenant forces where we need them, and watch out for aerial attacks.”

All of this was sounding more and more familiar to Saskia. In fact, it sounded an awful lot like a pitch she’d heard her parents give a pair of suspicious-looking clients. Those clients had been interested in subterfuge too, under limited resources. And what was it her parents had told them?

“Smoke!” she cried out, remembering. “The smoke can help mask us.”

“She’s right,” Caird said. “If we can get a smoking agent in that fuel, it’ll make it harder for the Covenant air to know what’s happening on the ground—their Banshees won’t be able to see what’s happening on the ground. It does mean we’ll have to be careful, though. Don’t want any of us passing out.”

“Of course not.” Owen surveyed the militia, what little remained of it. “The next question is the matter of actually securing the artifacts. This is Forerunner technology, which introduces some … complications. The most significant of which is that it’s designed to last for millennia.”

Several people groaned in frustration. “Now you tell us …” someone muttered behind Saskia.

Owen held up one hand. “That’s not to say this is impossible. One thing that’s working to our benefit is that the structure let us in, but not the Covenant. Why that’s the case isn’t clear, but it does mean that we’ll have time on our side.”

“Acknowledged, but we still won’t necessarily be able to carve out a chunk of the wall,” Farhi said.

“True,” Owen said. “Which brings me to my second point. Given the age of this structure and how advanced the race is that made it, it’s likely that most natural phenomena will not damage a Forerunner installation like this one. And that means there’s a real possibility that we won’t be able to burn it, freeze it, or even blow it up. However, it is likely that some parts of the structure are designed to be extractable. At the very least, we might be able to cut some parts loose if they are embedded in natural material, which isn’t uncommon given what we’ve seen. So we need to get creative. We need to find our strongest tools. Pull from our own supplies, see what we can scavenge. I’ve still got the Covenant energy sword, and there must be some devices used by this transport center that could help.” He folded his arms. “Any thoughts?”

For a moment, everyone was quiet. Then Kielawa called out, “I have my medical kit with me. There’s a bone saw in it, with a precision laser blade. Can’t promise anything, but—”

“No, that’s good. What else?”

“We found a tension steel cutter in the garage out back,” Caird said. “It’s got a gravitic binder for tearing through starship hulls. Must have belonged to the station’s rescue crew.”

“That will work well if the Forerunner structure cooperates,” Owen nodded. “We’re lucky we found this place. It might just be the advantage we need to get this job done.”

Slowly, the militia began shouting out suggestions—the various knives and tools they’d managed to bring with them or devices they’d found throughout the transport center and in the town below. Saskia felt a surge of pride that they were coming up with a plan of action so quickly. They would have to actually implement the plan, of course, which was a different task altogether. But still. It was going more smoothly than she had thought.

She just hoped the rest of the mission would as well.

Saskia jerked awake, her heart thudding. We’re under attack, she thought. They’ve found us.

“Rise and shine, sweetheart.” Valois leaned over her, grinning wildly. “Call just came down from ONI. They’ve got an extraction path cleared.”

“What?” Saskia sat up, but Valois was already moving down the line, shaking people awake one by one. She looked over at Evie, who was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “I thought it was going to be in three days?”

“Guess not,” said Victor. “Looks like we’re finally getting back to the base.”

“But we’ve barely figured out what we’re going to do,” Saskia said. “We haven’t had time to scout or prep properly—”

“Probably not a lot we can do to prepare now anyway, right?” Evie asked. “We know what it looks like down there. We know there’s a Covenant presence. We know what we’re grabbing.” She gave a small, shaky smile, and Saskia knew she was terrified too.

They actually had a plan—a really good one, even, and one that the Covenant wouldn’t be expecting. But what worried Saskia was the possibility of what the Covenant might have done to prepare since their last run-in. For all the militia knew, there could be a whole Covenant fleet around the structure now, and it wouldn’t matter what kind of plan they had come up with.

“Pack up!” shouted Farhi as she strolled through the transport center. “Take what you need! Leave what you don’t! We’ll be heading straight to the extraction point as soon as the mission is complete. We’ve got a window, and once it closes, it may not open again. Ever.”

Saskia stood up and shook out the last of her sleepiness. She grabbed her rifle and the remaining ammunition. She was going to have to make it last this morning.

They met up outside, in the usual place. A thin line of pale pink dawn light appeared on the horizon, making the lines of everything seem soft and indistinct. They were already dividing themselves up into their teams: the firebugs next to the fuel cart; the corallers over by the Warthog; and the excavators. Local Team. In addition to the assortment of knives, ropes, and field materials the soldiers had scrounged up from their own supplies, there was a bundle of civilian tools that had been scavenged from the transport center: an instacrete jack, a construction-grade laser, and the tension steel cutter Caird mentioned. They also managed to find a transport cart for the sculpture, which was good, since they didn’t know how heavy it would actually be. Who knew if any of these things would be useful in the end? But it was all they had on hand, and Saskia told herself it would be enough.

Owen and Farhi emerged from the building. Owen jumped on the Warthog, turned to face the pockets of the militia that formed each team. A pale streak of sunlight shone out over the militia, highlighting their faces.

“We’re doing this a little earlier than we planned,” he said. “But we’ve got a solid plan. We’re familiar with the area. And as soon as we’re done, we’ll be collected by ONI.” He tapped his helmet. “I’ve been in contact. Window’s clear and they are still on their way. Most of the fighting has pushed off from over Annecy. For now. We still need to act fast, though, now that we have the Covenant’s attention. Let’s get in, get the samples, get out.”

This was greeted with a kind of contemplative quiet, a silence that matched the dim dawn light. Owen nodded at Farhi.

“Firebugs, corallers, you know what to do,” Owen said. “Excavators, get in the Warthog. We’re going straight there.”

The firebugs piled up on the fuel cart, started up the engine, and rumbled toward the city. Saskia crawled into the Warthog, pressed in with both Local Team as well as the corallers, which consisted of the three most vicious fighters in the militia. They sat up on the back of the Warthog, hanging on to the turret as it bounced through the city. Saskia watched the buildings materialize in the dim light and replayed the plan in her mind—the million and one things that could go wrong. The biggest was that they had to use the Brume-sur-Mer artifact—the very thing that they couldn’t let fall into Covenant hands—to access the site and get whatever ONI needed. Plus, while Owen had some experience with Forerunner structures, none of that experience was with this structure. No one, not even he, knew how it might respond now that they had activated it. The sculpture might not even be extractable, and even if it was unactivated, what if removing it triggered something just as bad? What if the structure was programmed to self-destruct upon removal of the sculpture, or upon being damaged—which was exactly what would happen if they removed a chunk of the wall? Even thinking about any of those possibilities sent a phantom pain winding through Saskia’s skull. Still, there were more mundane dangers. About a million of them, it seemed.

The Warthog slowed to a stop about half a kilometer from the dig site. “Excavators,” Farhi said. “Here’s where we leave you.”

Saskia glanced at Evie, who was sitting beside her, hoping for a bit of reassurance. But Evie looked as terrified as Saskia felt.

“It’s going to be okay,” Saskia whispered, wishing she were telling the truth. “We’ve got this.”

“I hope so,” Evie whispered back.

They climbed out of the Warthog: Evie, Saskia, Dorian, Victor, and then finally Owen, who saluted with two fingers, signaling to Farhi that it was time for her to drive off, around to the western side of the site. To Local Team, Owen gestured to the left, and they moved forward through the strips of that white foam substance that was everywhere in this part of the ruins. Saskia swatted it away from her face, cursing every time it blocked her vision. She could hear the Covenant up ahead: the whine of vehicle engines, the chatter of their language.

“Sounds like a party up there,” Dorian muttered. Victor hushed him. But he was right. And Saskia could tell that Owen knew it too.

They stopped, right on the edge of the clearing. Owen motioned for them to fan out along the perimeter. Saskia squeezed Evie’s hand, gave her a little wave of support, and then took up her position. She squatted down behind a particularly large piece of steel rubble, took a deep breath, and looked out at the dig site.

It was worse than it had been the day before. Elites were everywhere, barking orders at Grunts and Brutes, who were already moving out into the hills. The two Banshees from the day before were sitting on the ground, flanking the hole, which, thank god, still did not have a shield across its surface, but only because there was now some kind of structure built up over it instead. Not the Scarab that had been at the Brume-sur-Mer site, but some other kind of device designed in the Covenant’s strange, organic style. Large leglike pillars rose around the hole’s perimeter, jutting upward into a canopy-like chassis, which held a rounded pod that sent pulses of light down into the hole where the structure lay. A scanner, perhaps, trying to unlock the structure’s secrets.

Saskia wished she could talk to the others, but they had no comms and now they were too spread out. She didn’t dare move, not when there was no way to synchronize all of the militia’s actions. And so instead she considered what now appeared to be a major alteration to their plan: this machine, whatever it was, crouching above the hole. This was why they needed those extra days. They knew the situation at the site wouldn’t be identical. They needed to scout, to gather information. Then act.

Not that there was anything she could do about it now. So she took a deep breath and waited.

It didn’t take long. A shout rose up from the other side of the clearing, zips of plasma fire.

Followed by the deep, thunderous roar of an explosion—the fuel cart.

The fireball billowed up, illuminating everything in angry red light. The Elites guarding the structure began screaming wildly at one another, while a pair of floating, tentacled creatures drifting near the scanning device swirled together, moving for cover. Saskia could hear the corallers in the distance, pinning down the Covenant, buying her time. But where were the others with the fire suppressant?

The fire spread across the clearing quickly. The white debris ignited easily, the scraps bursting into flames before the fire had even touched them. “Oh, that’s not good,” she muttered, fear sliding up her spine. That debris was all over the place. She was sitting on top of it. There was no way the firebugs were going to be able to control the fire—

Saskia scrambled to her feet and ran along the perimeter of the clearing. The thick smoke billowed over her, choking her, making her eyes water. She crouched down, trying to avoid it.

“Saskia!”

She turned; she could barely see Victor through the smoke. He was a silhouette, gliding toward her. Saskia coughed, pressing herself against a nearby stone.

“What are you doing?” Victor put his hand on her elbow, peered down into her face. “Are you okay? Why did you leave your position?”

“Did you see that fire?” she hissed, pulling him down to the ground, out of the path of the smoke. “It’s moving too fast.”

Even with her watery vision, she could see in Victor’s expression that he had noticed it too. “Caird is capable,” he said. “She’ll handle it.”

“Of course she’s capable,” Saskia said. “But she wouldn’t have expected the fire to move this fast. There’s no way she’s able to clear the path for us—”

Gunfire exploded nearby. Saskia and Victor both hit the ground—which was covered in that white flammable material. Saskia shrieked, pushed it away, clawing for the dirt underneath.

“Owen!” shouted Blanc, one of the firebugs. “We’ve got a major problem!”

Saskia looked over at Victor, her hands still full of the white debris. “I told you.”

“Owen! Local Team! Do you copy?” Blanc’s voice bounced around through the smoke. Saskia spun around in place, kicking up debris and dirt.

“Do you see her?” she cried to Victor. “Blanc! We’re here! Where are you?”

A dark shape wavered in the smoke. Saskia stood up, ducking to try to avoid the smoke, and ran toward it. “Blanc!” she screamed, the smoke searing her lungs. The shape turned toward her, the glint of a rifle muzzle flashing in the firelight.

“Nazari!” Blanc bolted forward, emerging out of the smoke. Her face was streaked with black soot and her hair was soaked with sweat. “Thank god,” she gasped. “Where’s Owen?”

“We spread out,” Saskia said. “He’s half a kilometer west of here.”

“We’ve got to get to him.” Blanc’s eyes were wild with fear. “We’ve got to call off the mission.”

“What?” Victor was at Saskia’s side. “We can’t! You have no idea—”

“You have no idea!” Blanc shouted. “The fire is out of control. Caird is dead.”

“What?” Saskia whispered, the news hitting her like a punch.

“It’s this damn—” Blanc kicked out the ground, the debris fluttering up around her. “It must be some sort of polymer foam; it’s the most flammable material I’ve ever seen. There was probably a plant nearby—they put this stuff in furniture. The fire got out of hand immediately.” She pulled a slim metal canister from where it had been strapped to her back. “This is the last of the fire suppressant.”

“Are you serious?” Victor lunged forward, but Blanc jerked the canister away from his grasp.

“We had to,” she said. “The fire just—” She shook her head, and Saskia realized she was crying, the tears bleeding into the droplets of sweat running down her face. “We’ve got to get out of here now.”

“We can’t,” Saskia said, and she felt her own tears on the edges of her eyes. “Victor’s right. You don’t understand what this structure is capable of. We’ve got to get these samples back to ONI.”

The fire was leaping across the excavation site, roaring like a monster. Banshees circled overhead, dropping down into the flames, lifting back up. A rescue operation, Saskia thought. Even the Covenant were getting the hell out.

“Give me the suppressant,” she said.

“What?” shouted Victor, just as Blanc shrieked, “No!”

“I’ll clear a path,” Saskia said. “You go get the others. I’ll lay the suppressant down thick. We only have a short way to run. Owen said the structure itself most likely can’t be damaged by fire, so once we’re in, we’ll probably be fine.”

“Are you insane?” Blanc screamed.

“There’s a super-weapon under there,” Saskia said, pointing her finger at the Covenant device rising up before the fast-encroaching wall of fire. “Or at least something that the Covenant will use as one. If we don’t get to it first, the Covenant will. And if they do, the war is over. Humanity is over. ONI needs those samples so that we can fight back.”

Blanc blinked. The firelight flashed over her wet skin.

“We saw what it was capable of,” Saskia said. “If we wait until the fire clears, the Covenant will just move back in. We have to use the fire as cover to finish the mission.”

Blanc stared at Saskia, clutching the fire suppressant to her chest. Saskia held out one hand. “Please,” she rasped, and she didn’t say the rest of what she was thinking: that this was the chance for her to prove once and for all that she could be trusted in a way her parents never could.

Slowly, Blanc held out the suppressant. Saskia took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

And then Victor dove forward, grabbing the suppressant.

“Victor!” Saskia called.

“Let me do it,” he said. “I can run faster than you. Go get the others. I’ll lay the path.”

“Victor, I can do it—”

“If you’re going to do this,” Blanc shouted, shoving herself in between them, “we have to do it now. That fire is almost to the structure.”

Saskia looked out at the site. Covenant soldiers were drifting upward weightless out of the flames, their bodies climbing upward in a large beam of light. It was a Covenant craft, pulling them up with its gravity lift.

“Fine,” she said. “But please just—be careful.”

“I always am,” Victor said. “Now go! I’ll meet you at the rendezvous.”

And then he was gone, vanishing into the flare of the fire.

Blanc looked at Saskia. “Tell me where to go,” she said. “I’ll help.”

“That way,” Saskia said, pointing to the left. “Evie and Dorian are that way. I’ll get Owen.”

And then she was running too.